The Nicole Sandler Show

I was out yesterday for a doctor's appointment, but I'm back today.. Sadly, there's no lack of news to discuss and questions to ask. From COVID vaccinations to the enormous, ugly bill, and the demented orange guy occupying the White House, the news is as dismal and offensive as ever.So, today, we'll review some of the more infuriating news of the day!

It was another eventful week in this surreal world. The idiot-in-chief went to the Middle East, SCOTUS held a special hearing yesterday, and what was thought to be a very old copy of the Magna Carta housed at Harvard is discovered to be an authentic 7th original copy dating back to 1300! Marcy Wheeler thinks it's an auspicious sign, especially when the administration is talking about suspending habeas corpus. And, oh yeah, they're likely arresting a sitting member of Congress today. It's Emptywheel Friday, where Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net joins Nicole Sandler to discuss some of what happened this week.

Ethics are important to Republicans ONLY when it's a Democrat engaging in questionable behaviors. That's more evident every day. But it cuts much deeper... they're quick to call out anything a Democrat does, like nodding off in an all-night hearing. But they have no problem with it's a Republican. It seemed like all we heard from them during the Biden administration was "the Biden 'crime family' is capitalizing on the president's office." But they're notoriously silent about the massive grift by Trump and his spawn -- from a luxury flying palace to golf courses and Trump Towers (sic) in middle eastern countries and multi billion dollar investments into companies and schemes to directly enrich the family! But don't you dare to try to legally apply for asylum in the US. They'll have you shipped out to a foreign concentration camp and imprisoned for life! Today I'll recount some of those sickening stories and talk to my favorite legal expert Lisa Graves to ask WTAF? Also, subscribe to Lisa's new Grave Injustice newsletter here, and see her new podcast "The Five 8 1/2" every Wednesday night at 8pm ET and after!

Welcome to Tuesday.I've had more than a few listeners ask me about ActBlue in the wake of D'ump ordering the DoJ to investigate the online fundraising platform used by Democrats and progressive organizations. Today we'll check in with Josh Nelson, CEO of Civic Shout, an advertising platform for progressive causes, who'll set the record straight.Then, a break from news and politics for a musical diversion. I'm joined by Cary Baker, author of "Down on the Corner: Adventures in Busking & Street Music," an old friendly acquaintence from my days in music radio.  He tells a lot of great stories about street musicians aka buskers that are fascinating and fun to hear. I know it's not news and it's not politics, but that's a good thing because these breaks are a necessary diversion from the real (opposite) world  we're stuck in right now!

A new week begins with news of a "$400 Million flying palace" that allegedly will be gifted by the Qatari Royal Family to Donald F'ing Trump!?! WTF?Oh there's more news too. Like the idea of suspending habeas corpus? Huh?I accidentally stumbled onto Newsmax over the weekend and was hit with El Dumpo on the tube trying to sell me a Trump Watch? Seriously? The President of the United States doing a TV commercial to sell a watch with his name scribbled on it. How is that legal?These stories and more as we cover the fucking news with Jonathan Larsen of thefuckingnews.substack.com.

It's Friday, so we made it to the end of another action-packed week. Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net and I review some of the crap that Dump and his gang flung at us this week and try to make sense of it all.This week we got a new pope - one from the United States for the first time ever- and it seems he's "woke" and MAGAt heads are exploding. The tariff fiasco is ramping up in full swing, as some people are finally beginning to realize what this will mean for our economy, and Dump pretends he signed a great new trade deal with the UK (he didn't). SCOTUS lets Dump and Hegseth remove trans people from the military, but the North Carolina Supreme Court finally has to accept the election results and swear in the democrat who won the election six months ago(!).And the Dumpster fire says he doesn't know if he has to uphold the constitution or if all people deserve due process. Seriously...And finally, the federal judge in Vermont who presided over the bail hearing this morning orders that Rumeysa Ozturk, the Tufts University grad student who was abducted by masked goons in Boston, be released from detention "immediately" and on her own recognizance with no travel restrictions. We'll see if they comply...

I accidentally loaded the wrong show... this is the correct one. Sorry for the inconvenience!--------------------------------------------------------------Today we get back to the news, issues and concerns about life in our messed-up world. I'm looking forward to talking with Antonia Juhasz again. She's an investigative journalist who covers energy and environmental justice will join us to explain what the “deal” is with Ukraine over their rare earth minerals. We certainly can't forget the oval office ambush of Ukrainian President Zelinsky. Her latest piece on this “deal” for Rolling Stone magazine is “Is Trump's ‘Minerals Deal' a Fossil Fuel Shakedown?”This morning though, justice was again denied in America. A Memphis jury acquitted three former police officers on state charges including second-degree murder in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols after he ran away from a traffic stop in 2023. It's just too infuriating.

It's Thursday, so we'll talk politics with Howie Klein of DownWithTyranny.com and the Blue America Pac today... Lots of action, perhaps, in Congress where we can't help but hope the Republican caucus starts coming apart to derail some of this insanity that the orange one is unleashing on the world.Dump did announce a trade deal this morning with the UK. But is it a deal if it's not a deal? Only Congress can authorize a trade deal. But then again, only Congress can authorize tariffs. Who's going to tell him?And there's a new pope and, for the first time in history, it's an American. The man formerly known at Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, appears to be one of the good guys. He's even criticized JD Vance on Xitter!

Today we get back to the news, issues and concerns about life in our messed-up world. I'm looking forward to talking with Antonia Juhasz again. She's an investigative journalist who covers energy and environmental justice will join us to explain what the "deal" is with Ukraine over their rare earth minerals. We certainly can't forget the oval office ambush of Ukrainian President Zelinsky. Her latest piece on this "deal" for Rolling Stone magazine is "Is Trump's ‘Minerals Deal' a Fossil Fuel Shakedown?"This morning though, justice was again denied in America. A Memphis jury acquitted three former police officers on state charges including second-degree murder in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols after he ran away from a traffic stop in 2023. It's just too infuriating.

 The world lost one of its better inhabitants this week. On May 1, 2025, Jill Sobule was killed in a tragic house fire. Words can't express our loss. Jill was truly a remarkable human being. I'm heartened by the continuing show of love and support I'm seeing all over social media for the last few days from her friends and fans alike...I was lucky enough to be working at a radio station who played Jill's first hit single, "I Kissed a Girl," when it was released on her debut self-titled album in 1995. Over the next few years, she visited radio stations I worked at to perform live and sit for interviews, and she attended a number of industry conferences where we got to hang out and become friends.Jill's many interests included news and politics. After I segued from my career in music radio to progressive talk, Jill remained a fairly frequent guest. She was always informed about what was going on. Jill was an outspoken activist in both her actions and songs. In 2011, she appeared at Netroots Nation in Minneapolis to perform an original song she wrote for the occasion honoring immigrants and groups who help them, "America Back." (You can find the recording of that song from that event here on YouTube.)I was going to put together a show to honor Jill with clips of her various appearances on my show over the years. While searching through my archives, I found this recording from September 1, 2009. At the time, I was hosting a show weeknights on Air America Radio, usually from my home studio in South Florida. That week, I was visiting Los Angeles, broadcasting live from studios there.Jill Sobule had just released her first crowd-funded album on her own new label, Pinko Records. It was produced by Don Was and titled "California Years." Jill and Don joined me in the studio one evening. With the commercials, news and other non-related content edited out it runs just over an hour. Sadly the recording stopped while we were wrapping up, with Jill in mid-sentence singing a "happy song" about a dream in which she was fighting Nazis.I hadn't realized I had that recording until I came across it this weekend. After listening to it I realized that I should just share this entire broadcast. We spent the time talking about so many different things, and she and Don performed a few songs. In that setting, you get to hear Jill just being Jill. Sweet, funny, immensely talented and quite humble.I'll soon put together a post with a bunch of the interviews we'd done together over the years. But for today, we'll hang with Jill Sobule for a while and remember how lucky we were to have her while we did. She did, indeed, live a good life.

We made it to another Monday after a weekend of more news that would be unbelievable at any other time in history, but here we are with a president (sic) who says he doesn't know if he must uphold the Constitution. We truly are living in Opposite World.Each Monday we check in with Jonathan Larson of thefuckingnews.substack.com to talk about wtf is going on in this surreal world. Sadly, there's a whole lot to talk about today...

Every Friday we end the week by spending an hour (usually a bit more) with Marcy Wheeler, one of the best independent journalists working today. You can and should read her daily at emptywheel.net and follow her on BlueSky at emptywheel.bsky.social. And, of course, listen to our weekly round up of some of the Trump shit that hit the proverbial fan that week.Today there was much more to discuss than we had time for. But we did speak quite a bit about Due Process and Trump's disregard of it and efforts to erase it from our rights. We spoke about the fact that he is the most corrupt president in history and his continued assaults on our independent judiciary. As always, Marcy's depth of knowledge informs and educates us. I learn something new from her every time we talk.I also spent a couple of minutes at the beginning with sad news about an old friend of mine. Singer-Songwriter Jill Sobule was killed in a house fire yesterday. I've known Jill for over 30 years. Much of my career was spent in music radio, and I was fortunate enough to work at a few stations who were adventurous enough to play her music. I'll dedicate a whole show to her next week, featuring some of our on air appearances together. But for today, I played a couple of her political songs -- a quick one at the beginning, and closed the show with a performance she gave at Netroots Nation in 2011 when my two radio worlds came together.  I miss her already.

It's Mayday! The word "Mayday" is an internationally recognized distress signal used in radio communications, primarily by mariners and aviators, to signal a life-threatening emergency. May Day is also known around the world as International Workers' Day, commemorating the fight for workers' rights and the eight-hour workday. Both uses are fitting for today, as around the country, protesters are taking to the streets to speak out against Dump and what his administration is doing to this country and the entire world.Today is also Thursday, so we'll check in with Howie Klein of DownWithTyranny and the Blue America PAC. Today was an infusion day, so hopefully Howie will be up for talking with us today. Oh, and we have a new phone number to reach the show! It's 480-442-6584. Give it a spin and see if it works!

We survived the first 100 days of Trump's hell, depending on what your definition of "survival" is. In my case - and for millions of others, I suspect - just barely. I had a truly difficult time of it the first time around. I never thought we'd be back in this position again. And at the time, I didn't think things could get much worse. Unfortunately, I was wrong on both counts.I'm just trying to get through this hell one day at a time right now. I've heard from quite a few listeners who appreciate my work. There certainly is comfort in knowing that we're not alone in our misery and disbelief. So I promise to keep going a long as I'm able to. And I appreciate you bearing with me on those days when I simply can't, and just need a break.I'm envious of those who do this work and are able to keep a sense of humor while exposing the grift, immorality and vindictiveness that are representative of what this administration is about.Today, I'm thrilled to welcome Brian Karem back to the show. We got to know Brian from his fearless coverage of the first Dump White House. He continues his important work with a column at Salon.com, his podcast "Just Ask the Question," his new substack, his books and his appearances on this and other shows that keep the information flowing

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker delivered a barn burner of a speech in Manchester, NH yesterday in which he spoke the truth about all we're facing right now, and made me hope he runs for president in 2028. He made a lot of great points, and I'll share some of them on today's show. But it was his call for mass protests and mobilization to get us to that point that I want to focus on.Last weekend at protest march at the Arizona state capitol in Phoenix I was impressed by one of the women who appeared to be leading the rally. Before the march began I introduced myself to Erica, also known as Weird Violet, who is an Arizona state liason to 50501, and has stepped up to be one of the many grassroots organizers pulling some of these events together.With the next big nationwide day of protest planned for this Thursday, May 1, I invited Erica to join me on today's show to talk about all of it. We all must do what we can. It's how we'll survive this mess and move past the worst part of history in my lifetime...

We made it through another treacherous week in Trumpville.Every Friday, I get together with Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net who helps me unpack much of what happened since we spoke the Friday before.This was another week that felt like a decade! From Hegseth melting down, to Trump's continual lies and tweets (Vladimir Stop!), his newest illegal grift, a few judicial victories for the good guys (us) and even today's arrest by the FBI of a judge in Wisconsin for "obstructing an ICE arrest" --- we cover a lot of ground. Strap in and get informed....

Chaos. It's their mantra and goal.There's no way any one person can keep track of all the crap spewing from the White House these days, but I try to do my part in finding some of the stories that most infuriate me to share with you each day on the show.And today is Thursday, our day to check in with Howie Klein of DownWithTyranny and the Blue America PAC. Now is the time to start vetting our candidates for 2026!

After a break yesterday for a fun show about music and reliving the good old days, it's back to the real world today. The news is insane, from the orange one playing games with the world's economies, tariff roulette, SCOTUS & judicial uncertainty and more questions than we can reasonably answer. But we'll try.Today, we'll catch up with Lisa Graves, the Nicole Sandler Show's legal expert, who joins us in her personal capacity as a concerned citizen who's got the legal bona fides to back up her information and opinions. A big welcome to Randi Rhodes listeners who I hope will come join us more often now that Randi is retiring. We're here, for the time being, anyway...

Today we'll take a break from the depressing, stress-filled world of news and politics to talk about the best job ever. Today's guest is Paul Rappaport who spent his career at Columbia Records promoting rock records to radio and wrote a wonderful book recounting those glory days, GLIDERS OVER HOLLYWOOD: AIRSHIPS, AIRPLAY AND THE ART OF ROCK PROMOTION.

The weekend was chock full of news, beginning with a SCOTUS surprise at 1am on Saturday morning. For the first time in a long time, they ruled the correct way. Jonathan Larsen of thefuckingnews.substack.com joins me for our regular Monday debriefing session on what the hell is going on...

Each Friday, Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net and I get together to recap much of the important news from the week just ending. It's a daunting task, but necessary at this strange and fucked-up time in history. Today, we covered Trump's attempts to mess with immigration, his continued actions in shutting down the government, shutting down the global economy and the end of his BS attempt to negotiate peace between Russia and Ukraine. We talked about yesterday's ruling from Judge Harvie Wilkinson dealing with the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador and the administration's disregard for due process. You can and should read the whole thing here. It's only 7 pages and more than worth your time!Today also happens to be the 250th anniversary of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, the night before the start of the American Revolution. Tomorrow and Saturday are also days that the magat faction likes... 4/19 is the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, and 4/20, Hitler's birthday and other nefarious occasions. (I'd prefer a peaceful day celebrating cannabis, but that's now what I'm worried about.) With another National Hands Off Day of protests planned for tomorrow, and rumors flying about the possibility of Trump using this occasion to invoke the Insurrection Act, we have some warnings about being safe and diligent if you join in the protests tomorrow.

Howie Klein has been a regular weekly guest on this show for close to 15 years now. He writes at DownWithTyranny.com and runs the Blue America PAC where he champions the best progressive candidates running for office. Ten years ago, Howie successfully fought a rare form of cancer and enjoyed a clean bill of health for years. Unfortunately, a few months ago he was diagnosed with cancer again, this time pancreatic.I tell you this because today, at the time we usually speak, Howie will be at the hospital getting a chemotherapy infusion. As he told me, if it's just the infusion, he'll be able to talk. But if the doctor decides to come talk to him at that time, he won't. Either way, we'll understand and there's lots to talk about. Unfortunately the "lots to talk about" is all pretty fucked up.Another mass shooting - this one at Florida State University, more Trump insanity on multiple fronts, and ratcheting up fears around April 20 and the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution.I think I need another Xanax...

Everything is FUBAR, and I'm not exaggerating. I constantly reiterate that it's almost impossible to keep up with all the shit that's hitting the fan. I should modify that to say that I personally cannot keep up with it all. But my friend Heather Parton, better known as Digby, does a great job of it with the help of Tom Sullivan, Spocko and Dennis Hartley at her wonderful Hullabaloo blog at DigbysBlog.net.We're midway through what is shaping up to be one of the worst weeks in an awful few months since this administration has been in power, so I thought today would be a great day for a meeting of the minds with Digby. I always feel a little better after talking with her. Hopefully you will too.

If it feels like things are spinning out of control, you are correct. If you're wondering why no one is doing anything, you're asking the wrong question. You should be asking the corporate media why they're not covering the opposition. There's a lot of it from all quarters. There's a lot of pushback and fighting, but the most important element is WE the People.Today, we'll speak with Jeff Hauser, the Executive Director of the Revolving Door Project. In addition to their mission of scrutinizing executive branch appointees to ensure they use their office to serve the broad public interest, they've branched out further.They've launched what I think is the most comprehensive tracking of everything this administration is doing that's illegal, immoral and unconscionable. It's DOGE Watch or Trump-Musk Watch.. but it's a comprehensive list of all of this administration's atrocities, and you need to know it's there and help spread the word. TheRevolvingDoorProject.org/dogewatch

Just when you think we've hit rock bottom, the magats in Dump-land prove that there is no bottom. Since we last spoke, the tariffs are on again, off again, temporary or permanent or paused for 90 days (and the stock market is up, down, up, down, ad nauseum; the administration is openly defying a Supreme Court ruling that tells them to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia; a domestic terrorist firebombed the home of Pennsylvania's Governor Josh Shapiro on the first night of Passover... I could keep going, but we'll get to most of it today when we're joined by Jonathan Larsen of The Fucking News (thefuckingnews.substack.com)

Every Friday, I join with Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net to recap much of what happened during the week. As has been the case every week since the inauguration, this week was a doozy. But as Marcy says, "gravity hit this week, in a big way."Trump had his "liberation day" tariff announcement, causing the stock market to crash. Then he "paused" it (but not really), causing the market to spike before it crashed again. The DumpsterCoaster is one nauseating ride.Things may be coming to a head in this administration's clash with the judiciary branch. The Supreme Court unanimously said yesterday that they must facilitate the return of Abrego Garcia who was deported illegally to El Salvadore. The DOJ missed the deadline for information they were supposed to submit this morning and apparently, in a hearing that was starting as we finished recording today's episode, they didn't comply with the orders for information then either.What happens next? We don't know, but I'd suggest you make sure you're fastened in. This is going to be a tumultuous ride.

I'm not quite sure what "yippy" means, but the guy with the *best* words used it to explain (in Dump's case, that means 'lie') why he reversed himself on his tariffs yesterday. People were getting yippy? Maybe it means that they were pissed off that their portfolios and retirement accounts were hemorrhaging money? I wonder how they're feeling today...In case you weren't paying attention, after Dump 'paused the tariffs', the market went on a bit of buying spree yesterday. It seems obvious to me and many others that market manipulation and insider trading were a big part of it, and the market closed up almost 3000 points.Early trading this morning saw most of the gains going away again. Now, with still about four hours left in the trading day, the Dow is down almost 1000 points. The DumpsterCoaster ride is still treacherous and nauseating. One thing we know for sure is that everything is uncertain, a dangerous place to be. A newchart today shows the US Economic Policy Uncertainty Index is literally off the charts. Just look at today's show graphic.Today is Thursday, so we'll check in with Howie Klein of DownWithTyranny.com and the Blue America PAC today too...

If you're feeling nauseous right now, that's to be expected and you're not alone. Exactly one week after proclaiming it "liberation day" and a week of saying he wouldn't back down, today the orange one pulled a 180 and said "never mind," pausing the "reciprocal tariffs" for 90 days, except for China and 10% for everyone else. Huh?If you're confused, you're also not alone. But as I said on Monday after noting that RUMORS of him 'pausing' the tariffs caused the stock market the rebound temporarily, which let us know that there is a way to reverse the huge crash, there was a way to turn it around. I guess he was listening. But in the next breath, he said to stand by for huge tariffs on pharmaceuticals. (Where's that barf bag?)Today, we're joined by our pal Driftglass, one of the OG progressive bloggers who's still churning it out at driftglass.blogspot.com and co-hosting the Professional Left Podcast with his wonderful wife Bluegal Fran at proleftpod.com.

The Dump administration is haphazardly attacking all aspects of our federal government, including agencies that are tasked with protecting not only the US' population, but the world's. We've been talking a lot about our social safety net -- attacks on Medicare/Medicaid and Social Security, attacks on due process and civil rights, and equality for all people. They're also taking aim at all the rules put in place over the decades to help protect us from unscrupulous business practices that put our health - and the health of the planet - at risk.Today, in addition to the shitstorm of news that hit since we last spoke yesterday, today, we'll look at their actions that put everything on earth in peril, from the new EPA administrator up and down....... Earth Day is only two weeks away. Will it still be spinning? We're joined today by a dear friend of the show and the planet, Sandy Schoelles of the Environmental Coffeehouse!

Like death and taxes, Mondays always arrive. For the past couple of months, the start of each new week has brought with it a plethora of really bad news. Today is no exception... except there's some very encouraging news along with the usual Trump/shit sandwich.Where? Well, just look back to Saturday and the reported 5 million people plus who took to the streets across the country to protest the idiocy destroying our nation from inside.As we do on most Mondays, we'll check in with Jonathan Larsen of thefuckingnews.substack.com for a spirited discussion about what's happening.

We wrap up each week on the Friday show with Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net.This week was a rollercoaster with Cory Booker stepping up to offer motivation and passion and, dare I say, hope. I don't think we've reached the bottom of the rollercoaster yet, as we're watching the Dow in free fall for the second day in a row, and the inflation that's sure to kick in from Trump's new tariffs haven't hit us yet...Strap in, it's a bumpy ride!

I told you yesterday that Trump help his announcement of his "Liberation Day" Tariff plan to crash the world's economies until 4pm because he didn't want us to see the stock market crashing in real time as he unveiled his nefarious plans. Today, he's off again to Florida for a golf tournament at one of his clubs, while most of the rest of the nation is watching their 401k values plummet. (So now, in 72 days, the orange one has taken off 15 days and spent more than $26 million of taxpayer money at his gold clubs, but I digress...)At the same time we're in shock over the stupidity that's intentionally crashing down around us, we're still feeling energized by Cory Booker and his record-breaking 25 hour+ speech that ended yesterday. The Philadelphia Inquirer's Will Bunch wrote a wonderful column about it today, and he joins us to talk about it on today's show.

Senator Cory Booker stood up yesterday - actually, the day before - an made history. Not only did he break former senator and lifelong racist Strom Thurmond's record for the longest senate speech in history, he also used it to denounce Thurmond's racism and the shameful chapter in American history he tried to prolong. Booker's speech and feats of strength also seems to have breathed new life into dejected Democrats, as he implored each of us to do what we can to save our nation from the ravages of Dump and his army of magats.When Senator Booker ended his historic speech, the special election returns began rolling in. Florida disappointed us again, eventhough the margin of the GOP victory shrunk by half in the two districts that went to the polls. But Wisconsin showed up to save democracy, as the Musk/Dump-endorsed candidate for that state's Supreme Court was soundly defeated by Susan Crawford, with a 10 point victory. For once, Elmo's millions couldn't buy that election...As I'm prepping for today's show, we're awaiting word from the orange man about how much more pain and suffering he'll inflict on the America people today as he declares it "liberation day" and announces yet more tariff's to cripple our economy and our spending power. The always amazing Lisa Graves joins us today in her personal capacity to share her legal expertise on all that's going on, especially the big WIN in Wisconsin, where she lives.

There's something happening here. Can you feel it?Joan Walsh and her fellow contributor at The Nation, Micah Sifray, both wrote this week about the resistance. Or as they both prefer, the defiance. But whatever you call it, it's here. And if you're not participating in it, then you're helping to take down our nation and our future. Today, Joan Walsh will join us to talk about it, for what it's worth.Senator Cory Booker has been speaking, holding the senate floor since 7pm ET last night. I'm writing this shortly before 4pm ET. I go on the air at 5. He's not delaying a vote, so it's not technically a filibuster. But he said he needed to do something different. "John Lewis and so many heroes before us would say that this is the time to stand up, to speak up,” Booker said near the start of his remarks. “This is the time to get in some good trouble, to get into necessary trouble. I can't allow this body to continue without doing something different, speaking out.”As I've not been able to listen for the now 19 hours he's been speaking, I can't tell you that I'll share the highlights. But we'll share some of them. And perhaps we'll hear him wrap it up.

Welcome to another Monday when you wake up hoping it's all just been a horrible nightmare, but the you realize this is really happening.I believe that the bad news goes down easier with some snark and expletives, so we'll check in for our usual Monday get-together with Jonathan Larsen of thefuckingnews.substack.com. There's plenty on the crap menu to choose from today: a president openly confirming he wants to defy the Constitution and remain in power indefinitely, SignalGate or WhiskeyLeaks, or whatever you want to call the biggest threat to our national security in recent history and the mountain of denial and hypocrisy from the right concerning it, tomorrow's special elections and how the guy who purchased the presidency for Trump is handing out millions to try to purchase the WI Supreme Court. And yes, there's lots more.We could - and will - also look to the positive and talk about those special elections happening tomorrow (there's cause for cautious optimism), a blow against fascism in France, more protests coming this weekend. I know, the bad stuff outnumbers the good, but I'll continue to try to stay on the lookout for solutions rather than reinforce the crap that they're pushing on us.

I've been plagued by computer problems all week. I'm still not out of the woods, but I was able to cobble something together to be able to record today's Emptywheel Friday episode with Marcy Wheeler. Good thing too, as this one another hell of a week!We learned about the Signal chat debacle (aka WhiskeyLeaks in honor of the drunken Secretary of Defense Hegseth) and much of the rest of the shitshow that's been playing out all week as I sat by without a working studio or computers.I hope to be back at full strength on Monday, but no promises. I'll keep you posted at nicolesandler.com and on Bluesky @nicolesandler.bsky.social.Donations to the computer repair fund are welcome at nicolesandler.com/donate-2

It was a weekend with some hope as I tried to focus only on the good stuff, and there was cause for encouragement. Bernie Sanders and AOC held five rallies in Nevada, Arizona and Colorado, and they were awesome in the truest sense of the word. Record crowds everywhere, with reports that most were not necessarily previous Sanders voters or supporters. People are rising up and there are more actions planned. Keep 'em coming!It's been a couple of weeks since Jonathan Larsen of thefuckingnews.substack.com was here, but he's back today. Good thing because there's lots of breaking news that shows just how broken this country is... Did you hear the one about the imbecilic Secretary of Defense mistakenly adding a reporter from The Atlantic to a Signal chat revealing highly classified information about an impending attack on the Houthis in Yemen? Just lovely.... Feel safe yet?

We made it to another Friday, and another end of the week recap with Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net. We keep noting that each week seems like an eternity, but this one seemed to have been even longer. I cannot keep up with all that's happening. I don't have the bandwidth, physically or emotionally to handle it. It's one of many reasons why I'm so grateful for Marcy Wheeler and her indefatigable work at emptywheel.net, and that she brings it to us here each Friday.

Howie Klein has been my regular Thursday guest for over a dozen years now, but our friendship goes back further to the early 90s, when I was doing rock radio in Los Angeles and he was president of Reprise Records. When Howie left Reprise and Warner Brothers as Time Warner and AOL merged, he began devoting all of his time to progressive politics, launching Down with Tyranny and the Blue America PAC.Danny Goldberg also worked in the music industry as a personal manager, record company president, public relations man and journalist since the late 1960s. When Howie and I first met, Danny managed Nirvana, Hole, Sonic Youth, Bonnie Raitt, The Allman Brothers, Rickie Lee Jones and more. From 2005-2006, Danny was CEO of Air America Radio. That was a few years before I joined the network and hosted a nightly show there.All three of us share the common experience of working in the music industry and being very involved in progressive politics. Today, we're all dealing with our current political situation as best we can. Admittedly, I am not handling it well.Two weeks ago on the show, Howie mentioned that he had dinner with his dear old friend Danny Goldberg, and told me that Danny had some very important and insightful thoughts on surviving these dark days and fighting back, and suggested we have Danny join us on the show. So he is doing that today. They'll be here for the second half-hour.Tonight, Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez will be in my neck of the woods. They're heading out west as part of Bernie's Fighting Oligarchy tour. I will be there and will bring you coverage tomorrow and Monday. They're leading the way of the resistance, but it's up to all of us. At the top of the show, I'll share some more constructive ways we can and are fighting back. It's all in our hands right now...

Both Alex and I had technical problems last week when he joined us, so he's back today as the regime's attack on Social Security intensifies. The news has only gotten more alarming and unprecedented in the last seven days.Alex Lawson is executive director of Social Security Works, an organization dedicated to fighting to protect and expand Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid; lower drug prices; ensure economic justice for all; and guarantee health care as a human right—because everyone deserves to live in dignity.

Monday mornings always come with a rude awakening... it's that "here we go again" feeling as we embark on another week in a world we no longer recognize. With each Monday comes the now-routinely awful news of what happened over the weekend when we tried to look away from the train wreck happening constantly before our eyes.This weekend brought with it the moment we knew was coming while we hoped it wouldn't... when Trump and his administration openly ignored a court order. It involved due process for a group of men who Trump decided were terrorists, without so much as a hearing before they were rounded up, shackled and deported to El Salvadore.Although a judge ordered that if a plane was in the air it be returned, that did not happen. So here we are.. I guess this is the constitutional crisis they've been warning us about? If so, then what? I wish I knew the answer.Our guest today is David Enrich, who's been making the media rounds promoting his important new book, MURDER THE TRUTH: FEAR, THE FIRST AMENDMENT, AND A SECRET CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT THE POWERFUL.For more, go to nicolesandler.com/3-17-25 or get the substack at nicolesandler.substack.com

We wrap up each week on Fridays with Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net. We try to cover much of the important news from the week just ending. With the avalanche of shit raining down on us constantly, there's a lot of information to parse. Marcy is in Ireland, I'm in Arizona, so we record our Friday get-togethers at around noon Eastern. The show goes live at 5pm ET.There's a lot happening today, as the senate will vote on the "continuing resolution" offered by the magats. That may or may not happen by showtime. But as Marcy and I discuss, it's a lose-lose situation. There is no good outcome on this bill. Either way, whether the Democrats block it triggering a government shut-down or they vote for cloture allowing it to pass, we're screwed.Today we'll talk about why and how we continue to fight on... and yes, there are some reasons for cautious optimism, coming from the third branch of government -- the courts.

Howie Klein is usually with us on Thursdays but, as he's been writing about at DownWithTyranny.com, he's battling cancer and isn't able to be here today. He should be back with us next week.Today, the senate is debating the continuing resolution passed by the Republicans in the House, even though most of them would never have voted for this if the orange man in the White House hadn't threatened them to do it. Because they'll need 60 votes to invoke cloture and avoid a filibuster, the Republicans will need help from seven Democrats to get that done. Rand Paul is the only Republican to say he'll vote no.We'll talk about why it's important that the Dems don't roll over and allow the Dump/fElon regime free reign to complete their goal of destroying what's left of our nation. The deadline is tomorrow or there will be a government shutdown.

I've gotten a lot of email in the past week or two from listeners very concerned about what the Musk/Dump regime will do to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Although I know that messing with those programs would bring down what's left of this nation -- or maybe because I know that -- it's got me really concerned too.ProPublica this morning published a story regarding a leaked phone recording of the acting Social Security Commissioner expressing grave concerns about what "the DOGE kids" are doing there and the ramifications if they 'succeed'. I shared a lot of it on the show today, but you should read the whole thing for yourself so you know what's going on.We were supposed to speak with Alex Lawson today. He's the executive director of Social Security Works. Both he and I were hit with computer gremlins today so we only got to speak for a few minutes. We will reschedule and get him on early next week for a full conversation.  But in the few minutes we had today, he did warn that there's a real possibility that things at Social Security will be affected and so may our payments. He suggested that we all go to ssa.gov, log in and download hard copies of our statements --earnings and money owed-- so we have them should something go wrong. I also mentioned another article you should read, this one from The American Prospect, where David Dayen wrote "Senate Democrats' Choice: Block the Republican Spending Bill or Dissolve Congress".  Please read it and call your senators. A great resource for calling is 5calls.org. 

I don't usually interview novelists on this show, but Mike Papantonio is so much more. He is a leading trial lawyer who's won numerous multi-million dollar verdicts on behalf of victims of corporate malfeasance. He hosted the radio show "Ring of Fire" on Air America Radio, and has written a bunch of books - both fiction and non-fiction- dealing with the law.His new book, THE MIDDLEMAN, centers on the shady practices of Big Pharma, a subject we should all be concerned about.One of Pap's co-hosts on "Ring of Fire" for many years was Bobby Kennedy Jr. When I invited him on the show to talk about his new book, I also said I'd have to ask about Trump's Secretary of Health and Human Services, a man for who I previously had a lot of respect. He said no subject was off limits.

We usually spend Mondays talking about the latest news with Jonathan Larsen of thefuckingnews.substack.com, but he's out today doing something important with his son. And frankly, I just don't have it in me today.I was trying to find something that would bring some hope to my feelings of hopelessness right now, when a video titled 'Stress Kills' appeared in my email from Bernie Sanders. He seems to be the only person in DC who's actually out there making noise and trying to help. He's been traveling the country on his Fighting Oligarchy tour. So today, we'll spend most of the show listening to Bernie as we'll share his rally held yesterday in Altoona, WI.. We could all use some of Bernie's energy right about now...

We reached another Friday and it was another week filled with more crap than we could cover in an hour-long discussion, which is what Marcy Wheeler and I try to do each Friday. This morning, Marcy put up a long, information-filled post at emptywheel.net titled "Attention Deficit and Defiance Division of Labor: There's Stuff Happening Where You're Not Looking" which provided a bit of a blueprint for today's conversation -- and lots of links you can click on while you follow along.Coming up next week -- in addition to our regulars Jonathan Larsen of thefuckingnews.substack.com on Monday, Howie Klein of DownWithTyranny.com on Thursday and Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net on Friday --we have some great guests coming up. On Tuesday, we'll speak with one of my fellow Air America radio alums, Mike Papantonio! He hosted a show called Ring of Fire with Sam Seder and often with Bobby Kennedy Jr (before he lost his mind. He has a new novel just released this week, The Middleman: A Legal Thriller about a lawyer taking on Big Pharma. His publicist pitched him as a guest. I told him that I don't usually have novelists on, but the subject is interesting, and I'd love to ask him about RFK Jr. Pap's response was that he'll talk about anything I want to ask him about. So I will!I've also heard from a lot of listeners concerned about what Elon Trump will do to Social Security; there are tons of rumors flying about it. So I figured it was time to get Alex Larsen back... He'll be here Wednesday.

Watching the Dow crash for the third day in a row since the megalomaniac in chief unilaterally put 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, the orange one tried to change course again. First he suspended tariffs on cars from both nations. Then he paused the tariffs on Mexico for a month. As the market kept hemorrhaging, the then paused the tariffs on Canada for a month too. The Dow regained about 100 points of today's loss, but still closed down 428 points for the day, adding to the more than 1200 point drop sustained over the two previous days.At DownWithTyranny.com yesterday, Howie Klein wrote "Trump is Tanking the Economy — He's The Worst By That Metric Since Herbert Hoover" - and everyone else is realizing that reality too. Howie Klein joins us today for our regular Thursday get-together to talk about this and more.Is Trump getting the message? Maybe. Today he also convened a cabinet meeting where, Politico reported, he "put new limits on Elon Musk, clarifying that each cabinet member is in charge of their own departments, not Musk."

Craig Unger is a journalist and NY Times bestselling author of six books, two of which deal directly with his reporting on what led him to conclude that Donald Trump is a Russian asset. I first spoke with Craig in January of 2021 for the release of his book American Kompromat: How the KGB Cultivated Donald Trump, and related Tales of Sex Greed, Power and Treachery, a week after Joe Biden was inaugurated and I thought we were done with Trump for good. I reached out to him after last Friday's disastrous Oval Office meeting between the orange dicktator and Ukrainian President Zelinsky when there seemed to be no doubt about Trump's loyalties, and invited him back.So, Craig Unger joins us live today at the beginning of the show. He has a new book out too, Den of Spies: Reagan, Carter, and the Secret History of Treason That Stole the White House.If time permits, we'll get into last night's 100 minutes of madness masquerading as an address by the president (sic) to a joint session of Congress. And a new Randy Rainbow song too...

Jason Leopold has been dubbed the "FOIA Terrorist" by the government. I don't like the word terrorist, so I call him the FOIA Master... He writes the FOIA Files for Bloomberg News, where he continues breaking news. Jason's work is truly important. I caught up with him a few days ago after our last conversation was delayed due to the LA fires.We have a few minutes left at the end, so I'm also sharing my interview with Craig Unger, author of the book American Kompromat recorded in 2021 when it was released. It's about how Donald Trump is a Russian asset. He'll join us live tomorrow...

Mondays are inevitable. Sadly, in recent weeks, the news on Mondays has been tragic and today is no exception. We're still reeling from the spectacle in the Oval Office on Friday and coming to terms with the fact that the man occupying the White House has aligned us with Russia over our allies in Europe. And as further proof that Dump is trying to crash the economy, the stock market took a huge dump today after the orange thing announced that his 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada would go into effect tomorrow.Jonathan Larsen of thefuckingnews.substack.com will be along to talk about the shit show.I'll start the show with what might be my favorite song parody from the Marsh Family. They turned "Puppets on a Kremlin String" around in about 24 hours. It's the perfect commentary on what we witnessed on Friday that we wish would have never happened...