Podcasts about Postmaster General

Southwest Michigan's Morning News podcast is prepared and delivered by the WSJM Newsroom. For these stories and more, visit https://www.wsjm.com and follow us for updates on Facebook. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Southwest Michigan's Morning News podcast is prepared and delivered by the WSJM Newsroom. For these stories and more, visit https://www.wsjm.com and follow us for updates on Facebook. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Southwest Michigan's Morning News podcast is prepared and delivered by the WSJM Newsroom. For these stories and more, visit https://www.wsjm.com and follow us for updates on Facebook. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cody rants about the evils of streaming services before Tim reviews Netflix's Klaus! Then, the gang chats about their favorite media of the year before Tim sells Cody on Banshees of Inisherin!Bluesky - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@hardsellshow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Email - hardsellshow@gmail.comTwitch - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@hardsellshow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(00:00:00) Intro: Cody's Rants: Streaming Services(00:14:30) Review: Klaus(00:56:18) Middle Segment: Hard Sell Wrapped(01:19:00) Pitch: The Banshees of Inisherin(01:25:04) Outro

Foundations of Amateur Radio Recently I spent some quality time digging into the origins of a word in common use. In doing so, I contacted the Postal Museum in the United Kingdom and received a lovely reply that included a photo of a document in their archive. The document, a Post Office Circular from Friday, December 30, 1904, number 1641, introduces a new service offered by the Post Office. Let me read to you what it says, and I quote: "Telegrams to and from Ships by Wireless Telegraphy. "(To be noted at Telegraph Offices only.) "With the present Circular is enclosed a list showing the wireless telegraph stations in the United Kingdom worked on the Marconi Company's system, and the hours up to which telegrams can be received at those stations for transmission by wireless telegraphy to certain ships fitted with Marconi apparatus. By another notice in this Circular, Postmasters and others concerned are requested to enter the names of the stations in the Code Book with the necessary particulars. Ships will be issued for insertion in the Post Office Guide. "On and from the 1st January, 1905, Telegrams may be accepted from the public on the following conditions:- "Subject to the Inland Regulations with regard to counting, the charge, which must be prepaid in the usual way by means of stamps, will be at the rate of 6 1/2d. [six-and-a-half pence] a word, with a minimum of 6s. 6d. [six-and-a-half shillings] per telegram. "The name of the wireless station will in each case pass as one word in the address. "The word 'Radio,' which is not charged for, should be telegraphed in the Service Instructions." When I read that, it made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. The introduction of a Wireless Telegram service, under the service heading of "Radio", with a photo of the actual document that introduced it into the world. I also learned that there's a dozen pennies in a shilling and over the years before decimalisation in 1971, the composition of coins changed, which made converting this into today's money interesting. As an aside, the Royal Society has a wonderful article: "The science of money: Isaac Newton's mastering of the Mint" Back to radio, this is 1904 bleeding edge technology and it's priced accordingly. The starting price for a radio telegram on new years day 1905: six bob and six; or three florin and sixpence; or a crown, a bob and a tanner; is worth just over 34 Great British Pounds today, that's just on 45 US Dollars, or nearly 69 Australian Dollars. That's the minimum price. The price per word, sixpence and halfpenny [sixpence hayp-ny] is just over 2 Great British Pounds today, nearly 4 US Dollars or almost 6 Australian Dollars. Compare that to the price of SMS, which started at about 21 cents here in Australia, today it's about 3 cents per message of 160 characters. This seems like a lucrative business to be in, but I digress, again. From my current, and ongoing research, it appears that until this point, the early 1900's, the word "radio" was always accompanied by another word, for example in this context, "radio telegraphy", another combination of the day is "radio active", as well as "radio tellurium", which today we know as polonium. Moving on, the response I received from the Postal Museum included other gems, including a reference to the "1904 Wireless Telegraphy Act", from the 15th of August, 1904, where I found something fascinating, from Section 2 paragraph 1: "Where the applicant for a licence proves to the satisfaction of the Postmaster-General that the sole object of obtaining the license is to enable him to conduct experiments in wireless telegraphy, a license for that purpose shall be granted, subject to such special terms, conditions and restrictions as the Postmaster-General may think proper, but shall not be subject to any rent or royalty." I think that's the birth of amateur radio licensing in the United Kingdom, right there. As an aside, because I cannot help myself, the definition for the expression "wireless telegraphy", is pretty interesting too, reminding me of a quote, variations going back to at least 1866, incorrectly attributed to Einstein that goes something like this: You see, wire telegraph is a kind of very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, and they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat. Seems that the drafters of the "1904 Wireless Telegraphy Act" had the same thing in mind when they wrote: "The expression 'wireless telegraphy' means any system of communication by telegraph as defined in the Telegraph Acts, 1863 to 1904, without the aid of any wire connecting the points from and at which the messages or other communications are sent and received" Now, as I said, I'm still working on this, because the word "radio" as a concept had to have been conceived before the Post Office Circular was written, printed and published. It might transpire that this was the brainchild of a single individual, or it might be that this was a term whose time had arrived, or this might not be the first occurrence of the word "radio" as a concept. Today we think nothing of it when we use it to turn on the radio, listen to, or talk on the radio, radio for help, break radio silence, and plenty of other uses of this now ubiquitous word. Thanks again to the Postal Museum for finding and photographing the Post Office Circular for the 30th of December 1904, which at this stage appears to be the first occurrence of the word "radio" on its own, and for referring me to the 1904 Wireless Telegraphy act which appears to be the birth of "amateur radio" in the United Kingdom. You can find both documents on my project site at vk6flab.com. I should also mention the brave individuals who took the time to share with me how to refer to Old British Money, any mistakes are all mine. I'm Onno VK6FLAB

It was a surprise announcement from Walmart and we kick things off with that story. This is the Business News Headlines for Friday the 14th day of November, thanks for being with us.  In other news, President Trump to welcome the Saudi Crown Prince with a lavish event on Tuesday. It was a fatigue crack in the Keystone Pipeline. The US Postal Service needs to grow revenue says the Postmaster General. Immigrants and commercial drivers licenses made the news. Ever heard of Polyworking? You will today. We'll check on the numbers in The Wall Street Report.  And we'll expand a bit about what the Hooters Restaurant chain was and what it is to become.  Let's go! Thanks for listening! The award winning Insight on Business the News Hour with Michael Libbie is the only weekday business news podcast in the Midwest. The national, regional and some local business news along with long-form business interviews can be heard Monday - Friday. You can subscribe on  PlayerFM, Podbean, iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or TuneIn Radio. And you can catch The Business News Hour Week in Review each Sunday Noon Central on News/Talk 1540 KXEL. The Business News Hour is a production of Insight Advertising, Marketing & Communications. You can follow us on Twitter @IoB_NewsHour...and on Threads @Insight_On_Business.

The Postal Service is entering a new chapter under 76th Postmaster General David Steiner. In this conversation, he joins Mailin' It! to talk about what lies ahead. Steiner discusses his background and path to becoming Postmaster General, the challenges and opportunities facing USPS, and why employee engagement and operational excellence will be key to long-term success. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Back in 1923, between SB and RT - that's 'Simultaneous Broadcasting' (networking nationally via landline) and The Radio Times (the BBC listings mag still had the 'The' back then), a month went by... ...But did nothing happen in that month? Of course not! So between these two bigger landmarks, on this episode we bring you some smaller but notable ones. Also on the Beeb in Aug/Sept 1923: Rob Roy live from Glasgow - with fight scenes Reith reads the news... again. Because his mum forgot to listen. Sir Ernest Rutherford: first public figure to broadcast nationally. New time signal: weights, counting and a bell on the hour Sheffield, Aberdeen and Bournemouth prepare for the air Newcastle's beloved boss heads south Reith has his height measured at the Postmaster-General's house. Reith wins. Announcer sacked, while another commended for "an impression of virility, keenness, and a suggestion of fresh breezes on the moors".  The Radio Times gets an editor The first cat on radio? (Thanks to Newspaper Detective Andrew Barker for most of these) ...I think that's everything we cover. You don't have to listen now... Oh but wait! Then you'd miss our amazing guest. Conductor and arranger of note (and of notes) Gavin Sutherland has a new album out of old TV themes: The Next Programme Follows Shortly. It's a joy. Hear Gavin guide us through half a dozen or so tracks, from Grandstand to the Channel 4 ident, from the first song on television to the secret code hidden in The Two Ronnies theme. Have a listen, buy his album - and enjoy our chat. And the first cat on radio. Miaow.   SHOWNOTES: Original music is by Will Farmer.  Gavin's music is by various writers, and reproduced here with kind permission of Gavin Sutherland and Fast Tunes Ltd. Buy Gavin's album The Next Programme Follows Shortly from Bandcamp: https://fasttunes.bandcamp.com/album/the-next-programme-follows-shortly Paul's latest Substack is on 37,451 days of BBC vs politics: https://substack.com/home/post/p-171149075 Paul's live show on the BBC origin story: www.paulkerensa.com/tour. Paul's walking tour of old BBC sites: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/pks-walking-tour-of-old-bbc-and-pre-bbc-buildings-pwyw-tickets-1401875560539 (or get in touch to request the next - paul at paulkerensa dot com) This podcast is nothing to do with the BBC. Any BBC copyright content is reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved. We try to use clips so old they're beyond copyright, but you never know. Copyright's complicated... Do like/share/rate/review this podcast - it all helps. Support us on Patreon (£5/mth), for bonus videos and things - and thanks if you do! Or a one-off tip to Ko-fi.com/paulkerensa? Thanks! All keeps the podcast afloat Next time: Episode 104: The Radio Times is launched! More on this broadcasting history project at paulkerensa.com/oldradio  

The United States Postal Service is responsible for issuing postage stamps and that includes choosing the subjects. In 1957, the process was opened to the American public. The Postmaster General appoints members of the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee. Members come from a broad span of public life, including art, science, education, history, sports, and politics.

For the week of July 23, 1775: A company of Pennsylvania Riflemen join the Siege of Boston. Congress appoints Benjamin Church as Surgeon General, and Benjamin Franklin as Postmaster General. The Green Mountain Boys ditch Ethan Allen, and other events from the week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

⁠Union Pacific is reportedly in early-stage talks to acquire Norfolk Southern⁠, its smaller Eastern rival. This potential tie-up would combine the largest publicly held US railroad with NS, bringing together over 60,000 employees and 60,000 miles of track. ⁠David Steiner has officially taken the helm of the US Postal Service as the new Postmaster General⁠, becoming the highest paid chief executive in the agency's history with a salary over $346,000 plus a 50% bonus.  The Canadian government will begin a confidential vote on Monday for ⁠53,000 Canada Post employees to ratify the state-owned company's final contract offer⁠, despite opposition from union leadership. This vote aims to conclude 19 months of negotiations, which included a 32-day strike and recent mail carrier refusal to work overtime, leading to daily operational losses of $7.3 million per day in June. Tune in today for FreightWaves TV's ⁠What the Truck?!?⁠ live at noon, with replays available on SiriusXM channel 146 from 5 to 7 PM. Don't forget to register for the free ⁠Enterprise Fleet Summit⁠ next Wednesday at 9 AM and get your tickets for the ⁠Supply Chain and AI Symposium⁠ in Washington D.C. in about two weeks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Union Pacific is reportedly in early-stage talks to acquire Norfolk Southern, its smaller Eastern rival. This potential tie-up would combine the largest publicly held US railroad with NS, bringing together over 60,000 employees and 60,000 miles of track. David Steiner has officially taken the helm of the US Postal Service as the new Postmaster General, becoming the highest paid chief executive in the agency's history with a salary over $346,000 plus a 50% bonus.  The Canadian government will begin a confidential vote on Monday for 53,000 Canada Post employees to ratify the state-owned company's final contract offer, despite opposition from union leadership. This vote aims to conclude 19 months of negotiations, which included a 32-day strike and recent mail carrier refusal to work overtime, leading to daily operational losses of $7.3 million per day in June. Tune in today for FreightWaves TV's What the Truck?!? live at noon, with replays available on SiriusXM channel 146 from 5 to 7 PM. Don't forget to register for the free Enterprise Fleet Summit next Wednesday at 9 AM and get your tickets for the Supply Chain and AI Symposium in Washington D.C. in about two weeks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark Dimondstein, President of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the recent ratification of a new contract for postal workers, the appointment of a new Postmaster General with ties to FedEx and the ongoing threats of privatization facing the U.S. Postal Service. Pat Gallagher, President of the North Coast Area Labor Federation, joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the pending sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel and the upcoming political landscape for labor.

As a new Postmaster General with ties to FedEx assumes control of the agency, postal workers and their customers are bracing for either scenario, especially as corporate America weighs in.

The Trump administration has actually impaneled a grand jury to investigate Letisha James for that real estate deal we talked about a couple weeks ago. Trump fired the FEMA Chief.The Postal Board appointed a new Postmaster General.A federal judge ruled AGAINST Trump's January 6th pardons covering unrelated crimes.Pete Hegseth had another super bad week.The Mayor of Newark was arrested outside an ICE facility.Plus, we have some Giuliani news.Thank you, CBDistillery! Use promo code CLEANUP at  CBDistillery.com for 25% off your purchase. Specific product availability depends on individual state regulations. Allison Gillhttps://muellershewrote.substack.com/https://bsky.app/profile/muellershewrote.comHarry DunnHarry Dunn | Substack@libradunn1.bsky.social on BlueskyWant to support this podcast and get it ad-free and early?Go to: https://www.patreon.com/aisle45podTell us about yourself and what you like about the show - http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=BffJOlI7qQcF&ver=short

AP's Lisa Dwyer reports that a Fed Ex board member has been picked to be the next postmaster general.

National Association of Active and Retired Employees (NARFE) Vice President for Policy and Programs Vice President John Hatton joins Bob to discuss the recent budget attacks on the postal and federal employee community, and effective strategies to protect the benefits. John and Bob talk about the "budget reconciliation process" and legislation the House Oversight and Accountability Committee approved at its April 30 meeting, which advances $50.1 billion in federal benefit cuts. In addition, Bob references the imminent announcement of a new Postmaster General.

A year ago, the great American historian Adam Hochschild came on KEEN ON AMERICA to discuss American Midnight, his best selling account of the crisis of American democracy after World War One. A year later, is history really repeating itself in today's crisis of American democracy? For Hochschild, there are certainly parallels between the current political situation in the US and post WW1 America. Describing how wartime hysteria and fear of communism led to unprecedented government repression, including mass imprisonment for political speech, vigilante violence, and press censorship. Hochschild notes eery similarities to today's Trump's administration. He expresses concern about today's threats to democratic institutions while suggesting the importance of understanding Trump supporters' grievances and finding ways to bridge political divides. Five Key Takeaways* The period of 1917-1921 in America saw extreme government repression, including imprisoning people for speech, vigilante violence, and widespread censorship—what Hochschild calls America's "Trumpiest" era before Trump.* American history shows recurring patterns of nativism, anti-immigrant sentiment, and scapegoating that politicians exploit during times of economic or social stress.* The current political climate shows concerning parallels to this earlier period, including intimidation of opposition, attacks on institutions, and the widespread acceptance of authoritarian tendencies.* Hochschild emphasizes the importance of understanding the grievances and suffering that lead people to support authoritarian figures rather than dismissing their concerns.* Despite current divisions, Hochschild believes reconciliation is possible and necessary, pointing to historical examples like President Harding pardoning Eugene Debs after Wilson imprisoned him. Full Transcript Andrew Keen: Hello, everybody. We recently celebrated our 2500th edition of Keen On. Some people suggest I'm mad. I think I probably am to do so many shows. Just over a little more than a year ago, we celebrated our 2000th show featuring one of America's most distinguished historians, Adam Hochschild. I'm thrilled that Adam is joining us again a year later. He's the author of "American Midnight, The Great War, A Violent Peace, and Democracy's Forgotten Crisis." This was his last book. He's the author of many other books. He is now working on a book on the Great Depression. He's joining us from his home in Berkeley, California. Adam, to borrow a famous phrase or remix a famous phrase, a year is a long time in American history.Adam Hochschild: That's true, Andrew. I think this past year, or actually this past 100 days or so has been a very long and very difficult time in American history that we all saw coming to some degree, but I don't think we realized it would be as extreme and as rapid as it has been.Andrew Keen: Your book, Adam, "American Midnight, A Great War of Violent Peace and Democracy's Forgotten Crisis," is perhaps the most prescient warning. When you researched that you were saying before we went live that your books usually take you between four and five years, so you couldn't really have planned for this, although I guess you began writing and researching American Midnight during the Trump 1.0 regime. Did you write it as a warning to something like is happening today in America?Adam Hochschild: Well, I did start writing it and did most of the work on it during Trump's first term in office. So I was very struck by the parallels. And they're in plain sight for everybody to see. There are various dark currents that run through this country of ours. Nativism, threats to deport troublemakers. Politicians stirring up violent feelings against immigrants, vigilante violence, all those things have been with us for a long time. I've always been fascinated by that period, 1917 to 21, when they surged to the surface in a very nasty way. That was the subject of the book. Naturally, I hoped we wouldn't have to go through anything like that again, but here we are definitely going through it again.Andrew Keen: You wrote a lovely piece earlier this month for the Washington Post. "America was at its Trumpiest a hundred years ago. Here's how to prevent the worst." What did you mean by Trumpiest, Adam? I'm not sure if you came up with that title, but I know you like the term. You begin the essay. What was the Trumpiest period in American life before Donald Trump?Adam Hochschild: Well, I didn't invent the word, but I certainly did use it in the piece. What I meant by that is that when you look at this period just over 100 years ago, 1917 to 1921, Woodrow Wilson's second term in office, two things happened in 1917 that kicked off a kind of hysteria in this country. One was that Wilson asked the American Congress to declare war on Germany, which it promptly did, and when a country enters a major war, especially a world war, it sets off a kind of hysteria. And then that was redoubled some months later when the country received news of the Russian Revolution, and many people in the establishment in America were afraid the Russian Revolution might come to the United States.So, a number of things happened. One was that there was a total hysteria against all things German. There were bonfires of German books all around the country. People would take German books out of libraries, schools, college and university libraries and burn them in the street. 19 such bonfires in Ohio alone. You can see pictures of it on the internet. There was hysteria about the German language. I heard about this from my father as I was growing up because his father was a Jewish immigrant from Germany. They lived in New York City. They spoke German around the family dinner table, but they were terrified of doing so on the street because you could get beaten up for that. Several states passed laws against speaking German in public or speaking German on the telephone. Eminent professors declared that German was a barbaric language. So there was that kind of hysteria.Then as soon as the United States declared war, Wilson pushed the Espionage Act through Congress, this draconian law, which essentially gave the government the right to lock up anybody who said something that was taken to be against the war. And they used this law in a devastating way. During those four years, roughly a thousand Americans spent a year or more in jail and a much larger number, shorter periods in jail solely for things that they wrote or said. These were people who were political prisoners sent to jail simply for something they wrote or said, the most famous of them was Eugene Debs, many times the socialist candidate for president. He'd gotten 6% of the popular vote in 1912 and in 1918. For giving an anti-war speech from a park bandstand in Ohio, he was sent to prison for 10 years. And he was still in prison two years after the war ended in November, 1920, when he pulled more than 900,000 votes for president from his jail cell in the federal penitentiary in Atlanta.So that was one phase of the repression, political prisoners. Another was vigilante violence. The government itself, the Department of Justice, chartered a vigilante group, something called the American Protective League, which went around roughing up people that it thought were evading the draft, beating up people at anti-war rallies, arresting people with citizens arrest whom they didn't have their proper draft papers on them, holding them for hours or sometimes for days until they could produce the right paperwork.Andrew Keen: I remember, Adam, you have a very graphic description of some of this violence in American Midnight. There was a story, was it a union leader?Adam Hochschild: Well, there is so much violence that happened during that time. I begin the book with a graphic description of vigilantes raiding an office of the Wobblies, the Industrial Workers of the World, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, taking a bunch of wobblies out into the prairie at night, stripping them, whipping them, flogging them fiercely, and then tarring and feathering them, and firing shotguns over their heads so they would run off into the Prairie at Night. And they did. Those guys were lucky because they survive. Other people were killed by this vigilante violence.And the final thing about that period which I would mention is the press censorship. The Espionage Act gave the Postmaster General the power to declare any publication in the United States unmailable. And for a newspaper or a magazine that was trying to reach a national audience, the only way you could do so was through the US mail because there was no internet then. No radio, no TV, no other way of getting your publication to somebody. And this put some 75 newspapers and magazines that the government didn't like out of business. It in addition censored three or four hundred specific issues of other publications as well.So that's why I feel this is all a very dark period of American life. Ironically, that press censorship operation, because it was run by the postmaster general, who by the way loved being chief censor, it was ran out of the building that was then the post office headquarters in Washington, which a hundred years later became the Trump International Hotel. And for $4,000 a night, you could stay in the Postmaster General's suite.Andrew Keen: You, Adam, the First World War is a subject you're very familiar with. In addition to American Midnight, you wrote "To End All Wars, a story of loyalty and rebellion, 1914 to 18," which was another very successful of your historical recreations. Many countries around the world experience this turbulence, the violence. Of course, we had fascism in the 20s in Europe. And later in the 30s as well. America has a long history of violence. You talk about the violence after the First World War or after the declaration. But I was just in Montgomery, Alabama, went to the lynching museum there, which is considerably troubling. I'm sure you've been there. You're not necessarily a comparative political scientist, Adam. How does America, in its paranoia during the war and its clampdown on press freedom, on its violence, on its attempt to create an authoritarian political system, how does it compare to other democracies? Is some of this stuff uniquely American or is it a similar development around the world?Adam Hochschild: You see similar pressures almost any time that a major country is involved in a major war. Wars are never good for civil liberties. The First World War, to stick with that period of comparison, was a time that saw strong anti-war movements in all of the warring countries, in Germany and Britain and Russia. There were people who understood at the time that this war was going to remake the world for the worse in every way, which indeed it did, and who refused to fight. There were 800 conscientious objectors jailed in Russia, and Russia did not have much freedom of expression to begin with. In Germany, many distinguished people on the left, like Rosa Luxemburg, were sent to jail for most of the war.Britain was an interesting case because I think they had a much longer established tradition of free speech than did the countries on the continent. It goes way back and it's a distinguished and wonderful tradition. They were also worried for the first two and a half, three years of the war before the United States entered, that if they crack down too hard on their anti-war movement, it would upset people in the United States, which they were desperate to draw into the war on their side. Nonetheless, there were 6,000 conscientious objectors who were sent to jail in England. There was intermittent censorship of anti-war publications, although some were able to publish some of the time. There were many distinguished Britons, such as Bertrand Russell, the philosopher who later won a Nobel Prize, sent to jails for six months for his opposition to the war. So some of this happened all over.But I think in the United States, especially with these vigilante groups, it took a more violent form because remember the country at that time was only a few decades away from these frontier wars with the Indians. And the westward expansion of the United States during the 19th century, the western expansion of white settlement was an enormously bloody business that was almost genocidal for the Native Americans. Many people had participated in that. Many people saw that violence as integral to what the country was. So there was a pretty well-established tradition of settling differences violently.Andrew Keen: I'm sure you're familiar with Stephen Hahn's book, "A Liberal America." He teaches at NYU, a book which in some ways is very similar to yours, but covers all of American history. Hahn was recently on the Ezra Klein show, talking like you, like we're talking today, Adam, about the very American roots of Trumpism. Hahn, it's an interesting book, traces much of this back to Jackson and the wars of the frontier against Indians. Do you share his thesis on that front? Are there strong similarities between Jackson, Wilson, and perhaps even Trump?Adam Hochschild: Well, I regret to say I'm not familiar with Hahn's book, but I certainly do feel that that legacy of constant war for most of the 19th century against the Native Americans ran very deep in this country. And we must never forget how appealing it is to young men to take part in war. Unfortunately, all through history, there have been people very tempted by this. And I think when you have wars of conquest, such as happen in the American West, against people who are more poorly armed, or colonial wars such as Europe fought in Africa and Asia against much more poorly-armed opponents, these are especially appealing to young people. And in both the United States and in the European colonization of Africa, which I know something about. For young men joining in these colonizing or conquering adventures, there was a chance not just to get martial glory, but to also get rich in the process.Andrew Keen: You're all too familiar with colonial history, Adam. Another of your books was about King Leopold's Congo and the brutality there. Where was the most coherent opposition morally and politically to what was happening? My sense in Trump's America is perhaps the most persuasive and moral critique comes from the old Republican Center from people like David Brooks, Peter Wayno has been on the show many times, Jonathan Rausch. Where were people like Teddy Roosevelt in this narrative? Were there critics from the right as well as from the left?Adam Hochschild: Good question. I first of all would give a shout out to those Republican centrists who've spoken out against Trump, the McCain Republicans. There are some good people there - Romney, of course as well. They've been very forceful. There wasn't really an equivalent to that, a direct equivalent to that in the Wilson era. Teddy Roosevelt whom you mentioned was a far more ferocious drum beater than Wilson himself and was pushing Wilson to declare war long before Wilson did. Roosevelt really believed that war was good for the soul. He desperately tried to get Wilson to appoint him to lead a volunteer force, came up with an elaborate plan for this would be a volunteer army staffed by descendants of both Union and Confederate generals and by French officers as well and homage to the Marquis de Lafayette. Wilson refused to allow Roosevelt to do this, and plus Roosevelt was, I think, 58 years old at the time. But all four of Roosevelt's sons enlisted and joined in the war, and one of them was killed. And his father was absolutely devastated by this.So there was not really that equivalent to the McCain Republicans who are resisting Trump, so to speak. In fact, what resistance there was in the U.S. came mostly from the left, and it was mostly ruthlessly silenced, all these people who went to jail. It was silenced also because this is another important part of what happened, which is different from today. When the federal government passed the Espionage Act that gave it these draconian powers, state governments, many of them passed copycat laws. In fact, a federal justice department agent actually helped draft the law in New Hampshire. Montana locked up people serving more than 60 years cumulatively of hard labor for opposing the war. California had 70 people in prison. Even my hometown of Berkeley, California passed a copycat law. So, this martial spirit really spread throughout the country at that time.Andrew Keen: So you've mentioned that Debs was the great critic and was imprisoned and got a considerable number of votes in the election. You're writing a book now about the Great Depression and FDR's involvement in it. FDR, of course, was a distant cousin of Teddy Roosevelt. At this point, he was an aspiring Democratic politician. Where was the critique within the mainstream Democratic party? Were people like FDR, who had a position in the Wilson administration, wasn't he naval secretary?Adam Hochschild: He was assistant secretary of the Navy. And he went to Europe during the war. For an aspiring politician, it's always very important to say I've been at the front. And so he went to Europe and certainly made no sign of resistance. And then in 1920, he was the democratic candidate for vice president. That ticket lost of course.Andrew Keen: And just to remind ourselves, this was before he became disabled through polio, is that correct?Adam Hochschild: That's right. That happened in the early 20s and it completely changed his life and I think quite deepened him as a person. He was a very ambitious social climbing young politician before then but I think he became something deeper. Also the political parties at the time were divided each party between right and left wings or war mongering and pacifist wings. And when the Congress voted on the war, there were six senators who voted against going to war and 50 members of the House of Representatives. And those senators and representatives came from both parties. We think of the Republican Party as being more conservative, but it had some staunch liberals in it. The most outspoken voice against the war in the Senate was Robert LaFollette of Wisconsin, who was a Republican.Andrew Keen: I know you write about La Follette in American Midnight, but couldn't one, Adam, couldn't won before the war and against domestic repression. You wrote an interesting piece recently for the New York Review of Books about the Scopes trial. William Jennings Bryan, of course, was involved in that. He was the defeated Democratic candidate, what in about three or four presidential elections in the past. In the early 20th century. What was Bryan's position on this? He had been against the war, is that correct? But I'm guessing he would have been quite critical of some of the domestic repression.Adam Hochschild: You know, I should know the answer to that, Andrew, but I don't. He certainly was against going to war. He had started out in Wilson's first term as Wilson's secretary of state and then resigned in protest against the military buildup and what he saw as a drift to war, and I give him great credit for that. I don't recall his speaking out against the repression after it began, once the US entered the war, but I could be wrong on that. It was not something that I researched. There were just so few voices speaking out. I think I would remember if he had been one of them.Andrew Keen: Adam, again, I'm thinking out loud here, so please correct me if this is a dumb question. What would it be fair to say that one of the things that distinguished the United States from the European powers during the First World War in this period it remained an incredibly insular provincial place barely involved in international politics with a population many of them were migrants themselves would come from Europe but nonetheless cut off from the world. And much of that accounted for the anti-immigrant, anti-foreign hysteria. That exists in many countries, but perhaps it was a little bit more pronounced in the America of the early 20th century, and perhaps in some ways in the early 21st century.Adam Hochschild: Well, we remain a pretty insular place in many ways. A few years ago, I remember seeing the statistic in the New York Times, I have not checked to see whether it's still the case, but I suspect it is that half the members of the United States Congress do not have passports. And we are more cut off from the world than people living in most of the countries of Europe, for example. And I think that does account for some of the tremendous feeling against immigrants and refugees. Although, of course, this is something that is common, not just in Europe, but in many countries all over the world. And I fear it's going to get all the stronger as climate change generates more and more refugees from the center of the earth going to places farther north or farther south where they can get away from parts of the world that have become almost unlivable because of climate change.Andrew Keen: I wonder Democratic Congress people perhaps aren't leaving the country because they fear they won't be let back in. What were the concrete consequences of all this? You write in your book about a young lawyer, J. Edgar Hoover, of course, who made his name in this period. He was very much involved in the Palmer Raids. He worked, I think his first job was for Palmer. How do you see this structurally? Of course, many historians, biographers of Hoover have seen this as the beginning of some sort of American security state. Is that over-reading it, exaggerating what happened in this period?Adam Hochschild: Well, security state may be too dignified a word for the hysteria that reigned in the country at that time. One of the things we've long had in the United States is a hysteria, paranoia directed at immigrants who are coming from what seems to be a new and threatening part of the world. In the mid-19th century, for example, we had the Know-Nothing Party, as it was called, who were violently opposed to Catholic immigrants coming from Ireland. Now, they were people of Anglo-Saxon descent, pretty much, who felt that these Irish Catholics were a tremendous threat to the America that they knew. There was much violence. There were people killed in riots against Catholic immigrants. There were Catholic merchants who had their stores burned and so on.Then it began to shift. The Irish sort of became acceptable, but by the end of the 19th century, beginning of the 20th century the immigrants coming from Europe were now coming primarily from southern and eastern Europe. In other words, Italians, Sicilians, Poles, and Jews. And they became the target of the anti-immigrant crusaders with much hysteria directed against them. It was further inflamed at that time by the Eugenics movement, which was something very strong, where people believed that there was a Nordic race that was somehow superior to everybody else, that the Mediterraneans were inferior people, and that the Africans were so far down the scale, barely worth talking about. And this culminated in 1924 with the passage of the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act that year, which basically slammed the door completely on immigrants coming from Asia and slowed to an absolute trickle those coming from Europe for the next 40 years or so.Andrew Keen: It wasn't until the mid-60s that immigration changed, which is often overlooked. Some people, even on the left, suggest that it was a mistake to radically reform the Immigration Act because we would have inevitably found ourselves back in this situation. What do you think about that, Adam?Adam Hochschild: Well, I think a country has the right to regulate to some degree its immigration, but there always will be immigration in this world. I mean, my ancestors all came from other countries. The Jewish side of my family, I'm half Jewish, were lucky to get out of Europe in plenty of time. Some relatives who stayed there were not lucky and perished in the Holocaust. So who am I to say that somebody fleeing a repressive regime in El Salvador or somewhere else doesn't have the right to come here? I think we should be pretty tolerant, especially if people fleeing countries where they really risk death for one reason or another. But there is always gonna be this strong anti-immigrant feeling because unscrupulous politicians like Donald Trump, and he has many predecessors in this country, can point to immigrants and blame them for the economic misfortunes that many Americans are experiencing for reasons that don't have anything to do with immigration.Andrew Keen: Fast forward Adam to today. You were involved in an interesting conversation on the Nation about the role of universities in the resistance. What do you make of this first hundred days, I was going to say hundred years that would be a Freudian error, a hundred days of the Trump regime, the role, of big law, big universities, newspapers, media outlets? In this emerging opposition, are you chilled or encouraged?Adam Hochschild: Well, I hope it's a hundred days and not a hundred years. I am moderately encouraged. I was certainly deeply disappointed at the outset to see all of those tech titans go to Washington, kiss the ring, contribute to Trump's inauguration festivities, be there in the front row. Very depressing spectacle, which kind of reminds one of how all the big German industrialists fell into line so quickly behind Hitler. And I'm particularly depressed to see the changes in the media, both the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post becoming much more tame when it came to endorsing.Andrew Keen: One of the reasons for that, Adam, of course, is that you're a long-time professor at the journalism school at UC Berkeley, so you've been on the front lines.Adam Hochschild: So I really care about a lively press that has free expression. And we also have a huge part of the media like Fox News and One American Network and other outlets that are just pouring forth a constant fire hose of lies and falsehood.Andrew Keen: And you're being kind of calling it a fire hose. I think we could come up with other terms for it. Anyway, a sewage pipe, but that's another issue.Adam Hochschild: But I'm encouraged when I see media organizations that take a stand. There are places like the New York Times, like CNN, like MSNBC, like the major TV networks, which you can read or watch and really find an honest picture of what's going on. And I think that's a tremendously important thing for a country to have. And that you look at the countries that Donald Trump admires, like Putin's Russia, for example, they don't have this. So I value that. I want to keep it. I think that's tremendously important.I was sorry, of course, that so many of those big law firms immediately cave to these ridiculous and unprecedented demands that he made, contributing pro bono work to his causes in return for not getting banned from government buildings. Nothing like that has happened in American history before, and the people in those firms that made those decisions should really be ashamed of themselves. I was glad to see Harvard University, which happens to be my alma mater, be defiant after caving in a little bit on a couple of issues. They finally put their foot down and said no. And I must say, feeling Harvard patriotism is a very rare emotion for me. But this is the first time in 50 years that I've felt some of it.Andrew Keen: You may even give a donation, Adam.Adam Hochschild: And I hope other universities are going to follow its lead, and it looks like they will. But this is pretty unprecedented, a president coming after universities with this determined of ferocity. And he's going after nonprofit organizations as well. There will be many fights there as well, I'm sure we're just waiting to hear about the next wave of attacks which will be on places like the Ford Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation and other big nonprofits. So hold on and wait for that and I hope they are as defiant as possible too.Andrew Keen: It's a little bit jarring to hear a wise historian like yourself use the word unprecedented. Is there much else of this given that we're talking historically and the similarities with the period after the first world war, is there anything else unprecedented about Trumpism?Adam Hochschild: I think in a way, we have often had, or not often, but certainly sometimes had presidents in this country who wanted to assume almost dictatorial powers. Richard Nixon certainly is the most recent case before Trump. And he was eventually stopped and forced to leave office. Had that not happened, I think he would have very happily turned himself into a dictator. So we know that there are temptations that come with the desire for absolute power everywhere. But Trump has gotten farther along on this process and has shown less willingness to do things like abide by court orders. The way that he puts pressure on Republican members of Congress.To me, one of the most startling, disappointing, remarkable, and shocking things about these first hundred days is how very few Republican members to the House or Senate have dared to defy Trump on anything. At most, these ridiculous set of appointees that he muscled through the Senate. At most, they got three Republican votes against them. They couldn't muster the fourth necessary vote. And in the House, only one or two Republicans have voted against Trump on anything. And of course, he has threatened to have Elon Musk fund primaries against any member of Congress who does defy him. And I can't help but think that these folks must also be afraid of physical violence because Trump has let all the January 6th people out of jail and the way vigilantes like that operate is they first go after the traitors on their own side then they come for the rest of us just as in the first real burst of violence in Hitler's Germany was the night of the long knives against another faction of the Nazi Party. Then they started coming for the Jews.Andrew Keen: Finally, Adam, your wife, Arlie, is another very distinguished writer.Adam Hochschild: I've got a better picture of her than that one though.Andrew Keen: Well, I got some very nice photos. This one is perhaps a little, well she's thinking Adam. Everyone knows Arlie from her hugely successful work, "Strangers in their Own Land." She has a new book out, "Stolen Pride, Lost Shame and the Rise of the Right." I don't want to put words into Arlie's mouth and she certainly wouldn't let me do that, Adam, but would it be fair to say that her reading, certainly of recent American history, is trying to bring people back together. She talks about the lessons she learned from her therapist brother. And in some ways, I see her as a kind of marriage counselor in America. Given what's happening today in America with Trump, is this still an opportunity? This thing is going to end and it will end in some ways rather badly and perhaps bloodily one way or the other. But is this still a way to bring people, to bring Americans back together? Can America be reunited? What can we learn from American Midnight? I mean, one of the more encouraging stories I remember, and please correct me if I'm wrong. Wasn't it Coolidge or Harding who invited Debs when he left prison to the White House? So American history might be in some ways violent, but it's also made up of chapters of forgiveness.Adam Hochschild: That's true. I mean, that Debs-Harding example is a wonderful one. Here is Debs sent to prison by Woodrow Wilson for a 10-year term. And Debs, by the way, had been in jail before for his leadership of a railway strike when he was a railway workers union organizer. Labor organizing was a very dangerous profession in those days. But Debs was a fairly gentle man, deeply committed to nonviolence. About a year into, a little less than a year into his term, Warren Harding, Woodrow Wilson's successor, pardoned Debs, let him out of prison, invited him to visit the White House on his way home. And they had a half hour's chat. And when he left the building, Debs told reporters, "I've run for the White house five times, but this is the first time I've actually gotten here." Harding privately told a friend. This was revealed only after his death, that he said, "Debs was right about that war. We never should have gotten involved in it."So yeah, there can be reconciliation. There can be talk across these great differences that we have, and I think there are a number of organizations that are working on that specific project, getting people—Andrew Keen: We've done many of those shows. I'm sure you're familiar with the organization Braver Angels, which seems to be a very good group.Adam Hochschild: So I think it can be done. I really think it could be done and it has to be done and it's important for those of us who are deeply worried about Trump, as you and I are, to understand the grievances and the losses and the suffering that has made Trump's backers feel that here is somebody who can get them out of the pickle that they're in. We have to understand that, and the Democratic Party has to come up with promising alternatives for them, which it really has not done. It didn't really offer one in this last election. And the party itself is in complete disarray right now, I fear.Andrew Keen: I think perhaps Arlie should run for president. She would certainly do a better job than Kamala Harris in explaining it. And of course they're both from Berkeley. Finally, Adam, you're very familiar with the history of Africa, Southern Africa, your family I think was originally from there. Might we need after all this, when hopefully the smoke clears, might we need a Mandela style truth and reconciliation committee to make sense of what's happening?Adam Hochschild: My family's actually not from there, but they were in business there.Andrew Keen: Right, they were in the mining business, weren't they?Adam Hochschild: That's right. Truth and Reconciliation Committee. Well, I don't think it would be on quite the same model as South Africa's. But I certainly think we need to find some way of talking across the differences that we have. Coming from the left side of that divide I just feel all too often when I'm talking to people who feel as I do about the world that there is a kind of contempt or disinterest in Trump's backers. These are people that I want to understand, that we need to understand. We need to understand them in order to hear what their real grievances are and to develop alternative policies that are going to give them a real alternative to vote for. Unless we can do that, we're going to have Trump and his like for a long time, I fear.Andrew Keen: Wise words, Adam. I hope in the next 500 episodes of this show, things will improve. We'll get you back on the show, keep doing your important work, and I'm very excited to learn more about your new project, which we'll come to in the next few months or certainly years. Thank you so much.Adam Hochschild: OK, thank you, Andrew. Good being with you. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

Planes turning around for what?... Bayer / Monsanto loses cancer case... Email: ChewingTheFat@theblaze.com Postmaster General resigns... Conan accepts Mark Twain Award... Nikki Glaser worried about detainment?... Noose on office desk not racism?... Who Died Today: Bill Mercer 99 / Jonas Allen? 1 car crash into river... 23andMe files for bankruptcy... www.blazetv.com/jeffy Promo code: Jeffy… Gerard Depardieu on trial... Military info sent on chat to civilian?... Joke of The Day... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Postmaster General is stepping down. The AP's Jennifer King reports.

The Postmaster General resigns after DOGE bean auditing the USPS. Goldberg the hack. Leftists are sharks when it comes to scandals but silent when it comes to corruption on their side of the isle. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The impossible is what we do best—it's what inspires us! Here's what we've been up to!Laura and Jean met at their doctor's office and did their best to turn the waiting room into a party. We love meeting new people and striking up conversations—especially in grocery store lines! How often do you chat with strangers?And there's more…Heaven Can Wait – Jean tries to be a Church Lady. Laura's Colonoscopy Adventure – A martini glass makes the prep almost fun.Calamity Corner – Surprise! Another kitchen disaster!Delivery Drama – Laura's misdelivered package saga continues. Is a call from the Postmaster General in order?Oscar Night– Will Laura throw an Oscar party?We discuss top movies and predictions!Follow us on Instagram, X, and Facebook, @OKBoomerPod & OKBoomerpod.com, & any podcast app. Check out SpeakupTalkRadio.com- the perfect site for authors & podcasters.

Senate Democrats fail to stop the confirmation of Kash Patel as FBI director. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has decided to call it quits … in two years. Civics lesson for members of the White House press. Update on ending the income tax. DOGE dividend checks coming? DEI is withering on the vine … or is it? Update on the asteroid's chances of hitting Earth. Hamas celebrates the deaths of innocent Israelis while releasing remains of hostages. Vice President JD Vance discusses his faith and tries to encourage young people in America. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) says we don't need a refund check from the government. Democrats are in disarray. President Trump wants to inspect Fort Knox to see if there's any gold in there. KFC moving to Texas! 00:00 Pat Gray UNLEASHED 01:55 4 Nations Hockey Game 07:25 BYU Basketball 09:14 Ross Perot is DEAD?! 10:35 Kash Patel Confirmed 12:06 Adam Schiff is Terrified of Kash Patel 20:30 Stephen Miller Teaches Civics to the Press 23:04 Tariffs to Replace Income Tax? 26:25 DEI is DEAD in the Corporate World 34:01 Fat Five 52:03 Hamas Parade 59:41 JD Vance Attends CPAC 1:00:29 JD Vance's Message to Young Americans 1:03:43 JD Vance Shares the Gospel 1:09:19 JD Vance's Fashion Faux Pas 1:16:52 Jasmine Crockett Doesn't Want American's to Get DOGE Savings 1:19:36 James Carville's Special Message for Stephen A. Smith 1:26:14 Jeffy for Postmaster General? 1:30:03 Trump to Inspect Fort Knox 1:33:28 No More Funding for Gaza 1:34:34 Trump Announces No More Federal Funding for Maine 1:36:36 KFC Moves to Plano, Texas Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's UNCOVERED Ron and Anthony discuss Trump's latest moves on Ukraine, blaming Ukraine for starting the war in Ukraine. Plus, the Postmaster General resigns, Musk isn't running DOGE, Trump doesn't know what DOGE is doing and Elon's latest baby mama breaks her silence. Homan is after AOC and apparently Mayor Adams was innocent all along? All that and much more! PolicyGenius: Head to https://policygenius.com/UNCOVERED or click the link in the description to get your free life insurance quotes and see how much you could save. VIIA: Try VIIA at https://VIIA.co/uncovered and use code: UNCOVERED Mack Weldon: Go to https://MackWeldon.com and get 25% off your first order of $125 or more, with promo code UNCOVERED Former Federal Prosecutor Ron Filipkowski and British journalist Anthony Davis expose the epidemic of false propaganda pushing Republican politics to the extreme far-right. A new episode every Wednesday. Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meida... Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af MissTrial: https://meidasnews.com/tag/miss-trial The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-p... The Influence Continuum: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-i... Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/mea-c... The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-w... Burn the Boats: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/burn-... Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/major... Political Beatdown: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/polit... On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-de... Uncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-... Coalition of the Sane: https://meidasnews.com/tag/coalition-... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Thursday, Feb. 20 edition of Georgia Today: Georgia Democrats sound the alarm over possible cuts to Medicaid; lawmakers advance a measure that may make child care slightly more affordable; And as Postmaster Louis DeJoy prepares to step down, Sen. Jon Ossoff looks to the future of the post office. 

Over the years, elite institutions shifted from fostering open debate to enforcing ideological conformity. But as guest Ilya Shapiro puts it, “the pendulum is swinging back.” He shares his firsthand experience with cancel culture and how the American Bar Association's policies influence legal education. Shapiro also opines on major free speech cases before the Supreme Court, including the TikTok ownership battle and Texas' age verification law for adult content. Shapiro is a senior fellow and director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute. He previously (and briefly) served as executive director and senior lecturer at the Georgetown Center for the Constitution and as a vice president at the Cato Institute. His latest book, “Lawless: The Miseducation of America's Elites,” is out now. Enjoy listening to our podcast? Donate to FIRE today and get exclusive content like member webinars, special episodes, and more. If you became a FIRE Member through a donation to FIRE at thefire.org and would like access to Substack's paid subscriber podcast feed, please email sotospeak@thefire.org. Read the transcript. Timestamps:  00:00 Intro 02:58 Shapiro's Georgetown controversy 15:07 Free speech on campus 26:51 Law schools' decline 40:47 Legal profession challenges 42:33 The “vibe shift” away from cancel culture 56:02 TikTok and age verification at the Supreme Court 01:03:37 Anti-Semitism on campus 01:09:36 Outro Show notes: - “The illiberal takeover of law schools” City Journal (2022) - “Poll finds sharp partisan divisions on the impact of a Black woman justice.” ABC News (2022) - “Why I quit Georgetown.” Ilya Shapiro, The Wall Street Journal (2022) - “Georgetown's investigation of a single tweet taking longer than 12 round-trips to the moon.” FIRE (2022) - Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2023) - Lamont v. Postmaster General (1965) - TikTok Inc v. Garland (2025) - Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton (2024) - Ginsberg v. New York (1968) - International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism (last updated 2025)

12/20/24 - Hour 3 Colorado head coach Deion Sanders tells Rich that's NFL teams who don't plan to play Travis Hunter on both offense AND defense shouldn't draft the Heisman Trophy winner, how he responds to speculation that he and son Shedeur Sanders could be a package deal for some NFL team, his advice for Bill Belichick as he embarks on his college coaching career at North Carolina, and more. Writer/comedian Spike Feresten joins Rich in-studio to discuss his ‘Spike's Car Radio' YouTube show, reveals what he said to Jerry Seinfeld the first time they met that he worried would end his career, tells the origin stories behind some of the classic ‘Seinfeld' episodes he wrote including  ‘The Soup Nazi,' Elaine's dancing, muffin tops only, and the ‘Junk Mail' episode featuring Wilford Brimley as the Postmaster General. Rich ranks to the top 5 NFL and CFP games this weekend. Please check out other RES productions: Overreaction Monday: http://apple.co/overreactionmonday  What the Football with Suzy Shuster and Amy Trask: http://apple.co/whatthefootball The Jim Jackson Show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-jim-jackson-show/id1770609432 No-Contest Wrestling with O'Shea Jackson Jr. and TJ Jefferson: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/no-contest-wrestling/id1771450708 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is this a podcast about birds and the United States Postal Service or about the 2010 made-for-TV rom-com Christmas Mail? Slap on a red clip-on tie and judge for yourself! HDTGM all-star Jessica St. Clair (The Deep Dive) brings her Big Crone Energy and Postmaster General family experience to help break down this new holiday classic. The gang discusses the sprinkles fight scene, if Santa Claus f%$ks, the poster of the underwater mail truck, if Matt has male menopause, all the fedoras, and so much more. Plus, we learn truly everything there is to know about the USPS AND new Paul childhood trauma drops. Listen now or the Ragman will get ya! Tix for our Spring 2025 tour in Austin, Denver, Seattle, Boise, San Fran, Portland, & Los Angeles are on sale now at hdtgm.com.Order Paul's book about his childhood: Joyful Recollections of TraumaFor extra content on Matinee Monday movies, visit Paul's YouTube page: youtube.com/paulscheerTalk bad movies on the HDTGM Discord: discord.gg/hdtgmPaul's Discord: discord.gg/paulscheerFollow Paul's movie recs on Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/paulscheer/Check out new HDTGM movie merch over at teepublic.com/stores/hdtgmPaul and Rob Huebel stream live on Twitch every Thursday 8-10pm EST: www.twitch.tv/friendzoneLike good movies too? Subscribe to Unspooled with Paul and Amy Nicholson: listen.earwolf.com/unspooledSubscribe to The Deep Dive with Jessica St. Clair and June Diane Raphael: www.thedeepdiveacademy.com/podcastWhere to find Paul, June, & Jason:@PaulScheer on Instagram & Twitter@Junediane on IG and @MsJuneDiane on TwitterJason is not on social mediaGet access to all the podcasts you love, music channels and radio shows with the SiriusXM App! Get 3 months free using the link: siriusxm.com/hdtgm.

In this episode, host Nate Thurston goes solo as he covers various topics, including the controversial sale of border wall sections, the heated debate surrounding Tulsi Gabbard's potential leadership position, and the acquittal of Daniel Penny in the Jordan Neely case. Nate also dives into discussions about the high costs of healthcare, the USPS, and Trump's stance on automation. He touches on the controversial OnlyFans star Lily Phillips and New York Governor Kathy Hochul's idea to combat inflation. Tune in for an in-depth, critical analysis of these pressing issues. (03:42) Biden Administration's Border Wall Auction (09:22) Tulsi Gabbard and National Security Concerns (13:51) Daniel Penny and Jordan Neely Case (31:53) Healthcare Profits Debate (39:51) The Dark Side of Health Insurance (41:39) The Benefits of Health Insurance (45:46) Elizabeth Warren on CEO Shooter (47:53) The Primal Prescription and Healthcare Costs (49:53) Luigi Maggione's Manifesto (50:47) Postmaster General's Controversial Hearing (53:37) Ohio Flag Planting Controversy (56:23) Lily Phillips and Exploitation Debate (01:01:17) Kathy Hochul's Inflation Solution (01:03:12) Trump on Automation and Unions (01:08:32) Kyle Kalinske on Homelessness (01:16:32) Dumb Bleep of the Week Voting   Links:   https://gml.bio.link/   Watch GML  on Youtube:   https://bit.ly/3UwsRiv   Check out Martens Minute!   https://martensminute.podbean.com/   Join the private discord & chat during the show!   joingml.com   Get FACTOR Today! FECTORMEALS.com/gml50  

Recorded at the National Press Club, Federal News Network Reporter Jory Heckman and Bob Levi review the Postmaster General's recent interaction with the House and Senate at recent congressional hearings, as well as the Postal Regulatory Commission's ongoing assessment of the Delivering for America plan. Jory and Bob also discuss how Trump Administration and changes in Congress may impact the Postal Service. In addition, they talk about the just-uncovered unmet contract goals for the deployment of electric USPS delivery vehicles. 

In this episode, host Nate Thurston goes solo as he covers various topics, including the controversial sale of border wall sections, the heated debate surrounding Tulsi Gabbard's potential leadership position, and the acquittal of Daniel Penny in the Jordan Neely case. Nate also dives into discussions about the high costs of healthcare, the USPS, and Trump's stance on automation. He touches on the controversial OnlyFans star Lily Phillips and New York Governor Kathy Hochul's idea to combat inflation. Tune in for an in-depth, critical analysis of these pressing issues. (03:42) Biden Administration's Border Wall Auction (09:22) Tulsi Gabbard and National Security Concerns (13:51) Daniel Penny and Jordan Neely Case (31:53) Healthcare Profits Debate (39:51) The Dark Side of Health Insurance (41:39) The Benefits of Health Insurance (45:46) Elizabeth Warren on CEO Shooter (47:53) The Primal Prescription and Healthcare Costs (49:53) Luigi Maggione's Manifesto (50:47) Postmaster General's Controversial Hearing (53:37) Ohio Flag Planting Controversy (56:23) Lily Phillips and Exploitation Debate (01:01:17) Kathy Hochul's Inflation Solution (01:03:12) Trump on Automation and Unions (01:08:32) Kyle Kalinske on Homelessness (01:16:32) Dumb Bleep of the Week Voting   Links:   https://gml.bio.link/   Watch GML  on Youtube:   https://bit.ly/3UwsRiv   Check out Martens Minute!   https://martensminute.podbean.com/   Join the private discord & chat during the show!   joingml.com   Get FACTOR Today! FECTORMEALS.com/gml50  Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heartland-newsfeed-radio-network--2904397/support.

The The truth about the United States Postal Service (USPS) is multifaceted, depending on what aspect you're exploring—its history, operations, challenges, or controversies. Here's an overview:1. Historical Significance • The USPS was established in 1775 during the Second Continental Congress, with Benjamin Franklin as the first Postmaster General. • It was crucial in fostering communication and commerce across the growing United States.2. Operations and Role Today • The USPS is an independent establishment of the executive branch, serving as the only delivery service obligated to deliver to every address in the U.S., including rural and remote areas. • It handles billions of pieces of mail annually, including first-class mail, packages, and ballots.3. Funding and Financial Struggles • Unlike private companies, the USPS operates without taxpayer funding for day-to-day expenses, relying on revenue from postage and services. • A significant financial burden comes from a 2006 law requiring the USPS to pre-fund retiree health benefits for 75 years --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/barber-near-me/support

Thank you to Democracy Defender-supporter Melissa for the question that produced this week's Q&A Bonus show! Be sure to subscribe at Patreon.com/Gaslit to submit your questions, get all shows ad free, and hear the full bonus episode! Why is DeJoy still in charge? Well, it all comes down to numbers—specifically, the ones the Democrats don't have yet. The USPS Board of Governors is still short of the votes needed to remove Louis DeJoy. There's a glimmer of hope on the horizon with Biden's nominations of former Florida Rep. Val Demings and former Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, but they need to get through Senate confirmation first. Even if that happens, the entire Democratic bloc on the board has to agree to boot DeJoy. And here's the kicker: they'll also need an Independent to back them. Now, about that Independent, Amber McReynolds: she was appointed by Biden. But, plot twist—this Biden appointee has gone on record saying the USPS is doing just fine. So yeah, not exactly a slam dunk for Team “Fire DeJoy.” This is how corruption is allowed to fester—DeJoy stays, he enriches his family through shady deals, and the USPS, along with its overworked staff, remains on the chopping block. It's the Reaganomics playbook: shrink government services, weaken unions, and let privatization sweep in to pick at the bones. All while the people who depend on these services are left with empty mailboxes and a dysfunctional system. Welcome to DeJoy's America! This week's bonus show includes a fiery continuation of Gaslit Nation's interview with Elie Mystal, Justice Correspondent for The Nation and author of the bestselling book Allow Me to Retort A Black Guy's Guide to the Constitution. We discuss one of the most dangerous men in America: Merrick Garland. To listen to the full episode, be sure to subscribe at the Truth-teller ($5/month) level or higher, and to submit a question for our next Q&A bonus show, subscribe at the Democracy Defender ($10/month) level or higher. Discounted annual memberships available. Thank you to everyone who supports our independent journalism, especially during these tough times. We could not make Gaslit Nation without you!  Look out for our special workshop How to Make a Podcast publishing October 24th for our supporters at the Democracy Defender level and higher, unless you grabbed the early bird special in September and signed up at the Truth-teller level and higher!  Join our live-taping about the psychology of Trump and his MAGA cult with Dr. Bandy Lee, author of The Psychology of Trump Contagion: An Existential Danger to American Democracy and All Humankind, October 29 at 12pm ET!  Subscribe at Patreon.com/Gaslit to join our community of listeners, get bonus shows and all episodes ad free, invites to exclusive events, submit questions to our regular Q&As, and more! Discounted annual memberships available!    Show Notes:   To Restore Abortion Rights, Democrats Must Win the Senate. If Democrats manage to win the White House but lose the Senate, then people in GOP-controlled states will continue to be forced to bring pregnancies to term against their will. https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/to-restore-abortion-rights-democrats-must-win-the-senate/   DeJoy maintains financial ties to former company as USPS awards it new $120 million contract. XPO Logistics pays DeJoy and family businesses at least $2.1 million annually to lease four office buildings in North Carolina https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/08/06/usps-dejoy-xpo-logistics/   Joe Biden Passes 'Essential Stop' in Bid to Save Mail-in Ballots - Attorney https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-joe-biden-mail-ballots-2024-election-postal-service-1932369   Senators call on postal board to abandon DeJoy's USPS reforms. The overhaul is harming the Postal Service, Democrats say, though postal leadership says it just needs more time. https://www.govexec.com/management/2024/04/senators-call-postal-board-abandon-dejoys-usps-reforms/396048/   Can Biden fire US Postmaster General Louis DeJoy? https://www.federaltimes.com/federal-oversight/2022/08/24/can-biden-fire-us-postmaster-general-louis-dejoy/   If You Can Keep It: Voting By Mail (1A) https://the1a.org/guests/amber-mcreynolds/   82 House Democrats Urge Biden to Name Postal Board Nominees to “Protect and Expand” a Public USPS on letter endorsed by 36 public-interest groups https://takeonwallst.com/2024/02/82-democratic-members-of-congress-urge-biden-to-name-postal-board-nominees-to-protect-and-expand-a-public-usps-endorsed-by-36-public-interest-groups/   Watch Live: Postmaster General Louis DeJoy grilled at Senate hearing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba0pak1UOCo   Musk buying votes in swing states https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna176075   See you this Wednesday for our phone bank party with Sister District at 6pm ET – we're calling into must-win Arizona! RSVP here to join us: https://www.mobilize.us/sisterdistrictnyc/event/642096/

Inequality reporter Stephanie Convery returns on a trip with Liz and Ben into the world of banking, high finance and monetary theory in Terry Pratchett's thirty-sixth Discworld novel, 2007's Making Money. The Ankh-Morpork Post Office is running very smoothly - which has left Moist von Lipwig, reformed con-man and Postmaster General, at a loose end. But he resists the Patrician's offer of a new job revitalising the Royal Mint and Royal Bank of Ankh-Morpork. The bank's current owner is a Mark 1 Feisty Old Lady who knows her rich family are out to get her - and her little dog, too. But despite Moist's best attempts to not get involved, both dog and bank wind up in his care - putting him in the sights of the Lavish family, and especially Vetinari-obsessed Cosmo Lavish. Meanwhile, manager of the Golem Trust (and Moist's fiancée) Adora Belle Dearheart is digging up something ancient out on the desert. And Moist's past is about to catch up with him... Just a few novels after debuting in Going Postal, Moist von Lipwig is back! Making Money is about the nature of money, but also about the thrill of the chase, grappling with one's inner nature, and obsession. Aside from Gladys the Golem, Moist and Adora Belle bring few of their previous supporting cast along for the ride; instead we meet a new cast including Mr Bent, the Lavishes, another Igor, the Post-Mortem Communications Department of Unseen University, and the very good boy Mr Fusspot. Does this live up to the promise of Going Postal? Could Moist be in other Discworld books in disguise - and if so, as who? Did you guess Mr Bent's secret? And if you had a Glooper, what would you use it to change in the world of money? No purchase necessary to join the conversation for this episode; just email us or use the hashtag #Pratchat80 on social media. Stephanie Convery (she/her) is is a writer and author. Previously the Deputy Culture Editor for The Guardian Australia, she's now their dedicated inequality reporter. Stephanie's first book, After the Count: The Death of Davey Browne, was published in March 2020 by Penguin Books. (We suspect it won't be her last.) You can follow Stephanie on Twitter at @gingerandhoney, and find her work at Guardian Australia. Her previous appearances on Pratchat were for #Pratchat2, “Murdering a Curry” (about Mort), and #Pratchat42, “Truth, the Printing Press, and Every -ing” (about The Truth). You'll find full notes and errata for this episode on our website...though not just yet. Watch out for it soon! In the meantime, the newly recovered story in A Stroke of the Pen is “Arnold, the Bominable Snowman” (we've not yet found it online). Also, here's the free Quickstart for the Discworld: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork roleplaying game; it's also available via DriveThruRPG. The Kickstarter launches on 15 October. Those three upcoming Discworld plays in Australia are The Fifth Elephant from Brisbane Arts Theatre from 19 October; Maskerade by Sporadic Productions in Adelaide from 30 October; and Guards! Guards! from Roleystone Theatre in Perth from 22 November. Next episode we're continuing our Moist streak (sorry) with the (so far) latest Discworld board game: Clacks! If you have questions about this game recreating the race between Moist and the Grand Trunk company, get them in to us by mid-October 2024 by tagging us or using the hashtag #Pratchat81 on social media, or emailing us at chat@pratchatpodcast.com.

Postmaster General: trust us with your mail in ballots! How about pictures of all the abandoned ballots? Or the postal workers union endorsing Kamala Harris? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In honor of Independence Day, NAPS Chat continues its tradition of exploring our consequential postal past. Newly appointed US Postal Service Historian Steve Kochersperger joins Bob to discuss one of our more compelling postmaster generals, John "AJ" Creswell. Creswell, who served as PMG during post-Civil War Reconstruction, began to integrate the postal workforce, improved postal performance, reduced expenses, took on Congress, and introduced new postal products and innovations.  

The United States Postal Service is one of the most derided institutions in the country. Also, it's one of the most highly regarded according to every poll conducted on government agencies. This episode digs into our complicated relationship with the Postal Service and examines the historical challenges facing this institution. We cover the controversy surrounding Louis DeJoy, the current Postmaster General and his ten-year plan to modernize the agency. And we finish with a recommendation for how it should ultimately be run that honors its original mandate. Chapters Intro: 00:00:48 Chapter One: Ye Olde Post Office. 00:01:41 Chapter Two: The Post Office Gets a Makeover. 00:06:11 Chapter Three: Ode to DeJoy. 00:13:20 Bring it home, Max. 00:18:37 Post Show Musings: 00:27:14 Outro: 00:34:47 Resources Pew Research Center: Public Holds Broadly Favorable Views of Many Federal Agencies, Including CDC and HHS USPS: Postal Facts Congress.gov: ArtI.S8.C7.1 Historical Background on Postal Power Brookings: How is the U.S. Postal Service governed and funded? The Guardian: There was only one loser in this Royal Mail privatisation: the taxpayer Wikipedia: Bandwidth throttling United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General: Postal Retirement Funds in Perspective: Historical Evolution and Ongoing Challenges Congressional Research Service: FY2024 U.S. Postal Service Appropriations Vox: Trump thinks Amazon's destroying the post office. Here's what's really happening. Katie Porter gets DeJoy to make embarrassing admission at USPS hearing USPS: Delivering for America The Guardian: ‘It's going to delay the mail': the fight over Louis DeJoy's USPS plan GovExec: Biden taps former cabinet secretary for USPS board GovExec: Senators call on postal board to abandon DeJoy's USPS reforms Common Dreams: 'DeJoy Has to Go Right Now': Fury Over Postal Service Failure to Electrify Truck Fleet Time: Louis DeJoy's Surprising Second Act CNN: Biden signs US Postal Service reform bill into law Hey Arnold: I Hate The Snow -- If you like the pod version of #UNFTR, make sure to check out the video version on YouTube where Max shows his beautiful face! www.youtube.com/@UNFTR Please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Join the Unf*cker-run Facebook group: facebook.com/groups/2051537518349565 Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee® at shop.unftr.com. Subscribe to Unf*cking The Republic® at unftr.com/blog to get the essays these episode are framed around sent to your inbox every week. Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility. Unf*cking the Republic® is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com) and Hold Fast (holdfastband.com). The show is written and hosted by Max and distributed by 99. Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, "Unf*cking the Republic®."Support the show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/unftrSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A mailman in Roy is being considered for a PostMaster General's Hero Award ... after he helped a lady who had fallen and couldn't get up. 

Hoo boy… DeJoy!Woe is us (the American people) for having our jewel of a national Postal Service saddled with a corporate-minded Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy. Formerly CEO of a private shipping contractor, DeJoy's chief qualification for running this invaluable public service is that he's been a major donor to Republican politicians – including Donald Trump, who appointed him to the post.In 2020, the new honcho put forth a 10-year scheme to “save” the people's post office by imposing boilerplate corporate tactics – downsize staff, cut service, and raise prices. He gave his plan a zippy PR slogan: “Delivering for America.” But delivering less for more is a hard sell, and people soon started rebelling against absurdly late delivery, closure of local branches, long lines at understaffed postal counters, and relentless price hikes, including another 8-percent increase this year.Excuse my bad play on words, but there is no joy in seeing an essential public service needlessly gutted. Millions of us rely on timely mail delivered by the amazing network of public postal workers. Their linking of any one zip code to all others is a pillar of our democracy, not only servicing the well-off and corporate elites, but crucial to small businesses, rural communities, people getting medicines by mail – as well as to millions of us wanting to vote by mail this November.Four years of DeJoy's corporate gimmicks to “improve” our postal service by shriveling it have proven disastrous – and the harm is spreading. Enough! This is a time when your voice can matter, for a bipartisan outcry is demanding that Congress and/or the postal board of governors step in pronto to terminate DeJoy's political meddling. For information and ACTION go to: TakeOnWallSt.com.Photo: Rachel Bradshaw and Norwood NewsJim Hightower's Lowdown is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jimhightower.substack.com/subscribe

Hoo boy… DeJoy! Woe is us (the American people) for having our jewel of a national Postal Service saddled with a corporate-minded Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy. Formerly CEO of a private shipping contractor, DeJoy’s chief qualification for running this invaluable public service is that he’s been a major donor to Republican politicians – including Donald Trump, who appointed him to the post.

On this day in 1840, the introduction of the Penny Black postage stamp revolutionized the British postal system. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we talk about Huawei, DJI, and ByteDance.We also discuss 5G infrastructure, black-box algorithms, and Congressional bundles.Recommended Book: The Spare Man by Mary Robinette KowalNote: my new book, How To Turn 39, is now available as an ebook, audiobook, and paperback wherever you get your books :)TranscriptIn January of 2024, Chinese tech giant Huawei brought an end to its years-long US lobbying effort, meant to help mend fences with western politicians.In mid-2019, then US President Trump had blacklisted the company using an executive order that, in practice, prevented Chinese telecommunications companies from selling specialized equipment in the US, as part of a larger effort to clamp-down on the sale of Chinese 5g and similar infrastructure throughout the US.Around the same time, a Huawei executive was jailed in Canada for allegedly violating sanctions on Iran, and several other western nations were making noises about their own bans, worrying—as Trump's administration said they were worried—that Huawei and similar Chinese tech companies would sell their goods at a loss or at cost, significantly undercutting their foreign competition, and as a consequence would both lock down the burgeoning 5g market, including all the infrastructure that was in the process of being invested in and deployed, while also giving the Chinese government a tool that could allow them to tap all the communications running through this hardware, and potentially even allow them to shut it all down, if they wanted, at some point in the future—if China invaded Taiwan and wanted to keep the West from getting involved, for instance.So while part of this ban on Huawei—for which the President made use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and declared a national emergency—was undoubtedly political (part of the trade war Trump started as part of the "China is the enemy" platform he was running on leading up to the 2020 election), there were also real-deal concern about China insinuating itself into the world's infrastructure, beginning with the rollout of the next phase of communications technologies; making themselves indispensable, disallowing foreign competition, and yes, possibly even creating a bunch of backdoors they could use at some point in the future to tip the scales in their favor during a conflict.This ban also ensured that Huawei's then quite popular line of smartphones wouldn't be available in the US, or many other Western countries. The company sold off its Honor brand of phones in a scramble to try to protect that line of products from these new blocks on its offerings, which among other things disallowed them from accessing the chips necessary to make competitive smartphone products, but the legislation just kept coming after that initial salvo, the US Federal Communications Commission banning the sale or import of anything made by Huawei in late-2022, and a bunch of fundamental US allies, especially those with which the US collaborates on military and intelligence matters, have likewise banned Huawei products on their shelves and in their communications networks; the idea being that even one Huawei transmitter or modem could tap into the whole of these networks—at least in theory—which is considered a big enough security concern to justify that blanket ban.Huawei has managed to survive, though it didn't scale the way its owners seemed to think it would back before all these bans.Now it exists as a primarily regional outfit, still making billions in revenue each year, though down to about half the revenue it was earning before 2019.Another popular Chinese tech company, DJI, is now scrambling to deploy its lobbyists and circle the wagons, as there's word that it's on a shortlist of potential Chinese security threats, in this case because the company makes very popular consumer and professional grade drones, which have successfully outcompeted many western brands of the same, and which have thus started to dominate aspects of the drone market.These drones tend to be of the six or eight mini-propeller variety, the kind that people fly for fun, or use to shoot aerial photos, but the success of drones, even of this kind of drone, in Ukraine, reworked to spy on enemy fortifications or to carry explosives, has had the US Defense Department thinking it might not be the best idea to allow a Chinese company to own a substantial chunk of the US and international drone market—for many of the same reasons that Huawei was considered to be a threat; because that would allow China to continue to take out international rivals, allegedly by stealing their competitor's tech back in the day, and by continuing to back their companies with government support and funding, which makes fair and level competition a bit of an impossibility.These companies are doing well for many reasons, then, and some of those reasons are not replicable outside the tight relationship the Chinese government has with its corporate entities.If DJI is ultimately targeted in this way, it would likely be via a similar mechanism as the ban that was slapped on Huawei: new drones made by DJI would be unable to use the US's communications infrastructure, which would make their continued functionality in the country all but impossible.This wouldn't ban DJI drones that are already owned by folks in the US, and it's anyone's guess as to how likely this will be to pass, as a bill to this end is currently working its way through the House, but DJI is lobbying heavily, is more common and popular in the US than Huawei was, and there's a chance that it simply won't be worth the potential political consequences for those who vote to ban it, if the bill works its way further through the process.What I'd like to talk about today is another potential ban of a popular Chinese product, TikTok, and how such a ban might play out.—Back in 2020, the Trump administration announced that it was looking into banning TikTok, a popular vertical video-focused social network that operates a bit like a cross between Instagram and YouTube, and which was becoming especially influential with young people, so-called Gen Zers.TikTok is owned by a Chinese company called ByteDance, and ByteDance has a version of the same app in other countries, including China, which there is called Douyin.That same year, TikTok hit back against the Trump administration with a legal challenge that said, in essence, the President was just trying to score political points by passing protectionist laws in the lead-up to the election, and that it might have also been revenge because there were young people on the platform posting videos about a prank they instigated at a Trump rally, which seemed to irk the former President.Around this same time, TikTok higher ups began working on what became known as Project Texas, which was meant to help address one of the government's concerns and complaints, that data and media shared on TikTok was sent to Chinese servers, which suggested all that information could be more easily siphoned off and used by the Chinese government.This project resulted in a re-working of how data on the platform is handled, bringing in US tech company Oracle to keep tabs on everything, ensuring that this data is safely managed and not sent somewhere the Chinese government can easily get it.A former employee of TikTok alleged in early 2023 that this Project didn't do what it was supposed to do, and TikTok's leadership said that this employee left before it was fully implemented; other involved people have spoken about their own takes on the matter since then, some of them saying the company is locked down tight because of all the oversight it's receiving, while others have said it makes big security claims, but is still not locked down the way it needs to be.This concern is the result of a law in China that says, basically, if the government tells you to hand something over, you do, or you can be stripped of all your wealth, can be put in prison, can even be killed.So ByteDance's leadership's claims that they have not handed this sort of data over to the Chinese government, and wouldn't do so if they were asked, can't be trusted, according to arguments against their claims, because they would of course lie about this if they had handed it over, and may not even be legally allowed to admit to so doing, but they also wouldn't really have a choice if they were asked—they would legally, in China, have to do so.That's the big argument and concern on the US security side of things: the Chinese system works different than the system in many other countries, and because of how integrated and entwined their government is with their market, every single Chinese company, like ByteDance, like Huawei, like DJI, should be considered a wing of the Chinese military, because in practice, they are.Thus, as soon as these concerns about TikTok started to hit the mainstream consciousness, we started to see those federal efforts to do something about it—most of which were initially unsuccessful, except for that Project Texas effort, about which no one seems to be able to say with any certainty whether it was successful or not.At the state level, we also saw a bunch of bans on having the TikTok app on corporate and government devices, and in some places, like Florida and Montana and Indiana, we've also see bans on Chinese individuals and Chinese companies acquiring land, working on some types of research, setting up factories, and other such things.All of which sets the stage for a piece of legislation that was passed by the US Congress earlier this month, and then signed by President Biden, saying that ByteDance needs to divest itself of TikTok, and soon, otherwise TikTok will be banned in the US.The specifics are important here: first is that this legislation was passed as part of a bundle with legislation that also provided funding for Ukraine, Israel and Palestinians, and Taiwan—so this is generally being seen as a sweetener to some further-right Republicans who otherwise would have opposed those funding efforts, and it may not have been passed if it hadn't been thus bundled.Second is that this isn't a TikTok ban, in the sense that Biden signed it and now TikTok is banned in the US. Instead, it says, basically, TikTok can keep operating in the US, but it can't be owned by a Chinese company, which again, if the Chinese government asks them to do spy or military stuff on their behalf, they would legally have to do. So the idea is that TikTok itself isn't the problem, it's those ties to the Chinese government and intelligence and military apparatus.Third is that the company now has nine months to figure out a deal to sell the whole or part of TikTok to some more acceptable—which in this case means non-Chinese-government-entangled—owner, and the President has the option of extending that to a full year, if it looks like a deal is about to be done, but needs a little more time.That's up from a previously proposed six months, and is considered to be more realistic, given the scope and scale of the company in question.And that scope and scale is point number four: TikTok is huge. It's an absolutely behemoth company, with about 170 million users in the US, alone, and about $16 billion in revenue each year.That's still nowhere near Meta's $134.9 billion of annual revenue, but it's still a colossal company that's generally considered to be worth more than $100 billion, again, for the US assets alone—though if the company were to sell everything but the algorithm it uses to decide what videos to show its users, it's though that price could drop to closer to $20 billion; which is still substantial enough that there wouldn't be many people or entities capable of affording it, and some of the big, well-moneyed US tech players, like Meta and Google, would be unlikely to even try, as their offer would probably be held up by antitrust concerns within the current, fairly hardcore regulatory environment.So ByteDance is being told to sell their US assets within a year, max, and they may have to find a buyer willing to spend tens of billions of dollars for it, and that buyer would have to be acceptable to the same US government that is telling the existing owner it has to sell or be banned in the country.Analysts are mixed on whether this is a bluff or not, but at the moment, ByteDance's leadership is saying, in essence, no—we're not going to play this game, we would rather shut down the US version of TikTok than sell those assets.Part of the rationale here might be that the Chinese government is telling ByteDance's owners that they're not allowed to sell these assets; it could be a requirement they're dressing up as staunch resilience to save face, basically.It could also be that they did the math and realized that their US offerings, despite being worth billions, are nowhere near their most profitable assets—those are in China—and they'd rather double-down on that larger market and other foreign markets than sell off something valuable in the US, which could then be used to challenge them in some of those remaining markets.It could also be that they're holding out for a good deal, or delaying, hoping that denying even the possibility of a sale will help their case in court.And they do, by some estimations at least, have a pretty solid case to lean on.Some legal experts are saying their First Amendment rights are being violated, and in a 1965 Supreme Court case, Lamont v. Postmaster General, the court ruled that foreign-produced propaganda—in that case communist propaganda—could still be distributed through the postal service because Americans have a first amendment right to receive it, even if they didn't specifically request it.This is considered to be relevant, here, because one of the arguments against TikTok by the US government is that the Chinese government could adjust what they show people, favoring content that supports positions and views of the world they like, over time adjusting the opinions and facts or pseudo-facts young people in particular are working from—which over time could also influence what they believe, how they vote, and so on. There have already been claims that TikTok favors pro-Palestinian content over pro-Israeli content, for instance, and it has long suppressed work that talks about the Tiananmen Square massacre and other things the Chinese government doesn't like; it doesn't generally fully disappear this stuff from the platform, but the algorithms show that sort of content to few people, which has a similar effect to deleting it on an app where people primarily discover things based on what they're shown by that algorithm.Of course, Facebook and Twitter and other networks have been accused of the same, in Meta's case downplaying news and political content, and in Twitter's, recently, post transition to X, favoring more conservative posts over more liberal ones—though in both cases, and in TikTok's, too, it's difficult to prove this sort of thing, and the algorithms are often black boxes rather than open code we can look at and judge objectively; so some such claims may be based on anecdote and the complainer's own bias.And it's worth mentioning here that although the Chinese government, TikTok's leadership, and a slew of free speech rights groups have come down on TikTok's side, citing the US's First Amendment and the support it would seemingly have for the popular app and those who want to use it to exercise their speech—and for the company to exercise its own, as well, sharing stuff those people watch—China has regularly banned US social networks from its highly controlled and censored portion of the internet, clamping down on those that survive so hard that they don't have much control, their data highly secured and allegedly tapped within China.So China is saying the US is in the wrong for doing something similar to what it does back home, though on a much smaller and more focused scale, and one of the counterarguments being made by some folks in the US, including some who are typically free speech proponents, is—well, tit-for-tat. Countries that remain open for US social networks will have their networks welcomed in the US in the same way, but those who don't? Their futures are less clear, because why should the US allow that kind of potential security and influence risk when the other side refuses to do the same?There's a question here, then, of what the modern, splintered internet is and how it should be treated—perhaps especially in free speech-favoring, democratic societies—now that we've moved past the veneer of free and open online activity everywhere.That's never been the case in China, and in many other countries around the world, so the idea that the US and Europe and similar nations need to behave as if it's equally open and free everywhere seems a little outmoded, and some such entities, like the EU, have been regulating based on that reality, while the US has been slow to do the same; this could mark a moment in which the US starts thinking along these same terms, or it could be another instance of maintaining the previous paradigm, because that tends to be easier, and because the relevant laws haven't been updated, yet.There's also the question of how expansive this particular bill will end up being.Does it apply to ByteDance's other apps, as well, including the popular CapCut video editing app, and its existing Instagram-dupe Lemon8, and potential future Instagram-clone TikTok Notes?Further, does it apply to other Chinese-owned apps, and other apps owned by companies in, for instance, Russia and other current and future antagonistic states?Also, to what degree will the law allow friendly nation states, like Japan and European nations, to scoop up these sorts of assets and operate them in the States, in a way China would no longer be allowed, when there's the chance that some of them—Hungary, for instance—might not always be so friendly? How does the friendly or unfriendly judgement get made, and what sort of process is involved in changing a nation's label from one to the other?Right now, the framing of all this is mostly whether we prioritize free speech or national security, and it's arguably the government's responsibility to make that argument, or face the electoral consequences of seemingly behaving in anti-speech ways without any real purpose, beyond potentially empowering US-based social platforms over foreign versions of the same.And lacking a stronger argument and more public evidence, there's a decent change a lot of people, especially young people will be irked at a TikTok ban, or even the possibility of one, despite the supposed security threat it poses.All of which suggests this will be an interesting year, as the clock ticks downward on those 9 months, plus another 3, possibly, that ByteDance has to sell its US assets, during which several companies will probably arise, stating their case for scooping up the most popular social platform, with young people at least, in the country, and during which ByteDance's lawyers will be filing cases on their employers' behalf.And this will all go down as the country winds its way toward the November election, which features two presidents that have spoken out against the app, while also having used it for their own political gains, to try to reach the youths of the country, who will play a major role in this upcoming election, but also a lot of elections after that, well into the future.Show Noteshttps://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/381/301/https://www.wsj.com/politics/states-take-on-china-in-the-name-of-national-security-7ed05257https://apnews.com/article/us-china-blinken-wang-yi-8c1c453df3afbd6ec87ced0c8d618064https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/24/24139036/biden-signs-tiktok-ban-bill-divest-foreign-aid-packagehttps://www.dw.com/en/eu-sets-tiktok-ultimatum-over-addictive-new-app-feature/a-68891902https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/22/business/tiktok-india-ban.htmlhttps://apnews.com/article/tiktok-divestment-ban-what-you-need-to-know-5e1ff786e89da10a1b799241ae025406https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-ban-bytedance-lawsuit-biden-386e6d81e2eef61a756bcdea96cd0aefhttps://www.axios.com/2024/03/16/tiktok-ban-divest-ownership-chinahttps://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/five-observations-on-the-tiktok-bill-and-the-first-amendmenthttps://archive.ph/7Fiknhttps://apnews.com/article/tiktok-ban-bytedance-lawsuit-biden-386e6d81e2eef61a756bcdea96cd0aefhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/04/25/tiktok-legal-battle-is-certain/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/04/18/business/media/tiktok-ban-american-culture.htmlhttps://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2024/02/22/how-u-s-adults-use-tiktok/https://www.ypulse.com/article/2023/06/05/gen-z-is-officially-using-tiktok-more-than-any-other-social-media-platform/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/23/technology/bytedance-tiktok-ban-bill.htmlhttps://www.cnn.com/2024/04/25/tech/who-could-buy-tiktok/index.htmlhttps://www.nbcnews.com/business/tiktok-ban-bill-why-congress-when-takes-effect-rcna148981https://www.wsj.com/tech/bytedance-says-it-wont-sell-u-s-tiktok-business-61f43079https://www.wsj.com/tech/why-china-is-holding-its-fire-as-u-s-moves-to-ban-tiktok-38a63cddhttps://www.theverge.com/2024/4/11/24127579/tiktok-ai-virtual-influencers-advertisinghttps://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/project-texas-the-details-of-tiktok-s-plan-to-remain-operational-in-the-united-stateshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TikTok#Project_Texashttps://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/25/business/china-tiktok-douyin.htmlhttps://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c289n8m4j19ohttps://techcrunch.com/2024/04/27/will-a-tiktok-ban-impact-creator-economy-startups-not-really-founders-say/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/04/25/tiktok-ban-bill-us-communities/https://www.wsj.com/tech/how-tiktok-lost-the-war-in-washington-bbc419cchttps://archive.ph/pnMEGhttps://www.theverge.com/24141539/tiktok-ban-bytedance-china-dc-circuit-supreme-courthttps://www.axios.com/2024/04/23/tiktok-ban-bytedance-apps-capcut-lemon8https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/25/us/politics/us-china-drones-dji.htmlhttps://www.theregister.com/2024/01/05/huawei_ditches_us_lobbying_team/https://engadget.com/huawei-honor-sold-024435704.htmlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huaweihttps://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/15/trump-ban-huawei-us-1042046 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsknowthings.substack.com/subscribe

The U.S. Postal Service has experienced delays in mail delivery around the country, including Missouri and Kansas. As Missouri Congressman Sam Graves pushes for federal legislation to protect citizens, he says it is time to bring in a new postmaster general.

Today on the show: Scott Slade joins us live. Ossoff goes-off on The Postmaster General. Erik Larson from Bloomberg News on jury selection in the Trump trial. Are we in Cold War II? The latest on Iran/Israel. Plus, bracing for the cicadas! 9am-noon on 95.5 WSB.

On the Tuesday April 16th edition of Georgia Today: Postmaster General Louis Dejoy faces tough questions about mail delivery delays before the U.S. Senate; Atlanta works to finish part of a trail connecting the city to the Chattahoochee River; And Savannah attempts to cut down on noise created by tour operators in the city's historical district.

Goergia's controversial 2021 voting law overhaul, SB 202, is in court this week; The Postmaster General is defending changes by the U.S. Postal Service that have led to delayed and missing mail in Georgia; On this week's On Leadership with Atlanta Business Chronicle, host Crystal Edmonson talks with Christine Whitaker, president of Comcast's Central DivisionSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

James Bovard discusses his new book on the death of liberty in America. The U.S. government has become an oppressive force which steals upwards of hundreds of millions of dollars annually from its citizens through civil asset forfeiture, silences Americans through its Orwellian Ministry of Truth, and imposes burdensome security theater (e.g. TSA) among many other forms of tyranny. He describes the attempts to take guns away and whether he thinks they will succeed, this idea of a second civil war, and how people were stampeded into submission on Covid. There is no substitute for courage and self-reliance is part of that. The death of liberty in America is not foreordained. Watch on BitChute / Brighteon / Rokfin / Rumble / Substack Geopolitics & Empire · James Bovard: The Death of Liberty in America is Not Foreordained #418 *Support Geopolitics & Empire! Become a Member https://geopoliticsandempire.substack.comDonate https://geopoliticsandempire.com/donationsConsult https://geopoliticsandempire.com/consultation **Visit Our Affiliates & Sponsors! Above Phone https://abovephone.com/?above=geopoliticseasyDNS (use code GEOPOLITICS for 15% off!) https://easydns.comEscape The Technocracy course (15% discount using link) https://escapethetechnocracy.com/geopoliticsPassVult https://passvult.comSociatates Civis (CitizenHR, CitizenIT, CitizenPL) https://societates-civis.comWise Wolf Gold https://www.wolfpack.gold/?ref=geopolitics Websites James Bovard Website https://www.jimbovard.com X https://twitter.com/JimBovard Last Rights: The Death of American Liberty https://www.amazon.com/Last-Rights-Death-American-Liberty/dp/B0CP9VCNDH About James Bovard James Bovard is the author of Last Rights: The Death of American Liberty (2023) Public Policy Hooligan (2012), Attention Deficit Democracy (2006), and eight other books. He is a member of the USA Today Board of Contributors, a frequent contributor to the New York Post, and has written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Playboy, and the Washington Post, and is a fellow with the Libertarian Institute. His books have been translated into Spanish, Arabic, Japanese, and Korean. The Wall Street Journal called Bovard 'the roving inspector general of the modern state,' and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a 'one-man truth squad.' His 1994 book Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty received the Free Press Association's Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His book Terrorism and Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner Award for the Best Book on Liberty in 2003. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought, and the Freedom Fund Award from the National Rifle Association. His writings have been been publicly denounced by the chief of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the Transportation Security Administration, U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In 2015, the Justice Department sought to suppress his articles in USA Today. *Podcast intro music is from the song "The Queens Jig" by "Musicke & Mirth" from their album "Music for Two Lyra Viols": http://musicke-mirth.de/en/recordings.html (available on iTunes or Amazon)

Townhall Review – July 8, 2023 Hugh Hewitt turns to Kristen Waggoner, CEO of Alliance Defending Freedom, to discuss the pivotal 303 Creative v. Elenis case involving Lori Smith. They examine the court's decision, its wide-ranging impact on free speech rights, and Lori Smith's personal journey, emphasizing the case's profound significance for individual freedom of expression in America. Seth Leibsohn welcomes Carol Platt Liebau, President of the Yankee Institute, to talk about the Supreme Court's landmark decision in the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard case, marking a significant step towards true individual merit-based consideration over race-based affirmative action. Charlie Kirk talks with Kelly Shackleford, CEO of First Liberty, about the monumental 9-0 victory in the Groff v. DeJoy, Postmaster General case, reinstating religious freedom in the workplace and setting a new precedent for future religious discrimination cases. Dan Proft and Randy Barnett, Professor of Law at Georgetown, dive into the critical shift in Supreme Court dynamics with six conservative justices, underlining its significance in key policy decisions. Hugh Hewitt is joined by Judge Amul Thapar, Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, for an in-depth exploration of Justice Thomas's originalist approach to the Constitution. They examine his significant opinions and dissents as presented in Thapar's new book, 'The People's Justice: Clarence Thomas and the Constitutional Stories that Define Him.'See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is The Briefing, a daily analysis of news and events from a Christian worldview.Part I (00:13 - 13:11) ‘The Way to Stop Discriminating on the Basis of Race is to Stop Discriminating on the Basis of Race': SCOTUS Strikes Down Affirmative Action in 6-3 DecisionStudents For Fair Admissions Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College by Supreme Court of the United StatesPart II (13:11 - 17:50) Two Moral Worlds Respond to SCOTUS's Affirmative Action Decision: Dueling Definitions of Justice Argue Over the Judgement of the CourtPart III (17:50 - 20:11) Unprecedented Personal Comments in the Affirmative Action Opinions by Justices: Justices Thomas and Jackson Speak Their MindsPart IV (20:11 - 26:19) Can an Evangelical Postal Employee Be Forced to Make Deliveries on Sundays?: SCOTUS Rules Unanimously That Reasonable Accommodations Must Be Made Groff v. DeJoy, Postmaster General by Supreme Court of the United StatesSign up to receive The Briefing in your inbox every weekday morning.Follow Dr. Mohler:Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTubeFor more information on The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, go to sbts.edu.For more information on Boyce College, just go to BoyceCollege.com.To write Dr. Mohler or submit a question for The Mailbox, go here.