The Nicole Sandler Show

Emptywheel.net's Marcy Wheeler joins me each Friday to recap much of the most important news of the week. We were both our last week, so there was a lot to talk about today. We didn't worry about what we missed last week, but dug into the seriousness of the mess he's gotten us in to. Yes, it's depressing, but we all need to arm ourselves with the truth and as much of it as we can stand, because information is power. We need to know what's happening so we can fight back against D'ump and his ilk who are trying to kill off democracy. Bring the information with you tomorrow to the No Kings rally near you!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

This has been a really a strange week on The Nicole Sandler Show. Good thing tomorrow's Friday. But then again, who knows.. The walls are closing in on donOLD, and when a mad animal is trapped, it tends to become very dangerous. And that's what we're witnessing coming out of the Oval Office. We'll attempt to peek in and see what we can find. News reports are not very encouraging. The Month of March is winding down, and I've been remiss. March is Women's History Month, and I haven't even mentioned it yet. We'll change that on today's show too, as Cultural HERstorian Amy Simon returns with some stories, both good and some not so much... Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Trying to hold on to some semblance of sanity in times like these is more of a challenge with each passing week. And this week has brought with it some special challenges for me! Somehow, despite not getting enough sleep, we're still standing.I'm a bit over-taxed today and almost didn't do a show. But when Brian Karem responded to my email inviting him on today, I figured that if he can do it, so can I. I'm still on a high from seeing Jesse Welles in concert last night (wow), but unfortunately didn't sleep last night.. again. Hopefully my brain and mouth will cooperate with each other as I try to discuss some of the news that defies sanity...Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The once-varied and somewhat diverse media landscape in the US has vastly changed to where a small cartel of billionaires and conglomerates dominates much of what Americans see, read and hear. Today's guest - Tim Karr of freepress.net - got delayed (he'll be back next week), so I spent most of the hour ranting about what has happened to our media in the 40 + years I've been part of the industry... What a long, strange trip it's been.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Ezra Levin, co-founder and co-director of Indivisible, joins Nicole Sandler on her first day back from vacation to talk about No Kings Day #3 coming up this Saturday, plus some history of what has grown into a movement, organizing, democracy. And Nicole's studio's gremlins re-appeared to welcome her back from vacation. Then some news and phone calls from listeners too...Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

I'm on a bit of a forced vacation this week. The house we live in is a rental, and the owners are putting in a new roof, now. So the noise makes it impossible for me to do a show. And that's just as well, because my main computer melted down this weekend, and now I'll have to figure out a solution. So for now, anyway, I'm only able to stream audio.And that's just as well, as I recently found an old stash of shows that I did on Air America back in 2009, and I didn't stream video then. Today, we go back to August 17, 2009. Congress was in the middle of fighting over health care and the legislation that would become the Affordable Care Act. On that day, one of my guests was former Labor Secretary under Bill Clinton, Robert Reich, who was a professor at US Berkeley. Just over a week later, Senator Ted Kennedy, one of our biggest proponents of a single payer health care system succumbed to brain cancer. Robert Reich wrote a lovely tribute to him an Huffington Post. So I reached out to him again and he joined me again on my show the following day, August 26, 2009.I had also produced a bit of a tribute to him so, today on the show, I shared both of those interviews, followed by the tribute.And in the few minutes I had left, I shared another production piece I put together to celebrate George W Bush's finally leaving the White House, "Bushisms A to Z". Enjoy!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Today is the 14th day of this insane war against Iran, launched by the demented orange man who's still occupying the White House for no apparent reason and appears to have no plan to end it either. Every Friday, Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net joins me to discuss what happened since we spoke the week before and today, Marcy goes in-depth to pull all the crazy together and tries to help us make sense out of the senseless. Both Marcy and I will be out next week. I'll run a combination of some of the best shows of the recent past and pull out a few interviews I just unearthed from my time at Air America radio which I think you'll truly appreciate... Also, I want to send a big thank you to all who have supported my work with donations, subscriptions or in other ways. I couldn't continue doing this work without you, and just wanted to thank you all again. I know that not everyone can afford the support my work monetarily, but do share my stuff. Thank you for helping to let others know what I do here every day.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

So many aspects of our society have taken a major hit during both of the orange guy's time in office, notably education. I think, uniformly, all administrations - except for the current one- have tried to make the US system of education the best in the world. But in this Dump-led regime, the goal is the break it. That's just one of the topics I'll discuss with today's guest, a fascinating professor of sociology and a whole lot more. Dr. Art Jipson, who also hosts a very popular radio show on the University of Dayton's radio station, WUDR. If you haven't heard him yet, do listen or watch. I'm pretty sure you'll like him too!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The world of progressive political talk media is relatively small. We don't ALL know each other, but most of us aren't much more than 2 degrees of separation apart. A relatively new show on the air and online, The Politics Bar, is hosted by an old friend and colleague Shawn "Smith" Peirce and a newer friend Jody Hamilton. We spent some time today talking a bit about everything from, obviously, the news and the idiot steering the news, to our/their histories, family, tv and so much more. It was a delightful conversation at a time when, frankly, we could all use it.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Today's show is a serious and important one. There's so much to be concerned about these days, and the areas of concern have multiplied since the current administration moved into and took over DC. From day one, the orange madman, has dismantled, destroyed, and decimated the agencies, departments and safety nets that had made this country great. And it was great. It is no longer because of his actions. This group has only been in office just over a year, though it feels like eons already, so some of his horrific actions in their first few months have faded from memory. They can't... We can't let them. Today, I speak with Chuck Borges, better known to millions who care about our futures, as the Social Security - DOGE Whistleblower! And lucky for some of us, he's now running for office.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Welcome to a new week, sadly, same war- only more. More deaths, more destruction, more money burned, more madness run amok. Jonathan Larsen of TheFuckingNews.substack.com and his original report reporting at jonathanlarsen.substack.com will be here for the second half of the show. We'll talk about his big breaking news this week about what Hegseth's military is claiming regarding this war against Iran and how "Christianity" fits in. We'll begin with a lot of the rest of the news and, for that, I apologize in advance.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Last Friday as we were wrapping that edition of Emptywheel Friday, Marcy Wheeler said something like, "... unless we invade Iran..." because we knew that was certainly a strong possibility." In the early morning hours of February 28, less than 24 hours after the show ended, the US and Israel struck Iran. And that's only one story from a week that included so much more. So get comfortable, as Marcy Wheeler and I have a lot of ground to cover, and we'll be here for a while. If you can't digest it all in one sitting, you can listen or watch in pieces any time you want.  Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

BREAKING NEWS just as I'm in the final throes of show prep for today's show with goes live in 40 minutes! The orange mess just announced - via social media, of course - that Kristi Noem is FIRED and in her place, the moronic MarkWayne Mullin. I kid you not. And on another note, investigative reporter, filmmaker and so much more, Greg Palast returns to the show today. Strap in... Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Yes, it's exhausting. Even Heather Cox Richardson is in the land of the overwhelmed and cursing loudly with us. And we got a harbinger of things to come with yesterday's Democratic Party Senate primary in Texas. I'll try to encapsulate much of that as we begin today's show. Then Will Bunch joins in from the Philadelphia Inquirer, where he's been opining about many of the same issues that have me freaked out lately. Oh, and have I mentioned that Pete Kegsbreath is an obnoxious bully who thinks he's in charge? If not, I will...Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Day 4 of the war the orange mess promised he'd never start. The lies continue unabated. He lies and his sycophants swear to them. Everything is fucked up and stupid. I may never recover from the parts of Kristi Noem's testimony this morning before the Senate Judiciary Committee. And it seems like every minute, there's some other breaking news that, alone under a Democratic administration, would have sent Republicans into conniption fits. Thankfully, the one and only Heather 'Digby' Parton is here to commiserate with me as we get sucked further into Opposite World.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

No Mincing Words any more, not like I ever did in the first place. But the Orange Mass of Crud along with his idiotic drunken sidekick Whiskey Pete Kegseth, late Friday Night, started bombing Iran. Not even a word to or with Congress about this massive attack, which is the only legal way to start a war according to our constitution.It's a new week, a new month, a new war... and thankfully Jonathan Larsen is here from thefuckingnews.substack.com and jonathanlarsen.substack.com to help us wade through the muck on today's show.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We made it through another jam-packed week of D'umpian idiocy, incompetence and horror but we're still here! Thankfully, the amazing Marcy Wheeler steps away, momentarily, from emptywheel.net to join me each week at this time to recap and try to explain some of the madness happening in the world. And there's a lot of it to cover today, from SCOTUS on tariffs and El Dumpo's reaction to their opinion, to his vengeance on Minnesota. Plus Epstein files massive coverup, waging war on Iran, taking over the media, Hegseth & Noem stupidity, his attempt to take over our elections and more... Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

As I read the news, I shake my head because nothing makes sense. This is not new, but it is constant. I can share what I'm reading, even express my outrage that it's come to this- but it all comes back to Opposite World, where things would make sense if they were the exact opposite of what they are. But they're not. My old friend John Fugelsang has that gift of being able to find the humorous take on the tragedy that assaults us every day. I'm grateful that he puts that gift to good use, and he's doing it here for a while today!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Or not! I didn't watch even a minute of the orange tinged lie-fest last night. You shouldn't be surprised, I didn't say was going to watch it yesterday. And frankly, unless I had heard from a reliable source that the dump was going to ... no, I take it back. There's nothing that could have convinced to to watch the shit show that was happening before a joint session of Congress last night. From what little I read about it, it was everything I thought it would be. A non-stop litany of lies. And the idiotic Republicans how allow him to get away with these high crimes on a daily basis did nothing but applaud his heinous acts and allow him to keep getting away with the biggest theft of the nation's resources in history. I''m excited that Bob Cesca is joining us today. I first met Bob more years ago than I can remember, but we drifted apart in thi vast interwebs. I thought it was time for a meeting of the minds again... so join us for that. The Nicole Sandler Show is live weekdays from 3-4pm Eastern/noon-1 Pacific and then available to watch any time at your convenience. We have no paywall, but this show is listener supported, so please help us out if you're able to. Get more info and today's show notes & news notes at nicolesandler.com, where you can also make a contribution to support this program. And please subscribe to nicolesandler.substack.com to get it all delivered to your inbox. Explore the podcastAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Tonight's the State of the Union. I used to look forward to it. Now I simply dread it. One of the lead stories today proclaims today being the 4th anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Dump continues lying, but we no longer have the Washington Post, or any other "news" entity keeping a running count of them. Maybe someone will tonight? The military buildup continues around Iran. I hope Taco D'ump intervenes. There's so much more to discuss today so we will... no guest today, just us radical Democratic leftists (sorry, I can't bring myself to use "Democrat" as they do, even in jest...)Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Whether we like it or not, Mondays keep coming. And despite some wins, we still have that orange pile of shit lying about everything, and a so-called news media that won't date contradict him as he continues spewing his lies. Tomorrow night, he'll deliver his State of the Union address where he'll continue to lie. He made that clear when he spoke this morning and lied about everything from his margin of victory in '24 (no, he did NOT win by a landslide), to the fact that he DOES have to go to Congress to get approval of tariffs (he said he didn't). And he said he'll lie tomorrow night too. There's lots more on top of that. Thankfully, Jonathan Larsen will be here from TheFuckingNews.substack.com to help me wade through the mountain of much he spews.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We've been waiting for this decision from the Supreme Extreme Court for months now, and thankfully, three of the usual INjustices decided to follow the constitution this time and ruled against the orange liar-in-chief! Ding Dong, Trump's Tariffs are dead. That's where Marcy Wheeler and I started today on our weekly get-together to discuss much of what happened since we spoke last Friday. And we continued from there... Find Marcy Wheeler at emptywheel.net, and here each Friday!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Alex Lawson has been executive director of Social Security Works for longer than the 16+ years that I've known him, fighting to save and expand Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and speaking truth to power everywhere to everyone. Today he joined me for the whole hour and brought it, including our plans for the People's State of the Union address Tuesday evening, Feb 24, while the orange liar-in-chief spews his lies to whomever will listen to him.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The questions are never-ending. I'll just have to figure out which ones to ask Chris Geidner, who covers all things court and law related at lawdork.com, as he returns to the show today.. Already today, Chris told us that in cases brought by the NEA and AFT, there are now final court orders: Last year's anti-DEI "Dear Colleague" letter is vacated and unenforceable. DOJ/DOE gave up the fight, dismissing the appeal and case in the Fourth Circuit and subsequently dismissing the the second case with a stipulation. And yesterday, a Bush-appointed judge in PA ruled against the administration about removing a display about slavery, as the idiot in charge wants to rewrite history. And lots more...Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

I'm back today but barely... Today is the Chinese Lunar New Year - the start of the Year of the Horse. It's also Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday. I didn't sleep last night and had to be up early today for a CT scan... and my guest fell through. This should be funAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We've reached another Friday, so that means that Marcy Wheeler takes a quick break from emptywheel.net to join us to discuss much of what happened this week and, as usual, there was a lot. And because it all centers around the shit that the orange blob has pushed on us, there's a whole lot of bad. But, as Marcy reminds us, so much is in flux... so keep that in mind, as minds are changing, and opening... The more you LEARN.... Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Heads are still spinning everywhere, thanks to Dump's Bimbo General Pam Blondi and the show she put on yesterday in front of the House Judiciary Committee and the world. She already showed us her slam book and angry act, and it didn't work the first time. Why she thought it would this time is beyond my understanding of stupidity. We'll talk about that and some other news in real time... Then Jason Leopold will take some time out of his very busy day dealing with FOIA documents, writing his weekly FOIA Files newsletter, co-hosting his "Disclosure" podcast, and I think I read something about producing a movie? Jason is a dear friend of mine, but we speak too infrequently. We'll fix that today!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The horrendous excuse for a human being Pam Bondi appeared on Capitol Hill today to answer questions from the House Judiciary Committee about the Epstein files and whatever else they want to ask her about. It really didn't matter because she refused to answer any questions at all. She did as she has in prior hearings, deflecting, accusing and snidely smirking. She is a despicable kisser of the dick-tator's ass. I'm just surprised I haven't seen the brown shit smeared all over her face. I did pull clips, but frankly, I'd rather sit back and let my favorite legal authority - the brilliant Lisa Graves, author of "Without Precedent: How Chief Justice Roberts and His Accomplices Rewrote the Constitution and Dismantled Our Rights" - explain wtaf Blondi is doing today. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We have a lot of frozen territory to cover today. That's because ICE and its superiors at HSI and CBP were on Capitol Hill today for questions from the House Homeland Security Committee.. I watched it so you didn't have to, and I've got clips . Plus the latest on the Epstein files, Spocko on Bad Bunny and more...Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Like taxes and death, Mondays are inevitable. And despite how much we wish this current news cycle would just end already, I'm afraid we're stuck with it until the fascist dick-tator keels over. Luckily, as he does every Monday, Jonathan Larsen will join me for the second half of today's show. Jonathan, of course, writes up the news daily at The Fucking News with the right amount of snarks and, because he still has some to give, an appropriate number of fucks too. Jonathan also shares his original reporting in a more respectable manner at his self-titled substack... And yes, there's so much of it today that I'm already exhausted...Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

This was a very strange week. Yes, there were quite a few offensive, disgusting and illegal things done by Dump and his cronies this week, but that's par for this shitty course. However, as I told emptywheel.net's Marcy Wheeler at the start of today's show, somehow the ominous foreboding seemed more intense. I feel that pit in my stomach dancing like jumping beans. Even though we ran even longer than usual today, we still didn't get to everything, but we did cover a lot of territory. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Apologies for the headline, but Driftglass is such a talented writer, I thought I should take a shot at a clever headline. Sadly, what that orange pile of narcissism in the White House is doing to us and covering how he's destroying life in what's left of our country has depleted my energy. I somehow manage to make it through each day, taking it one day at a time. And I don't even drink! As you probably know by now, I seek out guests to join me on the air who also don't hold back. Today it's one of the OGs of the progressive blogosphere, Driftglass. He's been speaking truth to power since the beginning at driiftglass.blogspot.com. And with his wonderful wife, BlueGal Fran, co-hosts the Professional Left Podcast. You can find them at proleftpod.com. It's Driftglass today, hanging here with me!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's fitting that journalist and author Brian Karem is my guest today. His latest book, Free the Press, is all about our dying media... and the morning's big news was about the gutting of what's left of the Washington Post by Jeff Bezos (who proves it wasn't about the money at all). And we had a whole lot more to talk about today too...Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Overwhelmed yet? That's their goal. And in that, they're succeeding, but we can't let them win - on any level! Today, it's sort of a potpourri of news and Dumpy Chaos for Chaos' sake. The orange guy in the White House is out of his mind. He shows up 38 THOUSAND times in the Epstein files, but says he's done talking about them. Sorry, he doesn't get to make that call. It's time to put our collective giant foot down. So today, I welcome Cliff Schecter back to the show (He promises he'll be here!). He's a great strategist/idea guy, and the head honcho at Blue Amp Strategies, so let's get to work and figure out how to bring real sense back to our country!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's Monday, the day of the week that Jonathan Larsen, the man behind The Fucking News Substack joins me to help unpack the news which, these days, is horrific, terrifying and really fucked up. As glad as I am that January has finally ended, it's now February. Don't let that fact that it's only 28 days make you think it'll go by quicker. At this rate, it's on track to feel like a century.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Each week seems to be more insane than the last. I think it's even more evident because Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net joins me each Friday to recap some of what made news in the preceding week. Just think about it... Alex Pretti was murdered by ICE this past Saturday. That's how this week started, on Saturday morning. And it kept on sliding downward since. The FBI raided the Fulton County, GA Elections office. Curiously, Tulsi Gabbard was there along with, as Marcy pointed out, Deputy FBI Director Andrew Bailey; Don Lemon and four others were arrested, the government shutdown may have been averted as Schumer got a two week deal to get Dems' demands on a new funding deal, Greg Bovino is out of Minneapolis and probably out of DHS and more Epstein files were released about an hour before we started recording today's show. And more... Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

My old friend and Air America colleague Jack Rice is a jack of all trades. When we met, he was a radio host on Air America. Before that, he was a prosecutor, and a Special Agent for the CIA! Since then, he's returned to the law and is a practicing criminal defense attorney in the Twin Cities, so he's been in the thick of the horrors that Trump has set loose on Minneapolis. He was here just last week, but then they murdered Alex Pretti too, so I asked Jack to come back. We talked about all of it, including the toll this is all taking on his hometown and, frankly, the rest of the nation.And we also touched on some of the other breaking news of the day, which has changed since today's show ended. I'll explain in the longer post on my Substack and tomorrow with Marcy Wheeler on Emptywheel Friday!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Historian Matt Delmont's new book, Until the Last Gun is Silent:A Story of Patriotism, The Vietnam War, and the Fight to Save America's Soul just hit stores yesterday. I've had him scheduled for a while now, but there's definitely some correlation between his book and the madness confronting us today, which we certainly discussed.I opened the show with Erica Connell, a familiar face to those who show up at Phone area protests. She was at one such gathering Sunday, at one of 15 Zips Sports Grill locations raided by Ice, and wound up getting sprayed directly in her face, landing her in the hospital! But she's out now, surrounded by friends and fellow activists, already helping to get Friday's nationwide standoff going.And, there's some excellent new protest music out that I shared today because I could... or thought I could. We'll see....Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Another busy day here on The Nicole Sandler Show... We catch up on some of the latest news including the TACO turnaround and more. Plus Economist Dean Baker on how the orange blob in the oval office is tanking our economy (and what you should do with your money, if you still have any)...Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On Friday, Marcy Wheeler and I went on about how overwhelming last week was. But it didn't prepare us for what would unfold the next morning. It just never stops.. ICE did it again, in Minnesota, with a lot of guns. Yep, Dump's armed, masked goons murdered another US citizen in Minneapolis. Alex Pretti was a 37 year-old, white, ICU nurse for the VA who was trying to help a woman who some of those goons had attacked and thrown to the ground. He was protecting another peaceful person and, for that, they unloaded some 10 bullets into him. Today is Monday, so Jonathan Lawson is here from thefuckingnews.substack.com and his self-named substack too, as he is each Monday. The news really doesn't get much more fucked up than this...Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It was another overwhelming week, so thankfully Marcy Wheeler takes her weekly break from emptywheel.net to join me here to stick a fork in it, especially as it lasted six thousand one hundred and eighty-four days! Marcy will explain near the beginning of today's show, that mostly centers on how the evil orange man is destroying everything that made this country great. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

I don't know why Trump-era Republicans do anything they do,but having Jack Smith, a highly respected prosecutor and the former special counsel who investigated and got multiple indictments against Donal Trump is now being investigated by Trump's Dept of Justice. His Attorney General is acting as D'ump's personal attorney carrying out his vindictive retributive orders to go after his perceived enemies. Today, I chose not to have a guest on the show and instead, share clips from today's hearing. It's the first time Jack Smith has testified publicly, and I thought it was important for everyone to hear what he had to say.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

That's one way to put it. Heather 'Digby' Parton has been a semi-regular guest on my show for many years. I always consider our conversations to be cathartic, but Digby was in rare form today. I think she's at least as fed up with the DC dumpster fire as I am, if not more! I was prepared to discuss many things with her, but it was his gaslighting/lying and narcissistic showings in his press conference yesterday marking one year in office (again) and his insane and demented posturing in Davos today in front of all of those world leaders. it's never-ending and horribly dangerous. Of course, we also fell down the hole of his tyrannical behaviors here at him, especially in Minnesota and, as of today, in Maine too.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Today marks the first anniversary of this immoral, destructive regime in the White House. We know that we can't continue like this. It's time for action and for change! We must engage as we've been, but we must do more. Call your Republican representatives in Congress DAILY and tell them how the Oval Office occupant is unfit for office and is destroying our nation. And get involved as the midterms are 10 months away.Today we'll meet two great candidates running for the Democratic nomination in their congressional districts - Elizabeth Lee who's running in my district, AZ-05 and J-L Cauvin who's running in the special election to fill the seat that NJ's Governor Mikie Sherrill just vacated in NJ-11. Neither is a politician; I think you'll understand why I like both of them!We'll begin with an old friend and Air America Radio colleague, Jack Rice. He's a former prosecutor and public defender, CIA Special Agent, Talk Radio host and is now back in his home state of Minnesota with his own criminal defense law firm. He gives us his thoughts on the federal invasion of his state, the ICE murder of Renee Good and the rest of the shit this administration is doing to his city/state/country...Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

I struggled with whether I should do a show today, as it is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a federal and a state holiday (yes, here in Arizona too!). I decided I would, and then Jonathan Larsen, who's usually here on Mondays, told me he wasn't working today in honor of the holiday. So I went back and forth on it and decided, since I have to put together a show to air regardless, that I'd do a hybrid -- part live, and part pieces of shows from MLK Days past. And I'd end the show with some of the day's news. I'll explain all when I hit the air at our usual time... Either way, especially this year, it's more important that we observe this holiday. Now, more than ever!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Every Friday, we wrap up the week with Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net. She and I try to make sense of the insanity that is destroying our country. Given what's transpired this week, the madman seems bound and determined to take down not only the US, but the world. If we're trying to put a positive spin on it, I guess I could point out that he's unraveling, and Marcy tells us that the White House is in panic mode. Good! Now if we could only get some Republicans in Congress to admit that the Emperor has no clothes... Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

My good radio news is that a new radio station hit the airwaves in Phoenix today and, once again, I get to play my kind of music on the air! I explain at the start of the show. But I'm still here. Since the former Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura is back in the news, I dug out an interview he and I did on Air America Radio in 2009 that I shared today, along with his re-entry into the news just a week ago.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

I had fully intended on speaking with Blue Amp Media's Cliff Schecter today and adding laughs and some snark to the sickening news of the day. Unfortunately, I found out mid-show that Cliff had a family emergency and was unable to join us.I still had plenty to talk about between the shitty news of the day and another project I'm working on that I can't tell you about until tomorrow. And because of that, I'll be out tomorrow. But, as Jesse Ventura was in the news last week, and the YouTube chat room was discussing him at length yesterday, I located an interview I did with him on Air America radio in 2009 that I'll share on tomorrow's show. Along with that, I'll tell you about this other project that I'm both excited about and a bit unsure about...Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

If I had a dollar for every law the orange idiot has broken while he's occupied the oval office I wouldn't necessarily be rich, but I'd certainly be able to pay my bills, probably easier than I can these days. Aside from that pretty big deal, there are tons of other legal issues in play that the administration seems to not care about or consider when the do the insane things they do. They lie, they cheat, they steal. They refuse to investigate crimes --even murder - when they think it makes them look bad. They refuse to follow the implicit demands codified by law, ie the Epstein Files Transparency Act. At the direction of the dick-tator, they target law abiding citizens who he feels have wronged him or who he simply doesn't like. He ignores court rulings against him. I could go on, and I will on today's show when my favorite legal expert LISA GRAVES author of the must-read book, WITHOUT PRECEDENCE joins us.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

If you had hoped things would lighten up a bit as the calendar turned to 2026, I'm sorry to remind you that we live in Opposite World, and it's awful here. There's an explosion of ugly news to go through today, so thankfully Jonathan Larsen is here from his eponymous Substack where he brings us original reporting and from the one with the attitude, thefuckingnews.substack.com. But at least the midterms are less than 300 days away...Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy