Rat vs. Raccoon

Pushkin. The headlines never stop, and it's harder than ever to tell what's real, what matters, and what's just noise. That's where PodSave America comes in. I'm Tommy Vitor, and every week I'm joined by fellow former Obama aides John Favreau, John Levitt, and Dan Pfeiffer to break down the biggest stories, unpack what they mean for the future of our democracy. and add just enough humor to stay sane along the way.

You'll also hear honest, in-depth conversations with big voices in politics, media, and culture like Rachel Maddow, Gavin Newsome, and Mark Cuban that you won't find anywhere else. New episodes drop every Tuesday and Friday with deep dives every other weekend. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, watch on YouTube, or subscribe on Apple Podcasts for ad-free episodes. How did you get into writing about raccoons? I got into writing about raccoons because they started breaking into my supposedly raccoon-proof green band in Toronto.

I'm talking with intrepid investigative reporter for the Toronto Star, Amy Dempsey Raven. Typically she covers police wrongdoing, child welfare, controversial homicides. But in 2016, when Toronto declared a war on raccoons and unveiled a new raccoon-resistant composting bin, she realized it's time to get serious. The mayor came out on this garbage truck and made all of these promises, and I wondered, I thought to myself, I'm going to keep an eye on things here. This raccoon-resistant bin cost the city 31 million Canadian dollars, but Toronto is known as the raccoon capital of the world.

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