The Nicole Sandler Show

It's our first Emptywheel Friday of the new year, a year which promises to be anything but easy, productive or frankly good. Which makes it more important than ever that we keep speaking truth to power and expose the incoming administration for what they are. So Marcy Wheeler and I are back today, and every Friday going forward. Today, the Convicted Felon was sentenced by Judge Merchan in the NY Business Fraud case in which he was found guilty on all 34 counts. Unfortunately, due to the office he'll be assuming again in 10 days, the judge "sentenced" Trump to *unconditional discharge*. No jail time, no punishment except for the fact that he is now, officially, a convicted felon. A discussion of how we got here started today's discussion, after a brief conversation about the fires that have and are still devastating Los Angeles. We also talked about the courts gutting the Net Neutrality rules that have kept this show and other small independent outlets on an equal footing with the corporate media, much of who are complicit in perpetuating the propaganda that got us here in the first place. So now more than ever, it's important that you support the media you consume and appreciate. We need your support to keep going. If you can, I hope you'll support both emptywheel.net and my work at nicolesandler.com/donate-2. Let's do whatever we can to cut through the lies and deception by spreading the truth and making it go viral.

Today is a National Day of Mourning. Sadly, that works on so many levels. Today President Jimmy Carter's official funeral was held. The last truly decent man to be president is gone. Perhaps some of his goodness will now enter the souls of those who have or seek power. But I'm not holding my breath. The mourning is not only for Jimmy Carter - it's for our democracy, the future of the nation (and the world), and my former home of Los Angeles where so many friends and former neighbors have lost everything. Yes, we're in mourning. Today is Thursday, when we get together with Howie Klein of Down with Tyranny and the Blue America PAC. It's been a while since we've done this as I was challenge with some health issues that kept me off the air, and then the holidays. But we're back together today. And we're joined by NJ State Senator Andrew Zwicker who was supposed to be with us last month. Better late than never! He'll tell us about the law he got passed in NJ, The Freedom to Read Act.

One of President Biden's final acts as president was signing the Social Security Fairness Act into law this week. If you are a public sector employee, this might affect you in a good way. But what about Social Security as a whole? Although the former and future guy said on the campaign trail that he wouldn't cut Social Security and Medicare, that's not what we're hearing from the Republicans that will control Congress for the next two years. We need answers. So, today, Alex Lawson, Executive Director of Social Security Works will join me for the first half hour of the show and give us the facts. Then we'll get in to some of the other news of the day including the fires devastating Los Angeles and all of Southern California, and the status of Jack Smith's final reports on Dump investigations pertaining to Jan 6 and classified documents.

One of the best things about hosting this show five days a week is that I get to talk with some really wonderful guests. Heather "Digby" Parton is the OG progressive blogger, and continues at digbysblog.net and on Salon.com offering her brilliant take on the hand we've been dealt. As I've been looking forward to catching up with her, I've been reading about the intense Santa Ana winds that are fanning the flames of massive wild fires. I just checked my email to find that the winds have caused a power outage at Digby's home! Hopefully her power will return by showtime or that we can come up with another solution to get her on the air. It's always something!

Welcome to our first show of 2025. I'm rested and a bit refreshed after taking off a couple of weeks for the holidays. I'd say I'm happy to be back, but the fact is that today is January 6, four years since the guy whose election was just certified fomented an insurrection at the Capitol because he lost that election! To add insult to injury, the orange menace had the gall to rant today that President Biden was making the transition "as difficult as possible." We all know that's bullshit. Remember "every accusation is a confession". The next four years are going to be Opposite World on steroids. We'll begin the show today catching up on some of what happened over the holidays and setting some intentions for how we deal with our new reality. Then, as we do on most Mondays, we'll welcome Jonathan Larsen of thefuckingnews.substack.com back to the show to get his take on what's happening in this ever-increasingly messed up world... Here we go...

Well, we made it to the end of the year. Or just about, anyway. Since I've been sick I've decided to do something I don't usually do which is take off and rest over the holidays. I've put together a great couple of weeks of shows to get us through January 3, and hope to return well-rested and ready to take on the challenges ahead. I did want to end with a final Emptywheel Friday episode and thankfully was able to record with Marcy Wheeler this morning. There's a lot we didn't get to (like the Matt Gaetz ethics report which should be out any time now). But we did spend the hour discussing the shit show that's already begun even before D'ump takes office again. Thanks for bearing with me through my health challenges the past few months. Here's to a better new year.

We last got together for a live show one week ago today. When Kelly Carlin was on with me, my voice started getting really gravelly and I felt progressively worse as the hour wore on. By Wednesday night I felt like crap and by Thursday night, my breathing was so labored that I feared it was pneumonia, so I went to the ER. (I'm now on Medicare with the Plan G supplemental insurance so won't have an obscene co-pay to deal with this time!). Numerous tests and chest x-rays later I was diagnosed with the flu. I had gotten vaccinated last month, along with the newest COVID booster. But the flu strain they vaccinate against is a guess, and this time they got it wrong. Or I did. Either way, I'm been in flu hell for the past week. I feel terrible every time I miss a show. But it couldn't be avoided. I'm still recuperating, but as I know I'll be taking some time off for the holidays, I really feel bad with each day that I'm out. So I'll do my best to soldier on for the next few days. I promise, if it gets to be too much, I'll stand down. Today's guest has been on the schedule for a while, so I thought I'd attempt to come back today. I first met Jesse Hagopian when he appeared on my show March 6, 2023. I had just learned of the existence of the Zinn (as in Howard) Education Project, and invited Jesse on to tell us about it. We were all glad I did. Last month, Jesse reached out to tell me about his forthcoming book, TEACH TRUTH: THE STRUGGLE FOR ANTIRACIST EDUCATION - a project as important as its title suggests. The book will be released on Jan 14, and is now available for pre-order. Jesse is here today to tell us all about it. With the assault on public education ratcheting up again next month, I thought we'd get a head start on it. Fingers crossed that my voice and health hold up, as I promise you'll love meeting Jesse Hagopian and learning about his dedication to teaching our children the truth.

I adore Kelly Carlin. She is an amazing woman who has lived a fascinating life filled with unique challenges and experiences and uses it all to help others on our journeys. Yes. She is the only child of the legendary comedian and voice of a generation, George Carlin. She's got a Masters in Jungian psychology, though she is not a therapist. Regardless, she has helped (and continues to help) lots of us who face our own unique sets of problems, challenges and experiences. Kelly has guested on this show a few times over the years. I called on her to lead us in a guided meditation the first time D'ump somehow took up residence in the White House. That one is still one of my favorite episodes of this show. When my mind started rebelling a few weeks before November's election and did a number on me after the results were known, I reached out to Kelly for help. And she did! I'm doing quite a bit better now, though still struggling, as are so many of my listeners/viewers. I know because I've heard from so many of you. So I invited Kelly back on to help us all find a way to deal with the next four years. I know you'll find her refreshing, helpful, and funny too. And our timing is perfect, as she's got a few events/workshops coming up that you might want to take advantage of (and/or give as a gift to the people you know who could also use some help right about now. Listen, and check out humansontheverge.com and thekellycarlinsite.com. We can do this...

Rachel Bitecofer does have that "Dr" title, and we could all use some healing right now. The best doctors are those who give you the information, the tools and the strategies to heal, so that's what we're talking about today. Bitecofer, author of the book HIT 'EM WHERE IT HURTS gave us the tools, strategies and info we needed, but too many didn't follow the directions. Now Rachel is back with a podcast and blog at THECYCLE.SUBSTACK.COM so pay attention! She's a political scientist and strategist, and if we (Americans) would listen to her and learn what she's teaching us, we can succeed. It's too late for 2024, but while we still have some semblance of a democracy, let's embrace the challenge and save the future for our children and the future.

Like death and taxes, Mondays are inevitable. As so many of us have tuned out of the nonstop news coverage, we're happy to fill you on what's happening in the world as we start the new week with Jonathan Larsen of TheFuckingNews.substack.com. Why? The news goes down easier with a bit of snark. Today, a "strong person of interest" in the UHC CEO killing is in custody in PA thanks to a McDonalds employee. TFN has uncovered some interesting details about 26-year old Luigi Mangione, including his high school valedictory speech. Welcome to a new week...

We're back. Marcy Wheeler again joins us from her home in Ireland for our end-of-the-week look back on what went down over the past few days. As usual, lots of shit thrown against the wall where, inevitably, some of it sticks. Today we talk about what's left of the D'ump indictments and prosecutions (not much), his nominations (lots of them), pardons and preemptive pardons (just listen) and more... We have a lot of work to do. Let's get to it. In the meantime, I'm compiling a list of credible, accurate, good journalists who we can trust to report the truth. Those are the ones we need to get our information from and support as much as we can. Please start with emptywheel. net and nicolesandler.com (and email me your picks too!).

I've been hosting this show exclusively online since January 21, 2010. Prior to that, we were on Air America Radio weeknights. But on that day, Air America went dark... coincidentally, that was the day that the Supreme Court handed down its democracy-killing decision in Citizens United, basically equating money with speech and upending one of the legs of democracy. Howie Klein has been a regular guest on this show since the Air America days. So, for more than 15 years now, Howie and I have spoken on the show almost weekly about our democracy and how to best keep or move the nation to be a bit more progressive. In addition to his blog at DownWithTyranny.com, Howie also oversees the Blue America PAC (joined by Heather 'Digby' Parton and Crooks & Liars' John Amato0, who actively raise money for the best progressive candidates running. I'm doing this 're-set' as it's been a few weeks since Howie has been here (all on me and my health issues), and because of a bit of a media realignment that I believe is just beginning, we have some newcomers checking out the show. Since we haven't spoken since the election, one of the things we'll discuss today is the disconnect between the narrative pushed by the legacy/corporate media pushing and the truth regarding the election results and, frankly, just about everything else...

If you're a regular listener of the show then you're familiar with today's guest, Lisa Graves. In addition to being one of my favorite people, she's also one of the most brilliant. She's currently Director of TrueNorthResearch.org. but appears on this show in her personal capacity offering facts and opinions based on her unimpeachable experience working in the DoJ under AGs Janet Reno and John Ashcroft, in the Senate Judiciary Committee as lead counsel for nominations and so much more. True North Research published a primer on what is now likely the playbook for the D'ump 2.0 administration, better known to us all as Project 2025. It's at Project2025Admin.com and includes a profile of Kash Patel, who D'ump has suggested he'll appoint to lead the FBI. OMG. And the EXTreme Court hear a case this morning -- US vs Skrmetti - about whether Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors violates the US Constitution. (Watch out, this slide is already horribly slippery.)

I feel that I owe you more of an explanation. As you well know by now, I've been having a rough time for the past couple of months, but because I've been such a wreck, I haven't been able to give you the details about how and why I got to such a dark place. It's been a while since my husband David Sloane joined me on the show. But he will be here today. Yes, the election took and continues to take a toll on our collective psyche, but there's much more than that doing on right now, and I believe it's my responsibility to let you know just what has me in this dark place. So I've enlisted David to come in and help me explain. I know that THIS isn't what most people tune into this show for. But I also know, based on your emails and messages from the past few days, that many of you do care. Today's show will hopefully be cathartic for more than a few of us. And for everyone else, the show will continue the rest of the week with Lisa Graves, Howie Klein and emptywheel on Wed, Thu and Fri respectively. As always, thank you for bearing with me... If you are in a position financially to support my work and help me out, there are lots of ways to do so via my donate page. Or the PO Box to do it old school is PO Box 7942, Chandler AZ 85286. xoxo Nicole

Another week, a new month. I'm still not quite right, but I'm back today. It's Monday, so Jonathan Larsen also returns from thefuckingnews.substack.com. Thankfully he can fill us in on what's been going on since I, along with millions of Americans, have tried to tune out as much of the news as possible. He joins in at the 30 minute mark... I know you come here for information, but I hope you also watch/listen/participate in the show for truth, as painful as it sometimes is. If you've wondered about my uncharacteristic absences of late, I've been sick. I've been going through a mental health crisis. To be completely honest, I'm still in the midst of it, but I must make every effort to keep putting one foot in front of the other, so I'm back today to do just that. I'll explain as much as I can on the show, and want to thank you for being patient and for your support as I try to get back on track...

We're back! We did take a break last week because, well, I needed a break. But we're back. A bit of rest and mental diversions away from news and politics helped me a bit. Marcy Wheeler suggested taking some time out to go look at the ocean. Whatever form it takes, please carve out time for some self care. The next few years will not be easy. Let's all make sure we and our friends and families are ok. As for the news, it's important to stay informed-- and that means insuring that the sources your turn to are those you can trust. To that end, we'll start putting together capable, informed, and credible journalists and organizations to trust and support, and steering clear of those who don't meet the criteria. At the top of my list of trusted journalists is Marcy Wheeler who writes at emptywheel.net and helps me unpack the week each Friday. As for this past week? Just hit the play button!

One of our favorite guests here on the Nicole Sandler Show is Lisa Graves. Not just because she's one of the better angels among us, but she's also wicked smart and has the CV to back up her beliefs. These days Lisa Graves works as a governmental watchdog of sorts in her role as Director of True North Research, whose work you should follow at truenorthresearch.org. But she usually appears on my show in her personal capacity as a private citizen with great expertise on all matters pertaining to our Justice system and Dept of Justice, the Senate nominations and confirmation proceedings, and how things are supposed to work in and around Washington DC. Today, we'll get Lisa's take on some late-breaking news that Matt Gaetz has pulled his name from consideration to be the next US Attorney General, though 180's like that are often cause for even more alarm. What other rules has the dictator-elect broken and how many more norms has he shattered? Does she have any advice for those of us who feel as if we're hanging on for dear life by a frayed thread? Lisa Graves is one of the smartest people I know and she doesn't sound an alarm without real justification. Perhaps a group hug is what we need today. We'll do that, virtually anyway...

**Program Note*** I had major YouTube issues today, so I finally cut the video and just continued audio only for most of the show. You'll be able to get the full audio podcast on my website at https://nicolesandler.com/11-20-24 or subscribe to the podcast on Spotify (no paywall, though your donations and support are what keep me on the air)... Sorry for the inconvenience. NS I'm not too keen on the corporate media these days. With a few shining examples to the contrary, most of the media learned nothing from our recent history of presidential election coverage other than how to get even worse at it. I suggested yesterday while talking with Digby that it's time to put together an approved journalist/pundit list of those who can and should be trusted. (It's on my ever growing list of projects on which to embark). Certainly to be included in any such list would be Will Bunch. He's a national columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer. As my friend Laffy says, "If Will Bunch wrote it, you should read it." (The Inquirer does have a paywall, but if you subscribe to Will's newsletter, you can read those for free. https://www.inquirer.com/newsletters/will-bunch/sign-up/ And they have a 6 month subscription deal for $1 right now... But we'll begin with some gratitude at a time when it's truly important to be grateful for so very much...

She really needs no introduction- but in case you haven't been paying attention, Heather "Digby" Parton is one of the OG bloggers who took to this medium at its inception around the turn of the century... She launched her must-read Digby's Hullaballoo, still going strong- these days at digbysblog.net, and writes a regular column for Salon.com. Her words are some of the first I read each day and our conversations are some of my favorite over the many years I've been doing this show. Today is the first time we'll speak since our world turned upside down on Nov 5. If you were here yesterday, you know that I'm not handling this very well. But somehow talking with Digby always helps me see things a bit more clearly. I expect nothing less than that today.

I took last week off to work through my grief, something that I realize will take much longer than a week. But it's a start... I've heard from quite a few listeners who seemed to be suffering with the same symptoms that paralyzed me for the better part of the time since Nov 5. Panic attacks know no logic and they're relentless. As you regular listeners know, I don't hold much back. Today I'll attempt to share as much as I can without falling apart. But here's where we can help each other. So please use this show as a group therapy session for as long as we need it. I'll bring on the guests who can help us through it. Although there's not much I find funny right now, we'll try to bring it anyway because laughter IS the best medicine. Today is Monday... Although I've been mostly diligent about keeping my distance from the news, we must face reality at some point. So Jonathan Larsen is here from TheFuckingNews.substack.com to clue us in on what's been happening.