Emma is joined by David Dayen, executive editor at the American Prospect to discuss 2 of his recent pieces: “The Political Impacts of Rising Gas Prices”. Emma begins by diving into updates on the Russian escalation as they strike civilian infrastructure in response to the bombing of the Crimea bridge, another lawsuit over Biden’s student loan relief, and the recent Tim Ryan-JD Vance debate. David Dayen then joins as he dives right into the chaotic story of gas prices over the last year, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February led to mass spikes with the expectation of a disrupted oil supply line, only for Russia to largely get around sanctions and other obstacles, pushing prices back down starting in the summer, leading up to the recent announcement by OPEC that they would, once again, be cutting production to push prices back up. David and Emma walk through the power structure behind these decisions (and the role the Saudis play in particular), before also touching on the moves being made by democrats from the State level (with Newsome’s recent initiatives) to the federal level to push back against this gouging. They conclude that discussion by tackling the oxymoronic idea of an energy-independent AND fossil-fuel-based nation, before Dayen wraps up the interview by tackling expectations heading into the midterms, exploring where the Democrats should turn their support, the success of the GOP’s crime-based fear-mongering, and Trump’s continued turn towards Q.

And in the Fun Half: Emma is joined by Brandon and Matt as they talk with Joe from Minneapolis on the role of the police in defunding other public institutions, discuss Matt’s interview with Vaush on MR, and dive into Tulsi finally reaching the climax of her “why I left the left” campaign (after just years of bigoted edging). Owen from LA explores the rebranding of TPUSA, Dave from Jamaica discusses the concept of diplomacy in a world with vast power imbalance, and Candace Owens defends Kanye by reminding us he was just trying to DEFEND himself FROM the Jewish people. The crew dives into Jon Stewart’s killer confrontation with Arkansas AG Leslie Rutledge over her state’s abusively transphobic policy, plus, your calls and IMs!

Check out David’s work here: https://prospect.org/topics/david-dayen/

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