The Nicole Sandler Show

The midterms are over, and the wave was bigger than almost anyone expected. Lawyer and Grave Injustice newsletter author Lisa Graves joins me to explain how it happened. She walks through what the Senate and House maps looked like two years ago, how Trump's push for mid-decade redistricting (with help from the Roberts Court) was meant to lock in a Republican advantage, and why shaving margins off Republican seats may have left those seats vulnerable when voters turned out in force.We talk about Texas electing a Democratic governor and attorney general and sending James Talarico to the Senate, what that means for the 2028 Electoral College map, and why Trump's claim that the election was "fixed" doesn't hold up. We also get to the news of the day: Stephen Miller moving up to chief of staff, Jim Jordan becoming House Republican leader, and Rep. Thomas Massie's articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Lisa lays out what's in them and whether Hegseth can survive.Plus an update on my friend Tanya in Ukraine. Find Lisa at graveinjustice.news, and read her book, Without Precedent: How Chief Justice Roberts and His Accomplices Rewrote the Constitution and Dismantled Our RightsMore at nicolesandler.com. No paywall, but the show is listener supported, so please chip in if you can. Subscribe here to the podcast and at my substack at nicolesandler.substack.com.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We just had the election we've been waiting a decade for, so let's take a breath and enjoy it for about an hour.I open with an update from Ukraine. Last week I tried to reach my friend Tanya, whose Kyiv hostel I first called right as Russia invaded, and she hung up on me. She's okay, and she wrote back with an incredible story of resilience that I share with her blessing.Then Digby joins me. She calls this the best election of her life. We talk about Trump's brand-new claim that the election was rigged, Andrew Sullivan's piece saying he should resign, Arizona's Democratic trifecta, and Elizabeth Lee's near-miss in AZ-5. We get into what Democrats should do now: pass the agenda, expect the veto, and hold the hearings and subpoenas that accountability demands. We also touch on Hegseth impeachment articles, the 2028 field, and Salon.com shutting down.Plus a request to help one of our own family members, Jan Morgan, after a house fire. And breaking at the end: Lauren Boebert has lost! Good riddance. At least we're taking out the trash!More at nicolesandler.com. No paywall, but listener support keeps us going.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

This show is recorded live every day except Fridays! Because Marcy Wheeler lives in Ireland and I'm in Arizona, we record on Fridays at 12 noon Eastern, and it goes live at 3pm Eastern. Occasionally we get caught with news breaking in between the two, as happened today. And it was a big one ... a story that I had even predicted might happen, I just didn't think it would happen so fast! Susie Wiles is out as White House Chief of Staff and the heinous Stephen Miller is taking the job. I opened the show live with Marcy Wheeler's reaction, then we rolled the tape of a long, joyful look at the midterm results.Marcy makes the case that this was an anti-Trump wave fueled by cost-of-living frustration, and that Democrats' real opportunity is at the state level, where new trifectas in places like Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin can show people government can work for them. We talk about Texas, Georgia, Mississippi and the Senate map, the Arizona races (including a breaking call on AZ-5), and the Florida and Louisiana letdowns.Then we look ahead: a Hegseth impeachment push from Thomas Massie, the December 11 funding deadline, the committee chairs who'll run oversight in January, the Epstein files and a House Judiciary Democrats' report, a string of DOJ departures, concerns about voter-roll challenges aimed at naturalized citizens, Ukraine and Putin, and hearings on ICE.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The healing has begun, and now we've got some apologizing to do. I open with a song from 2Krispii for every conservative who suddenly cares because gas prices are too high, then break the news that Trump loyalist Harmeet Dhillon has resigned as head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, the first DOJ shakeup since Democrats swept the midterms. I walk through the races still outstanding: Scott Colom's lead in Mississippi, Mary Peltola and Dan Sullivan in Alaska, Lauren Boebert trailing in Colorado's 4th, and the nail-biters right here in Arizona, including my friend Elizabeth Lee in AZ-5. Mangy Fetlocks sings "The Day That MAGA Died." Then I do something about the damage to our standing in the world: I pick up the phone and call Denmark and Canada to apologize, since he never will. I also try to reach a hostel owner in Kyiv I befriended as the war started, but haven't spoken to in years, and it doesn't go the way I hoped. PS I did follow through after the show, but you'll have to wait for the outcome until tomorrow or Monday (and it's worth the wait!).Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It’s my birthday, and the blue tsunami is the best gift I could have asked for. As of this morning, Democrats had secured 54 Senate seats and 228 House seats, with a real chance at 240 or more. NBC News noted it’s the first time since 2006 that the minority party flipped both chambers in a single night.Driftglass joins me to celebrate. We cover the Senate flips in Maine, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas, plus Michigan held. We cover the governors’ wins, including Georgia, Texas, Ohio and Nevada, and Arizona’s still-undecided congressional races, with Elizabeth Lee’s remarkable run in the 5th. Driftglass shares his math on how far Republicans underperformed Trump’s 2024 margins even in the districts they held. We talk about the state legislatures that finally got some attention, why Democrats shouldn’t let anyone tell them a blowout isn’t a mandate, who might lead Senate Democrats, and what to watch out for during the lame duck period.Tomorrow: I'm thinking of calling around the world to apologize to our allies, and I want your suggestions for who to call.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's Election Day, so go vote! I'm back in the new studio, a little scattered and a lot bruised after yesterday's MRI (four tries to find a vein, in case you were wondering), and since there's no guest today, the phone lines are open. One caller from South Carolina informs me that Donald Trump is the most "philanthropic" president we've ever had. Not only was his sentiment wrong, so was his pronunciation. I ask for receipts. We'll see.Then I turn to Israel, where last week's election has left things unsettled. I read from Ilan Goldenberg's piece at J Street's substack on the historic possibility of a governing partnership between Jewish and Arab parties, replay my September 2019 call to a hotel in Tel Aviv, and try that hotel again to see what's changed. Spoiler: seemingly a lot. Plus: what to watch as the polls close tonight, and why I'm worried about the next 61 days.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

After a week away to move, I’m back in the rebuilt studio, just in time for Election Day tomorrow. I open the show with J-L Cauvin doing his best D'ump impression with a bit on Haley Stevens and Mike Rogers. I took some calls (the phone works!) from Vereen in the Tampa Bay area and Charlene in Arizona about Florida’s governor’s race, rents, and gas prices. I caught up on some of the news I missed: the Michigan Senate fallout, the Cenk Uygur PAC ad, and Judd Legum’s report that most major outlets ignored a new allegation in the House Judiciary Democrats’ Epstein report that included another credible rape allegation against the orange blimp. We wrapped it up with an impassioned plea to vote if you haven't already, and to stay in line until you vote - as long as you're in line before the polls close ( and you'd better be!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Happy Friday, everyone! I got my YouTube channel back, so we are officially back in business.Today's Emptywheel Friday with Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net is a big one. We're 11 days from Election Day, and Marcy breaks down what DOJ is up to in Alaska and California, a week of indictments and complaints landing right before the vote, and what she's seeing in the races that are moving toward Democrats, from Georgia to Mississippi to Texas.We also talk about the Ohio ad that even some Republicans are running from, Elon Musk's money, Starlink and Ukraine, and what could happen between Election Day and January.Before you go: if you haven't voted yet, make a plan. Then go a step further and knock doors, make calls, or give someone a ride to the polls. Marcy and I both said it, and I mean it.No show next Friday because I'm moving, but we'll be back the Friday after the election. Watch the full conversation on YouTube, or catch it wherever you get the podcast.And please share this with a friend who needs a reality check and a little hope this week.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Elizabeth Lee, the Democratic nominee in Arizona's 5th Congressional District, is back on the show 12 days before Election Day. A year ago she was an underdog nobody gave a chance in an R+10 district. Today, she says, her opponent has lost 19 points of ground even while outspending her 10 to 1, and the race is a toss-up.We talk about what she hears when she knocks on doors across all 173 precincts: not scandal, but grocery prices, gas, housing, healthcare, and water. We dig into her opponent Mark Lamb's absence from the district and the debates, the reporting that's followed him, and why she says the "extreme" label he pins on her doesn't fit someone who shows up for everybody.I vent about renting in a market where rents are up about 50% in a year, and Elizabeth explains how corporate landlords and private equity are turning tenants over for profit. She shares the story of how decades of being dismissed by doctors led her to become a nurse, and why she believes a healthier society starts with paying the people who actually deliver care. She also lays out what she sees as the real cost of the war in Iran, why she thinks every House seat matters, and the simple ask she's making of listeners: find three people who haven't voted yet and talk to them! Tomorrow, it's another Emptywheel Friday with Marcy Wheeler, and we might just be back on YouTube, finally!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Happy Wednesday! Driftglass and I did our weekly hour today, and it's my most enjoyable of the week. We talked about No Kings, the Arizona and Illinois races, and the Republicans who've suddenly decided they were "independent" all along (spoiler: we aren't letting them off the hook). Also, we finally found a house. So, I'll be out next week -- packing, moving, and rebuilding my studio. I promise some good shows to run while I'm out. Charlie has yet to be convinced about the new pool.The YouTube situation is still a mess, as the damn hackers seem to have gotten back in to my channel again today! So in the meantime, you can catch me on Twitch and LinkedIn for video and at nicolesandler.com for audio. If you haven't voted yet, please do. It's the best feeling to get that "your ballot has been counted" email.I should be back tomorrow, hopefully with the next Congressional Representative from AZ05, Elizabeth Lee. 💙Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy