Musk Rules Everything Around Me
Elon Musk reached a deal with Twitter on Monday to take over the company for roughly $44 billion. Mike Isaac, a tech reporter for the New York Times, joins us to discuss how we got here and what comes next. And in headlines: President Biden plans to nominate Bridget Brink to be the next ambassador to Ukraine, the Supreme Court will take up the case of Rodney Reed, and Beijing officials began ma...
20m Apr 26, 2022
20m
Delete Your Shared Netflix Account
The Supreme Court is in session this week and will hear two cases that could have a big impact. The first will be heard today and could affect our First Amendment right to freedom of religion, including the separation of church and state. The other will be heard on Tuesday and could have major implications for migrants at the Southern border seeking asylum. Netflix estimates that 100 million ac...
20m Apr 25, 2022
20m
The Tragic Kingdom Of Ron DeSantis
The GOP-led Florida state legislature gave the final stamps of approval to a pair of proposals on Thursday. The first redraws Florida’s Congressional voting map in a way that would eliminate two majority Black districts. The other revokes Disney Corporation’s special tax status around Disney World. In headlines: The U.S. will provide $800 million in military aid to Ukraine, the Supreme Court ru...
23m Apr 22, 2022
23m
Run For Something (You Better Clerk)
Russia gave Ukrainian forces in Mariupol an ultimatum earlier this week: surrender or die. Russian-backed separatists said only five people surrendered, which could mean that the city could be captured very soon. Voting rights organizations are funneling their support to the people on the ground who oversee local elections ahead of this year’s midterm elections. Amanda Litman from Run For Somet...
25m Apr 21, 2022
25m
Puff Puff Pass Laws Decriminalizing Weed
Hours after a federal judge in Florida overturned the CDC’s mask mandate for public transportation, airlines like Delta and United made masks optional. Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, host of Crooked’s “America Dissected,” gives some advice to help you make your own decision on whether to stay masked. In headlines: President Biden announced actions toward federal student loan debt forgiveness, Florida Gove...
22m Apr 20, 2022
22m
Maskers, Prepare For Takeoff
A federal judge in Tampa, Florida, voided the nationwide travel mask mandate on Monday. Last week, the CDC extended that mask mandate for commercial flights, subways, trains, and other forms of public transportation until May 3rd. The Russia-Ukraine war has sparked concerns among U.S. officials about cyber warfare. On Sunday, CBS News reported “evolving intelligence” that suggests that Russia i...
16m Apr 19, 2022
16m
South Carolina Sets An Execution By Firing Squad
The city of Mariupol has been one of the worst sites of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While Ukrainian forces have held their ground, reports are now saying that Mariupol is likely to fall to Russian forces soon. A man named Richard Moore in South Carolina is scheduled to become the fourth person executed in the United States this year. Moore was given the option of being killed by the electric ...
16m Apr 18, 2022
16m
Defending Trans Youth in Alabama
Alabama became the first state to criminalize the act of providing gender-affirming medical care to trans youth, last week. The bill makes it a felony to prescribe puberty blockers or hormones to trans kids under the age of 19. Kaitlin Welborn, a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama, joins us to discuss her organization’s work challenging the law. And in headlines: Fl...
20m Apr 15, 2022
20m
The War On Roe in Oklahoma
New York Police arrested a suspect in relation to Tuesday’s mass shooting on a Brooklyn subway. Frank James was apprehended in Manhattan and is accused of shooting ten people, which resulted in many more injuries as well. Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed a bill on Tuesday that makes performing an abortion in the state a felony. Jenny Ma, a Senior Staff Attorney at the Center for Reproductiv...
19m Apr 14, 2022
19m
A Mass Shooting On An NYC Subway Train
A mass shooting took place on a New York City subway train, Tuesday morning. According to New York’s Fire Department, 10 people were shot and, miraculously, no one died. We recap what we know and what we don’t know about the shooting. And in headlines: Ukrainian fighters in Mariupol accused Russia of using chemical weapons, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed a bill that outlaws performing an ...
19m Apr 13, 2022
19m
Give Up The Ghost Guns
President Biden announced a new rule that would prohibit the unregulated online sale of “ghost guns,” or firearms that you can self-assemble from kits with gun parts. The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives says that it recovered about 20,000 suspected ghost guns last year, which is ten times more than it did in 2016. The effort to try Russia for war crimes in Ukraine is picking u...
18m Apr 12, 2022
18m
How A Miscarriage In Texas Led To A Murder Charge
Texas authorities arrested 26-year-old Lizelle Herrera, last week, on murder charges for what the local sheriff’s office described as a “self-induced abortion.” Her bond was set at $500,000 and her arrest sparked protests from abortion rights activists over the weekend. But on Sunday, local prosecutors dropped the charge against her. More than 50 people were killed and another 98 injured after ...
17m Apr 11, 2022
17m
Hot Takes On The New IPCC Report
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson became the first Black woman to be confirmed as a Supreme Court Justice on Thursday, and the first former public defender to sit on the high court. Three Republicans crossed party lines to support her, including Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Mitt Romney of Utah. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a n...
20m Apr 08, 2022
20m
Vaccine Makeover: Fall Edition with Dr. Abdul El-Sayed
The Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed Amir Locke earlier this year will not face any criminal charges. Locke was a 22-year-old Black man who was killed while members of the Minneapolis Police SWAT team executed a no-knock warrant on his cousin’s apartment. An FDA advisory committee met yesterday to discuss the next phase of COVID vaccines and boosters. Dr. Abdul el-Sayed, an epidem...
18m Apr 07, 2022
18m
Not Ready, Not Set, Redistricting
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave an emotional address to the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday after his visit to Bucha. In his speech, Zelensky accused Russian troops of atrocities, which included violent murder, rape, and a number of horrific acts. There are a number of states fighting over redrawing their maps even as the midterm elections inch closer. Michael Li, senior ...
23m Apr 06, 2022
23m
Same-Day Solidarity At Amazon with Chris Smalls
Amazon warehouse workers in Staten Island, New York, voted to form the company’s first union in the U.S. last Friday, making a historic win for labor organizers everywhere. The union earned recognition in less than a year into its existence, and it overcame multiple arrests as well as millions that Amazon spent on anti-union consultants. Chris Smalls, founder of the Amazon Labor Union, joins us...
17m Apr 05, 2022
17m
Joe Time Like The Present To Forgive Student Loans
Signs of a massacre in Bucha, a town near Kyiv, have intensified calls for investigations into possible war crimes by Russia. Footage and photographs from Bucha show the corpses of at least twenty men strewn across the streets. The town’s mayor has said the victims included men and women and at least one child, and that they’ve already buried 280 people in mass graves. Today, hundreds of people...
17m Apr 04, 2022
17m
BA.2 The Bone
The Biden administration will reportedly end its use of Title 42 by late May. The policy effectively acted as a suspension of the legal asylum process, and has been viewed as inhumane by immigration activists. The BA.2 Omicron subvariant is now the dominant COVID strain in the U.S. This comes as many states begin to close mass vaccination and testing sites that were vital throughout the pandemi...
25m Mar 31, 2022
25m
Life As A Ukrainian Refugee, Part II
Over 3.9 million people have fled Ukraine and become refugees since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, according to the United Nations. About 2.3 million of those people have gone to neighboring Poland, and another 600,000 people have crossed into neighboring Romania. Julia Pashkovska, a mother who left her home in central Ukraine, joins us to discuss her experience fleeing the country. A...
23m Mar 30, 2022
23m
Ginni Thomas The Text Engine
The House select committee investigating the insurrection is reportedly soon going to seek an interview with Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. She was found to have lobbied former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to pursue a plan to overturn the 2020 presidential election, sending 29 texts on the subject. Immigration advocates, lawmakers, and health offi...
25m Mar 29, 2022
25m
The Fight For Trans Liberation Is Everyone's Fight with Raquel Willis
On Saturday, President Biden gave a speech from Warsaw, Poland, where he talked about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But at one point, he briefly spoke off the cuff and said about Russian President Vladimir Putin, “This man cannot remain in power.” White House officials quickly walked back Biden’s statement, saying that the U.S. has no strategy of regime change in Russia.  Today is the fourth da...
21m Mar 28, 2022
21m
Defense Against DeSantis
President Biden spoke in Brussels after meeting with European allies on Thursday, and announced that the U.S. would commit more than $1 billion in humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and welcome 100,000 refugees. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is poised to sign two GOP-backed bills into law: the notorious Don’t Say Gay bill and the Stop WOKE Act. Florida House Representative Michele Rayner joins ...
23m Mar 25, 2022
23m
Life As A Ukrainian Refugee
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson faced her second day of questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday during her Supreme Court confirmation hearings. Like Tuesday, there were some moments of substance in there, but many Republican senators didn’t let up on a bad faith effort to drum up controversies around Judge Jackson that just don’t exist. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said...
21m Mar 24, 2022
21m
Healthcare Is Under Attack In Ukraine
Tuesday was the second day of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearings. She faced questions from senators on the Judiciary Committee on a variety of topics, including her religion, abortion rights, critical race theory, war crimes, and child pornography sentencing. The World Health Organization said that as of March 18, at least 62 healthcare facilities had been hit i...
26m Mar 23, 2022
26m
The Impact Of Texas's Abortion Ban, Six Months In
Ukraine rejected Russia’s demand that soldiers surrender the city of Mariupol, on Monday, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky saying in part, “Ukraine cannot fulfill ultimatums.” And in Kyiv, a Russian missile struck a mall, killing at least 8 people according to officials. Republican-led state legislatures have passed an overwhelming amount of anti-abortion legislation in recent months...
21m Mar 22, 2022
21m
Conservatives Dig Deep To Oppose Ketanji Brown Jackson
Russia's attacks on the Ukrainian city of Mariupol continued through the weekend, with missiles striking an art school where 400 people had taken shelter. Russia is claiming that a bombing it carried out on a Ukrainian ammunition storage site was done with a hypersonic missile, and if this claim is true, it could mark the first use of this kind of weapon in combat. Confirmation hearings for Sup...
18m Mar 21, 2022
18m
Week Two of Teachers Striking In Minneapolis
Teachers in the Minneapolis Public School district are in the second week of their strike, led by The Minneapolis Federation of Teachers Local 59. Tequila Laramee, an associate educator who has been with Minneapolis Public Schools for ten years, joins us to discuss what she and the union are advocating for. At least 130 survivors have been rescued from the theater in Mariupol that had been ser...
19m Mar 18, 2022
19m
Zelensky's Address To Congress And The View From Lviv
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed U.S. Congress on Wednesday to ask for a number of things including a no-fly-zone over his country. The Biden administration did not agree to that request, but it did announce $800 million in military aid to Ukraine including anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles, drones, and more. Christopher Miller, a correspondent for BuzzFeed News currently in ...
22m Mar 17, 2022
22m
Hong Kong's Surge And The Pitfalls Of 'Zero COVID'
A missile strike on apartment buildings in the Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv on Tuesday killed at least four people and resulted in fires for hours after. The attack prompted a frantic rescue effort, and Kyiv’s mayor announced a 35-hour curfew in the city. Hong Kong is experiencing its worst COVID outbreak since the start of the pandemic. Unlike the U.S., the province is still grappling with the hi...
28m Mar 16, 2022
28m
Baseball's Back, Alright!
On Monday, delegations from Russia and Ukraine met again for talks in hopes of reaching a ceasefire, but the negotiations ended without reaching an agreement. Meanwhile, Russia expanded its missile attacks even further, hitting quiet residential neighborhoods in Kyiv and other cities. After 99 days, the Major League baseball lockout ended last Thursday with a full season set to begin on April 7...
22m Mar 15, 2022
22m
Season Premiere Of COVID Season Three
Russia launched 30 missiles at a Ukrainian military base over the weekend, killing at least 35 people and wounding at least 134 more. New COVID cases in the U.S. have dropped from 800,000 cases per day at the pandemic’s peak to about 36,000 cases per day. Last week, the CDC announced that 98 percent of the U.S. population lived in areas where it’s safe to congregate indoors without masks on. Me...
19m Mar 14, 2022
19m
Russia's Economic Isolation
Russian forces continued to advance in Ukraine after diplomatic talks between the two countries failed to stop the fighting or even to reach a temporary cease-fire on Thursday. As the violence continued, Vice President Kamala Harris called for an investigation into whether Russia committed war crimes against the civilians of Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russian civilians face economic hardships because ...
24m Mar 11, 2022
24m
The Humanitarian Crisis In Ukraine
A Russian airstrike destroyed a maternity hospital in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol on Wednesday. This is the latest example of Russian forces hitting civilians and civilian infrastructure, with United Nations monitors reporting on Wednesday that over 500 civilians have been killed so far. Washington Post journalist Isabelle Khurshudyan, who is currently in Odessa, Ukraine, joins us t...
19m Mar 10, 2022
19m
Too Much Of A Fuel Thing
President Biden banned the import of Russian oil and natural gas into the United States on Tuesday, which is expected to have a serious impact on the Russian economy. Meanwhile on the ground, reports say that 2 million people have fled Ukraine, including one million children. Recent reports from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change say that countries are not doing enough to reduce...
24m Mar 09, 2022
24m
Fighting For A Living Wage In Hawai'i
Today, workers in Hawai’i are rallying at their State Capitol to raise the state’s minimum wage for the first time since 2018. Christy MacPherson, the Lead Community Developer at the Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice, joins us to discuss how workers are being affected by low wages in the highest cost-of-living state in the nation. Russia and Ukraine engaged in their third rou...
21m Mar 08, 2022
21m
Supporting Ukraine While Avoiding Direct War With Russia
Today marks 12 days since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Over the weekend, the violence continued in multiple Ukrainian cities, efforts to rescue civilians came under attack by Russian forces, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on NATO nations for further military support and humanitarian aid. Ben Rhodes, Former Deputy National Security Adviser and host of Pod Save th...
21m Mar 07, 2022
21m
The Fight Against Texas's Anti-Trans Agenda
Russian and Ukrainian delegates agreed to what’s being called “humanitarian corridors” so trapped Ukrainian citizens can leave the country. But after a phone call with Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly believes that the “worst is yet to come” as the invasion heads into its second week. A Texas judge issued a restraining order to halt the state’s investigation of a fami...
21m Mar 04, 2022
21m
Evaluating Biden's Record On Gun Control with David Hogg
Russian forces captured the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson yesterday, making it the first to fall since the invasion that began last week. Today, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to talk about Russia’s attack with NATO foreign ministers in Belgium, while another round of conversations between Ukraine and Russia are reportedly set to take place soon as well. March For Our L...
23m Mar 03, 2022
23m
Reacting To Biden's First State Of The Union with Jon Favreau
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continued into its sixth day, with explosions shaking the cities of Kyiv and Kharkiv, and the death toll rising. According to the United Nations, approximately 660,000 people have fled Ukraine already, and this could become “Europe’s largest refugee crisis this century.” President Biden gave his first State of the Union address last night. In it, he devoted large se...
22m Mar 02, 2022
22m
Running As A Progressive In Texas with Jessica Cisneros
On Monday, Russian forces made progress in their efforts to encircle Ukraine’s capital Kyiv despite being slowed down by continued resistance from Ukrainian forces. Russia and Ukraine also sent delegations to southeastern Belarus for initial talks amid hopes that the two countries could come to some kind of agreement, but did not come to a resolution. Today, Texas holds the very first primary o...
20m Mar 01, 2022
20m
Ketanji Brown Jackson Makes History
Ukrainian officials will reportedly talk with Russia as early as today on the border of Ukraine and Belarus. Matt Duss, Senator Bernie Sanders’ foreign policy advisor, joins us to discuss today’s expected talks and what he thinks is on the negotiation table for both sides. President Joe Biden named Ketanji Brown Jackson his nominee for the Supreme Court to replace the retiring Justice Stephen B...
27m Feb 28, 2022
27m
"Don't Say Gay" Passes In Florida And Russia Advances In Ukraine
Russia invaded Ukraine early Thursday morning, and Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said that over 130 people died – both soldiers and civilians – and hundreds more were wounded. In a televised statement, Zelensky called for everyone and anyone who is able to join the military to do so, and said Russia is on a “path of evil” in their attack on the country. Foreign policy expert Max Bergma...
27m Feb 25, 2022
27m
Russia Attacks Ukraine
In a televised speech early Thursday Moscow-time, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” to protect Donbas, the Russian-backed separatist-held region in eastern Ukraine. Around the same time, explosions were heard in multiple cities throughout the country including Kyiv, Kramatorsk, which is in the disputed Donetsk region, Kharkiv in the northeast, and more. T...
18m Feb 24, 2022
18m
How Putin's Aggressions Are Playing Out In Ukraine
President Biden announced sanctions against Russia on Tuesday while referring to President Vladimir Putin’s recent actions as the “beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.” CNN’s senior international correspondent Matthew Chance, who is currently reporting out of Kyiv, joins us to discuss what’s happening on the ground in Ukraine. And in headlines: Ahmaud Arbery’s killers were found guilty o...
22m Feb 23, 2022
22m
Russia Recognizes New Territories And That's Far More Aggressive Than It Sounds
The Russia-Ukraine crisis ramped up this past weekend, and in a controversial address on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the independence of two Russian-backed territories in eastern Ukraine: the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics. In response, the White House announced sanctions on Ukraine’s separatist regions but not yet Russia, as there had been hopes of further diplo...
18m Feb 22, 2022
18m
Snow Long, Beijing
On Thursday, there was a big spike in shelling across the front line between the Ukrainian military and Russian-backed separatists within Ukraine. The separatists claim that Ukrainians are the ones firing at them, and the fear is that Russia could use this as a “justification” for military action to invade.  The Beijing Winter Olympics conclude this Sunday. Ava Wallace, who has been in China re...
22m Feb 18, 2022
22m
Reading Between The Strains with Dr. Abdul El-Sayed
On Wednesday, federal officials announced upcoming guidance changes, which reflects yet another new stage of the pandemic. Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, epidemiologist and host of Crooked Media’s “America Dissected,” joins us to discuss what these new policies might look like and answers other questions about the future of COVID. And in headlines: Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva took first place in ...
17m Feb 17, 2022
17m
Kyiv Your Friends Close And Your Enemies Closer
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that the military has ordered some Russian troops near the borders of Ukraine to return to their bases, signaling the potential for a further de-escalation. However, President Joe Biden later said that “an invasion remains distinctly possible,” and that the U.S. had not yet verified if Russian troops are actually falling back. Matthew Chance, CNN...
21m Feb 16, 2022
21m
The Notly-Anticipated Debut Of The Texas Voting Law
Monday marked the start of in-person early voting in Texas ahead of the state’s March 1st primary. Texas is just one of nearly 20 states that will hold elections this year with more restrictive voting laws in place, a result of Republican-led efforts to validate former President Trump’s lies about the 2020 presidential election. James Slattery, a senior staff attorney with the Texas Civil Right...
17m Feb 15, 2022
17m
The Little Trucker Blockade That Could
Canadian police began arresting those who were part of the ongoing so-called “Freedom Convoy” protests, yesterday. It’s been almost a week since demonstrators blocked the Ambassador Bridge between the U.S. and Canada as an objection to vaccine mandates for truckers doing business across the border. We recap what led us to this moment.  The U.S. has reduced its Ukrainian embassy to a skeleton cr...
15m Feb 14, 2022
15m