KPFK - BradCast w/ Brad Friedman

Guest: John Nichols, The Nation

The results of Tuesday's off-year elections were not nearly as bad for Democrats as the national media seems compelled to insist. JOHN NICHOLS of The Nation discusses the 2021 election results, making sense of where both Democrats and the national media went right and wrong during the election and its aftermath, and the red flag warnings and lessons that Democrats and progressives should note and learn. Plus: a host of progressive wins that fell beneath the national media's radar, including historic mayoral victories from Massachusetts to New Mexico, Ohio, North Carolina and beyond.

Election Day 2021 saw a few big problems in NJ with electronic voting systems. OK GOP's extreme partisan gerrymandered maps split longtime Dem districts. At the UN climate conference in Glasgow, Biden apologized for Trump and announced major new global pacts to stop and reverse deforestation, and cut methane emissions 30% by 2030. Senate Dems reach deal to cut prescription drug prices. Despite rightwing anti-vaccine disinformation, few workers are choosing to leave their jobs due to vaccine mandates, which are working to slow COVID infections. Plus Desi Doyen has our latest 'Green News Report.'

Are we witnessing the death of democracy? In Florida, an effort to squash academic freedom and free speech in Florida. GOP-controlled Iowa's new extreme partisan gerrymandering maps erased Democratic House seats. The GOP's stolen and packed US Supreme Court heard oral arguments challenging Texas' latest blatantly unconstitutional abortion restriction law. Callers weigh in ...

Guest: Heather 'Digby' Parton, Salon and Digby's Hullabaloo

A Republican elections clerk in MI is under criminal investigation for stealing her town's election tabulation equipment; a QAnon loon, she refused to use legal processes to investigate concerns that have been long established by legitimate election security experts. Award-winning opinion columnist Heather 'Digby' Parton discusses the 'diva twins' Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), who are directly responsible for obstructing and gutting key provisions in Pres. Biden's wildly popular Build Back Better Act, the corporate media's misleading narratives about the bill, and much more...

Pres. Biden announced Congressional Democrats are one step closer to passage of his Build Back Better agenda. We air his full remarks about what remains in the smaller but still-transformative budget bill. In a landmark House Oversight hearing, Big Oil CEOs and their major lobbying groups were grilled over their companies' decades of documented, deadly lies about their role in causing man-made global warming, and the millions of dollars they've spent deceiving the American public about it. Plus Desi Doyen has our latest 'Green News Report.'

Guest: Dr. Virginia Martin, former NY election commissioner; Allegra Dengler, Citizens for Voting Integrity NY

Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kysten Sinema (D-AZ) continue to dismantle Biden's Build Back Better Act, now opposing wealth taxes on US billionaires. 714 U.S. billionaires increased their wealth 70% during the pandemic, and their pandemic wealth gains alone would pay for the entirety of the BBB Act. Voters are heading to the polls in off-year elections in NJ, VA and NY. Election integrity experts Dr. Virginia Martin and Allegra Dengler explain important voting reforms on the ballot in New York, which has some of the most restrictive voting policies in the nation. Interestingly, they disagree on the voting measures, and offer well-informed, nuanced opinions on the issues at stake.

Guest: Keith Barber, Attorney

New poll finds vast majority of Americans want Congress to act on climate change. Coal-state Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) tries to eliminate more climate provisions from Biden's Build Back Better budget bill. Biden White House again denies Trump's attempt to invoke executive privilege. Attorney Keith Barber of Daily Kos explains how a longstanding federal fraud conspiracy law could be applied to Trump and cronies, amid new revelations detailing their involvement in planning the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and their attempt to steal the 2020 election. Plus Desi Doyen has our latest 'Green News Report.'

Guest: Mayor Serge Dedina, Imperial Beach, CA

90 million Americans are under threat of severe weather as historic storm slams into Northern California. UN warns carbon emissions hit record high in 2020, despite pandemic lockdowns. Imperial Beach, CA Mayor Serge Dedina explains his lawsuit against major oil companies, seeking damages for the impacts of rising sea levels on his small, working class town. The latest update on the 'sausage-making' as Pres. Biden and Democrats work to get just two senators to sign on to the transformative Build Back Better Act. Callers weigh in on all of the above.

Guest host Nicole Sandler speaks with Anita Hill, author of the new book, "Believing" about gender based violence and her experience 30 years ago testifying at Clarence Thomas's SCOTUS confirmation hearing about his sexual harassment.

Full US House votes to recommend criminal contempt charges for Trump crony Steve Bannon. TX Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick coughs up $25k bounty to progressive Democrat who caught Republicans committing voter fraud. 'Centrists' Sinema and Manchin could tank Democrats' razor-thin Senate majority in an instant. Republicans' assault on democracy continues apace. Texas GOP gerrymandering steals seats from state's surging non-white population. Plus Desi Doyen has our latest 'Green News Report.'