We've Got Issues

This week, Joshua Holland and Liz Preza try to make sense of a whirlwind of news from a notably berserk week in Donald Trump's America.

 

Then we're joined by Salon columnist Heather "Digby" Parton to talk about the Democrats' strategy for impeaching Trump, and the New York Times mainstreaming another smear against a Democratic candidate by infamous Clinton Cash author Peter Schweizer.

This week, Joshua and Liz discuss the New York Times and the way they’ve handled coverage of the ongoing Trump/Ukraine Scandal. 

Then we’re joined by author, journalist and former healthcare executive Wendell Potter to discuss how the media is too focused on Trump’s Twitter feed and the scandal of the day to dig deep and promote serious corruption stories, and what Dems can expect in the future of healthcare reform.

This week, Liz Preza and Joshua Holland marvel at what long, bizarre year the last week has been as Trump's goofy yet Machiavellian efforts to compel Ukraine to fabricate a controversy around Joe Biden has put Republicans on the defensive. 

 

Then we're joined by Randall Eliason, a legal scholar at George Washington University Law School and contributor to The Washington Post to talk about the legal ramifications of all of this. Spoiler alert: It goes a lot further than campaign finance violations.

This week, we look at what may shape up as a game-changing story of intrigue as Democrats wrangle with Trump's partisan intelligence chief over a whistleblower that appears to have some damaging information about the president*. 

 

Then we're joined by Vox.com Senior Correspondent Ian Millhiser to discuss the renewed controversy surrounding Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and look at how Democrats might respond to a judicial system that has been captured to a significant degree by the Republican Party. Court-packing may be an option, but it's not the only approach they should consider.

This week, Joshua Holland looks at an under-the-radar fight Senate Dems and Republicans are engaged in that could lead to a major battle over the Supreme Court. 

 

Then we're joined by Shareblue.com Senior Writer Oliver Willis to talk about why ostensibly neutral reporters bend over backwards to address conservative gripes about their coverage but respond to any criticism from the left with thin-skin and condescension. Oliver and Joshua also debate whether belligerent wingnut Joe Walsh's quixotic primary campaign against Donald Trump has any hope of shaping the outcome of the 2020 race.

 

Some original music this week courtesy of Adam Gardiner.

This week, Joshua Holland and Liz Preza consider the possibility that the guy with the nuclear codes -- who thinks he's the Chosen One -- is cracking up under the stress. 

 

Then we're joined by Aaron Regunberg, a former Rhode Island state lawmaker and organizer with Never Again Action, a nationwide network of Jews who have faced violence -- and in one state, potential jail time -- for taking direct action to block ICE's inhumane immigrant detention centers.

This week, Joshua Holland and Liz Preza talk about Israel's decision to bar members of the United States Congress from entering the country at Trump's behest and Attorney General William Barr's disturbing authoritarianism. 

 

Then we're joined by Parker Molloy, an editor-at-large at Media Matters, to discuss how the right staves off cognitive dissonance when confronted with the obvious connection between Trump's hateful rhetoric and white nationalist terror.

This week, Joshua Holland and Liz Preza talk about the ludicrous freakout over Rep. Joaquin Castro tweeting publicly available data about Trump's biggest contributors in his district -- and why transparency colliding with the right's deep-seated persecution complex is a threat to campaign finance rules.

 

Then we're joined by Ryan Grim, the DC bureau chief of The Intercept and author of We've Got People, to talk about intra-Dem politics and how the media covers and in many cases distorts it.

This week, Joshua Holland and Elizabeth Preza discuss the latest Democratic debates and the right-wing framing used by debate moderators.

Then Joshua speaks to journalist David Neiwert about the growing threat of violent white nationalism.

This week, Joshua Holland and Elizabeth Preza ponder why Democrats seem afraid of their own collective shadow at a time when they're facing off against a historically unpopular president*.

 

Then we're joined by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Cay Johnston, editor-in-chief of DCReport.org, to talk about Trump's latest racist outburst and why the media struggle to call it what it is. Johnston has been covering Donald Trump for decades and has forgotten more about his shady past than most reporters ever knew.