An Americanist
Welcome to An Americanist Daily, your go-to solo podcast for a quick and snarky dive into the current events and politics shaping our nation! As a daily extension of the An Americanist blog, I’m here to break down the headlines that matter—Monday through Friday—without the fluff and filler.
In each bite-sized episode, I tackle the latest political news, dissect current events, and share my unfiltered thoughts, all with a sprinkle of humor and a touch of sass. From legislative shenanigans to social issues stirring the pot, I’ll keep you informed and entertained in just a few minutes each day.
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An Americanist
Bridget Jones Therapy and Bizarre News Headlines
Ever had a long weekend feel like it stretched into a week? That post-Memorial Day time warp sets the stage for this reflective episode where personal downtime collides with truly bizarre news stories.
After sharing details about a much-needed Bridget Jones marathon (all four movies, thank you very much) that brought unexpected emotional release, we dive into some truly shocking headlines that might have slipped under your radar. Olympic gymnastics legend Mary Lou Retton's recent DUI arrest takes on added complexity when viewed against her life-threatening battle with pneumonia just months ago - a health crisis that revealed her financial struggles and required crowdfunding from supporters.
But that's just the warm-up to the truly disturbing story of a 21-year-old former flight attendant caught smuggling 100 pounds of a deadly new drug called "Kush." This substance, which has a street value of $3.3 million and is killing approximately a dozen people weekly in Sierra Leone, contains a horrifying ingredient: human bones. The demand has become so great that grave robbers are now raiding cemeteries for materials. The young smuggler claims the drugs were planted in her luggage without her knowledge, but faces decades in prison if convicted.
These stories raise fascinating questions about celebrity falls from grace, the increasingly bizarre drug trade, and the strange juxtapositions we all navigate between our mundane personal lives and the often incomprehensible world events unfolding around us. Have your own strange travel story? We'd love to hear it - because sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction.
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Liberty Line each week on Sunday, look for topics on my X file @americanistblog and submit your 1-3 audio opinions to anamericanistblog@gmail.com and you'll be featured on the podcast.
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Well, hello, good morning, welcome. It's Tuesday after a three-day weekend, memorial Day. So, yeah, here we are. The weekend was very long to me it seemed like it seemed like it was like a week. It seems like it's been a week since I've been to work, but here I sit in the parking lot ready to go into work, all right. So Saturday we got up and did spring cleaning. We told you all about that on the I say we, the gent, and I told you all about that on our Brood Awakening podcast.
Speaker 1:About Saturday and Sunday, we really didn't do much, just kind of hung around, did some stuff. You know, blah, blah, blah. And then yesterday I'm almost ashamed to tell you what I did, but not really I watched four movies in a row. I went on a Bridget Jones diary marathon. It has been years since I've seen the first one and the second one. Did know I don't, did I? Yeah, maybe I did see the third one too, but when I watched the third one I was like I don't remember hardly any of this. And of course, I didn't watch the recent one until yesterday, because it's 2025. And I needed it. I'm just going to say I needed it because I bawled, I felt cleansed. You know, I know it's just a movie and, yes, I know it was four of them in a row, but it went by like that. I'm telling you I know, I'm telling Okay, whatever, whatever, we're going to move on to some stories here.
Speaker 1:I hope you had a good weekend. All right, I only have two stories here on the on the X file that I pulled from the New York Post. The first one is we are going to talk about the US Olympic legend, mary Lou Retton, arrested for DUI in West Virginia. Now it says DUI, but it says, uh, let's well, it says driving under influence of alcohol, controlled substances or drugs, according to records posted online by the west virginia magistrate. Uh, so yeah, she's 57 years old, is facing a misdemeanor count of dui and she posted 1500 bond the same day of her arrest. So why is it a? I guess I didn't know I it's a misdemeanor. Okay, news of retin's arrest began circulating on monday.
Speaker 1:The gymnast made headlines, remember she was very sick back in 2023. I guess it was when her daughters announced retin had been battling a rare form of pneumonia. That had the olympic great fighting for her life in hospital. Uh, they're in icu. They uh set up. Some donate. Apparently, this gal, mary Lou Retton, is broke. They had to set up a crowdfunding site. They raised $200,000 in a day for her. This is back when she was in the hospital. She was eventually released from the hospital and in an interview on Today in January 2024, she opened up about the health scare. I'm so grateful to be here. I'm blessed to be here because there was a time when they were about to put me on life support. Goodness gracious, it goes on.
Speaker 1:This article goes on to talk about her career in gymnastics, but it doesn't say anything more about the arrest. So let's keep an eye on Mary Lou Retton. Good heavens, you know. I watched that interview back when she was on the today or whatever it was. It was quite shocking to see her in that um, uh, in that I forget the word escapes me in that state. I guess I was, I don't know. It just kind of shocked me to see her like that um. If you want to go look it up, I'm sure you can find it on YouTube and you'll see what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1:The next story is ex-flight attendant caught smuggling 100 pounds. That's a lot of deadly new drug made of human bones. Faces decades in prison this gal. I don't know what is happening, but the story cracks me up because it just kind of skims over the drug being made of human bones kind of. I mean it gets into it a little bit, but my goodness, is that not shocking? It should be shocking to every single human being. Ex-flight attendant. Not that she got caught, but that this drug is being made of human bones. Ex-flight attendant caught smuggling 100 pounds of deadly new drug made of human bones. Faces decades in prison. A former flight attendant caught smoke. I already said all that.
Speaker 1:Goodness gracious charlotte may lee. She's only 21 years old. Y'all from the united kingdom was seized at bander somebody. But what? Bandera bandara nakey airport in the Sri Lanka capital of Colombo earlier this month, after allegedly carrying suitcases full of Kush K-U-S-H. Is this drug? This new drug is originating in the West Africa, which kills an estimated dozen people a week. Damn In Sierra Leone alone. Lee from South, damn in in sierra leona alone.
Speaker 1:Lee from south london claimed the drug stash, which, uh, has a reported street value of 3.3 million damned dollars, was planted in her suitcases without her knowledge, her lawyer, sempeth pierre, told. She also says she knows who put it in there, but won't name anybody what she uh is being held in harsh conditions in a jail. Okay, blah, blah, blah. The hall made on may 12th is the biggest seizure in of the relatively new drug. Custom officers pose proudly with the stash which could land Lee a 25-year prison sentence if she is found guilty of smuggling, which she probably will if it was in her suitcases.
Speaker 1:She also implied she knew who planted the drugs in her suitcase, but would not name the names. They must have planted it. Then she said I know who did it. Well then you better name the names, chica, because you're in trouble. Do you think she really do? You think she really do? You think that really happened or do you think she smuggled them?
Speaker 1:So they have pictures of her and she's a very, quite attractive young lady, uh, but apparently, uh, let's see. Uh, one of the drugs many ingredients is reportedly human bones, and the insatiable desire for the substance has even led to ghoulish grave robbers raiding cemeteries in sierra leone. Uh, kush, which is most popular with young men, can cause individuals to fall asleep while walking, collapse unexpectedly and even wander into moving traffic. And one of the many, okay, so, yeah, that's crazy. That's a hundred pounds, that's a lot. What did she? Maybe it was planted there. What did she? Because surely she didn't think she could just waltz right on through? Well, maybe she could because she's a. Maybe she thought she could because she's a flight attendant, I don't know.
Speaker 1:She is accused of illegally purchasing and storing a particular large amount of narcotics, illegally purchasing and storing the narcotic drug, marijuana, and illegally importing it into Georgia, the countries. Maybe this must be talking about somebody else. Yeah, okay, so anyway, that is some crazy stuff right there. All right, we're going to move on to the question of the day. Okay, in your travel days, have you had anything weird and bizarre happen to you? If so, share them. Okay, I really can't think of anything bizarro that happened to me while I was traveling. So sorry to disappoint, I'm just a boring person. What can I say? Nothing extraordinary has ever happened to me. I take that back. I've had two children. That's pretty damned extraordinary. So, yeah, okay, I gotta go. Thanks for listening. Love you Bye.
