Infrastructure

It’s Hump Day! Sam speaks with writer and labor organizer Mindy Isser to discuss her recent piece in In These Times entitled “In Labor’s Mission to Organize the South, Another Domino Could Soon Fall.” Then, he speaks with Anna Clark, reporter at ProPublica covering issues in the MidWest, to discu...
It’s another EmMajority Report Thursday! Emma speaks with John Washington, staff writer at Arizona Luminaria and contributor for The Intercept, to discuss his recent book The Case For Open Borders. Then, she’s joined by Christoph N. Vogel, research director of the Insecure Livelihoods Project at ...
It’s Hump Day! Sam speaks with Nicholas Boni, writer, photographer and musician based in Brooklyn, & Cea Weaver, tenant organizer with Housing Justice For All in New York, to discuss Nicholas’s recent piece in Jacobin entitled “Social Housing for New York Is on the Table”. Then, Sam speaks wi...
It’s Casual Friday and the LAST LIVE MAJORITY REPORT OF 2023! Sam and Emma are joined by Heather Digby Parton, contributing writer at Salon.com and proprietor of the blog Hullabaloo, to round up the week in news and to preview what’s to come in 2024. First, Sam and Emma react to another call from...
It’s Hump Day! Sam speaks with Yohuru Williams, historian and founding director of the Racial Justice Initiative at the University of St. Thomas, and Michael Lansing, Professor of History at Augsburg University, to discuss their documentary project on the history of the Minneapolis Police Departm...
It’s Casual Friday! Sam and Emma host Alex Pareene, Contributing Editor at the New Republic and proprietor of the AP newsletter on Substack, to round up the week in news. Then they are joined by comedian and writer Adam Conover to give an update on the WGA writers strike. First, Sam runs through ...
It’s an EmMajority Report Thursday! She hosts Natalia Mehlman-Petrzela, professor of history at The New School, to discuss her recent book Fit Nation: The Gains And Pains Of America’s Exercise Obsession. Then she is joined by Daniel Finn, features editor at Jacobin, to discuss his recent piece ”B...
Sam and Emma host author Steve Paxton to discuss his recent book How Capitalism Ends: History, Ideology and Progress. First, Sam and Emma run through updates on clashes in and around Atlanta’s developing “Cop City,” DHS’s illegal domestic intel program, Biden vs. the airlines, the East Palestine ...
Emma hosts Karen Levy, Assistant Professor of Information Sciences at Cornell University, to discuss her recent book Data Driven: Truckers, Technology, and the New Workplace Surveillance. Emma first runs through updates on Zelesnkyy’s congressional address, Senate Republicans obstructing Biden’s ...
Sam and Emma host Nahid Siamdoust, Assistant Professor of Middle East and Media Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, to discuss the recent political protests in Iran. Then, they are joined by Eli Friedman, professor at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations and a...
Sam and Emma host Adam Hochschild, lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley School of Journalism, to discuss his recent book American Midnight: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy’s Forgotten Crisis. First, Sam and Emma run through this weekend’s updates on the Georgia runoff,...
It’s Casual Friday! Sam and Emma host Ryan Grim, DC Bureau Chief at the Intercept, to round up the week in news, including discussions on the freight rail labor contract, the progressives’ role in the debate (and the Democratic party writ large), and Biden’s changes to the election cycle – but fi...
Emma hosts, Beatrice Adler-Bolton, co-host of the Death Panel podcast, to discuss her recent book Health Communism, co-authored with Artie Vierkant. First, Emma runs through updates on the US defense budget, the freight rail contract vote heading to the Senate, DC announcing a shift to free bus t...
Sam hosts Drs. Noa Nessim & Libby Wetterer, 3rd year family medicine resident physicians and members of the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR) who, in affiliation with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), are a part of organizing efforts at the Montefiore Medical Center in ...
Emma hosts Leslie Kern, professor of geography, environment, women’s and gender studies at Mount Allison University, to discuss her recent book Gentrification Is Inevitable And Other Lies. Then, she is joined by writer Jacob Silverman to discuss the recent developments surrounding the crypto exch...
Emma hosts Dr. Nicholas Kardaras to discuss his recent book Digital Madness: How Social Media Is Driving Our Mental Health Crisis-and How to Restore Our Sanity. Then, Emma is joined by Eugene Puryear, co-host of the Breakthrough News show, to discuss the recent civil and social unrest in Haiti. E...
It’s Casual Friday! Sam speaks with David Dayen, executive editor at the American Prospect, to break down the week in news. Then, Sam and Emma are joined by Francesca Fiorentini, host of The Bitchuation Room podcast! Sam and Emma first run through updates on Hurricane Ian’s path of devastation, l...
Emma hosts Destin Jenkins, assistant professor of history at Stanford University, to discuss his recent book The Bonds of Inequality: Debt and the Making of the American City. Emma starts off by re-capping the troubling election results out of Italy showing that Giorgia Meloni and Italy’s far-rig...
Sam and Emma host writer Shon Faye to discuss her recent book The Transgender Issue: Trans Justice Is Justice For All. Then, Sam and Emma are joined by Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District to discuss President Biden’s recent student loan debt forgiveness plan, as we...
It’s Casual Friday! Sam and Emma host Heather Digby Parton, contributing writer at Salon.com and proprietor of the blog Hullabaloo, to round up the week in news. Then they are joined by David Feldman of The David Feldman Show! Sam and Emma begin by tackling updates on Trump’s special master, the ...
Emma hosts Katherine Blunt, reporter for the Wall Street Journal, to discuss her recent book California Burning: The Fall Of Pacific Gas And Electric-And What It Means For America’s Power Grid. First, Emma dives into updates on the Freight Rail strike, the unionization of Minor League Baseball, a...
The MR Crew is back after the long weekend! Sam & Emma break down the biggest headlines of the week. First, they run through updates on Israel admitting to the murder of Shireen Abu Akleh, and Emma’s upcoming E-S-V-N program, before diving into Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves’ tone-deaf resp...
Emma hosts Ruth Conniff, editor-in-chief of the Wisconsin Examiner, to discuss her recent book Milked: How an American Crisis Brought Together Midwestern Dairy Farmers and Mexican Workers. Emma also runs through recent news on Palin’s loss in Alaska’s special election (to Alaska’s first Native re...
Sam and Emma host freelance journalist Chris Pomorski to discuss his recent piece in The New Republic ”When Innocence Isn’t Enough.” Then they are joined by Amjad Iraqi, editor at 972 Magazine, to discuss the recent violence in the Gaza Strip. Emma and Sam begin by covering updates on the DOJ sea...
Sam and Emma break down the biggest headlines of the day, beginning with the massive water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi leaving over 180,000 without running water, also walking through how Brian Kemp was called to testify in the GA trials, and the GOP’s continued push on pointless political cul...
Sam hosts Brian Callaci, Chief Economist at the Open Markets Institute, to discuss his recent piece in Dissent Magazine ”Inflation Is No Excuse For Squeezing Workers.” Then, Sam is joined by Ilana Marcucci-Morris, a Kaiser Permanente mental health therapist, to discuss recent efforts by her and h...
Sam breaks down the biggest headlines of the day, as “Build Back… a bit” finally reaches Biden’s desk and more primaries approach. First, Sam discusses today’s primaries in Alaska and Wyoming, updates from New York’s primaries next week, and the ongoing Georgia election interference case bringing...
Sam and Emma host Olufemi O. Taiwo, professor of philosophy at Georgetown University, to discuss his recent book Elite Capture: How the Powerful Took Over Identity Politics (And Everything Else). First, Sam touches on the successful passage of “Build Back– a bit” in the House, effective abortion ...
Sam and Emma host Dr. Leah Stokes, professor of climate and energy policy at the University of California, Santa Barbara, to discuss the climate provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act. Emma and Sam walk through updates on the House’s schedule and Alex Jones’ texts arriving in the hands of the ...
Sam and Emma host Jake Grumbach, professor at the University of Washington, to discuss his recent book Laboratories Against Democracy: How National Parties Transformed State Politics. First, Emma and Sam tackle the successful passing of Biden’s Build-Back-a-Bit, filled to the brim with goodies fo...
It’s Casual Friday! Emma hosts David Griscom, co-host of Left Reckoning, to round up the week in news. Then, Emma is joined by the DSA’s Stylianos Karolidis and Sumathy Kumar to discuss their For the Many candidate slate in New York City. First, Emma dives deep into yesterday’s debut of the prime...
Emma hosts Dorothy Roberts, professor of Law, Sociology, and Civil Rights at the University of Pennsylvania, to discuss her recent book Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families–and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World. Emma first covers yesterday’s simultaneous mass shoot...
Emma hosts Treva B. Lindsey, professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the Ohio State University, to discuss her recent book America, Goddam: Violence, Black Women, and the Struggle for Justice. First, Emma dives into the right pitching the same nonsense solutions to gun violence, ad...
Sam and Emma host David Dayen, executive editor at the American Prospect, to discuss his recent piece in the Intercept “BLOWING THE TRUCK WHISTLE: A Carbon Dioxide Delivery Driver’s Long Journey to Expose Airgas”, on one of many examples of the US’ failing infrastructure. Sam and Emma begin by pr...
Sam and Emma host J. David McSwane, reporter at ProPublica, to discuss his recent book Pandemic Inc.: Chasing the Capitalists and Thieves Who Got Rich While We Got Sick, on the fraudulent paths of government money at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. David begins by covering the state of our i...
Emma hosts Paolo Gerbaudo, Director of the Centre for Digital Culture at King’s College London, to discuss his recent book The Great Recoil: Politics after Populism and Pandemic.  Emma first starts off by covering the amoral impending execution of Melissa Lucio, despite growing evidence that she ...
Emma hosts Daisy Pitkin, organizer at Workers United, to discuss her recent book On The Line: A Story Of Class, Solidarity, and Two Women’s Epic Fight to Build A Union. Then Emma is joined by Brianna Wu, executive director of The Rebellion PAC, to discuss the upcoming primary in Ohio’s 11th Congr...
Emma hosts Drew Pendergrass, doctoral student in Environmental Engineering at Harvard University, and Troy Vettese, environmental historian at the European University Institute, to discuss their recent book Half-Earth Socialism: A Plan to Save the Future From Extinction, Climate Change, and Pande...
Sam hosts author and journalist Jessie Singer to discuss her recent book There Are No Accidents: The Deadly Rise of Injury and Disaster-Who Profits and Who Pays the Price, on the policy and regulatory collapse that has pushed America’s number of “accidental” deaths through the roof. Jessie begins...
Emma hosts Alleen Brown, reporter at The Intercept, to discuss her recent article series ”Climate and Punishment”. Then, Emma is joined by the AMQuickie’s very own Jack Crosbie, currently stationed in Kyiv, to give us an update from the ground! Alleen begins by situating the research that led her...
It’s Casual Friday! Sam and Emma host Heather Digby Parton, contributing writer at Salon.com and proprietor of the blog Hullabaloo, to round up the week in news. Then, Sam and Emma are joined by Francesca Fiorentini, host of The Bitchuation Room podcast! First, Digby, Emma, and Sam get into yeste...
Sam and Emma host Sheryll Cashin, professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, to discuss her recent book White Space, Black Hood: Opportunity Hoarding and Segregation in the Age of Inequality, on how the residential caste system built up around race and geography has ingrained itself into ...
It’s Casual Friday! Sam hosts Osita Nwanevu, contributing editor at The New Republic, to wrap up the week in news and discuss his recent piece in the New York Times, “Trump Isn’t the Only One To Blame for the Capitol Riot.” Osita sits down to unpack the project of Republican grievance that has be...
Emma hosts Joe Margulies, Professor of Law and Government at Cornell University, to discuss his recent book Thanks For Everything (Now Get Out): Can We Restore Neighborhoods Without Destroying Them? on the never-ending process that is neoliberal gentrification, why it’s so hard to stop, and what ...
Emma hosts Paul Elliott Johnson, Assistant Professor of Communications at the University of Pittsburgh, to discuss his recent book I The People: The Rhetoric of Conservative Populism, on the transformation of the conservative populist movements over the last century, and how they worked to define...
It’s Casual Friday! Sam and Emma host Natalie Shure, columnist at the New Republic  and health policy expert, to discuss developments in federal health policy to expect with upcoming legislation and Supreme Court decisions. They begin with the state of Roe v. Wade, as the American public waits fo...
Sam sits down with historian Christopher W. Shaw, to discuss his recent book First Class: The U.S. Postal Service, Democracy, and the Corporate Threat, on the rise of one of the most popular public services, and its precarious state in an era of privatization. They begin in the 18th century, with...
Sam hosts Jamelle Bouie, opinion columnist at the New York Times and co-host of the Unclear and Present Danger podcast, to wrap up the week in news! And in the second half, Sam is joined by Jamie Peck, in her triumphant return to MR (!) and Jorge Rocha, co-hosts of the Everybody Loves Communism p...
Sam and Emma break down what’s to come in the week in news, from the reconciliation negotiations on the Hill, to updates on labor, the courts, and climate. They begin by covering the religious reaction to Universal Pre-K’s non-discrimination requirement, and the news that September was a record-b...
It’s Casual Friday! Sam and Emma host Heather Digby Parton, contributing writer at Salon and proprietor of the Hullaballoo blog. Digby, Sam, and Emma jump right into recent news surrounding the January 6th committee, as the infrastructure and reconciliation fights fade into the background. They b...
Emma hosts Ryan Cooper, national correspondent for The Week, to discuss his recent piece “The Most Underrated Part of the Electric Revolution”, on the connections between inflation and a green transition, and how making a shift away from gases and to electricity, especially in transportation, can...
Sam and Emma host Daniel Nichanian, creator of What’s On The Ballot, to break down the trends he saw from last Tuesday’s elections, as well as some overlooked races and ballot measures. Moving beyond the top line races last week, such as the governor races in VA and NJ, Daniel walks Emma and Sam ...
Sam and Emma host Will Stronge, co-director of research at the think tank Autonomy, to discuss his recent book Overtime: Why We Need A Shorter Working Week that he co-authored with Kyle Lewis. They start off by reflecting on the late night infrastructure bill passage from last Friday night, as we...
Sam and Emma break down a big week in news as election results come in from Tuesday’s big races in New Jersey and Virginia, and across the nation. They begin with the Democratic disappointment in VA, and how party leadership is working to shift this loss onto the progressives, despite McAuliffe’s...
Sam and Emma host  Laleh Khalili, Professor of International Politics at Queen Mary University of London, to discuss her recent book Sinews of War and Trade: Shipping and Capitalism in the Arabian Peninsula, on how the maritime trade infrastructure has become a microcosm of global capitalism, and...
It’s Casual Friday! Sam and Emma host David Dayen, executive editor of the American Prospect, as they walk through as much of the two hundred policies in the Bipartisan Infrastructure framework as possible. The former David (Dayen) first takes on his summary of why the infrastructure battle was a...
Sam sits down with Marcia Chatelain, professor of history and African American studies at Georgetown University, to discuss her recent book Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America, on McDonald’s, fast food franchises, and their ties to the success and failures of Black capitalism. Professor...
It’s casual Friday! Sam and Emma host Dave Weigel, national political correspondent for the Washington Post, as they walk through how the Democrats are approaching the midterms (and what the voters think). Dave, Emma, and Sam jump into how the infrastructure and reconciliation failures are being ...
Emma hosts Rupa Marya, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, to discuss her recent book Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice that she co-authored with Raj Patel, on the socioeconomic roots of poor health, and the colonial seeds that brough...
Sam and Emma host New Yorker contributor Eyal Press to discuss his recent book Dirty Work: Essential Jobs and the Hidden Toll of Inequality in America, on the moral division of labor and the emotional burden of getting by for countless Americans. They start off with Everett Hughes’ essay “Good Pe...
It’s Casual Friday! Sam and Emma host Ryan Grim, Washington D.C. Bureau Chief at The Intercept, to wrap up the week in news. Emma, Sam, and Ryan dive right into yesterday’s developments with infrastructure and reconciliation as progressives successfully prevent the vote on the tiny infrastructure...
Sam and Emma host Mike Hulme, Professor of Human Geography at the University of Cambridge, to discuss his recent book Climate Change, which covers how public opinion on climate change has shifted over the last few decades, and what we can do to move towards policy solutions. They start off with a...
It’s Casual Friday! Sam and Emma host Alex Pareene, contributing editor at The New Republic and author of the AP newsletter on Substack to wrap up the week in news. Alex, Emma, and Sam immediately dive into the state of the Democratic Party now that leadership and media have now fully committed t...
Sam and Emma host public sector immigration lawyer Daniel Melo to discuss his recent book Borderlines: The Edges of U.S. Capitalism, Immigration, and Democracy, which contextualizes immigration policy within the history of the US, and exploring what we can do to push back against the unfair desig...
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! Sam hosts Ryan Grim, D.C. Bureau Chief at The Intercept, to discuss his recent bombshell scoop Heather Bresch, Joe Manchin’s Daughter, Played Direct Part In EpiPen Price Inflation Scandal and round out the week in news. Ryan and Sam jump into a quick discussion of Biden’s rece...
It’s Casual Friday! Sam and Emma host Heather Digby Parton, contributing writer at Salon.com, to wrap up the week in news, from the Texas abortion law’s overturning of Roe v. Wade and its civil-bounty policy, to the upcoming cut off of federal unemployment benefits. Heather, Sam, and Emma start o...
Emma hosts James Risen, Senior National Security Correspondent at the Intercept, to discuss his recent piece ”A War’s Epitaph: For Two Decades, Americans Were Told One Lie After Another About What They Were Doing In Afghanistan”, on how bad the “good war” has been since it began. James and Emma w...
Sam’s back this week as him and Emma host infectious disease specialist  Dr. MarkAlain Dery, infectious disease physician and epidemiologist at Access Health Louisiana and host of the daily NoiseFilter Podcast, to discuss the fallout from Hurricane Ida making landfall in Louisiana, the evacuation...
Sam and Emma host Alex Pareene (@pareene), staff writer at The New Republic and co-host of the podcast The Politics of Everything, to wrap up this week’s events before Matthew Film Guy (@langdonboom) drops by afterwards! Alex, Emma, and Sam explore the lingering effects of Donald Trump, starting ...
Sam and Emma host Ari Rabin-Havt, the former Legislative Director and Chief Policy Advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders, to discuss the prospects of the Senate bipartisan infrastructure bill, as well as the budget reconciliation bill that’s supposed to follow it. Then, David Feldman (@David_Feldman_...
Sam and Emma host David Dayen, executive editor at the American Prospect, on his upcoming Infrastructure newsletter, “Infrastructure Summer,” and the recent developments with Biden’s legislative agenda. They begin with a discussion on the current state of the Infrastructure Package, its emphasis ...
Sam hosts Tim Jackson, University of Surrey professor of sustainable development, and author of the book Post Growth: Life after Capitalism on what a world can look like after the fall of the free market and our incessant chase for endless growth. Professor Jackson traces his vision from his orig...
Sam and Emma host Jules Boykoff, Pacific University professor of politics and government, former US Olympian and author of NOlympians: Inside the Fight Against Capitalist Mega-Sports in Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Beyond, to discuss the Olympics industrial complex and the growing international moveme...
Sam and Emma host Ryan Grim, DC Bureau Chief at the Intercept, to discuss this week’s top stories including the bipartisan infrastructure deal, Pelosi and Schumer’s play for reconciliation bills, and more, plus, legendary comedian David Cross joins in the Fun Half. Ryan helps walk Emma and Sam th...
Sam and Emma host Alex Pareene, staff writer at the New Republic, to discuss the week’s top stories including Biden’s first foreign policy trip to the G7, Manchin’s voting rights bill, and the endless revolving infrastructure negotiations.  Alex, Emma, and Sam start with the Manchin leak, in whic...
Emma hosts Astra Taylor, activist, and member of the Debt Collective, to discuss her new book Remake the World: Essays, Reflections, Rebellions on how we can and must organize around each other to help lift ourselves out of the confining and isolating world that has only been exacerbated by the b...
Sam and Emma host Heather “Digby” Parton, proprietor of the wönderblog Hullabaloo and Salon.com contributor, to discuss the week’s top stories, including Biden’s bipartisan fetish President Manchin and the filibuster, and more. They explore the Democrats’ plan to make June the month of failure, u...
Sam hosts Emory Professor of Law Dorothy A. Brown to discuss her new book, The Whiteness of Wealth: How the Tax System Impoverishes Black Americans – and How We Can Fix It, on the myriad ways in which race is coded into our tax systems, reserving benefits and breaks for white families across the ...
Sam and Emma host trans activist and law professor Dean Spade to discuss his book Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next) on what we learned about collective action through the Covid-19 pandemic and how to better prepare for the next one. They explore what mutual aid is,...
Sam and Emma host epidemiologist Dr. MarkAlain Dery and host of the Covid Noise Filter podcast to discuss the state of the pandemic, including vaccine effectiveness, the new CDC mask guidance and the agency’s litany of failures during the covid pandemic, and why not achieving herd immunity is not...
Sam and Emma host David Dayen, Executive Editor at The American Prospect, to assess Biden’s first 100 days in office, what he’s accomplished, what’s been left on the table, and how we should read last night’s address as we move forward. They talk discourse versus policy, how lingering deficit haw...
Sam and Emma host journalist and author Ann Neumann to discuss her new piece in the Baffler – “Who Owns Vaccines?” – on the barriers of IP patents and how US vaccine hoarding risks needless COVID deaths abroad. They touch on Bill Gates and the exploitative nature of capitalist philanthropy, how t...
Sam is back this week and covering the stories leading the headlines including the voting rights and culture war clash in Georgia, the race against a fourth Covid wave, and the arrival of infrastructure week. Sam and Emma discuss the kabuki theater of infrastructure week, Sam remembers when MAGA ...
Sam and Emma host ProPublica journalist Alec MacGillis and author of “Fulfillment:Winning and Losing in One-Click America” to discuss how Jeff Bezos has used America’s infrastructure to make Amazon the most dominant monopoly in the US. Alec explains how Amazon has been a driving force of regional...
Sam and Emma host David Dayen, executive editor at the American Prospect, and Francesca Fiorentini of The Bitchuation Room to break down the massive American Rescue Plan, Biden’s accelerated vaccination timeline, and leaving the Reagan era for good.
Sam and Emma host Elizabeth Pancotti, policy director at Employ America, to discuss the details of the $1.9T American Rescue Plan and what was left out of the bill too. Pancotti makes sense of the bill and the money going directly to working Americans, and critiques some of the not-so-fiscally-co...
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...
Joan Fitzgerald, a Professor of public affairs Northeastern University explains why markets can’t solve commons crisis. America’s water crisis in the West and North and why markets have made the problem worse. Also why it takes government planning and action to upgrade infrastructure and save water.