The Chauncey DeVega Show

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Ep. 366: Nuclear Espionage? More Proof That Donald Trump is The Worst President in American History and a Traitor Aug 16, 2022

Show notes

Brynn Tannehill is a leading trans activist and essayist. She has written for such leading publications as The New York Times, The Huffington Post, and The Advocate.

Tannehill is a former United States Naval Aviator and officer who also served as a campaign analyst for the 5th Fleet Headquarters in Bahrain. After leaving the military, she worked as a senior defense research scientist in private industry.

Tannehill is the author of several books including American Fascism: How the GOP is Subverting Democracy.

Tannehill explains that the Republican-fascist movement is in full revolutionary mode and will not stop until America's pluralistic multiracial democracy is destroyed.

She highlights the need to use the correct moral language to describe the Republican-fascists and Trump-led anti-democracy movement as evil and why the Democratic Party and too many centrist "reasonable" liberal and progressive types are unable to do what is necessary to save American democracy.

Tannehill also separates fact from fiction regarding what is actually known about Donald Trump being investigated by the Department of Justice for allegedly violating the Espionage Act and betraying America's nuclear and other most closely guarded secrets.

She details a scenario where Donald Trump is (finally) arrested and charged with committing high crimes, then escapes responsibility, and the United States spirals into widespread neofascist violence and other deadly mayhem.

Chauncey DeVega reflects on the pressures of writing "hot takes" about America's escalating crises, why so many public voices succumb to chasing controversy and "if it bleeds it leads", and the necessity of being calm, cool, and collected during this national emergency.

WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME?

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Ep. 365: Marvel Comics Writer Jason Aaron Shares His Love of Great Storytelling in Comic Books, Graphic Novels, and Professional Wrestling Jul 31, 2022

Show notes

There are two guests on this WWE SummerSlam weekend episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show

Jason Aaron is the writer of such comics books and graphic novels as Thor, Star Wars, Avengers, Punisher, Conan The Barbarian, The Goddamned, Sea of Stars, and many other popular must-read titles.

The new Marvel Cinematic Universe film Thor: Love and Thunder was heavily inspired by Aaron's The Mighty Thor and Thor: God of Thunder.

Jason Aaron reflects on his journey from "breaking into" the comic book business to his triumph as a writer at Marvel. He also shares what he does to remain focused, positive and to ensure that he always appreciates the good fortune for the amazing career he has earned and enjoyed so far.

Jason Aaron also passes along some of the wisdom he has learned along the way about what it takes to succeed at an elite level as a professional creative person.

And Jason Aaron and Chauncey DeVega have a wide-ranging conversation about their mutual love of the art, drama and physical storytelling that is the best of professional wrestling and why CM Punk's return and his feud with MJF was one of the greatest recent stories in all of sports.

Irv Muchnick is one of America's leading sports journalists and investigative writers.

His essays and other writing have appeared in Sports Illustrated, People, The Washington Monthly, and the Sunday magazines of the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. He is the author of three books, Chris & Nancy, Wrestling Babylon, and Concussion Inc..

Muchnick shares his thoughts on the rise and fall of (now former) WWE CEO and Chairman Vince McMahon and how history may remember him and his legacy not just for sports and professional wrestling but for American society more broadly.

Muchnick also reflects on how it feels to see many of the stories about scandal, crime, corruption, and other bad behavior in the world of professional wrestling and sports that he exposed years and decades ago now being "discovered" by the mainstream news media.

And Chauncey DeVega offers his analysis of "season one" of the House Jan. 6 hearings, explains why there are no Republican "heroes", and warns that Rep. Liz Cheney is not a friend of democracy and should never be trusted.

Chauncey also shares his review of the new documentary Fire of Love.

Quick Episode Summary

00:48 introductions, thanks, and shout-outs
19:33 the pathetic desperate search for Republican heroes by the American people and the House Jan. 6 committee
37:40 Review: Fire of Love
46:30 Irv Muchnick
01:07:00 Jason Aaron
01:44:30 ILAC, affirmations, and encouragements to positive action

WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME?

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Ep. 364: The Truth Report -- Eddie Glaude Explains That America is in Great Pain and on a Horrible Journey and White Racial Innocence Will Not Save It Jul 21, 2022

Show notes

This is a sneak preview of this week's installment of The Truth Report:

https://thetruthreportwithchaunceydevega.libsyn.com/ep-117-america-is-in-great-pain-and-on-a-horrible-journey-and-white-racial-innocence-wil-not-save-it

Eddie Glaude Jr. is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and Chair of the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University.

His publications include "Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul", "In a Shade of Blue: Pragmatism and the Politics of Black America", and his most recent, the New York Times bestseller, "Begin Again: James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for our Own".

Professor Glaude has also written for The New York Times, The Huffington Post, and Time and is a frequent guest commentator on MSNBC. He is also the host of the new podcast "History is US".

Professor Glaude explains how American society is stuck in a state of grieving, loss, death, and pain because of the covid pandemic, neofascism, and the other unresolved and worsening existential crises facing the country.

He also reflects on how Black Americans and their Blues Sensibility has gifted them with a unique insight into and capacity for surviving and triumphing over American fascism and the many related lies and myths that (White) Americans tell themselves about the country

Professor Glaude warns that white racial innocence and an American culture that is infantile, immature, and in profound denial about reality will likely bring the end of the American experiment.

WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME?

On Twitter:

https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega

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HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW?

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Ep. 363: Baz Luhrmann's Great New Movie "Elvis" is Much More Than The Sum of Its Parts Jul 12, 2022

Show notes

This week's very special episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show focuses on Baz Luhrmann's new movie Elvis and the life, music, legend, meaning, and enduring importance of "The King" Elvis Presley.

"Champion" Joe Lansdale is the award-winning author of more than 50 novels including the amazing Hap and Leonard series. His Bram Stoker Award-nominated novella, Bubba Ho-Tep, was made into a movie of the same name by Don Coscarelli and featured Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis.

Joe Lansdale shares what it was like experiencing the Elvis cultural phenomenon as a young man; the power of black music and Presley's relationship to it; youth culture and sex; and Luhrmann's new movie as a work of art and a type of true lie.

Joe Lansdale also shares a powerful memory about exactly where he was and what he was doing the moment he found out that Elvis Presley had died.

And Joe Lansdale reflects on getting to know Michael Kenneth Williams, shares some thoughts about his beloved cult classic film Bubba Ho-Tep, and of course updates folks on the future of Hap and Leonard.

Michael Bertrand is the second guest on this week's installment of The Chauncey DeVega Show.

He is a professor of history at Tennessee State University and the author of the book Race, Rock, and Elvis.

Bertrand separates fact from fiction about Elvis Presley's relationship to black music and the color line; the complex dynamics of race and class in Presley's life, career, and cultural meaning; and why we are still talking about The King almost five decades after his death.

Chauncey DeVega goes to the movies and reviews The Black Phone, Mr. Malcolm's List, Crimes of the Future, Brian and Charles, The Phantom of the Open, and Top Gun: Maverick.

And Chauncey is overwhelmed with emotion while watching G.I. Joe: The Movie 35th Anniversary.

WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME?

On Twitter:

https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega

On Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega

My email:

chaunceydevega@gmail.com

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW?

Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com

Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thechaunceydevegashow

Ep. 362: Jeff Sharlet's Journey into the Dark Heart of the American Fascist Nightmare Fever Dream Jun 27, 2022

Show notes

Jeff Sharlet is a journalist and bestselling author of The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power and C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy.

His new article "January 6 Was Only the Beginning" is featured in the July/August 2022 issue of Vanity Fair magazine.

Sharlet shares what it was like to journey across America into the dark heart of Trumplandia and the MAGAverse, what is a fascist surreal nightmare and a country that feels like it is coming apart at the seams and foundation as it teeters on the precipice of widespread political violence and bloodshed.

He also explains why the mainstream news media and the other centrists, hope peddlers, professional smart people, and "respectable" political elites – and too many everyday Americans -- are in such denial about the American nightmare and refuse to believe that Donald Trump, the Republican-fascists, and the larger white right are an existential threat to American democracy and the larger society.

On this bountiful episode of the podcast, Chauncey DeVega explains the importance of remaining calm and focused during a time of great emergency.

Chauncey also shares his thoughts on this tsunami assault on American freedom and democracy in the form of an illegitimate Supreme Court that over the course of a week took away women's reproductive rights and freedoms, gave guns more rights than human beings, and continued to push the country towards being a full-on Christian fascist theocracy.

And Chauncey DeVega shares what took place during his recent epic soap operatic visit home to see his beloved mama and other people.

Quick Episode Summary

00:45 decompressing and centering ourselves
07:00 introduction and situation report
34:00 day-to-day things you can do to get your momentum for the long fight ahead
49:00 story time, an epic journey home, 3 revelations, and counting my blessings and good fortune
01:31:00 Jeff Sharlet
02:21:00 positive energy, calls to action and ILAC

WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME?

On Twitter:

https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega

On Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega

My email:

chaunceydevega@gmail.com

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW?

Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com

Patreon:

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Ep. 361: Your "Hashtag Activism", "Likes", "Shares", and "Tweets" Will Not Save You From the Fascist Nightmare or Other Political and Societal Disasters Jun 13, 2022

Show notes

Gal Beckerman is the senior editor for books at The Atlantic. His new book is The Quiet Before: On the Unexpected Origins of Radical Ideas.

His previous work When They Come for Us We'll Be Gone was named book of the year by the Washington Post and The New Yorker.

Beckerman reflects on his working-class origins and values, his vocation as a writer and relationship to books and literature, and career and personal lessons learned during his journey to the New York Times and now The Atlantic.

As seen with the examples of the Arab Spring, Black Lives Matter, and organizing against police brutality, Beckerman also explains the pitfalls of believing that the Internet, social media, and other digital tools are a substitute for "old school" on the ground organizing and corporeal politics in the struggle against Power and for a justice.

In short, you cannot "tweet", "like", "share", or "Facebook" your way to a successful social movement and substantive resistance against fascism, authoritarianism, and other anti-democracy and anti-human forces.

Chauncey DeVega does some public thinking about the recent gun massacres in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas, America's need for a moral reckoning, and why hope warriors and other people of conscience must be kind to themselves in order to endure in the long struggle against the many different types of evil at work in the Age of Trump and beyond.

WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME?

On Twitter:

https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega

On Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega

My email:

chaunceydevega@gmail.com

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW?

Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com

Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thechaunceydevegashow

Music at the end of this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show is by JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound. You can listen to some of their great music on Spotify.

Ep. 360: Confronting The Raw Truth About The White Supremacist Terrorist Attack on The Black Community in Buffalo May 18, 2022

Show notes

This week's special episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show confronts the white supremacist terrorist attack on the black community in Buffalo, New York.

Leonce Gaiter's nonfiction writing has appeared in The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Times, LA Weekly, Newsweek, and The Washington Post.

Gaiter is also the author of the historical novel, "I Dreamt I Was in Heaven - The Rampage of the Rufus Buck Gang".

He reflects on questions of justice, black rage, black revenge, and white denial and complicity in response to white supremacist terrorism and other white racist violence. Gaiter warns that there is a vested interest among America's political class and other elites – on both sides of the color line -- to not truly confront white supremacy in this society.

He explains why the Buffalo white supremacist terrorist's manifesto and name should be spread widely and used as a tool to shame White America about its relationship to and enabling of white supremacist violence and other evil.

Tim Wise is an author, activist and leading expert on white privilege and racism. He is the author of many books, including his most recent "Dispatches From the Race War."

He explores the role of white privilege, white racial innocence, and white denial in the Buffalo white supremacist terrorist attack.

Wise warns that the white supremacist terrorist attack in Buffalo is likely the first of what will be many other such events here in the United States.

He also counsels that we must remain persistent in the anti-racism struggle and not surrender to exhaustion or otherwise be worn down by repetition.

Chauncey DeVega reflects on racial battle fatigue, the long Black Freedom Struggle, and how to defend oneself against pathological white supremacy and racism in a country that is in the midst of a neofascist attack on democracy and the health, lives, sanity, and future of black and brown people and other marginalized groups.

And Chauncey returns to the foundational question in these moments of evil and destruction: what type of human being do you want to be?

SELECTED LINKS OF INTEREST FOR THIS EPISODE OF THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW

WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME?

On Twitter:

https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega

On Facebook:

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HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW?

Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com

Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thechaunceydevegashow

Music at the end of this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show is by JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound. You can listen to some of their great music on Spotify.

Ep. 359: The Battle to Save American Democracy From the Republican-Fascists Will Be Long and Difficult -- And Quitting Is Not an Option May 03, 2022

Show notes

Don Winslow is a bestselling crime fiction author, political activist, a hope warrior, and one of our premiere truth-tellers. His videos about the dangers to democracy embodied by Donald Trump and the Republican Party have been viewed online more than 250 million times.

Don Winslow is the author of many bestselling novels, including "Savages" (2010), "The Cartel" (2015), "The Force" (2017), and "The Border" (2019). His work has also been adapted for major Hollywood movies and TV series. His new book, the first in a trilogy, is "City on Fire."

He explains that the struggle to save American democracy will be a very long one and that exhaustion, quitting, and surrender are not options. Winslow also warns that Donald Trump and his cabal will escape serious punishment for their crimes and why naïve optimism is the enemy of democracy and the long struggle against the global right.

Don Winslow also offers advice on writing and his vocation, and the lessons about life and being a good father, husband, man, and citizen that he learned from his role-models and mentors.

In this bountiful episode of the podcast, Chauncey DeVega prepares the American people for the great anti-climax that will be the "revelations" soon to be made fully public by the House Jan. 6 committee about Donald Trump's coup attempt and the attack on the Capitol.

Chauncey also shares a story about the importance of being kind to ourselves.

And Chauncey DeVega goes to the movies and shares his reviews of Everything Everywhere All at Once, Ambulance, The Contractor (which was a very, very special screening), and The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent.

Friend of the podcast Mr. Bill also stops by for a special discussion of the amazing new film, The Northman.

Quick Episode Summary

15:56 The Great Anticlimax
20:17 Story Time: The Importance of Being Kind to Yourself
38:31 Movie Reviews
01:06:00 The Northman
01:26:00 Don Winslow on America's democracy crisis

SELECTED LINKS OF INTEREST FOR THIS EPISODE OF THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW

WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME?

On Twitter:

https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega

On Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega

My email:

chaunceydevega@gmail.com

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW?

Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com

Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thechaunceydevegashow

Music at the end of this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show is by JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound. You can listen to some of their great music on Spotify.

Ep. 358: Honoring and Remembering Eric Boehlert Apr 19, 2022

Show notes

This episode is in honor of author, journalist, and media critic Eric Boehlert who passed away on April 4, 2022.

Chauncey DeVega reflects on Boehlert's life and truth-telling and shares his final article about media malpractice and the Biden administration. Chauncey also reads Will Bunch's wonderful tribute to Eric Boehlert at The Philadelphia Inquirer.

This episode of the podcast revisits our conversation with Eric Boehlert from January 2021, several weeks after Trump and his cabal's coup attempt.

Eric Boehlert is an award-winning journalist who has written for Rolling Stone and Media Matters. He is also the author of the books "Bloggers on the Bus: How the Internet Changed Politics and the Press" and "Lapdog: How the Press Rolled Over for Bush". Boehlert is the editor and founder of PressRun.Media.

He explains how the American mainstream corporate news media helped to enable Donald Trump's fascist coup attack on the Capitol by denying reality and trying to silence those voices who were sounding the alarm. Boehlert also highlights how the leading voices among the American news media consistently fail in their analyses and predictions yet are consistently rewarded for doing so.

And Boehlert identifies the mainstream news media narratives that will be used to avoid confronting the ongoing crisis that will be Donald Trump's fascist movement and its threat to the future of the country during Biden's presidency and beyond.

Chauncey DeVega reflects on how time and reality are broken in America where over the course of two weeks the country has (will) experienced a fascist coup attack, impeachment, Dr. King's remembrance day, and the inauguration of President Joe Biden.

Chauncey also details how counterterrorism and other national security experts are warning that Donald Trump's fascist movement is evolving into a type of insurgency as seen in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other failed states.

SELECTED LINKS OF INTEREST FOR THIS EPISODE OF THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW

Why is the press rooting against Biden?

Eric Boehlert's tragic death came as U.S. desperately needs to hear his message | Will Bunch

WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME?

On Twitter:

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My email:

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HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW?

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Patreon:

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Please subscribe to and follow my new podcast The Truth Report

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-truth-report-with-chauncey-devega/id1465522298

http://thetruthreportwithchaunceydevega.libsyn.com/

Music at the end of this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show is by JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound. You can listen to some of their great music on Spotify.

Ep. 357: The Truth Report -- Chris Hedges Reflects on the New Censorship and Authoritarianism of the 21st Century Apr 09, 2022

Show notes

This is a sneak preview of this week's installment of The Truth Report:

https://thetruthreportwithchaunceydevega.libsyn.com/ep-113-chris-hedges-reflects-on-the-new-censorship-and-authoritarianism-of-the-21st-century

Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, bestselling author, and social critic. His most recent book is Our Class: Trauma and Transformation in an American Prison.

He reflects on the sudden deletion of his popular Emmy-award winning RT Network television show "On Contact" from YouTube in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Hedges also explains what that reveals about the new censorship in the 21st century, a time when social media and other corporate actors exercise an almost unrestricted power to shape public opinion and to silence those voices and individuals they deem to be problematic.

And Chris Hedges tries to prepare the American people for a 21st century where Christian fascists, right-wing fake populists, the corporatocracy and other right-wing authoritarians will be in power and the mainstream news media and the Democratic Party with its centrist monied interests (and a desperate yearning to return to "normal") is going to simultaneously be both crushed and willing agents of the new order.

WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME?

On Twitter:

https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega

On Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega

My email:

chaunceydevega@gmail.com

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE TRUTH REPORT?

Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/TheTruthReportPodcast

Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com

Music at the end of this week's episode of The Truth Report is by JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound. You can listen to some of their great music on Spotify.

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