Subway Scents, Brain Gains, and Murdoch’s California Gamble

Americans keep being told we’re hopelessly divided. The data says otherwise. In this episode of Filtered with TJ Walker, we begin with a massive Gallup democracy survey, which shows that Americans are surprisingly united on several key issues: rejecting political violence, supporting leaders' willingness to compromise, embracing free speech, and even embracing multiculturalism. The “civil war” may be more of a media storyline than a public reality. Then we turn to Fox News’ own polling, which delivers brutal news for Donald Trump: voters overwhelmingly say the economy is bad and they blame Trump more than Biden, even on grocery prices. Next, we break down Trump’s latest social media outburst, accusing Democratic lawmakers of “sedition, punishable by death,” and the rare moment when top Republicans publicly say, “I don’t agree with that.” Is his grip finally slipping? We cleanse the palate with New York’s first “aroma ad” in the Grand Central subway, where vanilla-pine holiday scent replaces the usual underground stench. Finally, we look at Rupert Murdoch’s California Post, a West Coast spin-off of the New York Post, and ask if this is real innovation or just another Murdoch misfire in a state where the New York Times has quietly become the dominant “local” paper. In the grab bag, we cover powerful new research showing midlife exercise can cut dementia risk by up to 45 percent, and a growing wave of congressional Republicans who are, very cautiously, planning for a post-Trump future. If you care about democracy, media power, your wallet, and your brain, this one’s for you.