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Activism, politics, and beer from PA-based Raging Chicken Press
Episodes
Friday Feb 03, 2023
Friday Feb 03, 2023
Raging Chicken's Friday Politics Roundup for February 3, 2023. We're here to break down the good, the bad, and the ugly in state and national politics. Today I'm joined once again by Amy Knecht! We'll take a look at the politics of the week and ongoing school board craziness. Then we'll dig into our takes on the The Rings of Power and House of the Dragon (and, who knows, maybe we'll even sneak in a little of The Wheel of Time).
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 & 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 Jan 30, 2023
Monday Jan 30, 2023
Welcome to this week's Out d'Coup LIVE. It's MLK Day. We've got an open show tonight. Taking a look at the headlines, your thoughts, and more.
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 & 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 Jan 27, 2023
Friday Jan 27, 2023
The U.S. and Germany are sending a whole bunch of tanks to Ukraine as the war continues into its second year.
Later today the Memphis, TN police will release video of the brutal and fatal police beating of 27-year-old Tyre Nichols. The five police officers who fatally beat Nichols have been fired and are facing second-degree murder charges.
PA-based libertarian billionaire, Jeffrey Yass, is funding a new poliitcal action committee called “The Moderate PAC” that will target progressive primary challengers in favor of centrist and corporate Democrats.
Colleges and Universities are starting to hire “Chief Experience Officers” to “ensure that consumers are having satisfying interactions” with the institutions - a practices imported from the corporate world.
We’re seeing the new censorship policy in the Central Bucks School District in action. A librarian at Central Bucks South high school was told by his principal to take down a quote from Elie Wiesel, the Nobel laureate Holocaust survivor, because it violated the district’s new ban on advocating “partisan, political, or social policy issues” to students. The principal later reversed his order, but left a chilling effect on speech behind.
Turns out that Central Bucks is using a conservative Christian law firm with ties with anti-LGBTQ, Christian nationalist organization the Family Research Council. The Family Research Council is recognized as a extremist hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The Pennridge School District school board is seeking to impose versions of the Hillsdale College 1776 curriculum on teachers and students. Hillsdale College is an infamous right-wing, Christian college in Michigan that has been fueling flames of resentment and pushing a whitewashed curriculum in charter and public schools. The president of Hillsdale College, Larry Arnn III, provides a window into the college’s believes. In 2013, he referred to minority students as “dark ones” in legislative hearings; earlier this summer - in the midst of Hillsdale’s partnership to take over charter schools in the state - Arnn told the Gov. of Tennessee that “teachers are trained in the dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges in the country." Hillsdale’s 1776 curriculum was launched in the wake of Trump’s 1776 Commission to push back against the 1619 Project.
Friday Jan 20, 2023
Friday Jan 20, 2023
The battle over voting rights has not let up. Republicans in several key states have kept up their agenda to restrict access to voting.
New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, announced that she’ll step down in a few weeks.
A new Pew Research Center survey found that only about half of Americans think that colleges and universities are “having a positive effect on the way things are going in the country these days. About 38% say they are having a negative effect. And, as I bet you are already thinking, yes, there is a big partisan divide on the issue.
Florida is banning a new Advanced Placement test on African American Studies that was to be offered in its high schools. The Florida Department of Education said “the content of this course is inexplicitly contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value. That law is the new law passed last year and signed by Gov. DeSantis restricting discussions of racism in schools.
Anti-Abortion activists gather in DC to demand a federal ban on abortion.
Google announced layoffs of about 12,000 workers, which amounts to about 6% of its total, global workforce.
Josh Shapiro sworn in as Pennsylvania’s 48th governor.
In one of his first acts in office, Shapiro removed the college degree requirement for most government jobs in the Commonwealth. That means about 65,000 jobs will not be open to people regardless of if they went to college.
Wizards of the Coast (owned by Hasbro) is in hot water with the Dungeons and Dragons community over attempts to roll back its Open Gaming License or OGL. Now gaming companies like Kobold Press, are looking to launch new Tabletop Roleplaying Gaming systems that will remain open access. Wizards of the Coast finally relented to community pressure. But damage is done.
Monday Jan 16, 2023
Monday Jan 16, 2023
Welcome to this week's Out d'Coup LIVE. It's MLK Day. We've got an open show tonight. Taking a look at the headlines, your thoughts, and more.
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 & 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 Jan 13, 2023
Friday Jan 13, 2023
Both-sider-ism prevails in DC as Merrick Garland appoints a special counsel to look into the confidential documents that turned up at Biden’s old office space and garage. Are you ready for non-stop investigations from now until the presidential elections in 2024?
Catastrophic weather continues. In California at least 18 people are dead following climate change-charged “atmospheric rivers” that led to widespread flooding, mudslides, and power outages. The National Weather Service reports that Central California received more than half of its average yearly precipitation in just two weeks. In Alabama, at least 7 people were killed as a series of tornados and extreme weather rolled across the state.
Meanwhile, researchers released findings from Exxon internal documents that Exxon scientists were strikingly accurate in their climate change modeling as early as the 1970s. The researchers call the documents a “smoking gun” that Exxon knew the devastating consequences of burning fossil fuels even as it invested heavily in climate change denial propaganda.
New York City nurses won a huge victory after a three day strike.
New research shows that the Heritage Foundation spent big bucks in 2021 to help undermine voting rights.
On Tuesday, the Central Bucks School Board approved a policy 321, banning what they call “advocacy activities.” The policy takes aim at teachers to display LGBTQ pride symbols or “safe space” stickers in the school.
Students in the Pennridge School District say they feel “erased” after that district instituted a similar ban there.
Friday Dec 23, 2022
Friday Dec 23, 2022
Raging Chicken's Friday Politics Roundup for December 23, 2022. We're here to break down the good, the bad, and the ugly in state and national politics. We'll check in for a quick end-of-the-year wrap-up and see what's on your mind for 2023!
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 & 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 Dec 19, 2022
Monday Dec 19, 2022
On this week's show, I welcome Cyril Mychalejko back to the show. Cyril is the Editor-in-Chief of the Bucks County Beacon - that independent publication that has been at the cutting edge of reporting on people-powered movements in the region. Cyril will join me to reflect on the year that was and look forward to the challenges and possibilities in 2023.
LINKS:
- Bucks County Beacon | https://buckscountybeacon.com/
- Support the Beacon | https://buckscountybeacon.com/support-the-beacon/
- Follow Cyril on Twitter | https://twitter.com/cmychalejko
- Bucks County Beacon on Twitter | https://twitter.com/BucksCoBeacon
You can support this show by becoming a patron for as little as $5/month at https://www.patreon.com/rcpress/.
You can also help out the show by heading over to our YouTube channel if you are not there already and smash that subscribe button, like the stream for this show, and hit that notification bell so you’ll know every time we go live.
Welcome to our new Mastodon community. Yes, as part of the Twitter exodus, Raging Chicken is now on Mastodon. You can find us on Mastodon @rcpress@union.place.
Don’t Let Paul Martino & His 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 Dec 09, 2022
Friday Dec 09, 2022
This week the Supreme Court heard arguments in Moore v. Harper. The case will test the Court’s willingness to embrace a fringe Constitutional theory - the so-called “independent state legislature” theory - which would give power to state legislatures to override the results of democratic elections.
Raphael Warnock wins the Georgia runoff.
U.S. colleges and universities are facing a “crisis.” The shock doctrine “sky-is-falling” narrative tells a tale of natural disaster while political choices and destructive managerial policies and trends are largely excused.
Kyrsten Sinema announced that she is changing her party affiliation to “independent.”
WNBA star Brittney Griner returns to the U.S. after spending months in a Russian prison.
Pennsylvania’s Department of Education has released standards for “culturally relevant and sustaining education” that seeks to integrate policies similar to DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) initiatives that drove right-wing extremists to flood school board meetings with conspiracy theories and vitriol.
Pennridge School District moves forward with a plan to cut social studies requirements despite strong opposition from parents, teachers, students, and members of the community. The school board voted 5-4 to move ahead with the cuts after a contentious debate even among members of the board.
Starbucks in Whitehall, PA voted to unionize! The Starbucks on MacArthur Road in Whitehall Township now has a union. The location’s staff voted 16-10 in favor of forming a union with Starbucks Workers United.
Monday Dec 05, 2022
Monday Dec 05, 2022
On this week's show, I welcome Raelyn Roberson to the show. Raelyn is the Field Coordinator of Stopping Cyber Suppression at Common Cause. On the eve of the Georgia Senate run-off, we'll be talking about the challenge of mis- and disinformation that has been infecting U.S. and global elections.
Raelyn and her team work to fight back against the spread of online election disinformation and hold social media platforms accountable for their role in the spread of election lies. Raelyn provides trainings that encourage anyone and everyone to stop cyber suppression. During monitoring shifts, she leads volunteers in recognizing, searching for, and reporting bad actors who threaten democracy by spreading election lies.
If you want to read more about Raelyn and Common Cause’s work, check out Jenny Stephen’s article in the Bucks County Beacon, "Social Media Disinformation Is a Threat To Democracy, and You Can Help Fight It."
LINKS:
- Raelyn Roberson on Twitter: @RaelynR3 - https://twitter.com/RaelynR3
- Common Cause: https://www.commoncause.org/
- Common Cause - Combating Cyber Suppression: https://bit.ly/3B8y71k
- Common Cause - Social Media Monitoring Training: https://bit.ly/3VTaf9U
- Public Disinformation Tipline: https://reportdisinfo.org/
- Article on Raelyn's work in Bucks County Beacon, "Social Media Disinformation Is A Threat To Democracy, And You Can Help Fight It," by Jenny Stephens: https://bit.ly/3Y0tIHA
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 & 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