The Majority Report with Sam Seder Sam Seder

It’s an EmMajority Report Thursday! She speaks with Gretchen Sisson, sociologist at the University of California, San Francisco, to discuss her recent book Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood. Then, she speaks with Ryan Doerfler, law professor at Harvard University, to discuss his recent piece in Dissent Magazine entitled "We Are Already Defying the Supreme Court", co-authored with Samuel Moyn. First, Emma runs through updates on Trump’s immunity and hush money cases, the US’ new foreign aid package, Israel’s impending invasion of Rafah, continuing crackdowns on anti-war student protests in the US, Arizona politics, Harvey Weinstein, the TikTok ban, the resignation of Ariel Henry, and repression of dissent in Iran, before expanding on the conversation about activism on campuses, and the GOP’s insistence on maintaining the parallels with the 1960s anti-war movement. Gretchen Sisson then joins, first walking through extensive research she conducted with women who have relinquished children to the private adoption system, exploring how and why they make the decision, and how they reflect on the process some years later. Next, Sisson walks Emma through the myth of the relationship between abortion and adoption, and the reality of a distinct divide between those who seek the two options, alongside the myth of a “high supply” in the adoption market, with (once again) the inverse seeing many adoption clinics closing due to a lack of available children for adoption. Expanding on this, Gretchen explores how the “market” influence of the adoption industry shapes a largely coercive and exploitative relationship between adoption agencies and women who would often prefer to keep their children, a relationship that is largely reflective of the industry’s roots in the family separation projects practiced against Indigenous and Black communities in the US. After touching on the major role that major Christian religious institutions have played throughout the history of the private adoption industry, and the relationship between private adoption and the foster care system, Emma and Gretchen wrap up the interview with an exploration of how many mothers come to feel very critical of the adoption system and how it failed both them and their child. Professor Ryan Doerfler and Emma then look to the long history of non-compliance – and even outright defiance – in the face of Supreme Court rulings considered unjust, with Professor Doerfler walking us through the more extreme precedents set by the presidencies of Abraham Lincoln and FDR to issue direct challenges to the court, alongside the much more recent tradition of administrative non-compliance or policy loopholes as seen in the fights for affirmative action, student loan forgiveness, and more. After stepping back to look at the myth of Marbury v. Madison’s role in legitimizing judicial activism – a tactic that the Supreme Court would not truly take on until the Civil War era, Professor Doerfler explores how the conversation around the ever-changing scope of the Supreme Court became isolated from the public to solely and intra-governmental affair over the second half of the 20th Century, in a weird conflation of the rule of law and the rule of the courts. Ryan and Emma look at the current era of backlash to the Supreme Court, from the Hobbs decision to attacks on the administrative state, and what we can do to get Democrats to start fighting back, before wrapping up with a brief conversation on the stunning bravery of anti-war student activists at Harvard and across the US.
And in the Fun Half: Emma is joined by Matt Binder as they watch Channel 4’s interview with an anonymous IDF member on the prevailing perspectives within Israel’s military, also diving into the continuing wave of student protests against Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and the violent police repression seen at UT Austin, USC, and Emory that has conti

It's Hump Day! Emma speaks with Jeremy Gantz, contributing editor at In These Times, to discuss the recent unionization efforts at Trader Joe's. Then, she speaks with Leah Goodridge, Commissioner on the New York City Planning Commission and former member of the New York City Rent Guidelines Board, to discuss efforts to support rent stabilization in the city. First, Emma runs through updates on the incumbent victories in yesterday’s PA primaries, Trump’s legal woes, the Senate’s Ukraine-Taiwan-Israel aid package, new mass grave reports coming out of Gaza, Biden’s new labor regulations, Elon Musk’s desperate Tesla promises, a DOJ settlement, the Supreme Court’s anti-labor agenda, and fascist legislation coming out of Idaho, Tennessee, and North Carolina, before watching Summer Lee’s phenomenal speech in the wake of her massive victory against a Pro-Israel challenger. Jeremy Gantz then joins, diving right into the major recent developments in the bargaining process between Starbucks and Starbucks Workers United, with Atlanta hosting the first genuine sit-down bargaining session in almost a year, before stepping back to walk through the two years of hardline union-busting, despite consistent pushback from both the NLRB and the general public, with only the negative change to their public image pushing them back to the table. Next, Gantz expands to the greater context of the retail industry, with major companies like Trader Joe’s and REI operating their own en-masse union-busting campaigns, exploring why the decentralized nature of the industry, as well as the high employee turnover rates, make these particularly difficult organizing efforts. Wrapping up, Jeremey walks Emma through the role of the ongoing suit sponsored by SpaceX and joined by Starbucks attempting to undermine the NLRB, and what the future of these unionization drives will likely entail. Leah Goodridge then joins, first bringing Emma through her own experiences working with New York’s housing industry, and the major issues facing the affordable housing sector, both in its policy and access, and in the greater construction and maintenance it requires. Expanding on this, Goodridge explores the ever-present power struggle with developers and landlords on one side, and tenants and homeowners on the other, tackling how the former group can both manufacture the public rhetoric and villainize their opponents, often presenting their domination over the industry as heroic or necessary for a functioning of society. After touching on some of the major issues in what makes up the affordable housing market (unaffordable, single-bedroom units), Leah and Emma look to the role of the Faircloth Amendment in killing federal investment in the expansion of the affordable housing market, and pushing the responsibility for constructing and maintaining the infrastructure almost entirely onto the private sphere. Next, Goodridge touches on the major factors of the broker system and the epidemic of vacant units (often used as speculative assets) in driving up housing costs, before she and Emma dive deep into the topics of rent control and Tenant’s Rights, unpacking what these terms entail and how the media completely misrepresents the role they play in equalizing the power dynamic between landlords and renters, before wrapping up with a brief assessment of Squatter’s Right’s minor (yet unsurprisingly overblown) role in the conversation.
And in the Fun Half: Emma covers Elon Musk’s unsurprising response to Tesla’s cratering profits and stock price (make unachievable and absurd promises), Garrett from VA on the growing extraction of profits from medical clinics by insurance companies, Rick from Baltimore explores how he came to MR, and Kowalski from Nebraska gives his takes on the rent control and Big Tech conversations from the day. The MR Team also watches the harrowing footage of (content warning) a Zionist counter-protester getting bonked by a flag, listen

It's News Day Tuesday! But first, Emma speaks with Randall Eliason, white collar crime professor at George Washington University Law School and author of the Sidebars newsletter, to discuss the recent developments in all of Trump's criminal cases. First, Emma runs through updates on today’s Pennsylvania primaries, Trump’s ongoing hush money case, primary polling, growing backlash to Zionist repression on college campuses, Israel’s bombardment on Rafah, Senate legislation, solar subsidies, FTC policy, Starbucks v. NLRB, Tennessee’s charter voucher bill, and the UK’s new migrant deportation program, before parsing through the Supreme Court’s ongoing case likely to uphold Grants Pass, Oregon’s effective ban on homelessness. Professor Randal Eliason then joins, first reminding us of the general tally of Trump’s myriad civil and criminal legal cases, before diving deeper into the ongoing trial surrounding his hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, including the state’s attempt to spin the genuine falsification of legal and business records into an attempt to interfere in the development of the 2016 election. After assessing what he sees as the weak points in the state’s arguments, and quickly running through the role of the already-convicted Michael Cohen in these payments, Professor Eliason explores the extreme stance being taken by Trump’s legal team, not just arguing against the election interference claims but attempting to claim that the records themselves are legitimate. Next, Emma and Randall look to the civil cases facing Trump, including the massive bond he currently owes New York, and parse a little deeper through the major cases out of Florida – surrounding his mishandling of classified documents – and D.C. – on the role he played in the January 6th insurrection attempt. Wrapping up, they tackle the role of Trump’s Supreme Court immunity hearings in preventing either of these cases from impacting his candidacy, and explore what a second Trump presidency would mean for the future of any of these cases. Emma also touches on the ongoing anti-war and anti-genocide protests coming out of Columbia University, and the powerful display by faculty to stand with the students.
And in the Fun Half: Emma gets some primary previews from John from San Antonio, Jesse Watters is astonished the criminal justice system is treating Trump like a criminal, and the State Department has an unsurprising need to know more before commenting on the mass grave revelations out of Gaza. Raz from Ojai asks for some pointers on debating universal healthcare, the MR Team unpacks the absurd conversation around crime (from all sides of the political spectrum), and Tucker Carlson and Joe Rogan ponder the legitimacy of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, plus, your calls and IMs!
Check out Randall's Sidebars newsletter here: https://www.sidebarsblog.com/
Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join
Check out Seder's Seeds here!: https://www.sedersseeds.com/ ALSO, if you have pictures of your Seder's Seeds, send them here!: hello@sedersseeds.com
Check out this GoFundMe in support of Mohammad Aldaghma's niece in Gaza, who has Down Syndrome: http://tinyurl.com/7zb4hujt
Check out the "Repair Gaza" campaign courtesy of the Glia Project here: https://www.launchgood.com/campaign/rebuild_gaza_help_repair_and_rebuild_the_lives_and_work_of_our_glia_team#!/
Get emails on the IRS pilot program for tax filing here!: https://service.govdelivery.com/accounts/USIRS/subscriber/new
Check out StrikeAid here!; https://strikeaid.com/
Gift a Majority Report subscription here: https://fans.fm/majority/gift
Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow
Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/
Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/
Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/
Get

Happy Monday! Emma speaks with Ashley Dawson, English professor and founder of the Climate Action Lab at the City University of New York (CUNY), to discuss his recent book Environmentalism From Below: How Global People’s Movements Are Leading The Fight For Our Planet. Then she’s joined by Mike Elk of the Payday Report to discuss the recent vote by workers at the Volkswagen Chattanooga plant in Tennessee to unionize with the United Auto Workers (UAW).

Check out Ashley's book here: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2101-environmentalism-from-below
Check out the Payday Report here: https://paydayreport.com/
Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join
Check out Seder's Seeds here!: https://www.sedersseeds.com/ ALSO, if you have pictures of your Seder's Seeds, send them here!: hello@sedersseeds.com
Check out this GoFundMe in support of Mohammad Aldaghma's niece in Gaza, who has Down Syndrome: http://tinyurl.com/7zb4hujt
Check out the "Repair Gaza" campaign courtesy of the Glia Project here: https://www.launchgood.com/campaign/rebuild_gaza_help_repair_and_rebuild_the_lives_and_work_of_our_glia_team#!/
Get emails on the IRS pilot program for tax filing here!: https://service.govdelivery.com/accounts/USIRS/subscriber/new
Check out StrikeAid here!; https://strikeaid.com/
Gift a Majority Report subscription here: https://fans.fm/majority/gift
Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow
Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/
Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/
Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/
Get the free Majority Report App!: http://majority.fm/app
Check out today’s sponsors:
Cozy Earth: This Mother’s Day, treat mom to the luxury she deserves with Cozy Earth bedding and sleepwear, and prioritize her self-care and sleep health.  SHE DESERVES IT!  Don’t forget to use our promo code MAJORITYREPORT at checkout for 35% off at https://cozyearth.com.  After placing your order, select "podcast" in the survey and select our show in the dropdown menu that follows.
Fast Growing Trees: This Spring Fast Growing Trees has the best deals online, up to half off on select plants and other deals. And listeners to our show get an ADDITIONAL 15% OFF their first purchase when using the code MAJORITY at checkout. That’s an ADDITIONAL 15% OFF at https://FastGrowingTrees.com using the code MAJORITY at checkout. https://FastGrowingTrees.com code MAJORITY. Offer is valid for a limited time, terms and conditions may apply.
Aura Frames: Right now, Aura has a great deal for Mother’s Day. Listeners can save on the perfect gift by visiting https://AuraFrames.com/MAJORITY to get $30-off plus free shipping on their best-selling frame. That’s https://AuraFrames.com/MAJORITY. Use code MAJORITY  at checkout to save.

Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter:

@SamSeder
@EmmaVigeland
@MattLech
@BradKAlsop

Check out Matt’s show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning
Check out Matt Binder’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder
Subscribe to Brandon’s show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse
Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/
The Majority Report with Sam Seder - https://majorityreportradio.com/

It's Casual Friday! Sam and Emma speak with Jeet Heer, national affairs correspondent for The Nation, to round up the week in news. First, Sam and Emma run through updates on Israel’s retaliation against Iran, the US veto of UN Membership for Palestine, Trump’s legal woes, the State Department’s internal reports of Israel’s human rights violations, Mike Johnson’s foreign aid failures, Columbia University’s crackdown on student protesters, FISA, and RFK’s candidacy, before watching Kevin O’Leary continue his campaign as Trump’s PR Rep for New York-based legal battles. Jeet Heer then joins, diving right into Israel’s ongoing campaign to drag the US into a regional conflict, first walking through the obvious signs before this past week, and touching on the telling parallels with the proxy warfare that led up to World War I, before looking at the major role both Bibi Netanyahu as an individual, and the Israeli government writ large play in pushing this conflict expansion to galvanize support from the political apparatuses backing them. After walking through the context for the US’ veto of Palestinian membership to the UN, and our insistence on walking this road of wholehearted Genocide Denial alone, Jeet, Sam, and Emma parse through the horrifying developments out of Columbia University as the university President had over 100 students arrested for peaceful protest. They also discuss the threat of a Trump presidency, the GOP’s insistence on pretending they don’t want to ban abortion (despite their myriad ongoing attempts to ban abortion), and wrap up with a brief assessment of Mike Johnson’s job security.

And in the Fun Half: Emma and Sam bask in Mike Johnson’s impending doom, watch Palestine’s and Israel’s ambassadors address the UN, talk with an Anonymous caller about Florida’s attacks on education, and listen to Charlie Kirk dance around his disapproval for the Civil Rights Act. Malika from North Carolina discusses collegiate activism for Palestine, Justin from Oregon reflects on his D.A.R.E. experiences, and Deep State RDO dives into NY transit labor. Jon Voight gets out… himself? And Henry from Corvallis on ESIMs for Gaza, plus, your calls and IMs!
 
 
Check out Jeet's work in the Nation: https://www.thenation.com/authors/jeet-heer/
Check out eSims for Gaza here: https://gazaesims.com/ (NOT VERIFIED-SEE WEBSITE FOR MORE INFO)
Check out LA Taco here and donate if you can!: https://lataco.com/products?utm_source=SaveTACO&utm_medium=Website&utm_campaign=internal-ad
Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join
Check out Seder's Seeds here!: https://www.sedersseeds.com/ ; use coupon code APRIL and get 42% off anything on the site until April 21st!; ALSO, if you have pictures of your Seder's Seeds, send them here!: hello@sedersseeds.com
Check out this GoFundMe in support of Mohammad Aldaghma's niece in Gaza, who has Down Syndrome: http://tinyurl.com/7zb4hujt
Check out the "Repair Gaza" campaign courtesy of the Glia Project here: https://www.launchgood.com/campaign/rebuild_gaza_help_repair_and_rebuild_the_lives_and_work_of_our_glia_team#!/
Get emails on the IRS pilot program for tax filing here!: https://service.govdelivery.com/accounts/USIRS/subscriber/new
Check out StrikeAid here!; https://strikeaid.com/
Gift a Majority Report subscription here: https://fans.fm/majority/gift
Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow
Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/
Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/
Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/
Get the free Majority Report App!: http://majority.fm/app
Check out today’s sponsors:
Fast Growing Trees: This Spring Fast Growing Trees have the best deals online, up to half off on select plants and other deals. And listeners to our show get an ADDITIONAL 15%

It’s an EmMajority Report Thursday! She speaks with Max Felker-Kantor, associate professor of history at Ball State University, to discuss his recent book DARE to Say No: Policing and the War on Drugs in Schools. Then, she speaks with journalist Erin Reed, author of the Erin In The Morning newsletter on SubStack, to discuss the recent gender identity review by the National Health Services (NHS) in the United Kingdom. First, Emma runs through updates on Israel’s ongoing assault on Rafah, ongoing institutional support for Israel’s genocide among the US government and major corporations, US sanctions against Iran, the White House’s climate stance, Boeing hearings, Disneyland unionization, Biden’s polling numbers, Mike Johnson’s failing speakership, and the Senate’s rejection of the Mayorkas impeachment sham, before parsing a little deeper through the recent report on the horrendous abuse and torture of Palestinian hostages in Israel and the ongoing showdown between Columbia University’s anti-zionist student body, and hyper-zionist institutional leadership. Professor Max Felker-Kantor then joins, diving right into the evolution of DARE’s prevalence in US schools and society, and how it got its start with the LAPD. First, Professor Felker-Kantor walks Emma through the precursor to DARE, with LA Chief of Police Darrel Gates’ strategy throughout the 1970s to send undercover officers into schools to bust drug dealers – a project that had been failing as the War on Drugs kicked into full swing by the end of the decade – and his subsequent attempt to shift from cracking down on the supply end of the War on Drugs, to cracking down on the demand. Expanding on this, Felker-Kantor explores the creation of DARE as a joint venture between the LAPD and local schools, with officers essentially becoming ingrained the education environment and classrooms, even going as far as to pitch themselves as friends and mentors to the students, and quickly taking off across the US over the 1980s, before walking through the slow collapse of the program as more and more evidence came out about the strategy’s failure in preventing drug addiction or exposure. Wrapping up, Max walks Emma through the extensive funding network of the DARE program, beginning with internal LAPD funding before quickly expanding to state and federal grants over the 1980s and start of the ‘90s, and why its particular ability to cling to its non-profit status has allowed it to remain, in some capacity, as a global organization today. Erin Reed and Emma then jump right into the background for the UK’s recent Cass Report on transgender care, stepping back to briefly cover the rise of transphobic activism in the UK at the end of the 2010s, and the major policy impacts it had despite fringe following, including the NHS-sponsored ‘independent’ and ‘unbiased’ review by Hillary Cass. After giving some background on the evidently not-so-unbiased Cass herself, Reed parses through the clear failure of the report itself to live up to these supposed standards, actively excluding both trans voices and experts on trans care from the report, relying on outdated and fraudulent statistics (compiled by notorious homophobes nonetheless), and repeatedly requiring absurdly high standards for trans care – standards not met by the vast majority of both adult and pediatric care – while rarely substantiating any of the claims about the supposed dangers.
And in the Fun Half: Emma is joined by Brandon Sutton and Matt Binder as they talk with Colin from Missouri about sports team owners extorting taxpayers, address the absurdity of “woke” segregation, and watch Professor Ruha Benjamin absolutely nail her acceptance speech for a Spelman College honorary degree by calling out institutional support for genocide and white supremacy. They also dive into the ongoing suppression of student activist voices on college campuses right now, with a particular focus on Colum