Voter News

Sam hosts journalist Ann Neumann to discuss her recent piece in Harper’s, “Falling Like Leaves: The war in Ethiopia and its crimes against civilians”. Then, Sam’s joined by Dawn Tefft, a Lead Organizer with Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC), and Sam Harshner, organizer and Adjunct Instructor of Political Science and History at Marquette University, to discuss their work with EWOC and its central mission. First, Sam runs through updates on Biden’s State of the Union speech, the rising death roll in the wake of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, the Democrats sweeping Pennsylvania’s special election, the Fed continuing their attack on labor, and the House GOP launching their investigation into Hunter Biden’s d*ck pics, before diving into the contrast between Biden’s tack towards bipartisanship and Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ statements that she’s nothing like Joe Biden. Ann Neumann then joins as she walks through the last five years of Ethiopian conflict, beginning with the protests and riots breaking out in 2016 and led to myriad resignations across the Ethiopian government and the assumption of Abiy Ahmed to the Prime Ministership, who immediately stepped in to sign a peace treaty with Isaias Afwerki to end the multi-decade Eritrean-Ethiopian border conflict – a move that would earn Ahmed a Nobel Peace Prize, only for it to become apparent that, as a part of the treaty, there was an agreement to turn against their common enemy of Tigray. After a brief conversation on the role of Tigray and Eritrea in the liberation of Ethiopia from the Derg regime, Neumann parses through the role of the US in propping up various leaders in Eritrea and Ethiopia in the shift towards neocolonialism, with Abiy Ahmed being a particular darling of the west. Wrapping up the interview, Ann walks Sam through the crimes against civilians that have come through Ethiopia’s strict information blockade, from outright violence and violation to the manipulation of food and medicine, and how the information blockade itself developed. Dawn Tefft and Sam Harshner dive right into the creation of the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee in early 2020 in response to the impact of the pandemic on workplaces, with the DSA joining with United Electorate to help sponsor and strategize labor organizing and the establishment of unions across the US in the fight for safe workplace policy in a pandemic. After briefly touching on EWOC’s work at Marquette University, Dawn and Sam walk through the biggest challenges that faced workplace organizing throughout the pandemic, and how easy it is for workers to unite over mediocre and unsafe working conditions. And in the Fun Half: Sam and the MR Crew tackle Biden baiting the Right into committing to Social Security and Medicare, Frank Luntz’s response on (s)quack box, and other highlights from Biden’s State of the Union. Nine from Seattle dives into Eritrea’s relationship to colonialism and colonization, Ryan from Ohio dives into the disaster train derailment that has taken his house, and Chad from NYC rants against corporate “charity” as per the development of Box Tops. Donald Trump calls Ron DeSantis a groomer, plus, your calls and IMs! Check out Ann’s piece here: https://harpers.org/archive/2023/02/falling-like-leaves-ethiopia-tigray-crimes-against-civilians/ Learn more about EWOC here: https://workerorganizing.org/ Donate to Hasan’s fund for earthquake victims: https://events.softgiving.com/donate/HasanAbiForTurkeySyriaEarthquakesFund Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: http://majority.fm/app Check out today’s sponsors: ZBiotics: Go to https://thld.co/zbiotics_majority_0123 and get 15% off your first order of ZBiotics Pre-Alcohol Probiotic by using my code MAJORITY at checkout. Henson Shaving: Go to https://hensonshaving.com/majority and use code MAJORITY for a free 100-pack of blades! Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattBinder @MattLech @BF1nn @BradKAlsop Check out Matt’s show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Subscribe to Discourse Blog, a newsletter and website for progressive essays and related fun partly run by AM Quickie writer Jack Crosbie. https://discourseblog.com/ Check out Ava Raiza’s music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder – https://majorityreportradio.com/

Sam and Emma break down the biggest headlines of the day as they count down to what may be Biden’s final State of the Union. Emma and Sam first dive into updates on the growing death toll in Turkey and Syria in the wake of this weekend’s earthquake, the speakers to watch for tonight, the center-right folding on the debt ceiling, the future of abortion rights, and various labor news in the political media sphere. Next, explore Judge Janine Pirro’s takedown of Biden’s first three years in office, and his failure to prove his worth to the voters, despite massive decreases in prescription drug prices (for some), and an incredibly high employment rate. They also walk through Shannon Bream’s discussion with Jared Bernstein, once again, on what Biden has actually accomplished, Kevin McCarthy singling out the national debt as the biggest threat to America, and Matt Gaetz using that tack to turn his sights on the impoverished. Wrapping up the free half, Sam and Emma parse through the Commonwealth Fund’s recent report on the US’ floundering healthcare system, paying more (both from the government and the people’s pockets) for less, worse, and more dysfunctional care than any other country in the OECD, all serving to put the US well behind in life expectancy and other quality-of-life measurements. And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma watch Rep. James Comer try to dance away from questions about the GOP-led House’s bogus investigations, discuss various reactionary members of the dumdum “left,” and Charlie Kirk has Kari Lake walk through her plans on running for one political seat while claiming occupation of another. Bobby from Maine dives into the impact of the Medicare/Medicaid debate on actual people, James from Boston takes on the devastating impacts of the “school choice” drive on public education, and Candace Owens claims that history education has completely undermined ahistorical arguments. Valerie from Arizona dives into the defunct relationship between crime and housing, plus, your calls and IMs! Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: http://majority.fm/app Check out today’s sponsors: Aura: Go to my sponsor https://aura.com/majority to try 14 days free and let Aura go to work protecting your private information online HoldOn Bags: To shop plant based bags and replace single use plastics all over your home, visit https://holdonbags.com/MAJORITY or enter MAJORITY at checkout to save 20% off your order. Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattBinder @MattLech @BF1nn @BradKAlsop Check out Matt’s show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Subscribe to Discourse Blog, a newsletter and website for progressive essays and related fun partly run by AM Quickie writer Jack Crosbie. https://discourseblog.com/ Check out Ava Raiza’s music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder – https://majorityreportradio.com/

Sam and Emma host Gary Orfield, professor and co-director of the Civil Rights Project at the University of California, Los Angeles, to discuss his recent book The Walls around Opportunity: The Failure of Colorblind Policy for Higher Education. First, Emma and Sam run through updates on the US shooting down China’s spy balloon, the Democratic base’s low enthusiasm on another Biden presidential run, the DNC overhauling their primary schedule, various GOP-run states figuring out how to crack down on drag shows and the establishments that host them, the Koch brand lining up behind Trump’s primary challengers, and Florida’s focus on teenage periods, before parsing through the destruction wrought in Turkey this weekend with a massive 7.8 earthquake. Professor Gary Orfield then joins as he dives into the evolution of the role of race consciousness in college admissions, beginning in the wake of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which saw the federal government join with students and the general public to push higher education towards integration, employing policies of race consciousness and affirmative action that would actively push against the inherent biases of the admission process, all steering US universities to a near-balance between the demographics of their students and the US population writ large by the end of the 1970s. After exploring how the Reagan Administration and neoliberal shift of the ‘80s heavily undermined poverty-specific policies like the Pell Grants while shifting the tax burden from the public to families as they cut federal funding, Professor Orfield walks through the post-Reagan challenges to affirmative action on the Supreme Court, with three cases between Michigan and UT over the first two decades of the 21st Century, moving into the upcoming cases with Harvard and UNC, which all focus on the same issue of whether active race-conscious admissions are actively conscious about race. Wrapping up the interview, Gary explores the main impacts on higher ed that we could see with an undermining of affirmative action, particularly as policy would move to the states, and tackles the importance of a bottom-up approach to solving the crisis of higher education in the US, ensuring students coming from marginalized communities are provided appropriate collegiate preparation, alongside overhauling the cost of college and university to open them up to lower-income folks, and a readdress the influence of biases in the admissions process. And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma cover the right’s clamor over whether ignoring the Chinese War Balloon or shooting it down is more of a sign of a declining American empire, Tom from Columbus talks Ben Rhodes and putting pressure on politicians, Max from Bergen county discusses leveraging the death penalty to reduce traffic violations, and Charlie Kirk takes aim at AOC, calling code-switching, “rhetorical blackface.” Jack from Boston explores pushback on the Supreme Court from legal institutions, and Sam from New College in Sarasota Florida dives into Ron DeSantis’ and Chris Rufo’s attempted infiltration of her college, and the grounding of the attack in bigotry from racism to transphobia. Jack from Louisville walks through LMPD’s stonewalling of any accountability measures, Vato T from Washington takes on education, class, and affirmative action, George Santos moves his grift from Drag Race to Broadway, and Matt Schlapp lashes out at supposed “reporters” for “reporting” on his “reported” abuse, plus, your calls and IMs! Check out Gary’s book here: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691227412/the-walls-around-opportunity Help out New College here: https://savenewcollege.org/ Check out the New College Students for Educational Freedom Twitter account here: https://twitter.com/NCFEduFreedom Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: http://majority.fm/app Check out today’s sponsors: ZBiotics: Go to https://thld.co/zbiotics_majority_0123 and get 15% off your first order of ZBiotics Pre-Alcohol Probiotic by using my code MAJORITY at checkout. ExpressVPN: We all take risks every day when we go online, whether we think about it or not. 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Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattBinder @MattLech @BF1nn @BradKAlsop Check out Matt’s show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Subscribe to Discourse Blog, a newsletter and website for progressive essays and related fun partly run by AM Quickie writer Jack Crosbie. https://discourseblog.com/ Check out Ava Raiza’s music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder – https://majorityreportradio.com/

It’s Casual Friday! Sam and Emma host Jamelle Bouie, opinion columnist at the New York Times and co-host of the Unclear and Present Danger podcast, to round up the week in news. Then, they’re joined by Hamza Syed, co-host of The Trojan Horse Affair podcast, available from the New York Times and Serial. First, Sam and Emma run through updates on Biden leading the US through another strong quarter for labor, Blinken delaying his trip to China amidst the arrival of a “Spy Weather balloon” in the US, George Santos, the removal of Rep Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee, and the Fed continuing their full-on assault on labor, before diving into Fox’s juxtaposition of a strong labor market with Ford failing to meet some of their own revenue expectations. Jamelle Bouie then joins as he dives right into the murder of Tyre Nichols at the hands of the Memphis Police Department’s Scorpion Squad, and the importance of understanding the impact of the hyper-policing of marginalized communities on their relationship to politics and the state writ large. Bouie walks through the work of Joe Soss and Vesla Weaver that paints police as the most direct relationship that marginalized communities have with the state, understanding that their treatment at the hands of police creates a pessimistic view of the state and encourages a removal from the political system entirely. Capping off that conversation, Jamelle, Emma, and Sam walk through marginalized communities’ relationship to crime, understanding their fellow citizens as overpoliced in daily life while under-policed in terms of the actual risks to the community via violent crime, all serving to paint their social role, as understood by the state, as one of developing criminality rather than active citizenship. Next, Jamelle Bouie parses through the nascent stages of the GOP presidential race, why DeSantis and much of the rest of the Right relies on culture war discourse over policy, why the media struggles to handle GOP lies after decades of embracing them, Donald Trump’s role as an outside candidate even in 2024, and the constitutional nature of debt ceiling debates. They also talk with Hamza Syed about his work uncovering the Islamophobic response of the UK Government to obviously false papers covering an Islamic coup of Birmingham’s education system, and the UK Policy Exchange’s and much of the media’s attempt to paint his journalism as an extension of this Islamist project of extremism. And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma watch Kevin McCarthy try to defend the removal of Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee as “precedent” following the removal of Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar for threats against other sitting congresspeople. They also dive into the recent House vote to denounce socialism and what that means for the future of socialist policies like M4A, with 109 Democrats joining the Right on the vote, Ben Shapiro talks girl pants and why they can never be paired with boy legs, and Donald Trump rags on Ron DeSantis’ whimpering for help ahead of his 2018 race, plus, your calls and IMs! Check out Jamelle’s work here: https://www.nytimes.com/column/jamelle-bouie Check out The Trojan Horse Affair here: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/podcasts/trojan-horse-affair.html Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: http://majority.fm/app Check out today’s sponsors: Sunset Lake CBD: Sunset Lake CBD is a majority employee-owned business that pays a minimum wage of $20/hour. Visit https://sunsetlakecbd.com and use code TINCTURE at checkout to save 35% on all tinctures. Also, Use code Leftisbest and get 20% off your purchases! 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Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattBinder @MattLech @BF1nn @BradKAlsop Check out Matt’s show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Subscribe to Discourse Blog, a newsletter and website for progressive essays and related fun partly run by AM Quickie writer Jack Crosbie. https://discourseblog.com/ Check out Ava Raiza’s music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder – https://majorityreportradio.com/

Emma hosts Laura Katz Olson, professor of Political Science at Lehigh University, to discuss her recent book Ethically Challenged: Private Equity Storms U.S. Healthcare. First, Emma runs through updates on the Fed approving another interest hike as they continue their push against labor, Biden and McCarthy’s unsurprisingly unproductive debt ceiling meeting, the GOP’s ousting of Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee, the College Board removing myriad Black authors from their AP AfAm syllabus, protests in France and the UK, and the US upping their military presence in the Philippines as they wrap up tensions with China, before diving into the incoming House Budget Chair’s concerning statements on the GOP’s targets for debt ceiling cuts. Professor Laura Katz Olson then joins as she dives right into the deregulation of the 1970s and ’80s which saw a huge influx of money into the junk bond industry, and opened up the economy to much broader investments into private equity and venture capitalism, beginning a period of corporate raiding and butchering by these firms, taking prospering companies, chopping costs to pay off debt, and then selling them off as a shell of their former selves. Professor Katz Olson then walks Emma through the contrast between the perspective we were sold on private equity by the neoliberal pioneers, that they come in and save struggling companies, with their actual practice of relying on the income of prosperous companies to pay off the debt of their own acquisition, before expanding on private equity’s recent entrance into the world of medical care, seeing the vast income in the healthcare industry as the perfect tool to rake up profits from the working class, in a comparable manner to their takeover of the Dental industry in the 1990s. Stepping back, Laura Katz Olson parses through the playbook of private equity and their reliance on Non-Disclosure Agreements and Non-Disparagement clauses to keep their destructive practices under wraps, as their cost-cutting practices inevitably break down the capacity of the company to function by piling more and more responsibility on workers. Wrapping up, Profesor Katz Olson discusses the specific impact this process has on medical care, which works along the lines of life and death, and how venture capitalists are stepping into Medicare and Medicaid-funded care to rip dollars from our taxes. Emma concludes the free half by reflecting on Ilhan Omar’s response to being ousted from the Foreign Affairs Committee, her role as one of the few Representatives willing to question corporations, and what this loss means moving forwards. And in the Fun Half: Emma is joined by Brandon Sutton and Matt Binder as they assess the absurd discourse about whether non-consensual porn of someone is okay, the beginnings of the multi-millionaire class truly separating themselves from humanity, and Casey from Tennessee dives into Memphis’ history of police abuses against its Black population. Denis Prager has a moral panic about the left starting moral panics about the right’s moral panics about… before the MR Crew also touches on DeSantis’ attempt to undermine Florida’s big liberal arts college, AJ from Chicago discusses Crowder’s sexual revelations, and Marjorie Taylor Greene demands to get to the root of why elementary schools individually received billions in COVID money for “diversity.” Mark the Barb from Buffalo discusses his escape from Jordan Peterson’s ideology, plus, your calls and IMs! Check out Laura’s book here: https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/12719/ethically-challenged Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: http://majority.fm/app Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattBinder @MattLech @BF1nn @BradKAlsop Check out Matt’s show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Subscribe to Brandon’s show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Subscribe to Discourse Blog, a newsletter and website for progressive essays and related fun partly run by AM Quickie writer Jack Crosbie. https://discourseblog.com/ Check out Matt Binder’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder Check out Ava Raiza’s music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder – https://majorityreportradio.com/

Sam and Emma host Raymond Jackson, President of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 689, to discuss the recent strike by Loudoun County Transit workers in Virginia. Then, they are joined by Helena Bottemiller Evich, founder of the publication Food Fix, to discuss the recent developments within the FDA and the issues surrounding Abbott’s baby formula. First, Emma and Sam run through updates on Trump’s pleading of the fifth for the 400th time, the AP African American course updates, Nikki Haley launching her run for the GOP nomination in 2024, Hochul siding with her corporate lobbyists once again, and the previous abuses of the cops that killed Tyre Nichols, before parsing through Biden’s State Department’s refusal to acknowledge the apartheid and oppression faced by Palestinian people. Raymond Jackson then joins as he dives into the context of ATU Local 689’s strike as it reaches its third week, with Keolis taking over Loudoun Transit in 2021 and promptly cutting health benefits and forcing workers into outrageous workloads, all while serving the richest county in the US. After walking through the one-sided bargaining that has taken place in the wake of the takeover, Jackson discusses the other transit strikes inspired by Keolis’s takeovers, before they wrap up the interview by exploring the various ways to support Local 689 both from Virginia and afar. Helena Bottemiller-Evich then dives into the recent announcement of a major reorganization of the FDA amidst intense scrutiny over their food management, tackling the baby-formula drama that put this issue front and center, and why, despite decades of dysfunction, this issue only just came to a breaking point. They discuss the impact of Donald Trump’s takedown of the administrative state, and why it didn’t impact the revolving door of drug-focused administrators, before taking a step back to look at the much greater issues that faced the FDA’s actual attempts to regulate food, particularly in terms of its funding and relationship to the industry it supposedly regulates. Wrapping up, Helena, Sam, and Emma tackle the recent updates to FDA regulation, including taking heavy metals out of baby food, and how to bolster the US’ ability to regulate the food industry. And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma discuss Donald Trump staking out his violently transphobic agenda, the major PACs that stand in line with him, Lindsay Graham’s defense of supporting Trump despite his agenda being mirrored across the GOP, and Jonah from Montreal discusses Crowder’s legacy in Canada. Chris from the Twin Cities dives into the dangers of increasing transphobic policy, Ben Shapiro wishes Black people would just comply with the Police’s conflicting commands, Tony discusses the challenge of balancing means-tested social welfare with low-income budget changes, and H. Jon Benjamin has a heart to heart with Sam about the issues he brings to the Bob’s Burgers studio, plus, your calls and IMs! Get more information on the ATU strike here: https://www.atulocal689.org/ Check out Food Fix here: https://foodfix.co/ Help the Rees family here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/please-help-baby-willy?s=09 Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: http://majority.fm/app Check out today’s sponsors: LiquidIV: Cooler weather makes it easier to miss signs of dehydration like overheating or perspiration, which means it’s even more important to keep your body properly hydrated. Liquid I.V. contains 5 essential vitamins—more Vitamin C than an orange and as much potassium as a banana. Healthier than sugary sports drinks, there are no artificial flavors or preservatives and less sugar than an apple. Grab your favorite Liquid I.V. flavors nationwide at Walmart or you can get 20% off when you go to https://www.liquid-iv.com/ and use code MAJORITYREP at checkout. That’s 20% off ANYTHING you order when you get better hydration today using promo code MAJORITYREP at https://www.liquid-iv.com/. Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattBinder @MattLech @BF1nn @BradKAlsop Check out Matt’s show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Subscribe to Discourse Blog, a newsletter and website for progressive essays and related fun partly run by AM Quickie writer Jack Crosbie. https://discourseblog.com/ Check out Ava Raiza’s music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder – https://majorityreportradio.com/

Sam speaks with Matthew Johnson, interim director of Beloved Community Ministries, to discuss the demonstrations surrounding Atlanta’s “Cop City.” Then, Sam and Emma break down the biggest headlines of the day. First, Sam and Emma run through updates on the backlash to the officers responsible for the killing of Tyre Nichols, the lies involved in the initial police report, cooling inflation numbers, George Santos taking a step back from his committees, and the US’ response to political upheaval in Peru, before diving into coverage of Atlanta’s “Stop Cop City” protests which, while driven by peace, has inspired Governor Brian Kemp to call in the National Guard. Matthew Johnson then joins as he dives right into the legislation and development of the Atlanta Police Department’s “Cop City” training center, approved by Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms without knowledge of the City Council in 2021, and aimed at replacing the biggest urban forest in the US with the biggest militarized police training facility in the US. Contextualizing this decision, Johnson then walks through Atlanta’s role as the most surveilled city in the US, the city with the worst racial income disparity, while featuring continuing gentrification and severe environmental racism, with a particular emphasis on the city’s water supply, all of which are factors that would be seriously enflamed by the construction of Cop City over the Atlanta forest. Next, Matthew Johnson and Sam explore the movement defending the forest as a vast coalition that Kemp and the Atlanta PD are attempting to pass off as organized domestic terrorism, slapping serious charges on protesters alongside the typical abuses of police brutality, which culminated with the murder of community member Torta. They wrap up by discussing the importance of supporting places like Defend the Atlanta Forest and the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, and the future of this fight. And in the Fun Half: Tim Pool blames Defund the Police for fueling police brutality, Hochul continues to try to force herself into Cuomo’s mold of Progressive-hating Democrat, and Dave Rubin dives into his experiences in the hall of the ever-kind and gracious Elon Musk. They also discuss the persistence of anti-vaxxer rhetoric despite the clear signs that the vaccine mitigated COVID-induced myocarditis, and CNBC rails against the Marxism in Joe Biden’s FTC. Will from Nebraska discusses the impacts of the Right’s transphobic fear-mongering, and  Sam and Emma cover updates on Paul Pelosi’s attacker and his conspiracy blogging roots, plus, your calls and IMs! Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: http://majority.fm/app Check out today’s sponsors: Manukora Honey: Get a free pack of Manukora honey sticks ($15 value) with your order! Use code MAJORITY at https://manukora.com/majority ZBiotics: Go to https://thld.co/zbiotics_majority_0123 and get 15% off your first order of ZBiotics Pre-Alcohol Probiotic by using my code MAJORITY at checkout. Aura: Go to my sponsor https://aura.com/majority to try 14 days free and let Aura go to work protecting your private information online Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattBinder @MattLech @BF1nn @BradKAlsop Check out Matt’s show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Subscribe to Discourse Blog, a newsletter and website for progressive essays and related fun partly run by AM Quickie writer Jack Crosbie. https://discourseblog.com/ Check out Ava Raiza’s music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder – https://majorityreportradio.com/

Sam and Emma host Jefferson Cowie, Professor of History at Vanderbilt University, to discuss his recent book Freedom’s Dominion: A Saga of White Resistance to Federal Power. First, Sam and Emma run through updates on the GOP acting as the House majority, Ronna McDaniels winning the election for RNC Chair, and the murder of Tyre Nichols by the Memphis Police “Scorpion Squad,” before parsing through the lackluster response from the right to yet another example of the overwhelming violence of the US police state. Professor Jefferson Cowie then joins as he dives right into how he came to focus so specifically on the evolution of ideas of “freedom” in Barbour County, Alabama, looking to the southern US’ particular anti-statist and anti-federal view of freedom that favors the freedom to dominate over the freedom from domination. Expanding on this lens, Professor Cowie explores various conceptions of freedom, including personal freedoms (as enshrined in the Bill of Rights), civil freedoms, and sovereign freedom – the freedom to control and dominate – and how the settler-colonial nature of the inception of the US aligns strongly with this latter idea. Beginning in this era, Jefferson walks Sam and Emma through “freedom” as a central political idea in the development of Barbour County, originating with the displacement of the people of the Muscogee Creek nations to clear land for slave labor, isolating them into a New Jersey-sized lock of land under supposed “protection,” and continuing through the white invaders’ insistence on overcoming the tyranny of the government protecting this land, igniting a full war with the Creek peoples, and even forcing the government to step in to fully put down the indigenous rebellion. Moving forwards, Professor Cowie then walks through the reconstruction era and the white supremacist reaction to the election of various Black and freed members of society, launching a full coup on election day 1874 with an attempted massacre of enfranchised free folks, and an establishment of a local regime led by J.W. Comer that exemplified this white freedom to dominate, institutionalizing hardcore prison labor within a system that brought the imprisoned population from 8% African American to over 90%, and launching the county into the modern era of white supremacist institutions. Wrapping up the story portion, Jefferson Cowie dives into the emergence of Alabama Governor George Wallace from Barbour County as the final stage in the development of the southern philosophy of freedom, ingraining his white supremacist attitude within arguments against federal tyranny and faux-populist rhetoric for liberty, before they conclude the interview by assessing how to balance differing conceptions of freedom, and the importance of the federal government in ensuring the greatest freedom for the greatest number of people. Fun Half: Sam and Emma discuss the Right dismissal of the Tyre Nichols footage and the mass influx in anti-LGBTQ bills across the US, the GOP debates how to trim the woke from the budget, and Ben Shapiro blows the whistle on POLITICO’s puppetry of the American public’s opinion of the debt ceiling. Matt from Denver discusses his relationship to the Republican Party and their agenda, Amir from VA dives into his experiences in Brazil in the leadup to January 8th, Donald Trump’s 2024 strategy begins to unfold from the sky, and Dennis Prager explores the nuances of bullying children, plus, your calls and IMs! Check out Jefferson’s book here: https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/jefferson-cowie/freedoms-dominion/9781541672819/ Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: http://majority.fm/app Check out today’s sponsors: ZipRecruiter: Some things in life we like to pick out for ourselves – so we know we’ve got the one that’s best for us – like cuts of steak or mattresses. What if you could do the same for hiring – choose your ideal candidate before they even apply? See for yourself! Just go to this exclusive web address, https://www.ziprecruiter.com/majority to try ZipRecruiter for free! 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It’s Casual Friday! Sam and Emma host David Dayen, executive editor at the American Prospect to round up the week in news. Then, they’re joined by David Feldman of The David Feldman Show! First, Emma and Sam run through updates on the charging of five Memphis cops over the brutal murder of Tyre Nichols, the right bickering over the next RNC Chair, Adam Schiff entering the race for Feinstein’s seat, and DeSantis bumping 1 million Floridians off of Medicaid, before watching Tyre Nichols’ mother, RowVaugn Wells, reflect on the legacy of her son. Then, David Dayen joins as he dives right into the arrival of Jeffrey Zients as Biden’s new Chief of Staff, parsing through his record as an “efficiency expert” and cost cutter, and his background in consulting as worrying features for the President’s primary day-to-day filter, before reflecting on Democratic establishment media’s defense of Zients as a “nice guy” whose past work you should somewhat ignore. Next, David walks Sam and Emma through Chuck Schumer cutting two massive bills that would have been a step towards breaking up Big Tech, including the American Innovation and Choice online Act – essentially preventing self-preferencing – and the Open Apps Market Act – which would take on the stipend that app monopolies (Google, Apple) take from in-app purchases – as well as exploring why Schumer has acted with such fealty to the Tech regime. Wrapping up, Dayen assesses Biden’s massive 2021 executive order made up of 72 actions pushing government agencies to take on an understanding of economic competition beyond the impact on prices and consumers, discussing which agencies have actually seen the biggest shift in attitude, and the importance of these types of executive action in bolstering the programs of his anti-trust candidates like Lina Khan at the FTC and Jonathan Kanter at the DOJ, before briefly touching on Pete Buttigieg’s floundering at the DOT and whether that will change. David Feldman also joins as he reflects on Sam’s anti-cooperative work ethic, calls out the gated community that is the Majority Report, and check’s in with Sam’s child, Matt Lech. And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma discuss the politics behind the Memphis Police’s quick charging of their fellow cops for the murder of Tyre Nichols, Ron DeSantis asks why the hell the RNC is in DC, the nation’s capital, and Matt Gaetz and Geraldo Rivera bring a tepid fight to Hannity over the debt ceiling debate. They also discuss Project Veritas’ honey potting of a no-nothing Pfizer worker, Adam from Virginia talks to this show (of all shows) about day trading, and Garret from Michigan recommends the work of Nick Turse and discusses giving history teachers the freedom to discuss America’s violent past, plus, your calls and IMs! Check out David’s work at the Prospect here: https://prospect.org/topics/david-dayen/ Check out The David Feldman Show here: https://www.youtube.com/c/DavidFeldman/featured Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: http://majority.fm/app Check out today’s sponsors: Sunset Lake CBD: Sunset Lake CBD is a majority employee-owned business that pays a minimum wage of $20/hour. Visit https://sunsetlakecbd.com and use code TINCTURE at checkout to save 35% on all tinctures. Also, Use code Leftisbest and get 20% off your purchases! Aura: Go to my sponsor https://aura.com/majority to try 14 days free and let Aura go to work protecting your private information online Manukora Honey: If you head to https://manukora.com/MAJORITY you’ll automatically get a free pack of honey sticks with your order-a $15 value! ZBiotics: Go to https://thld.co/zbiotics_majority_0123 and get 15% off your first order of ZBiotics Pre-Alcohol Probiotic by using my code MAJORITY at checkout. Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattBinder @MattLech @BF1nn @BradKAlsop Check out Matt’s show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Subscribe to Discourse Blog, a newsletter and website for progressive essays and related fun partly run by AM Quickie writer Jack Crosbie. https://discourseblog.com/ Check out Ava Raiza’s music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder – https://majorityreportradio.com/

Emma hosts Hal Weitzman, executive director for intellectual capital at the University of Chicago Business School, to discuss his recent book What’s The Matter With Delaware?: How the First State Has Favored the Rich, Powerful, and Criminal-and How It Costs Us All. Then, Emma is joined by Lee Harris, reporter at The American Prospect, to discuss her most recent piece “Wall Street’s Big Bet on Rewiring America”. First, Emma runs through updates on Israel’s continuing violence in the West Bank to start 2023, panic setting in around the debt ceiling, the Supreme Court’s first decision of the term, various states’ attempts to ban transition care up to 26 years old, Peru’s potential impeachment, and DT’s return to FB and IG, before Emma parses through Kevin McCarthy’s attempt to remove Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee and the bigotry behind the process. Hal Weitzman then joins as he dives right into the staggering stats around Delaware’s role as host for LLCs and corporations across the world, acting as the base for two-thirds of Fortune 500s, with thousands of new Limited Liability Corporations being created every day, resulting in a state with 1.8 million corporations to a population of around 1 million people. Next, Weitzman walks Emma through the history behind Delaware’s role as a corporate haven, beginning with Woodrow Wilson’s crackdown on New Jersey’s corporate leniency pushing companies to Delaware, the next closest haven to New York, before they shift the conversation to what makes Delaware so the perfect American version of the Cayman Islands, from its small size (both in population and geography) to its location. Expanding on the conversation, Hal and Emma walk through various elements of this industry known as “the Franchise”, from building an entire legal infrastructure for corporate issues to sponsoring the rapid turnover of entire corporations in a Ponzi-scheme-esque manner and allowing for the anonymous creation of LLCs, all serving to bolster the state’s status-quo – as per “the Delaware Way.” Next, Lee Harris walks through Ithaca’s developing Green New Deal, exploring how Venture Capitalists and Goldman Sachs capitalized on the Inflation Reduction Act’s environmental subsidies by investing in this infrastructure overhaul, taking somewhat legitimate environmental programs and putting the control of profits and energy into the hands of the same for-profit model that created these issues. After discussing the role of Bloc Power, the main Start-Up involved, they walk through the various differences between Ithaca’s Green New Deal (and other small-scale versions) and Bernie Sanders’ original bill, before wrapping up the interview by tackling the various routes through which these corporations are ensuring the infrastructure remains under their control. And in the Fun Half: Emma is joined by Matt Binder and Brandon Sutton as they discuss Glenn Beck’s takedown of Velma’s new spin on Scooby-Doo, Margaret from PA discusses skullduggery fatigue, and Ben Shapiro compares guns to embezzlement, forgetting that the solution to both is greater regulation and administrative oversight. Nate from NH expands on the gas stove/baby formula debate by walking through the other various unregulated toxins we ingest, and Mark from Buffalo explores the future of America’s two major parties. The A&W Bear has no pants, plus, your calls and IMs! Check out Hal’s book here: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691180007/whats-the-matter-with-delaware Check out Lee’s piece here: https://prospect.org/environment/2023-01-23-wall-street-rewiring-america-ithaca-green-new-deal/ Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: http://majority.fm/app Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattBinder @MattLech @BF1nn @BradKAlsop Check out Matt’s show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Subscribe to Brandon’s show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Subscribe to Discourse Blog, a newsletter and website for progressive essays and related fun partly run by AM Quickie writer Jack Crosbie. https://discourseblog.com/ Check out Matt Binder’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder Check out Ava Raiza’s music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder – https://majorityreportradio.com/