Sources

Biometrics

• DHS, 2020. "Biometrics Strategic Framework"
• CBP, 2024. "Biometric Entry/Exit Program."   

NASA & Project Blue Beam

• Planetary Society, 2024. "NASA’s FY 2025 Budget"
• SpacePolicyOnline, 2024. "NASA’s FY2025 Budget Request Stuck at FY2023 Level." 
• NASA, 2024. "FY 2025 Budget Summary" 
• Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2023. "Federal Prisoner Statistics" 

THCA & Private Prisons

• Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2023. "Federal Prisoner Statistics"
• U.S. Sentencing Commission, 2024. "Drug Data Reports"
• DOJ OIG, 2023. "Monitoring of Contract Prisons"
• DEA, 2020. "Hemp Interim Final Rule"

Watch the full episode, “USA Awakened — The Shutdown Wasn’t the Pause. It Was the Update.” 

Official Brief

• NASA, 2025. Comet 3I/ATLAS
• Space.com, 2025. “New interstellar object 3I/ATLAS: Everything we know about the rare cosmic visitor.”
• The Planetary Society, 2025. “Studying a distant visitor: What we know about Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS.”

Speculation & Media Tsunami

• Live Science, 2025. “Here we go again! Controversial paper questions whether interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS is ‘possibly hostile’ alien tech in disguise.
• New York Post, 2025. “Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS now turning green as something is ‘switched on’ as it nears Sun.”
• New York Post, 2025. “Comet 3I/ATLAS: Manhattan-sized interstellar object is covered in a layer of CO₂, shocking scientists.”
• The Times of India, 2025. “Scientists call 3I/ATLAS a rare ‘Black Swan’ object…”

Spacecraft Watchlist

• BBC: Sky at Night Magazine, 2025. “Comet 3I/ATLAS could soon be seen by spacecraft at Mars, Jupiter and the Sun, scientists say.”

Watch the full episode, “Visitor Not on the Guest List: Alien comet, Project Blue Beam or a perfect excuse to map the whole sky?”

Shutdown

• Reuters, 2025. "White House tells agencies to prepare mass firing plans ahead of possible shutdown."
• Reuters, 2025. "Government shutdown nears with no deal; Trump threatens workforce layoffs."
• Reuters, 2025. "House Republicans eye $88 million in security funding post–Kirk killing in stopgap bill."
• Spectrum News 1, 2025. "House lawmakers given $10,000/month for personal security (pilot extended)."

SCOTUS + FTC Power Shifts

• U.S Supreme Court, 2025. Trump vs. Slaughter
• SCOTUSblog, 2025. "Supreme Court allows Trump to fire FTC commissioner (case coverage)."
• FTC, 2025. "Chegg to pay $7.5M to settle allegations over unlawful cancellation practices."

Amazon Prime

• FTC, 2025. "Amazon Refunds (official refunds hub + timeline)."
• FTC Consumer Advice, 2025. "Who’s eligible for a refund from Amazon?"
• Reuters, 2025. "Amazon to pay $2.5B to settle Prime deception allegations."
• WIRED, 2025. "Amazon will pay $2.5B to settle FTC suit alleging dark patterns."
• AARP, 2025. "What the Amazon Prime settlement means for customers."

Watch the full episode, “September Overshadowed: What happened last month while you were fearing the government shutdown”