The Nicole Sandler Show
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We're covering a lot of ground today. First, we must deal with the Silicon Valley Bank collapse. My initial impression upon hearing that the government would make all depositors whole despite FDIC only covering up to $250k was to go ballistic. Again with the billionaire and banker bailouts while the little guy like you and me gets screwed - and most definitely not in a good way? Well, that's not necessarily what's happening. Writer DAVE JOHNSON http://twitter.com/dcjohnson lives in Silicon Valley and just posted to a listserv we're both on, "I live a few blocks from Atherton where many of the libertarian Silicon Valley VC and types live. When I open my door I can hear screams for government bailouts from my house. They started this morning and it's getting so bad I have to wear earplugs when I go for a walk." We'll find out if he was kidding or not, and what is really happening here at the beginning of the show. Then it's time for Well, SPENCER BROWN and JEFF MANABAT, better known as THE KINSEY SICKS http://kinseysicks.com/members Trampolina and Trixie will join us. The Kinsey Sicks just started a month-long run of performances of their new show, "Drag Queen Storytime Gone Wild!" Yes we'll have some fun, but we'll also talk about the horrible attacks on shows like their and the giant leap backwards being attempted by too many authoritarian Republicans in this country today. Now go check out their YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/kinseysicks. So many videos to watch, so little time!
Some weeks just feel longer than others, and this is one of those weeks. Thankfully, today's Friday and the weekend is right here. We'll finish off the week with a visit from HEATHER 'DIGBY' PARTON http://twitter.com/digby56. Digby is one of the OG progressive bloggers, and she never looked back. She continues keeping tabs on the politicians and calls out the bad guys from her blog, Digby's Hullabaloo http://digbysblog.net/ and in her column at Salon.com https://www.salon.com/writer/heather_digby_parton. I know it'll be a great conversation, as there's no lack of topics to discuss. All you have to do is take a quick look at the batshit crazy Republican majority in the House and the comments write themselves...
It's Thursday, so HOWIE KLEIN http://twitter.com/downwithtyranny is here. He's got a few articles up at http://downwithtyranny.com/ that are worthy of discussion -- about Ron DeSantis whining about Wokeism, to Tucker Carlson being an actual serious threat to national security (and those are only his two most recent posts), so we'll see where our conversation leads. At the start of the show, well, I have a list of stories that beg for attention. There is, of course, one story from here in Floriduh. The other is the circus that unfolded in the House Judiciary Committee hearing today on the "Twitter files". Opposite world, here we are.
Today is the International Day of the Woman... part of Women's History Month. So today, we celebrate women. My guest is Cultural HERstorian AMY SIMON, playwright and performer of http://sheshistory.com/ We'll talk about the origins of this day and womens history month, and we'll celebrate with some of Amy's fabulous female facts!
IT was a crazy day today. I found out just seconds before going on the air that my daughter tested positive for Covid. I feel helpless... and a little worried, as she was over here the night before last. Covid test now brewing... We talked about a lot of important things today. From the Fed threatenng to raise interest rates again and Elizabeth Warren fighting back, to Tucker Carlson's shameful lying last night about the Jan 6 insurrection (with an assist from Kevin McCarthy's 41000+ hours of surveillance video given to Carlson exculsively), to FloriDUH, where the legislative session got underway today. Never a dull moment.
To counter FL Fascist Gov Ron DeSantis’ attack on schools (and therefore students and their right to learn), I invited a guest who’s working hard pushing back against the push to whitewash our history and to keep teaching our kids a truthful, honest history from which they can actually learn. JESSE HAGOPIAN http://twitter.com/jessedhagopian is above all else a teacher. An educator! He’s on hiatus from the classroom, working to ensure that teachers are able to continue teaching our children facts– from science to history and beyond, free from the heavy authoritarian hand that Republicans favor these days. From his website at iamaneducator.com, http://iamaneducator.com/we learn that Jesse is an editor for the social justice periodical http://www.rethinkingschools.org/index.shtml, is the co-editor of the books, https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1607-black-lives-matter-at-school https://rethinkingschools.org/books/teaching-for-black-lives/, https://rethinkingschools.org/books/teacher-unions-and-social-justice/and is the editor of the book, https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/618-more-than-a-score Jesse serves as the Director of the Black Education Matters Student Activist Award https://blackeducationmatters.org/, is an organizer with the Black Lives Matter at School https://blacklivesmatteratschool.com/ movement, and is founding member of Social Equity Educators http://socialequityeducators.org/ (SEE). And if you liked the “Legalize Black History” hat Jesse is wearing in this interview, he’s got that merch for sale here https://iamaneducator.com/legalize-black-history-store/, with proceeds going to supporting the youth winners of the Black Education Matters Student Activist Award https://blackeducationmatters.org/, as well as supporting the writing of a forthcoming book about the movement to stop the banning of Black history. But I invited him to join us to tell us about his work with the Zinn Education Project https://www.zinnedproject.org/! Hopefully you’re read or are otherwise familiar with Howard Zinn’s https://bookshop.org/a/1630/9780062397348
So many legal issues in the news, and the only law classes I ever took in college were broadcast law. That's why I call on LISA GRAVES http://twitter.com/thelisagraves so often. She's brilliant, with the legal background to prove it. Today, Lisa leads TrueNorthResearch.org http://truenorthresearch.org/, while still overseeing Kochdocs.org and ALECexposed, and other campaign that have reported truths we need to know. She's also worked on the inside, in the DOJ, holding a few different positions through the years. But Lisa Graves was Deputy Assistant Attorney General under both Janet Reno in the Clinton Administration and John Ashcroft in the W Bush years. So much to talk about today. Lisa lives in Wisconsin where they're in the final days of the WI Supreme Court elections, which will have national ramifications (she'll explain). And I certainly want to ask about all of TFG's legal woes that appear to be piling up around him while he seems to be the guy the Republicans will again nominate to run for president in two years. Like I said, lots to talk with Lisa Graves about today!
Today's Thursday, so Howie Klein is here. We'll certainly discuss the Republican disconnect as the dividing line will be apparent this weekend. The MAGAt/Trump crowd will be at the CPAC gathering, while the DeSantis delusionals will be just a few miles up the road from Mar a Lago with big donors affiliated with the Club for Growth. Chicago went to the polls Tuesday to elect a mayor and, for the first time in 40 years, the incumbent didn't make it to the runoff! I'll ask Howie about the two candidates now vying for the job. And what about the two Democratic senators who are likely to force Joe Biden to use his veto pen for the first time? (Surprise, Sinema is NOT one of them!)
I don't have a guest booked today. I thought that having Attorney General Merrick Garland testifying today before the Senate Judiciary Committee would provide more than enough material to deal with for the hour. Unfortunately, much of it was unwatchable.. Republicans have become so ugly, so aggressive and confrontational, and they are just completely full of shit. They learned well from their media appendage, Fox (Not) News, because they just make shit up. And they're all preening for the cameras. It's infuriating. So I'll share some of it. But be warned. Watching idiots like Ted Cruz berate Merrick Garland was depressing in multiple ways. Yes, I'll explain on the show today. So, although I didn't have a guest booked for today, my old pal SPOCKO http://mstdn.social/@spocko@mastodon.online joined in, and it was a perfect fit, as he's an activist and media trainer who helps people do their best when appearing on TV or radio.
LAFFY https://mastodon.social/@GottaLaff's back! Hopefully the studio gremlins from last time have been exorcised and it'll be smooth sailing today. We'll see. She's also back in California, where they're gearing up for another round of storm. We're learning more about the deceit from Fox (NOT) News as the Dominion discovery filings keep coming. It's about time they're exposed. SCOTUS appears to screw all with college debt, and Magats are gathering in two places this week... So much to talk about, an hour to do it!
America has a fraught relationship with the news media. We've enshrined protections for a free press in the First Amendment of the US Constitution! Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. But in today's political climate, even the news has been weaponized with clear dividing lines drawn. Today, I'm joined by MICKEY HUFF and ANDY LEE ROTH, director and associate director of Project Censored http://projectcensored.org/. They came on to discuss a new article they wrote together about "prior restraint" or "censorship by proxy and the new digital gatekeeping https://www.projectcensored.org/beyond-prior-restraint-censorship-by-proxy-and-the-new-digital-gatekeeping/." We recorded this interview on Friday, as I was steaming about cable's two so-called news channels, MSNBC and CNN, carrying a tawdry murder trial live for hours on end, for the second day in a row! So that's an issue. But there's also been a gradual but definitive change in how "news" is delivered to the masses, with no updates on the issues that have arisen due to the new modes of information dissemination. I don't think we came up with any solutions, but we did have one hell of a discussion about it!
It was one year ago today that Vladimir Putin's Russia invaded Ukraine and began the bombing. It's been a horrific year for the people of Ukraine, who did nothing to provoke that monster. But a year later, they're still taking incoming fire, living without reliable power and under the constant warnings of sirens. Yet the people are strong and aren't willing to give an inch. Today, we'll look back on a year ago, and our calls to people in Ukraine. I'll share one with a hotel clerk in Kyiv who didn't believe that forces were amassing on the border getting ready to attack. And we'll check in with Philip Ittner. He's an American journalist who's been in Ukraine for the past year, and says he'll be there until the war ends!
The man behind DownwithTyranny.com http://downwithtyranny.com/ and the Blue America PAC http://downwithtyranny.com/blue-america-pac is back today, as he is every Thursday. But today, HOWIE KLEIN http://twitter.com/downwithtyranny is joined by the newest Blue-America endorsed candidate: JESSICA ANDERSON http://jessicaandersonforva.com/, a former devout Christian conservative who's running as a Berniecrat! to be a Virginia House Delegate from District 71 this year. I'll begin the show with a serious question: Who the fuck is Alex Murdaugh, and why is his murder trial being broadcast live on MSNBC, CNN and a bunch of other channels too? And why isn't governor Death Sentence doing anything to protect this state from the anti-Semites and full blown Nazis who are harassing Jews all over the state?
HARVEY J. KAYE http://twitter.com/harveyjkaye is Professor Emeritus of Democracy and Justice Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and the author of numerous books about our democracy and our history, including one called https://bookshop.org/a/1630/9781789043556. Harvey returns to the show today so I can ask him the question, radical enough for you yet? Harvey and I always have spirited discussions, but I'm thinking what we're living through now is not the type of "radical" he was suggesting. But we'll begin with the odd story of the strange media tour underway by Emily Kohrs, the grand jury foreperson from Fulton County, GA who were charged with investigated Donald Trump's interference in the 2020 presidential election. It is odd, indeed.
I love the days when MARCY WHEELER http://emptywheel.net/ is on the show. With so much going on these days, I find it difficult to stay on top of everything. But Marcy manages to cover virtually all the important issues at emptywheel.net, and remarkably, can answer just about any question I put to her regarding the most important issues of the day. Today, we'll discuss the Dominion lawsuit against Fox, and the massive discovery file they released on Friday https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20527880-dominion-v-fox-news-complaint. Although we've always known that Fox is the original home for Fake news, it's nice to have the proof in writing, in the direct words of their biggest, ahem, stars. We cover the basics of the filing -- which you should just go ahead and read. https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23684885-230216-dominion-fox We also touch on other stories in the news, from Kevin McCarthy giving Tucker Carlson access to the Capitol surveillance video from 1-6, Project Veritas giving the boot to their skeezy founder James O'Keefe, the ridiculous obsession with Hunter Biden's alleged laptop by the House GOP, the deterioration of Glenn Greenwald and Matt Taibbi... you get the idea. Oh, and the AP interview with the Fulton County Grand Jury foreperson https://apnews.com/article/politics-new-york-city-only-on-ap-donald-trump-georgia-266e28c4e47e54731b233e0f770f6729 that Marcy referenced.... Buckle in, we'll cover a lot of territory today!
