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Activism, politics, and beer from PA-based Raging Chicken Press
Episodes
Monday Jun 12, 2023
Monday Jun 12, 2023
On this episode of Out d'Coup LIVE, Aly is a Pittsburgh-based research analyst working on the state power mapping program at the grassroots watchdog group, LittleSis (you know, the opposite of Big Brother?). We'll be talking about her new report, "The American Petroleum Institute Love Pennsylvania, As Its Lobbying Shows." In 2022, the API spent at least $1.8 million on lobbying Pennsylvania politicians - that's more than any other state. Why is Big Oil going all in on PA? We'll get into the details.
Aly previously spent 8 years as an environmental justice organizer at Pittsburgh UNITED and labor organizer at UFCW Local 1776. Over the years she has led campaigns to prevent the privatization of Pittsburgh’s water system, to make drinking water safer and more affordable, and organized grocery store workers to win higher wages and safer working conditions during the COVID 19 pandemic. She received her BA in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh and her Master’s in Public Administration from Carnegie Mellon University.
LINKS:
- Aly Shaw, "The American Petroleum Institute Love Pennsylvania, As Its Lobbying Shows," LittleSis, Eyes on the Ties | https://bit.ly/3MI4qsM
- LittleSis.org | https://littlesis.org/
- Eyes on the Ties - News and analysis from LittleSis | https://news.littlesis.org/
- Follow Aly on Twitter @AlyMS77 | https://twitter.com/AlyMS77
You can support this show by becoming a patron for as little as $5/month at https://www.patreon.com/rcpress.
Don’t let Paul Martino, Moms for Liberty, & their oligarch friends buy our schools and push extremist politics in our community. Raging Chicken has teamed up with LevelField to launch a truly community-rooted PAC to invest in organizing, supporting local and state-wide progressive candidates, and unmasking the toxic organizations injecting our communities with right-wing extremism. We’re putting small-dollar donations to work to beat back the power of Big Money. You can get more information and drop your donation at https://ragingchicken.levelfield.net/.
Friday Jun 09, 2023
Friday Jun 09, 2023
You can support this show by becoming a patron for as little as $5/month at https://www.patreon.com/rcpress.
Donald Trump has officially been indicted (again) in Federal court on seven criminal counts. Let the circus begin (again).
Smoke from wildfires across Canada blanketed much of the East Coast. The Air Quality Index showed hazardous amounts of particulate matter in the air and the skies turned orange and yellow like a scene out of Bladerunner 2049.
In a surprise decision, the US Supreme Court upheld the a provision of the Voting Rights Act in a case involving racial gerrymandering in Alabama.
160,000 SAG-AFTRA members voted to authorize strike ahead of negotiations. 97.9% of members voting approved the authorization. This comes in the midst of the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike which began on May 2. The WGA strike is the largest job action in the television and film industry since COVID.
A new scientific study finds that the summers in the Arctic ocean may be ice-free by 2030. That’s about a decade sooner than previously thought.
And a new report in ProPublica finds that more than 600,000 people are already living outside of a crucial “climate niche,” and climate change is ontrack to displace more than one-third of humanity.
The full-scale dumpster fire that is the Pennridge School Board was on full display on Wednesday. After switching the meeting time several times for this week’s scheduled committee meetings, a last-minute Zoom meeting showed once again how utterly dysfunctional and disastrous the Republican controlled board truly is. The scheduled appearance of Vermillion Education’s Jordan Adams has been postponed to a date only Megan Banis-Clemens and her minions know. We’ll play you some sound from the meeting. Meanwhile, Jordan Adams tries to do the twitter two-step with a little deflection.
Workers at the Museum of the American Revolution are demanding that the museum’s leadership cancel a planned Moms for Liberty event at the museum ahead of the extremist group’s convention in Philly from June 29 - July 2.
Speaking of Moms for Liberty, this week the Southern Poverty Law Center has added the group to its list of hate groups and anti-government extremists.
The Valley Forge Classical Academy (VFCA) - a new charter school in Chester County build on the kind of Christian Nationalist curriculum we’ve seen come out of Hillsdale College - is using a fictitious social media account to cause division, promote hate, and promote the VFCA.
Great time at the Pennridge Democrats Trivia night last night at Free Will Brewery. Congrats to the Rainbow Unicorns for taking home the trophy!
Don’t Let Paul Martino, Moms for Liberty & Their Oligarch Friends Buy Our Schools and push extremist politics in our community. Raging Chicken has teamed up with LevelField to launch a truly community rooted PAC to invest in organizing, supporting local and state-wide progressive candidates, and unmasking the toxic organizations injecting our communities with right-wing extremism. We’re putting small-dollar donations to work to beat back the power of Big Money. You can get more information and drop your donation at https://ragingchicken.levelfield.net/.
Monday Jun 05, 2023
Monday Jun 05, 2023
On this episode of Out d'Coup LIVE, I welcome Eleanor Goldfield to the show. We'll be talking about her latest article in TruthOut, "If the Police Can Decide Who Qualifies as a Journalist, There is No Free Press." In that piece she spotlights the arrests of two journalists arrested while covering the eviction of unhoused people from a public park in Asheville, NC. The case has received limited national coverage, but it marks another moment in the withering away of Constitutional protections for the press.
Eleanor Goldfield is a creative radical, journalist, and filmmaker. Mutual aid and community organizing are cornerstones of her work and personal life, informing both her journalistic and artistic projects.
Her written and photo journalism has appeared in independent publications across the U.S. and internationally. She is one of the 2020 recipients of the “Women and Media Award” presented by The Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press. She is currently a board member of the Media Freedom Foundation.
Recently, she released her first solo EP, titled “No Solo,” after more than a decade fronting the political hard rock band Rooftop Revolutionaries.
Her recent documentary film, “Hard Road of Hope,” which covers the radical history and present struggles in West Virginia has been widely acclaimed.
Currently, Eleanor is the co-host of the podcast Common Censored along with Lee Camp as well as the Project Censored radio show with Mickey Huff.
LINKS:
- Eleanor Goldfield, "If the Police Can Decide Who Qualifies as a Journalist, There is No Free Press," in TruthOut | https://bit.ly/45OCLiK
- Eleanor Goldfield on Twitter: @RadicalEleanor | https://twitter.com/RadicalEleanor
- Common Censored podcast | https://commoncensored.libsyn.com/
- Project Censored radio show on Pacifica | https://www.projectcensored.org/radio/
- Eleanor's new documentary, "Hard Road of Hope" | https://hardroadofhope.com/
- Eleanor's new solo album, "No Solo" | https://bit.ly/3OUUKh5
- ArtKillingApathy | https://artkillingapathy.com/
You can support this show by becoming a patron for as little as $5/month at https://www.patreon.com/rcpress/.
Don’t Let Paul Martino, Moms for Liberty & Their Oligarch Friends Buy Our Schools and push extremist politics in our community. Raging Chicken has teamed up with LevelField to launch a truly community rooted PAC to invest in organizing, supporting local and state-wide progressive candidates, and unmasking the toxic organizations injecting our communities with right-wing extremism. We’re putting small-dollar donations to work to beat back the power of Big Money. You can get more information and drop your donation at https://ragingchicken.levelfield.net/.
Friday Jun 02, 2023
Friday Jun 02, 2023
Debt limit deal passed in the Senate now awaits Biden’s signature. Another DC drama fest comes to a close. Losers in the deal are the poor, student debt holders, the IRS, and our planet. Winners include the uber-rich, Big Oil, and business-as-usual.
Part of the debt limit deal ensures students will start paying their loans again at the end of the summer. And, Manchin will get his pipeline.
In a separate attack on student debt holders, the U.S. Senate voted to block Biden’s student loan relief package. Biden says he’ll veto.
The U.S. economy adds 339,000 jobs in May, way beyond economists’ expectations.
Hundreds of Gannet newspaper journalists are set to walk off the job in protest of the company’s leadership and deep job cuts.
A new report shows that the world’s wheat supply may be vulnerable to crisis due to climate change.
Demonstrating once again that our justice system is built for the rich, the Sacklers will not face any personal liability for the billions they made fanning the flames of the opioid crisis.
Eugene DePasquale announces he will run for Attorney General.
New Jersey closes sections of the NJ Turnpike due to wild fires.
And Philadelphia was covered in haze this week for the worst wildfires in Nova Scotia’s history.
Mike Gambone has a great review in the Bucks County Beacon of a new book on the John Birch Society by Matthew Dallek.
And teens in Fort Wayne, IN point the way. After their play, “Marian, or The True Tale of Robin Hood” was canceled by their school, the teens raised money and put it on anyway. “Marian” is a “gender-bending take on Sherwood Forest’s beloved bandit,” .was canceled because of its LGBTQ content.
If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. We’re here for the fight and we need you. Become a patron for the price of a good beer once a month. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to Patreon.com/RCPress. Not ready to become a patron? Drop us a one time donation at PayPal.me/rcpress.
Don’t Let Paul Martino, Moms for Liberty & Their Oligarch Friends Buy Our Schools and push extremist politics in our community. Raging Chicken has teamed up with LevelField to launch a truly community rooted PAC to invest in organizing, supporting local and state-wide progressive candidates, and unmasking the toxic organizations injecting our communities with right-wing extremism. We’re putting small-dollar donations to work to beat back the power of Big Money. You can get more information and drop your donation at https://ragingchicken.levelfield.net/.
Friday May 26, 2023
Friday May 26, 2023
As the U.S. inches closer to defaulting on its debts, reporting suggests the Biden administration and House Republicans are closer to a deal. The Biden people seem to be looking for ways to soften the blow of their cave.
Ron DeSantis officially announced that he’s running for president on Twitter. Well, sort of. The planned announcement through a Twitter live audio broadcast went horribly awry as Elon Musk once again demonstrated how he’s wreaked havoc on the platform. But, maybe it’s just par for the course for DeSantis. Bring in the autocratic clowns.
Indiana medical board reprimands the doctor who spoke publicly about providing abortion services to a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio. The case was one of the first such stories to emerge in wake of the overturning of Roe v Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court. Ohio banned abortion after a heartbeat could be detected. That’s about 6 week.
Steward Rhodes, founder of the right-wing extremist group the Oath Keepers, was sentenced to 18 years in jail for his role orchestrating the January 6th violent attack on the nation’s Capitol.
Climate scientists are bailing on Twitter after Elon Musk took over the platform, reporting a growing hostile environment, increasing levels of racism and sexism, and bots pushing climate misinformation.
Texas approves a bill that will allow public schools to replace counselors with uncertified chaplains.
A Mom for Liberty is working to have Amanda Gorman’s poem, “The Hill We Climb,” banned from schools on the grounds that it is “not educational” and contains “hate messages.” Gorman read her poem at Biden’s inaugural.
And on the flip-side of the book-banning fight, The Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights has released findings saying that a Georgia school district's removal from libraries books with Black and LGBTQ content may have violated students’ civil rights.
In new reporting by Aly Shaw in LilttleSis, we learn that the lobbying arm of Big Oil, the American Petroleum Institute, has spent nearly $1.8 million in Pennsylvania to push its interests. Aly will be coming on Out d’Coup LIVE on June 12 to talk about her piece.
A Bucks County judge issued an injunction against Republican operatives who were distributing fake sample ballots for Region 2 of the Palisades School District during the primaries.
Pennridge School Board member Ricki Chaiken turned to a Facebook parents group to issue a lengthy, paragraph challenged screed defending the Board’s shift toward extremism and discrimination. In it, she makes it clear that fellow board member, Jordan Blomgren, had been talking with Hillsdale College’s Jordan Adams well before Adams started his for-profit consultancy, Vermillion Education.
Perkasie Farmers Market opens on June 3rd! Woot!
Pennridge Democrats are hosting a fundraising Trivia Night on Thursday, June 8 at Free Will Brewing. Check out their FB event page for details.
You can support this show by becoming a patron for as little as $5/month at https://www.patreon.com/rcpress.
Don’t Let Paul Martino, Moms for Liberty, and their oligarch friends buy our schools and push extremist politics in our community. Raging Chicken has teamed up with LevelField to launch a truly community rooted PAC to invest in organizing, support local and state-wide progressive candidates, and unmask the toxic organizations injecting our communities with right-wing extremism. We’re putting small-dollar donations to work to beat back the power of Big Money. You can get more information and drop your donation at https://ragingchicken.levelfield.net/.
Monday May 22, 2023
Monday May 22, 2023
On this episode of Out d'Coup LIVE, we'll be talking a bit about the last Pennridge School Board meeting, last week's PA primary, and what's at stake in this year's election. The Bucks County GOP is offering up more extremism, but the community is organizing to kick out the clowns and send the circus packing.
Don’t Let Paul Martino & Friends Buy Our Schools and push extremist politics in our community. Raging Chicken has teamed up with LevelField to launch a truly community-rooted PAC to invest in organizing, support local and state-wide progressive candidates, and unmask the toxic organizations injecting our communities with right-wing extremism. We’re putting small-dollar donations to work to beat back the power of Big Money. You can get more information and drop your donation at https://ragingchicken.levelfield.net/.
Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u
Friday May 19, 2023
Friday May 19, 2023
A right-wing takeover of a Colorado school board is a case study for what’s happening nationwide.
- The Woodland Park school board was taken over by conservatives in 2021. They moved quickly to radically transform the district, learning from the tactics of Donald Trump and Steve Bannon, and bolstered by big-money fueling Christian nationalists curricular changes.
- These “American Birthright” curricular standards passed by the Woodland Park school board are similar to the Hillsdale College K-12 curriculum, but target State Standards as well as District ones.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signs a bill that dramatically limits transgender medical treatments, restricts pronoun use in schools, and forces people to use bathrooms corresponding to their birth sex.
New York City is sinking due to the massive weight of its skyscrapers. Studies are showing that will only exacerbate the effects of climate change.
Cherelle Parker wins the hotly contested and closely watched race for Philly's next mayor. One of Parker’s campaign pledges was to hire more police in the midst of a wave of violence in the city. She is not set to become Philly’s first Black woman mayor. The most progressive candidate in the race, Helen Gym came in third. Gym’s campaign was quick to offer congratulations and support for Parker as she pledged to continue to build grassroots power.
Sara Innamorato wins big in the Democratic primary for Allegheny County executive. Much of Innamorato’s win is rooted in the work she and other members of the progressive community in the County have done to build a strong, progressive movement. The Pittsburgh area continues to build a model of deep-rooted progressive organizing.
As the Intercept reported, the results for Tuesday’s primary were a mixed bag for progressives. The Pittsburgh area seeing progressive gains, while Philadelphia showing a stronger preference for more moderate Democratic Party machine platforms.
Democrats will maintain control of the Pennsylvania House following Heather Boyd’s win in Tuesday’s special election to fill the empty seat in the 163rd district in Delaware County.
There were some promising signs in the Pennridge and Central Bucks school board races. Both of those races showed signs that some Republicans may be supporting Democratic candidates after a few years of right-wing extremism on their boards.
Central Bucks still in the book banning business as the school board orders the removal of “Gender Queer” and “This Book is Gay,” from library shelves.
Monday May 15, 2023
Monday May 15, 2023
On tonight’s episode, I welcome Kathryn Joyce to the program. We'll be talking about her recent article in Church and State, "Mad Moms: A New Christian Nationalist Front Group Claims to Champion Parental Involvement in Public Education. Critics Say There's a More Nefarious Agenda Afoot." "Mad Moms" takes a deep dive into Moms for Liberty, their deep pockets, and their growing extremism.
Kathryn Joyce is an investigative editor at In These Times, a freelance investigative reporter and the author of two books: The Child Catchers: Rescue, Trafficking and the New Gospel of Adoption and Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement.
Formerly a reporter with Type Investigations and Salon, a contributing editor at The New Republic and a contributing writer at Highline. Her work has also appeared in numerous publications including Mother Jones, Vanity Fair, The Marshall Project, Longreads, The New York Times Magazine, Vox, The American Prospect, The Intercept, The Nation, Cosmopolitan, Adirondack Life, The Atlantic, Ms., The Harvard Divinity Bulletin, and many others.
She is formerly the editor of Political Research Associates’ quarterly magazine The Public Eye, and teaches as an adjunct lecturer in Brooklyn College’s political science department.
LINKS:
- "Mad Moms: A New Christian Nationalist Front Group Claims To Champion Parental Involvement In Public Education. Critics Say There’s A More Nefarious Agenda Afoot," Kathryn Joyce, Church & State | https://bit.ly/3nQnhJJ
- Kathryn Joyce on the web | http://kathrynjoyce.com/
- Follow Katrhyn Joyce on Twitter | https://twitter.com/kathrynajoyce
Don’t Let Paul Martino, Moms for Liberty, and their oligarch friends buy our schools and push extremist politics in our community. Raging Chicken has teamed up with LevelField to launch a truly community-rooted PAC to invest in organizing, support local and state-wide progressive candidates, and unmask the toxic organizations injecting our communities with right-wing extremism. We’re putting small-dollar donations to work to beat back the power of Big Money. You can get more information and drop your donation at https://ragingchicken.levelfield.net/.
Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u
Monday May 15, 2023
Monday May 15, 2023
On this episode of Out d'Coup LIVE, I welcome Kristina Marusic back to the show. We'll be talking about her new book, "A New War on Cancer: The Unlikely Heroes Revolutionizing Prevention." While we've been waging a "war" on cancer for more than fifty years, but it's not a war we're winning. Yes, treatments are better than ever, but cancer still claims the lives of one in five men and one in six women in the US. The astonishing news is that up to two-thirds of all cancer cases are linked to preventable environmental causes. If we can stop cancer before it begins, why don’t we?
In "A New War on Cancer," Kristina Marusic does a deep dive into the remarkable doctors, scientists, and advocates who are upending our understanding of cancer and how to fight it. They recognize that we will never reduce cancer rates without ridding our lives of the chemicals that increasingly trigger this deadly disease.
Kristina Marusic is an award-winning journalist who covers environmental health and justice for Environmental Health News. She holds an MFA in nonfiction writing from the University of San Francisco, and her personal essays and reporting on topics ranging from the environment, LGBTQ+ equality, and politics to feminism, food, and travel have been published by outlets including CNN, Slate, Vice, Women's Health, the Washington Post, MTV News, The Advocate, and Bustle, among others. She lives in Pittsburgh with her partner of ten years, Michael, and the cutest dog in the world, Mochi. You can visit her online at KristinaMarusic.com
LINKS:
- Kristina Marusic, "A New War on Cancer: The Unlikely Heroes Revolutionizing Prevention" | https://bit.ly/3NphIwa
- Kristina Marusic webpage | https://www.kristinamarusic.com/
- Environmental Health News | https://www.ehn.org/
Don’t Let Paul Martino & Friends Buy Our Schools and push extremist politics in our community. Raging Chicken has teamed up with LevelField to launch a truly community-rooted PAC to invest in organizing, support local and state-wide progressive candidates, and unmask the toxic organizations injecting our communities with right-wing extremism. We’re putting small-dollar donations to work to beat back the power of Big Money. You can get more information and drop your donation at https://ragingchicken.levelfield.net/.
Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u
Friday May 12, 2023
Friday May 12, 2023
CNN doubles down on cashing in on Trump, holding a “town hall” that allowed the disgraced president and convicted sexual assaulter to spew lies and deceit before a cheering audience.
Republican fraudster representative from New York was arrested and accused of 13 crimes ranging from money-laundering, to fraud, to lying about his finances on congressional disclosure forms. Santos, of course, pleaded not-guilty and has pledged to not resign.
Elon Musk gives Tucker Carlson a platform a new show on Twitter.
When is BlueSky launching again? Anyone got an invite they can sent my way for the Beta?
The Writers’ Guild Strike strike is going strong and the billion-dollar industry’s refusal to negotiate in good faith for a fair contract is going to hit your binge watching.
Pennridge School Board meeting goes off the rails again and Board members shut down public comments and threaten community members with forceful removal. That paved the way for passing the far-right board’s discriminatory bathroom policy. The Board even went as far as calling the local police, who were overheard saying “what are we doing here?”
At the same Pennridge meeting, community members and teachers showed up in large numbers to demand the board negotiate in good faith with the teachers’ union. The teachers’ contract is set to expire at the end of June.
Meanwhile public comments became heated again in the Central Bucks SD school board meeting on Tuesday. Community members and parents spoke out against the Board’s use of a far-right Christian Law Firm to produce a report about the board’s discriminatory LGBTQ policies. Several people also accused right-wing members of the board of bullying and abusive behavior toward other members of the board and the community.
The PA primary elections are this coming Tuesday, May 16. The future of the Pennridge School District is on the line as is the future of many school boards across the Commonwealth. If you are not registered, it’s too late to register for the primaries. But it’s a GREAT time to register for the general election this fall. Go to Vote.PA.Gov and fill out your voter registration today. Don’t wait if you are not already registered.
Ryan Padovani, a former Kutztown University student, was killed in Kingston, PA earlier this week. Ryan was a fierce advocate for LGBTQ and disability rights. At this time Ryan’s killer is still at large and Kingston police are asking anyone with any information about the case to contact the Kingston Police Department, Detective Robert Miller at 570-288-3674, ext. 420 or rmiller@kingstonpd.org.
Scientists are looking into whether Spacetime comes from “magic.” I kid you not.