The Majority Report with Sam Seder

Sam and Emma host David Dayen, Executive Editor at The American Prospect, to discuss his recent project "The Great Escape", about the mass quitting trend in the labor market, as well as his new piece "Lina Khan Cashes in Her Chips." They begin by confronting the numbers of the recent wave of resignations, including 4.4 million in the month of September, breaking the record set in August, making it a total of 3.3% of the American workforce leaving their jobs over those two months. David then dives into his research behind this movement, looking at both the more obvious reasons for this mass exodus, including the pandemic inflammation of already horrendous working conditions and wages, before getting into the more emotional revelations that have taken place over the workforce, including the pandemic’s emphasis on the dignity of their work in rhetoric, while in reality they were continuously exploited, as well as social media’s role in bolstering labor solidarity movements. This brings David and Sam to bring us back to their childhood, exploring the parallels we see with the pandemic of the Black Plague in the 1300s, which inspired England’s first labor laws, and saw a period of wage improvements among the serfs and peasants. They wrap up the interview by looking at David’s article on Linda Khan’s FTC filing an anti-trust suit in a bipartisan show of power against vertical mergers. Sam and Emma also cover Jen Psaki’s insane condescension in the face of a very reasonable question regarding federal COVID infrastructure.

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Sam and Emma host freelance journalist Alexander Zaitchik to discuss his recent book Owning The Sun: A People's History of Monopoly Medicine From Aspirin To COVID-19 Vaccines, on the development of patent regimes from an attempt to democratize knowledge to a system of corporate and institutional control. Zaitchik begins by walking Sam and Emma back to the inception of intellectual property and patents in Elizabethan England as a tool to constrain the Crown’s power to assign monopoly rights, and why, despite this attempt to democratize the production of knowledge, liberal thinkers of the time (such as John Locke) saw it as dampening the flow of knowledge. After briefly touching on the belief in IP rights as encouraging innovation, despite the transhistorical belief in knowledge as a collective product, and the lack of financial incentives behind almost every technological development before the industrial revolution, Sam, Emma, and Alexander look to the affirmation of patents and IP in the US Constitution as a tool of democratization, as we saw in England, and how that developed into a practice of corporate obstructionism beginning in the Gilded Age. Zaitchik then dives into the Presidency of Andrew Jackson, and his attempt to further “democratize” (his words, not mine) the patent regime by aligning it with physical property rights, thus completely individualizing knowledge under the guise of opening it up. This led to a rise of corporate research labs in the late 1800s, as they figured out how to amass more and more patents for technological and medical developments, keeping them in the hands of a corporate monopoly rather than individual innovators. Next, Alexander jumps to the New Deal era and attempts to rein in the patent regime, as FDR’s Department of Justice pushed a culture of anti-trust regulation, looking back to the Constitution’s statements on patents as a charge to support the diffusion of knowledge, particularly in the wake of WW1’s technological advancements falling into the hands of corporations that would go on to work intimately with Nazis. This brings them to the period from the 40s to the 80s which saw treasury-funded research go into public control, requiring genuine commitment to public interest for any monopoly approval, before neoliberalism took over in the Reagan era, with the passing of the Bayh-Dole act and Reagan’s creation of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals as a tool to fast track the approval of monopolies, really taking ideological court-packing to a new level. They wrap up the interview with an extended discussion on Bill Gates’s philanthropy in the world of global health, his leveraging of incredible financial, institutional, and media power to push his ideology, and how incredibly representative this is of countless issues with medical and technological IP, and the laundering process that is American philanthropy. Sam and Emma also touch on Biden’s falling approval ratings as he clamors to grab onto bad faith footholds, and the live drama that we saw this weekend (at the MR show, of course).

And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma cover the most ridiculous takes in the wake of Will Smith’s slapping of Chris Rock at the Oscars, some of which are offered up by our very own comments section, and Jimmy Dore realizes that the true victims of the assault are stand-up comedians everywhere. Amy Klobuchar comes at the moral authority of the Supreme Court without going far enough to impact the power they have, Rick Scott offers up his plan to hike up taxes on half of the country and take away their healthcare as McConnell, for some reason, tries to sweep it under the rug, and Lara Logan returns for some classical anti-Semitic conspiracy theory stemming from Darwin. Nick from Pittsburgh discusses nuclear power and private regulation and Kowalski from NE reflects on the live show, plus, your calls and IMs!

Check out Alexander here: https://www.zaitchik.com/

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Emma hosts Timothy Shenk, Co-Editor of Dissent and Assistant Professor of Modern U.S. History at George Washington University, to discuss his recent book Realigners: Partisan Hacks, Political Visionaries, and the Struggle to Rule American Democracy. First, Emma runs through updates on Sinema jumping right back into working with the Right, Kari Lake’s lawsuit against Arizona, and polls revealing that the only thing the public wants less than a Trump candidacy, is a Biden one, before diving deeper into this weekend’s Keystone Pipeline spill, and the complete joke that is letting corporations regulate themselves. Timothy Shenk then joins as he dives right into the inspiration he found in the failure of the US political system leading up to the election of Donald Trump, with the inability of either party to build a durable majority following the collapse of the New Deal Coalition in 1968. Next, Shenk jumps back to the 18th Century as he begins the walk through the major political realignment that set up this coalition-stifling system, first parsing through the aristocratic civil war between Federalists and Jeffersonians in the 1790s that set up the two-party system that centered the ability to sway the electorate (rather than the belief in an aristocracy naturally rising to the top), before moving forwards through the 1800s and Andrew Jackson’s rallying of a populist coalition of his Jacksonian Democrats to bolster this political party machine. Next, Timothy and Emma explore the shift away from the Jacksonian Democrats as Martin Van Buren and the “Radical Republicans” began to take on the institution of slavery, and walk through the impact of changing party politics in the leadup to the Civil War, before shifting to the third realignment under Lincoln and beyond, as reconstruction’s vision of a multiracial democracy began to fall apart. They then discuss the rise of FDR’s New Deal Coalition in the 20th Century, as the Great Depression forced Americans to get over their lingering resentment from the Civil War, and for the first time centered class as the major political divide in the US, before they wrap up the interview by walking through the Right’s various coalition attempts (largely shrouded in a populist veneer) from Phyllis Schlafly to Donald Trump and tackling the failure of Democrats to ever see a return of FDR’s labor coalition.

And in the Fun Half: Emma and the crew bask in the jeers Elon Musk received at Dave Chapelle’s recent SF show, despite Dave’s best efforts, Jesse James from the Hudson Valley dives into reactionaries and pop-culture race swaps, and Sunil from San Jose discusses various elements of Democrats' campaigning strategies. They also tackle Christian Walker refusing to back down to the weirdos on the Right that blame him for his father’s loss, Zack from Missouri discusses the role of religion in various elements of our politics, and Serena from Tucson walks through serious tenants' rights issues going on in her complex, plus, your calls and IMs!

Check out Timothy's book here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374138004/realigners

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Emma hosts Karen Levy, Assistant Professor of Information Sciences at Cornell University, to discuss her recent book Data Driven: Truckers, Technology, and the New Workplace Surveillance. Emma first runs through updates on Zelesnkyy’s congressional address, Senate Republicans obstructing Biden’s funding bill, and Sean Hannity’s admission under oath that he didn’t buy much of the election-denying shenanigans on his OWN SHOW, also touching on Rep Kevin Brady’s speaking out against holding powerful people to account financially. Karen Levy then joins as she dives right into the supposed “trucker shortage” that the US is facing right now, exploring why there are, in fact, many truckers available, they’re just not getting paid enough to continue work in the industry, before stepping back to analyze the impact of four decades of deregulation of the industry, bringing about dropping wages, raising hours, and falling safety levels. Continuing this analysis, Professor Levy walks Emma through the precipitous decline of the role of unions and teamsters in an industry that was previously known for its labor forces, with the government still proclaiming the work as “essential” while refusing to meet the needs of the workers, from wages to infrastructure and more. Next, Emma and Karen discuss the little bit of trucking regulation that the government has actually stood behind, parsing through their surveillance requirements for digital tracking of truckers, walking through its failure to address the root issue it was supposed to address (worker safety) and how it provided an infrastructure for the corporations to ramp up their own surveillance measures, pushing biometric monitoring and predictive analytics that push their workers to abuse stimulants and push their bodies to the limits. Wrapping up, they tackle potential solutions that Professor Levy sees as possible and that actually target the issue at hand by detaching payment and protections from miles driven or hours worked.

And in the Fun Half: Emma talks with Hamish from Taho on cashews and veganism, and Dr. Phill hosts an anti-teacher-union hack to discuss why public school teachers are swindling the US out of billions (that they refuse to spend on themselves)! Then, she’s joined by Matt Binder and Brandon Sutton as they reflect on Sam Bankman-Fried and Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) showering each other in golden thank-yous, and Alex from New York calls in with a few matchups. They also tackle Andrew Callaghan’s killer confrontation with Don Lemon on the fear-mongering motive of the 24-hour news cycle, and Neil deGrasse-Tyson clamors to Elon Musk’s defense. Jay from North Carolina discusses term limits and making a more robust democracy, plus, your calls and IMs!

Check out Karen's book here: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691175300/data-driven

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The Majority Report with...

Sam and Emma break down a crazy weekend in news, from Biden's EuroTrip to KBJ's confirmation process, labor to COVID, the courts and more! They begin with Ron DeSantis’s official signing of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, as he pulls out the classics when it comes to homophobic fear-mongering, calling out corrupt Hollywood and the predators that endanger our children, and the role of public education and our teachers as scapegoats of the Right’s attack. Next, they jump into the changing tides in Ukraine’s defense against Russia as ceasefire talks become more hopeful, Putin lets go of his “de-nazification” claim, and discussions of letting Kyiv join the EU begin, before they also touch on how the Donbas region will come into play. This brings them to a discussion on Biden’s recently released budget proposal, as he finally puts forward more progressive taxation, including a wealth tax on families worth more than $100,000,000, only to boost the defense budget by 10%, and then look to the media’s reaction to this, as CBS hosts totally unbiased technocrat and former Trump Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney to explore why this wealth tax is so unnatural and perhaps even unconstitutional. They wrap up the bigger news stories by covering, “How Joe Manchin Aided Coal, and Earned Millions,” in the New York Times, diving into his campaign of corruption, starting as State Senator in the 80s as he paved the way for extra coal power plants with lower regulations, just happening to take them on as the sole customer of his mines, before striking up some political bargains with AmBit utilities, alongside getting a small stake in the company, and effectively grew his power from Governor to Senator as he benefited from his mutualistic relationship with the coal industry.

And in the Fun Half: Emma and Sam are joined by Nomiki Konst as they admire NE State Senator Bruce Bostelman’s willingness to go after the true cancer in our school systems (furries that defecate on the floor) and the horrendous sanitary implications it might have, before Nomiki and Emma dive into the $850,000,000 investment into a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills despite their renovations less than a decade ago. Madison Cawthorn drops some incredibly hot gossip on his fellow party members and their perverse behavior, Nomiki touches on Fox News SILENCING her for discussing price gouging, and the crew discusses their favorite fish, plus, your IMs!

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