Podcasts about The American Prospect

In our latest, we talk to Texas based journalist Candice Bernd (@candicebernd.bsky.social) about the devastating floods that hit the Hill Country on July 4th weekend. We discuss the effect of the floods on locals, failures of early warning systems, how DOGE's cuts to the federal government contributed to it, and how mutual aid has stepped in to support the community. Bio//Candice Bernd is a special investigative correspondent for the Observer covering the climate and ecological crises. She is a freelance journalist based in Austin whose work has also appeared in The Nation, The American Prospect, In These Times, Salon, Truthout, and Earth Island Journal. She's received awards from the San Francisco Press Club, the Fort Worth chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the Native American Journalists Association, and the Dallas Peace and Justice Center. -------------------------------------------Outro-- "Texas Flood" by Stevie Ray Vaughn

#podcast #politics #progressives #Democrats #Michigan #MagaMurderBudget #Medicaid #RuralHospitals #Epstein #HaleyStevens #Republicans #ElissaSlotkin #JohnMoolenaar #CleanEnergy #TimWalberg #MAGA #CorporateGreed #CorporateCorruption #GovernmentGreed #Democracy #Fascism #FossilFuels #ClimateChange #Gaza #LeftOfLansing Here's Episode 142 of Michigan's Premier Progressive Podcast! 00:00-17:17: Epstein/Haley Stevens/Schumer Failure Did you really believe MAGA Congressional Republicans would defy their Dear Leader Trump by releasing the Epstein investigation files? What is Haley Stevens' campaign angle in her run to become Michigan's Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate as she says Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's doing a great job? How the MAGA Murder Budget could possibly cut three rural hospitals in Michigan. 17:18-45:22: Frank Houston, BlueGreen Alliance Interview BlueGreen Alliance's Michigan Senior State Policy Manager, Frank Houston, talks about how the Trump-MAGA Republican budget bill will slash thousands of clean energy jobs in Michigan. And that will not only hurt the state's economy, but it'll harm the state's environmental future as well.  45:23-50:00: Last Call-Slotkin Gaza Turn? Pat admittedly was caught off-guard by Michigan Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin's criticisms of the right-wing Israeli government's constant attacks on Palestinians trying to receive humanitarian aid, and how Israeli settlers killed a Palestinian-American this week. Is Senator Slotkin changing her mind on what's happening in Gaza?  51:14-53:12: Ending Last new show until August 6. Please, subscribe to the podcast, download each episode, and give it a good review if you can! leftoflansing@gmail.com Left of Lansing is now on YouTube as well! leftoflansing.com NOTES: "Walberg says years of bad decision making may doom some rural hospitals." By Brett Briscoe of WTVB in Coldwater, MI "US Supreme Court allows Trump to carry out plan to dismantle Education Department for now." By Shauneen Miranda of Michigan Advance "211 House Republicans Vote to Block Release of Epstein Files." By Malcolm Ferguson of The New Republic "Trump Medicaid cuts could risk closing three Michigan hospitals." by Anna Busse of Michigan Public Radio "Trump administration tells states it's freezing $6.8 billion for K-12 school programs." By Shauneen Miranda of Michigan Advance "Trump Vows to Create More Blackouts." By David Dayen of The American Prospect

You've likely heard about the slashed health care for millions of Americans. Hospitals defunded. Massive tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans. But guess what? Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" is even more devious (and absurd) than you think. Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with David Dayen of The American Prospect and The Lever's Luke Goldstein to dig into the hidden details: How did these crazy handouts make it into the Big Beautiful Bill? What's the larger agenda? And how is this going to affect you?Read Luke Goldstein's reporting here. Read David Dayen's article here.As an exclusive bonus, click here to listen to an additional 35 minutes of this interview.Get Lever Time Premium, with ad-free episodes, bonus content and extended interviews by becoming a member at levernews.com/subscribeIf you'd like to leave a tip for The Lever, click the following link. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism. levernews.com/donate

Part 1:We talk with Ryan Cooper, Managing Editor, The American Prospect.We discuss the provisions of the BBBill, and how these will affect many Americans, including children.Part 2:We talk with Susanne Schindler, Research Fellow at the Center for Housing Studies, Harvard University.We discuss how social housing can be used in the US to develop more housing.  WNHNFM.ORG   productionMusic: David Rovics

In the first half of the program, we've got on an ironworker apprentice to talk about their recent apprenticeship competition. We've also got on David Dayen, the executive editor of the American Prospect to break down the budget bill.✦ ABOUT ✦The Valley Labor Report is the only union talk radio show in Alabama, elevating struggles for justice and fairness on the job, educating folks about how they can do the same, and bringing relevant news to workers in Alabama and beyond.Our single largest source of revenue *is our listeners* so your support really matters and helps us stay on the air!Make a one time donation or become a monthly donor on our website or patreon:TVLR.FMPatreon.com/thevalleylaborreportVisit our official website for more info on the show, membership, our sponsors, merch, and more: https://www.tvlr.fmFollow TVLR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheValleyLab...Follow TVLR on Twitter: @LaborReportersFollow Jacob on Twitter: @JacobM_ALFollow TVLR Co-Creator David Story on Twitter: @RadiclUnionist✦ CONTACT US ✦Our phone number is 844-899-TVLR (8857), call or text us live on air, or leave us a voicemail and we might play it during the show!✦ OUR ADVERTISERS KEEP US ON THE AIR! ✦Support them if you can.The attorneys at MAPLES, TUCKER, AND JACOB fight for working people. Let them represent you in your workplace injury claim. Mtandj.com; (855) 617-9333The MACHINISTS UNION represents workers in several industries including healthcare, the defense industry, woodworking, and more. iamaw44.org (256) 286-3704 / organize@iamaw44.orgDo you need good union laborers on your construction site, or do you want a union construction job? Reach out to the IRONWORKERS LOCAL 477. Ironworkers477.org  256-383-3334 (Jeb Miles) / local477@bellsouth.netThe NORTH ALABAMA DSA is looking for folks to work for a better North Alabama, fighting for liberty and justice for all. Contact / Join: DSANorthAlabama@gmail.comIBEW LOCAL 136 is a group of over 900 electricians and electrical workers providing our area with the finest workforce in the construction industry. You belong here. ibew136.org Contact: (205) 833-0909IFPTE - We are engineers, scientists, nonprofit employees, technicians, lawyers, and many other professions who have joined together to have a greater voice in our careers. With over 80,000 members spread across the U.S. and Canada, we invite you and your colleagues to consider the benefits of engaging in collective bargaining. IFPTE.org Contact: (202) 239-4880THE HUNTSVILLE INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD is a union open to any and all working people. Call or email them today to begin organizing your workplace - wherever it is. On the Web: https://hsviww.org/ Contact: (256) 651-6707 / organize@hsviww.orgENERGY ALABAMA is accelerating Alabama's transition to sustainable energy. We are a nonprofit membership-based organization that has advocated for clean energy in Alabama since 2014. Our work is based on three pillars: education, advocacy, and technical assistance. Energy Alabama on the Web: https://alcse.org/ Contact: (256) 812-1431 / dtait@energyalabama.orgThe Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union represents in a wide range of industries, including but not limited to retail, grocery stores, poultry processing, dairy processing, cereal processing, soda bottlers, bakeries, health care, hotels, manufacturing, public sector workers like crossing guards, sanitation, and highway workers, warehouses, building services,  and distribution. Learn more at RWDSU.infoThe American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union proudly representing 700,000 federal and D.C. government workers nationwide and overseas. Learn more at AFGE.orgAre you looking for a better future, a career that can have you set for life, and to be a part of something that's bigger than yourself?   Consider a skilled trades apprenticeship with the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades. Learn more at IUPAT.orgUnionly is a union-focused company created specifically to support organized labor. We believe that providing online payments should be simple, safe, and secure.  Visit https://unionly.io/ to learn more.Hometown Action envisions inclusive, revitalized, and sustainable communities built through multiracial working class organizing and leadership development at the local and state level to create opportunities for all people to thrive. Learn more at hometownaction.orgMembers of IBEW have some of the best wages and benefits in North Alabama. Find out more and join their team at ibew558.org ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

We talk to American Prospect editor David Dayen about the Big Beautiful Bill.

Trump wants his “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed by July 4. But the bill is so large and expensive—with deep tax cuts only partially offset by huge cuts to Medicaid and SNAP—there's something in there for almost every member of Congress to hate. Guest: David Dayen, executive editor of the American Prospect. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Ethan Oberman, Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trump wants his “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed by July 4. But the bill is so large and expensive—with deep tax cuts only partially offset by huge cuts to Medicaid and SNAP—there's something in there for almost every member of Congress to hate. Guest: David Dayen, executive editor of the American Prospect. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Ethan Oberman, Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trump wants his “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed by July 4. But the bill is so large and expensive—with deep tax cuts only partially offset by huge cuts to Medicaid and SNAP—there's something in there for almost every member of Congress to hate. Guest: David Dayen, executive editor of the American Prospect. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Ethan Oberman, Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part 1:We talk with Melvin Goodman, who s a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy and a professor of government at Johns Hopkins University. He is also a former CIA analyst.We discuss the current situation in the Middle East, and how the US is attempting regime change at the behest of Israel.Part 2:We talk with Whitney Curry Wimbish, staff writer at The American Prospect.We discuss the recent primary for NYC mayor, and how Mamdani won the Democratic Primary.We also discuss how the controversy about birthright citizenship will affect attempts to get social security numbers for newborns. WNHNFM.ORG  productionMusic: David Rovics

Molly Worthen is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a freelance journalist. She teaches courses on North American religion and politics, global Christianity, and the history of ideas. She writes on these themes for The New York Times and has contributed to The New Yorker, Slate, The American Prospect, Foreign Policy, and other publications. She has also created video and audio courses on the history of Christianity and the history of charismatic leadership for the Great Courses and Audible. Her new book is called Spellbound: How Charisma Shaped American History from the Puritans to Donald Trump.  Check out the book Spellbound. For more Axis resources, go to axis.org.

In today's episode we speak with Liza Featherstone and Doug Henwood about Zohran Mamdani's upset victory in the recent primary for in New York mayor's race.  We first learn more about this 33-year-old socialist, and remarkable campaign he and his team put together to defeat ultimate political insider and ex-governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo.  We probe behind the headlines to see the ways Mamdani's platform was responding to a set of crises that the Democratic establishment chose to ignore.  We both address the onslaught of Islamophobic attacks on Mamdani, and also see what they mask—why is Zohran Mamdani both so reviled by some, and loved and championed by others?  And is this race about the future of the Democratic party, and why should we care?Liza Featherstone is the author of Divining Desire: Focus Groups and the Culture of Consultation, published by O/R Books in 2018, as well as Selling Women Short: the Landmark Battle for Workers' Rights at Walmart (Basic Books, 2004).  She co-authored Students Against Sweatshops (Verso, 2002) and is editor of False Choices: the Faux Feminism of Hillary Rodham Clinton (Verso, 2016). She's currently editing a collection of Alexandra Kollontai 's work for O/R Books and International Publishers and writing the introduction to that volume.Featherstone's work has been published in Lux, TV Guide, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Ms., the American Prospect, Columbia Journalism Review, Glamour, Teen Vogue, Dissent, the Guardian, In These Times, and many other publications. Liza teachers at NYU 's Literary Reportage Program as well as at Columbia University School for International and Public Affairs. She is proud to be an active member of the New York City Democratic Socialists of America and of UAW local 7902.Doug Henwood is a Brooklyn-based journalist and broadcaster specializing in economics and politics. He edited Left Business Observer, a newsletter, from 1986–2013, and has been host of Behind the News, a weekly radio show/podcast that originates on KPFA, Berkeley, since 1995. He is the author of Wall Street: How It Works and for Whom (Verso, 1997), After the New Economy (New Press, 2004), and My Turn: Hillary Clinton Targets the Presidency (OR Books, 2016). He's written for numerous periodicals including Harper's, The New Republic, The Nation, The Baffler, and Jacobin. He's been working on a book about the rot of the US ruling class for way too long and needs to acquire the self-discipline to finish it.  

00:08 — David Dayen, Executive Editor of the American Prospect. 00:33 — John Nichols is National Affairs Correspondent for the Nation. The post Trump's “Big Beautiful Bill” Passes the Senate appeared first on KPFA.

In the aftermath of the U.S. bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities, we welcome back Theodore Postol, Professor of Science, Technology and National Security Policy Emeritus at MIT to give his expert technical assessment on where that assault leaves the Iranian nuclear program. Then, Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, gives us his analysis of the political side of the issue.Theodore Postol is Professor of Science, Technology and National Security Policy Emeritus in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at MIT. His expertise is in nuclear weapon systems, including submarine warfare, applications of nuclear weapons, ballistic missile defense, and ballistic missiles more generally.No one at that point after the attack could have known whether or not there was success of any kind, even if there was success. And I doubt there was any success.Theodore PostolThe Israelis have done everything in their power to create an internal argument among the political leadership in Iran to proceed to build a nuclear weapon so that this kind of thing won't happen again. So the Israeli grand strategy, if you want to call it that, shows no intelligence or thought of any kind.Theodore PostolTrita Parsi is the executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, and the co-founder and former President of the National Iranian American Council. He is an expert on US-Iranian relations, Iranian foreign policy, and the geopolitics of the Middle East. He has authored three books on US foreign policy in the Middle East, with a particular focus on Iran and Israel— Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Iran, Israel and the United States, A Single Roll of the Dice – Obama's Diplomacy with Iran, and Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran and the Triumph of Diplomacy.Israel is not enhancing American power in the Middle East. Israel is consuming it.Trita Parsi, Executive VP of the Quincy Institute for Responsible StatecraftIf the (Iranian regime) were to collapse it would most likely be because there would be an internal coup. And the next regime would be coming from the very same regime. It would just be a much more aggressive and hardline.Trita Parsi20 Worst Recent Trump Headlines1. Trump Administration Abruptly Cuts Billions From State Health Services (Apoorva Mandavilli, Margot Sanger-Katz and Jan Hoffman, New York Times, March 26, 2025)2. The EPA is canceling almost 800 environmental justice grants, court filing reveals (Maxine Joselow and Amudalat Ajasa, Washington Post, April 29, 2025)3. Trump's attack on federal unions a ‘test case' for broader assault, warn lawyers (Michael Sainato, The Guardian, 5/1/25)4. Trump fires all 3 Democrats on the Consumer Product Safety Commission (Jaclyn Diaz, NPR, 5/9/25)5. Federal employee unions fight for survival as Trump tries to eviscerate them (Andrea Hsu, NPR, 5/11/25)6. Trump's DOJ agrees to let Boeing escape guilty plea. It was a deal victims' families didn't want. (Alexis Keenan, Yahoo Finance, 5/23/25)7. Trump made a promise not to touch Medicare. His megabill just broke it. (Alan L. Cohen, NBC, 5/23/25)8. Trump's safety research cuts heighten workplace risks, federal workers warn (Michael Sainato, The Guardian, 5/27/25)9. Provision in GOP budget bill puts millions at risk of losing SNAP benefits (Lisa Desjardins and Jackson Hudgins, PBS, 5/29/25)10. White House proposes shutting down chemical safety agency (Maxine Joselow Washington Post, 6/3/25)11. Trump tax bill would add $550 billion in interest payments to national debt (Jacob Bogage, Washington Post, 6/5/25)12. RFK Jr. boots all members of the CDC's vaccine advisory committee (Will Stone, NPR, 6/9/25)13. Vance, Rubio peddle fiction that 88 percent of foreign aid doesn't go overseas (Glenn Kessler, Washington Post, 6/11/25)14. Trump's EPA plans to repeal climate pollution limits on fossil fuel power plants (Jeff Brady, NPR, 6/11/25)15. How Trump's assault on science is blinding America to climate change (Scott Waldman, E&E News, 6/16/2025)16. ‘Censorship:' See the National Park visitor responses after Trump requested help deleting ‘negative' signage (Government Executive Magazine, 6/18/25)17. Government drops cases against ‘predatory' financial firms (Peter Whoriskey, Washington Post, 6/20/25)18. 'Hell no, insane': A proposal for millions of acres of land under Trump's 'big, beautiful' bill sparks outrage (No Byline, Economic Times, 6/23/25)19. Under Trump's ‘Big, Beautiful Bill' child poverty will rise again (Arturo Baiocchi, Sacramento Bee, 6/23/25)20. Trump loves saying 'You're fired.' Now he's making it easier to fire federal workers (Andrea Hsu, NPR, 6/23/25)News 6/27/251. After a brutal initial barrage by the United States, followed by tit-for-tat exchanges between Israel and Iran, the U.S. is seeking to broker a ceasefire between the two states. On Truth Social, Trump posted “ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly ‘Plane Wave' to Iran. Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect!” Just hours after this however, Israel did in fact bomb targets in Tehran, per Reuters. Israel also claims to have intercepted missiles fired from Iran following the ceasefire agreement. In the wake of the initial attacks, journalist Séamus Malekafzali reported that the “Iranian communist party Tudeh and the Communist Party of Israel [Hadash] release[d] a joint statement condemning the Israeli war on Iran, saying Israel's intent is to make the region ‘bow down to [US] imperialism' and that the only solution is full nuclear disarmament in the Middle East.” Israel's nuclear capabilities are an open secret in Washington, with estimates that the country possess between 90 and 400 nuclear warheads.2. In Congress, Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia has put forth a War Powers resolution in an attempt to check Trump's unilateral escalation in Iran. According to Newsweek, he expects to get Republican votes in the Senate. In the House, the effort is led by Reps. Ro Khanna and maverick Republican Thomas Massie, whom Trump has become so enraged with that he recently launched a PAC to oust him from his seat, per Axios. Meanwhile, AOC issued a statement reading, “The President's disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers. He has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations. It is absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment.” Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, asked about AOC's impeachment comments, replied “No, no, that's a big threshold to cross,” per David Weigel.3. The escalation in Iran has exposed fissures in Trump's orbit. PBS reports major MAGA figures like Steve Bannon, Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor-Greene are openly opposed, while Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has reportedly drawn Trump's ire for a string of comments out of step with the administration's messaging, starting with a video earlier this month in which she accused “political elites and warmongers [of] carelessly fomenting fear and tension between nuclear powers,” per the Independent. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been iced out completely, according to the Washington Post.4. In more news concerning the administration, the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) has published a new report, finding that “Stephen Miller…Trump's powerful deputy chief of staff and homeland security advisor…has a personal financial stake…[of] up to a quarter million dollars of stock in Palantir.” POGO describes Palantir, the shadowy tech company founded by rightwing tech oligarch Peter Thiel, as “woven into the operations of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and used by other federal agencies such as the Pentagon.” POGO and other experts see this as a glaring potential conflict of interest. In an almost darkly comedic twist, “Democratic lawmakers have recently sought information from Palantir, [but] they are in the minority and cannot compel the company to produce records. A person who could is Representative James Comer (R-KY), the chairman of the [House] oversight committee...However, Comer bought…Palantir stock the day after Trump's inauguration…his only stock trade that day.” Palantir is the second-best-performing S&P 500 stock in 2025, with shares up 74% year-to-date, per Business Insider.5. In a rare case of corruption actually being prosecuted, the New York Times reports former New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez reported for his eleven-year prison sentence on June 17th. “After a nine-week trial in Manhattan, Mr. Menendez…became the only U.S. senator ever to be convicted of acting as an agent of a foreign government,” after taking part in a “yearslong bribery conspiracy” that included payoffs in the form of “kilo bars of gold, a Mercedes-Benz convertible and more than $480,000 in cash.” Menendez is now incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution, Schuylkill, a medium-security federal prison in Minersville, Pennsylvania. He has been assigned the prisoner number 67277-050.6. In other news, POLITICO reports, “FICO plans to launch a suite of credit scores later this year that incorporate [Buy Now Pay Later or BNPL] data, providing lenders a window into…consumers' repayment behavior on these increasingly popular installment loans.” As BNPL data has not been included in credit reporting before, this has become known as “phantom debt…a gigantic black box…[and] largely unregulated.” This story notes that the Trump administration CFPB has “dropped planned enforcement of a Biden administration rule that would have treated BNPL providers like credit card companies,” subjecting this industry to daylight and financial regulation. The administration's abandonment of this rule mirrors their declassification of cryptocurrency as securities in order to skirt SEC oversight. Many questions remain over how exactly BNPL data will factor into consumers' credit scores, but many are bracing for this data to reveal a growing chasm of consumer debt underpinning the already shaky economic picture.7. Meanwhile Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University student and activist abducted by ICE on the eve of his son's birth – despite being a legal permanent resident – has finally been freed. Khalil was held in federal immigration detention in Louisiana for 104 days, per AP. Following his release, Khalil said “Justice prevailed, but it's very long overdue.” Khalil's legal battle will continue. Khalil stated in an interview with NPR, “My release is just the first step. The legal fight is still very, very long. The administration appealed the decision about my release, but we will prove our case – that what happened…was textbook retaliation against the First Amendment, that I was targeted because of speech the government did not like, and that there was nothing wrong with the speech I was engaged in. I want to make sure that everyone who contributed to my arrest will be held accountable.”8. Backlash to Trump's immigration policies is not confined to the political and legal realms either. Newsweek reports that the new Pope, Leo XIV, has “called for priests, deacons and parish leaders to accompany migrants to court and stand in solidarity with them.” This is an encouraging sign for those who hoped Leo would follow in the footsteps of Pope Francis. It also puts the new Pope at odds with more conservative American Catholics, such as Vice-President JD Vance who converted in adulthood. In May, Leo's brother John Prevost told New York Times that the new Pope, “has great, great desire to help the downtrodden and the disenfranchised, the people who are ignored.”9. In another immigration flashpoint, “A gang of masked federal agents swarmed, manhandled, and detained New York City Comptroller Brad Lander…as he sought to assist a defendant out of immigration court,” according to the American Prospect. The Prospect notes this arrest is “the latest instance of political violence against opposition party members, which has included the arrests of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and New Jersey Rep. LaMonica McIver…the arrest of Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan…and the brief detention of Sen. Alex Padilla.” Lander was released several hours after he was detained, when New York Governor Kathy Hochul showed up in person to demand his release. She called his arrest “b******t.” Later, in an interview with Joe Gallina, Lander said, “Courts tell undocumented immigrants their cases are ‘dismissed.' But what they really dismiss… is their asylum status. Then ICE grabs them. No lawyer. No warning.”10. Finally, 33-year-old democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani trounced disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary on Tuesday, winning by a completely unforeseen seven-point landslide. Polls up to election day showed Cuomo winning, some by as much as 24 points. Mamdani, a state legislator since 2021, ran on a platform of affordability, including making city buses free, establishing city-owned grocery stores and freezing the rent for all stabilized tenants. This platform – paired with cogent messaging, an extraordinary grassroots organizing campaign and shrewd alliances with other progressive candidates like Brad Lander – won the day for Zohran. However, an air of uncertainty about November remains. Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams still plans to run for reelection as an independent and Cuomo hasn't ruled out doing the same, per the Hill. While many who endorsed or donated to Cuomo in the primary – some now openly admitting they merely did so out of fear of reprisal – have switched their allegiance to Mamdani, some are maintaining a hostile posture towards the presumptive Democratic nominee. There is no doubt this story will proceed in dramatic fashion.This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard. Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

It's casual Friday. Today in studio for the first hour is writer and editor of the American Prospect, David Dayen. Sam and David dive deep into the SENR Bill, the Genius Act and the Big Beautiful Bill. Of course we check in with the looming potential American invasion of Iran. And we close out the first half with the NYC Mayoral primaries. If you live in NYC remember to vote and don't rank Cuomo. In the fun half we dig deeper into Iran, including Tulsi Gabbard and Pete Hegseth getting boxed out of the plans and discussions. ICE has a standoff with the LA Dodgers We take phone calls and lot more. Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Follow us on TikTok here!: https://www.tiktok.com/@majorityreportfm Check us out on Twitch here!: https://www.twitch.tv/themajorityreport Find our Rumble stream here!: https://rumble.com/user/majorityreport Check out our alt YouTube channel here!: https://www.youtube.com/majorityreportlive Gift a Majority Report subscription here: https://fans.fm/majority/gift Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! https://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: https://majority.fm/app Go to https://JustCoffee.coop and use coupon code majority to get 10% off your purchase! Check out today's sponsors: RITUAL: Get 25% off during your first month. Visit ritual.com/MAJORITY to start Ritual or add Essential For Men to your subscription today.  SUNSET LAKE: Use the code LEFTISBEST to save 20% at SunsetLakeCBD.com  on all their farm fresh CBD products for people and pets. Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattLech Check out Matt's show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Check out Matt Binder's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder Subscribe to Brandon's show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder – https://majorityreportradio.com/

Today on Speaking Out of Place I am joined by two of my favorite guests—Liza Featherstone and Doug Henwood.  As always, this is a free-wheeling, unscripted conversation amongst friends and political allies. This time we talk about the New York City mayor's race, Elon Musk and DOGE, the unbridled wave of greed we see on display amongst the oligarchy, and the need to think beyond Trump and single issues to arrive at a diagnosis of the systematic attacks on social life and mutual care.Liza Featherstone is the author of Divining Desire: Focus Groups and the Culture of Consultation, published by O/R Books in 2018, as well as Selling Women Short: the Landmark Battle for Workers' Rights at Walmart (Basic Books, 2004).  She co-authored Students Against Sweatshops (Verso, 2002) and is editor of False Choices: the Faux Feminism of Hillary Rodham Clinton (Verso, 2016). She's currently editing a collection of Alexandra Kollontai 's work for O/R Books and International Publishers and writing the introduction to that volume.Featherstone's work has been published in Lux, TV Guide, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Ms., the American Prospect, Columbia Journalism Review, Glamour, Teen Vogue, Dissent, the Guardian, In These Times, and many other publications. Liza teachers at NYU 's Literary Reportage Program as well as at Columbia University School for International and Public Affairs. She is proud to be an active member of the New York City Democratic Socialists of America and of UAW local 7902.Doug Henwood is a Brooklyn-based journalist and broadcaster specializing in economics and politics. He edited Left Business Observer, a newsletter, from 1986–2013, and has been host of Behind the News, a weekly radio show/podcast that originates on KPFA, Berkeley, since 1995. He is the author of Wall Street: How It Works and for Whom (Verso, 1997), After the New Economy (New Press, 2004), and My Turn: Hillary Clinton Targets the Presidency (OR Books, 2016). He's written for numerous periodicals including Harper's, The New Republic, The Nation, The Baffler, and Jacobin. He's been working on a book about the rot of the US ruling class for way too long and needs to acquire the self-discipline to finish it.  

With tanks rolling down the street in DC on Saturday and troops being deployed to LA, it's never been more important to come together in nonviolent action to exercise our First Amendment right to peaceful protest. That's what the organization Indivisible says about Saturday's National Day of Defiance – the nationwide “No Kings” protests – go to nokings.org to find one near you. Ezra Levin will explain; he's co-founder and co-executive director of Indivisible.Also: Who, exactly, is being arrested by ICE agents in Los Angeles? Why is the National Guard downtown LA? And What are the 700 marines Trump sent to LA supposed to do? Harold Meyerson will comment - he's editor at large of The American Prospect.Plus: Trump is not the worst president when it comes to constitutional rights and civil liberties; Woodrow Wilson was worse. Adam Hochschild explains why – starting with jailing thousands of people whose only crime was speaking out against the president. Adam's most recent book is 'American Midnight: The Great War, A Violent Peace, and Democracy's Forgotten Crisis.' (First recorded April 23, 2025.)

With tanks rolling down the street in DC on Saturday and troops being deployed to LA, it's never been more important to come together in nonviolent action to exercise our First Amendment right to peaceful protest. That's what the organization Indivisible says about Saturday's National Day of Defiance – the nationwide “No Kings” protests. Ezra Levin will explain; he's co-founder and co-executive director of Indivisible. Also: Who, exactly, is being arrested by ICE agents in Los Angeles? Why is the National Guard downtown LA? And What are the 700 marines Trump sent to LA supposed to do? Harold Meyerson will comment - he's editor at large of The American Prospect.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

With tanks rolling down the street in DC on Saturday and troops being deployed to LA, it's never been more important to come together in nonviolent action to exercise our First Amendment right to peaceful protest. That's what the organization Indivisible says about Saturday's National Day of Defiance – the nationwide “No Kings” protests. Ezra Levin will explain; he's co-founder and co-executive director of Indivisible. Also: Who, exactly, is being arrested by ICE agents in Los Angeles? Why is the National Guard downtown LA? And What are the 700 marines Trump sent to LA supposed to do? Harold Meyerson will comment - he's editor at large of The American Prospect.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

With tanks rolling down the street in DC on Saturday and troops being deployed to LA, it's never been more important to come together in nonviolent action to exercise our First Amendment right to peaceful protest. That's what the organization Indivisible says about Saturday's National Day of Defiance – the nationwide “No Kings” protests. Ezra Levin will explain; he's co-founder and co-executive director of Indivisible. Also: Who, exactly, is being arrested by ICE agents in Los Angeles? Why is the National Guard downtown LA? And What are the 700 marines Trump sent to LA supposed to do? Harold Meyerson will comment - he's editor at large of The American Prospect.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

0:08 — Yael Schacher, director for the Americas and Europe at Refugees International. 0:33 — David Dayen, executive editor of the American Prospect. His latest book is “Monopolized: Life in the Age of Corporate Power.” The post SCOTUS Revokes Biden Era Parole Status for Migrants; the One Big Beautiful Bill Act Explained appeared first on KPFA.

Part 1:We speak with Harold Meyerson, Editor-at-Large for The American Prospect.We discuss how the Democratic Party has lost focus on working class Americans, and instead has listened to their wealthy donors. What should they do next?Part 2:We talk with Thom Walsh, Healthcare regulator in Vermont, and teaches health systems and policy at the Geisel School of Medicine and Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.We discuss the proposed work requirements for Medicaid recipients. What will be the effects? What cost savings will accrue, if any? WNHNFM.ORG  productionMusic: David Rovics

We've made it to Casual Friday folks, so loosen that collar and tune in. First up, Trump is continuing to melt down after being confronted with the acronym T.A.C.O. (Trump Always Chickens Out) and insists that he's a big strong man who is doing the best trade negotiations the world has ever seen. Meanwhile, Commerce Secretary Scott Bessent admits that talks with China have stalled and that he's not really sure when they might restart. Then David Dayen from the American Prospect joins us to talk about Trump's failures and what they mean for trade and the global economy. Check out his work on the golden age of scams: https://prospect.org/power/2025-05-27-golden-age-of-scams/ And check out David's other pieces and podcasts at The American Prospect here: https://prospect.org/ In the Fun Half, Karoline Leavitt has a real wackadoodle justification for the legality of Trump's tariffs. A hero on Martha's Vinyard has been following around ICE agents with a camera, hounding them with questions and justified hectoring. Zohran Mamdani has some positive polling numbers with less than a month left to go before the New York mayoral primary. And Charlie Kirk embarrasses himself at a at a Cambridge University debate about feminism. Also: The Bitchuation Room is doing a live podcast TONIGHT in Los Angeles. Get your tickets before they're gone! https://www.elysiantheater.com/shows/bitchuationroom Help a Farming Community in Chiapas Build Water Sovereignty, Regenerate Land, and Stop Forced Migration: bitly/chiapaswater Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Follow us on TikTok here!: https://www.tiktok.com/@majorityreportfm Check us out on Twitch here!: https://www.twitch.tv/themajorityreport Find our Rumble stream here!: https://rumble.com/user/majorityreport Check out our alt YouTube channel here!: https://www.youtube.com/majorityreportlive Gift a Majority Report subscription here: https://fans.fm/majority/gift Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! https://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: https://majority.fm/app Go to https://JustCoffee.coop and use coupon code majority to get 10% off your purchase! Check out today's sponsors: FAST GROWING TREES: Get 15% off your first purchase FastGrowingTrees.com/majority EXPRESS VPN: Get an extra 4 months free. Expressvpn.com/Majority SUNSET LAKE CBD: Use coupon code “Left Is Best” (all one word) for 20% off of your entire order at SunsetLakeCBD.com JUST COFFEE: Go to https://JustCoffee.coop and use coupon code MAJORITY for 10% off your purchase! Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattLech @RussFinkelstein Check out Matt's show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Check out Matt Binder's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder Subscribe to Brandon's show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder – https://majorityreportradio.com/

Charisma is a word we hear all the time, but what does it really mean? Why are some leaders able to draw people in, while others push us away? I've been fascinated by this for years, wondering why we're drawn to certain people, what makes us follow, and how charisma shapes our lives in ways we don't always notice. In a culture where stories and leaders are constantly competing for our attention, understanding charisma feels more urgent than ever. That's why I'm excited to talk with Molly Worthen. Molly is a historian and journalist whose new book, Spellbound, digs deep into the history of charisma in America. She traces how charisma has played out from the era of the Puritans and prophets, through conquerors, agitators, and experts, all the way to today's age of gurus and influencers. Each era reveals something about what we long for—and what we risk—when we put our trust in charismatic leaders. In this episode, we explore what charisma actually is, how it both unites and divides, and how these waves of charismatic movements have shaped our culture and our faith. We'll talk about the stories that draw us in, the identities we build, and how to stay grounded as followers of Jesus when everything around us feels like it's shifting. If you're trying to figure out who to trust, how to stay rooted, or just want to make sense of all the noise, this conversation is for you.Molly Worthen is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a freelance journalist. She teaches courses on North American religion and politics, global Christianity, and the history of ideas. She writes on these themes for The New York Times and has contributed to The New Yorker, Slate, The American Prospect, Foreign Policy, and other publications. She has also created video and audio courses on the history of Christianity and the history of charismatic leadership for the Great Courses and Audible. Her previous books are Apostles of Reason: The Crisis of Authority in American Evangelicalism and The Man on Whom Nothing Was Lost: The Grand Strategy of Charles Hill.Molly's Book:SpellboundMolly's Recommendations:The SparrowChildren of GodSubscribe to Our Substack: Shifting CultureConnect with Joshua: jjohnson@allnations.usGo to www.shiftingculturepodcast.com to interact and donate. Every donation helps to produce more podcasts for you to enjoy.Follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Threads, Bluesky or YouTubeConsider Giving to the podcast and to the ministry that my wife and I do around the world. Just click on the support the show link below Support the show

Candice Bernd returns to This Is Hell! to discuss her recent writing at The American Prospect, "The Crypto Racket." After the interview, we hear a classic "Moment of Truth" from Jeff Dorchen. Check out Candice's article here: https://prospect.org/power/2025-05-09-crypto-racket-texas-bitcoin-mining/

Part 1:We talk with Anjeannette Damont, who covers government accountability issues at the local, state and federal level in the Southwest. At Pro Publica, her work has included uncovering COVID-19 testing contracts awarded to the Nevada governors friends with disastrous results, documenting how a city council empowered a wealthy developer to raze motels and displace hundreds of low-income residents, and investigating how the countrys largest house-flipping company cashed in on homeowners desperation. Prior to Pro Publica, she was a government watchdog reporter and regional investigative editor for the USA Today Network.We discuss the damage done by a We Buy Ugly Houses Franchise Left a Trail of Financial Wreckage Across Texashttps://www.propublica.org/article/homevestors-fraud-charles-carrier-texasPart 2:We talk with Bill Curry and Harold Meyerson.Bill Curry was a Connecticut state senator, comptroller and two time Democratic nominee for governor who served as Counselor to the President in the Clinton White House. He has written for Salon, the Daily Beast, the Huffington Post and the Hartford Courant and has provided commentary on National Public Radio, MSNBC and many other news outlets.Harold Meyerson is editor at large of The American Prospect.We discuss how Trump uses policy as a political weapon. The 'bait and switch' approach that gets voters' attention for popular issues, on which he never delivers, but for which he takes credit.We also discuss the Qatar government's 'gift' to Trump of a $4 M airplane. WNHNFM.ORG  productionMusic: David Rovics 

Send us a textToday, my guest is journalist and author Katherine Stewart. I had a compelling conversation with this highly sought-after writer, and we went deep. Known for The Power Worshippers, she's back with Money, Lies, and God, exposing the dangerous alliance of Christian Nationalism and political power.We dive into her journey from the Child Evangelism Fellowship to attending rallies and conferences of the religious right. Katherine reveals how dark money, misinformation, and groups like Project 2025, the Federalist Society, and the Claremont Institute are reshaping America.We discuss Trump's 2024 win, his first 100 days, and how Christian Nationalism impacts public education, gender issues, race, and democracy itself.Most importantly, Katherine shares how we can resist and respond.This is a conversation that matters — for faith, democracy, and our future.Stewart began her journalism career working for investigative reporter Wayne Barrett at The Village Voice. Since 2011, she has contributed op-eds to The New York Times and written for various publications, including The Guardian, The American Prospect, The Nation, and The Atlantic. Her book was the basis of the documentary film by Rob Reiner, God and Country.SHOW NOTESSupport the showBecome a Patron - Click on the link to learn how you can become a Patron of the show. Thank you! Ken's Substack Page The Podcast Official Site: TheBeachedWhiteMale.com

Part 1:We talk with Jeet Heer.Jeet Heer is a national affairs correspondent forThe Nationand host of the weeklyNation podcast,The Time of Monsters. He also pens the monthly column Morbid Symptoms. The author ofIn Love with Art: Francoise Moulys Adventures in Comics with Art Spiegelman(2013) andSweet Lechery: Reviews, Essays and Profiles(2014), Heer has written for numerous publications, includingThe New Yorker,The Paris Review,Virginia Quarterly Review,The American Prospect,The Guardian,The New Republic,andThe Boston Globe.We discuss the adoption of crypto currency funds, first, by Trump, for the nation, and by the governor of New Hampshire for New Hampshire. More states will likely follow.We note that most of the crypto investment is from the Middle East. It may destabilize the US dollar, and has many other problems. Unfortunately, both Republicans and Democrats are buying into crypto. We discuss the implications for the future.Part 2:We talk with Professor Peter Rutland.Peter Rutland has taught at Wesleyan since 1989. Before that he taught at the University of Texas at Austin, and at the University of York and London University in the UK. He has a BA from Oxford and a D. Phil from York. He has also been a visiting professor at Columbia University, and is an associate of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University. His research interests focus on all things Russian and places where the Russian boot has trod (Nicholas II) in the former Soviet Union and the former East Europe. He started off studying workers and the Communist Party, moving on to broader questions of economic policy in the socialist and post-socialist economies. Along the way he developed an interest in nationalism and ethnic conflict. Since 2013 he has been editor in chief of Nationalities Papers, the journal of the Association for the Study of Nationalities along with serving as associate editor of Russian Review.We discuss the image that Putin is creating of himself in Russia. His control of all media in Russia allows him to present whatever facet he likes to give the Russians the image of a 'humble man of the people', and his propaganda is framed in such a way to make him seem to be 'defending' Russia. We also look at how Trump has also adopted this strategy to present himself to US voters. WNHNFM.ORG  productionMusic: David Rovics

#podcast #politics #Democrats #Michigan #Slotkin #Progressives #CorporateCorruption #Cryptocurrency #BigTech #Trump #Republicans #Economy #WorkingClass #GovernmentCorruption #BillMaher #LeftOfLansing Here's the Left of Lansing "Monday Musing" for May 12, 2025. Last week, Bill Maher lauded Michigan Democratic U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin on his HBO show because of her criticism of how her party appears "weak and woke" by the electorate. But other than the fact that Slotkin swears and cusses at times, what exactly is she pushing on a policy front that helps working class Michiganders and Americans? How will her "moderation" help bring people towards Democrats when she's currently supporting a cryptocurrency bill that Republicans, including President Trump, are pushing to please the Big Tech donor base? How does joining with Trump help fix that "weak" image Slotkin is crying about? Please, subscribe to the podcast, download each episode, and give it a good review if you can! leftoflansing@gmail.com Left of Lansing is now on YouTube as well! leftoflansing.com NOTES: "Slotkin co-sponsors bill targeting Trump's crypto coin, cites risks of foreign influence." By Jon King of Michigan Advance "Democrats Cave, Prepare to Rubber-Stamp Trump Crypto Corruption." By David Dayen of The American Prospect

On the Line Jimmy Williams Interview: https://www.laborontheline.org/p/episode-25-jimmy-williams-jr-labors Happy May Day everyone! We start with headlines from Starbucks, Amazon, UPS, Duolingo, and the NHS. Next we discuss the sudden dissolution of the UAW's long standing reform caucus, the UAWD. A report from the American Prospect this week details the attacks on workers at the VA from inside testimony. Hotel workers in Buffalo are fighting back against illegal firings and racist retaliation in their struggle for a union. This week also saw May Day, and we discuss the history of International Workers Day and some of the many events held to commemorate it and continue the struggle around the world. Finally, public workers in LA organized with the SEIU held a massive two day strike this week in their fight to afford the soaring cost of living. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/

Migrant Justice Petition: https://migrantjustice.net/node/556 Headlines this week from PetSmart, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Wellesley College, Kroger,  and the Port of Casablanca. We discuss a piece this week from The American Prospect on the rampant abuse of independent contractor labels in the construction industry. Also this week, attacks on immigrant workers continued to escalate with 8 dairy workers arrested in Vermont. Trump's tariffs continue to wreak havoc on workers, with many manufacturers cutting, rather than increasing jobs. Finally, we check in with Starbucks Workers United, where workers have taken to direct action as the company continues to refuse to offer a fair contract after three years. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/

#podcast #politics #immigration #Michigan #Education #InternationalStudents #Deportation #GovernmentCorruption #MAGA #Republicans #CorporateAuthoritariansm #Authoritarianism #LatinoVoters #Trump #Economy #Democrats #LeftOfLansing Here's the Left of Lansing "Monday Musing" for April 21, 2025. A new Gallop poll shows Americans are beginning to reject Dear Leader Trump on a host of issues, including his top issue of Immigration. Ryan Cooper of The American Prospect gives reasonings as to why Americans are no longer supporting his anti-Constitutional immigration disappearance program, but also why Latino-American voters are rejecting him even though many voted for him just five months ago. And this is why Democrats should've never ceded ground on immigration rather than choosing Trump-Lite on the issue. It didn't solve the issue, nor did it give them extra votes. Please, subscribe to the podcast, download each episode, and give it a good review if you can! leftoflansing@gmail.com Left of Lansing is now on YouTube as well! leftoflansing.com NOTES: "Trump scores better marks with the public on immigration than the economy." By  AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research

Ralph speaks to Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank about the Trump Administration's path of destruction in our federal government. Then, Ralph welcomes legendary public interest lawyer Alan Morrison to discuss the President's authority to impose tariffs and other constitutional questions.Dana Milbank is a nationally syndicated op-ed columnist for the Washington Post. He also provides political commentary for various TV outlets, and he is the author of five books on politics, including the New York Times bestseller The Destructionists and the national bestseller Homo Politicus. His latest book is Fools on the Hill: The Hooligans, Saboteurs, Conspiracy Theories and Dunces who Burned Down the House.I shouldn't be amazed, but Mike Johnson never ceases to amaze me with the rapidity with which he'll just drop to his knees whenever Trump says something.Dana MilbankWe're going to know this shortly, but it does appear that Trump's honeymoon may be over in the House as the conservatives finally seem to be finding their backbones. But I've thought that might happen before and then only to find out that they, in fact, they could not locate their backbones. So I don't want to be premature.Dana MilbankTrump seems to be gambling (and the administration seems to be gambling) that ultimately the Supreme Court is going to a wholesale reinterpretation of the Constitution to grant these never-before-seen executive powers, and it's possible that he's right about that. We're not going to know that. There have been a couple of preliminary rulings that seem friendly to Trump, but none of those is final, so we can't really be sure of it.Dana MilbankMy guess is that Chief Justice Roberts is seeing his legacy heading toward the ditch after his decision of Trump v. United States, where he said that Presidents cannot be criminally prosecuted….My guess is he's going to unpleasantly surprise Trump in the coming months.Ralph NaderAlan Morrison is the Lerner Family Associate Dean for Public Interest & Public Service at George Washington Law School. He currently teaches civil procedure and constitutional law, and previously taught at Harvard, NYU, Stanford, Hawaii, and American University law schools. He has argued 20 cases in the Supreme Court and co-founded the Public Citizen Litigation Group in 1972, which he directed for more than 25 years.It's inevitable that even for a non-economist like myself to understand that [the costs of tariffs] are going to be passed on. Other than Donald Trump, I don't think there's anybody who believes that these taxes are not going to be passed on and that they're going to be borne by the country from which the company did the exporting.Alan MorrisonIt's an uphill battle on both the statutory interpretation and the undue delegation grounds, but our position is rather simple: If the Congress doesn't write a statute so that there's something that the government can't order or do, then it's gone too far. In effect, it has surrendered to the President its power to set policy and do the legislative function. Interestingly, Trump has trumpeted the breadth of what he's doing here. He calls it a revolution. Well, if we have revolutions in this country, my copy of the Constitution says that the Congress has to enact revolution and the President can't do it on its own. So we think we've got a pretty strong case if we can get it to court.Alan MorrisonOne of the things that I've been struck by is that laws alone cannot make this country governable. That we can't write laws to cover every situation and every quirk that any person has, especially the President. We depend on the norms of government—that people will do things not exactly the way everybody did them before, but along the same general lines, and that when we make change, we make them in moderation, because that's what the people expect. Trump has shed all norms.Alan MorrisonNews 4/9/251. Our top story this week is the killing of Omar Mohammed Rabea, an American citizen in Gaza. Known as Amer, the BBC reports the 14-year-old was shot by the Israeli military along with two other 14-year-old boys “on the outskirts of Turmus Ayya” on Sunday evening. Predictably, the IDF called these children “terrorists.” According to NJ.com – Rabea formerly resided in Saddle Brook, New Jersey – Rabea's uncle sits on the board of a local Palestinian American Community Center which told the press “The ambulance was not allowed to pass the checkpoint for 30 minutes, a denial in medical treatment that ultimately resulted in Amer's death…[his] death was entirely preventable and horrifically unjust. He was a child, a 14-year-old boy, with an entire life ahead of him.” The Rachel Corrie Foundation, founded in honor of the American peace activist killed by an Israeli bulldozer while protesting the demolition of a Palestinian home, issued a statement reading “Rabea's death…was perpetuated by Israeli settlers who act with impunity…We believe that if our own government demanded accountability…Rabea would still be alive.” The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has sent a letter to Attorney General Bondi demanding an investigation, but chances of the Trump administration pursuing justice in this case are slim.2. Meanwhile, President Trump seems to be driving the U.S. economy into a deep recession. Following his much-publicized tariff announcement last week – which included 10% tariffs on uninhabited Heard and McDonald Islands – the S&P dipped by 10.5%, among the largest drops in history, per the New York Times. Far from making Trump back off however, he appears dead set on pushing this as far as it will go. After the People's Republic of China responded to the threat of a 54% tariff with a reciprocal 34% tariff, Trump announced the U.S. will retaliate by upping the tariff to a whopping 104% on Chinese imports, according to the BBC. Reuters reports that JP Morgan forecasts a 60% chance of a recession as a result of these tariffs.3. In more foreign affairs news, on Friday April 4th, South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol was officially removed from office by that country's Constitutional Court, “ending months of uncertainty and legal wrangling after he briefly declared martial law in December,” per CNN. The South Korean parliament had already voted to impeach Yoon in December of 2024. The court's decision was unanimous and characterized the leader's actions as a “grave betrayal of the people's trust.” Upon this ruling being handed down, Yoon was forced to immediately vacate the presidential residence. A new election is scheduled for June 3rd. Incredible what a political and judicial class unafraid to stand up to lawlessness can accomplish.4. Speaking of ineffectual opposition parties, one need look no further than Texas' 18th congressional district. This safe Democratic district – including most of central Houston – was held by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee from 1995 until her death in 2024. According to the Texas Tribune, Lee planned to run yet again in 2024, triumphing over her 43-year-old former aide Amanda Edwards in the primary. However, Lee passed in July of 2024. Edwards again sought the nomination, but the Harris County Democratic Party instead opted for 69-year-old former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, per the Texas Tribune. Turner made it to March of 2025 before he too passed away. This seat now sits vacant – depriving the residents of central Houston of congressional representation and the Democrats of a vote in the House. Governor Gregg Abbot has announced that he will not allow a special election before November 2025, the Texas Tribune reports. This is a stunning Democratic own-goal and indicative of the literal death grip the gerontocratic old guard continue to have on the party.5. One ray of hope is that Democratic voters appear to be waking up the ineffectual nature of the party leadership. A new Data for Progress poll of the 2028 New York Senate primary posed a hypothetical matchup between incumbent Senator Chuck Schumer and Democratic Socialist firebrand Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – and found AOC with a staggering lead of 19 points. This poll showed AOC winning voters under 45 by 50 points, over 45s by eight points, non-college educated by 16 points, college educated by 23 points, Black and white voters by 16 points, and Latinos by 28. Schumer led among self-described “Moderates” by 15 and no other group. It remains to be seen whether the congresswoman from Queens will challenge the Senate Minority Leader, but this poll clearly shows her popularity in the state of New York, and Schumer's abysmal reputation catching up with him.6. Another bright spot from New York, is Zohran Mamdani's mayoral candidacy and specifically his unprecedented field operation. According to the campaign, between April 1st and April 6th, volunteers knocked on 41,591 doors. No mayoral campaign in the history of the city has generated a grassroots movement of this intensity, with politicians traditionally relying on political machines or enormous war chests to carry them to victory. Mamdani has already reached the public financing campaign donation cap, so he can focus all of his time and energy on grassroots outreach. He remains the underdog against former Governor Andrew Cuomo, but his campaign appears stronger every day.7. Turning to the turmoil in the federal regulatory apparatus, POLITICO reports Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has eliminated the Freedom of Information Act offices at the Centers for Disease Control, and other HHS agencies. An anonymous source told the publication that HHS will consolidate its FOIA requests into one HHS-wide office, but “Next steps are still in flux.” In the meantime, there will be no one to fulfill FOIA requests at these agencies. This piece quotes Scott Amey, general counsel at the Project on Government Oversight, who said this “sends a wrong message to the public on the administration's commitment to transparency.” Amey added, “I often say that FOIA officers are like librarians in knowing the interactions of the agency…If you don't have FOIA officers with that specific knowledge, it will slow down the process tremendously.”8. At the Federal Trade Commission, Axios reports the Trump administration has “paused” the FTC's lawsuit against major pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, related to “the drug middlemen…inflating the price of insulin and driving up costs to diabetes patients.” The case, filed against CVS Caremark, OptumRx and Express Scripts was halted by the FTC in light of “the fact that there are currently no sitting Commissioners able to participate in this matter.” That is because Trump unlawfully fired the two remaining Democratic commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter. In a statement, former FTC Chair Lina Khan called this move “A gift to the PBMs.”9. One federal regulatory agency that seems to be at least trying to do their job is the Federal Aviation Administration. According to the American Prospect, the FAA has “[has] proposed [a] rule that would mandate Boeing update a critical communications malfunction in their 787 Dreamliner plane that could lead to disastrous accidents.” As this piece explains, “very high frequency (VHF) radio channels are transferring between the active and standby settings without flight crew input.” The FAA's recommendation in is that Boeing address the issue with an update to the radio software. Yet disturbingly, in one of the comments on this proposed rule Qatar Airways claims that, “[they have] already modified all affected…airplanes with … [the recommended software updates] …However … flight crew are still reporting similar issues.” This comment ends with Qatar Airways stating that they believe, “the unsafe condition still exists.” Boeing planes have been plagued by critical safety malfunctions in recent years, most notably the 2018 and 2019 crashes that killed nearly 350 people.10. Finally, on a somewhat lighter note, you may have heard about Bryan Johnson, the tech entrepreneur dubbed “The Man Who Wants to Live Forever.” Johnson has attracted substantial media attention for his unorthodox anti-aging methods, including regular transfusions of plasma from his own son. But this story is not about Johnson's bizarre immortality obsession, but rather his unsavory corporate practices. A new piece in New York Magazine focuses on the lawsuits filed against Johnson by his all-too-mortal workers, represented by eminent labor lawyer Matt Bruenig. This piece relays how Johnson “required his staffers to sign 20-page NDAs,” and an “opt-in” document which informed his employees they had to be comfortable “being around Johnson while he has very little clothing on” and “discussions for media production including erotica (for example, fan fiction including but not limited to story lines/ideas informed by the Twilight series and-or 50 Shades of Grey.)” Bruenig says, “That stuff is weird,” but his main interest is in the nondisparagement agreements, including the one Johnson's former employee and former fiancée Taylor Southern entered into which has further complicated an already thorny legal dispute between Johnson and herself. Now Bruenig is fighting for Southern and against these blanket nondisparagement agreements in a case that could help define the limits of employer's power to control their workers' speech. Hopefully, Bruenig will prevail in showing that Johnson, whatever his pretensions, truly is a mere mortal.This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard. Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

Ralph welcomes Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, whose group has filed eight lawsuits that have significantly slowed the Trump/Musk cabal's attempt to dismantle the government. Then, our resident Constitutional scholar Bruce Fein reports on Public Interest Law Day at Harvard Law School and how important it is for law schools in general to step up to meet this constitutional crisis. Plus, Ralph answers listener questions!Robert Weissman is a staunch public interest advocate and activist, as well as an expert on a wide variety of issues ranging from corporate accountability and government transparency, to trade and globalization, to economic and regulatory policy. As the President of Public Citizen, he has spearheaded the effort to loosen the chokehold corporations and the wealthy have over our democracy.The efforts in the courts are really vital to stem the illegal, unconstitutional actions of the administration, but also to show that there's a way to fight back. In these early days and months of the administration, there's been a sense that Trump is inevitable and unstoppable. And the actions in the courts, I think, have been really critical to illustrating that that's not true.Robert WeissmanIt's open season for the polluters. And of course, they're also promoting in a variety of ways a rush towards climate catastrophe by undoing the positive measures that have come recently from the Biden administration to deal with the climate crisis.Robert WeissmanIf you pull back all the enforcement rules, and you say we're not going to enforce the rules that are left over, corporations get the message. And they're going to bemore reckless, and it's a near certainty that we're going to have many more serious industrial disasters as a direct result of what they're doing at EPA and other agencies.Robert WeissmanBruce Fein is a Constitutional scholar and an expert on international law. Mr. Fein was Associate Deputy Attorney General under Ronald Reagan and he is the author of Constitutional Peril: The Life and Death Struggle for Our Constitution and Democracy, and American Empire: Before the Fall.If we don't inform the public (with the law students as well as others in the lead), we're not going to have rule of law and Harvard Law School will become an irrelevancy. It will be a museum piece.Bruce FeinI think the country and the law students are going to pay a price. They're being very narrow and myopic with regard to their immediate preoccupation with their trade school, where they're going to work the next day, and very little given to the fact that if we don't have a country anymore, they aren't going to have a legal career.Bruce FeinIt's a more cowardly, timid type of law school whose explanations are still ready to be discovered. It's a real puzzle…because they have tenure, they have status, they have wealth, and they have the ability to defend themselves because they're skilled lawyers.Ralph NaderNews 4/2/251. Our top stories this week are on the topic of corporate crime. First, the American Prospect reports that the Trump administration is seeking to reverse a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau case against Townstone, a mortgage brokerage firm that blatantly discouraged potential Black borrowers. According to the Prospect, Townstone's owners Barry Sturner and David Hochberg vigorously promoted their firm though “personal-finance call-in infomercials,” on Chicago's WGN radio station. During these infomercials, which generated 90 percent of Townstone's business, Sturner and Hochberg “characterized the South Side of Chicago as a ‘war zone,' downtown Chicago as a ‘jungle' that turned on Friday and Saturday into ‘hoodlum weekend,'” and so on. As the Prospect notes, if Sturner and Hochberg were simply airing these views that would be perfectly legal, however unsavory. Instead, this program is “an informercial, which generates 90 percent of the brokerage's leads, which the brokerage pays WGN to air, presumably punctuated at regular intervals by some phrase along the lines of ‘an equal housing lender.'” Therefore, this rhetoric was determined to have violated the Fair Housing Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and the Community Reinvestment Act. The remarkable thing about this case is that it was brought by the Trump administration's CFPB between 2017 and 2020. Townstone eventually settled the case for a little over $100,000. Yet, just last week, the Trump administration 2.0 returned the money to Townstone posting “a long press release about how ‘abusive' and ‘unjust' the whole case had been.” This episode highlights just how much more extreme the new Trump administration is, even compared to the old one.2. Another outrageous case of corporate criminal leniency comes to us from Rick Claypool, a corporate crime expert at Public Citizen. For background, CNBC reports that Trump has “pardoned three co-founders of the BitMEX global cryptocurrency exchange, as well as…a former high-ranking employee.” As this piece explains, the co-founders received criminal sentences of probation…and were ordered to pay civil fines totaling $30 million,” after “Prosecutors accused the men of effectively operating BitMEX as a ‘money laundering platform' …[and] ‘a sham.'” But Trump went beyond pardoning the corporate criminals involved. As Claypool noted, “the crypto corporation pled guilty and was sentenced in January to two years' probation,” leading Claypool to wonder whether Trump would pardon the corporation itself. His question was answered on March 29th when Law360 reported that yes, Trump pardoned the business entity. This is the logical endpoint of regarding corporations as people. Not only will individual crooks be let off the hook, the whole crooked enterprise will come out unscathed.3. New evidence confirms the redistribution of wealth from working people to the capitalist class. A February 2025 RAND Corporation study titled “Measuring the Income Gap from 1975 to 2023” finds that, “the bottom 90 percent of workers would have earned $3.9 trillion more with..more even growth rates [since 1975],” resulting in a “cumulative amount of $79 trillion.” This study extends prior estimates by factoring in “inflation, growth in inequality, and a longer time frame.” And even more recently, an April 2025 article in the Journal of Political Economy, titled “How the Wealth Was Won: Factor Shares as Market Fundamentals,” finds that “40% of [the increase in real per capita value of corporate equity, which grew at an annual rate of 7.2% between 1989 and 2017]…was attributable to a reallocation of rewards to shareholders in a decelerating economy, primarily at the expense of labor compensation.” This study estimates “Economic growth accounted for just 25% of the increase,” and compares this period to the preceding era, “1952–88, [which] experienced only one-third as much growth in market equity, but economic growth accounted for more than 100% of it.” Taken together, these studies starkly illustrate an American economic machine built to make the rich even richer and the poor ever poorer.4. On the other end of the criminal penalty spectrum, the Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that they will seek the death penalty for alleged UnitedHealthcare assassin Luigi Mangione, the BBC reports. The first Trump administration saw the resumption of the federal death penalty after a 16-year hiatus; the Biden administration then issued a new moratorium and commuted the sentences of most federal death row prisoners. Since returning to power, Trump has aggressively pursued federal executions once again.5. In more positive legal news, NBC reports French far-right leader Marine Le Pen was found guilty Monday of embezzling over €3 million of European Union funds. The National Rally party leader was sentenced to four years in prison (with two on house arrest and two suspended), a €100,000 fine, and a ban on holding political office for five years – making her ineligible for the 2027 French presidential election, which polls showed her leading. Her party will, for the time being, be led by her protégé 29-year-old Jordan Bardella. It is unclear if he will enjoy the same popularity Ms. Le Pen held. She announced that she plans to appeal the verdict, but will remain ineligible for public office unless and until she wins that case.6. In more international news, British police last week executed a shocking raid on a congregation of the Quakers. The Guardian reports, “More than 20 uniformed police, some equipped with Tasers, forced their way into the Westminster meeting house…[and] seized attenders' phones and laptops.” In a statement, Paul Parker, the recording clerk for Quakers in Britain, said “No one has been arrested in a Quaker meeting house in living memory… This aggressive violation of our place of worship and the forceful removal of young people holding a protest group meeting clearly shows what happens when a society criminalises protest.” The stated charge is the absurd “conspiracy to cause a public nuisance.” A report on the incident in Church Times adds a statement from Oliver Robertson, head of witness and worship for Quakers in Britain, who said “This raid is not an isolated incident. It reflects a growing trend of excessive policing under new laws brought in by the previous government, which are now being enforced by the current administration.” Even former Tory minister Jacob Rees-Mogg, criticized the raid, stating “There has long been a tradition in this country…that religious spaces should not be invaded by the forces of law and order unless absolutely necessary.”7. Of course, the outrageous use of lawfare on Israel's behalf continues in the halls of Congress as well. In a letter, Congressmen Jim Jordan, Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, and Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Brian Mast – famous for his role as an American volunteer for the IDF – have announced their intention to investigate activist groups critical of the Israeli government – within Israel. According to the Jerusalem Post, these NGOs are being investigated to, “ascertain whether funding they allegedly received from the Biden administration was utilized for the judicial reform protests in 2023.” These groups include the Movement for Quality Government in Israel and Blue and White Future, among others.8. The government's use of brute force to muzzle criticism of Israel continues to rock academia. At Harvard, the Crimson reports 82 of Harvard Law School's 118 active professors have signed a letter which “accused the federal government of exacting retribution on lawyers and law firms for representing clients and causes opposed by President Donald Trump…described Trump's threats as a danger to the rule of law…[and] condemned the government for intimidating individuals based on their past public statements and threatening international students with deportation over ‘lawful speech and political activism.'” The letter reads, in part, “we share a conviction that our Constitution, including its First Amendment, was designed to make dissent and debate possible without fear of government punishment. Neither a law school nor a society can properly function amidst such fear.” This letter stands in stark contrast to the recent statement by Harvard President Alan Garber, in which he pledged to “engage” with the federal government's demands in order to protect the university's $9 billion in federal funding.9. Last week, we reported on the “lynching” of Hamdan Ballal, the Palestinian co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land – and how the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences dithered before ultimately releasing a milquetoast statement decrying violence against “artists for their work or their viewpoints,” with no mention of Palestine or even Ballal's name. This caused so much uproar among Academy members that nearly 900 of them signed a letter “denouncing the Academy's silence,” per Variety. The letter and full list of signatories can be found here. Shamed, the Academy leadership was forced to issue a follow-up statement expressing their “regret that we failed to directly acknowledge Mr. Ballal and the film by name.” This statement continues “We sincerely apologize to Mr. Ballal…We abhor the suppression of free speech under any circumstances.”10. Finally, speaking of shame, the Hill reports that the shame of Congressional Republicans is giving Democrats a golden opportunity. According to this piece, “House Democrats are ramping up their aggressive strategy of conducting town halls in Republican-held districts, vying to exploit the GOP's advised moratorium on the events to make inroads with frustrated voters, pick up battleground seats, and flip control of the House in next year's midterms.” One Democrat, Bernie Sanders' 2020 campaign co-chair Ro Khanna, has held three town halls in Republican-held districts, whose main takeaway was “People are mad.” Republicans who have bucked the GOP leadership and held town halls anyway, such as Wyoming Rep. Harriet Hageman and Indiana congresswoman Victoria Spartz have found themselves looking down the barrel of constituents furious at the conduct of the administration in general and DOGE in particular. This, combined with the upset Democratic victories in recent special elections, has the GOP on a defensive backfoot for the first time in months. Could we be looking at the beginning of a Democratic tea party? Only time will tell.This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard. Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

Crazy things have been going on with the price of eggs, especially in the US. If you think this is happening because of the avian flu, you've been hoodwinked. Again. Basel Musharbash, an antitrust and trade regulation attorney, joins Steve to pull back the curtain on the monopoly forces within the egg supply chain. The discussion reveals crucial and surprising information about this, um, bread and butter issue. The episode explores the role of avian flu and how it has been weaponized by a few corporations to tighten their stranglehold on the market. With just three companies controlling crucial choke points in the egg supply chain, Basel explains how these oligopolies are not merely reacting to external pressures but are actively manipulating supply. Steve and Basel also look at the historical context of antitrust laws and how their erosion has led to the current monopolist landscape. Once again, consumers are getting screwed by an industry whose structure is designed to do just that. Basel Musharbash is an antitrust and trade regulation lawyer with a focus on building stronger rural economies. He represents family farmers, small businesses, and local governments (as well as groups working on their behalf) in regulatory advocacy and impact litigation aimed at righting the wrongs of concentrated corporate power in rural America — and building a free and fair economy for all. His work has been covered in or on Reuters, AP, Time Magazine, CNBC, The Today Show, Politico, The American Prospect, DTN-PF, Daily Yonder, and other media outlets. @musharbash_b on Twitter

Happy Friday! Sam welcome David Dayen from The American Prospect and Organized Money podcast about Trump's tariff-pocalypse. https://prospect.org/  https://www.organizedmoney.fm/ First, Sam runs through updates on Trump's global trade war, Congress' attempt to regain authority over tariffs, South Korea's impeachment of now-former President Yoon, Trump's firing of national security officials, the Trump Administration's public health whoopsie, the Senate's budget reconciliation, the confirmation of Dr. Oz, Schumer's polling, Trump's attack on Brown University, DOGE vs. Social Security, and US aid to Israel, before watching Scott Bessent explain why good markets are bad and bad markets are good. David Dayen then joins to tackle the myriad insanities that led to Trump's imposition of these tumultuous tariffs, walking through the nonsensical (and potentially AI-generated) formula Trump used to calculate them and the utter dearth of any complementary incentive structure or strategic targeting to go the tariffs, all suggesting that they're perhaps more grounded in an attempt to bully and punish the rest of the world economically while working-class Americans pay the cost. After expanding on the Bessent “box” theory of Trump's tariff agenda, Sam and David get in some solid digs at Schumer as they touch on Congress' ongoing attempt to take back tariff power and ponder the future of a GOP turn on Trump's economic sabotage, before unpacking what to expect from to the GOP's ongoing budget reconciliation push. Wrapping up Dayen posits a strong theory on a Conservative push to use rising prices amid tariffs to justify tax cuts, before watching some open criticisms of Trump from Ron Johson and Ted Cruz. And in the Fun Half: Sam tackles the return of Laura Loomer to Trump's inner circle, now in the capacity as some form of National Security advisor, parses through some highlights from his appearance on PBD, including an attempt to address some Social Security misinformation, and watches Judge Jeanine make some blatantly incorrect statements about the future of the US economy. Plus, your IMs! Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Follow us on TikTok here!: https://www.tiktok.com/@majorityreportfm Check us out on Twitch here!: https://www.twitch.tv/themajorityreport Find our Rumble stream here!: https://rumble.com/user/majorityreport Check out our alt YouTube channel here!: https://www.youtube.com/majorityreportlive Gift a Majority Report subscription here: https://fans.fm/majority/gift Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! https://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: https://majority.fm/app Go to https://JustCoffee.coop and use coupon code majority to get 10% off your purchase! Check out today's sponsors: SunsetLakeCBD.com: 30% off new Super Lemon Haze CBD Vape Cart & all other hemp smokables: Coupon code VAPE30 FastGrowingTrees: Get 15% off your first purchase. FastGrowingTrees.com/majority Liquid IV: Embrace your ritual with extraordinary hydration from Liquid I.V. Get 20% off your first order of Liquid I.V. when you go to https://LiquidIV.com and use code MAJORITYREP at checkout. That's 20% off your first order when you shop better hydration today using promo code MAJORITYREP at https://LiquidIV.com. Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattLech @BradKAlsop Check out Matt's show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Check out Matt Binder's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder Subscribe to Brandon's show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder - https://majorityreportradio.com/  

“Do you think this Eric Frankenstein is into crypto?” “This Frankenstein probably invented crypto” “Frank-coin?” National security journalist Nicholas Slayton joins me to talk about James Gunn's DC animated series for HBO, Creature Commandoes. We've got gothic horror, geopolitics and an impressive soundtrack. This episode opens with a spoiler-free conversation on whether the show is worth your time before diving in for a conversation about those who the law does not protect, disability metaphors and more. Nicholas Slayton is a Los Angeles-based journalist covering the "panic beat" --- inequality, war, climate change and protests. He's currently a Contributing Editor at Task & Purpose and has bylines in the New Republic, American Prospect and Motherboard. Follow Nicholas on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/nslayton.bsky.social Subscribe to his newsletter; Let's Do The Panic Again Follow ME on bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/levin.bsky.social  

Today's podcast show features a discussion with David Dayen, executive editor of the American Prospect, which is an online magazine about ideas, politics, and power. He's the author of “Chain of Title: How Three Ordinary Americans Uncovered Wall Street's Great Foreclosure Fraud,” which was published in 2016. David has written and published about 10 or so articles in which he chronicles in great detail the apparent effort by the Trump Administration, acting through Scott Bessent and Russell Vought, to dismantle the CFPB by abruptly ordering a cessation of all activities and layoffs of probationary and term employees and a plan to layoff 1,300 or so additional employees. Because this plan would have crippled the CFPB, two lawsuits were initiated in rapid fashion against Acting Director Vought seeking to enjoin him from pursuing this strategy. One lawsuit was brought by the two labor unions representing CFPB employees and others in the I.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and got assigned to Judge Amy Berman Jackson. The second lawsuit was brought by the City of Baltimore and others in the U.S. District Coury for the District of Maryland. David describes in detail the case pending before Judge Jackson, including the hearings at which several CFPB employees testified. Those employees painted a very grim picture of the effort to shut down the agency. The DOJ lawyer stated that there was never an intent to shut down the CFPB and that the steps taken by the Acting Directors to “freeze” the CFPB were similar to steps taken by any new Administration in order to provide time to evaluate the situation and decide what changes should be made to reflect the new Administration's policy objectives. Shortly after the recording of this podcast, Judge Jackson issued on March 28 a 112-page opinion and 3-page order in which she required the reinstatement with back pay of all CFPB employees that had been terminated, enjoined the CFPB from terminating any employees except for good cause related to the individual employee, fully maintain the consumer complaint portal, ordered the defendants to reinstate all third-party contracts which had been earlier terminated, ordered the defendants to not enforce a February 10 stop-work order and required that the CFPB not destroy any records. The defendants have filed a notice of appeal to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. On March 29. On March 31, the defendants filed a motion in the Court of Appests to stay Judge Jackson's order. See this blog for more detail about Judge Jackson's opinion. Because of the importance of Judge Jackson's opinion, Alan Kaplinsky and Joseph Schuster have recorded a special (additional) podcast show, where we dissected Judge Jackson's opinion and order and the other lawsuit brought by the City of Baltimore against Acting Director, Russell Vought, challenging his consideration of returning operating finds to the Federal Reserve Board or Treasury. That podcast will be released tomorrow, Friday, April 4. The Judge in the City of Baltimore case, in which the plaintiffs had not established nearly as complete a record as the case before Judge Jackson, denied the motion for a preliminary injunction based on the Court's belief that there was no final order which could be challenged under the Administrative Procedure Act. We also discussed the possibility that Congress could subject the CFPB to funding through Congressional appropriations by putting such language in the Budget Reconciliation bill which can be enacted by a simple majority and not 60 votes in the Senare. Alan Kaplinsky, former Chair for 25 years and now Senior Counsel of the Consumer Financial Services Group, hosts the discussion.

Trickle-downers want you to believe that in America, freedom is a narrow idea—freedom from taxes, from regulation, from government itself. But what good is that kind of freedom if you can't afford rent, see a doctor, or feed your family? So, this week we're revisiting one of our favorite conversations—our interview with economist Mark Paul about his book, The Ends of Freedom: Reclaiming America's Lost Promise of Economic Rights. In it, he challenges the myth of economic freedom and offers a bold alternative: a 21st-century Economic Bill of Rights. Drawing on the unfinished work of FDR and Martin Luther King Jr., Paul argues that true freedom means more than just being left alone—it means having access to the basic goods that make life possible: housing, healthcare, education, and a decent job. From the lasting damage of neoliberalism to a vision for a fairer, more humane economy, this conversation reframes what freedom really means—and what it will take to build an economy that works for everyone. Mark Paul is an assistant professor at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University and a member of the Rutgers Climate Institute. His work has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, The American Prospect, The Washington Post, and The Financial Times. In 2023, he published his first book, The Ends of Freedom: Reclaiming America's Lost Promise of Economic Rights. This episode originally aired on May 16, 2023. Social Media: @markpaulecon.bsky.social Further reading:  The Ends of Freedom Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics Threads: pitchforkeconomics Bluesky: @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer, @civicaction YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics LinkedIn: Pitchfork Economics Substack: The Pitch

In Dirty Dancing, Baby Houseman heads to the Catskills for some good old-fashioned family bonding and accidentally ends up in the arms of a sexy dance instructor—and in the middle of a very real conversation about class, abortion, and rebellion. This week, we had the time of our LIFE with Steph Herold—repro researcher, cultural critic, and abortion advocate—talking class politics, Penny's storyline, and why Dirty Dancing is secretly a movie about choosing community over cool guys (even if the cool guy looks like Patrick Swayze ;). GUEST DETAILS Steph Herold is a researcher at Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health, where she leads the Abortion Onscreen project, studying how abortion is depicted on U.S. television and film. Steph has worked at abortion clinics, abortion funds, and in abortion policy, and has co-authored both peer-reviewed papers grey literature papers on abortion stigma, abortion storytelling, and abortion in popular culture. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, The American Prospect, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and many other outlets.  CONNECT WITH US Instagram: @sexedwithdbpodcast TikTok: @sexedwithdbTwitter: @sexedwithdb Threads: @sexedwithdbpodcast YouTube: Sex Ed with DB ROM-COM VOM SEASON 11 SPONSORS: Lion's Den, Uberlube, Magic Wand, & Arya. carafem offers expert abortion care that's personalized to you, whether you are currently pregnant or want to have pills on hand in case of an unexpected pregnancy in the future. With abortion pills by mail, video visits, or in-office options, they'll show you that not only is great abortion care available, but you deserve it without question. Learn more about carafem and get care here: https://carafem.org/ Get discounts on all of DB's favorite things here! GET IN TOUCH Email: sexedwithdb@gmail.comSubscribe to our newsletter for behind-the-scenes content and answers to your sexual health questions! FOR SEXUAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS Check out DB's workshop: "Building A Profitable Online Sexual Health Brand" ABOUT THE SHOW Sex Ed with DB is your go-to podcast for smart, science-backed sex education—delivering trusted insights from top experts on sex, sexuality, and pleasure. Empowering, inclusive, and grounded in real science, it's the sex ed you've always wanted. SEASON 11 TEAM Creator, Host & Executive Producer: Danielle Bezalel (DB) Producer: Sadie Lidji Communications Lead: Cathren Cohen Logo Design: Evie Plumb (@cliterallythebest)

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. 

In this episode recorded mid-2024, Josh spoke with Dylan Saba about some of his essays beginning with one titled  "A Struggle to Destroy the World,” where he argued that the condition of Palestine is the condition of the modern world. We discuss the role of the Iron Dome as an offensive system, its historical context, and its implications for the colonial-imperialist power imbalance in the region. Saba also provides an overview of the strategic use of aid as a weapon to maintain control, division, and weaken Palestinian resistance. We also touch on how the Israeli military's inability to defeat Hamas forces the US and Israel to adopt different strategies of counterinsurgency in an effort to try to replace Hamas with a more compliant Palestinian authority. Dylan Saba is a civil rights attorney and writer who lives in New York City. He works at Palestine Legal, where he represents individuals and groups in the US who are facing suppression for supporting Palestinian rights. He has written about Palestine and other issues for a variety of publications, including The Nation, n+1, Jewish Currents, American Prospect, and The Baffler. If you like what we do and want to support our ability to have more conversations like this. Please consider becoming a Patron. You can do so for as little as a 1 Dollar a month at patreon.com/millennialsarekillingcapitalism   This episode was produced and edited by Aidan Elias. Music by Televangel.   A Struggle to Destroy the World:    Iron Dome is Not a Defensive System    Aid Wars  Dylan's interviews at Phenomenal World  

Moe Tkacik of the American Prospect joins us to talk through DOGE's private equity-influenced takeover, the enshittification of everything, lessons from Shock Therapy, and what could come next. Discover more episodes at podcast.trueanon.com.

Moe Tkacik of the American Prospect joins us to talk through DOGE's private equity-influenced takeover, the enshittification of everything, lessons from Shock Therapy, and what could come next. Discover more episodes at podcast.trueanon.com

The current regime has announced that they are following the authoritarian's handbook when it comes to controlling the media. Banning the AP from the Oval Office and other press events with the liar-in-chief wasn't enough for them, so now they've decided that they will decide which reporters and media outlets will be allowed to cover the office of the president in the WH Press Pool. The NY Times' chief White House correspondent Peter Baker likened the move to "how the Kremlin took over its own press pool and made sure that only compliant journalists were given access."Thankfully, David Dayen - executive editor of The American Prospect and one of the best journalists working today - had already agreed to be our guest today. In addition to the never-ending torrent of shit being propelled against the wall (and there's another ton of it today), I'll ask him about the current state of a free press in the US and what these actions portend.

For the rest of the conversation, please join us on Patreon at - https://www.patreon.com/posts/nathan-tankus-122595422 CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou talks about the JFK Files, USAID, Donald Trump and endless war. But first Nathan Tankus breaks down what the hell Elon Musk is doing. John Kiriakou is the only person to go to jail over the CIA torture program, which he blew the whistle on. He is a former CIA analyst and case officer, a PEN USA Award Winner and best-selling author. He's the host of Political Misfits and writes at http://johnkiriakou.substack.com In addition to being the Publisher of Notes on the Crises, Nathan Tankus is the Research Director of the Modern Money Network. He has written for the Financial Times, Politico, Rolling Stone, Business Insider, The Guardian, The Appeal, The American Prospect and JSTOR Daily. His work has also been extensively covered in The Washington Post, Bloomberg, The Nation, Marketwatch, The New Yorker, New York Magazine, Fortune Magazine, Vox, The Hill and The New Republic among other outlets. He was also the subject of a major profile in Bloomberg Businessweek, which has made him a sought after speaker and expert on the technical details of monetary policy, central banking and economic policy more broadly. Nathan is currently working on a book, under contract with Viking Press of Penguin. It is in the process of being rethought as a result of the "Trump-Musk Treasury Payments Crisis of 2025." ***Please support The Katie Halper Show *** For bonus content, exclusive interviews, to support independent media & to help make this program possible, please join us on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/thekatiehalpershow Get your Katie Halper Show Merch here! https://katiehalper.myspreadshop.com/all Follow Katie on Twitter: https://x.com/kthalps Follow Katie on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/kthalps/ #news #politics #youtube

Independent investigative journalism, broadcasting, trouble-making and muckraking with Brad Friedman of BradBlog.com

Stand Up is a daily podcast that I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. Please subscribe now for as little as 5$ and gain access to a community of over 700 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls Check out StandUpwithPete.com to learn more GET TICKETS TO PODJAM II In Vegas March 27-30 Confirmed Guests! Professor Eric Segall, Dr Aaron Carroll, Maura Quint, Tim Wise, JL Cauvin, Ophira Eisenberg, Christian Finnegan and More! I start with Sarah at 27 mins and Kevin and Bill at 57mins Sarah Posner: NEW! I now have a newsletter, The Looking Glass. Click here to check it out and subscribe. ​Sarah Posner is the author of UNHOLY: How White Christian Nationalists Powered the Trump Presidency, And the Devastating Legacy They Left Behind. Her 2008 book, God's Profits: Faith, Fraud, and the Republican Crusade for Values Voters, explored the unholy alliance between the Republican Party and prosperity televangelists. ​Her investigative reporting and analysis on the religious right in Republican politics has appeared in Rolling Stone, The New Republic, Vice, HuffPost, Reveal, The Nation, Mother Jones, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The American Prospect, Talking Points Memo, and many other publications. She is a widely cited expert and frequent commentator on religion and politics, and a columnist for MSNBC. _____________________________________________________ Kevin Richberg and I have become friends over the past few years since the old show died. Kevin was a long time listener and we often emailed back-and-forth during the old show days but he really showed up as a genuine friend like so many of the rest of you did when that show and period of my life ended.   I quickly learned as I have about so many of you, how intelligent and educated, passionate and kind, as well as very funny Kevin is.   His official bio is : Co-owner of Slate Hill Edible Forest in Central New York, a 27 acre fruit orchard, biodiversity collection, and experimental farm focused on adaptation to a changing climate. Kevin has advanced degrees in chemistry and molecular biology from Caltech and MIT. Before going into farming full time he spent 10 years of his life on a massive worldwide exploration of 122 countries. Kevin's current projects at Slate Hill Edible Forest include an apricot breeding program, restoring old school hard cider cultivars, and a 300 Fruit Variety Living Maze.   His website is: slatehilledibleforest.com  Bill Boyle is a well sourced and connected businessman who lives in Washington DC with his wife and son. Bill is a trusted friend and source for me who I met after he listened and became a regular and highly respected caller of my siriusxm radio show. Bill is a voracious reader and listeners love to hear his take. I think his analysis is as sharp as anyone you will hear on radio or TV and he has well placed friends across the federal government who are always talking to him. As far as I can tell he is not in the CIA. Follow him on twitter and park at his garages. Join us Thursday's at 8EST for our Weekly Happy Hour Hangout!  Pete on Blue Sky Pete on Threads Pete on Tik Tok Pete on YouTube  Pete on Twitter Pete On Instagram Pete Personal FB page Stand Up with Pete FB page All things Jon Carroll  Follow and Support Pete Coe Buy Ava's Art  Hire DJ Monzyk to build your website or help you with Marketing

Danny and Derek speak with Jonathan Guyer, contributing editor at The American Prospect, about the Trump administration's attack on USAID. They then speak with Timothy Gill of the University of Tennessee about the organization's background. Subscribe now for the full episode! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the immediate aftermath of the mammoth fires in Los Angeles, Ralph welcomes Douglas Heller, Director of Insurance at Consumer Federation of America to fill us in on what to expect from the industry and how to get the most out of your fire insurance claims. Then, our resident constitutional scholar, Bruce Fein, returns to present a list of constitutional crises to expect upon the second coming of Donald Trump.Douglas Heller is a nationally-recognized insurance expert and Director of Insurance at Consumer Federation of America. In addition to conducting research for and providing expertise to consumer rights organizations, Mr. Heller is a member of the U.S. Department of Treasury's Federal Advisory Committee on Insurance, an appointee of California's Insurance Commissioner, serving as a board member of the California Automobile Assigned Risk Plan, and he serves on the Executive Board of the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud.A key thing for everybody to know is that the premiums that we have paid over the last several years here in California—and this really goes across the country, but in California in particular—have put the insurance industry in a perfectly healthy position to deal with the claims, as dramatic and as severe as these fires are and the amount of damage that they caused…For the insurance companies to cry poverty in the wake of the buildup of capital over the last several years would be outrageous, and so we're going to be watching for that.Douglas HellerThe story around the country was that California was already a terrible hellscape for the insurance companies to do business in. When in fact, they were doing far better than the rest of the country. One of the big trade journals that reports on the industry has said that State Farm has been kept afloat by its performance in California over the last couple of years. And it was more a kind of a climate opportunism—after ignoring the potential (and then, growing) impact of climate change on property risk for years and decades, the insurance companies finally had this kind of revelation that oh they can talk about climate change as a new risk and a justification for demanding whatever they want.Douglas HellerBattle lines seem to be drawn—at least in my opinion—between the “Drill baby, drill. All we need to do is rake the leaves” camp versus “Hey, this is another wake up call to the climate crisis.” Because this was a severe weather event. And there were four major fires at once, and no fire department, whose main daily job is medical emergencies, is equipped to deal with that. Especially since the first two days the winds were so high—hurricane force winds—they couldn't get helicopters and airplanes into the air to make the drops in these canyons. And I don't think there's any amount of brush clearing that would have stopped these winds from whipping up these embers to send them into these residential districts.Steve SkrovanBruce Fein is a Constitutional scholar and an expert on international law. Mr. Fein was Associate Deputy Attorney General under Ronald Reagan and he is the author of Constitutional Peril: The Life and Death Struggle for Our Constitution and Democracy, and American Empire: Before the Fall.The Trump regime has a high probability of being the most lawless dictatorial regime in American history. All presidents violate laws, but Trump has taken this to a new, boastful level of variety.Ralph NaderThe reason why it's more likely that Trump will use this dragnet in a more abusive ways, is because he and his FBI nominee have said openly that they're going to do everything they can to persecute, to go after their enemies list…The only limitation on abuse is that they don't have the manpower to actually use it all.Bruce FeinWe're the guardrails—not Congress anymore. It's the people who have to stand up and protest and not send scoundrels back to office if they're not discharging their obligations under the United States Constitution. If we aren't the guardrails, there aren't any out there.Bruce FeinNews 1/15/251. In Gaza, CNN reports a ceasefire deal has finally been reached. This comes on the heels of negotiations between the warring parties, attended by envoys of both President Biden and incoming President Trump, with Egyptian and Qatari mediators. Under the terms of this deal, Hamas has agreed to free the remaining 33 Israeli hostages in their custody, while Israel will “free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.” Trump's apparent demand for an immediate settlement with this many Israeli concessions comes as a shock. Israeli journalist Erel Segal, widely seen as a Netanyahu proxy, is quoted saying “We're the 1st to pay a price for Trump's election. [The deal] is being forced upon us… We thought we'd take control of northern Gaza, that they'd let us impede humanitarian aid.”2. In more foreign policy news, the American Prospect is out with a piece on the gifts received by senior foreign policy officials in the Biden Administration. According to this report, Bill Burns – Director of the Central Intelligence Agency – has in the past year received “an $18,000 astrograph, an $11,000 Omega watch, and a ceremonial Saudi war sword.” By comparison, Secretary of State Antony Blinken received $600 worth of memorabilia and “several acrylic landscape portraits.” As this piece notes, individuals cannot keep these gifts – they become public property – yet the disparity in these gifts does reflect the difference in perception toward Blinken and Burns. As one State Department official put it, “When you want someone to drink champagne, you send Blinken. When you need someone to actually fix s**t in Brazil, the Middle East, or Russia, you send Burns.”3. And in the final days of his administration, AP's Matt Lee reports President Biden will reverse Trump's decision to designate Cuba a state sponsor of terror. The state sponsor of terror designation resulted in Cuba facing even harsher sanctions than they had during the decades-long embargo and led to multiple critical shortages of essential goods like fuel. Since the designation was announced in 2021, many have called for it to be reversed, including New York State Senators and representatives in New York, Massachusetts and Minnesota, as well as local representatives and labor unions like the UAW, UE, and others, per People's Dispatch. It is unclear why Biden is taking this action now and Trump can reverse this move as soon as he takes office.4. Turning to labor, NBC reports the Services Employees International Union (SEIU) will rejoin the AFL-CIO, 20 years after leaving the labor federation. With SEIU back in the fold, the AFL-CIO will represent over 15 million workers. AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler is quoted saying “We are the, probably, only institution in the country that has an infrastructure in every city, in every state, in every workplace, that is a mobilizing machine…And as they say, outside power builds inside power.” This move is widely seen as an attempt to consolidate worker power ahead of Trump's return to office, though the unions have resisted saying so explicitly. The Teamsters left the AFL-CIO around the same time as the SEIU, but have made no moves to rejoin the labor federation and have instead opted to strategically align themselves with Trump. It remains to be seen which strategy will yield better results.5. In more labor news, Fast Company reports servers at Waffle House franchises around the country claim “the chain forces them to do janitorial work and dishwashing for [sub-minimum] tipped wages, robbing them of up to $46.8 million.” As this piece notes, “Wage theft…is a common practice. As of 2017…workers lose $15 billion annually in minimum wage violations alone.” Moreover, “From 2021 to 2024, the Department of Labor recovered more than $1 billion in back wages and damages for 615,000 employees in the U.S.” Waffle House is a particularly egregious offender, with 90% of workers surveyed reporting they had experienced some form of wage theft in the past year. The state minimum wage in Georgia, where Waffle House is based, is a meager $5.15 per hour, yet the tipped minimum is even lower at just $2.13 – a starvation wage. One worker, Melissa Steach, is quoted saying “Corporations can't keep throwing us around because we make all this money for them…And what are they really doing with it? They are not supporting their workers. They can't keep screwing us around. We're here. We're worth it.”6. On the other end of the spectrum, Apple CEO Tim Cook's staggering compensation package hit nearly $75 million in 2024, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Converted to an hourly wage, this equates to roughly $600 per minute. This is a substantial increase from his 2023 total of $63.2 million, but still lower than the nearly $100 million he received in 2022. In October, Apple reported its services business, including Apple Music and iCloud, hit a revenue of $24.97 billion for the quarter, a “new all-time high for the company.”7. In more tech news, the Intercept reports Meta – parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp – is relaxing their content moderation rules as they relate to hate speech. The Intercept received leaked training materials to this effect, which explicitly outline what users are now allowed to say. These officially permitted statements include “Immigrants are grubby, filthy pieces of s**t,” “Jews are flat out greedier than Christians,” and simply “I'm a proud racist.” The Electronic Frontier Foundation's international freedom of expression director Jillian York is quoted in this piece saying, “While [Meta's previous censorship regime] has often resulted in over-moderation that I and many others have criticized, these examples demonstrate that Meta's policy changes are political in nature and not intended to simply allow more freedom of expression.”8. In a more positive story of social progress, EuroNews reports that the Italian Bishops' Conference has issued new guidelines all but clearing the way for openly gay men to enter the priesthood. According to the newly issued report, titled "Guidelines and norms for seminaries,” "When referring to homosexual tendencies, it's… appropriate not to reduce discernment only to this aspect, but, as for every candidate, to grasp its meaning in the global framework of the young person's personality.” In 2023 Pope Francis told the AP that “being homosexual isn't a crime,” and has endorsed the church “blessing” same-sex unions. Women remain entirely excluded from the priesthood.9. On the domestic front, Axios reports Justice Democrats – the progressive insurgent group – is planning a new wave of primary challenges to unseat “corporatist” incumbent Democrats. While the group's number one target seems to be George Latimer, who ousted Congressman Jamaal Bowman from his newly redrawn seat last cycle, spokesperson Usamah Andrabi told Axios the group is, “keeping every deep blue district on the table.” However, many of the prominent House progressives are shying away from this effort. Pramila Jayapal, former chair of the Progressive Caucus said “I think given what's at stake we feel really urgently that we need to protect all incumbents,” while Ilhan Omar said "There are folks who endorse against their own colleagues, but I don't."10. Finally, Public Citizen co-presidents Rob Weissman and Lisa Gilbert have written a letter to the chairs of the Trump Transition team asking to be named members of the Department of Government Efficiency, aka DOGE. In this letter, Weissman and Gilbert express their “concerns about DOGE's structure and mission,” particularly with regard to its proposed leaders Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who “hold financial interests that will be directly affected by federal budgetary policies,” but also makes the key argument that DOGE's mission to “slash excess regulation” and “cut wasteful expenditures” must be tied to the other “half of the picture: more efficiently regulating corporations to better protect consumers and the public from harmful corporate practices.” They argue that their “appointment to serve as members of DOGE” would enable them to serve as “voices for the interests of consumers and the public who are the beneficiaries of federal regulatory and spending programs.” Rather than an earnest plea for an appointment, this letter is more likely meant to expose a key issue with the DOGE project: those in charge of cutting supposed government waste are riddled with conflicts of interests. They have too many fingers in the pie. If Trump were serious about reducing government spending generally – and corruption specifically – he would appoint people like Weissman and Gilbert, not Ramaswamy and Musk. And they would start with the unbelievably bloated, unauditable Pentagon budget.This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard. Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe