Sam and Emma host writer Jacob Silverman to discuss his recent piece in the New Republic “The Quiet Political Rise of David Sacks, Silicon Valley’s Prophet of Urban Doom”. Then they are joined by Lauren Ornelas, founder and president of the Food Empowerment Project, to discuss the recent union busting tactics and worker mistreatment that’s been occurring at Amy’s Kitchen. Emma and Sam first run through updates on recent midterm debates, diving deep into yesterday’s Senatorial Debate between Oz and Fetterman, exploring Fetterman’s success in getting his message out there despite lingering effects from his stroke, and Dr. Oz’s insistence on letting him and other local representatives into your check-ups at the doctor. Jacob Silverman then joins as he dives right into the story of David Sacks, beginning with his time getting to know Peter Thiel at Stanford and co-writing “The Diversity Myth,” a generally bigoted work on 1990s culture wars, before moving alongside Thiel to become COO of Paypal, a core member of the original “Paypal Mafia.” After touching on the reactionary nature of the Diversity Myth and the general ideology of the Paypal crew, Emma, Sam, and Jacob walk through Sacks’ post-Paypal conquest of the tech- and culture worlds, and how it led him to the founding of Callin podcasting platform, putting him at the top of a cultural organization that centers reactionary thinking. Then, Lauren Ornelas joins as she walks through the story of her work with Amy’s Kitchen from the consumption side, and how this corporation leaving behind its cooperative roots diminished the relationships that had supported its work to this point. They wrap up by parsing through the Food Empowerment Project’s response to Amy’s continued union-busting, and exploring what the MR audience can do to both help the organizers behind the effort and to push Amy’s towards decent workplace treatment.

And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma express their pessimism at the coming midterms, Celeste from Portland dives into Joe Kent’s recent fiasco over claiming to be paid by companies that simply don’t exist. They also watch Alito prepare to undermine repercussions for the Dobbs leak, Blake Masters and Trump call out Peter Thiel, and the crew dives into the incredible success of Houston’s homelessness policy. They also tackle the parallels between the development of islamophobia in the US and the conservative movement towards transphobia, before talking with some PA voters and narrowly avoiding a libertarian debate, plus, your calls and IMs!

Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow