It's Hump Day! Sam and Emma speak with KJ Boyle, research assistant with The Revolving Door Project, to discuss his recent piece in The New Republic entitled "Donald Trump Is No Friend to the Working Class." Then, they speak with Prem Thakker, politics reporter at The Intercept, to discuss his recent reporting on the use of chemical weapons on pro-Palestine demonstrators at Columbia University. And THEN, they are joined by David Bedar, history teacher and member of the Newton Teacher's Association (NTA), to discuss the teacher's union ongoing strike efforts. First, Sam and Emma run through updates on Donald Trump’s New Hampshire win, US strikes on Yemen and Iraq, fracturing among the House and Senate GOP, mass layoffs, Sweden’s NATO pitch, Ukraine’s defensive, and US abortion travel bans, before parsing through Nikki Haley’s response to her concrete loss in New Hampshire and Donald Trump’s response to her. KJ Boyle then joins, diving right into his assessment of the incredible flourishing of the US labor movement under President Biden – particularly coming out of Donald Trump’s administration – despite some pushback. Boyle tackles Donald Trump’s very typical GOP approach to the labor wing of his administration, appointing CEOs and union-busting lawyers to the DOL and NLRB, before stepping back to assess Biden’s appointments in Jennifer Abruzzo at the NLRB, and Julie Su as Secretary of Labor, and their importance in pushing us towards a return to the Joy Silk doctrine, and a re-establishment of US labor rights. Prem Thakker, next, walks Sam and Emma through Columbia University’s long history of student activism and divestment campaigns, beyond and including Israel, before running through a briefer summary of the recent developments on Columbia’s campus in the wake of October 7th, which have seen the disbanding of multiple pro-Palestinian student organizations and the rampant discrimination and harassment of Palestinian students and allies. Thakker wraps up with the recent attack on a Colombia protest by alleged Zionist students, and Colombia’s refusal to address the incident without extreme pressure. David Bedar joins from the picket line in Newton, MA, as he walks through the basis for the NTA’s strike in the city and the Mayor’s complete mismanagement of the education sector, from underfunding and understaffing to poor pay and absurdly poor family policy, before wrapping up the show by walking through the incredibly important role of the Newton community and alumni network in standing with the Teachers’ association, and what those of us outside of the community can do to help.

And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma discuss Jimmy Dore’s new alchemical grift (it’s just Silver Hawkery), Donald Trump shouts out Q in the year 2024 (and it works), and Nikki Haley’s subdued performance among the best possible electorate for her. Barbara Lee kills her debate response to Adam Schiff over calls for a ceasefire, the MR Crew watches another Israeli dissident speak out against their country’s failures and abuses, and Charlie Kirk downgrades his bigotry to purely speculative. Fox calls out the “media training” of the “Vice President” and the super mean statements by “snowflake” AOC, and the MR Crew walks through developments in the Child Tax Credit, plus, your calls and IMs!

Check out KJ's piece here: https://newrepublic.com/article/178233/working-class-2024-biden-labor

Check out the Revolving Door Project here: https://therevolvingdoorproject.org/

Check out Prem's reporting here: https://theintercept.com/2024/01/22/columbia-university-palestine-protest-skunk/

Find out more about the NTA and how you can support them here: https://www.newteach.org/

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