Episode 239: The Vague, Capital-Serving Co-Optation of "Affordability" Politics

In Part 2 of our 3-part series on the uses and misuses of "authenticity," we examine the media obsession with "political mavericks" who "buck party orthodoxy"—almost aways with either trivial interventions or, as is most often the case, throwing vulnerable populations and causes under the bus. With guest Jack Mirkinson, senior editor at The Nation magazine.

In part 1 of our 3-part series on the uses and misuses of "authenticity," we examine the Real America "listening tour," its propaganda utility, and how it uses the superficial aesthetics of rural simplicity to sell class-flattening, power-serving narratives. With writer and teacher John Patrick Leary.

In this episode, we discuss how circular "inevitability" arguments have been used for centuries to justify war, expansionism and perpetual hostility — most recently against China. Our guest is organizer and writer Tobita Chow.

In this episode, we breakdown the popular "inevitability" argument AI companies are using to bulldoze over democracy and how the "inevitability" line has been used to sell everything from Manifest Destiny to poverty-creating "free trade deals".  We are joined by guest Amy Woodson Bolton, professor of British and Irish history at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California.

In this News Brief, we are joined by Kaleem Hawa to discuss David K Kirkpatrick's 10,000 word PR job that feigns criticism of Biden officials, but ultimately serves to distance them from the horrors of Gaza.

In this News Brief, we dissect the Orwellian phrase "right to exist," why it only applies to Israel, what purpose it serves, and why Palestinians are never said to have such a right.

In this episode, we discuss the ideological work done by our media's default frame of immigrants, poor seniors, homeless people, and those with disabilities as "burdens" and "strains" on our limited resources––namely those provided by the holy Taxpayer. Meanwhile, skyrocketing police and Pentagon budgets are just treated as unremarkable laws of nature.   With guest Beatrice Adler-Bolton of the Death Panel podcast.

In this news brief, we catch up with Dylan Gyauch-Lewis, senior researcher at the Revolving Door Project, to discuss Abundance's PR problems, why this latest neoliberalism rebrand isn't catching on and how Silicon Valley billionaires still see 'Abundance' as their best chance to counter populist forces in the Democratic Party.

In this News Brief, we talk with Emmaia Gelman, author of The Anti-Defamation League and the Racial State, about how––despite posing a civil rights org––the ADL functions as defender of colonialism and enforcer for reactionary western ideologies.

In this episode, we detail the long history of generic "affordability" discourse and how, post-Mamdani, it's become the go-to establishment buzzword justifying tax breaks for developers, deregulation, and cosmetic tweaks to our for-profit healthcare and education systems. With guest Luke Savage.