The Majority Report with Sam Seder Sam Seder

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!
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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).

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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/
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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

It’s Hump Day! Sam speaks with Daniel Poppen, member of the union organizing committee at the Trader Joe’s location in the North Center neighborhood of Chicago, to discuss the staff’s decision to file for a union election. Then, he speaks with Matt Bruenig, founder of the People’s Policy Project, author of the NLRB Edge newsletter, and co-host of “The Bruenigs” podcast, to discuss his recent NLRB filing against Steven Crowder. First, Sam reacts to State Dept. spokesperson Matthew Miller refusing to answer the Associated Press's Matt Lee's question about why they've been unable to verify whether Israel struck an Iranian diplomatic target in Syria. Then, Sam's joined by Dan Poppen as they take us through the steps that led the Trader Joe's North Center location in Chicago to vote for a union election. Dan discusses some of the issues that have been facing Trader Joe's workers, the inspiration they've received from other unionizing Trader Joe's locations around the country, and what they can anticipate going forward after the vote totals are finalized. Then, Sam is joined by Matt Bruenig to discuss his representation of Jared Monroe, AKA "Not Gay Jared", the former "Louder With Crowder" employee, who has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Steven Crowder and the company. Bruenig outlines the main pillars that constitute the NLRB complaint, and provides some context to Jared's experience while working for Steven Crowder, what that entailed, and what they're hoping to achieve as the complaint is arbitrated and decided upon.
And in the Fun Half, Sam reacts to Google employees demonstrating and conducting sit-ins against Google's work with Israel in their New York and California offices. He and Matt then check in on Speaker Johnson's tightrope walk, attempting to pass a supplemental foreign aid bill, which his far-right faction doesn't want. Johnson, who's now referring to him as a "wartime Speaker", is losing soldiers as an outline has been revealed, with Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry complaining that there's no border funding in the legislation (it was in another bill that Perry and his cohort didn't support). On the other end, former Kevin McCarthy confidant Rep. Garret Graves asks the all-important question: "What are Republicans getting" from this supplemental? And now, Speaker Johnson is only being offered tepid support from former President Trump, who is now willing to wait and see what happens to him with the motion to vacate looming over his head. Sam and Matt then turn to Trump's hush money trial, with Trump attorney and spokesperson Alina Habba telling Fox's Martha McCallum that Trump will be regarded like *wait for it* Nelson Mandela if he were to be put in jail for violating his gag order. Sam covers the recent Politico scoop of comedian Rob Schneider tanking a performance in front of Senate Republicans and their staffers, before diving into Trump's recent rally this weekend where he heard chants of "Genocide Joe!", to which he responded in part by saying: "You're not wrong". And, finally, Sam and Matt step into Dave Rubin's corner, where Rubin discusses his concerns about his inability to "arbitrage" the divide between the left and the right. Then, they check in on Dave's conversation with Will Cain from last week, where Dave tries his absolute hardest to take shots at Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens while *trying his absolute hardest* not to actually take shots at Tucker Carlson or Candace Owens. Plus, your IM's!
Find out more about Trader Joe's union efforts here: https://traderjoesunited.org/
Check out NLRB Edge here: https://www.nlrbedge.com/
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