Happy Monday! Sam and Emma speak with , professor of Law and History at the University of California, Berkeley, to discuss his recent book &nbsp;First, Sam and Emma run through updates on Iran’s military-specific retaliation to Israel’s bombing of their consulate, Trump’s ongoing hush money trial, FISA renewal, Mike Johnson’s Ukraine package, dropping violent crime and burglary rates, Haiti’s “ruling council,” Tesla’s mass firing, and Biden’s polling, before diving a little deeper into the rationality behind Iran’s approach to Israeli violence. Professor Dylan Penningroth then joins, diving right into the personal story behind his decades-long research into the major evolution of Black civil rights as a concept. Stepping back, Professor Penningroth, looks to the 19th-century conceptualization of Black civil rights, with a particular distinction from any political or social rights, carving out a minuscule space in civil society where Black people were given very particular privileges, first contextualizing what these “civil” privileges entailed (largely relating to low-level contract and property law), before walking through the evolution of these rights in both the reconstruction era and during the subsequent White Supremacist backlash at the turn of the 20th Century. Expanding on this, Penningroth walks through Lincoln’s role in enumerating the ideology of separate political, social, and civil rights in the US (with only the latter needed for true equality), and the consistent pushback from Black activists from the 1830s through the 1960s, insisting that both social and political rights were needed to guarantee the civil. Wrapping up, Dylan walks Sam and Emma through how the mainstream conceptualization of civil rights evolved from the Party of Lincoln to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma discuss the Biden Administration’s careful approach to ongoing developments between Iran and Israel, dive into coverage of Trump’s hush money trial (and MR’s potential coverage), and discuss AOC’s growing role in the Democratic Party. Kari Lake, Charlie Kirk, and Ben Shapiro rally behind Donald Trump’s pitch to step back on abortion (at least rhetorically). Mike Lindell gives some major updates on the Democratic plan to steal Texas, plus, your IMs! Check out Dylan's book here:&nbsp;https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324093107 Become a member at&nbsp;JoinTheMajorityReport.com:&nbsp;https://fans.fm/majority/join Check out Seder's Seeds here!:&nbsp; ; use coupon code APRIL and get 42% off anything on the site until April 21st!; ALSO, if you have pictures of your Seder's Seeds, send them here!:&nbsp;hello@sedersseeds.com Find out more about today's general strike for Gaza here:&nbsp;https://strike4gaza.org/ Check out this GoFundMe in support of Mohammad Aldaghma's niece in Gaza, who has Down Syndrome:&nbsp; Check out the "Repair Gaza" campaign courtesy of the Glia Project here:&nbsp;https://www.launchgood.com/campaign/rebuild_gaza_help_repair_and_rebuild_the_lives_and_work_of_our_glia_team#!/ Get emails on the IRS pilot program for tax filing here!:&nbsp;https://service.govdelivery.com/accounts/USIRS/subscriber/new Check out StrikeAid here!;&nbsp;https://strikeaid.com/ Gift a Majority Report subscription here:&nbsp;https://fans.fm/majority/gift  Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here:&nbsp;https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here:&nbsp;https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord!&nbsp;http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store:&nbsp;https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!:&nbsp;http://majority.fm/app Check out today’s sponsors: Fast Growing Trees: This Spring Fast Growing Trees has the best deals online, up to half off on select plants and other deals. And listeners to our show get an ADDITIONAL 15% OFF their first purchase when using the code MAJORITY at...

3317 - The Hidden History Of Black Civil Rights w/ Dylan Penningroth

Loretta Napoleoni returns to discuss her new book, “Technocapitalism: The Rise of the New Robber Barons and the Fight for the Common Good.” "Rotten History" follows the interview.

Check out Loretta's book here: https://www.sevenstories.com/books/4601-technocapitalism

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New Robber Barons Prevent Using Tech for the Common Good / Loretta Napoleoni

Loretta Napoleoni returns to discuss her new book, “Technocapitalism: The Rise of the New Robber Barons and the Fight for the Common Good.” 

Check out Loretta's book here: https://www.sevenstories.com/books/4601-technocapitalism

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It's News Day Tuesday! But first, Emma speaks with , white collar crime professor at George Washington University Law School and author of the  newsletter, to discuss the recent developments in all of Trump's criminal cases.&nbsp;First, Emma runs through updates on today’s Pennsylvania primaries, Trump’s ongoing hush money case, primary polling, growing backlash to Zionist repression on college campuses, Israel’s bombardment on Rafah, Senate legislation, solar subsidies, FTC policy, Starbucks v. NLRB, Tennessee’s charter voucher bill, and the UK’s new migrant deportation program, before parsing through the Supreme Court’s ongoing case likely to uphold Grants Pass, Oregon’s effective ban on homelessness. Professor Randal Eliason then joins, first reminding us of the general tally of Trump’s myriad civil and criminal legal cases, before diving deeper into the ongoing trial surrounding his hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, including the state’s attempt to spin the genuine falsification of legal and business records into an attempt to interfere in the development of the 2016 election. After assessing what he sees as the weak points in the state’s arguments, and quickly running through the role of the already-convicted Michael Cohen in these payments, Professor Eliason explores the extreme stance being taken by Trump’s legal team, not just arguing against the election interference claims but attempting to claim that the records themselves are legitimate. Next, Emma and Randall look to the civil cases facing Trump, including the massive bond he currently owes New York, and parse a little deeper through the major cases out of Florida – surrounding his mishandling of classified documents – and D.C. – on the role he played in the January 6th insurrection attempt. Wrapping up, they tackle the role of Trump’s Supreme Court immunity hearings in preventing either of these cases from impacting his candidacy, and explore what a second Trump presidency would mean for the future of any of these cases. Emma also touches on the ongoing anti-war and anti-genocide protests coming out of Columbia University, and the powerful display by faculty to stand with the students. And in the Fun Half: Emma gets some primary previews from John from San Antonio, Jesse Watters is astonished the criminal justice system is treating Trump like a criminal, and the State Department has an unsurprising need to know more before commenting on the mass grave revelations out of Gaza. Raz from Ojai asks for some pointers on debating universal healthcare, the MR Team unpacks the absurd conversation around crime (from all sides of the political spectrum), and Tucker Carlson and Joe Rogan ponder the legitimacy of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, plus, your calls and IMs! Check out Randall's Sidebars newsletter here:&nbsp;https://www.sidebarsblog.com/ Become a member at&nbsp;JoinTheMajorityReport.com:&nbsp;https://fans.fm/majority/join Check out Seder's Seeds here!:&nbsp;&nbsp;ALSO, if you have pictures of your Seder's Seeds, send them here!:&nbsp;hello@sedersseeds.com Check out this GoFundMe in support of Mohammad Aldaghma's niece in Gaza, who has Down Syndrome:&nbsp; Check out the "Repair Gaza" campaign courtesy of the Glia Project here:&nbsp;https://www.launchgood.com/campaign/rebuild_gaza_help_repair_and_rebuild_the_lives_and_work_of_our_glia_team#!/ Get emails on the IRS pilot program for tax filing here!:&nbsp;https://service.govdelivery.com/accounts/USIRS/subscriber/new Check out StrikeAid here!;&nbsp;https://strikeaid.com/ Gift a Majority Report subscription here:&nbsp;https://fans.fm/majority/gift  Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here:&nbsp;https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here:&nbsp;https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord!&nbsp;http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store:&nbsp;https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report...

3323 - Trump’s Ongoing Trial & Other Legal Quagmires, Explained w/ Randall D. Eliason

Laura Robson on her article at The Baffler Magazine, "Assistance as Containment; A historical take on defunding the UNRWA." Plus a Moment of Truth from Jeffrey Dorchen.

Check out Laura's article here: https://thebaffler.com/latest/assistance-as-containment-robson

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Defunding UNRWA: From Containment to Destruction / Laura Robson

Laura Robson on her article at The Baffler Magazine, "Assistance as Containment; A historical take on defunding the UNRWA." 

Check out Laura's article here: https://thebaffler.com/latest/assistance-as-containment-robson

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access weekly bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell

It's Hump Day! Emma speaks with , contributing editor at , to discuss the recent unionization efforts at Trader Joe's. Then, she speaks with , Commissioner on the New York City Planning Commission and former member of the New York City Rent Guidelines Board, to discuss efforts to support rent stabilization in the city.&nbsp;First, Emma runs through updates on the incumbent victories in yesterday’s PA primaries, Trump’s legal woes, the Senate’s Ukraine-Taiwan-Israel aid package, new mass grave reports coming out of Gaza, Biden’s new labor regulations, Elon Musk’s desperate Tesla promises, a DOJ settlement, the Supreme Court’s anti-labor agenda, and fascist legislation coming out of Idaho, Tennessee, and North Carolina, before watching Summer Lee’s phenomenal speech in the wake of her massive victory against a Pro-Israel challenger. Jeremy Gantz then joins, diving right into the major recent developments in the bargaining process between Starbucks and Starbucks Workers United, with Atlanta hosting the first genuine sit-down bargaining session in almost a year, before stepping back to walk through the two years of hardline union-busting, despite consistent pushback from both the NLRB and the general public, with only the negative change to their public image pushing them back to the table. Next, Gantz expands to the greater context of the retail industry, with major companies like Trader Joe’s and REI operating their own en-masse union-busting campaigns, exploring why the decentralized nature of the industry, as well as the high employee turnover rates, make these particularly difficult organizing efforts. Wrapping up, Jeremey walks Emma through the role of the ongoing suit sponsored by SpaceX and joined by Starbucks attempting to undermine the NLRB, and what the future of these unionization drives will likely entail. Leah Goodridge then joins, first bringing Emma through her own experiences working with New York’s housing industry, and the major issues facing the affordable housing sector, both in its policy and access, and in the greater construction and maintenance it requires. Expanding on this, Goodridge explores the ever-present power struggle with developers and landlords on one side, and tenants and homeowners on the other, tackling how the former group can both manufacture the public rhetoric and villainize their opponents, often presenting their domination over the industry as heroic or necessary for a functioning of society. After touching on some of the major issues in what makes up the affordable housing market (unaffordable, single-bedroom units), Leah and Emma look to the role of the Faircloth Amendment in killing federal investment in the expansion of the affordable housing market, and pushing the responsibility for constructing and maintaining the infrastructure almost entirely onto the private sphere. Next, Goodridge touches on the major factors of the broker system and the epidemic of vacant units (often used as speculative assets) in driving up housing costs, before she and Emma dive deep into the topics of rent control and Tenant’s Rights, unpacking what these terms entail and how the media completely misrepresents the role they play in equalizing the power dynamic between landlords and renters, before wrapping up with a brief assessment of Squatter’s Right’s minor (yet unsurprisingly overblown) role in the conversation. And in the Fun Half: Emma covers Elon Musk’s unsurprising response to Tesla’s cratering profits and stock price (make unachievable and absurd promises), Garrett from VA on the growing extraction of profits from medical clinics by insurance companies, Rick from Baltimore explores how he came to MR, and Kowalski from Nebraska gives his takes on the rent control and Big Tech conversations from the day. The MR Team also watches the harrowing footage of (content warning) a Zionist counter-protester getting bonked by a flag, listens to some powerful reflections from...

3324 - “Liberal” Companies Union Bust; Saving Rent Stabilization w/ Jeremy Gantz, Leah Goodridge

It’s an EmMajority Report Thursday! She speaks with , sociologist at the University of California, San Francisco, to discuss her recent book . Then, she speaks with , law professor at Harvard University, to discuss his recent piece in Dissent Magazine entitled , co-authored with .&nbsp;First, Emma runs through updates on Trump’s immunity and hush money cases, the US’ new foreign aid package, Israel’s impending invasion of Rafah, continuing crackdowns on anti-war student protests in the US, Arizona politics, Harvey Weinstein, the TikTok ban, the resignation of Ariel Henry, and repression of dissent in Iran, before expanding on the conversation about activism on campuses, and the GOP’s insistence on maintaining the parallels with the 1960s anti-war movement. Gretchen Sisson then joins, first walking through extensive research she conducted with women who have relinquished children to the private adoption system, exploring how and why they make the decision, and how they reflect on the process some years later. Next, Sisson walks Emma through the myth of the relationship between abortion and adoption, and the reality of a distinct divide between those who seek the two options, alongside the myth of a “high supply” in the adoption market, with (once again) the inverse seeing many adoption clinics closing due to a lack of available children for adoption. Expanding on this, Gretchen explores how the “market” influence of the adoption industry shapes a largely coercive and exploitative relationship between adoption agencies and women who would often prefer to keep their children, a relationship that is largely reflective of the industry’s roots in the family separation projects practiced against Indigenous and Black communities in the US. After touching on the major role that major Christian religious institutions have played throughout the history of the private adoption industry, and the relationship between private adoption and the foster care system, Emma and Gretchen wrap up the interview with an exploration of how many mothers come to feel very critical of the adoption system and how it failed both them and their child. Professor Ryan Doerfler and Emma then look to the long history of non-compliance – and even outright defiance – in the face of Supreme Court rulings considered unjust, with Professor Doerfler walking us through the more extreme precedents set by the presidencies of Abraham Lincoln and FDR to issue direct challenges to the court, alongside the much more recent tradition of administrative non-compliance or policy loopholes as seen in the fights for affirmative action, student loan forgiveness, and more. After stepping back to look at the myth of Marbury v. Madison’s role in legitimizing judicial activism – a tactic that the Supreme Court would not truly take on until the Civil War era, Professor Doerfler explores how the conversation around the ever-changing scope of the Supreme Court became isolated from the public to solely and intra-governmental affair over the second half of the 20th Century, in a weird conflation of the rule of law and the rule of the courts. Ryan and Emma look at the current era of backlash to the Supreme Court, from the Hobbs decision to attacks on the administrative state, and what we can do to get Democrats to start fighting back, before wrapping up with a brief conversation on the stunning bravery of anti-war student activists at Harvard and across the US. And in the Fun Half: Emma is joined by Matt Binder as they watch Channel 4’s interview with an anonymous IDF member on the prevailing perspectives within Israel’s military, also diving into the continuing wave of student protests against Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and the violent police repression seen at UT Austin, USC, and Emory that has continued the parallels with the 1960s anti-war movement on campuses like Kent State. They also dive into the continuing smears against students from both...

3325 - Power Dynamics Of Adoption; Defying The Supreme Court w/ Gretchen Sisson, Ryan Doerfler

It's Casual Friday! Emma speaks with political commentator  to round up the week in news. Then she speaks with comedian !&nbsp;First, Emma runs through updates on the brutal assault on Emory students and faculty protesting genocide and cop-city by the Atlanta police, mass arrests of anti-war protesters on college campuses across the US, Israel’s imminent invasion of Rafah, US troops’ presence in Chad, Trump’s legal woes, Net Neutrality, the climate crisis, and new anti-trans legislation out of Tennessee, before parsing through some rather telling comments from the ongoing Supreme Court case about Trump’s potential immunity as President, with representation going as far as to make space for immunity over extra-judicial assassinations. Owen Jones then joins, as he and Emma reflect on the last seven months of constant scenes of devastation and genocide coming out of Gaza, and the mainstream media’s heart-wrenching insistence on downplaying the horror, denying the deaths, and running cover for Israel’s project of ethnic cleansing under the guise of victimhood. Expanding on this, Jones and Emma explore how the severe repression and propaganda from mainstream Western political institutions is seeing an en-masse public awakening to the genocide of Gaza, and the Western elites’ violent commitment to controlling the discourse, with supposed “liberal democracies” from the US to the EU and UK defaming anti-zionist Jews and anti-semites and uplifting actual racists and Jew-haters as legitimate actors. After parsing through the absurdity of the media’s insistence on ignoring the obvious rhetoric and policy that has shaped Israel’s approach to this entire war, Owen steps back to look to the role of the UK in particular, with the Labor Party’s step back from the coalition of Jeremy Corbin at the end of the last decade, and committing itself fully to Israel’s agenda of dehumanization and hasbara. Wrapping up, Jones walks Emma through the performative cruelty of the UK’s Tory government’s ongoing illegal and immoral deportation scheme for asylum seekers. Kate Willet also joins, as she and Emma discuss the repression of left-wing beliefs in the supposedly “liberal” entertainment industry, and the growing trend of the industry’s support for right-wing reactionary comics. Kate and the MR Team explore the attempt to present left-wing comedy as hyper-politicized and right-wing comedy as almost de-politicized, before wrapping up by touching on the difficulty of escaping the self-censorship pushed on women and lefties when it comes to speaking out about politics. And in the Fun Half: Emma previews new allegations about Kristi Noam’s killer personality, watch Briahna Joy Gray refuse to back down from Rising Co-Host Robby Soave’s fascist criticism of student protests, reflects on the greater failure of the US media amid this crackdown on free speech, and listen to Donald Trump attempt to frame these non-violent protests as worse than Charlottesville. Shawn Hannity’s Blonde and blue-eyed guest waxes about the severity of the ongoing “illegal occupation” of Pal– I mean– of college campuses by students who pay tuition to be there, and the MR Crew discusses the media’s reproduction of genocidal propaganda, plus, your calls and IMs! Follow Owen on Twitter here:&nbsp;https://twitter.com/OwenJones84 Follow Kate on Twitter here:&nbsp;https://twitter.com/katewillett Check out Kate's comedy special "Loopholes" here!:&nbsp;https://www.comedydynamics.com/catalog/kate-willett-loopholes/ Donate to college campus bail funds across the country if you can!:&nbsp;https://campusbailfunds.com/ Become a member at&nbsp;JoinTheMajorityReport.com:&nbsp;https://fans.fm/majority/join Check out Seder's Seeds here!:&nbsp;&nbsp;ALSO, if you have pictures of your Seder's Seeds, send them here!:&nbsp;hello@sedersseeds.com Check out this GoFundMe in support of Mohammad Aldaghma's niece in Gaza, who has Down Syndrome:&nbsp; Check...

3326 - Casual Friday! w/ Owen Jones & Kate Willett

Jodi Dean on her Verso column, "Palestine Speaks for Everyone." Following the interview, we hear feedback from listeners like you.

Check out Jodi's column here: https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/news/palestine-speaks-for-everyone

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Palestine Speaks for Everyone / Jodi Dean

Jodi Dean on her Verso column, "Palestine Speaks for Everyone." 

Check out Jodi's column here: https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/news/palestine-speaks-for-everyone

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access weekly bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell

Finally, American politics for the non-brain dead or knuckle draggers. The Majority Report is a smart political podcast hosted by Sam Seder. This daily show features long form interviews of authors, economists, journalists, comedians and politicians. If you want thoughtful and entertaining analysis of policy and politics, you have found it. Winner Best Political Podcast 2014, 2013, 2012 & 2011. Live show daily at www.majority.fm

3317 - The Hidden History Of Black Civil Rights w/ Dylan Penningroth

Majority Report

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