Sirota

On this episode, I talked to New York Mayor Bill de Blasio about economic inequality and the 2020 presidential race. He said that Democrats must realize that "nominating a centrist would just set us back" and he says "centrists need not apply in 2020 in the Democratic Party." We also discussed what he’s learned are the biggest obstacles for progressive mayors in major cities, and w talked about the controversial Amazon HQ2 deal.

Scientists tell us we have about 12 years to ward off a complete climate change apocalypse. To do that, we have to stop drilling and fracking. On this episode, I talk to former State Rep. Joe Salazar, one of the leaders in the movement to make that happen. He's the executive director of Colorado Rising, which came close to passing a ballot measure to limit fossil fuel extraction. Salazar says it’s time for Democrats to take a stand not just for solar panels and electric vehicles, but against more fossil fuel extraction.

How did Democrats lose Appalachia -- and what do they have to do to win that region back? On this episode, I talk to State Senator Richard Ojeda -- a Democratic presidential from West Virginia. We discuss how Democrats can talk about climate change in coal country, and why Ojeda believes party has lost touch with the working class. he says the party needs to nominate a working class populist to win in 2020.

In December, the Washington media exploded in outrage, alleging that Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders had launched a coordinated war on Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke, who is considering a bid for president. I was as surprised to hear this as you might have been -- and I was even more shocked to find out that the proof of this alleged “war” was my report in Capital & Main and The Guardian taking a look at O’Rourke’s congressional voting record. The report found that O’Rourke at times voted against the majority of his party to help pass Republican bills to deregulate Wall Street, chip away at the Affordable Care Act, boost fossil fuel production, and support a key piece of President Trump’s immigration policy. On this episode, we flip the mic around -- progressive podcaster Katie Halper interviewed me about the whole situation. During the conversation, we discussed the details of the report on O’Rourke, and we discussed the state of the Democratic 2020 presidential primary.

Another week, another horrifying report about the potential impacts of climate change. On this episode, I talk to journalist and activist Bill McKibben -- one of the leading figures in the fight to reduce carbon emissions. He outlines why he believes we may have finally reached a tipping point in the climate debate.

Colorado used to be a reliably Republican state -- but in this midterm election, progressives engineered a full and complete takeover of the entire state government. Democrats won the governorship, the state House, the State Senate, and every statewide constitutional office. It was the first time in at least 80 years Democrats have had this kind of power in Colorado. On this episode, I talked to Ian Silverii of the progressive Colorado group ProgressNow. We discussed how progressives engineered their big night in Colorado, and what lessons there are for other states. We also discussed how the oil and gas industry spent roughly $40 million to defeat ballot measures designed to reduce drilling and fracking. And we discussed what Democrats should do with their legislative power.

For most of the last 50 years, the word “socialism” has been seen as an epithet in America. But now, democratic socialism seems to be an ascendant force in American politics. On this episode, I talk to Bhaskar Sunkara, the editor of Jacobin, which is one of the leading socialist media outlets. We discuss why the s-word is suddenly all the rage -- particularly among young people.

These are dark times -- we are facing a climate change crisis, rampant poverty and desperation, and now suicide rates in the United States are on the rise. On this episode, I talk to comedian Adam Cayton-Holland about his new book Tragedy Plus Time, which details his own relatives’ experience with suicide -- and examines how mental illness can strike even the most tight-knit families. The book is about both Adam's own career as a gifted stand up comedian, as well as his younger sister’s suicide six years ago. Adam is a Denver institution -- he founded the improv group called The Grawlix and he has a show on Tru TV called “Those Who Can’t.” He comes from a family that is a pillar of the community -- his dad is a renowned civil rights attorney and his mom was an investigative journalist. Adam’s book details his younger sister’s descent into the darkness -- and in the process, it provides a look at the silent plague of suicide, as well as the coping strategies for those whose families are hit by it.

New York is known as one of the most corrupt states in all of American politics -- and now a slate of progressive candidates are trying to throw New York’s powerful Democratic machine out of office. On this episode, I talk to Zephyr Teachout, who is one of the top candidates for New York Attorney General. She tells me that if she is elected, she plans to launch investigations into Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration -- and also to use her power to investigate Donald Trump's business empire in New York.

We all remember the financial crisis that destroyed countless people’s economic lives and cratered the global economy. Since then, there has been another quieter crisis of epic proportions -- one that has seen up to $1 trillion of retirees’ savings vanish, thanks to Wall Street. On this episode, I take a look at what happened with Jeff Hooke, a former investment banker and now professor at Johns Hopkins University. He said the situation threatens states and cities across the country.

The word “centrist” is thrown around a lot in politics -- especially in the Democratic Party. Every Democratic politician, it seems, wants to be a “centrist” -- but one of the wealthiest people on the planet says the term is misused. On this episode, I talk to billionaire Nick Hanauer whose recent article in Politico magazine argued that if Democrats really want to represent the center and start winning elections, they have to move hard to the left.

Epic heatwaves. Raging wildfires. It has been a crazy summer of intense weather. On this episode, I talk to Dr. Michael Mann -- he's one of the world’s leading climate scientists and he says this summer's weather is overwhelming proof that climate change is threatening the planet in a profound way. He argues that the cost of not seriously combatting climate change now vastly outweighs the cost of doing everything we can to reduce carbon emissions. He also addresses the possibility of a "Hothouse Earth" scenario, in which we see runaway climate change that is worse than anyone had previously predicted. And he discusses some of his problems with a recent New York Times report on whether or not we could have stopped climate change 30 years ago.

The big story in Washington remains the story of Donald Trump and the Russian government -- the question that keeps coming up is whether Trump and his campaign actively colluded with Vladimir Putin’s government to throw the 2016 election. On this episode, I talk to Rolling Stone reporter Matt Taibbi about the situation. We discuss Trump’s seeming affinity for Putin -- and Taibbi explains some of the similarities between Trump and Putin’s political careers. We also discuss why polls continue to show most Americans aren’t all that interested in the intensifying scandal.

In 2016, Michigan was supposed to be part of the Democrats so-called Blue Wall -- the nickname for the states that have traditionally voted Democratic in presidential elections. But on election night, it didn’t turn out that way -- Donald Trump won the state, which helped him win the whole election. Now, less than 2 years later, the state faces a major governor’s race -- one that is part of an intensifying debate over the future of the Democratic Party. On this episode, I talk to Abdul El-Sayed, a 33-year-old physician who is running for governor on a promise to create a single-payer healthcare system. He's trying to overcome the Democratic Party establishment and win the Democratic nomination for governor in the primary on August 7th.

California recently expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit -- a program that has been called one of the most effective anti-poverty initiatives in contemporary American history. On this episode, I talk to one of the program's highest profile proponents -- investor and entrepreneur Joe Sanberg. He worked on Wall Street for a time, and was the founding investor in Blue Apron, the home delivery meal service. He also was a co-founder of Aspiration.com, which offers socially-conscious banking and financial services -- and some believe he may at some point run for public office in the Golden State. Sanberg reviews how the EITC works, and whether it can be a model for other states across the country.