It’s Hump Day! Sam and Emma speak with Alex Press, staff writer at Jacobin, to discuss her recent piece entitled “In 2023, the US Working Class Fought Back.” Then, they speak with Bill McKibben, contributing writer at The New Yorker and founder of ThirdAct.org, to discuss how 2023 was the hottest year on record. First, Sam runs through updates on Israel’s direct statements of ethnic cleansing in front of Secretary Blinken, Trump’s attempted immunity case, tonight’s GOP debate, the government shutdown, Mayorkas’ potential impeachment, labor action, and free lunch, before listening to Trump’s attorney’s desperation in the face of literally any line of actual legal questioning. Alex Press then joins, diving right into the numbers behind 2023’s labor boom which saw some 500k workers striking – doubling 2022’s numbers (which doubled those of 2021) – with a particular boom in action in the union-sparse private sector. After walking through the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on inspiring this post-crisis wave of labor action, Press steps back to explore the massive influence of the Chicago Teachers Union strike on the evolution of the US labor world, alongside movements like Occupy, Bernie Sanders’ 2016 campaign, and the 2020 uprisings, in shaping the current organizing movement. Next, Alex and Sam touch on the incredible moves made by the NLRB in 2023 – including Card Check lite – and what they’d like to see from the board moving forward, before wrapping up with her expectations on major strikes (and the influence of Shawn Fain’s UAW) heading into 2024. Then, Bill McKibben and Sam tackle the complete silence following 2023’s record-setting heat numbers, the overwhelming influence of “climate delayers” in US politics, and the fossil fuel industry’s 8-figure ad campaign to keep the US population on their side. After briefly expanding on the growth of both renewable energy and the extreme impacts of climate change in 2023, McKibben dives into the massive growth of US oil production and natural gas, the greenhouse explosion it has been causing, and the pressing need for Biden to make choices beyond the important changes in 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act. Wrapping up, Bill emphasizes the threat of growing US industry and the influence of Big Oil heading into 2024.

And in the Fun Half: Sam watches as Blinken continues to bend the knee to Israel on the world stage, Gideon Levy unpacks the horrors Israel is currently inflicting on Gaza, and Tim Pool goes to bat for Boeing and the private plane industry as they remain under threat by DEI. Tony from California discusses using the blueprint of the Dobbs decision to undermine the right, Elliot from Washington dives into Epic Games’ destruction of Bandcamp, and Tulsi endorses the ‘Free’ Speech of Twitter. Dave Rubin asks if it’s racist to be racist if they’re immigrants, plus, your calls and IMs!

Check out Alex’s work here: https://jacobin.com/author/alex-press

Check out “The Crucial Years”, Bill’s newsletter on SubStack: https://billmckibben.substack.com/

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