The American Dissent

On today’s show, Sam and Jen round up the election results from Tuesday. Angie Nixon shocks the country with her long-shot win in the Florida Democratic Senate primary. She is now the first DSA statewide candidate to make it to a general election. All eyes on Florida now!

We cover other primary results in Florida, Wyoming, and Alaska. There were also special elections in Pennsylvania and California. Lots to cover!

In darker news, the US bond market is in danger, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is trying to pull a rabbit out of his hat to keep a lid on what could be a financial disaster. 

Israeli officials are calling for yet more death and destruction in Gaza with National Security Minister Ben-Gvir calling Gazans “not even human”.

Book recommendation: The Nerd Reich by Gil Durán https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Nerd-Reich/Gil-Duran/9781668221402

Democracy Now! Interview with the author: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg7YNUbaV-8

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On today’s show, we are joined by author and professor Scott Laderman, who specializes in modern American history and the Cold War. His most recent book, from 2019, is The “Silent Majority” Speech: Richard Nixon, the Vietnam War, and the Origins of the New Right.

Scott talks to us about the parallels he sees between the current situation in Iran and the Vietnam War. We chat about the attacks on our political system and the attack on academic freedom and the crisis facing higher education.

Please check out Scott on Substack! https://scottladerman.substack.com/

His most recent book: https://www.routledge.com/The-Silent-Majority-Speech-Richard-Nixon-the-Vietnam-War-and-the-Origins-of-the-New-Right/Laderman/p/book/9780415347495 

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On today’s show, Jen and Sam preview next week’s primaries and worry over comments coming out of Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers. Will the Wisconsin Dems take Francesca Hong voters for granted? It doesn’t look good. Republicans are down to whining about socialism, communism, Marxism, and gender politics, so Dems have a wide-open lane to campaign on real issues. Let’s see if they capitalize!

Then, Sam is joined by friend of the show JP Gresh to learn more about the current state of affairs in Iran. What are the goals for the US? Unclear. What can the military do to achieve those goals? Unclear. It’s not looking good, folks, but it’s very good to know that people like JP are here to help ground us in making sense of what we can.

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Today, Jen and Sam are joined by political science professor Craig Grau, an expert on the politics and political history of Minnesota and Wisconsin. He’s here to help us understand what on earth happened in the primary elections in both states. In Minnesota, polls greatly underestimated the left, while in Wisconsin, the opposite was true! Craig helps us understand how the two states, so similar in so many ways, differ so much when it comes to their political fortunes.

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Today, Jen and Sam do a quick round-up of the primary races today and touch on a bit of the latest new.

Stay with us for a fascinating interview with Joel Sipress, politician and professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Superior. He helped found the local DSA here in the Duluth, Minnesota, area and has also spent time as an elected official at the municipal level. He’s currently the elected chair of the 8th Senate District of the Minnesota DFL which is most of the city of Duluth. In our conversation, we cover the history of the DSA, what it’s stood for over the years, and it’s meteoric rise over the last ten years. We also do a deep dive into the Senate primary race in Minnesota and the gubernatorial primary race in Wisconsin and how the DSA has impacted both races.

Book recommendation: Rural Versus Urban by Suzanne Mettler and Trevor E. Brown

https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691264387/rural-versus-urban?srsltid=AfmBOorLBwxKJepnsbg3fTjNnY4_QrggqQF3-wXZGWnTf-bKjPyQ08Sx

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Today we’re airing an amazing interview we did on July 1 with retired US Army Colonel JP Gresh who is a non-resident fellow with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. We learn a ton from JP about what’s been going on in Ukraine and what’s likely to happen.Sam also does a quick update on the strange and competitive Democratic primary race in Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District. He was wrong about that race, but it turns out there’s a bizarre reason why! Thanks to Drop Site News for their reporting on this race!Links mentioned in the episode:Drop Site News article on outside spending in MN CD2: https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/minnesota-primary-aipac-dmfi-super-pacs-matt-littleBreaking Points interview with DFL-endorsed candidate Matt Little: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-8Z7uqhxrwMusic licensed through Soundstripe.Code: LIPPQYRUP041WRZ8

On today’s show, stick around for our interview with long-time newsman Duke Skorich and radio maven Patty McNulty! They are polling experts and analysts with a wealth of knowledge on political races and the nitty gritty of polling and data.

First, though, we cover how Donald Trump is lashing out at more people as his foreign adventures dissolve into chaos and loss. Trump and the GOP are freaking out about Abdul El-Sayed and the Islamophobia is front and center of their appeals to Americans.

Please follow Duke Skorich on his social media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dushan.skorich/

Substack: https://dukeskorich.substack.com/

Book recommendation from the show:

Enshittification by Cory Doctorow

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374619329/enshittification/

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Today is all about the midterm primaries! We've got a roundup of some of the most closely watched races as well as a number of important races that flew under the radar. We also break down Abdul El-Sayed's victory speech as he shapes his general election message to face off against Republican Mike Rogers.

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Today we have a quick roundup of the primaries to watch today.

Our guest today is Missy Bakker Roach. In addition to running her own farm, she's on the board of the Minnesota Farmers Union, started her local chapter of the union, and is involved in other organizations that brings regional producers to the local markets and consumers. We discuss not only regional issues, but the bigger global events that have enormous ramifications for all farmers as well as the divide between family farmers and the gigantic corporations that are gobbling up the majority of farmland in the US.

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Today we're pleased to welcome IBEW member and labor activist Lyle Thomason on the show to talk about the intersection of the labor movement and politics. Where are things now? What's brewing in the movement? Labor is the most important force in fighting for working class politics, so conversations like these are some of the most important we can have.

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