Episode 183 - Massholes (free version)

Explicit content warning

08/27/20 • 60 min

This is only part of our interview with Eoin Higgins. If you want to get the whole interview, support the show, and receive access to tons of other bonus content, subscribe on our Patreon page for as little as $5 a month. Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review us on Apple Podcasts. We can't do this show without your support!!!

Roqayah is still off this week, so Kumars is joined from the top of the hour by onetime guest host and freelance journalist Eoin Higgins, who has written for The Intercept, Common Dreams, FAIR.org, Vice, and the Washington Post. After sharing a bit of his personal background and political trajectory, Eoin breaks down his most recent reporting for The Intercept on the ongoing scandal surrounding Massachusetts Democratic Party efforts to torpedo the primary challenge of progressive House candidate Alex Morse, mayor of the Western Massachusetts town of Holyoke, who is running to unseat entrenched incumbent Rep. Richard Neal in MA’s 1st congressional district on Sept. 1.

Eoin walks listeners through the initial coverage by his colleagues Ryan Grim and Daniel Boguslaw, which revealed that members of College Democrats at the University of Massachusetts Amherst had been plotting to entrap Morse for over a year by engineering a situation in which they could frame him as a predator, before detailing the most recent developments, which suggest that the state Democratic Party actively coordinated with College Democrats to amplify the smear that has now blown up in their faces.

Subscribe on Patreon to hear the full version of this interview, including Eoin’s predictions for another Massachusetts Democratic primary battle he’s been covering — the Senate race between Green New Deal sponsor Ed Markey and his conservative challenger, Rep. Joe Kennedy III — and his assessment of the eclectic coalitions assembled on either side

You can follow Eoin on Twitter @EoinHiggins_ to stay abreast of his future work for other outlets as well as his personal blog at eoinhiggins.com.

You can follow Eoin on Twitter @EoinHiggins_ to stay abreast of his future work for other outlets as well as his personal blog at eoinhiggins.com.

Previous Episode

Episode 182 - Blackwashing

Roqayah is off this week, so Kumars is joined from the top of the hour by the hosts of the Left POCket Project Podcast, returning guest Wendi Muse and Richard, who makes his Delete Your Account debut. Wendi is the creator of the Left POCket Project and a PhD Candidate in History at New York University, where her dissertation analyzes the impact of anticolonial struggles in Portuguese Africa on the Brazilian left during the Cold War. Richard is a gig worker and cohost the now defunct Progressive Army’s The Discourse podcast.

After sharing a bit about his political origin story, Richard talks about what he learned from participating in the uprisings in Washington state this summer, and Wendi updates listeners on what’s been new in her life since her previous appearance. Wendi and Richard react to this week’s Democratic National Convention and the selection of Kamala Harris as Joe Biden’s running mate. They discuss Democrats’ appropriation of identity politics and pro-worker rhetoric, corporate attempts to co-opt Black Lives Matter, the discourse around “cancel culture,” and how socialists should think about the relationship between capitalism and white supremacy.

Follow Wendi on Twitter @MuseWendi and Richard at @Road2Revolution. The Left Pocket Project podcast is on Twitter @LeftPOC, and available to listen and download whenever pods are cast, but you can find every episode for free as well as support their work at https://www.patreon.com/leftpoc.

If you want to support the show and receive access to tons of bonus content, subscribe on our Patreon for as little as $5 a month. Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show on Apple Podcasts. We can't do this show without your support!!!

Next Episode

Episode 184 - OANNed

Roqayah is off this week, so Kumars is joined from the top of the hour by returning guest Madeline Peltz, senior researcher at Media Matters for America and the world’s foremost expert on Tucker Carlson. Madeline is best known for combing through the Fox News host’s weekly guest spots on the talk radio program of C-list shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge, exposing a history of openly bigoted statements that put Carlson’s seeming descent into white nationalism in its proper context. Madeline breaks down several of her recent articles for Media Matters on the revolving door between the Trump administration and conservative media personalities as well as how One America News Network and Fox News are covering the QAnon movement and the rise of white nationalism generally. Madeline begins by discussing her explosive report on former OANN correspondent Emily Miller, who was appointed FDA spokesperson by Trump and fired 11 days later, shortly after Madeline’s reporting. Madeline and Kumars review the responses of Carlson and other Fox hosts to the Kenosha shooting, including Sean Hannity, whose lawyer is involved in Kyle Rittenhouse’s legal defense. Madeline and Kumars investigate whether Trump really has ditched Fox for OANN, round out the conversation by updating listeners on the campaign urging corporate advertisers to boycott “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” taking stock of the efficacy and limits of boycotts targeting far-right media.

You can follow Madeline on Twitter @peltzmadeline and keep up with her work at mediamatters.org.