We've Got Issues

Violent right-wing ’groomers’ are weaponizing young Americans

First, we're joined by The Texas Observer's Josephine Lee to talk about how the campus culture wars, which are fueled by deep-pocketed conservative donors, have shifted from an emphasis on "free-market" economics to a violent form of Christian Nationalism. 

 

Then, Natasha Lennard shares her reporting for The Intercept on the movement to stop the "Cop City" project in Atlanta--a massive, corporate-funded, environmentally destructive police training facility that's being built in a forested area of a Black community--and local law enforcement's extreme over-reaction to the protesters, some of whom face up to 35 years in prison on flimsy "domestic terror" charges. 

 

Playlist

Lewis OfMan: "Attitude"

Fiona Apple: "Across the Universe"

Lewis OfMan: "Attitude"

Will Ron DeSantis’ culture warrior schtick play nationally?

This week, Joshua Holland kicks off the show with a look at how election conspiracy theorists in Arizona have turned on some of the very Republicans who fed their fantasies about the 2020 election. 

 

Then we're joined by veteran journalist Judd Legum to take a good, hard look at Florida's pint-sized wannabe strongman, Ron DeSantis, who has become a darling of conservative pundits and influencers and has been enjoying some soft coverage from the so-called "liberal media" even as he has launched multiple attacks on press freedom. 

 

Playlist

Rihanna: "Desperado"

Caro Emerald: "Pack Up The Louie"

Brothers Johnson: Strawberry Letter

Democracy dies in lazy journalism

You knew the United States was an outlier when it comes to gun violence but Joshua Holland kicks off this week's show with a look at a study that found truly eye-opening disparities. 

 

Then we're joined by AR Moxon to talk about Dilbert creator Scott Adams and other bigoted right-wingers who claim that they're being silenced when their real problem is that we can hear them quite clearly and reserve the right to judge them by their words and actions. 

 

And then we speak to Parker Molloy about the challenges of criticizing the often slanted reporting from legacy media outlets like the NYT from the left given how deeply entrenched the right's ubiquitous claims that they are "biased" against conservatives have become after decades of working the refs. 

 

Playlist:

CeeLo Green: "The Way"

El: "Mysterioso"

Love: "Always See Your Face"

This simple formula can stop emboldened far-right extremists in their tracks

Joshua Holland kicks off this week's show by pointing out that the pro-Russian right's attempts to portray themselves as "antiwar" are pure gaslighting--and arguing that cutting support for Ukraine is ultimately the pro-war position. 

 

Then we're joined by Washington Post data journalist Andrew Van Dam to try to solve a puzzle: Why do people in the Southern states have significantly worse credit scores than the rest of America? Some of the reasons that first come to mind don't explain it. 

 

And then Jennifer Mercieca, a professor of communications and journalism at Texas A&M, helps us understand how fascist movements use control of the language to normalize their extreme ideology and justify their cruelty toward "the other." Think about the American right's current obsession with "wokeness" or obsession with "groomers." But as Mercieca tells us, there are some straightforward strategies to thwart them.  

Playlist

Sara Bareilles: "Single Ladies"

Klaxons: "No Diggity"

Vanessa Fernandez: "When The Levee Breaks"

 

How conservative ’culture wars’ whitewash glaring American fascism

This week, Joshua Holland offers a rant about all of the nearly identical pieces he's read about how the law is about to catch up to Donald Trump and his minions. 

Then we speak with Dan Froomkin about how normalcy bias and both-sideism makes America's political press an enabler for an energized far-right movement that poses an ongoing threat to our democratic tradition. 

And then we're joined by The American Prospect's Jarod Facundo to talk about how the right's relatively new propaganda about "critical race theory" and "wokeness" in our schools is just thin cover for its longstanding project to undermine public education and destroy teachers' unions--and how it isn't working out quite like they'd hoped.  

Playlist

• The National: "Tropic Morning News"
• Maneskin: "Beggin'"
• Paulina Singer: "Milkshake"

Biden, Democrats are fortunate in their opponents

Joshua Holland kicks off this week's show with a solemn pledge to not start covering the 2024 election until at least Thanksgiving.

 

Then we are joined by Karoli Kuns, the managing editor of Crooks and Liars, to give us a recap of Joe Biden's State of the Union Speech, which she found to be a master class in dealing with an often unruly audience.

 

And then New York Magazine's Eric Levitz tells us why Republicans are so eager to avoid laying out any concrete demands as they take the full faith and credit of the United States hostage. 

 

Playlist

COIN: "Chapstick"

Rolling Stone: "The Spider And The Fly"

Dave Matthews Band: "Madman's Eyes"

Elon Musk is on a collision course with reality

This week, Joshua Holland looks at how the madness that's taken root among House Republicans may prove to be a decisive advantage for the Biden team. 

 

The Max Burns joins us to talk about how Elon Musk's capricious, conspiracy-driven mismanagement of Twitter is the best thing to ever happen to advocates of greater transparency on giant tech platforms--and how Musk is about to run headlong into even more problems as his user base declines and regulators around the world sharpen their tools.

 

Then epidemiologist Stephanie Langel, who teaches at Case Western, helps us understand whether we can just wish an end to a deadly and exhausting pandemic that continues to kill thousands of Americans each week. 

Playlist

Bryan Paul Bell: "Devil's Gotta Dance"

The Ting Tings: "That's Not My Name"

Snoop Dogg: "My Medicine"

How Dems forced Europe into a ’race to the top’ on climate

Joshua Holland kicks off this week's show with a look at how right-wing conspiracism and a massive number of guns is driving a huge wave of mass shootings in America. At some point, we should probably think of it as a policy choice. 

 

Then we're joined by Evergreen Action co-founder Sam Ricketts to talk about how the huge package of climate provisions that Joe Biden managed to push through a 50-50 Senate is creating something unusual: A virtuous trade war with our allies and rivals. 

 

Playlist

Beastie Boys: "Intergalactic"

Shawn Colvin: "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)"

You won’t believe how extreme some red states’ new anti-trans bills are

This week, Joshua Holland kicks off the show with a short rant about how observers tend to ignore the death toll that has resulted from the proliferation of right-wing conspiracy theories. 

 

Then we're joined by The Washington Post's Paul Waldman to talk about the Republican civil wars growing in intensity--and how the party's disarray may constrain its ability to leverage its control of the House to advance its agenda. 

 

And then Erin Reed, who writes the Erin in the Morning newsletter, offers us a bird's eye view of the dozens of bills Republican legislatures across the country are considering to target transgender people--and their families and support networks--in ways that should shock you. 

 

Playlist

Viagra Boys: "Punk Rock Loser"

Cody Brooks: "First World Problems"

Citizen Cope: "Brother Lee"

Far-right opponents of democracy thwarted again in Brazil

This week, Joshua Holland kicks off the show with a look at the right's latest culture war idiocy—and how the legacy media is amplifying it. 

Then we are joined by journalist Euan Marshall from São Paulo, Brazil, to discuss the similarities and differences between this week's riots by supporters of the defeated authoritarian Jair Bolsonaro and the MAGA Insurgency of Dunces almost exactly two years earlier.

And then Heather "Digby" Parton previews the next two years of relentless nonsense from the GOP-controlled House of Representatives and talks to us about the maddening false equivalence surrounding the discovery of a handful of classified documents in Joe Biden's old records. 

Playlist:

• The Black Keys: "Weight of Love"
• ZZ Ward: "Tin Cups"
• Blondie: "Dreaming"