Episode

2/22 SCOTUS News: The Good, Bad & Ugly; Nuclear Instability w/ Mark Joseph Stern, Michael Klare

February 22, 2024

It’s an EmMajority Report Thursday (of a whole week of EmMajority Reports!)! She speaks with Mark Joseph Stern, senior writer at Slate, to discuss the recent developments of the Supreme Court term. Then, she speaks with Michael Klare, professor of emeritus of peace and world security studies at Hampshire College, to discuss his recent piece in The Nation entitled “Surviving an Era of Pervasive Nuclear Instability.” First, Emma runs through updates on the US defense of Israel’s occupation of Palestine in front of the ICJ, the growing death toll in Gaza and its astounding projections, Ro Khana’s visit to Michigan, Biden’s Trumpian executive action on immigration, fascism in Texas, Alabama, and Oklahoma, child labor in the US, and US environmental policy, before diving into updates on the GOP’s impeachment scam (the one against Biden, more specifically). Mark Joseph Stern then joins, diving right into McElrath v. Georgia, a unanimous decision by Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson, exploring the case’s basis in attempting to retry an acquitted man in obvious violation of double jeopardy and looking at how KBJ’s history as a public defender played into her decision. He also tackles a case against a Virginia magnet school’s attempt to incorporate success in underperforming schools into their otherwise race-blind admissions, and Samuel Alito’s attempt to defend anti-gay bigots’ right to discriminate as jurors, before wrapping up with SCOTUS’ likely decision on the Clean Air Act’s Good Neighbor clause, and the devastating impact it could have on the EPA and Ozone regulation. Professor Michael Klare then walks Emma through the recent emergence of China as a nuclear superpower on the global stage, looking at the role of US military expansion in the Indo-Pacific and contentious support for Taiwan in pushing Chinese nuclear expansion. Next, Professor Klare walks through each of the major nuclear flashpoints right now, including Russian-Nato tensions, Taiwan, and the South China Sea, before diving into the status of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s nuclear arsenal, and the precarious nuclear relationship between India and Pakistan. After touching on the US’ potential role in providing nuclear capacities to Saudi Arabia, alongside a broader assessment of nuclear munitions across the globe, Klare explores what to do to make people care about the nuclear threat again.

And in the Fun Half: Emma is joined by Brandon Sutton and Matt Binder as they discuss the intricacies of Madame Web, watch Nancy Pelosi actively affirm Israel’s right to continue the slaughter of Gaza and deny US complicity, while Israel’s Chief Pink Washer celebrates the genocide at a Knesset hearing. Bret Weinstein and Joe Rogan posit their bold theory that AIDS is actually caused more by lifestyle decisions than HIV, plus, your calls and IMs!

Check out Mark’s work here: https://slate.com/author/mark-joseph-stern

Check out Michael’s piece here: https://www.thenation.com/article/world/surviving-an-era-of-pervasive-nuclear-instability/

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