Barack Obama

It’s Hump Day! Sam speaks with David Dayen, executive editor at The American Prospect, to discuss the recent updates on Vice President Harris’ economic policy agenda. First, Emma runs through updates on Day 2 of the DNC, escalating protests of the event, abortion on the ballot, polling in North C...
It’s News Day Tuesday! Sam and Emma break down the biggest headlines of the day. First, Sam and Emma run through updates on recent NATO drama, Iran’s continuing lack of nukes, Trump’s various criminal cases, Israel’s political turmoil, and severe environmental repercussions being felt across the ...
Sam and Emma host Donald Yacovone, Associate at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University, to discuss his recent book Teaching White Supremacy: America’s Democratic Ordeal and the Forging of Our National Identity. First Emma dives into Lula taking a lead ...
Sam and Emma host Moustafa Bayoumi, columnist at the Guardian, to discuss his recent piece in The Nation, ”Journey to Guantánamo: A Week in America’s Notorious Penal Colony”. Then, Sam and Emma are joined by writer Jacob Silverman to discuss his recent piece in the New Republic ”The CEO Trying to...
Sam and Emma host Gary Gerstle, Professor of American History at the University of Cambridge, to discuss his recent book The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order: America and the World in the Free Market Era. First, Emma and Sam dive into the continued rise of mass shootings over this weekend, t...
Sam and Emma host Jon Marshall, associate professor at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, to discuss his recent book Clash: Presidents and the Press in Times of Crisis. Then, Sam and Emma are joined by Alex Speidel, organizer for the United Paizo Workers to discuss their ...
Emma hosts Elizabeth Popp Berman, associate professor of organizational studies at the University of Michigan, to discuss her recent book Thinking Like An Economist: How Efficiency Replaced Equality In U.S. Public Policy, on how the era of neoliberalism saw a new mode of reasoning in Washington, ...
Emma hosts Luke Savage, staff writer at Jacobin Magazine, to discuss his new book The Dead Center: Reflections On Liberalism And Democracy After the End Of History.  Then, Emma is joined by Rana Abdelhamid, candidate for Congress in New York’s 12th Congressional District, to give us an update fro...
Sam and Emma host David Dayen, executive editor of the American Prospect, to discuss the recent issue of the magazine, entitled ”How We Broke the Supply Chain”, walking through how the policies of the last forty years, from globalization and monopolization to financialization and deregulation, se...
Sam and Emma host David Pepper, former chair of the Ohio Democratic Party, to discuss his recent book Laboratories of Autocracy: A Wake-Up Call From Behind the Lines, on how the GOP has been chiseling away at democracy from its base, with the Karl Roves and Thomas Hofellers reinventing the gerrym...
Emma hosts human rights lawyer Katherine Todrys to discuss her recent book Black Snake: Standing Rock, the Dakota Access Pipeline, and Environmental Justice, on how far the fight against DAPL has come even as it’s faded into the background of the media cycles. Todrys first discusses how she first...
Sam and Emma host Craig Whitlock, investigative reporter at the Washington Post, to discuss his recent book The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War. Sam and Emma first touch upon the resounding victory for Gavin Newsom in the California recall election from last night, and discuss New...
Sam and Emma host Samuel Moyn, Professor of History at Yale University, to discuss his recent book Humane: How the United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented War, on how the evolving face of the American Empire has changed the way we perceive war, and what we can do to get the conversation back...
It’s Casual Friday! Emma hosts Alex Pareene, contributing editor at The New Republic and author of The AP newsletter on Substack, to wrap up the events of the week. Emma starts off with some righteous indignation towards former Trump National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster saying to resident CNN ...
Sam and Emma host HuffPost journalist Jonathan Cohn on his new book The Ten Year War: Obamacare and the Unfinished Crusade for Universal Coverage on the last decade of healthcare debate in America and what lies ahead.
Sam hosts Ryan Grim (@ryangrim), DC Bureau Chief at the Intercept and host of the Intercepted Podcast to discuss his recent piece “Comparing Biden’s Administration Picks to Obama’s is Revealing,” on how Biden has gone without Obama’s Wall St. favorites so far.
Sam hosts USC Law Professor Jody Armour (@niggatheory) to discuss his new book N*gga Theory: Race, Language, Unequal Justice, and the Law and the importance of eradicating anti-black bias in America.
Alex Sammon of the American Prospect joins Michael Brooks to discuss his piece, “Barack Obama’s Legacy Is Narendra Modi.” Sammon and Brooks dive into how the former president helped rehabilitate the prime minister on the global stage, which helped set the stage for Modi’s current anti-Muslim agen...
Brandon Sutton (@PrettyBadLefty) and Film Guy Matthew Weiss (@langdonboom) join us.
Joining Michael Brooks today on the Majority Report is Daniel Bessner (@dbessner) to discuss his latest piece in the New Republic, “The Fog of Intervention.” In it, Bessner explores Samantha Power’s new memoir and diplomatic career leading Obama’s foreign policy at the United Nations.
-What is the state of play with Healthcare repeal? -New evidence declassified on the CIA backed 1953 coup in Iran
Daniel Ziblatt, a Professor of government at Harvard University and author of Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy, explains what classes need to give up power in order for democracy to flourish. How did classical conservatives come to accept democracy? The invention of the conservativ...
Sean Spicer says that British Intelligence may have been part of the imagined wired tap on Trump and Sam and Michael do a dramatic reenactment of Obama calling UK Intelligence.
Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University, explains what is radicalism. Why radicalism is different from liberalism and incrementalism. Has America always had radicals. The 1990s and the “end of history”. Tom Paine, America’s original radical. Radicalism in times of c...
The Roosevelt Institute’s Mike Konczal, explains why austerity defined the Obama age. The foreclosure crisis and the Trump vote. The culture of limitation. Smart phones and the culture of ruthless efficiency. Lifestyle minimalism. Why the Obama Administration failed on foreclosure. why we didn’t ...
Betsy DeVos is asked by Bernie Sanders if she would be nominated without campaign contributions and Al Franken demonstrates that she has almost no idea what she is talking about.
The ethics free Trump transition. Corey Lewandowski says “drain the swamp” is chronologically low on the Trump priority. Donald Trump reverses himself on rigging the system and draining the system. President Obama takes steps to block Trump from creating a Muslim registry program. North Carolina ...
Mike Pence spins and lies about Mike Flynn’s son’s role in the transition team. The maneuver the Democrats could use to seat Merrick Garland on the Supreme Court. Lawrence Lessig says Hillary Clinton could have the right to be President because of Bush V Gore. The Brooks Brothers riot. The Far Ri...
Journalist David Dayen, explains why Trump’s picks for Commerce and Treasury (Wilbur Ross and Steven Mnuchin) secretaries are both profiteers off of the housing crisis. Reverse mortgage schemes. Steve Mnuchin misery merchant. Wilbur Ross’s outsourcing career in private equity and how he profited ...
Freelance journalist Matthew Phelan, explains the role that Breitbart News played in the election. Clinton Cash and the connection between Breitbart and the New York Times. Who is Peter Schweizer and what is the Government Accountability Office. How the New York Times facilitated Right Wing propa...
Professor Juan Cole of the University of Michigan and the creator of Informed Comment Blog explains the different factions fighting ISIL in Mosul. How ISIL is using Civilians as human shields. How many ISIL fighters are there in Mosul? The future of ISIL after it loses territory. What is Turkey’s...
Attorney Gavi Mairone the founder of MM~LAW LLC, a law firm dedicated to advancing private human rights law, explains how he uses private lawsuits against major corporations to combat terrorism and human rights abuses. When banks and oil companies are complicit in terrorism. The Chevron case and ...
Glenn Greenwald tells Brian Stetler that there is an imbalance in transparency between Clinton and Trump and what’s interesting in the Wikileaks emails.
Cliff Schecter explains how Trump is going full Alex Jones and full Fascist. Jared Kushner, Ivanka and the campaign’s anti semitism. The irony of Trump’s disgusting campaign. The Right’s fantasy life. Is Hillary’s surge going to start impacting down ballot races? Rob Portman’s political calculati...
Lester Spence, a Associate Professor of Political Science and Africana Studies at Johns Hopkins, talks about the role of Police in creating social control. Policing, social control and political power. Police and class. Race and machine politics. The intersectional nature of the Black Lives Matte...
Paul Heideman, a PHD candidate in sociology at NYC explains the opportunity that the left saw to takeover the Democratic Party in the 1960s. Pushing the Dixiecrats out of the Democratic Party. When the Democrats were a southern regional party. Capital intensive industries and coming to terms with...
The lack of objective in US “jihadi” terror shootings. The instrumentalism of religion by ISIS leaders, and why it’s a mistake to assume they are truly pious. How Donald Trump is playing a role that helps ISIL. Why Bill O’Reilly is wrong about how defeating ISIS works and saying they’re the “same...
An antigay terrorist attack in Orlando. The emergency need for gun control and what we can do to to get gun safety. Can a liberal Supreme Court chip away at the Heller decision? Bizarre British pundits try to deflect from the homophobic nature of the attack and Owen Jones walks off set. Donald Tr...
Political strategist and MR regular explains some progressive wins in the state of Ohio. The transformed politics of Social Security. The evolution of the modern Democratic Party on Social Security. Where Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are on Social Security. Social Security and the Republican ...
More Libertarian insanity and President Obama calls for an expansion of Social Security.
Cliff Schecter explains the incredible importance and accomplishment of the Obama Administration’s new overtime rules. The stupid arguments Republicans will use to fight back against Obama’s new rules. The transformation of peoples lives because of new overtime. Bernie Sanders should stay in the ...
Intercept co-founder, journalist and author of the new book The Assassination Complex: Inside the Government’s Secret Drone Warfare Program, Jeremy Schaill explains the leaks delivered to the Intercept that reveal the Obama Administration’s global assassination program. How the Obama Administrati...
Adam Sheingate an associate professor and chair of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University and author of Building a Business of Politics: The Rise of Political Consulting and the Transformation of American Democracy explains the origins and history of political consulting in the United Stat...
What does Chevy’s safety ratings in Latin America tell you about the myth of libertarianism? What Pakistan’s candy poisoning tragedy also tells you about Libertarianism. Donald Trump continues to dominate, but is very unlikely to win the general. Trump pays a Breitbart editor for “consulting”. Ho...
Cliff Schecter explains the sexual abuse revelations of Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert and how Republicans looked the other way. Systemic child abuse and power. The move toward Paid Family leave. Why both the Sanders and Clinton campaigns are screwing up. Bill Clinton’s major screw up and re...
Jacob Hacker the Stanley B.Resor Professor of Political Science, Director of the Institute for Social and Policy Studies and author of American Amnesia: How the War on Government Led Us to Forget What Made America Prosper explains why America lost our historical understanding of the mixed economy...
Public Sector Unions survive as the Friedrich case goes down. Susan Sarandon tells Chris Hayes that if Trump is elected the revolution might happen and Hillary’s campaign demands Bernie change his tone in order to debate.
Ian Millhiser a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund and the Editor of ThinkProgress Justice explains what is appealing about President Obama’s pick of Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court. Deference to regulatory agencies. The politics of the Garland pick. Why Obama’s s...
Guardian columnist and author of the new book Disaster Capitalism: Making a Killing Out of Catastrophe (buy it on Jet.comor Amazon) Antony Lowenstein explains what “disaster capitalism” means. Privatization and the European and American strategy to make life harder for refugees. How Western polic...
Eddie S. Glaude Jr. a the Chair of the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University and author of the new book Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul (buy the book on Jet or Amazon!) explains the reality of the “Black Depression” in America.
Blogger Digby (Heather Parton) explains why she was underwhelmed by President Obama’s final SOTU(12:30). When the Obama Administration finally understood how rabid the Republicans are. How President Obama spoke past Republicans and still offered an olive branch. Can Obama ever shake the bipartisa...
Investigative journalist David Neiwert explains what is motivating the militiamen who have takeover the Federal Wildlife Refuge in Oregon (12:55). The armed wing of the Koch brothers efforts to destroy America’s public lands. Religions role in the far Right militia movement (19:40). The different...
9:00 - Cliff Schecter and Sam explain why the DNC favoring Hillary Clinton is bad for everyone. Why Debbie Wasserman Schultz is the worst. Why Marco Rubio is not going to win the Republican Primary. Why Hillary Clinton is wrong to run to the right on taxes. How the Democrats goad Donald Trump, is...
Sam talks with with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Charlie Savage about his new book Power Wars: Inside Obama’s Post-9/11 Presidency. And for members only an interview with Senator Bernie Sanders from the Air America days in 2005!
Janenae Garofalo finally watched the Hunger Games. The way to avoid family political fights.  What type of Republican is Janeane. Why we should have limited travel for Ben Carson supporters. Is this country less right wing than people think? Why the press is still dumb. Can Bernie Sanders get ele...
Joy-Ann Reid is a national correspondent for MSNBC and the author of the new book Fracture: Barack Obama, the Clintons and the Racial Divide explains the uneasy history between African Americans and the Democratic Party. Jesse Jackson’s relationship with the Democratic Party and the changing demo...
Andrew Highsmith an assistant professor of history at UC Irvine and author of Demolition Means Progress: Flint, Michigan, and the Fate of the American Metropolis, explains the origin of the phrase “demolition means progress”. Flint Michigan and GM’s history of racial segregation. African American...
Journalist and author of the now free eBook The Hunting of Hillary,  Joe Conason explains the dark and bizarre history behind the Clinton conspiracy industry. Vince Foster’s suicide and why the Right is the Clintons killed him. The evolving nature of the Benghazi scandal and why it migrated from ...
Cliff Schecter on why the latest mass shooting literally means there is blood on the hands of anti gun control Congresspeople. The NRA’s battle against American public safety. President Obama’s passionate statement on the Oregon shooting. Why guns are more dangerous than terrorism. President Obam...
Mark Leon Goldberg of UN Dispatch explains the success of the global fight against malaria. Is the international community shifting to a broader fight against poverty? The forthcoming UN sustainability goals. Why the international community is recognizing the connection between ecological and eco...
Sam remembers the September 11th attacks and how and why we harmed ourselves after them. Cliff Schecter joins Sam to discuss the fourteen anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Why the stolen 2000 election, the September 11th attacks and the invasion of Iraq were the three terrible events tha...
Steve Clemons the Editor at Large of the Atlantic explains the confusing nature of the Senate vote on the Iran deal. Why the Senate might not pass a bill disapproving of the Iran deal. The drama and the optics of the deal and how it plays out in Iran. Why the Obama team got a great deal with Iran...
Guardian Writer at Large Steven W Thrasher explains how and why Black Lives Matter has gone global. The historical roots of Black Lives Matter. Black Lives Matter in Palestine and what comes next from the movement.
Vox’s David Roberts explains the modern history of the EPA’s new coal power plant rules. Why the new EPA rules will cut Greenhouse Gases but still allow for flexibility. The Red States push back and why it will fail. Are the new rules to weak?  How will the Obama Administration defend the EPA fro...
We listen to a Republican focus group argue about Donald Trump and its amazing. Once again we prove why Trump is the perfect Republican. Sam checks in on Rush and we get an amazing Random Rush on Jeb Bush. Jeb Bush says we spend to much money on women’s health and promises to defund Planned Paren...
Journalist Ari Berman, author of Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America and Sam take a deep dive into the history and full policy implications of the Voting Rights Act. Nixon’s Southern Strategy and the rebranding of discrimination. Where in the Constitution voting r...
Milton Allimadi, the publisher of Black Star News joins Michael to discuss Obama’s recent trip to Ghana and Ethiopia. How is Obama energizing African youth and fostering leadership and activism and what that can do for Africa. Why is Africa failing to utilize it’s vast arrays of natural resources...
Kayvon Afshari the Communications Director the Director of Communications for the American Iranian Council and host of the Mideast show, explains why the P5+! negotiations with Iran are taking so long, the importance of staying focused on the nuclear issue, the broader diplomatic opportunities an...
Caroline Fredrickson the President of the American Constitution Society and author of the Under the Bus: How Working Women Are Being Run Over, explains how women and African Americans were cut out of the benefits of the Social Safety net. How the southern politicians protected the legacy of slave...
Ian Millhiser the Editor of ThinkProgress Justice, explains why this has been an unusually positive term for the Supreme Court. The Roberts Court makes the right call on many decisions from Marriage Equality to fair housing. SCOTUS rules against the Obama Administration in regulating Coal Power p...
Journalist Trudy Lieberman, explains why opponents and supporters of the Affordable Care Act are both spreading myths about the ACA. Is Obamacare unaffordable for many middle class consumers? Debating the costs of healthcare. How many families are choosing to take the penalty because the costs ar...
Sam calls Nancy Pelosi to tell her we want a no vote on TAA and Fast Track authority.
The Nation’s John Nichols explains the power and importance of Bernie Sanders push for debt free college. Why progressive politics means creative politics. Can Hillary be progressive. Why fighting austerity is the defining question. Also why the TPP is all about corporate power and 1980s economic...
Cliff Schecter explains just how disgusting and stunning it is that Republicans are cutting Amtrak spending the day after last weeks Amtrak crash that caused several deaths. Why the Republicans are undermining the American economy. Why more Amtrak funding would have saved lives. Why increasing in...
Journalist David Dayen, explains how the foreclosure crisis is still hurting Americans. Does the ongoing crisis in inequality explain the failure of Fast Track trade authority to pass the Senate? What’s in the TPP and why its awful. President Obama’s war against Elizabeth Warren. Why Washington i...
Wendy Brown a Professor of Political Science at the University of California Berkeley and author of Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism’s Stealth Revolution explains the idea of Demos and how it drives our Democracy. How Neoliberalism shrinks our capacity to be human and undermines democracy. Are hu...
Milton Allimadi, the publisher of Black Star News, explains the importance of John Kerry’s visit to Somalia. The Cold War roots of the crisis in Somalia. How American policy led to the Al Shabaab terrorism crisis. Why Nigeria has elected a former dictator as President and when will the “second li...
Political strategist Cliff Schecter explains the results of the UK elections and why the Conservatives won big. The leader of Labor and the Liberal Democrat parties, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg resign. Why “Third Way” politics only works for really charismatic politicians. Why was the polling so b...
Princeton Professor Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor highlights the distinctions between Ferguson and Baltimore. The Black political establishment in Baltimore and the class tension inside African American politics. How class is always obscured in American culture. The language of the “culture of poverty”...
The insurance industry warns against the climate crisis. The fight against Fast Track Trade authority in the Senate and the House. Bernie Sanders forces a delay on the Fast Track bill. Sander Levin’s alternative bill in the House on Fast Track authority. Why the far right is ignoring Fast Track a...
Lily Geismer a assistant professor of history at Claremont McKenna College and author of  Don’t Blame Us: Suburban Liberals and the Transformation of the Democratic Party explains how the suburban makeover of the Democratic Party has moved the Party to the right. Where the title “don’t blame us”....
Far right Rabbi claims liberals are attracted to Muslim terrorists. Is The DOJ going to block the Comcast Time Warner merger? Did NBC lie about Richard Engel’s kidnapping.
The host of The Young Turks Cenk Uygur explains the passage of Fast Track Authority for the TPP in the Senate. Why TPP is going to pass because the corporations control America. How TPP shows the hypocrisy of the Republicans. Will Chuck Schumer be progressive on TPP? Comast and MSNBC. Cenk, MSNBC...
Marie Gottschalk, a Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania and author of the new book Caught: The Prison State and the Lockdown of American Politics, explains the prison crisis in America. How American has become a prison state for many lower income Americans and people ...
Political strategist Cliff Schecter explains why Senator Bob Menendez will probably go to jail and why he should. Iran negotiations and Republican war mongering and also why the Republican Party has screwed itself with the Indiana anti Gay bill.
Journalist David Dayen, explains the bombshell in Barney Frank’s new book in which Frank exposes both the Bush and Obama Administrations of not using TARP  money to help save people from foreclosure. When Barney Frank explained to Sam how TARP went wrong on housing policy. Why Bush was “already i...
Ian Millhiser a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund and author of Injustices: The Supreme Court’s History of Comforting the Comfortable and Afflicting the Afflicted, explains the regressive history of the Supreme Court. The historically accident of the progressive nature...
Journalist Nathan Scheider, author of Thank You, Anarchy: Notes from the Occupy Apocalypse, explains the different models of the sharing economy. Silicon Valley innovation and the loss of critical discourse on inequality and power. The Cooperative economy. Europe’s push for a new economy. Why Bit...
Political strategist, Cliff Schecter, explains the story of Ricky Jackson, who spent thirty nine years in prison for a crime he did not commit. The state of Ohio fast tracks a million dollars to Ricky Jackson as compensation wrongfully imprisoning him. Why we need a Bill of Rights for people in t...
Journalist Eric Alterman, author of the new book,  Inequality and One City: Bill de Blasio and the New York Experiment, explains how the inequality crisis finally came into public consciousness since Occupy Wall Street. Why BilldDe Blasio’s message on inequality is distinct, progressive and impor...
Leading progressive blogger and writer Digby, explains how the Obama White House finally learned the lesson that progressives have always know, that the modern Republican Party has zero interest in compromise. The importance of unlearning the lessons of the Clinton era. Former key Obama advisor D...
Cliff Schecter mourns the loss of Leonard Nimoy and reflects on the cultural importance of Star Trek. The Department of Homeland Security funding bill and the ongoing Republican fail on immigration. Was winning bad for the Republicans? Why President Obama is paying no price for being progressive....
Are Republicans going to shut everything else down again? The politics of the DHS debacle. Why domestic right wing terrorism is a much bigger threat than foreign Islamic terror groups. Why Republicans are failing so hard on immigration. Bibi Netanyahu’s long fail. South African Intelligence leaks...
Russia signs a ceasefire with Ukraine. Should Sam takes over for Jon Stewart? Fox’s Outnumbered freaks out over President Obama and Josh Earnest acknowledging that more people are affected by Climate Change than terrorism. The right celebrates the murder of Kayla Mueller by ISIS. Fox’s incredible...
Economics editor of Channel 4 News, in the UK, Paul Mason, explains the political currents that led to the victory of Syriza in Greece. How Syriza drew center-left and center-right voters while being a party of the left. The Neo-Nazi politics of Golden Dawn and the connections between center-righ...
Timothy Karr the Senior Director of Strategy for Free Press, explains the huge win for Internet users with the FCC’s reclassification of Internet providers as common carriers. Michael Powell and why the common carriage classification was changed to begin with. Why the battle for Net Neutrality wa...
Cliff Schecter is sad that Mitt Romney isn’t running for President. Why Mitt didn’t run. Why Mitt Romney is such a asshole. Jonathan Chait’s whiney “PC Police” article for New York Magazine. “New Republic: Democrats and why we needed the blogosphere. Having platforms and absorbing attacks. Twitte...
Cliff Schecter explains why we should not honor King Abadullah. Cliff wants to know where the President Obama of the SOTU address was the last five years? Where President Obama undercut his own message. The Republicans are committing to fighting voting rights. Expect more fake populist politics f...
Vermont Senator and progressive champion Bernie Sanders explains what President Obama got right at the State of the Union and why we are in record levels of inequality. The proposals that would help solve the poverty crisis and Why TPP and Fast Track trade authority are problems for inequality an...
Journalist Ari Paul, explains Bill de Blasio has long angered the NYPD. The Central Park Five Case and why the NYPD are angry about it. The real problems New York City faces now. NYPD Labor Union head Pat Lynch is gunning for a favorable contract for the NYPD. Why the Police Union is out of step ...
Remember that whole IRS “Scandal”? Well its been completely and finally debunked. Staten Island Congressman michael Grimm uses his reelection to get a better plea deal in his criminal trial. The crazy, crazy Congresspeople taking on Speaker Boehner. House Republican Leader Steve Scalise speaks to...
Vanderbilt history Professor, Jane Landers explains why the Cuba embargo only hurts non powerful Cubans, what corporate interests want from a Cuba deal? What did the Castro government mean for average Cubans? The failures of the Cuban revolution. Cuba’s role in revolutions in Africa. Are Cuba’s a...
Labor attorney and the author of  Only One Thing Can Save Us: Why America Needs a New Kind of Labor Movement Thomas Geoghegan explains what we need to be saved from in the post labor union economy, why the young are in the most danger in the new economy, the bogus arguments for increased job trai...
Karen Piper the author of The Price of Thirst: Global Water Inequality and the Coming Chaos explains why the United Nations didn’t recognize water as a basic human right until 2010 and why Corporations came to support the water resolution. The South African corporate driven water crisis and the p...
Janeane Garofalo discussed the shocking decision of the Grand Jury night to indict Darren Wilson for the killing of Michael Brown, the shocking push of the far right in American society, Grand Juries and Indictments, making the Police a military, the larger race crisis in America, debating Aaron ...
Director, New Models of Policy Change, New America Senior Fellow Heather Hurlburt explains what led to the resignation of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, why Hagel stumbled as a leader of the Pentagon, the internal politics of the Obama White House, why Hagel will stay on even with Administration ...
Political maestro Cliff Schecter explains the vital work of the Ohio Innocence Project, the proving of the innocence of Ricky Jackson who spent thirty nine years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. How Cleveland Police based their work on a made up story of a twelve year old, debunking death ...
Greisa Martinez a National Field Organizer with United We Dream explains her experience as a Dreamer and the story of how her family came to the United States and her father was deported. How long Greisa’s father was in the United States before he was deported and why her family came to America. ...
Syndicated Columnist Tina Dupuy explains how she told her story of realizing she wasn’t an alcoholic after a lifetime of thinking she was on NPR’s This American Life, Tina’s families experience with addiction and child abuse, rejecting the ideology of AA, the troubled teen industry and child abus...
Matt Taibbi explains the stunning whistle blowing on JP Morgan Chase’s pushing of toxic securities, Alayne Fleischmann’s shocking experience inside JP Morgan Chase’s compliance department, JP Morgan Chase’s relationship with predatory lenders, “liars loans” and mortgage backed securities, proving...
The murder of forty three students in Mexico leads to mass demonstrations and protests, the connections between drug cartels, corrupt politics and oligarchy in Mexico, President Obama comes out strong for Net Neutrality and will the FCC listen?
Political strategist Cliff Schecter explains how the Daily Show nailed it on the Democrats many failures during the midterm elections,  the structural and strategic reasons Democrats lost big, why the Democrats ran on absolutely nothing, why you need a story and narrative, how Democrats can win a...
Political strategist Cliff Schecter remembers Sam’s role in Spin City, Fox News anchor says we can’t trust Africans to get treatment fro Ebola because they go to “witch doctors”, why the mid term elections matter, the implications of a Republican controlled Senate, the Senate race in South Dakota...
The largest day of airstrikes in Syria and Iraq, why the White House is waving its own rules on civilian casualties, the death toll in Iraq and Syria, who is profiting from the new Middle East war, Iraqi Army drops ammo and food for ISIS fighters by mistake, new stunning Secret Service failures, ...
Nikil Saval the Editor of N+1 Magazine and author of Cubed: A Secret History of the Workplace explains the history of White Collar work, the rise of office politics, the the split between factory and office workers, the history of monitoring workers, Scientific Management and the fight against un...
Professor and writer Vijay Prashad explains the context for the rise of ISIS in Syria and Iraq, the myth of sectarian violence in the Middle East, the implosion of Libya and lessons for Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey, why Turkey has been soft on ISIS and why solutions can only be found in s...
Janeane Garofalo reflected on the new war in Iraq and Syria, pro-war pundits and the military industrial complex, changing Democratic opinions on the Middle East, is America at eternal war? Why war criminals get away with it in America, war crimes and the right to be forgotten, how many civilians...
New York University Sociology Graduate student and Jacobin contributing writer Jonah Birch explains where the myth of the “culture of poverty” comes from, the roots of the culture of poverty idea, prison and African American men, racial discrimination  and incarceration, the myths of African Amer...
Political strategist and Majority Report regular Cliff Schecter explains why Adrian Peterson should be in prison, why violence does not work in raising children, the culture of the NFL, Scotland rejects independence, why the Yes vote winning was always a long shot, the nature of the Ebola crisis,...
Investigative Journalist Chris Woods explains when the Iraqi Government requested that the Obama Administration bring drones back to Iraq, the higher rates of airstrikes in Iraq, the Libya model and the fight against Isis, what US airstrikes have focused on so far, who controls the Mosul Dam now?...
President Obama announces strategy against Isis, two witnesses claim Michael Brown had his hands up when he was killed by Darren Wilson, witnesses also claim that Michael Brown was shot with his back turned, Ted Cruz incoherent war plans for Isis and Iran and more evidence of a NFL Ray Rice cover...
Journalist Dana Goldstein author of the new book The Teachers Wars, explains why teachers are held responsible for the American inequality crisis, if we want teachers to make a broader impact why we need structural policy solutions, the gendered dynamics of teaching, why we can’t support teaching...
Princeton’s Eddie Glaude Jr. explains the larger meaning of the crisis in Ferguson and the murder of Michael Brown, “conflict porn” and why we don’t get to the bottom of race in America, why white supremacy is the disease that undermines America, white supremacy can be practiced by anyone, the po...
Michael and Matt breakdown the problems in Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy vision, why Democrats are still stuck in dead ideas, how anti immigration hysteria is fueling the growth of the Klu Klux Klan, debunking Ukraine conspiracy theories and remembering Robin Williams.
Middle East analyst and commentator Holly Dagres explains why US airstrikes against ISIS are needed, the unique threat that ISIS poses to Iraq, the failures of Nouri al Maliki’s leadership, sectarian violence and Iraq’s future and what are the best policy options moving forward.
Greg Mitchell author of Atomic Cover-up: Two U.S. Soldiers, Hiroshima & Nagasaki explains why the history of the United States dropping nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki matters, the stunning civilian death toll from Hiroshima, the examples we are still living from Hiroshima and Nagas...
Daniel Levy the Director of the Middle East Program at the European Council on Foreign Relations explains the strategy behind Israel’s attack on Gaza,why Benjamin Netanyahu is a both a risk averse and ultra right wing Prime Minister, Netanyahu’s Greater Israel strategy, how Palestinians could pra...
Bob Ivry the author of The Seven Sins of Wall Street: Big Banks, their Washington Lackeys, and the Next Financial Crisis Bob Ivry explains why the sin of pride is the defining sin of Wall Street, why the 2008 financial crisis fully demonstrated the power of the big banks, the lost feeling of sham...
Foreign Policy journalist Ali Gharib explains why President Obama might be planning a drone war in Iraq, Obama’s secret wars, the failures of Bush and Obama’s foreign policies, why no one is addressing the roots of terrorism and what happens next in Iraq.
Syndicated columnist Tina Dupuy explains Karl Rove’s dirty trick aimed at Hillary Clinton, trying to stop Hillary before 2016, Republican smears and “asking questions”, Marco Rubio’s climate science denial and the mainstream media, why Michael Bogg’s is gonna go down because of grassroots activis...
Journalist Stephen Kinzer author of  The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War, explains how the Dulles Brothers shaped American foreign policy, American backed coups across the globe, the Dulles legacy from Iran to Cuba and how their legacy lives on today.
Nation reporter Zoe Carpenter explains what phony populism is, Democrats who embrace watered down trickle down economics, President Obama’s praise for some of America’s worst CEOs, repackaging Rubinomics, the pseudo solutions offered by some in the technology sector, why real solutions to inequal...
Cliff Schecter explains the new Chris Christie commissioned report that clears Chris Christie, Christie’s own lawyers say he s cleared and some in the media take it at face value, how Christie wins by releasing this report, why the media does not call out Christie’s systemic corruption, the highl...
Jacobin online editor, and author of the new book Strike for America: Chicago Teachers Against Austerity Micah Uetricht explains what led the Chicago teachers to strike in 2012, why the strike was not about pay, why the teachers won the strike, the conflicts within the Chicago Teachers Union that...
New York Times National Security Correspondent and author of the The Way of the Knife: The CIA, a Secret Army, and a War at the Ends of the Earth Mark Mazzetti explains how the roots of the CIA Senate spying scandal began with the 2005 CIA destruction of torture tapes, Dianne Feinstein’s accusati...
Professor Adolph Reed Jr., explains how the Democratic Party embraced the neo-liberal agenda, how the shock of the Reagan Presidency shaped the modern Democratic Party, the role of the Democratic Leadership Council in moving Democrats to the right, the rightward legacy of Bill Clinton, the decoup...
Cliff Schecter explains President Obama’s State of the Union address, how Obama is standing strong on Iran negotiations, why President Obama is so unwilling to draw contrasts with the Republicans, why Obama can clearly hold Republicans responsible without losing his temper, Harry Reid comes out a...
Huffington Post Washington bureau chief explains how President Obama dropped the ball on inequality in his State of the Union, what President Obama’s minimum wage executive order does, what President Obama’s myRA plan is and why Obama’s commitment to veto any new sanctions on Iran may be the bigg...
London School of Economics professor Alan Manning explains where the minimum wage stands in real terms in the United States today, the advantages of higher wages, why raising the minimum wages does not lower employment, how inequality is threatening society, how inequality drags down the entire e...
Cliff Schecter explains Mike Huckabee’s shocking and disgusting new comments and female sexuality and birth control, what audience Huckabee is playing to, why the fringe far right keeps trying to take away birth control, why the Obama Administration still wants to cut hugely successful social pro...
Political strategist Cliff Schecter explains the nature of President Obama’s proposed NSA reforms, what Obama didn’t say in his NSA address, why Obama always trusts the establishment, will Congress will restore the Voting Rights Act? The Chris Christie scandal keeps growing, all the agencies inve...
Cliff Schecter explains some of the best and worst political events of 2013, how the sequester, the budget deal and unemployment insurance expiration all harm the most vulnerable Americans, how austerity is still hurting America, playing offense on Social Security and a more progressive caucus in...
Huffington Post economics reporter Zach Carter, explains what the Trans Pacific Partnership is, how leaked documents show that the Obama Administration is pushing for a stun growth of Corporate power in the TPP trade deal, how the TPP could undermine financial regulation and make medications more...
Cliff Schecter explains Nelson Mandela’s legacy, what Mandela meant on college and high school campuses in the 1980s, why the rights leading lights backed Apartheid South Africa, William F Buckley’s disgusting writing on Nelson Mandela, Mandela’s incredible capacity for forgiveness, the importanc...
Josh Orton Political and communications Director for Progressives United explain what the corporate backed front group Third Way that has been attack Senator Warren, how Senator Warren responded to Third Way’s attacks, the importance of holding Third Way and Democrats who support it accountable a...
Comedian and former Majority Report host Janeane Garofalo explains why she isn’t going back to the Catholic Church, why Janeane’s father is a conservative, racism and the Republican Party, the real reasons there are problems in healthcare, responded to listener emails, Sean Hannity does a stunnin...
Trita Parsi President of the National Iranian American Council explains why the deal between the P5+1 and Iran is historic, what the deal means, the difficulties of a long term agreement, What rights does Iran have under the NPT, why the French held up the deal, why Saudi Arabia and Israel both o...
Political strategist Cliff Schecter explains the importance of Democrats exercising the nuclear option, the Republicans extreme obstruction, how Republicans are subverting democracy, why Republicans would eliminate the filibuster if they ever came back to power, does the nuclear option hurt Chris...
On today’s Casual Friday political maestro Cliff Schecter explains why healthcare reform can still succeed, why the problems in Obamacare are neo-liberal and right wing problems, the Chris Christie fraud and why the future of the Democratic Party is a progressive one.
Author Isaac William Martin explains his new book Rich People’s Movements: Grassroots Campaigns to Untax the One Percent, the roots of the plutocratic backlash against taxation, the role of the income tax in reactionary politics, the connection between far right populism and plutocracy, how the c...
Credo Action’s political director, Becky Bond explains how Credo is fighting against cuts to Social Security and Medicare, how Bernie Sanders is standing up for real Americans, the Obama Administration’s zombie commitment to cutting Social Security, why Congress is moving to reign in the NSA, sup...
Mark Leibovich the Chief National Correspondent of the New York Times Magazine, author of This Town: Two Parties and a Funeral-Plus, Plenty of Valet Parking!-in America’s Gilded Capital, explains the subculture of the Washington village establishment, the shocking explosion of money in America’s ...
Cliff Schecter explains why the Obamacare healthcare sites failures is a real problem, why the ACA’s problems highlight the need for public healthcare, the roots of government outsourcing, why government is more efficient, the myth of corporate efficiency, why the problems with health care reform...
Rolling Stone contributor Guy Lawson explains his upcoming book on two stoners who entered the global arms trade, how the military used the stoners as patsies to violate the law, why the elite have no accountability, why the elite hate Edward Snowden for calling them to account, Obama’s awful rec...
Blogger Digby explains, why the government shutdown was long planned by the Republican Party, why the mainstream media and establishment Democrats keep deluding themselves about the true nature of the Republican Party, what GOP voters really believe, why modern Republicanism is a money making ven...
Mother Jone’s Tim Murphy, explains why the Republicans are committed to shutting down the government, why representing small districts feeds Republican radicalism, why Democrats are “slow walking the Ryan budget”, the danger of getting used to austerity and will Republicans destroy America’s fait...
Matt Duss of the Center for American Progress, explains how Hassan Rouhani won Iran’s last presidential election, why Iran’s Supreme Leader is softening his hardline stance, Iran’s economic crisis, Obama’s strategic success with Iran, how Rouhani has shifted nuclear policy and Iran could be broug...
Princeton Professor, Eddie S. Glaude Jr, explained the roots of the March on Washington, Malcolm X’s original critique of the march, how mainstream America has co-opted the Civil Rights Movement, how the left has been marginalized, why the Obama Administration’s failures to hold banks accountable...
Cliff Schecter explained why Republicans are freaking out about Obama putting Solar Panels on the White House, an internal audit shows the NSA violated privacy protections thousands of times, why Snowden’s leaks of done a big service to the country, what options do we have in Egypt? Eric Holder’s...
Professor Vijay Prashad, explained what Bradley Mannings leaks showed about American pressure on developing economies, why the Yemeni & Pakistani governments are complicit with American drone attacks, the growth of southern power and modern alternatives to capitalism.
The Atlantic’s Steve Clemons, explained why the unemployment numbers are misleading, the real crises of work in America, how the Obama Administration has chosen a neo-liberal policy agenda and why growing economies invest in infrastructure and stimulus.
Bill Scher debated Matt & Michael on NSA data mining, is the NSA’s surveillance legal?whether or not the program has been effective, has the monitoring been abused? and the role of private contractors in gathering intelligence.
Sam explained Frank Lautenberg’s legacy, the Bradley Manning trial begins today, the unique dangers of the espionage charges levelled against Manning, The Tea Part is on to Grover Norquist being a secret Muslim and protests continue across Turkey.
Jacobin founding editor, Bhaskar Sunkara, explained the distinction between liberal and socialistic politics, the modern delusions of liberalism, the disconnect between the elite and grassroots of the Democratic Party, the political success of neo-liberalism, how the left can renew itself and the...
ObamaCare goes into effect, its working well in California, why statesthat refuse to expand Medicade are hurting health reform efforts, Obama gets aggressive on Judicial appointments and could that mean filibuster reform?
Filmmakers George & Beth Gage, discussed their new documentary Bidder 70, explained Tim DeChristopher’s act of civil disobedience at an oil and gas auction in Utah, how public land across the country is threatened, why the auction Tim disrupted was found to be illegal, the farcical prosecutio...
Matt & Michael hosted Nation Sports Editor, Dave Zirin, Zirin described how Jason Collins came out, the historical importance of the first openly Gay NBA athlete, the support for Jason Collins from fellow athletes and politicians, the transformation of gay rights in America and why the town o...
Mike Konczal explained the Carmen Reinhart Kenneth Rogoff thesis, how influential the Rhienhart Rogoff paper was, why there study was riddled with errors, how an excel spread sheet error destroyed the methodology of the study, the perils of wonkery and why there is no accountability for elites.
Independent journalist John Knefel, explained the hunger strikes at Gunatanmo Bay, the different status types of prisoners held at Gitmo, why eighty six Guantanamo Bay inmates have been cleared of all charges are still being held, the Obama Administration’s shameful record on Gitmo and the politi...
Feminsting Executive Editor and Fast Food Forward organizer, Samhita Mukhopadhyay, explained the importance of the living wage movement spearheaded by fast food workers in New york City, the danger of how we frame poverty in America, Michelle Obama’s powerful recent speech on guns violence and op...
Professor Mark Blyth, explained the three big reasons austerity is a problem, the impact of global trade on austerity policies, the history of the idea of austerity, why the United States is in a stuttering recovery and the Europeans have created self created depression by practicing austerity, w...
Matt & Michael hosted today’s show and explained why Marcio Rubio is sending Jay Z stupid tweets, the many facets and problems with the legacy of Margaret Thatcher, more on the political strategy behind Obama’s push on a “Grand Bargain.”
Blogger, Digby explained why the Republicans might not be able to reform on social issues, why Republicans will not reform on their economic extremism, why Democrats are reactive and Republicans are strategic in shaping frameworks, the Sequester is starting to hurt lots of people and why the “gra...
Tor Ekeland, attorney for Andrew “weev” Auernheimer and Matthew Keys, joins us to discuss each of their two cases. We discuss how neither defendants actually did any “hacking,” how weev found the information he was found guilty of taking on a public AT&T server, what Matthew Keys is being cha...
On today’s show journalist Christopher Petrella, explained the power of the private prison industry, why private prisons are working to be reclassified as real estate holding companies, who the biggest players in the private prison business are and how to hold the industry accountable.
Nikolas Kozloff, author of Hugo Chavez: Oil, Politics and the Challenge to the U.S, explained the complex legacy of Hugo Chavez, Chavez’s political history, how Chavez changed the political psychology of Venezuela, where Chavez was innovative and where he failed, how Bush helped create Chavez and...
Cliff Schecter, explained why Bob Woodward is a fraud, does this episode cast the rest of Woodward’s reporting into question? Why Cliff Schecter thinks we are living through the “Aaron Sorkin Presidency” Why what served President Obama during campaigns does not serve him in office, why the radica...
David Dayen, explained how sequester cuts will impact the economy, how long it will take to feel the Sequester, the politics of the sequester, why the local media is doing a better job covering the sequester, the teachable moment the Obama Administration is missing, why a government shutdown mayb...
Cliff Schecter, explained how damaging the sequester would be, why America is held back by the lowest common denominator, can President Obama use the sequester as a teachable moment? Crowd boos mother of Aurora victim and John McCain is a jerk, the Chuck Hagel “Friends of Hamas” smear and Ohio Re...
Nick Turse, author of Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam explained the horrifying brutality inflicted on Vietnamese civilians, why the My Lai massacre was not an aberration, how “Kill Anything That Moves” was systemic a policy, the missing narrative Vietnamese civilians an...
Cliff Schecter, explained why “moderate” Republicans voted to filibuster Chuck Hagel, why Republicans keep pushing Benghazi, how the Hagel debacle shows once again the urgent need for filibuster reform, Cliff’s frustration with Harry Reid, why President Obama’s new progressive rhetoric is so impo...
The Progressive Campaign Change Committee’s Adam Green, explained why he is still worried about Social Security, why progressive “sacred cows” are better than Republican sacred cows, where Obama pushed the agenda in the right direction and where he pushed it in the wrong direction, Obama’s powerf...
Harper’s Magazine’s, Scott Horton, explained what is in the Justice Departments white paper on drone policy, why the definition of imminence in the memo is crucial, what government officials have legal authority to order drone strikes according to the memo, how the memo reads as a retroactive jus...
David Dayen, explained how extreme anti tax policies destroyed California’s finances, how California progressives changed the shape of the electorate and what’s next in California’s budget battles. The Justice Department’s case against S&P, why credit ratings agencies are driven by conflict o...
David Brooks has delusional hopes for the Republican Party, Senate leaders unveil an immigration plan, as immigration reform moves forward, Rush sounds more and more depressed, Fox News, oppressed by President Obama?!, new studies destroy right wing myths about Hispanic immigration and Sarah Pali...
Author, Arthur Goldwag, explained the history of conspiracy culture on the right, the two fears that drive conservative conspiracy culture, the enduring importance of the Protocols Of The Elders of Zion in conspiracy culture, he global distribution of conspiracies, how mainstream Right-wing organ...
Talking Points Memos, Senior Congressional Correspondent, Brian Beutler explained the chances of substantive filibuster reform passing the senate, the importance of a talking Filibuster, the more aggressive approach of Senate Democrats, what the Republicans cave on the debt ceiling means, what th...
The NRA runs a shockingly offensive ad aimed at President Obama’s daughters, what’s in Obama’s gun control package, the crucial role that universal background checks play in Gun Control, coming automatic budget cuts in domestic spending, will the Republicans blink in their insane push on the debt...
Michael Hastings, explained the disconnect between the intelligence that led to Ben Laden and torture why Zero Dark Thirty embraced the pro torture narrative,the CIA’s role in the film production and Michael discussed his new book on the 2012 campaign, “Panic 2012” how Obama won his second term, ...
The Guardian’s, Glenn Greenwald explained John Brennan’s role in the Bush Administration’s torture program, how Brennan worked his way into Obama’s inner circle, Brennan’s history of dishonesty public on national security issues, his role as the architect of the Obama Administration’s drone progr...
Cliff Schecter, talked about Republican hypocrisy on Hurricane Sandy relief, the core lack of compassion and empathy in the Republican Party, Jonathan Alter’s obnoxious new piece, phony figures on life expectancy, who really threatened the passage of Health care Reform and what leverage progressi...
The Huffington Post’s, Ryan Grim, explained what was in the fiscal cliff deal, he and Sam wondered if the Democrats really did cave? Will Obama hold firm on the debt ceiling? why Ar Fleicher may not be able to give as much to charity this year and what if anything the bill got right.
On today’s Best of 2012, Sam’s interviews NSA whistle-blower Thomas Drake and his attorney Jesselyn Radack,on the government’s intimidation and personal destruction of whistle-blowers and the Obama Administration’s record on government transparency. And an interview with Senator Sheldon Whitehous...
Reuter’s Digital Editor Chrystia Freeland explained the global growth of the plutocracy, the economic and technological drivers behind the growth of small sectors of super wealth, the impact of the bubble the plutocrats live in globally, the challenge the left faces in talking about income inequa...
Digby explained how the beltway media test bad ideas, why elite Democrats are pushing for raising the eligibility age for Medicare, Digby still thinks President Obama wants a grand bargain and why pressure from the grassroots could save Medicare and Social Security.
Sam held it down on his own today, explained what is really happening with the fiscal cliff, praised Obama and Pelosi for holding firm on tax increases for the top two percent, but worried that hacks like Steny Hoyer keep calling for cuts in Medicare and Social Security and checked in on the late...
Cliff Schecter explained by President Obama’s opening offer on grand bargain negotiations was hugely encouraging, how progressives are flexing more musclewhat does Obama’s new more aggressive negotiating strategy mean for his second term? Sam and Cliff chuckle over  charles krauthammer Civil War ...
The New America Foundation’s Lina Khan explained, the growth of agricultural monopolies, why farmers are serfs on their own land, how CongressionalRepublicans killed the Obama Administration’s efforts to reform the industry and why the Administration folded on the issue and Sam and Lina map out w...
Financial fraud expert William Black explained why pushing for austerity in a economic crisis is illogical, how Europe plunged itself into a unnecessary recession and social crisis with austerity policies, why governments need to stimulate the economy,how Greece’s debt crisis is fundamentally dif...
Cliff Schecter and Sam explained why Simpson-Bowles would tank the economy, where we can make smart cuts, all the money we waste on the Drug war, is Social Security safe?, are progressives drawing a line in the sand? a much more forceful President Obama and the Real John McCain.
Sam and Cliff rejoice in the Republican meltdown, Karl Rove’s public humiliation, the billionaires who wasted their money and why that’s important, why the GOP still doesn’t get demographics, Can the GOP adjust to reality? Sean Hannity’s stunning new position on immigration and new progressive en...
Democrats win big and Republicans whine hard!
Janeane “Katherine Harris” Garofalo wanted to know how Sam was doing after last weeks “plague”, was confidant that Romney would win, commented on her  own history of voter disenfranchisement or “voter cleansing” and explained what are “sex pests” are.
Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas gave us his election day math, predicted a comfortable Obama victory, Democrats holding the Senate and gaining some seats in the House. Sam asked if Paul Ryan’s extremism was exploited enough?
It’s Casual Friday! Cliff Schecter described the fundamental difference in world view between the radical right and the rest of America, why Chris Christie is praising Obama so much, assessed the impact of Mike Bloomberg’s endorsement of thePresident for reelection, revisited the debate between S...
Sam hosted a heated interviewed with Veteran activist and Naked Capitalism Contributing Editor Matt Stoller. Matt argued that Obama’s policy agenda was regressive by design, that both major parties are pushing the United States towards petro state status and that progressives should consider voti...
Cliff Schecter let us know what was happening on the ground in a couple of swing states, the possibility of electing some progressive candidates for Congresswhy Michelle Bachman, Steve King and Allen West might lose, why President Obama’s numbers are rebounding and what will the impact of the hor...
Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi explained President Obama’s latest comments on Wall Street reform, why he may defensive about his record, how Mitt Romney is the embodiment of all that has gonewrong in American capitalism, but Matt loves watching Romney lie because he is such a natural at it, reportin...
The Atlantic’s Steve Clemons explained what was missing in yesterday’s foreign policy debate, how President Obama offers tactical mastery but little strategic vision while Romney has neither tactical mastery or strategy,where President Obama has been a foreign policy success and where he has fall...
Cliff and Sam both see many paths to an Obama victory, Cliff praised George McGovern for his legacy on issues of war and peace, should recent polls make liberals worried? Could Obama lose the popular vote and win the electoral college?Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid throw monkey wrenches in potentia...
Obama comes out of debate 2 with a win. Digby was not surprised that he performed so much better this time, thought Romney did fine but fact checks will hurt him, people respond better to Obama’s articulation of a optimistic vision, as long as Obama talks grand bargain Romney can lie his way to t...
Labor journalist Josh Eidelson, caught us up on the latest news on the Walmart strikes, explained Walmart’s history of aggressive anti unionism, how its business modelis based on keeping people in poverty, why Walmart’s tactics have depressed wages across the service sector and what strikers are ...
First up Sam spoke with Cliff Schecter about why democrats struggle with messaging, what cutting social security will do to the American worker and how Joe Biden can win his debate with Paul Ryan tonight.
Cliff chronicled his many many moments of frustration with Obama’s debate performance, why the Social Security response was Obama’s weakest moment and the debate reminded Cliff of the mistakes President Obama made when he first came into office, the expected failure of Jim Lehrer, the many, many,...
Author Ari Berman and Sam agree-Romney won last nights debate, Obama looked and sounded tired and unfocused and didn’t take advantage of numerous opportunities to push back against Mitt, Ari wanted to know where the aggressive Obama was last night?
Nan Aron, President of the Alliance for Justice explained why the next Supreme Court term matters so much, the future of affirmative action and the voting rights act and Justice Robert’s troubling history of hostility to civil rights. How the Supreme Courts decisions on CitizensUnited and the Aff...
Thomas Frank explained why the mainstream Democratic Party rejects populism, the succes of the rights toxic social populism and how our economic debates are no longer empirical. Sam and Thomas reminisced about Rick Santelli’s rant at the Chicago Stock Exchange that helped launched the Tea Party a...
Professor Juan Cole gave a regional overview of recent events in the Middle East, cleared up some of the confusion on the attack on the US embassy in Benghazi, described a poor security situation in Libya and noted that the transitional government is making slow progress there. Cole noted that th...
On today’s show Harper’s Magazine’s dynamic duo Jack Hitt & Kevin Baker called in from Charlotte and discussed Michelle Obama’s successful speech, how forgiving and organized the Democratic Party base is and how the bear hug between Bill Clinton and Barack Obama represented the cultural besto...
On today’s show Sam hosted Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein. Stein outlined her proposals for a “Green New Deal” and explained why she thought Democratic Party was a dead end for progressive politics. But, Sam wondered if she was missing the lessons of the Bush era and wanted to know...
Acclaimed writer Tom Junod on the targeted killing, drone strikes, capture and kill wars begun by Bush but given a legal and moral apparatus by Obama.  His Esquire article, ”The Lethal Presidency of Barack Obama.”  In the better half, financial confusion a’ la Romney, woman in parallel America ap...