Dr. Reed and I discuss his new book Toward Freedom (https://www.versobooks.com/). We also discuss Charles Bronson movies, heavy metal guitarists, and Bloomingon-Normal life. Touré F. Reed is an Associate Professor of 20th Century US and Afro-American History at Illinois State University. He has published in the Journal of American Ethnic History, LABOR, Nonsite.org, BlackAgendaReport, Jacobin and The New Republic. Dr. Reed is the author of Not Alms But Opportunity: The Urban League and the Politics of Racial Uplift, 1910-1950 (UNC Press). Toward Freedom: In the age of runaway inequality and Black Lives matter, there is an emerging consensus that our society has failed to redress racial disparities. But who is the culprit? For many progressives, racial identities are the engine of American history, and by extension, contemporary politics. They, in short, want to separate race from class. While policymakers and pundits find an almost metaphysical racism, or the survival of an ancient and primordial tribalism at the heart of American life, these inequities are better understood when traced to more comprehensible forces: to the contradictions in access to New Deal era welfare programs, to the blinders imposed by the Cold War, to Ronald Reagan’s neoliberal assault on the half-century long Keynesian consensus. As Touré Reed argues in this rigorously constructed book, the road to a more just society for African Americans and everyone else, the fate of poor and working-class African Americans is inextricably linked to that of other poor and working-class Americans.

It's a listen-along ep so cue up your Oz Box for this one. 

Why does the media suck? The glib liberal voices on the left and the far right nutjobs have voice, but what about a voice for the militant working class? 

The #Minneapolis police murdered George Floyd. I talk about the implications of #Biden choosing #Klobuchar as a running mate after her long history of #racism as a MN prosecutor. She could have prevented the murder years ago.

https://jabariforstatesenate.com/

This is not a listen-along ep. It's commentary on Oz Season 1, episode 3. I convinced someone to do it with me, Adam Vilman from Southpaws Pod and Means TV Sports. 

He's not just a jock, you see. 

Voting Democrat makes you a POC. Sounds crazy? I break down here how Biden is merely staying on message and the roots of that message. 

DSA Pro Skater Ryan Lay on Skaters for Bernie, Skating in Palestine, and After School Skate Programs.

Interviewed by Sean Baker (West Suburban IL DSA). 

TWITTER: @KenzoShibata Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClassTimePod/ Patreon: Patreon.com/KenzoShibata Pro skater Ryan Lay (@ryyanlay on Twitter) talks about skating in Palestine (it wasn't easy to get in), his after school skating program for poor and working class youth, and organizing Skaters for Bernie. Ryan on Instagram: https://instagram.com/ryan_lay/ Skate After School Twitter: https://twitter.com/sk8afterschool Skate After School Instagram: https://instagram.com/skateafterschool/ skateafterschool.org Vent City Twitter: https://twitter.com/VentCityPod Vent City Instagram: https://instagram.com/vent.city/ Skaters for Bernie Twitter: https://twitter.com/skaters4bernie Skaters for Bernie Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skatersforb...

Felix Biederman (Chapo Trap House), Ramsin Canon (Chicago DSA), Adrian @Blagojevism and I talk about the storied life of Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich. Rod in many ways was the last of his generation, a white ethnic political scrapper who made his bones under the old Chicago political machine. When that machine turned neoliberal, he was offered as a sacrifice to show that corruption had finally ended in the Prairie State, making way for bloodless middle-managers like Rahm Emanuel. 

Blago is a complicated character, rife with contradictions. To understand Blago is to understand the changing of the guard in Illinois politics. 

Produced by Dan Black. 

Kate McKinnon as Hillary Clinton playing Leonard Cohen. SNL having Liz Warren do TikTok videos instead of creating a progressive coalition with Bernie to win. Jen Kirkman not telling a single joke in 4 years because Hillary lost.

Why do comics have such bad politics? Why isn't there solidarity within the comedy community?

Written by Dylan Shearer (dylanshearer.substack.com/p/never-vote…r-a-comedian)

In this weeks' ep, Patrick Winegar (Chicago DSA, former improv comic) interviews Sarah Squirm AKA Sarah Sherman AKA The Old Swamp Hag (Helltrap Nightmare, Adult Swim), Jake Flores (Pod Damn America, Why You Mad Pod), and Dylan Shearer (Chicago DSA, writer, historian).

This episode balances political theory with a healthy amount of trash talking. If you're concerned we're talking about you, my Patreon is $5 a month.

Easter egg: hear my kid make a raspberry in the background at one point.

sarahsquirm.com/