A Public Affair Patty Peltekos, Carousel Bayrd, Ali Muldrow, Allen Ruff, & Esty Dinur

“The Philippines is under a new administration, but still the government’s case against de Lima hobbles along, a symbol of the country’s degradation from the Duterte years of violent populism and autocratic slide.” This is from Timothy McLaughlin’s recent piece in the Atlantic. He joins us to tell the story of Leila de Lima’s imprisonment and how it provides a look into risks critics, journalists, lawyers, and political opponents of Duterte are facing in the Philippines.

Timothy McLaughlin is a contributing writer for The Atlantic based in Singapore reporting primarily on politics, societal change and tech news in the region. His work has also appeared in The Washington Post, WIRED Magazine, Foreign Policy, The New Yorker, Prospect Magazine and numerous other international publications.

Image by Kris from Pixabay

Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereMore Posts for Show: A Public Affair

Sold in headshops and on the grey market, “spice” or K2 is a way to get high while avoiding showing up on a drug test. Whether or not they’re legal to sell or use is unclear. Today, sub host Chali Pittman is talking about the complicated world of synthetic drugs, and how a 1980s law called the Analogue Act has been used to lock up manufacturers operating in the open.

It’s a part of the law that begs the question – do you have a right to know that something is illegal before you’re arrested, charged, and sentenced?

Jordan S. Rubin joins us on his new book Bizarro: The Surreal Saga of America’s Secret War on Synthetic Drugs and the Florida Kingpins it Captured. It tells the story  of the unprecedented prosecution of Burton Ritchie and Ben Galecki, who were running a huge synthetic cannabinoid operation, but claim they didn’t know it was illegal.

Jordan S. Rubin is a journalist and former prosecutor for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, where he was assigned to the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor. He writes MSNBC’s Deadline: Legal Blog and was previously a legal reporter for Bloomberg.

Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereMore Posts for Show: A Public Affair

On today’s show, Ali Muldrow is talking with the author of a new memoir that tells the story of a twenty-four-year-old who bought a one-way ticket from the midwest to Mexico. Sara Alvarado was that 24 year old, and she joins the show to talk about her recently released book Dreaming in Spanish: An Unexpected Love Story in Puerto Vallarta.

Sara Alvarado is an author, speaker, teacher, and co-conspirator. She works in real estate and racial justice. 

Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereMore Posts for Show: A Public Affair

As the school year comes to an end, we speak with Wisconsin’s top educator Dr. Jill Underly. She joins us to talk about the financial needs of the state’s K-12 schools as reflected in Governor Evers proposed biannual budget.

Then, we talk with Emily Vogel about how teens use and are impacted by social media. She is an author of a new report by the Pew Research Center that shares results of in-depth survey of American teens and their parents about social media use.



Dr. Jill Underly is the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. She was elected to the position in 2021. Dr. Underly has a deep background in public education, since 1999, she has worked in all facets of public education: at the college level, but also at both the state and district levels as a teacher and administrator.

Emily A. Vogels is a research associate working on internet and technology research at Pew Research Center. Much of her recent work has focused on teen’s digital lives, the tone and tenor of online discourse and the digital divide.

Photo by Redd F on Unsplash

Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereMore Posts for Show: A Public Affair

In his new book Matt Huber argues that at its root, climate change is a class problem. He joins us on A Public Affair to highlight how the climate struggle needs to focus on production in carbon-intensive industries as he argues in Climate Change as Class War: Building Socialism on a Warming Planet.

Matthew T. Huber is Professor of Geography in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. He is formerly the author of Lifeblood: Oil, Freedom and the Forces of Capital (University of Minnesota Press, 2013).

Photo by Malcolm Lightbody on Unsplash

Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereMore Posts for Show: A Public Affair

Joining Allen Ruff on this summer pledge drive addition of A Public Affair is Jon Melrod. A life-long activist and organizer, Melrod is the author of the new book  Fighting Times: Organizing on the Front Lines of the Class War.







At its heart, the book is a radical memoir that recounts his thirteen-year 1970s-‘80s journey to organize and advance working-class militancy on the shop floor of American Motors in Milwaukee and Kenosha, WI.





Listeners can use the code: FIGHTING for a 40% discount of the book.















Jonathan Melrod grew up in apartheid-like Washington DC. Active in the student movement that opposed the Vietnam War and a supporter of black liberation, Jon embraced the ideology that the working class held the power to radically transform society. He left the campus for the factory in 1973. For thirteen years, he immersed himself in the day-to-day struggles of Milwaukee’s working class, both on the factory floor and in the political arena. Despite FBI surveillance and interference, Jon organized a militant rank-and-file caucus and rose through union ranks to a top leadership position in UAW Local 72. After a mass workforce cutback imposed by AMC’s joint venture partner Renault, he left to attend Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco in 1985. Graduating cum laude with a JD, he opened a law firm in San Francisco, successfully representing hundreds of political refugees.

Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereMore Posts for Show: A Public Affair