Pablo Torre

After this executive order that we just watched, we have the NCAA banning trans athletes, trans women specifically.

We have the U.S.

Olympic and Paralympic Committee doing the same thing.

A massive win for Riley Gaines and her allies on the policy side.

And as far as public opinion goes, obviously the Republican Party has really banked on this issue to win elections and poured money into anti-trans advertising, a lot of it about sports.

But funny enough, the thing that I want to do here, though, is actually introduce people to Riley Gaines.

I actually want them to understand the story that she doesn't quite want to tell, but we had you investigate.

I mean, the cast of characters we are going to encounter today involve Simone Biles, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Orlando Magic, and Charlie Kirk.

Also, I've been promised spreadsheets, Madison.

I've been promised tax forms.

There are a lot of spreadsheets and a lot of tax forms.

Get ready.

So this is also one of those episodes where I end up listening to an audio book.

And I do need to now share a bit of what I learned while listening to Swimming Against the Current by Riley Gaines.

Swimming Against the Current is about standing up for reality, facts, and common sense.

It's my story of how I became a passionate advocate, not only for myself as a collegiate athlete, but for every woman whose future is at risk of being jeopardized.

One of the two dozen people I talked to for this call sports a gateway drug to the anti-trans movement.

People start getting interested and getting hooked, thinking about some of the real and legitimate questions about the science of trans athletes.

But as part of digging into that, they get sucked into this online sphere and this rhetoric that this is about sports to immediately, every woman's future is at risk from transgender women.

That slide, that pivot, that's what really is Riley's essence or the essence of her message.