The Nicole Sandler Show

It's one of those Tuesdays when GottaLaff is here.... Rosalynn Carter is be memorialized today at a ceremony in DC in which all the living first ladies attended. (There are five, for those keeping count.) I'm not sure what we'll talk about today, but we'll figure out something to get us through the hour... Feel free to join in the fun!

There are few days when it's more difficult to get back to work than the Monday after Thanksgiving, but here we are, back for more. Thankfully, today I'm joined by OG progressive blogger Driftglass, who co-hosts the Professional Left Podcast with his wife, BlueGal Fran.... I'm sure we can find something to talk about...

Marcy Wheeler (emptywheel.net) usually hangs with us Friday, but is celebrating Thanksgiving in Ireland. and will be back with us next Friday. So today, we're also taking a holiday. I'll be back live on Monday. But today, we'll enjoy a musical journey with Dave Matthews. I hosted him for his very first Los Angeles radio appearance on Dec 5, 1994. KSCA was the first - then the only station in LA playing "What Would You Say" Five years later at Channel 103.1 in Los Angeles he joined me again. That time we brought in a group of listeners for a really special live broadcast that was simulcast to KBCO in Boulder (at the time the station was still in Boulder!)/Denver. For the day after Thanksgiving, I'll play them both back to back. Enjoy! It'll air at 5ET/2PT which is 3 here in Arizona. Audio only on Progressive Voices or on my live stream which you can get at nicolesandlerstream.com. And you can always visit nicolesandler.com

I was going to take the whole week off, but Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen are visiting today, so we'll do a special bonus show. We are live today and yes the phone lines are open. And no, we have absolutely no idea what we'll be doing...

Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net joins me every Friday to fill us in on all the news the mainstream corporate media doesn't do such a great job of reporting. Today, we jump right in. You might want to take notes. Lots of info coming your way.

George Santos will not run for re-election, MAGA Mike averted a government shutdown, temporarily, but only thanks to Democrats, Tuberville is certifiable and more from Howie Klein at DownWithTyranny.com today. But first, my interview with Turi Ryder at WCPT/Chicago about being canceled by KPFK

Turi Ryder interviews radio pro Nicole Sandler about KPFK canceling her show that was scheduled to premiere on that station in two days, after being in the planning stages for three months. Why? Listen.

I have a story to tell you about that bastion of free speech, Pacifica Radio's ailing Los Angeles station KPFK. They tried to hire me as Program Director a few years ago. I turned them down because it was a cluster fuck, among other reasons. A few months ago, the interim Program Director got in touch and offered me a weekly show. I agreed and was to begin this Friday, yes, in two days. This morning the interim General Manager called to tell me they "won't be moving forward" with it. Needless to say, I'm stunned and livid. I'll tell more during the show. Funny, today I have Jason Leopold scheduled to talk about his big FOIA scoop on the White House cocaine. We'll talk about that, but I'll also ask him to use his FOIA skills to call KPFK out on the bullshit excuse they gave me. Yes, this show will be raw. After all, it's online only and I know how to protect a license over the air. I've done it for over 40 years! So, strap in. Should be fun.

I'm pretty disgusted right about now. I've spent the better part of the day watching the March for Israel livestreaming online from a few different sources. None of the cable so-called-news channels aired the thing, as expected. But most of the streams came from right wing outlets including Fox. And the one or two that were allegedly "fair and balanced" were filled with ugly commentary from both sides in the chat. There were moments that made me proud, but just as many that made my skin crawl. Most notably, the inclusion of raging antisemite Pastor John Hagee who only "supports" Israel because his batshit belief is that all Jews must return to Israel so he can bring on the rapture. GMAFB. On the other side of the split screen is Congress, where the Republicans will likely shut down the government in a few days because they won't work with Democrats and won't vote for a clean funding bill. Astounding. And then there was the Republican senator who threatened to fight the Teamsters president who was testifying at a hearing. Really! I call it Opposite World... we're in the thick of it.

Veterans Day this year fell on a Saturday. It always falls one week after my birthday, and 8 days before my father's. My dad never talked about his time in the Army. I always thought he was in the Korean War, but it turns out he was in WWII. I don't think he ever saw battle though. He was the emcee of the variety shows. Think Bob Hope one liners, but cornier. (I found binders of his material after he died). Anyway, I've been thinking about my dad recently, and what soldiers were fighting for (or against) in WWII and wondering if those in today's military ever wonder which side they're fighting for. And then I heard about what the former guy said in a speech he spewed on Veterans Day, invoking the words of and praising dictators, some of them amongst the most vile to deface the planet. And I get sad.

How do you make Fridays better than they already are? By listening to and learning from Marcy Wheeler. She covers much of the way things work (or don't) here in the US from her home in Limerick, Ireland. But whether she's in Michigan or Ireland, Marcy has her fingers on the news and what's happening on this side of the pond. Today, it's more debunking of the chaos caucus in the House and their almost keystone cop-like vendetta against Hunter Biden. Plus the Trump trials, both in progress and coming soon, election results, Bill Barr's complicity and a whole lot more. As usual, you might want a pen and paper handy to take notes. Marcy does it all off the top of her head. I just watch and listen in amazement.... Apologies to those watching the live stream on YouTube today. We were having problems there, but the video was fine on Facebook, Twitch and even Xitter. And the audio was good too. So I'll put this one off on YouTube, and will embed the Xitter stream, should you care to watch.

War is ugly. Always is, always has been. There's a famous poster from the Vietnam War era that reads "War is not healthy for children and other living things". Sometimes we must restate the obvious and still, people who need to hear it just won't listen. Today, I'll speak with law professor, author and podcaster Jennifer Taub with whom I have formed a bond, out of necessity as I wade through the ugly and abusive social media waters looking for a sympathetic voice. Those voices seem more difficult to find as the ones who want to see us dead or neutralized are growing in numbers and boldness. So Jen joins in for a personal conversation that I'm hoping everyone listens to. If one person gain a bit of insight into what American Jews are going through now, then airing our conversation will be worth it. But we won't let the good election news go to waste. We'll celebrate the results that, once again, prove that the polls the media wants you to get all hot and bothered over aren't worth the paper they're printed on.

It's one of those Tuesdays when @GottaLaff@mastodon.social is here. That's where you'll find her live "tooting" events like yesterday's historic under-oath testimony in a multi-million dollar fraud suit for which TFG has already been found liable. This is not-so-simply the penalty phase. The bratty man-child had a tantrum on the stand and off the stand. Of course it was the circus we'd expected, but without cameras in the room, the extent of his bratty child act mostly went unreported. But Laffy was monitoring the coverage from reporters in the courtroom and she aggregated all the coverage on Mastodon. She'll do the same with Ivanka's testimony tomorrow, so make note of her Mastodon address. Today on the show, Laffy will share some of what went on yesterday and preview what will happen tomorrow, maybe even bringing Vanky in for a quick visit. She'll also share the horror of realizing that the murder of an old man in LA - a Jewish man supporting Israel- happened right in her neighborhood. Before I bring Laffy on, I promised I'd bring receipts to explain why I will no longer read The Nation or bring any of it's writers on my show again. This is a tough one, as The Nation has been a go-to for me for decades. But two of the writers, who I had considered friends, and the publisher, up to now a friendly acquaintance, have all chosen to support the terrorists over the hostages, Hamas over Israel and Jews. And yes, it is that simple. I will sadly explain at the top of the show.

I tried to keep the title of today's episode light, though I'm feeling anything but. Yes, I was glad to hear that TFG was compelled to testify today, but it was more of the same from this teflon turd who gets away with crap that would find anyone else displaying the same juvenile lack of decorum bound and gagged at the defendant's table. But he does and says what he wants without a care in the world because he knows, as he's stated more than once, he could shoot someone on 5th Ave and get away with it. Trump did make history today, I believe, in that he is the first former Oval Office occupant to stand trial - civil or criminal (and face it, he's got both in the works). And today, history was made, as embarrassing as it is for this country. But we have lots to be ashamed of right now, with more gumming up the works further each day. The always awesome Lisa Graves is back on the show today, sharing her personal observations on this historic day. There's a parade of legal *experts* being trotted out by every cable news channel blaring their skewed take on the days' news endlessly. But I'd listen to Lisa Graves above all others. She's the real deal. Lisa is a DOJ veteran, having served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in both the Bill Clinton and GW Bush administrations under AGs Janet Reno and John Ashcroft/ Alberto Gonzales. She also served in the Senate Judiciary Committee as Chief Counsel for Nominations for Senator Patrick Leahy, as Deputy Chief of the Article III Judges Division of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts with oversight of the Financial Disclosure Office and more, and as an adjunct law professor at George Washington University Law School. She also worked as the Senior Legislative Strategist for the ACLU on national security and civil liberties, and held other posts. These days, Lisa Graves works as the founder and Executive Director of True North Research, a national investigative watchdog group that works with journalists and other researchers to shine a bright light on the dark money fueling regressive agendas targeting vital institutions in our republic, such as our courts and public schools. Today, she'll bring us her personal observations on today's testimony and the sad historic nature of where we are as a nation.

Fridays are filled with info here on the show because Marcy Wheeler is my regular Friday guest. Yes, she writes and publishes news at emptywheel.net that you're not getting from the corporate mainstream media, but she joins me on Fridays for an in-depth look at what's happened during the past week. Today, it's a deep dive into the various Trump trials happening now, coming soon and coming eventually. This week, we got Don Jr and Eric on the witness stand, with Eric's testimony ending today. Monday it's TFG himself and Ivanka is scheduled to testify on Wednesday. But there's much more from partial gag orders to Aileen Canon to the co-conspirators -- both indicted and unindicted -- and their shenanigans. And of course, we couldn't end the show without a few words about the new Christian Nationalist Speaker of the House... As usual, Marcy Wheeler is a font of information with the facts at the top of her mind. She is truly incredible and I'm extremely grateful she now joins us weekly. Stand by... lots of info coming your way!

We spent most of the hour Tuesday with Health Insurance Industry Whistleblower Wendell Potter. That was after I recounted my troubles trying to get new insurance here in AZ to get me through the last two months of this year. I haven't yet told you of the horrors I experienced yesterday while looking for a plan for my final year before Medicare eligibility, and you should be happy about that. But today I toss all of that aside with the very sad news that Ady Barkan, advocate for Medicare for All, lost his battle with ALS and passed away last night. Though we all knew it was coming, that makes the devastating news no less awful. I'll pay a small tribute to the the man who was taken way too soon. As he does each Thursday, Howie Klein joins in at the bottom of the hour. Something happened yesterday in the House that I'm hoping Howie can clarify for us. A vote to remove that lying sack of shite George Santos from office came before the House in, I believe, a bipartisan motion. While most of his GOP colleagues voted to keep the lying liar in their ranks (not surprised), I was surprised that 31 Democrats voted with the Republicans and George the liar Santos remains firmly ensconced in his seat. Most of those 31 weren't a surprise, but one completely shocked me... Jamie Raskin?!?!?! I'll certainly ask Howie what that was about, and get the scoop on the new Magat Speaker of the House too.

The asterisk in the title of today's show isn't mine; it's in the title of the book I'll be discussing with the one & only Joan Walsh today: CORPORATE BULLSH*T: EXPOSING THE LIES AND HALF-TRUTHS THAT PROTECT PROFIT, POWER, AND WEALTH IN AMERICA. Joan wrote the book with two co-authors-- progressive billionaire Nick Hanauer (who I've long wished to interview) and founder and executive director of In the Public Interest Donald Cohen (who I have interviewed before). Joan, of course, is now national affairs correspondent for THE NATION, who's been writing about the news from a progressive perspective for years. (She's also, like me, a mega Springsteen fan!) Joan will join in at the 30 minute mark. Until then, I'll recap the latest news, including what, if anything, we're hearing from inside the courtroom where TFG's eldest spawn is testifying today. And I may tell you about our morning at the Emergency Animal Hospital this morning. #notfun

It's that time of year again and I'm not talking about Halloween. Open enrollment for Medicare began two weeks ago, and tomorrow (Nov 1), the Obamacare exchanges open for those of us still under 65. Both are like the worst haunted houses to navigate as you never know what scary monsters are hiding in those provisions and plans. So today, our old friend Wendell Potter returns to the show. Wendell is still the only former health insurance executive to become a whistleblower, so we thank him even more for his courage and dedication to informing the public about the horribly deceptive practices of the for-profit health insurance industry. Today, we'll cover exactly what Medicare "Advantage" is and isn't (hint: it's neither Medicare nor is it any advantage!) and hopefully get some advice for those of us navigating that maze. And for those of us unfortunate to not be Medicare eligible yet, we'll discuss the ACA healthcare.gov and state exchanges, and the changes that have been made to the program in the over 10 years (!) it's been up and running. Hopefully Wendell can answer your questions. If time allows, we'll open the phones!

It's Monday and this promises to be an interesting week. The former guy's three eldest spawn all will take the stand in the fraud trial against the organization with their name on it. Wars continue raging overseas while antisemitism has been ratcheted up to levels I've never experienced in almost 64 years on the planet. Speaking of 64, I will be asking if you'll still need me or feed me come Saturday, and boy could I use the help. Although I'm loving Arizona, everything is more expensive, from my shitty internet service (can you say DOUBLE THE COST?) to my shitty health insurance (almost twice the price for half the benefit) to gas and food and everything else. No, I'm not starting the week in a good place. But thankfully Heather 'Digby' Parton is here to talk with about how awful everything is. Sorry, I tried to put a positive spin on it. It's just not going to happen today. Maybe Digby can help...

It's Friday, so we have another date with Marcy Wheeler of the essential news site emptywheel.net. Today, the scoop on the new Republican Speaker of the House -- he's all and so much more (or less) that you expected, the various trials of the former guy, the overnight news of the US bombing of Syria and more. Take notes, or listen a few times. There's much to grok, as always, from Marcy Wheeler!