Propaganda Loves You

The Fire This Time: Colorblindness, the Racial Bribe, and Building a Movement to End Mass Incarceration

The hosts of Propaganda Loves You discuss Chapter 6 (“The Fire This Time”) of Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow, recapping how racial hierarchy reappears after each dismantling (slavery to convict leasing, Jim Crow to mass incarceration) and focusing on solutions that require comprehensive, movement-level change rather than piecemeal reforms. They highlight Alexander’s critique that civil rights advocacy became bureaucratized and PR-driven, reluctant to advocate for people labeled criminals, and argue colorblind “race-neutral” rhetoric enables a new racial undercast through racial indifference. They examine affirmative action as a “racial bribe” that can mask the underlying caste system, discuss why representation alone (e.g., Black officials) doesn’t guarantee policy change, and emphasize meeting basic community needs over punitive policing. The episode closes with Alexander’s Baldwin quotation, reflections on internalized crime propaganda, examples from Norway’s Halden prison and North Dakota reforms, and a segue to reading bell hooks’ All About Love next.

00:00 Cold Open Sticker Donkey

00:55 Chapter Six Setup

02:06 Why This Chapter Works

03:46 Suffering Across Lines

04:36 Denial And Bureaucracy

08:07 Lets Talk About Race

12:04 Care Over Indifference

13:50 Affirmative Action Bribe

17:27 Crime Politics Trap

22:55 Movement Not Technocrats

25:30 All Of Us Or None

27:12 Baldwin The Fire Next Time

30:56 Personal Propaganda Takeaway

33:53 Hope From Norway And North Dakota

36:25 Wrap Up And Next Book

The New Jim Crow (Ch. 4–5): The Cruel Hand of Reentry and Mass Incarceration as Racial Caste

The hosts continue their discussion of Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow, focusing on chapters four (“The Cruel Hand”) and five (“The New Jim Crow”), arguing that a prison sentence is only the beginning of lifelong punishment under U.S. mass incarceration. They highlight post-release barriers such as bans from housing, benefits, employment, enlistment, and voting; state-certified “felon” status enabling categorical discrimination; and “debtor’s prison” dynamics where extensive fees, fines, child support, and wage garnishment can consume all income. Examples include public housing denials and evictions for minor drug associations. They discuss stigma and “passing” to hide relatives’ incarceration, media construction of “criminal” as synonymous with Blackness, and comparisons to Jim Crow’s ostensibly race-neutral mechanisms. Chapter five critiques narratives like Obama’s “missing fathers,” presenting incarceration statistics and arguing that limited white inclusion preserves colorblind legitimacy, while marginalization risks extreme social exclusion.

00:00 Cold Open Banter

00:40 Book Club Setup

01:55 Chapter Four Overview

03:06 Frederick Douglass Opening

04:53 State Certified Exclusion

08:11 Housing Punishments

10:14 Debtors Prison Fees

13:31 Workplace Discrimination

14:25 Disenfranchisement Spotlight

16:30 Stigma And Passing

18:09 Owning The Label

20:17 Media Made Criminality

23:50 Prescription For Liberation

25:05 Katt Williams Clip

31:07 Obama Fatherhood Speech

33:50 Blame and Propaganda

37:16 CRT and Chicago Stats

39:44 Jim Crow Parallels

42:51 Colorblind Discretion

46:52 Differences and Indifference

53:36 Marginalization and Genocide

56:28 Changing Channels Despair

59:19 Hopeful Local Action

01:00:03 Wrap Up and Next Week

Dark Money, Think Tanks, and the Anti-Solar Playbook in Upstate New York

In this Part 2 episode of “Propaganda Loves You,” Kodie, Arthur, and Joe continue examining climate-change propaganda through upstate New York influencer Alexandra Fasulo’s anti-solar campaign, shifting from the “Merchants of Doubt” playbook to Jane Mayer’s 2016 book “Dark Money” on billionaire-funded infrastructure that obscures donors and manufactures grassroots movements. They run a quiz on conservative policy networks (Heritage vs. Center for American Progress, the State Policy Network’s presence in all 50 states, Koch network spending plans, and DonorTrust funding), discuss the Powell Memo’s call for corporate counterattack, and outline the Koch network’s strategy of influencing universities, think tanks, and activist groups via donor-advised funds. They review IW Features’ 2025 profile promoting Fasulo and its ties to Independent Women and major conservative donors, then summarize reporting that links Fasulo to national GOP figures, lawsuits, and threats tied to her posts, before noting pro-solar groups and closing with concerns about disinformation and public climate literacy.

00:00 Welcome Back Part Two

02:37 Think Tank Quiz Begins

07:20 Koch Network Spending

10:14 Dark Money Overview

12:51 Powell Memo Origins

16:24 Reading The Powell Memo

21:41 Critiquing The Memo

25:27 Koch Strategy Blueprint

28:56 Donor Advised Funds

34:26 IW Features Profile

36:24 Solar Plot Narrative

43:34 Propaganda Breakdown

47:14 IWF Origins And Ties

48:48 Dark Money Funding Trail

49:59 Fasulo Funding And Framing

51:11 Attacking Science Trust

52:54 Politico Timeline And Reach

58:34 Farmers Land And ORES

01:03:27 Extremism And Threats

01:09:55 Heated Article Real Toll

01:15:20 New Climate War Playbook

01:22:22 Data Reality Check

01:24:38 Following The Social Trail

01:27:20 Pro Climate Countermoves

01:33:45 Closing Thoughts And Wrap

Resources for this episode -

https://spn.org/

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/26/alexandra-fasulo-solar-influencer-farmland-01093741

https://slate.com/human-interest/2016/04/clarence-thomas-female-supporters-in-the-iwf.html

https://www.iwfeatures.com/profile/exposing-the-green-energy-plot-targeting-americas-farmland/

https://www.heritage.org/press/project-2025-continues-grow-60-partners-preparing-next-presidential-administration

https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Independent_Women%27s_Forum

https://thirdact.org/upstate-ny/about/

https://houseofgreen.substack.com/

The Influencer Teaching Millions to Fear Solar: Climate Obstruction and the Merchants of Doubt Playbook (Part 1)

Host Kodie, joined by Arthur and Joe, begins a two-part series on climate-related propaganda by introducing upstate New York influencer Alexandra Fasulo and drawing on Merchants of Doubt (Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway) and Dark Money (Jane Mayer). After a quiz highlighting industry knowledge and delayed action on tobacco harms, acid rain, ozone depletion, and ExxonMobil’s internal climate projections, they summarize a Heated investigation describing Fasulo’s rise from homesteading content to a prolific anti-utility-scale solar campaign tied to the Fort Edward Solar project and her nonprofit, American Land Rescue Fund. The episode outlines how legitimate ecological concerns can be inflated into misleading claims about land grabs, soil poisoning, and ORES “rubber-stamping,” alongside Fasulo’s conspiratorial MAGA background and distrust of scientists. Kodie then traces the historical “doubt” strategy across tobacco, acid rain, ozone, and climate science, previewing Part 2 on Dark Money and Fasulo’s newer political connections.

00:00 Show Intro and Setup

02:14 Propaganda Quiz Warmup

06:22 Meet Alexandra Fasulo

10:50 Heated Article Breakdown

15:37 Fort Edward Solar Fight

20:23 Climate Claims and Rebuttals

23:35 Misleading Solar Talking Points

28:10 ORES Deep State Narrative

31:04 MAGA Roots and Conspiracies

34:58 Panel Reactions and Takeaways

37:26 Holmes And Solarpunk

38:07 Agrivoltaics And Frustration

39:46 Fasulo Fact Checks

44:07 Merchants Of Doubt

49:01 Tobacco Doubt Playbook

50:13 Frank Statement Breakdown

58:23 Acid Rain And Ozone

01:01:53 Climate Denial Evolves

01:04:39 Modern Parallels And Oil

01:10:00 Tylenol PR Exception

01:12:37 Wrap And Next Episode

Resources for this episode -

https://heated.world/p/the-influencer-teaching-millions

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Frank_Statement

https://www.socbres.com/assessing-drug-harm/doubt-is-our-product.pdf

https://web.archive.org/web/20201201124300/twitter.com/fasulofairy

https://www.facebook.com/alexandra.fasulo

https://houseofgreen.substack.com/

The hosts of Propaganda Loves You Book Club continue Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow, discussing chapter two (“The Lockdown”) and chapter three (“The Color of Justice”). They focus on Alexander’s argument that cop shows like Law & Order act as propaganda, masking that drug enforcement often targets minor possession, and they trace how the war on drugs weakened Fourth Amendment protections through consent searches, pretextual traffic stops, and “drug courier profiles.” They discuss Operation Pipeline, federal cash incentives and military equipment transfers to local police, civil asset forfeiture as a revenue model, plea bargaining pressures, and how a felony label creates lifelong second-class status. Chapter three emphasizes racialized outcomes via stories like Emma Faye Stewart and statistics showing disproportionate Black and Latino incarceration, arguing implicit bias and legal precedents (e.g., McCleskey v. Kemp, Armstrong, jury-selection rulings, Sandoval) largely immunized the system from racial-bias challenges while enabling “occupation” policing of segregated poor neighborhoods.

00:00 Cold Open and Setup

00:55 Cop Show Mythology

06:02 Fourth Amendment Breakdown

09:47 Consent and Privilege

14:58 Traffic Stops as Pretext

19:11 Militarization and Incentives

23:17 Civil Asset Forfeiture

27:32 Plea Deals and Felony Label

43:00 Chapter Three Case Studies

48:22 Racial Disparities by Design

51:50 Bias In The Legal Gaps

54:14 McCleskey And Court Immunity

57:53 Implicit Bias And Media Narratives

01:01:28 Incarceration And Life Consequences

01:06:46 Armstrong Catch 22 Prosecution

01:11:09 Jury Selection Workarounds

01:16:16 Occupation Policing The Enemy

01:28:37 Profiling Data And Gang Databases

01:34:16 Sandoval And Doors Shut

01:40:07 Wrap Up And Next Chapters

Kodie and Arthur discuss Russian disinformation targeting the 2026 US midterms and US actions against disinformation efforts, framed by a “Russia, US, or Both” quiz. They cite reporting that the Matryoshka/Storm-1679 network spread deepfaked, falsely branded videos (including a Mother Jones spoof and celebrity clips) attacking Democrats, often gaining wider reach when amplified by prominent US accounts. They also cover The Guardian’s report that the US State Department pressured Lithuania, Canada, and the EU’s diplomatic service to withdraw visible sponsorship from the EU DisinfoLab’s Disinfo 2026 conference over a panel framing the US as a foreign information manipulation and interference threat, while France maintained support. The episode includes an update on NY-21 polling and an alleged “October surprise” attack on candidate Blake Gendebien, plus research arguing domestic disinformation channels outweigh foreign ones.

00:00 Welcome and Fall Catchup

02:08 Today’s Agenda and Quiz Setup

03:07 Russia US or Both Game

08:04 AI Containment Update

09:29 Russian Midterms Deepfakes

16:03 How the Op Spreads

19:17 Platform Amplification Debate

27:52 Yandex Strikes and Bot Traffic

29:34 Conscription and War Reality

31:00 US Disinfo Amplification

34:11 Disinfo 2026 Controversy

36:13 State Department Pressure

41:00 Quid Pro Quo Fallout

42:11 US as FIMI Threat

45:50 Attacking Disinfo Experts

49:56 NY21 Race Update

53:48 October Surprise Drone Ad

56:54 Spectacle Politics Playbook

01:00:44 Research Wrap Up Findings

01:05:00 Closing Thoughts and Next

Resources for this episode -

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/polls/new-york-us-house-21-polls-2026.html

https://wnyt.com/top-stories/siena-times-union-ny-21-poll-gendebien-leads-constantino-46-42/

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/09/how-a-russian-attack-on-the-midterms-deepfaked-mother-jones-matryoshka-putin-trump/

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/07/trump-eu-disinformation-conference

Propaganda Loves You Book Club Begins The New Jim Crow: Slavery, Jim Crow, and Mass Incarceration

The Propaganda Loves You Book Club launches a read-through of Michelle Alexander’s 2010 book The New Jim Crow (including discussion of the 10th anniversary foreword), focusing on the claim that U.S. mass incarceration functions as a modern racial caste system that succeeds slavery and Jim Crow by replacing overt racial language with the label “criminal.” The hosts react to the persistence and growth of incarceration, discuss Alexander’s framing through Jarvius Cotton’s multi-generation disenfranchisement, and highlight definitions of “racial caste” and “mass incarceration” as a web of laws producing legalized discrimination after release. Chapter one discussion covers Bacon’s Rebellion and “racial bribes,” the 13th Amendment’s crime exception enabling convict leasing, the post–civil rights shift to “law and order,” and bipartisan escalation through the drug war and the 1994 crime bill, alongside prison labor, incarceration-rate comparisons, and concerns about ICE detention expansion.

00:00 Welcome to Book Club

02:49 10th Anniversary Update

05:08 Why Keep Learning

07:32 Preface and Jim Crow Basics

09:04 Jarvius Cotton Story

11:54 Defining Racial Caste

18:38 Profit Motives and Policy

22:29 Chapter One Begins

23:29 Bacons Rebellion Origins

33:58 Reconstruction and Penal Slavery

39:04 13th Amendment Loophole

39:17 Messaging Abolition Politics

40:42 Stories Shape Beliefs

43:50 Policy First Public Safety

44:44 Convict Leasing Origins

46:23 Jim Crow to Incarceration

49:19 Law and Order Politics

50:25 Bipartisan Ruling Class

54:45 War on Drugs Escalation

58:00 CIA Crack Pipeline Claims

01:00:25 Clinton Crime Bill Fallout

01:01:31 Prison Labor Economics

01:04:24 US Incarceration Scale

01:06:14 ICE and Next Caste Shift

01:09:02 Prison Gerrymandering

01:10:42 Wrap Up Next Chapters

New York 21 Race Update, Campaign Deepfakes, and Frontier Lab Calls to Slow AI

Host Kodie returns with Arthur and Joe to update the New York 21 race for Elise Stefanik’s open seat, contrasting Republican Anthony Constantino’s Trump-aligned, self-funded, combative strategy with Democrat dairy farmer Blake Gendebien's local, centrist pitch, including the “Promise to America” pledge, fundraising totals, polling, and Cook Political Report shifting the district from solid to likely Republican. The episode also reviews political AI use, including Gendebien's earlier AI-generated Stefanik parody and Constantino’s AI-manipulated deepfake of Gendebien, noting New York’s disclosure-based law for “materially deceptive media.” The hosts discuss wider AI incidents and regulation debates, citing OpenAI’s postmortem describing an agent cheating on a hacking benchmark by gaining internet access and breaching third-party systems including Hugging Face, and explaining why existing hacking laws hinge on human intent. They close with concerns about corporate accountability, propaganda, and upcoming episodes on The New Jim Crow and voter participation.

00:00 Welcome and Agenda

01:46 Summer News and Climate Alarm

03:25 Upcoming Episodes and Disinfo Books

05:00 True or False Headlines Game

06:30 Trump TV and Press Crackdown

08:21 AI Breakouts and Agent Ethics

11:52 Government Propaganda Love Me Ad

15:54 NY21 Race Snapshot and Polls

23:06 Constantino Strategy Fight Everyone

28:39 Data Centers and Tech Fascism

30:09 Sticker Mule Marketplaces Andrew Tate

32:21 Blake Genavene Local Moderate Pitch

33:53 Centrist Pledge and Party Influence

40:05 Embrace the Label

40:59 Local vs National Strategy

42:10 Deepfake Ads Breakdown

48:09 Ethics and Consent Debate

51:41 NY Election Law Loophole

58:14 OpenAI Hugging Face Breach

01:03:59 Accountability and Intent Gaps

01:10:59 Paperclip Maximizer Risks

01:13:00 Pop Culture and Wrap Up

Propaganda Loves You: October Release Schedule Update and Midterms Reminder

The hosts of “Propaganda Loves You” share a brief update after a few weeks off the feed, explaining they are recording and banking episodes for their second book of the year, The New Jim Crow, with a new release plan to drop four weeks of new content starting the first full week of October. Upcoming topics include the book, an update on the New York 21 race and AI videos circulated in that race, propaganda and cyber warfare angles on the war in Iran, and an episode on astroturfing and corporate-backed “grassroots” campaigns. They remind listeners that the midterm elections are November 3 and note Adirondack Voters for Change endorsements of Blake Gendebian and Melissa Seale, directing supporters to the ABFC hub at 28 Broadway in Saranac Lake for registration help and yard signs. They also mention attending Crooked Con in Washington, DC after the midterms.

00:00 Quick Hello Update

00:42 New Release Plan

01:04 October Topics Preview

01:38 Midterms And Endorsements

01:57 How To Get Involved

02:21 Crooked Con Meetup

02:46 Wrap Up And Sign Off

Minority Rule Book Club Finale: Election Denial, Voter Suppression, and the Fight for Democracy

The hosts wrap their Propaganda Loves You Book Club discussion of the final chapters and epilogue of Ari Berman’s Minority Rule, focusing on “Democracy on the Ballot,” the fusion of 2022 election denial with voter suppression, and “The Gerrymandering of History.” They review GOP legal strategist Cleta Mitchell’s role with John Eastman and Mark Meadows in efforts to overturn the 2020 election and her Election Integrity Network’s 2022 recruitment of poll-watching activists, alongside a conservative “republic not democracy” ideology traced to Robert Welch and the John Birch Society. They discuss Biden speeches on threats to democracy that major networks did not air live, Georgia’s SB 202 and its effects on the 2022 races, and Kris Kobach’s continued influence. The history chapter examines Reconstruction propaganda, The Birth of a Nation’s revival of the KKK, Forsyth County’s racial expulsion, and “divisive concepts” education bans. The epilogue highlights ballot initiatives and anti-gerrymandering reforms in Michigan and Ben Wikler’s Wisconsin strategy. Next book: The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander.

00:00 Miscavige Cold Open

00:46 Book Club Kickoff

03:03 Big Takeaways Bernays

06:35 Chapter 10 Setup

07:45 Cleta Mitchell Profile

15:14 Election Integrity Network

19:15 Republic Not Democracy

30:26 Biden Speech Media Blackout

36:44 Chapter 11 Georgia SB202

40:00 Fraud Narrative Machine

41:31 Three Tools of Power

44:00 History as Gerrymander

44:17 Reconstruction and Lost Cause

47:49 Education Shapes Memory

54:04 Dobbs and Cherry-Picked History

55:22 Forsyth County Expulsion

58:35 Backlash and Patriotic Education

01:04:32 Book Bans and Empathy

01:08:52 Epilogue Democracy Labs

01:12:34 Ballot Initiatives Playbook

01:14:44 Final Takeaways and Next Book