So That Happened

This week, we are happy to have one of our old Huffington Post colleagues on the show for the first time: author and journalist Marc Lamont Hill. Marc has new book out called "Nobody," in which he traces America's state-sanctioned war on its most vulnerable citizens, from Ferguson, Missouri to Flint, Michigan and beyond. He joins us to talk about how much America has learned about itself since Michael Brown was killed, and whether or not forces are emerging that might achieve a more perfect union. Meanwhile, the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro have kicked off, and if you're enjoying watching the competition from the comfort of your own home, you may want to think about doing everything you can to prevent where you live from becoming a host city for the games because it's becoming increasingly clear that when the Olympics come to town, people lose their homes. Maybe the Olympics are just bad for us? Finally, we are marking a sad chapter in history this week, the two-year anniversary of the genocide of...

We are coming to you this week from both Washington, DC and from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the host city of the Democratic National Convention. The big issue of the week has been about unifying the party after a bruising primary fight between Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and the man she dispatched, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. But while Sanders' supporters have, to some extent, made peace with Clinton's nomination, one issue has emerged that they've refused to back down on -- the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. We'll discuss how the TPP seized all this attention, and we'll speak to Sanders' supporters about where they'll take their movement next. Of course, the Democratic National Convention kicked off under a black cloud, and we're not talking about the intermittent downpours that have drenched the attendees. Emails hacked from the servers of the Democratic National Committee were published by Wikileaks ahead of the Democrats' confab, causing enough embarrassment that DNC Chairwoman...

We are coming to you this week from both the nation's capital and from Cleveland, Ohio, the host city of the Republican National Convention, where amid the chaos, there has been one consistent refrain from the gathered delegates -- that Hillary Clinton should be locked up. Interestingly enough, not every party elder has been enthusiastic about the "Hillary for prison" meme, and there's a good reason why -- it originates well outside the party with the Alex Jones/Infowars conspiracy theory set, who have been ubiquitous on the streets of Cleveland. We'll catch up with the agitators who have put their stamp, for better or for worse, on the campaign rhetoric. We'll also hear from California Democratic Representative Xavier Becerra, for his thoughts on the Republican message. The other big issue in Cleveland has been the forging of party unity -- a goal of every convention that's proven to be difficult to bring about in Cleveland. Wednesday night, those efforts took a big hit after Texas Senator Ted Cruz took...

It was just over a year ago that a Texas woman named Sandra Bland died, under mysterious circumstances, while being held in jail after being arrested at a routine traffic stop. Among the many unanswered questions was this: how often does this sort of thing happen? Well, in one of the most exhaustive investigations the Huffington Post has ever undertaken, we scoured the public records to find out how many people have died in jail in the year since Sandra Bland's death. And what we discovered was staggering. The lead reporters on this story join us today. Meanwhile, this week, Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders bestowed his endorsement upon Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. But while there's now a larger unity among the broader Democratic base, it was a bitter moment for Sanders' diehard supporters. We're joined by one such diehard, Tim Black, the host of the Tim Black Show, who'll give us an idea about the future of Sanders' movement and what, if anything, Clinton can do to win him over. Finally...

This week's podcast seems to have a common theme: accountability. In the biggest political news story of the week, the FBI has concluded their investigation into the matter of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's email server, and have decided no indictment is in order. But the report from FBI head James Comey was nevertheless quite scathing. It's a black cloud that could hang over Clinton's presidential candidacy, but the black cloud hanging over our politics seems to be that political elites just seem to get off easier than the rest of us. Meanwhile, in the biggest international story of the week, after an exhaustive inquest officials in the UK have released the Chilcot Report -- an epic length documentation of their nation's involvement in the Iraq War, and a damning one at that, cataloguing the bad intelligence that drew Britain into the conflict and the poor planning that occurred afterwards. It's a report that could well impact the United Kingdom's already fraught politics, but beyond the...

This week, an awful terrorist attack in Istanbul seemed to trigger less than the usual amount of Facebook sympathy, but the same amount of enthusiasm for torture from Donald Trump. Democratic congressional candidate Zephyr Teachout cruised to victory in the New York primary election -- will the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee get her back in the general? We'll ask Zephyr Teachout herself. Congress took off on recess without doing anything significant on gun control -- have Democrats missed their window? And why doesn't anyone ever talk about the number one type of gun death? We'll ask Democratic Senator Chris Murphy. Finally, what's the deal with everyone loving Alexander Hamilton so much? Historian William Hogeland joins us to explain why Hamilton is SO overrated.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Democratic members of the House Of Representatives staged a sit-in in the chamber to try to force House leadership to allow a vote on a pair of gun safety measures. But one proposal -- to use the so-called terrorist "no fly list" as a screener for gun ownership, comes encrusted in controversy. We're joined by one of Democratic legislators at the center of this story, Texas Congressman Beto O'Rourke, to talk about what they hope to achieve and where things go from here. Meanwhile, a lot of ink has been spilled about GOP nominee Donald Trump's various rancid statements. But this week, we've learned more about a larger problem -- the candidate's inability to mount a professional campaign. Joining us to lend his insight into the weaknesses of Trump's campaign is veteran GOP digital strategist Patrick Ruffini. And is it possible for the Clinton campaign to become overconfident and complacent running against Trump? We'll put the question to the Center for American Progress' Daniella Leger. Next up... &

This week on the podcast, we reflect on the Pulse nightclub terrorist attack that left 49 dead and dozens more wounded. We talk about the LGBT community, gun reform, and what if anything can be done to prevent another mass shooting. We also sit down with Green Party presidential candidate, Dr. Jill Stein. She lays out her platform for us, and explains why she's unlike Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, the primary season finally came to a merciful, and historic end, with Hillary Clinton reeling off series of decisive primary victories one day after the AP reported that she'd earn the backing of a sufficient number of superdelegates to take her to the nomination. Now comes the tricky part: Clinton has to forge a path forward in a way that integrates the durable legacy left behind by her opponent, Bernie Sanders. We'll commemorate the beginning of what will be a very interesting challenge for the Democratic standardbearer. Meanwhile, on the other side of the docket, Donald Trump has found his own support with Republican elites eroding badly, days after he'd earned the endorsement of House Speaker Paul Ryan. Trump's problem may be the fact that the general election season brings a higher intensity of scrutiny than he's ever faced in his career. But Trump's saving grace may be the fact that with so much to scrutinize, how will any of it stick. Maybe too much of a bad thing is a good...  Se

This week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has published new rules that would govern the super-scammy payday lending industry, in the hopes that new oversight will lead to fewer people falling victim to the industry's predations. Alexis Goldstein from Americans For Financial Reform joins us to evaluate whether the Bureau's recommendations have real teeth. Meanwhile, in New Jersey, we've had the first child born in the continental United States with Zika virus-related microcephaly. This largely symbolic event gives us another opportunity to examine the halting and insufficient way Congress has thus far approached the threat of a wide-spread Zika outbreak and the increasingly desperate warnings from public health professionals about the costs of inaction. Mosquito season, we remind you, is fast approaching. Speaking of public health, the lead water crisis in Flint, Michigan did grievous harm to the public's trust in institutions that badly failed in their mission. But there's lately been a new...

This week, as Donald Trump celebrated winning the GOP nomination, he also earned himself a new antagonist -- Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. After spending the bulk of the primary season cautiously straddling the line between the candidacies of Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, Warren has gone on the attack against the reality-television host, and has rattled him in ways that the Clinton campaign has not. Is it time for Clinton to name her as her running mate? We'll make the argument. Meanwhile, we have some beyond the Beltway stories for you this week. In the Commonwealth of Virginia, Governor Terry McAuliffe has given hundreds of thousands of ex-felons who have paid their debt to society the opportunity to vote. But Republicans in Virginia are suing to reverse McAuliffe's executive order. It's all touched off a mad dash to get people registered. We'll take a look at that effort and the partisan lines that have been drawn. In addition, every year, scores of people come to the United States...

This week, a fracas at the Nevada state Democratic convention in Las Vegas has rent divisions between the Hillary and Bernie camps newly asunder, leading the media to speculate about whether Sanders will ever be able to unify the party again. But what if this media narrative has it overrated? What if they've got it backwards? Wouldn't be the first time! Meanwhile, Congress is taking their best shot at dealing with multiple crises at the moment. Up on Capitol Hill, legislators are proceeding in relatively swift and bipartisan fashion to address America's opiate addiction crisis, optimistic that they'll have a law signed soon. Joining us to talk about these goings on is Wisconsin Representative Reid Ribble. Shaping up more slowly is Congress' response to the Puerto Rico debt crisis. The island territory could miss a two billion dollar payment in July, creating the dire need for a loan restructuring plan before the problem deepens. Our own Laura Barron-Lopez has been covering this story from San Juan to...

This week, GOP nominee Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan sat down for a meeting that the media has been hyping as something on the level of the Yalta Conference, if the Yalta Conference was about domesticating an insane, doll-handed white supremacist. But unifying the party won't be easy: there remains a subset of conservatives that's not given up on stopping Trump's ascension. Joining to talk about what the "NeverTrump" movement plans to do is one of its chief organizers, Republican consultant Liz Mair. Meanwhile, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory's quest to demonize transgendered residents of the Tar Heel state has entered a new stage, in which the Federal government threatens to withhold federal money from the state on the grounds that they've enshrined unconstitutional discrimination as a state practice, and the state answers back with a legal claim of their own. Who is suing who and why and how and good lord why is any of this happening and has everyone forgotten it's 2016 and we're all...

This week, New York Magazine's Andrew Sullivan penned an alarming missive to America, contending that our presumed-to-be stable democracy is ripe for an authoritarian takeover. Wondering is he had anyone particular in mind? Well, we're going to find out, because he's joining us to talk about it today. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is currently hearing an appeal from former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, who was convicted on corruption charges back in 2014, on one of the most open and shut cases of cash for favors we can ever remember. So why does the Supreme Court seem inclined to take his side? We'll talk about the case that could destroy our already meager protections against government corruption with author and House candidate Zephyr Teachout. Finally, we continue our coverage of the Flint lead water crisis by talking to Michigan Representative Dan Kildee, who this week maintained that what's been going on in the beleaguered city should continue to be a paramount concern of all Americans. We'll...

This week, someone in the 2016 campaign did something crazy and unprecedented. And for once, it's not something that reality-television star Donald Trump did. I mean, okay, he offered up his fair share of deep weirdness, don't get me wrong, but for once, he was bested in the arena of inexplicableness by his rival Ted Cruz, who...named Carly Fiorina as his running mate. Did he vet Fiorina? Does he understand that he's not winning the nomination? Is his campaign now just an act of live action role-playing? We'll try to figure this out. Meanwhile, you may have noticed that in American politics, a lot of people lie. You may have also noticed that a lot of people get caught lying, and yet somehow retain the public status to simply continue lying. It's almost as if lying were an industry unto itself right? Well, joining us this week to confirm this thesis is Ari Rabin-Havt, fellow at People For The American Way and author of a new book, Lies Incorporated: the World of Post-Truth politics. Finally, the lead...

This week, we are taking a look at the possibility -- THE POSSIBILITY! -- that maybe -- MAYBE -- Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is not going to win the Democratic primary. We know how difficult this prospect is for some people to face. We are being gentle. But as it is one, of many possibilities, we're going to ponder what's next for the movement he's engendered and the issues they've elucidated in the event that Sanders' revolution has to start somewhere other than the Oval Office. MTV News' Ana Marie Cox joins us in discussion. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama traveled to Saudi Arabia to meet with our best frenemies in the war on terror. Our diplomatic relationship with the Kingdom, which is awkward on its best days, has been considerably strained of late, and adding to the tension is a bipartisan bill in the Senate, supported by both Democratic candidates, that would allow victims of terrorist attacks to sue states that sponsor terrorism. It's a bill Obama has threated to veto, and its very existence...

This week, Democratic candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton took to the debate stage in Brooklyn, in what might be the final debate of the Democratic primary. The setting is key: New York State has loomed as a delegate-heavy prize to the two candidates, both of whom claim the state as their own turf. We will deliver a full after-action report of the proceedings. Meanwhile, we bring you the best in bank dorkery. We're joined by progressive Democrat and U.S. House of Representatives candidate Zephyr Teachout, who is channeling FDR with her plan to break up big cable monopolies. And speaking of breaking things up, Alexis Goldstein of Americans for Financial reform is here to discuss the frightening new announcement from the Federal Reserve that five big U.S. banks are officially too big to fail. Dum-dum-dum. Finally, in previous podcasts, Wisconsin Representative and friend of the podcast Reid Ribble has announced that he'll be retiring after this term. But before he goes, he wants to sidle up to... &#

One week after a sheaf of leaked documents fingered Unaoil as a hothouse of global corruption, we get the Panama Papers -- a massive document dump that reveals the extent to which Panama has been used as a tax haven for the world's plutocrats, and the many global leaders who've been swift to stash their cash offshore. Meanwhile, six years ago an explosion at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia claimed the lives of 29 coal miners. This week, a court has rendered a sentence on Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship's involvement in a conspiracy to systematically flout safety regulations. His punishment: one year in jail. If that seems deeply screwed up to you, we'll help you nurture your outrage. Finally, with every passing week on the campaign trail, resolution seems further away, and tensions keep getting racheted up. We'll discuss the New York Daily News interview that caught Bernie Sanders up in a hot sack of nonsense. Plus, Wisconsin Congressman Marc Pocan joins us to talk about how his...

This week, documents obtained by Fairfax Media, have exposed energy contractor Unaoil as an almost comical practitioner of corporate graft, bribing their way across the developing world on behalf of well-known Western corporations. We'll break down the story. Meanwhile, in some better news for major U.S. corporations, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal defied his party this week in vetoing a religious freedom bill that would have enshrined legal discrimination against the LGBTQ community. Finally, what is it like to fall into the burning ring of fire produced by Donald Trump's legion of social media fans? Our own Christina Wilkie found out for herself firsthand, and has some of the vile details to share with us.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week we witnessed an awful terrorist attack in Brussels, so we'll ask what that means for America's foreign policy. Is Donald Trump a fascist? Kind of, but we asked a history professor and it turns out he may be closer to Jefferson Davis than Benito Mussolini. Also, Bernie Sanders is still running for president, even though it's hopeless. We'll explain why.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.