Markos Moulitsas, Founder of DailyKos and Civiqs and host of podcast “The Brief,” is back for our weekly #ThursdayKos chat, and it begins on the subject of the politicization of Colin Powell’s death, and how anti-vaxxers (and the media outlets they flock to) are forgetting some key details as to why Powell passed away. Looking over at the senate, Mark and Markos wonder aloud if Manchin will help get rid of the filibuster in the name of voting rights, which he claims to support wholeheartedly. Bu...
Oct 21, 2021•36 min•Season 1Ep. 430
The League of Women Voters, People for the American Way, and Declaration for American Democracy have initiated a season of direct action and civil disobedience at the White House to demand President Biden take action to end the filibuster and protect our voting rights. Mark participated in yesterday’s rally (stick around ‘til the end to hear him speak), where leaders of the movement demand President Biden and his administration address their campaign-trail-promise to protect our voting rights. E...
Oct 20, 2021•24 min•Season 1Ep. 429
Nadra Nittle is a Senior Reporter for Civil Eats and more recently she has taken on the title of author, with her book titled “Toni Morrison’s Spiritual Vision: Faith, Folktales, and Feminism in Her Life and Literature.” In today’s episode she discusses the many facets of the legendary Toni Morrison, which often lead us back to her spirituality and religion, and the ways we can see that play out in her inimitable literature. BUY Nadra’s book here: https://www.fortresspress.com/store/product/9781...
Oct 19, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 428
How deeply do you understand the critical legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer? Dr. Keisha N. Blain is a historian and author of her latest book, “Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer’s Enduring Message to America,” and she shows how Hamer’s words still speak truth to power in our society and what that actually means. Dr. Blain familiarizes us with Hamer, who didn’t know she could vote until she was 44 years old, but eventually found herself on stage at the Democratic National Convention in 1964. But she als...
Oct 18, 2021•33 min•Season 1Ep. 427
Nadya Okamoto is CEO of August, a company dedicated to producing sustainable, ethical, and impactful tampons and pads, as well as host of the newest podcast in the DCP Entertainment family, “Tigress.” She joins Mark to discuss the evolution of her career that began at the age of 16 and continues to evolve but always keeps her eye on the prize of abolishing the period tax and expanding access to affordable (if not free) period products. And as her podcast takes shape, she’s expanding into topics ...
Oct 15, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 426
It’s time for #ThursdayKos and Markos Moulitsas, Founder of DailyKos and Civiqs and host of podcast “The Brief,” is back to talk all things 2024. But before we climb that hill, there’s midterm elections to be had, and Markos explains why losing either chamber of congress will absolutely kill the Biden legislative agenda. Luckily we have organizers like Stacey Abrams who know how to engage with people outside of the election season, and Markos explains how that edge should give her the push she n...
Oct 14, 2021•44 min•Season 1Ep. 425
Last week, a few reputable news sources ran a story that the Biden administration had made a serious cut in their proposal to get relief funds to HBCUs--and that story was incorrect. Trey Baker is a Director of Public Engagement for the Biden administration and he tells us that, in truth, the Biden administration is currently proposing a historic amount of funding for HBCUs, but the total dollar amount is still undecided. That’s where congress comes in. See the HBCU-funding fact sheet here: http...
Oct 13, 2021•13 min•Season 1Ep. 424
Chad Stone, Chief Economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, is back for our monthly check-in on the economy via the jobs report. Chad points out that labor force participation is much lower than it would be in a normal strong labor market, because of the pandemic, and especially for parents. And September usually brings stronger numbers in education, as kids get back to school, but this year was lower than average, and Chad explains why. Ultimately, we’re reminded that COVID-19 is...
Oct 12, 2021•26 min•Season 1Ep. 423
Wisconsin has the highest race of violence and sexual assault against Indigenous women in the country. Justine Rufus and Skye Boniasnoke Alloway are Co-Chairs of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Task Force of Wisconsin, and Skye explains one of the task force's main goals: get accurate data on the number of missing and murdered indigenous women, and work to break down the barriers that make that data collection so challenging in the first place. Justine and Skye share how the task force...
Oct 11, 2021•23 min•Season 1Ep. 422
It’s not about comparing Gabby Petito’s case to those of Indigenous women, or saying that one is more deserving than the other--that’s not the case at all. It’s about cultural patterns, as Yonasda Lonewolf and Cliff Matias explain, and the fact that no missing Indigenous person has ever received national media attention. Yonasda makes a haunting connection between pipeline construction sites and murdered and missing Indigenous women, and points out how Pocahontas was actually the original missin...
Oct 08, 2021•32 min•Season 1Ep. 421
Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm joins Make It Plain to discuss the Infrastructure bill that is resilient to climate impacts and improves our physical foundations, but also honors the human side of it, which includes things like getting families access to childcare, elder care, internet access--basic human needs that put extra stress people and their budgets. Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.com Ad...
Oct 07, 2021•9 min•Season 1Ep. 420
Scott Dworkin, who is also Founder and Executive Director of the Democratic Coalition and host of podcast “The Dworkin Report,” is here to download us on all sorts of strategy and analysis of what’s up ahead for 2022 and 2024. He shares that it’s believed Trump plans to announce a 2024 run early next year, before primary season, for one specific reason--but could that help Democrats in the long-run? Scott also shares his biggest concerns for 2022, and fills us in on a key race in Virginia, where...
Oct 06, 2021•42 min•Season 1Ep. 419
Confederate monuments are coming down every day in this country, but as Connor Towne O’Neill details in his book “Down Along With That Devil's Bones,” we’re still fighting a “Cold Civil War,” where monument removal is a change that is important symbolism but does not get at the systemic problems. Connor became invested in the conversations and arguments happening around Confederate monuments when he moved to Alabama and came upon a memorial for Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate Army general ...
Oct 05, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 418
Color of Change ran their first campaign against R. Kelly and his alleged abuse in 2017, as they attempted to get his label, RCA, to drop him. Now that he’s been formally charged and found guilty in a court of law, Jade Magnus Ogunnaike, Senior Director of the Media, Culture, and Economic Justice at Color Of Change, discusses how we can move forward and find new ways to rehabilitate the women and girls who survive abuse. And now that R. Kelly has been convicted at the federal level, what will un...
Oct 04, 2021•18 min•Season 1Ep. 417
Is it time for your booster shot? United States Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy returns to the show for an update on the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine booster shot. He answers questions like: what does the booster do in your body, who is eligible, what happens if you’ve had a Moderna or Johnson & Johnson shot, and how the boosters help the overall population. WHERE CAN YOU GET THE BOOSTER? Look here: vaccines.gov Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Enterta...
Oct 01, 2021•14 min•Season 1Ep. 416
Progressives want an infrastructure bill PLUS the Build Back Better legislation, otherwise they’re not voting for infrastructure. Markos Moulitsas, Founder of DailyKos, Civiqs, and podcast “The Brief,” is back to give us the play-by-play on what’s happened so far and what might be around the corner, much of that dependent on the moves made by the so-called-centrist Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. Speaking of Sinema, what exactly knocked her down to an all-time-low 18-percent approval ra...
Sep 30, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 415
Sojourner Gibbs was slipping into diabetic shock, so someone called 911 to help her. When the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived, they accused her of drug use, swept her feet out from under her, slammed her to the dirt face-first, and zip-tied her hands together. Even as she screamed, “I’m diabetic! I need help!” The officer who knocked her down was later promoted to detective. This disturbing event and lack of consequences for the officers does not surprise the residents of Jeff...
Sep 29, 2021•19 min•Season 1Ep. 414
Williams Evans and Omar Holman created a community on their popular website BlackNerdProblems.com as a response to the lack of diversity in comic and gaming culture. What grew from that is their new book of the same name, featuring a collection of essays that they call a “love letter to nerd culture” that also speaks to the sometimes-complicated intersection of race and nerd culture. The founders and authors talk with Mark about what it is to be a modern-day nerd, a title that no longer bears a ...
Sep 28, 2021•31 min•Season 1Ep. 413
Dr. Katharine Hayhoe is the author of “Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World,” and in today’s episode, she impresses the importance that we all have a critical role to play in slowing climate change. Building off some details from a recent conversation with the White House Climate Advisor, Dr. Hayhoe and Mark examine heat-related deaths disproportionately impacting Black and Brown communities. And as Dr. Hayhoe outlines for us, climate change is responsibl...
Sep 27, 2021•31 min•Season 1Ep. 412
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of people were released from prison to finish their sentences on home confinement, many of whom are elderly and immunocompromised. Now, those people are at risk of being sent back to prison when the pandemic recedes--unless President Biden acts NOW. Scott Roberts is the Senior Director of Criminal Justice and Democracy for Color of Change, and he shares the reality many are facing if the administration fails to follow through on promises to re...
Sep 24, 2021•26 min•Season 1Ep. 411
It’s time for #ThursdayKos and there’s plenty to unpack this week, as haunting images of Haitians getting whipped at the US/Mexico border by patrol agents have some Democrats demanding the Biden administration rectify the situation immediately. What else is Biden’s problem? Markos Moulitsas, founder of DailyKos, Civiqs, and podcast “The Brief,” say that dealing with Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema and their “so-called moderate” behavior, which is clearly motivated by donations and not th...
Sep 23, 2021•39 min•Season 1Ep. 410
Jennifer Rubin left the Republican party, declaring herself a “NeverTrump, pro-democracy opinion writer,” according to her Twitter page. And now Politico has taken it upon themselves to try and bring her down, publishing an “off the record” email she wrote, escalating the drama, which as Eric explains, boils down to their anger over her very-typical press practices. Eric Boehlert is the writer and publisher of Pressrun.media, our stalwart source for holding the press accountable, and he unpacks ...
Sep 22, 2021•24 min•Season 1Ep. 409
Gina McCarthy is the former EPA Administrator for the Obama administration and she’s now back in the White House serving as the first-ever National Climate Advisor, and her appointment comes at a dire time in the process of climate change. We’re currently experiencing unprecedented and record heat levels across the country, and since there’s no turning back to “pre-heat” days, the Biden administration is focusing efforts on investing in communities to keep people safe. This includes fighting hea...
Sep 21, 2021•15 min•Season 1Ep. 408
Jelani Cobb was watching the news one day when he heard a right-wing figure blatantly lie about Critical Race Theory (CRT). And as it’s become a widely discussed theory in the last year, Jelani knew he had to do his part to preserve the work and legacy of its creator, Derek Bell. Jelani is a Columbia Journalism professor, New Yorker columnist, and author of the book “The Matter of Black Lives,” and in his latest piece for the New Yorker, he details the life and work of the incredible Derek Bell,...
Sep 20, 2021•15 min•Season 1Ep. 407
A right-wing rally is headed to D.C. tomorrow (Saturday, Sept 18th), and the participants will be armed. Justin Wagner is the Director of Investigations for Everytown for Gun Safety, and the organization is concerned about what lies ahead for this particular rally, given that their data shows definitive proof that guns in the mix make the scenario more dangerous. Everytown released a report that looked at thousands of protests in 2020, finding 560 instances of open-carry and a nearly 6x greater ...
Sep 17, 2021•16 min•Season 1Ep. 406
Gavin Newsome is safe, for now, after winning the recall election that threatened his position as California’s governor. Markos Moulitsas, founder of DailyKos and Civiqs and host of podcast “The Brief,” is back for #ThursdayKos, detailing Civiq’s extremely accurate predictions on the election’s outcome, despite minds like Nate Silver who was convinced Newsome was on his way out. Markos has an idea on how he got it wrong, how the recall works in California, and how the state wound up in this mone...
Sep 16, 2021•33 min•Season 1Ep. 405
Robert P. Jones is the author of “White Too Long” (which recently received the American Book Award), as well as a leading commentator on the crossroads of politics and religion. He brings us his expertise in data and theology with what he has titled the “racism index,” a scale used to examine the impact religion has had on a person’s potential racism through a series of racial attitude questions. His results were both affirming and surprising, and he explains them in today’s episode, as he and M...
Sep 15, 2021•31 min•Season 1Ep. 404
There is tangible momentum happening with cannabis reform at the state level, which might have you thinking that things have changed, but the people who are still sitting in prison for related offenses would beg to differ--as would Natalie Papillion, Director of Strategic Initiatives for Last Prisoner Project (LPP). LPP is an organization of attorneys, criminal justice reformers, advocates, and justice-impacted individuals who are dedicated to reforming cannabis law and policy, and working towar...
Sep 14, 2021•21 min•Season 1Ep. 403
The school year has begun for most people in the United States, but the big question still remains: are the children and faculty safe? Randi Weingarten is President of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and she joins us from her Back to School tour to discuss the importance of getting kids back in community at school, but doing so safely. And in states like Florida, where Governor Ron DeSantis refuses to administer the $7 billion dollars the state was granted in the American Rescue Plan ...
Sep 13, 2021•25 min•Season 1Ep. 402
Texas lawmakers are busy at work restricting reproductive healthcare access, but they’re simultaneously expanding the right to carry a firearm with one of their newest laws--a law that is opposed by the majority of Texas voters as well as law enforcement officials. Igor Volsky is the Executive Director of Guns Down America and he points to the research that shows states that pass more permissive gun-carry laws immediately see an increase in gun violence, meaning they just made their constituents...
Sep 10, 2021•26 min•Season 1Ep. 401
