The Majority Report with Sam Seder

Cliff Schecter explains why Dennis Hastert was just indicted. The mystery of who Dennis Hastert was paying hush money to and why. The systemic corruption of Republicans in Congress. Republican suppression and the pull of reactionary politics. Josh Duggar's molestation charges and how the story would be covered if he was African American. Also why the Duggars show has finally been cancelled. Rand Paul's push to sunset the Patriot Act and why some conservatives are getting better on prison reform. The new Quinnipiac poll that has terrible news for Republicans.

Isabel Gillies explains why she is sending her kids off to sumer camp. Mimicking the hormonal behavior of a thirteen year old boy. Isabel's experience as a juror. Also a Isabel tells us to watch the movie Force Majure.

On The Fun Half: A Bizarre call into CSPAN that may shed light on the Dennis Hastert situation. A high School student wants Sam to get him on MSNBC. Rand Paul says blame the Republican hawks for ISIS. Is Donald Trump finally going to run for President? Also your calls and IMs.

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Direct download: 05-29-15-Cliff_Schecter-Isabel_Gillies-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:18pm EDT

CREDO Action Vice President and Political Director, Becky Bond explains the broad outsider push for reclaiming our civil liberties and allowing sections of the Patriot Act to sunset. The fake reform bill that has moved through the House. Why the politics of the Patriot Act is fluid and why civil liberties can still win. The broader loss of American civil liberties over the last fifteen years. Credo Action's fight against the Medicare cuts that would help fund the TPP. Has the Medicare provision made it even more difficult for Democrats to back Fast Track and TPP.

Wisconsin Congressman, Mark Pocan, explains what his biggest with the Patriot Act are. The corporate giveaways and the undermined standards for labor and the environment. The stunning secrecy of the TPP document. The failure of labor standards to end the murders of labor organizers in Columbia. How TPP undermines regulation and threatens American sovereignty. How passing TPP could lead to Medicare cuts and what the state of play is on Fast Track Authority and TPP.

On The Fun Half: Sam gives a caller advice on what to do next with limited resources in a bad economy. More Global Warming Denial nonsense. Also your IMs.

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Direct download: 05-28-15-Becky_Bond-Mark_Pocan-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:39pm EDT

The Patriot Act stalls in the Senate. What reforms are in the USA Freedom Act? Bernie Sanders announces he is formally running for President in front of a big crowd in Burlington Vermont. How the media reports and distorts Bernie Sanders. How the delusional mainstream media treats Carly Fiorina seriously and mocks Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders continues to blow minds with his sane tax policies. The Koch Brothers are going to buy a lot of GOP candidates. Marco Rubio says Gay rights are "real and present danger" to religious freedom.

On The Fun Half: Lindsey Graham says that he does not trust the Iranians because he spent a lot of time in the "Pool Rooms". The right's assault on public education. The Left's big win in Alberta Canada. Right Wing Mandela is running for President. Louie Gohmert does not believe that Obama is going to takeover Texas he still blames Obama. And your calls and IMs.

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Direct download: 05-27-15-Sam_Seder-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:05pm EDT

Journalist Masha Gessen, author of The Brothers: The Road to an American Tragedy, explains the story of the Tsarnaev family and how they arrived in the United States. Tamerlan Tsarnaev's stalled boxing career and the crushed American dreams of the Tsarnaev family. Tamerlan Tsarnaev's interest in far right conspiracies. Terrorism and the opportunity for "belonging". Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hidden spiral that no one seemed to notice. Why Dzhokhar's defense failed and all of the questions that are still unanswered. Was Tamerlan a FBI informant? Also the FBI's odd role in the Boston Marathon investigation.

On The Fun Half: The poison pill that could kill TPP. Could an anti human trafficking provision destroy the "most progressive" trade deal ever. An Alex Jones fan calls in to debate Libertarianism. Also your calls and IMs.

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Direct download: 05-26-15-Masha_Gessen-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:13pm EDT

Medicare cuts to fund part of TPP and CREDO Action responds. Cliff Schecter explains Lindsey Graham's latest melodrama. The new Iraq invasion history re-writing. The lies that led to the invasion of Iraq. The major lies that led to the Iraq invasion. Why President Obama's not holding people criminally accountable allows for the re-writing of history. Holding Democrats accountable for voting for the Iraq invasion. Jeb Bush says accepting the scientific reality of climate change is "arrogant". The religious dog whistle in Jeb's demented stance. Also is Jeb already out of it.

Barry Crimmins and Sam remember the Boston comedy scene. Understandings Barry's unique relationship to stand up comedy. Why are progressives comedians called political and reactionaries are considered "fun". The time Barry Crimmins wouldn't shake Henry Kissinger's hand. Where you can see the Bobcat Goldthwait directed, documentary Call Me Luckyabout Barry's story as a victim of sexual abuse and evolution as a human rights activists. How Barry Crimmins took on AOL's profiting from child pornography. Barry's quest to get excommunicated and The Church's systemic coverage of abuse.

On The Fun Half: An amazing Libertarian caller wants to debate Reddits new anti harassment rule and devolves from there. We also have a global warming "skeptic" caller. Also your IMs.

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Direct download: 05-22-15-Cliff_Schecter-Barry_Crimmins-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:49pm EDT

The Nation's John Nichols explains the power and importance of Bernie Sanders push for debt free college. Why progressive politics means creative politics. Can Hillary be progressive. Why fighting austerity is the defining question. Also why the TPP is all about corporate power and 1980s economic thinking.

Why Jade Helm the new far right conspiracy that won't  won't go.

On The Fun Half: George W Bush's CIA briefer admits the Administration hyped intelligence on Iraq. Bernie Sanders shocks Wolf Blitzer. Republicans want Obama to be nice to Saudi Arabia. Also Rafael Cruz has some new craziness. Also your calls and IMs.

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Direct download: 05-21-15-John_Nichols-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:37pm EDT

LA makes a major step towards a living wage as the city moves to raise wages to $15 an hour. The success of the Fast Food workers strikes and the grassroots push for a living wage across the United States. What raising the minimum wage means for most workers. Medicare cuts are going to help fund the TPP. Will this help the Democrats to get more aggressive against Obama's awful trade agenda. Elizabeth Warren is right on the trade deal says someone who actually read the bill.

On The Fun Half: Sam talks with Luis Lang a former Republican, whose experience of not being able to pay his medical bills led him to support progressive healthcare polices and leave the Republican Party. Wisconsin Senator, Ron John says he sort of trusts the Supreme Leader of Iran more than Obama. Hillary Clinton takes on the Hillary Heroin crisis. Bernie Sanders maybe going towards legal weed. Remembering Malcolm X's radicalism and how it relates to Harry Reid going after the Koch brothers. And your calls and IMs.

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Direct download: 05-20-15-Sam_Seder-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:18pm EDT

Legendary blogger Digby (Heather Parton) explains the Republicans corporate agenda is stifled by democracy. Racist author Charles Murray's plan to subvert democracy through plutocrat funded lawsuits. The Republicans Scientology strategy and the end of regulation. How the Right can use the federal courts to destroy governments ability to protect the public good. Why the Right's shamelessness opens the door for a radical anti democratic push. What could the Left do to protect a plutocratic attack on the Courts. Why Fox News viewers are less informed than people who don't watch any news. Why the Fox News outrage machine won't allow the Republicans to ever move from the far right. Why the Republicans are probably the most successful minority party in world history. Also why a marginal Republican can win the 2016 nomination.

On The Fun Half: Lindsey Graham is running for President because "the world is falling apart". The delusional and reprehensible, George Pataki is running for President and we member the time that Sam owned him on TV. Random Rush. Did Bill O'Reilly beat his wife? And your calls and IMs.

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Direct download: 05-19-15-Digby-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:52pm EDT

Yale Professor, Jacob Hacker explains why Republicans never pay for their extremism and economist Dean Baker explains how TPP will hurt hurt the American economy.

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Direct download: 05-18-15-Jacob_Hacker-Dean_Baker-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:07pm EDT

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 infrastructure spending would be a win for everyone. Obama pushes the Senate to pass the awful TPP trade agreement. Does NAFTA threaten the Volker rule? Why TPP could do even more to undo financial regulation. How to play the far right on TPP. Jeb Bush can't decide whether he backs the invasion of Iraq or not.

Comedian Judy Gold explains acting in a new off Broadway musical, Clinton The Musical. Do Republicans go to play? What is it like to work with Louis CK? Jim Gaffigan's new show and why being in a play forces you to be on time. Are boys easer to raise? Rewarding kids sarcasm is it a good thing or a bad thing? Why Judy thinks we use our phones to much and listen to Jusy's new podcast.

On The Fun: Jeb Bush announces he is running for President by accident and gets schooled on ISIS by a College student. Also your calls and IMs.

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Direct download: 05-15-15-Cliff_Schecter-Judy_Gold-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:48pm EDT

Boston University Sociology Professor and author of The New Prophets of Capital,Nicole Aschoff, explains how capitalism survives through adopting critiques of capitalism. Why the promoters of "conscious" end up feeding some of the worst tendencies in capitalism. Whole Foods Libertarians. Why it isn't just Libertarians that are looking to the market for change. What the term Neoliberalism distracts us from. The Capitalism of the Gates Foundation and the quest for a vaccine market. Why are countries poor? By ignoring structural inequality we become even more dependent on the benevolence of billionaires. Oprah and anxiety relief capitalism. And also the limits of "Lean In" feminism. Also why we need to reclaim anti capitalism places.

On The Fun Half: Jeb Bush says its a "disservice" to oppose the war in Iraq and whines that a student questioner is smart and right about Iraq. He also announced he is running for President by accident. Man losing eyesight because he is a right wing crazy. How do you reform capitalism? Also your calls and IMs.

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Direct download: 05-14-15-Nicole_Aschoff-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:11pm EDT

Journalist David Dayen, explains how the foreclosure crisis is still hurting Americans. Does the ongoing crisis in inequality explain the failure of Fast Track trade authority to pass the Senate? What's in the TPP and why its awful. President Obama's war against Elizabeth Warren. Why Washington is wired to pass terrible trade deals. Why TPP isn't really a trade deal. The lies and old rhetoric the Obama Administration is using to sell TPP. Why TPP will increase medical prices. The TPP job creation myth. TPP and China and what happens next after the defeat Fast Track in the Senate.

On The Fun Half:  Chris Christie spends taxpayer money on shopping splurges, parties and wing talker Howie Carr goes after Chris Christie for proposing Social Security cuts. Also your calls and IMs.

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Direct download: 05-13-15-David_Dayen-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:02pm EDT

Wendy Brown a Professor of Political Science at the University of California Berkeley and author of Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism's Stealth Revolution explains the idea of Demos and how it drives our Democracy. How Neoliberalism shrinks our capacity to be human and undermines democracy. Are human beings only economic? The debate inside extreme Neoliberalism. The effort to engineer the Neoliberal human. Why Neoliberal state is not small. How Neoliberalism organically moves into every sphere of life. How value works in modern Capitalism. How Facebook became what it is. How to read Citizens United through the Neoliberal lens. Also the lost loss of Liberal Arts education.

On The Fun Half: More on the craziness of mass testing. Debating the merits of testing. Is TPP going to not pass in the Senate? Sherrod Brown calls President Obama out on TPP lies. Does Mitt Romney still want to run for President? Andrea Tantaros says the last acceptable form of discrimination in this country is against white men. Also your calls and IMs.

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Direct download: 05-12-15-Wendy_Brown-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00pm EDT

Milton Allimadi, the publisher of Black Star News, explains the importance of John Kerry's visit to Somalia. The Cold War roots of the crisis in Somalia. How American policy led to the Al Shabaab terrorism crisis. Why Nigeria has elected a former dictator as President and when will the "second liberation" happen in South Africa.

Florida Governor Rick Scott, is a super human who lied about his own mother's death in the process of blocking Medicare expansion.

On The Fun Half: President Obama goes to Nike HQ to push TPP. Glenn Beck warns of us own likely death. Marco Rubio, bases his foreign policy strategy off of The Taken Movies. Carly Fiorina lying about her own website fail and your calls and IMs.

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Direct download: 05-11-15-Milton_Allimadi-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:36pm EDT

Political strategist Cliff Schecter explains the results of the UK elections and why the Conservatives won big. The leader of Labor and the Liberal Democrat parties, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg resign. Why "Third Way" politics only works for really charismatic politicians. Why was the polling so bad in the UK? NSA spying programs revealed by Edward Snoward is found to be illegal by an Appeals Court. How is Edward Snowden not a whistleblower at this point. Mike Huckabees savvy far right populism. Can Fast Track and TPP be defeated? Why the hell is Lindsey Graham running for President? What does Jeb Bush want out of running for President? Also is the Culture War over and what is the Culture War anyway?

Film Guy Matthew Weiss and Sam discuss there history. The Neoliberal strategy of film schools and Ray Carney's truth telling. Matthew has a list of projects he is working on. Matthew's potential upcoming project with director Caveh Zahedi. Matthew's success at the "Bad Film Festival". Why its much easier to make a movies now. Matthew's new podcast. When do you stop listening to new music? And Matthew told us to watch the filmRatcatcher.

President Obama promotes TPP at Nike. Also your IMs.

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Direct download: 05-08-15-Cliff_Schecter-Matthew_Weiss-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:04pm EDT

Princeton Professor Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor highlights the distinctions between Ferguson and Baltimore. The Black political establishment in Baltimore and the class tension inside African American politics. How class is always obscured in American culture. The language of the "culture of poverty" and the lost reality of institutional racism. President Obama and the politics of respectability. How class and race intersect and the ongoing disregard for African American life in the United States. The racism of Wells Fargo. And what is the answer for institutional racism and the American underclass?

On The Fun Half: President Obama giving his all to pass the awful TPP. Harry Reid pushes back strong against TPP and Fast Track. Mike Huckabee and Donald Trump come out against Fast Track authority. What caused the culture war? Are vegetarians better people? Also your calls and IMs.

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Direct download: 05-0715-Keeanga_Yamahtta_Taylor-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:58pm EDT

Andrew Hartman author of the new book  A War for the Soul of America: A History of the Culture Wars, explains the importance of the 1960s social movements. The 1980s and 1990s and the new social map of America. The New Left and Neoconservative battle and how it defines us today. What drove Neoconservative reactionary politics. The cruel myth of 1950s America. What made the Neoconservative movement happen? Is the cultural war manufactured? What the New Left did to transform America. Also is the culture war over or simply now part of the economic war?

On The Fun Half: Mitt Romney is still delusional and we really want him to run for President. Michael Savage tells Alex Jones that President Obama will arm "Bloods and Crips" for his own army. Are crazy conspiracies worth covering? Dana Loesch asks the author of Clinton Cash, if he is afraid of being "Vince Fostered".  Also your calls and IMs.

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Direct download: 05-06-15-Andrew_Hartman-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:53pm EDT

Princeton Professor and author of One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian Americaexplains how Christian America is rooted in the corporate reaction against the New Deal. How corporations hired ministers to help destroy the New Deal. What is Christian libertarianism? How "The Family" was founded and was rooted in the corporations war against labor. Why Dwight eisenhower accepted and even expanded the New Deal while embracing the language of the religious right. The National Prayer Breakfast and "God's law" coming before America's laws. How Ronald Reagan completed the counter revolution and why the movement is alive and well in the modern Republican Party.

On The Fun Half: a UK election update and why the UK might have another election soon. The FEC throws in the towel on enforcing election rules. Are Democrats to blame for the crisis in Baltimore? And your calls and IMs.

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Direct download: 05-05-15-Kevin_Kruse-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:54pm EDT

The Young Turks and Turner Movie Classics host Ben Mankiewicz explains why the MSM always in covering Police brutality and poverty. Why cable news fails again and again. How we can cover Bernie Sanders and fight against media narratives that don't take him seriously. The Clinton machine and why isn't Jerry Brown running for President?

On The Fun Half: Bernie Sanders says why shouldn't we be more like Scandinavia? Russell Brand says we should actually vote and who people in the UK should vote for. Ted Cruz wants to know if the military is going to take over Texas. Sam Harris's silly exchange with Noam Chomsky. Glenn Beck warns marriage equality will ruin Christianity and your phone calls and IMs.

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Direct download: 05-04-15-Ben_Mankiewicz-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:07pm EDT

Cliff Schecter breaks down the vital importance of the charges filed against Baltimore police for the murder of Freddie Grey. The "rough ride" and the culture of police abuse in Baltimore. What Martin O'Malley has to answer for from his record as Mayor Baltimore. The drug war and the destruction of America. Addressing the crisis of the American underclass. Lead, crime and public health. Hillary Clinton calls for an end the mass incarceration and Bernie Sanders draws attention to the poverty crisis. The big upside of Bernie Sander's run for President. Chris Christie goes down? Also Jeb Bush's stunningly sleazy PAC strategy.

Andy Kindler gets his own theme song! Andy Kindler's booming comedy career. Andy Kindler's views on positive thinking. Is it Hillarybot time for Andy? Wolf Blitzer does a great job covering Baltimore?? Is Bibi a secret Muslim? Andy on Charlie Hebdo. Andy tours the south. Andy beefs with Adam Sandler. Sam's experience doing Maron's show. Also why we should watch Rushmore.

Texas Governor concerned that the the army is about to implement martial law in his state and Rand Paul promises to look into it. A caller defends Alex Jones. why silly Jones conspiracies distract us from real change to real problem. Explaining protesting to your children. The Baltimore curfew and the homeless population of the city. Also your calls and IMs.

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Direct download: 05-01-15-Cliff_Schecter-Andy_Kindler-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:51pm EDT

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