Sam hosts Heather “Digby” Parton to discuss the week’s top stories, including the infrastructure negotiations, SCOTUS decisions to gut voter rights, and more. Then, WGA East Executive Director Lowell Peterson joins to discuss the unionization efforts at MSNBC Digital. Digby and Sam start off the show by looking back to the start of their careers in the wake of the 2000 election, 9/11, and the Iraq War. They reflect on the disturbing legacy Donald Rumsfeld leaves behind, focused on his role in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi citizens, and how he and the Republican machine used 9/11 as the perfect jumping-off point for bombing the Middle East, before remembering somewhat more fondly the absurdity of conservative culture war around France’s pushback to the attacks. After looking deeper into how today’s Republican authoritarianism stems from the legacy of the Bush Administration, Lowell Peterson of the WGA joins to discuss the recent boom in media unionization. He and Sam look into the unionization effort at MSNBC Digital, and the irony of listening to a supposedly pro-union company explain why collective bargaining is good everywhere but under their roof. Sam also cover’s the development in yesterday’s SCOTUS decisions, and the dark shadow rising over the future of getting money out of politics and democracy as a whole.

And in the Fun Half: Andy Kindler joins to provide an industry perspective on Ben Shapiro’s analysis of conservative values in film. They explore the fundamental importance of choice in the pro-life film, A Quiet Place, the view that we exist beyond our earthly bodies as expressed in Soul, and the general right-wing theme of overcoming our social context… even when that context is capitalism. Then, Sam covers the Exxon leak, exploring the disturbing behind-the-scenes of fossil fuel executives ensuring the US Senate stays in line with their interests, and a green Kyrsten Sinema offers up a perfect take on today’s issues facing… Kyrsten Sinema, plus, your IMs!