Hotel Bar Sessions is currently “on break” between seasons, so we’re offering up these MINIBAR episodes to tide you over until we return for Season 14!
This week’s MINIBAR episode is from co-host Leigh M. Johnson, who reflects on what it’s actually like to live in occupied D.C.
Be sure to stay tuned for our upcoming Season 14 premiere, which drops September 12, 2025!
(And in the meantime, please join us on our new Discord server here, check out the Contact page on our website for other HBS social media links, and the Support Us page to donate and help keep the podcast going!)
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Leigh,
I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t really imagine what the “occupation “ ( and why the scare quotes? That is what’s happening) of DC felt like. And my brother lives right there, in fact you should know about his bar,The Wonderland Ballroom at 1105 Kenyon ask for Matthew McGovern.
Thinking and ranting about the politics of occupation obscured the reality of living in it.
Thanks for sharing your story
First, thanks for listening! Second, I will definitely check out your brother’s bar!
Third, yeah, I think the news reports about (what I called) “the occupation of DC” don’t adequately capture what it’s like to live *in* it. It’s weird. It’s scary. It’s not disruptive of everyone’s life in significant ways, but it’s devastating to some people’s lives.
“The District” (as I’ve only recently come to know DC locals call this) is an exceptional case. We’re not a “state,” so Trump basically has carte blanche authority here. But I think what’s happening here is a “trial run” for other cities, as I said in this podcast.
Fortunately, “other cities” like Chicago and NY (which seem to be the next two targets) present different state-federal complications. National Guard troops can’t be sent into those cities without the Governor’s approval.
We’ll see…
Whoops! Didn’t indicate which HBS host was replying!
It was Leigh.