Bonus on how Rania overcame the Facebook ban https://www.patreon.com/posts/25084293 Journalist Rania Khalek talks to me about being investigated by CNN at the behest of a Neo-liberal-Neo-Con think tank and censored by Facebook.  She also presents U.S. regime change wars in 4 steps. 1. Paint leader as cartoon villain. 2. Impose sanctions to destroy economy & create humanitarian crisis. 3. fund & recognize opposition 4. Overthrow government, country goes to s***

194. Regime Change in 4 Steps with Rania Khalek

“Woman Sues TripAdvisor After Falling off Runaway Camel,” reports the Associated Press. “Red Bull Paying Out to Customers Who Thought Energy Drink Would Actually Give Them Wings,” eyerolls Newsweek. “Tennessee man sues Popeyes for running out of chicken sandwiches,” scoffs NBC News.

We see “frivolous lawsuit” stories all the time and have for decades. Seemingly absurd cases of get rich quick schemes often with catchy headlines, a caricature of a plaintiff friendly legal system run amok. These stories play into faux-populist tropes of a country full of lazy poor people looking to cash in and a sleazy legal system that leeches off hard-working Americans.

But how organic are these “pop torts”––or popular stories of frivolous lawsuits––and more importantly, how true even are they? What organizations are behind cherry-picking and teeing up these shameful tales of greed for uncritical writers, editors and producers? Who’s backing them, and what, perhaps, may be their ulterior motives?
Moreover, what are the human stakes to so called “tort reform” and how did it come to be that the vast majority of Americans came to accept the premise that, at some point in the 1980s, we all became amoral lawsuit happy scumbags out to shutdown mom and pop stores and grab a quick buck?

We are joined by the Center for Justice & Democracy's Joanna Doroshow.

Episode 107: Pop Torts and the Ready-Made Virality of ‘Frivolous Lawsuit’ Stories

Bhaskar Sunkara. The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme Inequality. 2019.
https://www.versobooks.com/books/2939-the-socialist-manifesto

Max Blumenthal, Ben Norton. The Grayzone. DSA/Jacobin/Haymarket-sponsored ‘Socialism’ conference features US gov-funded regime-change activists. July 6, 2019. 
https://thegrayzone.com/2019/07/06/dsa-jacobin-iso-socialism-conference-us-funded-regime-change/

Recorded on August 6th, 2020

Structure

0.27: What is the case for radical politics? What measures do you have in mind? 

2.00: I ask about the common association of socialism with the Soviet Union. 

Don't people take better care of their own property than of public property? 

5.47: Lessons from the outcome of Sen. Sanders' campaign 

7.12: Is building "a long-term opposition movement in the name of egalitarian democratic socialist politics" realistic? Bhaskar's reaction to the victories of Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush

9.16: Massive income redistribution to the wealthy during the pandemic. How to respond?

12.35: Possibility of a new party in the US (example of Evo Morales' Movement Towards Socialism)

14.58: Why has Bhaskar used Sweden, but not Venezuela under Chavez or Bolivia under Morales as examples of socialism in the first chapter of his book?

22.20: Jacobin's approach to criticizing left-wing governments, for example, in Bolivia and Venezuela

29.45: Jacobin co-organizing a conference that included speakers funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (based on an article by Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton)
https://thegrayzone.com/2019/07/06/dsa-jacobin-iso-socialism-conference-us-funded-regime-change/

36.50-41.00: The danger of being co-opted. The example of the CIA-asset Gloria Steinem.    

43.03: How does one make sure the protests in the US also address foreign policy? Attempts to co-opt the protests

47.00-51.55: Jacobin's relationship with the mainstream media  


Photo:  A debate during the Popvenstre festival in Oslo 27.08.16.  
Author:  Christopher Neumann Ruud 
Date: September 6, 2016   
Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/132060046@N04/32952176285/

My Interview with Bhaskar Sunkara

Thank you for supporting this podcast on Patreon! 
https://www.patreon.com/ConversationsWithSlava  
You are keeping it independent and sustainable!

I have studied Classics in Göttingen, Edinburgh and London. 
Now, I am a journalist. You can find me on Twitter at v_zilber.

Check out my Substack newsletter: conversationswithslava.substack.com!

My Interview with Bhaskar Sunkara

Conversations with Slava

Related tracks