The Nicole Sandler Show

Today was Day Two of the Senate confirmation hearings for Todd Blanche in his quest to be our next Attorney General. I could have told you it wasn't going to go well, and probably did. But once again, I'm truly sleep deprived and that set the tone for the day today, which began by watching the early morning hearings --but then I had to leave to get an ultrasound. And, of course, Medicare and the imaging center set the tone for the rest of the day, in a not-good-way.I finally got home and started the show, which quickly veered off to a topic very different from the hearing... We talked about the Massie amendment to the NDAA that the House was voting on yesterday, when half of the Dems found their spines, something they should've done a decade or two ago.I did take some great listener/viewer phone calls and, by the end of the show, decided to make it long weekend. Marcy Wheeler is out tomorrow, and now so am I,I hope you'll come back Monday by which time I plan to have recharged myself and forge ahead into the awful unknown.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Today was a Senate confirmation hearing double-header — Todd Blanche in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee for his Attorney General confirmation, and Jay Clayton in front of Senate Intelligence for Director of National Intelligence. I had five monitors going and I still barely kept up. Blanche early on said the quiet part out loud by literally calling himself Trump's lawyer, got lost in a circle of double negatives while talk about the Epstein survivors (and insisted on calling them victims), and got pressed hard on a $50,000 payment to Tom Homan nobody will explain. Clayton, meanwhile, spent his hearing refusing — repeatedly — to answer who won the 2020 election, while Senator Ossoff, skillfully and patiently. would not let it go. And I invoked my old friend Howie Klein, who fought valiantly on this show for more progressives in Congress - a stance I was right there with him for, as I hoped he'd understand my stance in being opposed to Kai Newkirk challenging Greg Stanton's safe Blue seat in the district next door to mine. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Jason Leopold — executive producer of the new Paramount+ docuseries "The Real Wolf of Wall Street," premiering today — joins me to talk about the FOIA documents he spent over a decade sitting on before they became the backbone of this project. We get into what the Scorsese film got right, what it dramatized, and what really happened, including Jordan Belfort's activity at a Trump casino while out on bail.After Jason moved on to other interviews, I cover Trump's reaction to Lindsey Graham's death, the ongoing fight over election administration in Maricopa County, the truth about who actually damaged the National Mall's reflecting pool, and what to expect from Trump's planned Thursday address on the 2020 election.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Today I'm digging into a story that hasn't gotten the attention it deserves: the ugly power struggle inside Maricopa County's elections office, where an election-denying recorder is trying to seize control from the Board of Supervisors — with Stephen Miller's law firm involved and a ballot scanner mysteriously "borrowed" in a pickup truck. Then my old friend Sue Wilson from the Media Action Center joins me to talk about the Trump FCC's assault on ABC's broadcast licenses and why our public airwaves are worth fighting for. Plus, my honest take on why this is not the moment to primary safe Democratic incumbents.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Marcy Wheeler joins me for Emptywheel Friday from an undisclosed location in Ireland and, as usual, we cover a lot of ground: ICE killings in Houston, the collapsed Iran ceasefire and Trump's humiliating plane-swap on the way to NATO, the reflecting pool/canoeist indictment, Musk's antitrust settlement, the Graham Platner fallout and what it says (and doesn't say) about the GOP's rapists, the Maine and Michigan Senate races, my own frustration with the AZ-4 primary challenge to Greg Stanton, Mitch McConnell's mysterious absence, Trump's rollout of new ways to cheat elections, and Marcy's ongoing obsession: Harmeet Dhillon's apparent frame job of journalist Georgia Fort and Don Lemon. We have more on the Epstein files, Todd Blanche's confirmation fight, Pete Hegseth's failures at DOD, and the NATO summit where Trump tried (and failed) to look like he wasn't a laughingstock. I think that's enough for one day... week... decade!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Graham Platner withdrew from Maine's Senate race, and I share my reaction early in the show — but today's episode is really about a primary challenge happening right next door to me in Arizona's 4th Congressional District. Incumbent Democrat Greg Stanton is facing a challenger, Kai Newkirk, who presents himself as a progressive organizer and activist. I went looking for more information on him and found a long, in-depth investigative piece from DC Media Group, archived via the Wayback Machine, detailing his history leading other organizations and campaigns. I read most of it on air today because early voting is underway right now, and he's gaining traction but shouldn't be. Remember, I was correct about Platner.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Randy Rainbow's "Demented" opens the show today, and it's a fitting soundtrack for a day where Trump referred to Iran as the "Islamic Republic of Japan" and mixed up Zelensky for Putin at a NATO press conference — audio included. Driftglass joins me for our Wednesday get-together, which wanders from the collapsed Iran ceasefire into a long, honest look back at the 1976 Bicentennial, growing up during Vietnam, and how differently college and careers worked back then versus now. We wrap up with this year's Emmy nominations, plus a few words about a soap opera that just might have a Daytime Emmy nod coming its way next year, and close things out with some thoughts on David Brooks' new Atlantic column and where that leaves those of us in the progressive movement right now.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Heather 'Digby' Parton joins me today, and we start with something genuinely moving — a reworked "Star-Spangled Banner" from the Marsh family in England that stopped me in my tracks. From there we go through the wreckage of Trump's July 4th/250th weekend: the Patriot Front marching on the Mall, Doug Burgum's strange comments about it, and the wave of goodwill for America pouring in from other countries while our own government turned the anniversary into a spectacle. We talk about the World Cup controversy Trump inserted himself into, the healthcare system's ongoing failures (including my own frustrating search for real answers), the fallout from Graham Platner's campaign, the controversy around a New York candidate, and a hard conversation about antisemitism that I don't think gets talked about honestly enough. We close with a new poll on what's actually driving DSA primary wins — and where I think our energy needs to go from here.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's Emptywheel Friday on the day before the 4th, and Marcy Wheeler and I have plenty to dig into. Top of the list: Trump's "Freedom 250" — the private, secretive operation that hijacked America's real 250th birthday commission and turned it into a money-laundering vehicle for his cronies, according to a new House Natural Resources Committee report. We also cover the record heat descending on the whole country and especially DC this weekend, Trump's nearly $2 billion in stock trading profits while in office, Jeanine Pirro's ridiculous prosecution of an Olympic canoeist, the ongoing fight over the Epstein files, and NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani's striking speech on American exceptionalism. Plus, Arizona AG Kris Mayes gets a well-deserved shoutout, and I leave you with a 4th of July reminder about fireworks and dogs.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

I'm still not feeling great, but today's guests and subject matter were too important to postpone.Julia Angwin and Ami Fields-Meyer are the authors of the brand-new book On Courage: How to Be a Dissident in an Age of Fear. Julia's a longtime tech journalist, Ami worked on tech policy in the Biden White House, and together they interviewed over 100 people across five continents about what it actually takes to resist authoritarianism — and it's not what you think. We talk about building a "political home," the concept of a "belief cascade," and why the celebrities going quiet on us might matter more than we realize.Then Spocko calls in and we dig into QUI TAM lawsuits, Katie Fang's case against Todd Blanche over the Epstein files, and — I promise this is real — the Onion officially taking ownership of Infowars tonight.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

With the Supreme Court ending their term yesterday with what I call the sequel to Citizens United, NRSC v FEC, which will make things exponentially worse than its predecessor, and I'm not feeling great today, I thought I'd reach back 16.5 years to the day when the Extreme Court handed down that devastating opinion in Citizens United v FEC. It was January 21, 2010. They didn't even wait until the end of the term! To add insult to injury, later that afternoon, I lost my job along with everyone else who worked at Air America Radio. At about 5pm, they pulled the plug on the network for good.At the time, I hosted a late night show from 11pm-1am Eastern, so I decided to take that night's guests which included John Fugelsang, John Bonifaz, Congressman Alan Grayson, Congreswoman Donna Edwards and others (it was a 2-hour show back then!) and go live with video on uStream. We didn't have YouTube then, so this show has never been on YouTube.And it still isn't, but it will be. It's been sitting on Vimeo. How it got there, I don't know! But I found it and am playing it today for the first time since then. I think there are lessons to be learned. Do you? Let me know.As soon as YouTube will edit out the fullsongs I played (fingers crossed). In the meantime, you should be able to hear the audio streams... I hope.This is history in your ears. I hope you'll check it out.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The Supreme Court actually finished its term on time this year — and handed down four rulings on the very last day. Our favorite legal expert Lisa Graves joins me to walk through all of it: birthright citizenship surviving by a shockingly narrow margin, a cruel ruling against trans athletes, and a campaign finance case that makes Citizens United look modest by comparison. We also get into Clarence Thomas's corruption, retirement speculation, and what a Trump SCOTUS pick might look like next.After the break: a caller helps me sort out the confusing 6-3 vs. 5-4 reporting on the birthright citizenship case, and I dig into the deeply disturbing story of Scott Wiener — a longtime trans ally and congressional candidate — getting chased out of San Francisco's Trans March over his stance on Gaza. I've got thoughts on what that kind of infighting actually does for us heading into the midterms.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's the penultimate day of this Supreme Court term and it wasn't as bad as they've been lately. Dr. Art Jipson from the University of Dayton joins me to help us sort through they four new opinions they gave us— including a mail ballot ruling that actually went our way. But, as usual, they saved the worst for last, so tomorrow is birthright citizenship and transgender athletes, and I'm bracing. At least today had a bit of humor as we also get into Trump's disastrous Freedom 250 fair (attendance: sparse), the baby name Donald hitting an all-time low, and I open with another edition of "The Mal Ladies" featuring the broken mass of flesh and bones that is me and a health update you may relate to if your own body is betraying you. Plus my husband David Sloane drops in with some pointed takes on fascism, scapegoating, and why Nixon looks like a Boy Scout by comparison.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's Emptywheel Friday, and Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net is back to help us wrap up another ridiculously absurd and awful week. We cover the Supreme Court's TPS ruling — which strips protection from hundreds of thousands of Haitians and is dressed up by Alito as something other than what it plainly is: racism with a legal fig leaf. This ruling has a human cost that people need to understand.Marcy breaks down who's actually running things in the White House right now — Bill Pulte, illegally installed as acting DNI and already firing analysts; Natalie Harp, the gatekeeper to the president's social media diet- and quite likely a whole lot more (eew); and a man who, as Marcy puts it, is rotting in plain sight, mentally and physically, doing whatever the last person in the room tells him to do.We spend serious time on what I think is one of the most important and under-covered stories going: DOJ's systematic effort to criminalize protest. The Prairie Land sentences — up to 100 years — are shocking. The new Minnesota indictment is terrifying in a different way: it sweeps up organizers, AFL-CIO members, DSA members, and 50501 activists by trying to make "Antifa" into an actual organization on par with the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. It is not. There is no membership, no dues, no leader, no headquarters. Marcy has an extensive post at emptywheel.net breaking the Minnesota case down in detail. Read it.We also get into Todd Blanche being ordered by a judge to follow the Epstein Transparency Act, Kushner and Witkoff's suspected cut of the $300 billion Iran reconstruction deal, JD Vance's Nixon rehabilitation tour, the reflecting pool con and manufactured "Antifa vandalism" narrative, Tulsi Gabbard's cult history, and Elon Musk's brief, already-over trillionaire moment. Buckle up, it a rough and rocky one.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's Alito's world and we're just living in it. The formerly Supreme, now Extreme Court handed down four of the remaining 12 opinions this morning, and three of them came from the pen of Samuel Alito — all 6-3 decision. The fourth was a 7-2 written by Kavanaugh, with the bizarre twist of Ketanji Brown Jackson and Neil Gorsuch dissenting together.We'll run them down today, along with a bit of today's news. The next opinion day is Monday and the term technically ends Tuesday, when Lisa Graves will join me to navigate the damage.Strap in. Today's were and are pretty rough ones.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's Wednesday, which means Driftglass is here — and today's conversation went deep and wide.We started with Trump's "deflecting pool" — his preferred name for what used to be the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool before a no-bid contract turned it into an algae-choked disaster, and the administration started blaming "antifa" with a knife. Senator John Hickenlooper of Colorado is calling on Trump to personally pay for the damage, which is exactly the right call.From there, Driftglass and I traced the accountability vacuum that got us here — Obama's "look forward, not back" decision after Bush, Gerald Ford's pardon of Nixon, and the lesson that gets learned every single time: if you don't hold them accountable, they just come back worse. George W. Bush walked so Trump could run.My husband David jumped in with a sharp, pointed history of antisemitism — how it was essentially a marketing tool in the early days of Christianity and has never gone out of style — and we talked about how that history connects to what's happening right now as the Democratic Party fractures over the Israel-Palestine issue in the primaries.I said some things about the primaries that will make some of you mad at me. I stand by them.And I wrapped up by finally telling you - and Driftglass - about seeing Bob Dylan in Phoenix last night. Musically brilliant. Dylan in a hoodie behind a keyboard, totally anonymous. Songs you've probably not heard before and, if you had, you likely wouldn't have recognized. Lucinda Williams, post-stroke and as angry at this administration as I am. It was exactly the kind of evening that reminds you why music matters. And we were running late, sadly, thanks to the shitty GPS who sent us in circles downtown, so we missed all but one song from John Doe. He sounded good though!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Music is the medicine I needed today. Variety's senior music writer and chief critic Chris Willman joins me for a wide-ranging conversation about Bob Dylan's current tour — which I'm catching tonight in Phoenix — the legacy of Clive Davis, Bruce Springsteen's Land of Hope and Dreams run, Taylor Swift, and the new artists worth paying attention to. We also cover Keir Starmer's resignation as UK Prime Minister and what it means (or should mean) for a certain American president who has no intention of following suit. A necessary break from the madness — and a reminder of why music matters more than ever right now.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

I don't like Mondays. Yeah, it's a song but it's also a general rule. It hit 114 degrees here in Chandler, AZ today, I wasn't feeling great, and the news was its usual dumpster fire self. But I showed up, because that's what we do.I started with a Jonathan Pie clip that had me cackling despite myself — his breakdown of Trump's Iran "victory" is one for the ages. Then the incredibly talented Patrick Fitzgerald with a parody of the Doobie Bros "Black Water," - done as "Green Water" about the reflecting pool disaster that features Marco Rubio as the pool boy. You need to see the image.Then Dr. Art Jipson joined me, and we covered a lot of ground: the $14 million no-bid reflecting pool catastrophe and the three-time Olympian being arrested for touching a peeling piece of paint; the mainstreaming of "re-migration" by white nationalist networks and Stephen Miller; the Reagan-to-Trump throughline on the destruction of norms; and the Obama Presidential Center dedication — including Michelle Obama's moving words about John McCain.My husband David popped in to note that the term "re-migration" would make George Orwell smile. (He's right.) I think what made me feel so sick today is the knowledge that it's not even close to over. But there is music in the air...Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's Emptywheel Friday — the one day a week where Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net and I sit down to connect the dots and try not to lose our minds. This week we dig into Trump's Iran capitulation: what's actually in the 14-point MOU, why the $300 billion "reconstruction fund" is a payoff to Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff and their Gulf state clients, and why the Strait of Hormuz was already shut again within hours of the announcement. We also cover the reflecting pool algae disaster, the Epstein files and what Todd Blanche was really doing in that Ghislaine Maxwell interview, Bill Pulte at ODNI, FISA 702 going dark, the Broadview 6, and Pete Hegseth's Juneteenth record. Plus — I found out my own voter registration was marked inactive. Check yours. Arizona primary is almost 29 days out (the deadline!). We end with one genuine piece of good news. You'll want to hear it.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Today's show opened with the split screen to end all split screens: the dedication ceremony for the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago — featuring Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, and a stunning speech from Michelle Obama — running simultaneously with JD Vance's press conference trying to sell the world on Trump's Iran "deal" that is, in fact, a memo of understanding signed two days early in Versailles. Yes, Versailles.I played extended clips from Michelle Obama's remarks, including her powerful tribute to Barack and the barely-veiled contrast she drew between his presidency and the current one. Then Philadelphia Inquirer national columnist Will Bunch joins me to dig into JD Vance's authoritarian true-believer tendencies, discuss what Bill Pulte is really doing vying for the DNI position the spectacular failure that is Trump's Iran policy, plus the historical echoes of Versailles, the collapse of congressional independence since Watergate, the Chris Rabb primary win in Philadelphia, and the complicated politics of Israel in the 2026 Democratic landscape. Whew. Yeah, the show ran a bit long again today.Tomorrow is Emptywheel Friday — Marcy Wheeler joins me every Friday. And tomorrow also happens to be Juneteenth, the official opening day of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. I'll be in Arizona and Marcy in Ireland, both as usualAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

My friend Driftglass is best-known as one of the OGs of the Progressive Blogisphere. Today I helped him mark the eve of the Professional Left Podcast's 1,000th episode with a wide-ranging Wednesday that covers everything from the 40-year history of right-wing media radicalization to Trump's Iran "deal" - actually just a memorandum of understanding that doesn't understand anything. I pulled out a clip from 1984 when one of the original right wing hate talk radio voices Bob Grant -whose show I produced at WMCA at the time. The clip is a shocker to hear today, 42 years later. He was warning candidates then not to be mean. Seriously! He said that the meanest candidate loses. I'd love to see data on that. In other news, we learned that the January 6th rioters are now attempting to collect millions of dollars of taxpayer money via an obscure federal tort loophole. And while Trump continues lying about President Obama and the deal he made with Iran 10 years ago- and said that the Iranians laughed at him, we looked at the Lego propaganda videos coming out of Iran that are, frankly, more accurate than anything you'd ever hear from the orange one. Plus: JB Pritzker, Illinois politics, and why your uncle probably isn't getting deprogrammed anytime soon.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Today's show started out chaotic — I discovered live on air that Arizona had quietly changed my voter registration to "inactive." I have my registration card right here. Correct address. Everything. And yet..So yes, I'm going to say it again: go to vote.gov and check your registration right now. Arizona's primary is July 21st and you need to be registered 29 days out. Don't get caught the way I almost did.The good news is I had a wonderful guest — Elizabeth Lee, the nurse running for Congress in Arizona's 5th district. She is the real deal. The district is splitting a third Democrat, a third Republican, a third independent, and she has already canvassed 60% of it. She's got two primary opponents. Should she win (and she should), her opponent would like be former Pinal County sheriff Mark Lamb, who apparently doesn't even live here- and that's the least objectionable thing about him. He's a liar, a cheat and a felon. You know, just like today's Republican leadership. Nurse Lee does live here, and is the real thing! I'm voting for her and I think you should too if you're in AZ05. Check her out at nurseleaf4az.com.Then the show took a turn I didn't entirely plan. I read aloud a Sam Harris essay called Why I Won't Debate Critics of Israel. I'd had it in my inbox for days and read it for the first time last night. I agreed with every word of it. I didn't know what to expect, but he was spot on. Apparently, quite a few of my listeners didn't agree. Oh well. As I said, you don't have to agree with me on everything.. But I'd like to know what you don't agree with. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On Sunday night, the evil orange guy who occupies the White House hosted a UFC fight on the South Lawn. With a branded octagon. And military honor guards as ambiance. And a fighter who, after winning his match, grabbed the mic to announce to smear Michelle Obama by saying she's better than he is (that's what he meant, right?). While Joe Rogan grinned next to him like a golden retriever who just found out about steaks.I didn't watch it. I don't do fights, certainly not trashy fights at the WH, but you can't avoid the sickening clips.To help make sense of all of it, I brought back Dr. Art Jipson, professor of sociology at the University of Dayton, who studies extremism, culture, and the ways societies lose their collective minds. We talked about what laws the White House UFC event may (or may not) have broken, why we can no longer tell parody from reality (there was an AI video that nearly convinced me the Trump family was suing MSG owner James Dolan over crowd boos, and honestly, I didn't immediately doubt it), and Jean Baudrillard's concept of hyper-reality — which sounds very French-professor-y but is actually the perfect framework for what we're all living through right now. And a whole lot more, including two clips from one of the early hate-talk radio precursors to today's moronic mic hogs- Bob Grant in 1984 (yes, I was his producer then) that might blow your mind.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's another Emptywheel Friday, when Marcy Wheeler brings her vast knowledge from emptywheel.net to the Nicole Sandler Show, and we covered a lot of ground today.  Elon Musk's paper trillionaire status and the fact that he's ALSO currently inciting far-right riots in Belfast (third time in the UK, by the way). The stolen election scanner situation in Maricopa County. The terrorist slush fund — which a federal judge just put on hold, thank you Judge Brinkema. Trump's "Fraud Task Force" that is itself fraudulent. The Epstein investigation, including what the big New York Times piece mysteriously forgot to include (hint: it rhymes with "Schmelania"). And, of course, the UFC cage at the White House, sponsored by Bud Light, Pit Boss Grills, and approximately six other brands, because apparently we live here now.And as Marcy tells us regularly, the fight against fascism is a slog. It's supposed to be a slog. You will lose sleep and battles and people along the way. But we keep fighting on every front — legal, political, activist — because that's the only way any of this actually moves. And Trump said he loves inflation. So there's that...Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

I warned you. I've been talking about the coming El Niño for weeks while the corporate media looked the other way — and then the AP runs the story the same morning I'm finally doing a show on it. Of course!On today's show, I bring in two essential guests: Kurt Cobb, energy writer and author of the peak oil novel Prelude, breaks down just how precarious the global oil situation is — with the Iran war disrupting supply, strategic reserves draining fast, and futures prices that may spike to $150–$200 a barrel by fall. And Tom DiLiberto, former NOAA El Niño forecaster and now media director at Climate Central, confirms what I've been dreading: El Niño is officially here, it could be the strongest in recorded history, and with climate change amplifying everything, we're in for a rough ride through 2027.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Driftglass , one of the OG progressive bloggers left, and co-host of the Professional Left podcast — is back on the show! Tomorrow, episode #999 of the Pro Left Pod drops, and next week, their 1000th! A milestone worth celebrating. And today, Driftglass returned for his first of a Wednesday "residency" on my show on Wednesdays. To mark the occasion, we actually got to Driftglass's face on camera!We covered a lot of ground today. We dig into Mike Johnson's very revealing hot mic moment about "adjusting" Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid — spoiler: that means cutting them. We talk about Trump's war spending, the strategic oil reserves being drained to nothing, a monster El Niño brewing in the Pacific, the Trump Freedom 250 trucks spreading Christian nationalist and antisemitic propaganda (and lying about Muhammad Ali, of all people), and the GOP's oldest trick: run up the debt, then demand Democrats fix it while screaming about fiscal responsibility.Whew! And remember, he'll be back next week. I'll see you tomorrow. Peace Out. Please.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

America's 250th birthday is just weeks away and Trump is using the occasion as if the nation is celebrating his birthday. And he's doing it in a truly sickening manner, skirting convention with a commercial moneymaking UFC violent and bloody fight on the South Lawn, no-bid contracts for his golf buddies, and a fleet of propaganda trucks with content created by PragerU and Hillsdale College, rewriting the founding as a Christian nationalist fairy tale. I talked to Jonathan Larson, who broke the story about what's actually inside those things at jonathanlarsen.substack.som. It's not great. Neither is any of the rest of today's news. But we got through it. Mostly.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

I've been a bit skeptical of my senator, Mark Kelly. I've said so on this show plenty of times. But yesterday David and I went to a "Kick Out Corruption Tour" event at ASU, organized by Stand Up America and End Citizens United, and… I came home genuinely impressed.Kelly talked Citizens United, congressional insider trading, Trump's insurrectionist slush fund, the weaponization of government, AI, and more — all without notes, without a teleprompter, with actual command of the facts. Oh, and I got to ask him the question I've been wanting to ask: why did he vote to confirm those Trump judicial nominees? His answer surprised me. I'm not saying I've drunk the Kool-Aid. I'm saying he earned some respect.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's another Emptywheel Friday in which Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net helps us figure out what went on this week. Today, we got into Todd Blanche literally telling Congress that Trump can't be held accountable for accepting a bribe... and then getting named acting AG the next day. We talked about the DOJ "fraud task force" that's really just a scheme to chase people on SNAP while shielding Trump's billion-dollar crypto corruption. Pam Bondi's Epstein deposition transcript dropped and there's a lot to unpack — including what's still being hidden and why. Plus the SPLC superseding indictment, FISA leverage, Bolton's guilty plea, Trump sleeping through cabinet meetings on camera, and a UFC cage in front of the White House that Trump is now comparing to the Eiffel Tower. No, really.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

I just made it home from seeing Joe Jackson in concert in Tucson last night in time for today's show, and walked straight into a news cycle that would make your brain melt.Trump held up what looked like a third grade school project in the Oval Office this morning comparing the reflecting pool to three skyscrapers. Why? Maybe to prove that size matters? I don't know. Obviously neither does he!Meanwhile, the official legal expert of the Nicole Sandler Show joined me from Netroots Nation (just getting underway in Philly) to explain how the Roberts Court is systematically bleaching out Black voters in the South — and what we can actually DO about it.Also: Marco Rubio was "co-located" at a UFC fight during a nuclear crisis. That's his word. Co-located. And there's a lot more on today's show, including a mystery from the concert and the beautiful Fox Theater in Tucson too.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Remember when Marco Rubio called Trump a con artist? When JD Vance said he was noxious? When Tulsi Gabbard, Lindsey Graham, Pete Hegseth, and Megan Kelly were all falling over each other to explain why Donald Trump was unfit for office? Yeah. We remember too.Today we're catching up on a LOT of news — Scott Pelley's devastating farewell statement after being fired from 60 Minutes, the Todd Blanche testimony where he somehow couldn't figure out what a conflict of interest is, the blanket immunity deal the DOJ quietly handed Trump (no, the slush fund got walked back, but THAT part didn't), Dr. Oz explaining that people who don't use their insurance are committing fraud (???), and my husband David Sloane — sports agent of 40+ years — joins me to explain why the Protect College Sports Act is neither protective nor sporting.Plus: Tina Peters gets out of jail and immediately goes back to the greatest hits. And even more!Subscribe, share, and try to remember to take your blood pressure medication first.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

My guest today was one of my favorites, Alex Lawson, executive director of Social Security Works. He was featured in a new video from two-time Emmy winners More Perfect Union about what this regime is doing to Social Security field offices around the country. They went to Iowa and found closed offices, five-hour hold times that end in dropped calls, and elderly people who have nowhere to turn. It's heartbreaking and infuriating, and you need to see it.Then Alex and I talked about: Why "Medicare Advantage" is neither Medicare nor an advantage — and what happens when you actually get sick, the trillion-dollar Medicaid cut that's already closing hospitals in Montana and Nebraska, prior authorization showing up in TRADITIONAL Medicare now (I'm living it — literally wearing a heart monitor right now). Plus what "bureaucratic disentitlement" means and how Florida has turned it into a profitable business, and why we're not hopeless — and what Zohran Mamdani is showing us is possibleIf you have a family member on Medicare or Medicaid, or you're getting close to 65 and making decisions, please listen to this episode and share it. This is our money. These are our programs. And they are being dismantled on purpose.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Get ready for a conversation that starts with Cannes and ends up at Bruce Springsteen, and somehow it all connects.That was today. Brian Karem — White House correspondent for Salon.com, author of seven books, and filmmaker — joined me to talk about his new documentary The First 100. He just screened it at the Cannes Film Festival to a crowd of Europeans who are, let's say, very concerned about us. We covered press freedom (the US is now ranked 64th in the world!), the absurdity of the first 100 days of Trump 2.0, why Brian has roughly zero faith in either party right now, and the Bruce Springsteen concert that somehow made both of us feel like things might be okay. At least for one night. As for me, I went kayaking on the Salt River this weekend, got a strangely artistic sunburn and capsized. And we didn't even catch a glimpse of the wild horses. But I heard that a herd crossed about five minutes down the river from where we exited. Just call me lucky, or not.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's Emptywheel Friday and Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net is joining me LIVE from a Paris terrace instead of her usual place at home in IrelandToday: the White House demolition derby, Iran falling apart in real time, Delaney Hall hunger strikes, DOJ corruption, the Texas primary's real story, and why Trump's birthday concert has Milli Vanilli as a headliner. (No, really.) Or is it FloRiDa?Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

These last few weeks have been insane. About three weeks ago I ended up in the hospital for four days after what looked like a cardiac event. My arteries are clear, we still don't know exactly what happened, and I've been kind of scattered ever since.But Digby was here today and we had so much to talk about that I almost forgot to be tired.Here's what we covered: Trump is literally building a coliseum on the White House lawn for a UFC fight on his 80th birthday. He tried to strongarm Arab leaders into the Abraham Accords during a ceasefire call — as an afterthought — and there was dead silence on the line. The Iran war is over and we lost. Ken Paxton, one of the most corrupt politicians in America, just won the Texas Republican Senate primary because Trump endorsed him and his cult followers said "good enough for Trump, good enough for me."AND — there may actually be a path for James Talarico to win that Senate seat. We talked about what Nate Cohn is seeing in the numbers, and it's more hopeful than I expected. I'll take whatever I can get, at this point!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

I'm playing catch up with the news, so today I'm covering Trump's third hospital visit this year, the alarming details about his daytime somnolence (falling asleep in the Oval Office, possibly at Arlington on Memorial Day — yikes), and his midnight rhino meme that makes zero sense. Plus the Texas Senate runoff — Cornyn vs. Paxton — and how Trump just torpedoed a nearly-done Iran ceasefire deal by throwing the Abraham Accords in at the last minute like an afterthought. Then my guest Mark Malkoff — author of Love Johnny Carson and a veteran of the late night world — joins me to talk about the end of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. 33 years of the CBS late night franchise, gone. We cover it all: the joke that supposedly got the show canceled, Colbert's brilliant post-finale appearance on Monroe Community Media's public access channel with Jack White, Eminem and Jeff Daniels, the CBS copyright freakout, what happens to the Ed Sullivan Theater now, and whether we'll ever see late night TV at this scale again. Spoiler: probably not.And I close with one more gut punch — the Trump administration wants every federal employee to sign an NDA. Because why not finish off what's left of free speech?Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Today, I have a different kind of Memorial Day show for you. Instead of the usual music, I'm honoring two dear friends we lost too recently — Boca Brit Summers, the comedic genius behind so much of this show's best imaging and parody music, and Howie Klein, former president of Reprise Records and my weekly guest for nearly 15 years. We revisit a 2023 show Brit and I did together when she was finally feeling well enough to come back on the air, featuring some of her greatest hits. Then Howie, in his own words, remembering his close friend Lou Reed just days after Lou's death in October 2013. Grab a tissue. Or maybe a laugh. Probably both.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Every week feels like an eternity, and this one seemed worse than normal. On today's Emptywheel Friday, Marcy Wheeler and I covered a lot of territory.🏰 Trump's billion-dollar ballroom got killed by the Senate parliamentarian and some help from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse — because Republicans forgot which committees have jurisdiction over the White House. Oops.💰 The so-called "terrorist slush fund" — a $1.8 billion bounty that could, allegedly, pay pardoned January 6th rioters, cop assaulters, and at least one convicted child sex abuser who used the promise of a payout to try to silence his victim. And Todd Blanche lied his face off about it in front of the Senate. There are a few lawsuits already challenging this travesty.⚖️ The Broadview 6 case is OVER — dismissed with prejudice after a judge discovered the DOJ had hidden grand jury misconduct with redactions. This is a pattern.🎸 The Late Show's final night was last night, with Paul McCartney helping Stephen turn off the lights. Oh, and the right wing billionaires who killed off one of Trump's biggest TV critics is also shuttering the original news authority - CBS News Radio no longer exists after today. For someone whose entire career has been in radio and who spent a few years in the CBS building on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood, this is a true punch in the gut, and just plain wrong.Plus — what YOU can do this Memorial Day weekend while your representatives are out in public. Listen now!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

A LOT going on today on the Nicole Sandler Show ...Trump created a $1.776 billion slush fund to pay off his Jan. 6 insurrectionists (yes, that number was chosen on purpose — cute, right?). And now the Pillow Guy wants $400 million from it, a Proud Boy leader wants $5 million because his "life was messed up," and actual Republicans in Congress are starting to say... wait, what? We cover the pushback from Rep/ Brian Fitzpatrick and Sen. Bill Cassidy, and Todd Blanche's testimony that makes less sense the more you listen to it.Ryan Cooper from The American Prospect joined me to talk about all of it — plus the military getting run into the ground, the Ebola outbreak nobody's prepared for, and the DNC's post-election autopsy that somehow forgot to mention inflation OR Gaza.Oh — and tonight the Late Show ends, thanks to the right-wing takeover of our media. Bruce Springsteen was on last night and had a few things to say. And as usual, I have feelings.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

I'm Nicole Sandler, and today I nearly lost my mind before I even got to my guest. Between Trump dropping his IRS lawsuit only to magically produce a $1.776 BILLION "weaponization fund" to pay off his convicted cronies — oh, and a little addendum granting himself and his whole family immunity from tax prosecution forever — I needed someone smarter than me to talk me off the ledge.That someone is Driftglass — brilliant OG Progressive political blogger and co-host (with the incomparable Blue Gal Fran) of the Professional Left Podcast. And he delivered.We trace exactly how we got to this insane moment in history: from Bill Clinton's budget surplus (say it with us — surplus) to George W. Bush blowing it all up, to Republicans meeting at a DC restaurant the day Obama was inaugurated to plot his destruction, to the rise of the birther king himself, to here. It's a long story. But Driftglass tells it better than anyone.Also: eight Senate Democrats voted to confirm a judicial nominee who wouldn't say Biden won in 2020. We have thoughts. Many thoughts.Subscribe. Tell your friends. We'll keep going as long as we can.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Today's show was one I didn't plan. I woke up to watch the Senate grill Todd Blanche over Trump's $1.776 billion slush fund (yes, 1776 — he literally can't help himself), and then I got the news that my dear friend and radio comedy legend Boca Britany Somers passed away last night. So I did what I always do — I showed up, played her bits, cried a little, and kept going. That's what she would've wanted. Come listen.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

So Trump flew to China, brought Eric and the Nvidia guy instead of any actual China experts, accomplished nothing on Hormuz or Taiwan, got a lecture from Xi about Sparta and Athens, and came home. Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net and I spent an hour plus breaking down what it all means — plus Kash Patel snorkeling a war grave, which is exactly as bad as it sounds.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

I've been waiting to talk with my favorite legal expert Lisa Graves about this latest, most despicable outrage from the Extreme Court. Just last week they gutted what was left of the Voting Rights Act. Lisa breaks down how we got here- from Roberts, who started his career as a Reagan revolutionary attacking the VRA's effects provisions, to the neo-Confederate legislatures that instantly moved to bleach Black representation out of Congress the moment the ruling dropped. We also talk Leonard Leo's sudden billions, C. Boyden Gray's deeply troubling family history, Linda McMahon calling teachers non-professionals, Trump literally saying on camera that he doesn't think about Americans' financial situation, and — most importantly — what we can actually DO about all of this.Spoiler: it's court reform. And Lisa makes the case better than anyone.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Nicole Sandler is joined by Kaswar Klasra — journalist, founder, and Editor-in-Chief of The Islamabad Telegraph — for a wide-ranging, no-holds-barred conversation about the world Trump has made. Calling in from Islamabad at midnight his time, Kaswar brings a firsthand view from Pakistan: a country caught in the crossfire of Trump's war with Iran, mediating between nuclear powers, watching gas prices double overnight — and still trying to maintain a free press while American journalism collapses in real time.From the Strait of Hormuz double blockade and Pakistan's surprising role as peacemaker, to Trump's visit to China and fears he'll give away Taiwan, to the death of the Voting Rights Act, the dismantling of CBS and Voice of America, and Trump calling a female reporter "Piggy" — nothing is off the table. Nicole and Kaswar have known each other since 2011, and this reunion is exactly the kind of global, unfiltered conversation you won't find anywhere else.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Nicole Sandler returns after an unplanned absence following a scary health event that landed her in the hospital for several days. She breaks down what happened — heart racing at 143 BPM, chest pressure, possible AFib, and a pericarditis scare — and why she's still not entirely in the clear.On the news front: Trump's Iran nuclear negotiations have collapsed after he rejected Tehran's response with a dismissive Truth Social post; the Supreme Court takes another sledgehammer to the Voting Rights Act; and a shadow hearing in Florida gives Epstein survivors — including Jenalisa Jones — a platform to speak out about how Pam Bondi's DOJ exposed their names and identities in the document release, re-traumatizing women who had told no one about their abuse.Plus: the no-bid Reflecting Pool contract, Trump berating a reporter, and Nicole's honest reflection on why she keeps doing this work.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Nicole Sandler is back after a health scare, but she tries to never miss an Emptywheel Friday episode! So she and national security journalist Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net are here for their weekly breakdown of lots of what the corporate media is underreporting.This week: the Iran War is far more catastrophic than the White House is letting on — bases may be permanently abandoned, Saudi Arabia is furious, jet fuel prices are spiking, and Spirit Airlines is the first casualty. Plus, Kash Patel's whiskey brand may have gotten him into serious legal trouble, Howard Lutnick testified behind closed doors about his Epstein ties, Trump's new counterterrorism strategy conspicuously omits far-right extremists, and the Voting Rights Act is basically history. It's a lot — because it always is.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's another Emptywheel Friday, when national security journalist Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net joins me to break down the week, and this one was a mess! The Supreme Court finished off what was left of the Voting Rights Act, we saw two days of "Whiskey Pete" Hegseth hearings (House AND Senate Armed Services Committees), the Jim Comey "8647" indictment #2 and why it's a mess, the SPLC prosecution unraveling, the Cole Allen shooting attempt at the White House Correspondents dinner, gas prices spiking while the Defense Secretary can't tell you what a gallon costs, and the Sarah Jacobs/Trump-as-Jesus moment you have to see to believe. Plus, a tribute to the civil rights heroes who did the hard work to get the Voting Rights Act passed in the first place, and why their persistence matters right now.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's a long, busy show today! We opened with old friend and longtime progressive writer Dave Johnson, now living as an American expat in a tiny village outside Cambridge, England. He talks NHS, the UK's surging Green Party, the lessons Labour's collapse holds for US Democrats, and what it's like watching America from across the Atlantic — where literally everyone hates Trump. Then it's wall-to-wall news: Hegseth's two-day Congressional testimony (day one: a disaster; day two: damage control, sort of), the Supreme Court finishing off the Voting Rights Act and the redistricting scramble that followed, gas prices at record highs, Trump's approval ratings at record lows, the Comey seashell "threat," DOGE handing voter data to outside political groups, a Fox News contributor nominated as Surgeon General, the ICE agent who killed Renee Good getting reassigned instead of prosecuted, and — to end on a weird note — an Indian medical student who made a fortune scamming MAGA men with a fake AI conservative influencer.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The Supreme Court's extremist majority struck again today — this time gutting what's left of the Voting Rights Act in a 6-3 ruling written by Samuel Alito. Elena Kagan wrote the dissent — which pointedly drops the word "respectfully" — which isn't the usual. Then: Friday is May Day, and the movement is calling for a nationwide day of economic disruption. No work, no school, no shopping. My guest Nancy Tooozian, founder of Tempe Rising Indivisible, joins me in studio to talk about how she built her chapter from scratch and how you can do the same wherever you live.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's the Monday after the "Nerd Prom" — and wow, what a weekend. We open the show with Jesse Wells' brand new song "Lone Wolves" (already at 53K views!), then journalist Jonathan Larson from The F'ng News joins to break down the assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents Dinner, Trump's bizarre 60 Minutes interview with Nora O'Donnell, and what we actually know — and don't know — about alleged shooter Cole Allen. Plus: Melania wants Jimmy Kimmel punished, and Nicole and David share a feel-good win: they took their nightmare former landlord to small claims court and actually got punitive damages. Stand up for your rights, people!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy