InfluenceWatch Podcast

Before we begin, a programming note: Starting this week, we will be releasing the podcast on Tuesday mornings.For over seven years, InfluenceWatch.org has served the interested public as a resource on the groups and people influencing (see what we did there?) public policy. But now, Capital Research Center is launching a toolkit to help educators introduce their students to our behind-the-scenes information on American politics and policy. Joining us to discuss the new “InfluenceWatch Educational Guide” is former schoolteacher and Capital Research Center senior fellow Kali Fontanilla.Bringing Critical Thinking to the ClassroomInfluenceWatch Educational GuideKamala Harris paid LeBron James' entertainment company $50,000 for 'campaign event production'

It's 2025 in America, but news reports of antitrust lawsuits which, if successful, could potentially lead to at least a partial breakup of some of the biggest tech companies in the world, hearken back to the early 1900s when Standard Oil was fundamentally restructured and the Federal Trade Commission was created. Names like Meta, Google, Amazon, and Apple – they're all being examined for potential anticompetitive behavior, with Meta's Mark Zuckerberg recently taking the stand and Google entering a remedy phase to ameliorate what a Court decided was behavior violating antitrust law. The political giving associated with these companies suggests that the outcomes of these suits could affect not just individual platform users but also possibly the broader American political landscape. Joining the podcast today to discuss these developments is Daniel Cochrane, Senior Research Associate in the Center for Technology and the Human Person at The Heritage Foundation.Mark Zuckerberg Wants Us to Forgive, Forget Facebook's Sins

It can seem infuriating: Leftist demonstrators wantonly violate the law, only to face no or negligible consequences because the powers that be either support or refuse to oppose their disruptive tactics. But as a famous progressive politician was fond of saying, “The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice.” Last month, a North Dakota jury awarded Energy Transfer, the company building the Dakota Access Pipeline, $667 million in justice, holding that Greenpeace USA had defamed the company during demonstrations against the pipeline. Joining us to discuss the protests, the verdict, and what it might mean for leftist activism going forward is James Meigs, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.Greenpeace Verdict Is a Wake-Up Call for Progressive NGOsGreenpeace ordered to pay Dakota Access Pipeline operator $667 million in case that could destroy the groupLetter from a Birmingham Jail — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.Dismantle the “Environmental Justice” Juggernaut

Hello, I'm Michael Watson joined by Robert Stilson and this is the InfluenceWatch Podcast. There's an odd thing about the loud demonstrators protesting Israel in the year and a half since the Hamas attacks on the country in October 2023: They don't like America much either. And now, there's documentary proof to go along with the suppositions derived from protest literature, marchers' signs, and ideological manifestos. Our colleague Ryan Mauro, an expert on political extremism and Middle East policy, has detailed the increase in anti-American and anti-law-enforcement sloganeering by pro-Palestinian groups since the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.How “Pro-Palestinian” Protest Groups Promote Anti-AmericanismOrganizational ExamplesPrevalence of Charities Among Radical Groups

While we at Capital Research Center may not have a favorite Internal Revenue Service regulation, we do find one to be particularly relevant to our work on nonprofits in the public policy process: “Restriction of political campaign intervention by Section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations.” Long story short, if you're a public charity, you're free to be ideological, but you cannot endorse or support candidates for office. And New Georgia Project, the charitable-nonprofit voter outreach group of serial Georgia candidate Stacey Abrams, is on the hot seat for allegedly breaking that regulation, with the group paying a state fine for campaign finance violations, the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee asking the IRS to revoke the group's tax exemption, and the state Senate investigating the Abrams-New Georgia relationship. Campaign finance expert Hans Von Spakovsky joins us to discuss what's going on down in Georgia.New Georgia Project Leader Resigns After Ethics FineStacey Abrams-founded nonprofit faces crackdown threat from House GOP's top tax writerGeorgia Senate targets Stacey Abrams voting organization in new investigation

Sixty billion dollars—that is the estimate of foreign funding of American universities that Americans for Public Trust released earlier this week. Of that $60 billion, $20 billion went to just ten prestigious schools including Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, MIT, Yale, and Columbia, among others. Joining us to discuss the findings and the implications of the foreign funding of these major universities is Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of APT.Links:New report sounds alarm on 'staggering' amount of foreign money pouring into US universitiesNew Study Reveals ‘Pro-Palestinian' Groups Promote Violence and Anti-AmericanismLinda McMahon to Education May Choke Foreign Influence Operations on Campus

To quote our colleague and guest for the week, Parker Thayer, the nonprofit voter registration industry “might not sound like a particularly exciting or important topic, and in an ideal world it wouldn't be either, but unfortunately, it's both.” Earlier this week, Parker testified to the Michigan House Election Integrity Committee on the nonprofit voter registration industry, which he has studied extensively. He joins us to discuss his testimony to the legislature and his research on nonprofit voter registration.Links:Nonprofit VOTE (IW)Voter Registration Project (IW)Partisan Charities Failed to Win in 2024 (VIDEO)Corrupt Voter Registration Scheme PersistsThe Winged Nike of Pennsylvania Ave

We here at CRC try not to wade into the more salacious soap opera stories that quite frankly infest the DC political world. But when a story intersects with work we already do, well, we're not above getting down into the dirt a little. Such is the case with the report that dropped a few days ago that Connecticut liberal Senator and Biden mouthpiece Chris Murphy has recently left his wife and taken up with leftist activist Tara McGowan, late of the Obama administration and Courier Newsroom, a local news propaganda peddler that pushes political advertisements under the guise of local journalism. Watson has covered Courier fairly extensively so we decided to invite another Courier watcher Mark Hemingway of Real Clear Politics on to discuss what a union between Murphy and McGowan might mean beyond just a lot of really flattering, AI-generated pieces in quote “local news outlets."

Addiction breaks lives, breaks families, and on a mass scale can break societies, but breaking an addiction is quite difficult. There are two main schools of thought for how to help addicted people: Abstinence, or the cessation of drug (or alcohol, or other addictive vice) use, or “harm reduction”—the practice defined by the National Institutes of Health as “interventions aimed to help people avoid negative effects of drug use.” But is “harm reduction” a good policy and a good use of federal government money? Joining us to discuss his report on harm reduction spending by federal agencies is our colleague Robert Stilson.Links: DOGE and HHS: Harm ReductionBiden Admin To Fund Crack Pipe Distribution To Advance 'Racial Equity'The Weird Ideas and Shoddy Science Behind Free Government Crack PipesOmnibus Spending Bill Includes Ban on Government-Funded Crack PipesInside the East Coast's Largest Open-Air Drug MarketDispensing Drug ParaphernaliaFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

Today a Senate Committee voted to advance former Oregon Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump's controversial pick for Labor Secretary, to a full floor vote, so Americans would do well to begin preparing for an impending onslaught of labor-related news, especially since, as my colleague Mike Watson will likely make clear in this episode, the new courtship of Big Labor coming from the right made the unlikely pick of Chavez-DeRemer a possibility. Adding to the drama was the no vote from Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who, not coincidentally, earlier in February introduced the National Right to Work Act, a conservative-backed bill that among other things, makes paying union dues voluntary. Joining us to discuss that development, and his organization's work on the act itself, is Jace White, Director of Federal Affairs at the National Right to Work Committee. Links: Dr. Rand Paul Reintroduces National Right to Work ActNational Right To Work FoundationWhy Is Josh Hawley Bringing Obamanomics Back from the Grave?It doesn't go well when Republicans put Big Labor in the CabinetFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

How much did the U.S. government spend on illegal migrants and dubious asylum claimants over the past four years? That is the question that many people are asking after Elon Musk, who is the frontman for the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency teams, claimed that FEMA had spent $59 million on “luxury hotels” to house migrants. Unfortunately for taxpayers, as our guest Simon Hankinson of the Heritage Foundation has noted, that expenditure is only the tip of the iceberg of taxpayer support for the migration surge under the Biden administration.Links: DOGE Discovers the Biden-Mayorkas Illegal Migration Funding MachineFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

The new Trump administration has set its Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) at the institutional bureaucracy with a mandate to streamline government operations and target wasteful spending or spending contrary to administration policy. Here at Capital Research Center, our “DOGE Files” are highlighting federal grantmaking to nonprofit organizations that DOGE, the rest of the administration, and Congress may find wasteful or contrary to sound policy. Joining us to discuss their investigations are our colleagues Parker Thayer and Robert Stilson.Links:The DOGE FilesDOGE and the Department of EducationDOGE and the Department of LaborDOGE and the Department of Housing and Urban DevelopmentDOGE and Department of Agriculture's “Climate Smart” GrantsFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

Big Philanthropy and the so-called “good government” groups that it funds have a “solution” (I'm making air-quotes) to partisan gerrymandering: The “independent redistricting commission.” With funding from left-of-center groups like the Sixteen Thirty Fund, the National Redistricting Action Fund, the SEIU, the NEA, and the Quadrivium Foundation, a supposed political neophyte named Katie Fahey (whom media reports placed at Hillary Clinton's 2016 Election Night event) campaigned to establish one in Michigan during the 2018 election. Fahey won, and then 13 citizens went about drawing Michigan's congressional and state legislative districts after the 2020 Census. Joining my Michigan-based colleague Ken Braun and I to discuss her experiences inside Michigan's redistricting commission is Rebecca Szetela, who served as the Commission Chair from September 2021 through March 2022. Links: Michigan's Racist Redistricting “Reform”Michigan independent redistricting commission members on opposite sides of Ohio Issue 1Voters Not Politicians (VNP)The State of Redistricting 2022: The Coming CommissionsFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

The Trump administration is dismantling DEI within the federal workforce and ESG is slowly morphing into one of the most irritating terms in corporate governance. But conservatives, sensing there may be more work yet to do, might wonder if there is anything they can do individually to help end these discriminatory and counter-productive policies once and for all. Turns out, there is. A new effort called Coign (spelled C.O.I.G.N) offers what is essentially a conservative Visa card that donates a portion of every transaction to support Conservative charities. It's the brainchild of CEO Rob Collins, a proud conservative with some heavy-hitting bona fides such as serving as Former Executive Director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Former Chief of Staff to Representative Eric Cantor, and Former Press Secretary for Senator John Thune's Senate Campaign. Rob joins the show today to tell us all about COIGN.Links: America's first credit card for Conservatives...Coign Card Charity ProgramFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

On its way out the door, the Biden administration provided a number of exit gifts for its allies amongst left-wing groups: feminists and abortion-rights activists received a legally toothless declaration that the Equal Rights Amendment, which had a ratification deadline that expired no later than 1982, was validly ratified; Native American activists and the extreme-left saw American Indian Movement radical Leonard Peltier, convicted of involvement in the deaths of two FBI agents, released from prison; and Big Philanthropy saw longtime liberal megadonor George Soros honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom. But defund-the-police activists got another, very substantive exit-row gift from Biden's government that wasn't nearly as prominent: A proposed “consent decree” between the federal government and the Louisville Police Department strictly controlling how the Louisville PD will operate going forward. Joining us to discuss the decree is Neal Cornett, an attorney representing the Heritage Foundation in its efforts to intervene as a friend of the court.Links: HERITAGE FOUNDATION'S & HERITAGE FOUNDATION OVERSIGHT PROJECT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MIKE HOWELL'S MOTION TO PARTICIPATE AS AMICI CURIAE Justice Department Secures Agreement with Louisville Metro Government to Reform Louisville Metro's and Louisville Metro Police Department's Unconstitutional and Unlawful PracticesI-Team Exclusive: Drop in Baltimore homicides due to COVID-19 fraud prosecutions, US attorney saysFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

Almost everyone can look at the education landscape in America today and see that something has gone very, very wrong. Spending per student has increased, and there is no evidence that this increased spending has improved student performance outcomes. But what if there are factors eating up the budget and keeping the student performance outcomes stagnant? Factors such as the rise of teachers unions in non-right-to-work states, for example?Joining us today is Corey DeAngelis, a school choice evangelist who is a senior fellow at the American Culture Project, to discuss a recently released report he helped author that looks at just that, the administrative bloat in the public school system and how it correlates to increased teacher union influence. Also joining is CRC colleague Mike Watson, our regular host and resident labor union expert. Corey A. DeAngelis is a senior fellow at the American Culture Project. He has been labeled the “school choice evangelist” and called “the most effective school choice advocate since Milton Friedman.” He is a regular on Fox News and frequently appears in The Wall Street Journal. DeAngelis is also the executive director at Educational Freedom Institute, a senior fellow at Reason Foundation, an adjunct scholar at Cato Institute, a board member at Liberty Justice Center, and a senior advisor at Accuracy in Media. He holds a Ph.D. in education policy from the University of Arkansas. He is the national bestselling author of The Parent Revolution: Rescuing Your Kids from the Radicals Ruining Our Schools (Center Street, 2024).Links: Educational Bloat and the Role of UnionsCorey DeAngelis - XEducation FirstWhere Is, Repeat Where Is, America's Political Leadership? The World Wonders.American Culture ProjectFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

The incoming second Trump administration has vowed to take on “diversity, equity, and inclusion” policies in the federal government and in federally supported programs. In that, the incoming administration is following the model of conservative-led states like Texas, which have adopted policies restricting left-wing racial ideologies and race-conscious practices. Joining us to discuss Texas's experience in countering DEI is Kate Bierly of the Texas Public Policy Foundation.Links: Grading DEITexas Holding Universities Accountable on DEIWhat Trump's Second Term Could Mean for DEIAustin area nonprofits say they're struggling without DEI fundingFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

Well, 2025 is here. And while it came in rather tragically in the South – and we do extend our condolences to the victims of the terrorist attack in New Orleans– the new year also brings a new presidential inauguration. This incoming administration promises big changes both in how government functions and how it funds, and these changes could have immediate effects on the world of grantmaking, philanthropy, and how nonprofits operate generally. As such, my colleagues Mike Watson and Robert Stilson and I thought it might be interesting to make a few suggestions about how some of those changes could play out and which ones we, as an organization, are keeping our eyes on moving forward.Links: SF pays big bucks to nonprofits, fails to properly monitor themConservative nonprofit's proposal points to states as best way to reduce foreign influence in higher edSuperfund Shakedown: Part 1, On to Plan CFollow Trump 45 Labor Policy, Not the Teamsters UnionFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

As the incoming second Trump administration prepares to target government waste with the “Department of Government Efficiency” commission and activists hope that Trump's administration will root divisive left-wing racial ideologies out of government, Parents Defending Education has released a report relevant to both. The advocacy group identified $1 billion in federal grants from the Biden Department of Education to school districts, universities, and other groups for diversity, equity, and inclusion-related hiring and programming and social-emotional learning. Joining us to discuss the findings is Michele Exner, senior advisor at Parents Defending Education.Links: Biden's Education Department shelled out $1B on DEI since 2021: reportGrantEDFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

A new presidential administration does not typically mean new management at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but typically the incumbent FBI director did not oversee the FBI when it raided the President-elect's house. Given that fact and other standing disputes with the Bureau, it is not surprising that President-elect Donald Trump and Senator Chuck Grassley have informed FBI Director Christopher Wray that he does not have the confidence of both the incoming administration and the incoming Senate majority. President-elect Trump has announced his intention to nominate Kash Patel, a former Congressional staffer and national security staffer in the first Trump administration, to replace Wray. Here to discuss how the FBI got here and where it might go in the next administration is our colleague, Ken Braun.Links: Pursuing the FBI's “Wicked” Russiagate PerpsThe FBI's Bad Apples: The Bureau's Worst Days Are Worth RememberingMatt Taibbi: Kash Patel was totally vindicatedFederal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)Follow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

Donald Trump has made quick work of nominating potential cabinet members, and many of those picks – while controversial – are being met with nods – albeit sometimes lukewarm nods -- by both conservative voters and Republican legislators.One pick, however, stands out as being not only controversial but downright anti-conservative. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump's choice for Secretary of Labor, is a nominal Republican but supports legislation like the pro-unionboss PRO Act, and during her single term in Congress, co-sponsored the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, which National Review recently argued “would force the blue-state model of government unions onto red states.”Here to discuss this confusing nomination, why Trump may have chosen her, and what her chances are for confirmation are my colleague and labor expert Mike Watson and Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Committee.Links: Lori Chavez-DeRemer Wants to Ban the Red-State ModelPRO Act Just Gives Unions More PowerNational Right To Work CommitteeFollow Trump 45 Labor Policy, Not the Teamsters UnionFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

For us at the Capital Research Center, Christmas comes in mid-November. Not because of election results or an inability to read the calendar, but because of the Internal Revenue Service's deadline for filing nonprofit tax returns after exhausting the automatic extensions. This means we get new insight into how the left-wing dark money networks that we track every mid-November, and no left-wing dark money network is more important than the Arabella Advisors network of nonprofit funding groups. Joining me to discuss their findings from the Arabella sister nonprofits' latest tax returns are my colleagues Robert Stilson and Parker Thayer.Links: New Venture Fund 990Sixteen Thirty Fund 990North Fund 990Hopewell Fund 990Windward Fund 990Telescope Fund 990Follow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

The Wall Street Journal called it the “sleeper issue” of the 2024 election—“progressive transgender coercion.” But our guest today argues that it wasn't the “sleeper issue”—it was the central issue. Now that the election is behind us, May Mailman, director of the Independent Women's Law Center, joins us to discuss how the left-wing push on transgender issues has drawn public blowback.Links: How Radical Gender Ideology Became The Central Issue Of 2024 ElectionTransgender Sports Is a 2024 Sleeper IssueThe Democrats' Insanity DefenseCrystal's Story | Female Inmate Says Washington's Trans Prison Policy Has Robbed Her of Her Religious FreedomBiden Administration Gives Universities and Children's Hospitals $100 Million to Prop Up TransgenderismFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

As the nation awaits the final results in a few dozen House races, the subject of gerrymandering has once again reared its head. This little understood – and often misunderstood – process of drawing congressional maps has been a subject of discussion in state legislatures and activist enclaves since the practice began in the early 1800s. Both right and left routinely accuse each other of manipulating the process even while both sides openly try to make it work in their interest. Now, as the Supreme Court prepares to hear a dispute in Louisiana over the question of racial gerrymandering and a citizen-led gerrymandering proposal fails in Ohio, the question of gerrymandering is once again in the news. Here to shed light on this most confusing American political process – or tactic, depending on your perspective -- are my colleagues Mike Watson and Ken Braun.Links: Supreme Court takes up Louisiana racial gerrymandering disputeThe Myth of Non-Partisan Districts: An Experiment in Redistricting ReformIssue 1 fails big in Ohio despite massive money advantageMichigan's Racist Redistricting “Reform”Chesapeake Bay BridgeFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

As political parties, candidates, and the increasingly relevant party-aligned but technically independent activist groups that have come to dominate the post-McCain-Feingold world work to draw Americans out to the polls, new innovations have raised the hackles of observers and left citizens asking, “Can they actually do that?” Joining us to make sense of some of the more prominent innovations is Brad Smith, former Chair of the Federal Election Commission, professor of law at Ohio's Capital University, and chairman of the Institute for Free Speech.Links: Institute for Free SpeechThe new dark money: How influencers get paid big bucks to court your voteElon Musk case over $1 million voter giveaway moved to federal courtFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

Will the 2024 election be administered more effectively and more fairly than the 2020 election? There's reason to believe in many states that it might be, and advocates have made election integrity—making it easy for citizens to vote and hard for politicians to cheat—a key focus of their efforts. Joining us to discuss efforts to protect election integrity in the upcoming and in future elections is Fred Lucas, a reporter for the Daily Signal.Links: Election Integrity Wins: SAVE ActElection Integrity Wins: 2024 vs. 2020 ElectionsElection Integrity Wins: Noncitizen VotingElection Integrity Wins: Winning in CourtElection Integrity Wins: Texas vs. Big TechFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

This week marked the first anniversary of the October 7th, 2023 attacks against Israel by Iranian-backed terrorist groups, most prominently Hamas. Unfortunately, in addition to solemn remembrance, the anniversary was marked by more demonstrations by the activists some might call Hamas-glampers who have come to support irredentist Palestinian nationalism. Our colleague Ryan Mauro, an expert on political extremism, has released a report detailing the pro-terrorist connections and allegiances of over 150 of the groups upholding these demonstrations, and he joins us today to discuss his findings. Link: Marching Toward Violence: The Domestic Anti-Israeli Protest MovementFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

As the country moves through a contentious election season, where the state of the economy and worries over inflation have been a major talking point, a new economic hazard has appeared on the horizon threatening to hammer the American consumer just as Hurricane Helene threatened – and then did – hammer the Southeast: the International Longshoreman Association, a union of dockworkers who manage the transport, loading, unloading, and all other things associated with shipping containers at the nation's ports, threatened – and then did – go on strike over wages and automation of their jobs. Here to explain what's happening, what it could mean for the American consumer right before a busy holiday shopping season, and if any deal or government action may be forthcoming are my colleague and usual podcast host Mike Watson, who also happens to be our labor expert, and Sean Higgins, a research fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute here in Washington, DC specializing in labor and employment issues. Links: Sean Higginshttps://cei.org/blog/white-house-has-serval-option-in-dockworkers-strike-none-of-them-good/The real issue in the port strike: AutomationPRO Act Just Gives Unions More PowerFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

Anybody who has scoffed at the proliferation of t-shirts bearing the image of Che Guevara, the famous associate of Fidel Castro who among other things oversaw purges of political opponents following Castro's seizure of power, on college campuses knows that sectors of “elite” American society have an unhealthy appreciation for the repressive Communist dictatorship that has ruled Cuba since 1959. But for the subjects of today's program, the Venceremos Brigades, backed by infrastructure support from the radical-left wing of Big Philanthropy, their unhealthy appreciation becomes outright support, as members travel to the Communist-ruled island to offer labor in exchange for ideological formation. Joining me to discuss the Venceremos Brigades' history, their influence, and what they tell us about America's radical left are my colleagues Robert Stilson and Ken Braun.Links: Venceremos BrigadeThe Venceremos BrigadeThe People's ForumA Global Web of Chinese Propaganda Leads to a U.S. Tech MogulFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

Immigration policy is an absolute mess—such a mess, that it can be hard for non-specialists to know even what is going on. And that's where I for one sit regarding the so-called “CHNV parole” program, a Biden administration initiative to admit half a million or so people from Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela, and Nicaragua on so-called “parole authority” to temporary informal legal status in the United States. Is this legal? Are there appropriate security protections? Which groups support this program? What, in fact, is going on? We invite Simon Hankinson, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation's border security and immigration center, to help get to the bottom of these questions.Links: Biden's Precarious Parole Programs for Illegal Immigrants: The BorderLineTo Stop Administrative Abuse, Congress Must Narrow Scope of Immigration ParoleChairman Green on DHS Temporarily Halting Unlawful CHNV Mass-Parole Program: “Vindicates Every Warning We Have Issued”Nearly 530,000 migrants came to US 'legally,' paroled into US under controversial Biden program: CBPCommentary Fraud Permeates Biden-Harris' Illegal Alien ‘Sponsorship' Program: The BorderLineFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

We've covered “megaphone philanthropy”—the emphasis some left-wing activist groups and their multi-million or even billion-dollar funders place on street-protest imagery, often featuring people yelling through bullhorns—and the Ford Foundation, one of the Left's multiple billion-dollar funders. Our colleague Ken Braun joins us today to link them, as he has just concluded a deep investigation of the Ford Foundation's grantmaking. Links:Hoovering Up Henry Money: Free Money Versus Free EnterpriseHoovering Up Henry Money: Revolutions and BullhornsHoovering Up Henry Money: Crime and DemocracyHoovering Up Henry Money: Shaping the NewsHow the Ford Foundation Changed Entertainment: The Ford FoundationThe Ford Foundation's Ugly, Warped View of America: Megaphones and Militancyhttps://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/ford-foundation/Follow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

The Internal Revenue Service rule regarding charities in voter registration is explicit: “voter education or registration activities with evidence of bias that (a) would favor one candidate over another; (b) oppose a candidate in some manner; or (c) have the effect of favoring a candidate or group of candidates, will constitute prohibited participation or intervention.” Now questions are being raised about whether the Voter Participation Center, a charitable organization that is part of the left's “voting machine,” is giving “evidence of bias” after the Washington Free Beacon revealed through Meta Platforms' advertising disclosure tools that VPC was excluding fans of “NASCAR, golf, Jeeps, or other interests and hobbies typically associated with Republican men” from seeing its voter-registration advertisements. Here to discuss this and other stories from the world of dubiously nonpartisan nonpartisan civic engagement are CRC president Scott Walter and Parker Thayer, author of CRC's special report on “How Charities Secretly Help Win Elections.”Links: Do You Like NASCAR? This 'Non-partisan' Voter Registration Group Doesn't Want To Help YouVoter Participation Center (VPC)How Charities Secretly Help Win ElectionsThe Voter Participation Center: A Tax-Exempt Turnout Machine for DemocratsFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

BlackRock, Inc., a multinational investment company and one of the world's largest asset managers with a $10 trillion portfolio, has been deeply involved in pushing the politically aligned environmental, social, and governance – or ESG – agenda for the last several years. Now secretaries of state in Mississippi and Indiana have hit the company with summary cease-and-desist orders accusing them of fraud for making “false and misleading statements” to investors related to their ESG push. Joining us today to explain what BlackRock's been up to and what states can do to push back is Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales.Links: Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales Reports Cease & Desist Order Issued Against BlackRock for Alleged Securities Fraud Related to ESG Investment StrategyBlackRock: Nonprofit Allies“Progressive” ESG Shareholder Activism: Understanding ESG ActivismFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

Protesting, always a feature of the 1st Amendment right to free speech in America, has become quite the fashion lately among the American left, possibly even more than it was during the height of the anti-war protests of the 1960s.But these new protests – from enflamed government buildings to tent cities on campus, to blocked traffic on major streets, to terrorist flag-waving congregations – seem to be different somehow. Less about engaging a right to speak freely and more about shutting down discourse. Joining me today to discuss the groups behind these modern melees is Asra Q. Nomani, a former Wall Street Journal reporter and author of the book, “Woke Army: The Red-Green Alliance That Is Undermining America's Freedom.” She is a founder of the Pearl Project, a nonprofit currently building the Malign Foreign Influence Index portal that examines the groups fomenting anti-Semitism. And she's been on the ground covering the protests from DC to the DNC in Chicago. She joins us today. Links: Dispatches from Chicago: Unmasking the Web of ‘Malign Foreign Influence' Behind #MarchonDNC‘Hamas Is Comin': Following the Money at C and 3rd Streets NWFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

Hollywood and the entertainment industry are leftist; it has been since before actual Communists tried to infiltrate it in the 1930s and 1940s. But if you've noticed that entertainment has shifted from merely having a liberal worldview to being indistinguishable from Big Philanthropy-funded leftist agitprop, that might be because a big proportion of it is Big Philanthropy-funded leftist agitprop. Joining me to discuss the Ford Foundation's JustFilms program are my colleague Robert Stilson and Thomas Pack of Palladium Pictures. Links: How the Ford Foundation Changed Entertainment: The Ford FoundationHow the Ford Foundation Changed Entertainment: Direct Film FundingHow the Ford Foundation Changed Entertainment: Film FestivalsHow the Ford Foundation Changed Entertainment: Outreach, Networks, and EducationHow the Ford Foundation Changed Entertainment: Why Ford's Strategy WorksHow the Ford Foundation Took Over StorytellingFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

Left-wingers have been losing at the Supreme Court in recent years thanks to the intellectual success of the conservative legal movement, audacity in Republican management of judicial confirmations, and the aid of the Fates. But progressives are not taking these setbacks lying down; the hot new advocacy cause, led by the classically Everything Leftism-branded Arabella Advisors spinoff Demand Justice, is “court reform,” a euphemism for rigging judicial results by manipulating the composition of the Supreme Court, which has been set by law and custom without alteration since 1869. Joining us to discuss Demand Justice and the leftist crusade for court-packing is our colleague Parker Thayer. Links: Just Court-Pack a MajorityDemand Justice, the “Dark Money” Group Behind a $10 Million Campaign Against the Supreme CourtDemand JusticeFix the Court (FTC)Follow us on our Socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

Environmental, social, and governance or ESG: What is it, what does it mean for the public? Our guest today, Paul Mueller of the American Institute for Economic Research, argues that ESG strategies “undermine freedom, political self-determination, and economic prosperity.” He joins us to explain how and why.Links:The Threats Posed by Environmental, Social, and Governance PoliciesESG Activism20 Years of ESG ActivismThe Religiosity of ESG Activists Through the Prism of Amazon Shareholder MeetingsFollow us on our Socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

There's an ongoing policy war being waged between those who favor a weather dependent wind and solar approach to energy consumption and those who look to nuclear power and efficient electrical grids as the answer to future energy needs. And the dividing line between the two isn't as easy to determine along ideological lines as people might think. While left-leaning charitable organizations and activists do currently fund a push toward the weather-dependent approach, there are some outliers. And while right-leaning legislators have long paid lip-service to nuclear power and efficiency in the energy sector, their behavior hasn't always matched their words. Two new films explore this battle. Juice, a docuseries by energy journalist Robert Bryce and Tyson Culver, looks at the debate over nuclear power and government-induced inefficiencies in the power grid. And Climate: The Movie by British filmmaker Martin Durkin explores climate alarmism and the false claim that the scare tactics are based in science. Our colleague Ken Braun, who has seen both and reviewed one, is here with my colleague Mike Watson and me today to discuss all things energy.Links:Film Review of Juice: The Reliability ErrorJuice: Power, Politics & The Grid Is Out!Climate: The MovieTwitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

How did universities become dens of sympathy for ideologies and factions implacably opposed to America and her allies, most recently demonstrated by the “Hamas glamper” protests at various elite campuses? Many have argued that funding of American universities by rival foreign governments and allies of America's enemies, perhaps most prominently the People's Republic of China and the State of Qatar, helped create the situation in which higher education now finds itself, and the House of Representatives is taking action to further scrutinize these donations. Joining us to discuss foreign funding of higher education and the DETERRENT Act proposed to scrutinize it is Angela Morabito of the Defense of Freedom Institute.Links: Colleges hide foreign sponsors of antisemitismPRESS RELEASE: DFI Releases Statement on Bipartisan Passage of DETERRENT ActComment on the Department's Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; Foreign Gifts and Contracts Disclosures Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

I'm Sarah Lee and this is the Influence Watch podcast. Joining me today is my colleague Parker Thayer because sitting in the hot seat is our regular host Mike Watson, and we're going to be grilling him on a 5 part series he wrote on the American elite, about which there has been much discussion over the last several years. They are a semi-mythical class made up of an American socio-political creature who, depending on your perspective, either needs to be heavily taxed to pay their fair share or are currently occupying the seats of power and actively trying to create a permanent majority. So just what defines the “elite” in American culture, which way do they vote, and are they ascending or descending on the political stage? Here's hoping Mike can shine a light on what he says makes the American elites so WEIRD. Links: On the Elites and Counter-Elites: WEIRDT hem vs. U.S.: The Two Americas and How the Nation's Elite Is Out of Touch with Average AmericansFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

Is it, or at least should it be, charitable to fund political-advocacy protest over controversial sociopolitical issues? Our colleague Robert Stilson calls it “megaphone philanthropy,” and perhaps the prototypical practitioner of “megaphone philanthropy” is the Marguerite Casey Foundation, the $800 million funder of some of the most radical activists within American politics' Overton Window. Robert joins us to discuss Marguerite Casey Foundation and its “megaphone philanthropy.” Links: Megaphone PhilanthropyThe Marguerite Casey Foundation: “Social Justice Philanthropy”The Marguerite Casey Foundation: A Focus on Group IdentityThe Marguerite Casey Foundation: Left-Wing GrantmakingThe Marguerite Casey Foundation: Thoughts and QuestionsFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

NewsGuard: It's a teachers-union approved tool purporting to rate information sources on how “nutritious” to one's information diet they are, but the teachers' union seal of approval should lead readers to question just what the NewsGuard “Nutrition Label” is actually rating. Joining us to discuss NewsGuard and its links to the left is Illinois-based conservative activist John Tillman. Links: NewsGuard primes children in public schools for life of leftist activismNewsGuard and Uncle Sam: The Nutrition LabelNewsGuard and Uncle Sam: Vitamin Deficient NutritionNewsGuard and Uncle Sam: History-Making HoaxesNewsGuard and Uncle Sam: DisclosureChampioning opportunity and prosperity for all Americans.NewsGuardFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

You've heard of Mike Bloomberg; those longer in years might remember Tom Steyer; deep readers of Capital Research Center might remember Fred Stanback; the billionaire environmentalist donor is a repeating figure. But you've probably not heard of C. Frederick Taylor, a reclusive California billionaire who drives millions to the environmentalist movement. Joining us to discuss Taylor, his Sequoia Climate Foundation, and the effect he's having on environmental policy is our Capital Research colleague Ken Braun. Links: The Sequoia Climate Foundation: The “Secretive U.S. Vulture Fund”The Sequoia Climate Foundation: Following Fred's MoneyThe Sequoia Climate Foundation: Funding of Anti-Energy RadicalsThe Sequoia Climate Foundation: Climate ColonialismThe Progressive International: MembersC. Frederick TaylorFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

The Freedom of Information Act was supposed to ensure public access to federal government documents, including written communications by senior officials. But the law has been wantonly circumvented; perhaps most notably by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's “homebrew” email server, but more recently it has come to light that aides of former National Institutes of Health official and de facto COVID lockdown czar Anthony Fauci openly wrote about their FOIA circumvention. Joining us to discuss FOIA, how officials try to evade it, and what can be done about it is veteran journalist (and member of the National Freedom of Information Act Hall of Fame) Mark Tapscott.Links:Now Will The FOIA Get Some Real Teeth?EcoHealth AlliancePeter DaszakFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

Note: This episode contains discussions of subjects that may not be suitable for children. Parental discretion is advised. Everybody's doing it—sex education. And as American sexual mores have grown more permissive, the organizational institutions devising sex education curriculums have pushed the Overton Window of sexual permissiveness to its maximum. Joining us to discuss the rise of contemporary sex education and the institutions behind it is Kali Fontanilla, Senior Fellow at the Capital Research Center.The Sex Education of Our Nation's Children: The First Formal Sex EdThe Sex Education of Our Nation's Children: Since the Sexual RevolutionThe Sex Education of Our Nation's Children: What's Best for the KidsThe Sex Education of Our Nation's Children: Are There Any Solutions?SIECUS Is Pushing Sex Ed for “Social Change” in Our Nation's SchoolsSexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change)Social Justice Unionism: Pushing Planned Parenthood's PropagandaAdvancing After Getting Education RightFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

This week we cast our eye to the Pacific Coast, with inquiries into two major left-wing funders in the Golden State. First, the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation is suing the Tides Foundation; even as we say “Let them fight,” we must also ask what these two major left-wing institutions are fighting about. And then we introduce the California Endowment, one of many major left-wing grantmakers of which the average listener might not yet have heard. Joining us to discuss these major California institutions is Thomas Buckley, senior fellow at the California Policy Center.https://californiaglobe.com/fr/blm-sues-tides-foundation/https://thomas699.substack.com/p/pennies-for-health-care-millionshttps://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/california-endowment/https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/black-lives-matter-foundation/

What efforts are American nonprofits funding overseas? By and large, we don't know, and federal disclosure laws are no help because they don't require American nonprofits (other than private foundations) to disclose their grants to organizations outside the United States. But that may change, as Congress considers legislation to reform “Schedule F” on the nonprofit tax return. Joining us to discuss the proposal is our colleague Robert Stilson, one of the loudest voices calling for the change.Links: Require Nonprofits to Disclose Their Foreign GrantmakingThe Need for Foreign Grant Disclosure by NonprofitsSmucker Foreign Grant Reporting Act Receives Unanimous Support in CommitteePeople's Support Foundation (PSF)People's Welfare Association (PWA)Follow us on our Socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

To say the federal government is merely “broke” is a gross understatement; as of recording the US Debt Clock shows the federal debt at over $34.7 trillion with the running annual deficit at nearly $2 trillion. While federal entitlement spending drives the growth in debt, the discretionary decisions of the Biden administration are very much not helping, as a new report from the Heritage Foundation shows. In short, the Biden administration is using a suspiciously expansive reading of the authorities delegating power from Congress to the Executive Branch to pursue “Whole of Government” Everything-Leftism policies at great public expense. Joining us to discuss his report is David Ditch, senior policy analyst at Heritage.Links: Funding Leftism, Making Power Grabs: The Biden Administration's Bureaucratic RadicalismExplaining “Everything Leftism”Follow us on our Socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

If you're a regular listener, you've heard the name “Arabella Advisors” before—the management company that sits at the center of a network of left-wing “dark money” advocacy nonprofits. Now, the story of Arabella Advisors, its network, and its influence is told in a volume authored by Capital Research Center's president Scott Walter, imaginatively titled Arabella: The Dark Money Network of Leftist Billionaires Secretly Transforming America. Scott joins us this week to discuss the book.Links: Arabella BookWritten Testimony on Extreme Environmental Activist GroupsDonors to the Arabella Advisors NetworkShedding Light on Governing for ImpactFollow us on our Socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

I'm fond of saying—it's in my Twitter bio—that “there's always a labor angle.” From bad MLB umpiring to anti-anti-Hamas demonstrations, Big Labor is there. So I am the least surprised person to discover that the left-wing environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) activist investing movement is backstopped in part by and operates in service of Big Labor and its Everything Leftist agenda. Joining me and my colleague Robert Stilson, who studies the ESG movement for Capital Research Center, is Vinnie Vernuccio of the Institute for the American Worker.Links: Unions using ESG to control workers — and drain Americans' retirement savingsREPORT: Big Labor's Push to Force Investment Managers to Ignore Fiduciary Duty and Promote UnionsAs You Sow20 Years of ESG ActivismFollow us on our Socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

It might be America's worst teachers' union—and knowing American teachers' unions, that's saying something. Since its takeover by a radical-left-wing, militant caucus in 2010, the Chicago Teachers Union has pushed a radical-left agenda through numerous strike actions and controversially aided the mayoral campaign of Brandon Johnson, a former lobbyist for the union, in the city. Just last month, the union allegedly used school time to rally students to vote for a tax hike ballot measure supported by the union and now-Mayor Johnson. Joining us to discuss the Chicago Teachers Union is Mailee Smith, Senior Director of Labor Policy at the Illinois Policy Institute.Links: CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION CONTRACT DEMANDS ABOUT POLITICS, BOSSES' POWERILLINOIS POLICY INSTITUTE ETHICS COMPLAINT: CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION PRESSURED STUDENTS TO VOTE ‘YES' ON TAX HIKEWHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE CHICAGO TEACHERS UNIONKaren G. J. LewisChicago Teachers UnionTeachers' Unions vs. Teachers, Parents, and Children: The COVID-19 LessonIt's Time to Get MadFollow us on our Socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter