“The Handmaid’s Tale” had a remarkable ending — for real-world reasons; CNN, May 28, 2025

Brian Stelter, CNN; “The Handmaid’s Tale” had a remarkable ending — for real-world reasons

"The show’s producers leaned in. They didn’t hesitate when asked about real-world comparisons to the radicalism portrayed on screen.

“We’re on a very, very slippery slope toward Gilead,” executive producer Warren Littlefield told me back in 2019...

“In early Handmaid’s days,” Littlefield said, “we present a world that was too preoccupied staring into their phones to see Gilead coming until it’s upon our characters and taken over their lives.”

Over the years, many reviewers have pointed to that as one of the enduring takeaways from the show.

“Handmaid’s” “showed the ease with which the unthinkable can become ordinary — a lesson crucial in the age of the Big Lie,” The Atlantic’s Megan Garber wrote in 2021...

One of the showrunners, Yahlin Chang, posited in a recent interview with TheWrap that the show “kind of failed” to serve as a cautionary tale, “or we didn’t caution enough people.”

“It’s shocking to me, when I think about when I joined the show, I had more rights as a woman than I have now,” she said...

The final episodes manage to be uplifting, at least in part, and Littlefield said, “Our message this year, in hopefully a compelling dramatic way, continues to be — like June, don’t give up the fight.”"

Maricopa election officials work to restore belief in the ballot as some continue to sow doubt in elections; 60 Minutes, October 7, 2024

Scott Pelley , 60 Minutes; Maricopa election officials work to restore belief in the ballot as some continue to sow doubt in elections

"Shelby Busch started a political action committee which investigates what she calls widespread fraud in Maricopa County—fraud no credible investigation has found. She's taken in nearly a million dollars in donations for the work of her PAC. And the Arizona Republican Party awarded her the leadership of its delegation at last summer's national convention...

Busch still questions whether signature verification was proper and whether some ballots were collected illegally. She's an administrator in a medical practice.

Scott Pelley: You're self-educated--

Shelby Busch: That's correct--

Scott Pelley: --when it comes to elections.

Shelby Busch: That's correct.

Scott Pelley: In a recent case a judge disqualified you from testifying in the case because he said you were, quote, "Obviously unqualified... not even in the ballpark."

Shelby Busch: That's one judge's opinion. who is a radical leftist who is legislating from the bench and I don't believe that it had any merit in my credibility whatsoever.

Scott Pelley: Is there a danger in undermining people's faith in the election system by persisting with these conspiracy theories that no one has been able to validate?

Shelby Busch: Again, I'm going to disagree with you, sir, respectfully-- it has been validated. And because--

Scott Pelley: Where? By whom?

Shelby Busch: The election officials--

Scott Pelley: Give me-- give me a court case. Give me something.

Shelby Busch: I don't need a government official with a vested interest in disproving information to tell me whether what I have is valid. It's up to each individual citizen, as a member of this society, to review the evidence, to think for themselves and make those decisions.

Scott Pelley: It's valid 'cause you say it is.

Shelby Busch: I say it's valid because I say it is. And if somebody looks at it, they can determine whether it's valid. The evidence speaks for itself. Data does not lie. Data doesn't lie. Election officials do."