The Majority Report with Sam Seder

On today's Majority Report, UChicago Law Professor and former SCOTUS clerk, Justin Driver joins the program to talk about his new book The Schoolhouse Gate: Public Education, the Supreme Court, and the Battle for the American Mind. In the book, Driver gives an engaging and alarming book that aims to vindicate the rights of public school stu­dents, which have so often been undermined by the Supreme Court in recent decades. Driver recounts the hallmark cases that have influenced both education policy and our understanding of the first amendment of our constitution. Driver also explains how Brown v. Board unanimous decision set of a fierce debate about how we understand integration and equality in our public schools. We're headed into an era where principals of previous ruled-upon cases are being reinterpreted by ideology in our newly confirmed conservative court system. Sam and Driver breakdown the idea of racial protection in the face constitutional colorblindness after decades of Justice Scalia and Thomas presiding over the court. The two end the interview discussing what we can do about the grim reality where corporal punishment is allowed in schools in 19 states across the country.

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Majority Report LIVE @ THE BK PODFEST, 2:30 PM January 13th, 2019. You can pre-order tickets here. 

Get your tickets to the Michael Brooks Show live show with Bhaskar Sunkara, Alyona Minkovski and T (Trevor Beaulieu) at the Bell House on February 1st in Brooklyn. Get your tickets here! 

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Direct download: 11-15-18-Justin_Driver-pub.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:18pm EDT

Marcy Wheeler (@emptywheel), independent journalist at EmptyWheel.net, joins us.

On today's show: Stuart Varney drags AOC on Amazon, says "the young lady does not understand growth."

Marcy Wheeler (@emptywheel), independent journalist at EmptyWheel.net, joins us to discuss the latest on the Mueller investigation, including Jeff Sessions' firing, the potential number of indictments coming down the pike, and how Trump's decision to install loyalist Matt Whitaker as Sessions' replacement (and Mueller's boss) could backfire on him.

The incoming House reps for the Democrats vs. the GOP: spot the differences.

On the fun half: Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) talks voter suppression in GA, says Republicans "can't win elections fairly." Ainsley Earhardt says elections are less fun when they aren't called on election night. Matt Schlapp says the Florida recount is a "test run" for stealing the 2020 election for Trump. Mehdi Hassan of Al Jazeera breaks down Trump's lies in interview with Trump 2020 campaign staffer. Oklahoma state football coach Mike Gundy blames transfers on "liberalism" and "the snowflake." Mindy on the PA electorate. Two fan-created MR bingo cards!

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Majority Report LIVE @ THE BK PODFEST, 2:30 PM January 13th, 2019. You can pre-order tickets here. 

Get your tickets to the Michael Brooks Show live show with Bhaskar Sunkara, Alyona Minkovski and T (Trevor Beaulieu) at the Bell House on February 1st in Brooklyn. Get your tickets here! 

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Get 10% off fair trade coffee, tea and chocolate with coupon code "majority" at justcoffee.coop

Check out The Michael Brooks Show at patreon.com/tmbs, and the new TMBS YouTube channel for all short TMBS clips

Check out Matt’s podcast, Literary Hangover, at Patreon.com/LiteraryHangover or on iTunes

Check out Jamie’s podcast, The Antifada, at patreon.com/theantifada, on iTunes, or at youtube.com/theantifada

Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter:

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Direct download: 11-14-18-Marcy_Wheeler-pub.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:21pm EDT

John Sides (@johnmsides), professor of political science at George Washington University and co-author of Identity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Campaign and the Battle for the Meaning of America, joins us.

On today's show: Andrew Gillum talks Florida recount...in 2002 documentary.

John Sides (@johnmsides), professor of political science at George Washington University, joins us to discuss his new book, Identity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Campaign and the Battle for the Meaning of America. For this book, Sides researched voters' beliefs about how much the Democratic Party's policies helped black Americans, and found they grew substantially after Obama's 2008 election. Sides posits that Obama's election racialized US politics n a way they had not been previously, causing race, immigration and religion to play a major role in the 2016 presidential election.

In the fun half: AOC visits climate change protest in Pelosi's office. Amazon comes to NYC, granting Cuomo's wish for upward redistribution. Trumpy Bear: the hottest Xmas gift for QAnon truthers. Hyde Smith refuses to apologize for joking about "public hanging" in a state known for lynchings. Mike from PA calls in to report back on races in his state, call out Democratic Party and union officials who endorsed a GOP candidate. A caller discusses the "should we be socialists?" panel Sam hosted and the flawed understanding behind the statement "I don't want the government to make my shoes."

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Majority Report LIVE @ THE BK PODFEST, 2:30 PM January 13th, 2019. You can pre-order tickets here. 

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Get your tickets to the Michael Brooks Show live show with Bhaskar Sunkara, Alyona Minkovski and T (Trevor Beaulieu) at the Bell House on February 1st in Brooklyn. Get your tickets here! 

Check out The Michael Brooks Show at patreon.com/tmbs, and the new TMBS YouTube channel for all short TMBS clips

Check out Matt’s podcast, Literary Hangover, at Patreon.com/LiteraryHangover or on iTunes

Check out Jamie’s podcast, The Antifada, at patreon.com/theantifada, on iTunes, or at youtube.com/theantifada

Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter:

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Direct download: 11-13-18-John_Sides-pub.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:28pm EDT

Yochai Benkler (@YochaiBenkler), Berkman Professor of Entrepreneurial Legal Studies at Harvard Law School, joins us to discuss his new book, Network Propaganda: Manipulation, Disinformation, and Radicalization in American Politics.

On today's show: Trump thanks WW2 veterans, says "you look so comfortable" under rain shelter. Macron denounces nationalism as "a betrayal of patriotism" in rebuke to Trump at WW2 remembrance.

Yochai Benkler (@YochaiBenkler), Berkman Professor of Entrepreneurial Legal Studies at Harvard Law School, joins us to discuss his new book, Network Propaganda: Manipulation, Disinformation, and Radicalization in American Politics. For this book, Benkler studied media coverage of American presidential politics from the start of the election cycle in April 2015 to the one year anniversary of the Trump presidency. He found the right wing media was largely cordoned off from the center and the left, that center-to-left people had a much more diverse media diet than the right, and that right wing media was not constrained by journalistic standards like "truth." From technology to corporate monopolies, Benkler goes over the reasons for this divide, and posits some ideas for how to fix it. 50% of Republicans still trust the mainstream media, says Benkler, so maybe that's a good place to start.

On the fun half: Cory Gardner defends his organization's accusation that "AZ election officials are cooking the books." Lou Dobbs says early voting leads to fraud, backs it up with nothing. Broflamingo from Las Vegas on racism and the right. MS GOP candidate says she'd attend a public hanging if her black opponent invited her. Danny in AZ discusses voting for the lesser evil as civic duty, not self expression. A caller tries to stump Jamie with a question on post-capitalist governance.

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Get your tickets to the Michael Brooks Show live show with Bhaskar Sunkara, Alyona Minkovski and T (Trevor Beaulieu) at the Bell House on February 1st in Brooklyn. Get your tickets here! 

Check out The Michael Brooks Show at patreon.com/tmbs, and the new TMBS YouTube channel for all short TMBS clips

Check out Matt’s podcast, Literary Hangover, at Patreon.com/LiteraryHangover or on iTunes

Check out Jamie’s podcast, The Antifada, at patreon.com/theantifada, on iTunes, or at youtube.com/theantifada

Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter:

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@SamSeder

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Direct download: 11-12-18-Yochai_Benkler-pub.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:23pm EDT

Benjamin Dixon (@BenjaminPDixon) and Judy Gold (@JewdyGold) join us for Casual Friday.

On today's show: Trump "regrets" his "tone" over the past two years. Trump blasts "disgrace" Jim Acosta, "loser" April Ryan, suggests more reporters could lose credentials. Trump tells black CNN reporter Abby Phillips she "asks a lot of stupid questions."

Benjamin Dixon (@BenjaminPDixon) joins us to discuss midterm election results and more. The need for structural reforms in campaign finance, gerrymandering and how elections are run. How do we get Democrats who will fight? Are there reasons to be hopeful? Signs of progressive shifts in deep red states. The history of black radicalism and the need for progressives who can speak to the black community and grassroots movements that can move the Democrats to the left. The importance of Florida. Check out Ben's new project The North Star

Trump says Mueller didn't go through Senate process and Whitaker did, so he's better. Seb Gorka: "direct line" between Jim Acosta's behavior and Tucker Carlson protest. Did antifa use the wrong tactics with Tucker Carlson?

Judy Gold (@JewdyGold) joins us for one of her semi-regular, profanity-laden rants. Trump says he didn't know Matt Whitaker and he's strong and respected by law enforcement. Judy's special wishes for Trump, Lindsey Graham, Chris Christie, and more.

Super-producer Matt Lech's Twitter war with Boris Epshteyn.

On the fun half: John from San Antonio on the Democrats' electoral strategy. Whitaker says Russian interference is a lie. Whitaker says Sessions' recusal was because of outrage from the left. Whitaker says only Christians should be judges in 2014. How likely are the Democrats to introduce a house of commons to better represent the working class? (Not very.) AOC can't afford an apartment in DC and Fox News assholes think that's hilarious. Conservatives' extremely racist protest of the recount in Florida. Mindy wants Democrats to be less timid.

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Get your tickets to the Michael Brooks Show live show with Bhaskar Sunkara, Alyona Minkovski and T (Trevor Beaulieu) at the Bell House on February 1st in Brooklyn. Get your tickets here! 

Check out The Michael Brooks Show at patreon.com/tmbs, and the new TMBS YouTube channel for all short TMBS clips

Check out Matt’s podcast, Literary Hangover, at Patreon.com/LiteraryHangover or on iTunes

Check out Jamie’s podcast, The Antifada, at patreon.com/theantifada, on iTunes, or at youtube.com/theantifada

Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter:

@majorityfm

@SamSeder

@_michaelbrooks

@MattLech

@jamie_elizabeth

@Bf1nn

Direct download: 11-09-18-Ben_Dixon-Judy_Gold-pub.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:40pm EDT

On today’s show, Joseph Cirincione (@Cirincione), President of the Ploughshare Fund, joins Michael to discuss the future of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and why elected officials on both sides of the aisle are pleading with President Trump and John Bolton to keep the 30 year old Cold War treaty in tact. We’re live at 12:00 pm EST.

Joseph Cirincione of the Ploughshares Fund joins us to breakdown the history of nuclear and intercontinental missiles and how close we have gotten to using these weapons of mass destruction during the Cold War. Cirincione says there have been a dozen times where human error has brought us to the brink of nuclear annihilation–reason enough for both Democratic and Republican presidents to reduce our nuclear weapons for the better part of the last 50 years. However, that reduction process has stopped, and John Bolton has been at the forefront of ramping up ballistic missile production. Cirincione says the Democratic party’s gains in the House will help as a check against Bolton and the Trump administration and can lay the groundwork for the next set of denuclearization policies for America’s national security. Historically, the military has supported agreements like the INF treaty which allows them to monitor Russian arms and keep our national security abreast of what is happening with our adversaries. Cirincione says the current dialogue in Washington regarding nuclear arms and national security are basically recycled ideas from the 1950s–nukes everywhere. The current conservative call for nuclear proliferation goes had in had with the GOP’s border policy, practices of voter disenfranchisement, and calls for “law and order”: a drive for white American global hegemony. Meanwhile, in North Korea, Cirincione says progressives need to put aside their criticisms of Trump and root for the President to make further progress on a nuclear peace deal in North Korea–one that will lead to the removal of Kim’s plutonium enrichment plants. Michael and Cirincione end their conversation discussing the Iranian sanctions, Mike Pompeo’s insincere diplomacy in the Gulf, and what the 2019 congress can do to limit our role in Saudi war crimes.

And in the Fun Half: voting out of fear, Meghan McCain is who we thought she was, Dave Rubin claims social democracy can only work in entho-states, considering the “legacy” of Jeff Sessions, Trump’s acting AG, Matthew Whitaker, is the muscle-enforcer type he’s always loved, Whitaker was also once a scamming invention patent executive, how conservative commentators willfully misinterpret the transgender dialogue, where things stand in the Georgia and Florida race, plus your calls and IMs.

Get your tickets to the Michael Brooks Show live show at the Bell House on February 1st in Brooklyn. Get your tickets here! 

Check out The Michael Brooks Show at patreon.com/tmbs, and the new TMBS YouTube channel for all short TMBS clips

Check out Matt’s podcast, Literary Hangover, at Patreon.com/LiteraryHangover or on iTunes

Check out Jamie’s podcast, The Antifada, at patreon.com/theantifada, on iTunes, or at youtube.com/theantifada

Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter:

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@SamSeder

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Direct download: 11-08-18-Joseph_Cirincione-pub.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:13pm EDT

The Washington Post's Dave Weigel (@daveweigel ) joins us to discuss the midterm election results.

On today's show: Woman describes why she voted for McCaskill: her husband was poor in America and died because he didn't have health insurance; Steve Doocy immediately moves onto MAGA chud.

Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) joins us to discuss the midterm election results. Turnout is up and Democrats out-performed their baselines. But Republicans did, too. Nancy Pelosi and bipartisanship: has she learned anything since 2010? Voter suppression in Florida. Trumpism proves resilient in Appalachia, which Democrats have largely abandoned. Where can Democrats win without running to the center? At least Scott Walker lost! How will Trump deal with it politically when the economy takes a dive? Vic Berger presents: "the Walk Away" rally.

On the fun half: Trump gets testy with media re: Russia indictment. Trump says he could stop Mueller investigation if he wanted to, but "I don't like stopping it politically." Beto O'Rourke says the f-word in concession speech. A caller says Democrats lost Appalachia by standing for nothing. Independent voters broke for Democrats because of healthcare, not immigration. Nancy Pelosi excited about protecting ACA, expresses it thusly: "Let's hear it for pre-existing conditions!" A caller defends Gillum's campaign strategy, blames racism and Trump's popularity.

Get your tickets to the Michael Brooks Show live show at the Bell House on February 1st in Brooklyn. Get your tickets here! 

Check out The Michael Brooks Show at patreon.com/tmbs, and the new TMBS YouTube channel for all short TMBS clips

Check out Matt’s podcast, Literary Hangover, at Patreon.com/LiteraryHangover or on iTunes

Check out Jamie’s podcast, The Antifada, at patreon.com/theantifada, on iTunes, or at youtube.com/theantifada

Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter:

@majorityfm

@SamSeder

@_michaelbrooks

@MattLech

@jamie_elizabeth

@Bf1nn

Members watch the full episode here.

Direct download: 11-07-18-Dave_Weigel-pub.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:07pm EDT

Full coverage of the 2018 US midterm elections, featuring the MR Crew and special guests Nomi Konst, David Dayen, and more.

Direct download: 11-06-18-Midterms.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:38pm EDT

Sean McElwee (@SeanMcElwee) of Data For Progress joins us to discuss his predictions for the midterms.

On today's show: Trump says he (kind of, maybe) regrets his tone over the past two years, but it's the media's fault.

Sean McElwee (@SeanMcElwee) of Data for Progress joins us to discuss his predictions for the midterms, and why he believes the most important results of this year's election will come in local and state races as well as the less-discussed local ballot measures. You can read more about it in Sean's latest op-ed at HuffPost, "This Election’s Greatest Wave Could Come Down-Ballot. Way Down-Ballot." And check out his post-midterms analysis at What The Hell Happened? 

On the fun half: Ronald Raygun gives some voter suppression tips for GOP-heavy districts. Does Sam have "old black guy" anger? Old woman cries after voting for Beto. MAGA women say they were denied service at NYC restaurant because MAGA. Chuck Grassley explains why Iowa and House still need Steve King. Hannity joins Trump onstage at rally. Claire McCaskill's bad leadership in MO. Former MO governor Jay Nixon's poor treatment of black potential voters. Jeff in GA says it's looking hopeful for Abrams. Mindy on her Trump voodoo doll. Ted Cruz wants to go to the bathroom, just like a real human would. Reverend Aaron of @Punks4Progress plugs some progressive candidates in NV.

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Check out The Michael Brooks Show at patreon.com/tmbs, and the new TMBS YouTube channel for all short TMBS clips

Check out Matt’s podcast, Literary Hangover, at Patreon.com/LiteraryHangover or on iTunes

Check out Jamie’s podcast, The Antifada, at patreon.com/theantifada, on iTunes, or at youtube.com/theantifada

Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter:

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Direct download: 11-06-18-Sean_McElwee-pub.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:08pm EDT

On today's show: Ohio congressional candidate Danny O'Connor explains how GOP will take away your healthcare in debate against Republican Troy Balderson. Stacey Abrams calls her opponent Brian Kemp an "architect of voter suppression." Morning Joe reveals Trump once admitted he plays the race card: "I know it's bad, but it works." Trump says the media are the ones creating violence in America with their fake news lies. Steve Martin lookalike chants "CNN sucks!" outside a Miami Trump rally.

On the fun half: John from San Antonio (@cacophousminuti) on the nation's most flippable districts. Sam challenges Steven Crowder to debate in trippy video. "Reformed Republican" @chckpeas cons conservatives by pretending to join "walk away" movement. Why does the GOP hate Nancy Pelosi? Would employers use Medicare-for-all as an excuse to pay their workers less? Will the GOP stage a coup if the Dems win big? Some thoughts on government and "efficiency." Trump does not regret selling American bombs to Saudi Arabia, says Saudis just "don't know how to use" them. A plug for Professor Lawrence Brown's study of segregated Baltimore. How to talk to white liberals about the need for gun control. The difference between leftists and liberals.

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The first ever TMBS live show is at the Bell House in Brooklyn on February 1st! Get your tickets here! 

Check out The Michael Brooks Show at patreon.com/tmbs, and the new TMBS YouTube channel for all short TMBS clips

Check out Matt’s podcast, Literary Hangover, at Patreon.com/LiteraryHangover or on iTunes

Check out Jamie’s podcast, The Antifada, at patreon.com/theantifada, on iTunes, or at youtube.com/theantifada

Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter:

@majorityfm

@SamSeder

@_michaelbrooks

@MattLech

@jamie_elizabeth

@Bf1nn

Direct download: 11-05-18-Sam_Seder-pub.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:51pm EDT