Thu, 25 April 2024
It’s an EmMajority Report Thursday! She speaks with Gretchen Sisson, sociologist at the University of California, San Francisco, to discuss her recent book Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood. Then, she speaks with Ryan Doerfler, law professor at Harvard University, to discuss his recent piece in Dissent Magazine entitled "We Are Already Defying the Supreme Court", co-authored with Samuel Moyn. First, Emma runs through updates on Trump’s immunity and hush money cases, the US’ new foreign aid package, Israel’s impending invasion of Rafah, continuing crackdowns on anti-war student protests in the US, Arizona politics, Harvey Weinstein, the TikTok ban, the resignation of Ariel Henry, and repression of dissent in Iran, before expanding on the conversation about activism on campuses, and the GOP’s insistence on maintaining the parallels with the 1960s anti-war movement. Gretchen Sisson then joins, first walking through extensive research she conducted with women who have relinquished children to the private adoption system, exploring how and why they make the decision, and how they reflect on the process some years later. Next, Sisson walks Emma through the myth of the relationship between abortion and adoption, and the reality of a distinct divide between those who seek the two options, alongside the myth of a “high supply” in the adoption market, with (once again) the inverse seeing many adoption clinics closing due to a lack of available children for adoption. Expanding on this, Gretchen explores how the “market” influence of the adoption industry shapes a largely coercive and exploitative relationship between adoption agencies and women who would often prefer to keep their children, a relationship that is largely reflective of the industry’s roots in the family separation projects practiced against Indigenous and Black communities in the US. After touching on the major role that major Christian religious institutions have played throughout the history of the private adoption industry, and the relationship between private adoption and the foster care system, Emma and Gretchen wrap up the interview with an exploration of how many mothers come to feel very critical of the adoption system and how it failed both them and their child. Professor Ryan Doerfler and Emma then look to the long history of non-compliance – and even outright defiance – in the face of Supreme Court rulings considered unjust, with Professor Doerfler walking us through the more extreme precedents set by the presidencies of Abraham Lincoln and FDR to issue direct challenges to the court, alongside the much more recent tradition of administrative non-compliance or policy loopholes as seen in the fights for affirmative action, student loan forgiveness, and more. After stepping back to look at the myth of Marbury v. Madison’s role in legitimizing judicial activism – a tactic that the Supreme Court would not truly take on until the Civil War era, Professor Doerfler explores how the conversation around the ever-changing scope of the Supreme Court became isolated from the public to solely and intra-governmental affair over the second half of the 20th Century, in a weird conflation of the rule of law and the rule of the courts. Ryan and Emma look at the current era of backlash to the Supreme Court, from the Hobbs decision to attacks on the administrative state, and what we can do to get Democrats to start fighting back, before wrapping up with a brief conversation on the stunning bravery of anti-war student activists at Harvard and across the US. And in the Fun Half: Emma is joined by Matt Binder as they watch Channel 4’s interview with an anonymous IDF member on the prevailing perspectives within Israel’s military, also diving into the continuing wave of student protests against Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and the violent police repression seen at UT Austin, USC, and Emory that has continued the parallels with the 1960s anti-war movement on campuses like Kent State. They also dive into the continuing smears against students from both Netanyahu and the ADL alike, and watch Edward Said attempt to grapple with the same double standards some four decades ago. Chris from the Bay Area debates which generation killed American class politics, and Wisconsin Senate candidate Eric Hovde botches his public pledging of the ‘legiance, plus, your calls and IMs! Check out Gretchen's book here: https://www.relinquishedbook.com/ Check out Ryan's piece in Dissent here: https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/we-are-already-defying-the-supreme-court/ Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Check out Seder's Seeds here!: https://www.sedersseeds.com/ ALSO, if you have pictures of your Seder's Seeds, send them here!: hello@sedersseeds.com Check out this GoFundMe in support of Mohammad Aldaghma's niece in Gaza, who has Down Syndrome: http://tinyurl.com/7zb4hujt Check out the "Repair Gaza" campaign courtesy of the Glia Project here: https://www.launchgood.com/campaign/rebuild_gaza_help_repair_and_rebuild_the_lives_and_work_of_our_glia_team#!/ Get emails on the IRS pilot program for tax filing here!: https://service.govdelivery.com/accounts/USIRS/subscriber/new Check out StrikeAid here!; https://strikeaid.com/ Gift a Majority Report subscription here: https://fans.fm/majority/gift 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: Nutrafol: Take the first step to visibly thicker, healthier hair. For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners ten dollars off your first month’s subscription and free shipping when you go to https://Nutrafol.com TMR. That’s https://Nutrafol.com, promo code TMR. Fast Growing Trees: This Spring Fast Growing Trees has the best deals online, up to half off on select plants and other deals. And listeners to our show get an ADDITIONAL 15% OFF their first purchase when using the code MAJORITY at checkout. That’s an ADDITIONAL 15% OFF at https://FastGrowingTrees.com using the code MAJORITY at checkout. https://FastGrowingTrees.com code MAJORITY. Offer is valid for a limited time, terms and conditions may apply. Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattLech @BradKAlsop Check out Matt’s show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Check out Matt Binder’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder Subscribe to Brandon’s show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder - https://majorityreportradio.com/ |
Wed, 24 April 2024
It's Hump Day! Emma speaks with Jeremy Gantz, contributing editor at In These Times, to discuss the recent unionization efforts at Trader Joe's. Then, she speaks with Leah Goodridge, Commissioner on the New York City Planning Commission and former member of the New York City Rent Guidelines Board, to discuss efforts to support rent stabilization in the city. First, Emma runs through updates on the incumbent victories in yesterday’s PA primaries, Trump’s legal woes, the Senate’s Ukraine-Taiwan-Israel aid package, new mass grave reports coming out of Gaza, Biden’s new labor regulations, Elon Musk’s desperate Tesla promises, a DOJ settlement, the Supreme Court’s anti-labor agenda, and fascist legislation coming out of Idaho, Tennessee, and North Carolina, before watching Summer Lee’s phenomenal speech in the wake of her massive victory against a Pro-Israel challenger. Jeremy Gantz then joins, diving right into the major recent developments in the bargaining process between Starbucks and Starbucks Workers United, with Atlanta hosting the first genuine sit-down bargaining session in almost a year, before stepping back to walk through the two years of hardline union-busting, despite consistent pushback from both the NLRB and the general public, with only the negative change to their public image pushing them back to the table. Next, Gantz expands to the greater context of the retail industry, with major companies like Trader Joe’s and REI operating their own en-masse union-busting campaigns, exploring why the decentralized nature of the industry, as well as the high employee turnover rates, make these particularly difficult organizing efforts. Wrapping up, Jeremey walks Emma through the role of the ongoing suit sponsored by SpaceX and joined by Starbucks attempting to undermine the NLRB, and what the future of these unionization drives will likely entail. Leah Goodridge then joins, first bringing Emma through her own experiences working with New York’s housing industry, and the major issues facing the affordable housing sector, both in its policy and access, and in the greater construction and maintenance it requires. Expanding on this, Goodridge explores the ever-present power struggle with developers and landlords on one side, and tenants and homeowners on the other, tackling how the former group can both manufacture the public rhetoric and villainize their opponents, often presenting their domination over the industry as heroic or necessary for a functioning of society. After touching on some of the major issues in what makes up the affordable housing market (unaffordable, single-bedroom units), Leah and Emma look to the role of the Faircloth Amendment in killing federal investment in the expansion of the affordable housing market, and pushing the responsibility for constructing and maintaining the infrastructure almost entirely onto the private sphere. Next, Goodridge touches on the major factors of the broker system and the epidemic of vacant units (often used as speculative assets) in driving up housing costs, before she and Emma dive deep into the topics of rent control and Tenant’s Rights, unpacking what these terms entail and how the media completely misrepresents the role they play in equalizing the power dynamic between landlords and renters, before wrapping up with a brief assessment of Squatter’s Right’s minor (yet unsurprisingly overblown) role in the conversation. And in the Fun Half: Emma covers Elon Musk’s unsurprising response to Tesla’s cratering profits and stock price (make unachievable and absurd promises), Garrett from VA on the growing extraction of profits from medical clinics by insurance companies, Rick from Baltimore explores how he came to MR, and Kowalski from Nebraska gives his takes on the rent control and Big Tech conversations from the day. The MR Team also watches the harrowing footage of (content warning) a Zionist counter-protester getting bonked by a flag, listens to some powerful reflections from a Columbia University anti-zionist Jew, and gives some much-needed aesthetic advice to Trump’s attorney. Newt Gingrich has a stunning parallel for the ‘persecution’ of Donald Trump, plus, your calls and IMs! Check out Jeremy's work at In These Times here: https://inthesetimes.com/authors/jeremy-gantz Find out more about Leah's work here: https://www.leahgoodridge.com/ Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Check out Seder's Seeds here!: https://www.sedersseeds.com/ ALSO, if you have pictures of your Seder's Seeds, send them here!: hello@sedersseeds.com Check out this GoFundMe in support of Mohammad Aldaghma's niece in Gaza, who has Down Syndrome: http://tinyurl.com/7zb4hujt Check out the "Repair Gaza" campaign courtesy of the Glia Project here: https://www.launchgood.com/campaign/rebuild_gaza_help_repair_and_rebuild_the_lives_and_work_of_our_glia_team#!/ Get emails on the IRS pilot program for tax filing here!: https://service.govdelivery.com/accounts/USIRS/subscriber/new Check out StrikeAid here!; https://strikeaid.com/ Gift a Majority Report subscription here: https://fans.fm/majority/gift 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: Shopify: Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at https://shopify.com/majority. Go to https://shopify.com/majority now to grow your business–no matter what stage you’re in. Fast Growing Trees: This Spring Fast Growing Trees has the best deals online, up to half off on select plants and other deals. And listeners to our show get an ADDITIONAL 15% OFF their first purchase when using the code MAJORITY at checkout. That’s an ADDITIONAL 15% OFF at https://FastGrowingTrees.com using the code MAJORITY at checkout. https://FastGrowingTrees.com code MAJORITY. Offer is valid for a limited time, terms and conditions may apply. Aura Frames: Right now, Aura has a great deal for Mother’s Day. Listeners can save on the perfect gift by visiting https://AuraFrames.com/MAJORITY to get $30-off plus free shipping on their best-selling frame. That’s https://AuraFrames.com/MAJORITY. Use code MAJORITY at checkout to save. Terms and conditions apply. Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattLech @BradKAlsop Check out Matt’s show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Check out Matt Binder’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder Subscribe to Brandon’s show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder - https://majorityreportradio.com/ |