Krystal Kyle & Friends

This week, we’re welcoming Marshall Kosloff to Episode 115 of KK&F. Marshall’s pod The Realignment, co-hosted with Saagar Enjeti, covers issues of the country’s political shift relating to mainstream media, national security, economic policy, and much more. We’re thrilled to have Marshall on Krystal Kyle & Friends this week to discuss the latest stories that have interested him and Saagar on The Realignment, what forms of realignment are manifesting in the United States’s political, economic, and social terrain, and why this shift is taking place — as well as our usual coverage of the latest in this week’s news. Thanks for joining us for another week of KK&F — we’re so glad to have you.

You can listen to this episode as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, and more.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

This week it’s our pleasure to bring you an exclusive conversation with 2024 presidential candidate Marianne Williamson. Like you, we’re interested in hearing about Marianne’s plans to address class warfare and social injustice in the United States, how her political journey led her to become an advocate for key progressive policies and against rampant economic inequality, and how she plans to take on both Biden and Trump this election — and win.

Through her time as an author and a figure on the national political stage, Marianne has gained insight into the intense disparity between the most advantaged and the least advantaged Americans, revealing the difficulty of survival for those who are “locked out of the club” and the way that our system is rigged for those with the keys to the castle of elite privilege. As she tells it, she plans to shine the light on the inherent problems with this system — but also to transform it for the improvement of working-class life in America. This is what she views as the role of the politician, and in this wide-ranging interview, you’ll hear how she envisions herself stepping into that role as the nation’s next president.

We hope you enjoy this special episode of Krystal Kyle & Friends. You can listen to this episode as a podcast on Pandora, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Why would the FBI pay a “violent felon” — who actually managed to fly under the radar because his appearance as a potential fed was so strikingly obvious — to work secretly and internally against racial justice organizers in Denver? With Trevor Aaronson of the Alphabet Boys podcast joining us to lay out the details of this harrowing story, we learn how and why Mickey Windecker got onto the FBI payroll to provide information to the Feds about anti-racist protesting and organizing work in Denver over the summer of 2020.

What emerges is the story of a man who strove to stoke violence and discord through deeply disturbing means — encouraging the destruction of neighborhoods, bringing weapons to organizing spaces, putting activists in peril. We’ll talk about why the FBI’s agenda here is so significant, and what lessons the left can take away from this governmental attack on crucial grassroots activism.

Thanks for tuning in to Krystal Kyle & Friends. You can listen to this episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and more.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

David Sirota joins us on the show this week to discuss what has become a horrific environmental disaster for East Palestine, Ohio, where residents have reported serious health issues and animals dying from the pollution. Add to that the struggle that those affected by the toxic chemical release will face as they grapple with the United States’ punishingly cost-prohibitive healthcare system for the care that they need. In so many ways, what happened in East Palestine speaks to the government’s profound failure to protect Americans both in the workplace (as in the case of overworked rail workers with no sick leave) and at home. It also shows that the cause of organized labor is capable of confronting and organizing around that failure, and that if the Democratic Party had lived up to its promises to fully stand with labor in December, thousands of people’s lives would be very different right now.

Thanks for joining us for this essential conversation. You can listen to this episode as a podcast when it’s released tomorrow on Spotify, Pandora, Apple Podcasts, and more.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

We know we can’t flip a switch and institute socialism. But how long that process will take and what its end result will be is a debate that often polarizes the American left. Matt Bruenig and others have spoken and written in favor of adopting something like the Nordic model, which centers on a strong welfare state. He also sees value in the example of Alaska’s social wealth fund and in worker co-ops, supporting ownership of your own workplace. This is to say that in Matt’s view, we can find elements of the socialist society we want to build in the world as it exists today. It’s “nothing crazy” — these policies and programs have huge support and remain important institutions for the public good in the communities where they have been established.

Thanks for subscribing to KK&F! You can listen to this episode in podcast form on Spotify, Substack, Pandora, and more.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

This week on KK&F, Corin joins Kyle for a “politics and chill” session on gun policy, the Austin food scene, and DeSantis’s politics of conservative outrage. What we note about DeSantis’ militarization of conservatives around this issue is his ability to plug into the “outrage of the day” — harnessing the energy of right-wing opposition to Biden’s perceived attack on their way of life. Kyle makes the case that this is a major point of differentiation between Trump and DeSantis that could make all the difference when it comes to the future leader of the far right. Trump is (believe it or not) “less online,” losing traction as he revisits older issues like the 2020 presidential election. In a match-up between the two, would DeSantis emerge stronger, better able to speak to the topics that get his base whipped up into a frenzy? We break things down in this week’s conversation.

Thanks for tuning in. You can listen to this conversation as a podcast on Spotify, Substack, Pandora, Apple Podcasts, and more.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Ken Roth is joining the show this week to discuss how he lost a fellowship at Harvard Kennedy School for reporting on human rights abuses. What Ken, the “godfather of human rights,” experienced when the Kennedy School found out about his criticism of Israel is a powerful lesson in the repression of dissent at elite institutions.

Larry Summers, Alan Dershowitz, Steven Pinker: Harvard refuses to remove these people from its payroll regardless of their extremely public links to Jeffrey Epstein, allegations of sexual abuse, the list goes on and on. Students recently walked out of a Harvard classroom to protest the school’s continued employment of John Comaroff, who has been accused of sexual misconduct (accusations that Harvard then failed to do anything about, and is now facing a lawsuit for this mishandling). When it comes to employing people who may put students in danger instead of teaching them, the university doesn’t back down. But when it comes to reporting on human rights abuses, when that reporting challenges the status quo, the school — like so many other powerful organizations — isn’t above blacklisting.

We’re grateful to Ken for coming on the show, talking to us about his story, and helping us understand how those who speak out about human rights abuses in Israel are regularly silenced. Thanks for tuning in for this important conversation. You can listen to this episode as a podcast on Pandora, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Right-wing radicalization, especially on social media, is a huge focus on the podcast this week. We’re joined by YouTuber Lonerbox as he takes us through the history of right-wing censorship and the arguments for and against free speech, Trump’s engagement with and mobilization of a far-right fringe via social media, and much more.

When should the left call for censorship? When do hateful words become life-threatening actions? These are the questions we’re grappling with, and they’re urgent ones for the left to address.

You can listen to this episode on Spotify, Pandora, Apple Podcasts, and more. Thanks for tuning in!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

This week’s guest, YouTuber Philion, traces the roots of today’s online misogyny to the pick-up artists of the 2000s and beyond, looking at how alpha male culture has made its way into almost every corner of the internet, from finance to fitness. Movements like #MeToo have changed public discourse so that today’s equivalents of the pick-up artist can’t get away with expressing themselves the way they might have done twenty years ago. But even without descending to the manosphere’s hidden, rotten core, it is (as any woman online knows) sadly too easy to see that that it’s alive, well, and a massive influence on modern culture. The internet has become a place where men of all ages can become radicalized around a hatred and distrust of women, and a dangerous, unfulfilling idea of masculinity. How will it be possible for the left to confront this? And what, exactly, are we up against?

We dive into these questions and more with Philion, this week’s guest, and we’re grateful to you for joining us. Remember that you can listen to this episode as a podcast on Spotify, Pandora, Apple Podcasts, and more.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

We talk to Will Menaker of Chapo Trap House about what’s at stake here for the “ultra-MAGA contingent” posing a roadblock to McCarthy’s confirmation. We’ve got a number of different theories which might actually combine to explain the standoff: McCarthy just doesn’t have the confidence of his colleagues; people like Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert see him as a sellout and would prefer an even further-right Speaker; some the holdouts have made conflict their brand, and negotiating isn’t the point; others are committed to an older Tea Party-style agenda about low debt ceilings and balanced budgets. How will the contest for the speakership set the tone for the proceedings of this Congress?

We’re glad to have Will with us to unpack the insanity unfolding in D.C.’s halls of power, and we think you’ll appreciate his insight. Remember that you can listen to this episode as a podcast on Spotify, Pandora, Apple Podcasts, and more.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe