Nicole is back for a new year with John Nichols and one last look at 2014 with The Nation's Progressive Honor Roll, plus remembering Mario Cuomo. And Digby weighs in on our police problems and other issues facing us with a Republican-controlled 114th Congress convening tomorrow
It's Festivus, so Nicole joins Pope Francis in the Airing of Grievances, one of the Festivus traditions. The Nation's John Nichols gives us a preview of this year's Progressive Honor Roll, and we visit with @GottaLaff for the last time in 2014
Angela McCluskey & Alan Cummings saying Yes to Scotland independence Each Friday, we wrap up the week of shows with a journey into my musical past. Today, we mixed up past and present with a conversation with my old friend Angela McCluskey. For the past portion, we ventured back to August of 2000 for an interview I did with her then-band, Wild Colonials and heard their always-brilliant performance. Angela joined me via phone from her current home in New York to talk about life, music and the vote for Scottish independence. As a native of Glasgow, Scotland, [...]
I'm home after 10 days on the road to cover the American Federation of Teachers convention in Los Angeles and Netroots Nation '14 in Detroit. It was actually anything but a vacation, but I do thrive on the action, and there was plenty of that. To recap the trip, all you need do is listen to the shows from the past week or so. (Find them here, here, here, here and my interview with the amazing Rev. Dr. William Barber is posted as a standalone interview here) Now that I'm back home, I have the luxury of sitting back [...]
I began the show today with a big shout out of thanks and appreciation to all who have stepped up recently with financial support of the show. As I've reiterated often, I'll never put up a pay wall on this show. I know too many people who are struggling, and don't want to deny anyone access to the program. But with today's business/radio climate, the only way this show will survive is by virtue of your donations. And yesterday, a couple of listeners stepped up in a really big way. Erika from California has surprised and humbled me in [...]
Four years ago today, we took a double hit on democracy. The Supreme Court issued its ruling on Citizens United vs FEC, and in one fell swoop, undid a century of campaign finance law and opened the floodgates for special interests to buy influence. Since then, a number of groups have mobilized, creating a movement toward a constitutional amendment to overturn this ruling that undermines democracy. United for the People is an umbrella group comprised of the many organizations fighting to fix this monetary mess. One of the groups, Move to Amend, produced a documentary, Legalize Democracy, that will air [...]
The best part of attending Netroots Nation is that I get to talk to so many fascinating people. I broadcast live from the exhibit hall Thursday morning with a terrific group of guests... and had my tape recorder with me at all times, which came in very handy. Today on the show, I played my interviews with Congresswoman Donna Edwards, Congressman Raul Grijalva, and The Nation's John Nichols. I also played my conversation with Lois Frankel - the second Democratic candidate for congress from Florida's 22nd district, challenging Allen West. (Yesterday, we heard my interview with the other [...]
Getting ready for today's Randi Rhodes Show, with lots to talk about! Of course, we started the day with a loud bang (and John McCain's still complaining about it) as President Obama signed the law repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell. Now, that's the holiday spirit! But there are still a few bills dangling as the GOP Senators keep complaining they have to work! We should get some resolution today on the START Treaty, which made it through a cloture vote yesterday with the 67 votes needed for ratification of a treaty! The big mystery at this hour is the fate [...]
How do you end a long holiday weekend? With a big, hot, steaming dump of wikileaks documents! Although I haven't had the time to read many of the 250,000 documents, I was thrilled that John Nichols of The Nation joined me this morning for a first look at them. Nichols wrote a prescient piece on Friday, "Official Washington Worries Wikileak Will Reveal Inconsistent Approach to Terror," and today we discussed just how on-target he was. He hit the nail on the head when he wrote 1. Many, if not all, of the US officials who deal on the international stage tend to like [...]