Stay ConnectedExpertly-curated progressive politics, news, and culture produced by leftist humans, not algorithms or AI. This is an award-winning podcast that dives deeply into a wide range of national and international issues facing society and governments. We draw from hundreds of sources of progressive news and commentary. Est. 2006.
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Air Date 4/12/2024
The forces of capitalism and deregulation loom large as industrial transport disasters continue to pile up with new focus brought to the issue by the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse and the series of dangerous and deadly failures from Boeing.
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SHOW NOTES
Two full days after the disastrous collapse of a bridge in Baltimore, little is known about six construction workers who went missing—and are now presumed dead.
The Real News convened a panel of journalists working all sides of this story to get a sense of what we know about the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, what key questions still need to be answered, and what happens next.
Ch. 3: Cars, Bridges, Ships and Planes - The Zero Hour - Air Date 04-06-24
Discussing the Baltimore disaster in the context of infrastructure investment more broadly
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 12: Final comments on the threat to society of runaway corporate executive pay
References:
The failure of Bill Clinton's CEO pay reform - Politico
The Executive Pay Cap That Backfired - ProPublica
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)
SHOW IMAGE:
Description: Photo taken from inside the Alaska Airlines flight 1282 Boeing plane that lost its door mid-flight. A rectangular hole in the side of the plane reveals a wall of white clouds. The nearby seats are empty and oxygen masks hang from the ceiling.
Credit: Photo taken by unidentified passenger and provided to the public by the National Transportation Safety Board(NTSB) as part of their investigation. | License: Public Domain
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date 4/9/2024
The neoliberal legacy of the New Democrats continues to loom large but it really does seem like the progressive wing of the party and the broader demand for populist economic policies has had an impact. Now people just need to know that it's happening.
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SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: American Socialism - Prospect: Generations - Air Date 4-6-23
In this episode of the Prospect's Generations podcast, editor at large Harold Meyerson, who joined the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee in 1975, and writing fellow Luke Goldstein, who was attracted to socialism by Bernie Sanders
Ch. 2: The Legacy of the New Democrats - KPFA - Against the Grain - Air Date 8-17-22
Historian Lily Geismer looks at how the the Democratic Leadership Council and Clinton-era Democratic Party increased inequality, through development zones, charter schools, welfare "reform", and microfinance.
Ch. 3: Clinton's 'Fabulous Failure' Part 1 - Start Making Sense - Air Date 10-4-23
Our politics today is haunted by the failures of Bill Clinton—the "centrist" who "triangulated" with Republicans, lost on healthcare, and proclaimed that "the era of big government is over." Nelson Lichtenstein explains Clinton's turn to the right
MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S)
Ch. 7: Price Controls: An Inflation Solution That Doesn't Screw Workers - Deconstructed - Air Date 7-7-23
CENTRIST AND RIGHT-WING economists continue to advocate for laying off workers and engineering a recession to address inflation. But why not set price controls instead?
Ch. 8: Clinton's 'Fabulous Failure' Part 2 - Start Making Sense - Air Date 10-4-23
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 12: Final comments on the way we think about political criticism
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)
SHOW IMAGE:
Description: Photo of President Joe Biden shaking hands with a hard-hat-and-safety-vest clad union worker during a campaign event in Pennsylvania.
Credit: "President Biden greeting union workers" by Governor Tom Wolf Flickr account | License: CC BY 2.0 | Changes: Cropped
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date: 4-7-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - Many facets of our society are clearly broken by capitalism, and bizarrely for some, chaos is the only thing that beings agency to their life - The delusion of RFK Jr. voters, the understandable desire to vote third party, and the age-old cry of the 'uniparty' - The trend of conservative voters among communities of color and where they find themselves in Trump's Republican Party - And that one of the Democrats main stumbling blocks is they're only interested in keeping things exactly as they are
REFERENCES: The Americans Who Need Chaos
Andrew Tate on why he doesn't read books
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Targets a Generation of Politically Disaffected, Extremely Online Men
Forget Kennedy Democrats. Here Comes the 2024 Kennedy Voter.
The Strange History of the 'Uniparty'
The unexpected dynamic that could decide the Trump-Biden rematch
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Original Air Date: 11/10/2020
Today we take a look at the long and shifting history of the myth of democracy in America. We've never had it since the beginning but the reasons have shifted, ebbed and flowed over time. Now, in the midst of an attempted slow-motion coup, we look back at this most central American myth.
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SHOW NOTES
Two of the last three presidents — George W. Bush and Donald Trump — came to office after losing the popular vote. "The Framers who met at the Constitutional Convention really had no idea what they were doing when they established how to pick a president"
Ch. 2: The Second Revolution - Scene On Radio - Air Date 2-19-20
After the Civil War, a surprising coalition tried to remake the United States into a real multiracial democracy for the first time. Reconstruction, as the effort was called, brought dramatic change to America. For a while.
Ch. 3: Democracy: Past, Present... and Future? - The Laura Flanders Show - Air Date 6-26-19
Don't remember the past? Does that mean you're condemned to repeat it? What does our country's past tell us about our present— and how can it help us imagine a better future? This week, two leading thinkers on the tricky challenges of democracy.
Ch. 4: More Democracy - Scene on Radio - Air Date 6-10-20
What will it take to make the United States a more fully functioning democracy, and how can we, as citizens, bring about that change? By host and producer John Biewen, with series collaborator Chenjerai Kumanyika.
TAKE ACTION
Written by BOTL Communications Director Amanda Hoffman
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date 4/3/2024
As the country gears up for the election in November, we look at a variety of ways the GOP and their election-denialist supporters are preparing to subvert the democratic process to get the result they want.
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SHOW NOTES
A question remains among most American, and specifically Arizonan, voters: how can we make elections better? David Becker is a co-founder of the Center for Election Innovation and Research to improve elections through technology and reliance on data.
A federal jury in Washington ordered Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump's former campaign attorney, to pay $148 million to two Georgia election workers for distress caused by lies he spread following the 2020 election.
Ch. 3: Charlie Kirk Lackey Gets Humiliated By Election Official - The Majority Report - Air Date 3-3-24
Ch. 4: Far Right Plan Chaos Ahead of 2024 Election - Thom Hartmann Program - Air Date 3-22-24
Donald Trump and the far right want the 2024 election to be so chaotic they can make the case that Trump won, even if he goes down in flames losing by spectacular numbers.
MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S)
Ch. 10: Exposing Secret Fascist Plan To 'Win' 2024 Election - Thom Hartmann Program - Air Date 2-26-24
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 12: Final comments on the backfire effect of lies about mail-in voting
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)
SHOW IMAGE:
Description: A photo of a protestor, wearing a mask, and holding a sign up that says "When we count, democracy wins."
Credit: "40a.BLM.Plaza.WDC.7November2020" by Elvert Barnes, Flickr | License: CC BY-SA 2.0 | Changes: Cropped
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date: 4-1-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - how Trump uses humor to normalize his behavior and engage his supporters - how humor is not always a great weapon against fascism and autocracy
REFERENCES: Can Parents Prevent Their Sons From Sliding to the Right?
In on the Joke: The Comedic Trick Trump Uses to Normalize His Behavior
Laughing All the Way to Autocracy
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Air Date 3/30/2024
We are living through an age of protest from the opposition to the Iraq war, the Arab Spring uprisings, Occupy Wall Street, through to marches against Trump, and now the war in Gaza. So, we thought we should take a look at the art and science of protest itself.
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SHOW NOTES
The 2010s saw a new era of mass protest, from Arab Spring uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and Syria, to Occupy Wall Street, EuroMaidan and Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement. Many of these movements shared a "horizontalist" or leaderless approach
Ch. 2: The Uncommitted Movement feat. Layla Elabed & Waleed Shahid - Chapo Trap House - Air Date 3-8-24
Organizers Layla Elabed and Waleed Shahid join us to discuss their recent successes with the movement to vote uncommitted against Joe Biden in the ongoing democratic primaries. They lay out their goals
Ch. 3: Why Peaceful Protest Won't Solve Anything - Second Thought - Air Date 8-12-22
Ch. 4: Gaza Protesters SHUT DOWN Schiff's Victory Speech - The Majority Report - Air Date 3-6-24
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 12: Final comments on the importance of building momentum over time with protest
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)
SHOW IMAGE:
Description: A photo of a handmade protest sign taped to a chainlink fence that says "This is a movement not a moment." Taped to the bottom of the sign is a smaller sign that says "Jacob Blake" with hearts around it.
Credit: "18a.StreetArtFence.BLM.Plaza.WDC.27August2020" by Elvert Barnes, Flickr | License: CC BY-SA 2.0 | Changes: Cropped, slightly increased brightness, contrast and saturation.
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date: 3-28-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - how the wealthy use psilocybin to deal with stress and break the rules of time - the working class get bath time and training on how to self-care their stress away - the
REFERENCES: It's Time to Give Up on Email
The Working Woman's Newest Life Hack: Magic Mushrooms
How America Became Addicted to Therapy
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Original Air Date: 12/23/2021
Today we take a look at some of the history of labor struggles in America and the current wave of strikes that is giving renewed energy to the labor union movement and the struggle for better working conditions for all.
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SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: Lessons from the Luddites - On the Media - Air Date 12-10-21
Gavin Mueller [@gavinmuellerphd], assistant professor of New Media and Digital Culture at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, on what modern lessons can be learned from the Luddite workers of 19th century England.
Ch. 2: Victory at Starbucks, Struggle at Kellogg's Part 1 - Jacobin Radio - Air Date 12-13-21
Suzi talks with John Logan about the unionization victory at Starbucks in Buffalo, and the continuing Kellogg Co. strike.
Ch. 3: Strike Wave Workers Flex Their Muscle in Tight Labor Market Part 1 - Intercepted - Air Date 11-10-21
We hear from Kaiser Permanente workers, and then Labor Notes' Jonah Furman joins The Intercept's Washington Editor Nausicaa Renner to discuss this year's strike wave.
The episode includes a blow-by-blow analysis of a recent interview with the CEO of Kellogg's to translate Wall Street speak for "how to fuck workers and influence inflation."
Ch. 5: Victory at Starbucks, Struggle at Kellogg's Part 2 - Jacobin Radio - Air Date 12-13-21
Suzi talks with John Logan about the unionization victory at Starbucks in Buffalo, and the continuing Kellogg Co. strike.
Ch. 6: Class Struggles in the US Today - Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff - Air Date 12-2-21
The "labor shortage" isn't, "Build Back Better" does not begin to approach what Europe already has.
MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S)
Ch. 9: Lessons from the Luddites Part 2 - On the Media - Air Date 12-10-21
Gavin Mueller [@gavinmuellerphd], assistant professor of New Media and Digital Culture at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, on what modern lessons can be learned from the Luddite workers of 19th century England.
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date 3/23/2024
Equality has been at the heart of civil rights movements for decades but what we have failed to see is that in striving for equality we cannot help but reinforce the unquestioned preexisting structures of society which, themselves, may be at fundamental odds with true freedom for all.
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SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: Marcie Bianco — Breaking Free - with Charlotte Clymer - Politics and Prose - Air Date 9-23-23
Watch author Marcie Bianco's book talk and reading at Politics and Prose bookstore in Washington, D.C.
Ch. 2: Angela Saini The Patriarchs 'How Men Came to Rule' - The Overpopulation Podcast - Air Date 2-6-24
By detailing the diversity of human arrangements, including the prevalence of egalitarian and matrilineal societies around the world – past and present – Angela reveals that male-supremacy is neither natural nor immutable.
Ch. 3: The Fraud Of 'White Feminism' w/ Kyla Schuller - The Majority Report - Air Date 1-20-22
Emma hosts Kyla Schuller, Assistant Professor of Women's and Gender Studies at Rutgers University, to discuss her recent book The Trouble With White Women: A Counterhistory of Feminism.
MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S)
Ch. 8: The Fraud Of 'White Feminism' w Kyla Schuller Part 2 - The Majority Report - Air Date 1-20-22
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 10: Final comments on what the path beyond equality and toward freedom looks like
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)
SHOW IMAGE:
Description: A photo of a protest in a city street. A person holds up a neon pink sign that says "Smash Patriarchy. Smash Capitalism." Part of a Starbucks logo can be seen behind the sign.
Credit: "Smash patriarchy smash capitalism" by Peter, Flickr | License: CC By 2.0 | Changes: Cropped, slight increase in brightness, contrast and saturation.
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