This week Jim and Aaron discuss Joe Biden's VP selection, Allan Lichtman's 2020 prediction, and more! 

Note: Minor audio differences due to technical difficulties this week. 

2:00 - What has the response been to Kamala Harris? 

16:00 - Aaron's thoughts on the Harris pick 

25:00 - Is Harris Evolving? 

40:00 - Donald Trump and the Payroll tax 

53:00 - Allan Lichtman makes his 2020 prediction for the Presidency 

1:04:00 - Didn't Jim Predict some of this? 

1:18:00 - Do you think Trump wins again? 

From the show

Allan Lichtman makes his pick for the 2020 election - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/05/opinion/2020-election-prediction-allan-lichtman.html

Intro song: MAJID JORDAN - Shake, shake, shake 

Outro Song: Grateful Dead - Bertha

This week Jim and Aaron are excited to have Dr. Trevor Rubenzer, Chair of the History, Political Science, Philosophy, and American Studies department of the University of South Carolina Upstate. The three discuss the shortlist of names Joe Biden may have for his Vice President pick. In their "Moment of disassembly", Jim and Aaron discuss some of their mistakes made in last week's episode in terms of conversations around Nancy Pelosi and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. 

7:00 - Let's look at the names on Biden's VP list 

18:54 - Who is Susan Rice? 

27:00 - What type of VP does Biden want? 

36:30 - Let's discuss Kamala Harris 

48:00 - Who are the "dark horse" names for the VP? 

1:00:00 - You're a Packers fan....What about Jordan Love? 

1:10:00 - Moment of Disassembly  

From this episode: 

Jacques Lacan,  "Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy" https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/lacan/ 

Michel Foucault, "Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy" https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/foucault/ 

Newsweek: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Slams New York Times 'Trump Urges Unity' Front Page, Says It Aids White Supremacy  https://www.newsweek.com/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-nyt-front-page-trump-white-supremacy-1452724

Donald Trump interview with Axios: https://www.axios.com/full-axios-hbo-interview-donald-trump-cd5a67e1-6ba1-46c8-bb3d-8717ab9f3cc5.html 

Intro song - Goldlink "Meditation" 

Outro song - Lady Gaga "Bad Romance"

This week on the podcast, Jim and Aaron discuss: 

3:00 - What's the problem with Nancy Pelosi 

6:00 - Aaron declares himself the president of the AOC fan club  

15:00 - What does the DNC stand for? 

23:00 - GOP proposed stimulus 2.0 plan 

35:00 - Aaron's terrible transition into Tom Cotton 

46:00 - Tom Cotton discusses the "1619 project" 

55:00 - Is America redeemable? 

1:00:05 - The Confederacy 

1:00:00 - Morality and Tolerance 

1:22:00 - Moment of Zen  

From the show

Tom Cotton's conversation with Anchor Democrat-Gazette - https://soundcloud.com/arkansasonline/sen-tom-cotton-interview-with-the-democrat-gazette  

What is freedom today? - Slavoj Žižek - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpPuTaP68Dw&t=35s

A look at Magic City's magnificent wings - https://twitter.com/ZSoskin/status/1287933108797321216 

Aaron's intro song - Ari Lennox "Shea Butter Baby" feat J. Cole 

Jim's outro song - Sammy Johns "Chevy Van" 

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This week's episode is a good one and an emotional one. Jim and Aaron discuss: 

2:30 - Moment of Disassembly, "Herd-immunity" with Covid-19 

6:11 - Honoring John Lewis and C.T. Vivian

17:00 - Covid-19's housing crisis 

30:00 - Trump's infrastructure problem 

39:00 - What is happening in Portland? 

50:00 - The aspirations of the Declaration 

1:10:00 - Is this redeemable?  

1:21:00 - Shoutouts 

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Resources from this episode:

Declaration of Independence - https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript 

Covid-19 housing crisis: 

CNBC - https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/08/32-percent-of-us-households-missed-their-july-housing-payments.html

NY Times - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/05/business/economy/coronavirus-commercial-real-estate.html

Vox - https://www.vox.com/covid-19-coronavirus-economy-recession-stock-market/2020/5/29/21273520/housing-market-coronavirus-impact-home-prices-mortgages-crash  

New York Magazine - https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/07/coronavirus-recession-evictions-crisis-congress.html

DHS in Portland 

NPR - https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-protests-for-racial-justice/2020/07/20/893082598/they-just-started-whaling-violence-tension-as-u-s-agents-clamp-down-in-portland 

BBC (UK) - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53473732 

Songs: 

Intro - Summer Walker Feat. Usher - Come thru 

Outro - Easy Star All-Stars - Let Down (Feat. Toots & The Maytals) 

***We own no rights to this music*** 

This week, Jim and Aaron talk about school(s) re-opening and the consequences it may bring. They also discuss:  

2:00 - Moment of Disassembly 

9:20 - Cultural Wars? 

20:00 - Slippery Slope? 

30:00 - Betsy DeVos on CNN 

50:00 - Does DeVos have a plan?

From this episode: 

Betsy DeVos interview on CNN - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6b8Kg_a4Omo

Cultural Revolutions Start at Year Zero (National Review) -  https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/07/cultural-revolutions-start-year-zero/?fbclid=IwAR3rvf7G2RXrgHlmaVk-Gk7MaVNOIiQfC6gxVcmh7NHo4gNRseEL2T6UOdU 

Laziness Does Not Exist (Medium) - https://humanparts.medium.com/laziness-does-not-exist-3af27e312d01

The Fullest Look Yet at the Racial Inequity of Coronavirus (NY Times) -  https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/05/us/coronavirus-latinos-african-americans-cdc-data.html?fbclid=IwAR3EspNp59YPhf45kazumPIsTy_s_Q9szEloZCE3R3BL9fbdpb-wn_y8MNA 

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This week, Jim and Aaron discuss: 

3:10 - What did we miss with Joe Biden's conversation with Trevor Noah 

16:00 - How can you be oppressed and the oppressor? 

25:00 - BIPOC 

32:50 - What is Latinx? 

47:10 - Trump's Speech at Mt. Rushmore 

1:00:00 - What do these confederate statues represent? 

From this episode: 

Philosophical Investigations (3rd edition) (Ludwig Wittgenstein) - https://www.amazon.com/Philosophical-Investigations-3rd-Ludwig-Wittgenstein/dp/0024288101#ace-g2093936695 

Assata Shakur "Women in Prison" - https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/shakurwip.html 

All Amendments to the US Constitution: http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/education/all_amendments_usconst.htm

13th (full movie)  "Ava DuVernay's examination of the U.S. prison system looks at how the country's history of racial inequality drives the high rate of incarceration in America" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krfcq5pF8u8

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This week Jim and Aaron discuss COVID-19 still rising in the USA, power and authority, how Trump has used his power, and also about Black lives in America. 

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From this episode: 

Gary W. Cox: Making Votes Count: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/making-votes-count/42CD9425E1410457FFC5079EC851F32B

Alexandre Kojeve (Author), Hager Weslati (Translator): The Notion of Authority: A Brief Presentation: https://www.amazon.com/Notion-Authority-Brief-Presentation/dp/1781680957 

Faithless "We Come 1" (Glastonbury 2002) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Of234_XDLg

This week Jim and Aaron discuss the topic of defunding the police. Is it different than abolishing the police? Is it all the same? We discuss Joe Biden's timeline to his current position in the party, and his position on defunding the police. 

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Want to learn more about abolishing the police? Here are some resources from this episode: 

The Daily Show: Joe Biden on reforming the police - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmUL1IYbH0U

Mass Incarceration: https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2020.html 

The Marshall Project: https://www.themarshallproject.org/records/3382-police-abolition 

Reimagining communities without police: https://nonewsfjail.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/8stepsnew.pdf 

The Struggle to Abolish the Police is nothing new: http://bostonreview.net/race/garrett-felber-struggle-abolish-police-not-new 

Against the State: An Introduction to Anarchist Political Theory: https://www.amazon.com/Against-State-Introduction-Anarchist-Political/dp/0791474488 

Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison: https://www.amazon.com/Discipline-Punish-Prison-Michel-Foucault/dp/0679752552/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2ML4PB8P4SB7&dchild=1&keywords=michel+foucault+discipline+and+punish&qid=1592955447&s=books&sprefix=Michel+F%2Cstripbooks%2C141&sr=1-2 

Editors Note: Jim will clarify my point on Single Transferable Vote next week, Jim acknowledges his explanation in retrospect was not as clear as he would have liked. Also...Jim acknowledges that "relavatory" is not a word...revelatory was the word he was going for. 

Jim and Aaron are back, under a new name, but the same conversations. In this welcome back episode, Jim and Aaron discuss COVID-19, the current state of racial affairs, and a reimagination of what needs to happen for real change. Be sure to like, subscribe, and share!