Episodes

The American right is weaponizing state-sponsored and endorsed vigilantism in an effort to impose Christian Nationalism in the United States. That’s the argument Jon Michaels and David Noll make in their new book “Vigilante Nation: How State Sponsored Terror Threatens Our Democracy.” Noll, a professor of law at Rutgers University, joins us to discuss.

You’ve seen his videos–the hilarious sendups of Trump and his cronies almost always with a particular musical flare. Well, Randy Rainbow has a new book out–Low-Hanging Fruit: Sparkling Whines, Champagne Problems, and Pressing Issues from My Gay Agenda. We’re delighted to have him here this week to chat about it.

JD Vance made some news recently when he decried “childless cat ladies” as the downfall of America. And while that is a clearly ridiculous statement on its face, it does cut to something true in our culture: women are expected to have kids, whether they want them or not. Our guest this week, Therese Shechter is a leading voice in the childfree movement. She is a member of the Alliance of Childfree Voters which is a non-partisan coalition fighting for visibility and policy priorities for people w...

The saying goes that laughter is the best medicine. But it can be a powerful driver for social change. Our guest this week is Steve Hofstetter. Steve’s a comedian, a Nobel Prize nominee, and a philanthropist who’s been making people laugh and think for a long time.

There is perhaps no industry which intersects more completely with immigration, labor, and health and safety than meat packing. In her new book “The Life and Death of the American Worker” Alice Driver takes the industry head on through the stories of Tyson Food employees in Arkansas, and she’s joined us to discuss.

As the American right becomes more and more authoritarian, it is attempting to rewrite history. From its claims that the United States isn’t a democracy to its attempts to remove books from libraries and rewrite curricula, the reshaping of the past risks our future. In light of this evolving reality, bestselling author Jason Stanley joins us to discuss his new book Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future.

For the Labor Day holiday, we're revisiting a critical bit of ongoing organizing happening in the United States. One of the interesting side effects of the post-Covid economy has been a surge in the power and influence employees hold. Wages in service industry jobs have risen dramatically as employers struggle to find workers. However, there have also been increasing stories of worker exploitation, leading to a surge in new unionization efforts. To discuss all of it, we’ve invited Michelle Eise...

The traditional way of influencing a foreign nation’s policy is through diplomacy. But, as recent headlines have shown us, that’s certainly not the only way. Foreign lobbyists are working to shape our policies globally, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Casey Michel’s new book Foreign Agents: How American Lobbyists and Lawmakers Threaten Democracy Around the World examines this dark underside of international relations.

The voting rights act of 1965 restored voting power to people of color across the United States. Of course, the American right couldn’t have that, and it begane a 50-year fight to overturn it. In his new book “Undemocratic,” David Daley, bestselling author of “Ratfucked,” takes us inside that fight and its consequences.

On January 20th, 2001, Donald Trump left Washington in disgrace. After losing the election, losing every court case related to the election, his supporters attacking the capitol, and his second impeachment, it should have been for good. Yet somehow, in his years of exile, he solidified his power base and may well retake the white house. Politico’s Meridith McGraw was in constant touch with Trump’s inner circle during this time, and her new book Trump in Exile examines how it happened.

There are more guns than people in the United States. About half of the guns in the world are owned by Americans. About 45,000 Americans die from gunshot wounds each year, and more than 100,000 survive shootings. We view guns as inherently masculine, and there is distinct racial coding in how we perceive guns and gun use in this country. Still the fastest growing demographic of gun owners is women, and Black women in particular. In a new essay on the Everand platform called “Stand Your Ground: A...

In early July, Russia’s illegal and immoral bombardment of Okhmatdyt children’s hospital in Kyiv forced doctors, nurses, and hospital administrators to work to save the lives of hospitalized children while scrambling to stay alive themselves. In this episode, we’ll hear from several of those workers who will share their stories of trying to help children overcome disease and injury in a war zone. We’ll also hear from Helen Kovalska, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, who will...

Well, the news changes quickly. President Biden has dropped out of the race. This episode was recorded prior to that withdrawal, and considers the complexities surrounding that then potential decision and what might come next. In this episode, we talk about what it means, what’s on the line, and how we as Democrats, patriots, and pro-democracy Americans from all political stripes might want to think about the situation.

The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 is a Trump-aligned nightmare that the extreme right wants to enact if Trump is re-elected. It is a wide-ranging reshaping of our society in a mold that leaves us wondering if “Under his eye” will be the new “see you later” should it come to pass. This week, we’re looking back at just a few of our former guests to show some of what’s at stake. We hear from Amanda Zurawski, Kate Brookes, Tim Alberta, and Sadvhi Siddhali and Sadvhi Annabhuti.

It’s hard to believe that when President Obama was elected, we barely had social media. In less than two decades, giant tech companies have completely changed how we interact with one another–and in doing so have fundamentally changed our perceptions of reality. In his new book “The Death of Truth” bestselling author Steven Brill, cofounder and co-CEO of NewsGuard, examines how this happened and how to recover from it.

It's the time of year we celebrate Independence Day in the United States. This week, we’re featuring patriotism–the real patriotism, the people we’ve featured on the show who love this country so much that they won’t stop fighting to make it better. Featuring Heidi Przybyla, Barbara F. Walter, Christian Piccolini, and PEN America.

Healthcare is one of the greatest challenges facing not only our nation, but the people who inhabit it. One political party seems to want to make it more affordable and accessible, and the other seems to want to make it more profitable for large corporations and more deadly for women. Laura Packard is the founder of Health Care Voter, a healthcare activist, and a cancer survivor. She’s here to help us make sense of it all.

Boy, the world sure feels toxic these days, doesn’t it? It’s not new–but it seems to be accelerating at a breakneck pace. Frankly, it’s understandable that so many of us feel like throwing up our hands and giving up on the fight, wondering if our culture is even worth saving. John Pavlovitz argues that it is, and gives us a path forward in his new book “Worth Fighting For.”

Would you be shocked to learn that much of the United States, including California, has no minimum age for marriage? Unfortunately, it's true. To get into the roots of this issue and the harm it does, we’ve invited Fraidy Reiss on the show. Fraidy herself endured a forced marriage, and is now the executive director of Unchained at Last, an organization dedicated to fighting forced and underage marriage.

Disinformation is one of the most dangerous threats facing our nation. And yet, some in public office seem to revel in its spread, working to thwart any effort to combat it. Our guest this week is working to change that. Nina Jankowicz is a disinformation expert, the former Executive Director of the Disinformation Governance Board and is currently the founder and CEO of the American Sunlight Project, an organization working to fight disinformation and protect those who research it.

Jordan Bryon is a trans man. He is also a journalist who was embedded with a Taliban Unit as the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan while transitioning. The new film Transition follows Jordan during this fraught time, and he and director/producer Monica Villamizar join us to discuss.

The division in this nation is everywhere. It’s not just between Democrats and Republicans. Divisions are deep inside formerly unified fronts, and these divisions seem to eat at the fabric of our society. Our guests this week are trying to change that. Joe Walsh is a former Republican Congressman. Fred Guttenberg’s daughter Jaime was killed in the Parkland shooting. They have very different views on specific issues, but through their work as Two Dads Defending Democracy, they are working to prot...

Welcome to the Part two in our two part 5th anniversary special. This week we’ll look at another clip from each year we’ve been recording - featuring Heather Matarazzo, Barbara Lee, Nina Jankowicz, Jena Griswold, and Kashmir Hill!

Join us for the first half of a two-parter as we look back at some of the great shows we've run in our first five years! From Joe Biden to Wil Wheaton, a sex therapist to an impeachment manager, we've got a great lineup!