Out d’Coup Podcast

Out d'Coup | Episode 14 | Democratic Primary Day, Bankrupt Trade Policies, & APSCUF Contract Fight. Special Guest: Glenn Richardson

This week, Sean is on vacation in Boulder, Colorado, one of the craft brew meccas in the U.S. We hope to catch up with Sean later in the week to get an update on his Rocky Mountain high.

But today is a BIG DAY! Today California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, and South Dakota hold their primaries and Caucuses. The California race is, of course, the big kahuna, with its 546 delegates at stake. But in this increasingly tense race on the Democratic side, today’s final Super Tuesday can’t be without controversy. Last night, the AP and then NBC and others reported that Hillary Clinton is the presumptive nominee based upon Democratic Party super delegate commitments. The fact that the media declared victory for Clinton before voters had a chance to vote today is leaving a sour taste in lots of people’s mouths. We’ll get into that with my surprise special guest on today’s Out d’Coup, Glenn Richardson!

Richardson is a Professor of Political Science at Kutztown University. He is the author of Pulp Politics: How Political Advertising Tells the Stories of American Politics published in a second edition by Rowman and Littlefield. He specializes in American government and political commmunication, especially campaigns and elections, political advertising, social media and news coverage of politics. His articles include "Visual Storytelling and the Competition for Political Meaning in Political Advertising and News in Campaign 2000," which earned the 2002 American Communication Journal Article of the Year Award; and "Ad Watch 3.0: Developing Audiovisual and Narrative Techniques for Engaging the Audiovisual Content of Political Advertising," in Poroi. He is currently working on projects focusing on the use of Twitter and politics and on political advertising.

Richardson is Chair of the state APSCUF Legislative Committee - APSCUF is the faculty union for the 14 state-owned universities in PA.

We’ll get Richardson’s take on today’s primaries, the tensions in the Democratic Party, and what’s happening in APSCUF’s current negotiations...faculty have been working without a contract for nearly a year.

The Sit Down | Interview with Paul Ricci from CSI Without Dead Bodies Blog. It's Statistics and Politics, Hate Groups and Forgotten Towns of PA

Editor's note: My apologies for the distracting audio. There was a lot of noise on Paul's end of the call. 

Today on The Sit Down, we talk with Paul Ricci who blogs over at CSI Without Dead Bodies. We're talking the 2016 election, organizing in the forgotten cities and towns of PA, and how the presidential candidates do in regions with lots of hate groups! It's stats and politics today on The Sit Down.

Out d'Coup | Episode 13 | We're talking a new ALEC inspired bill to pay workers in pre-paid debit cards. Company script?

We are one week out from the last big primary day for this year’s presidential election. The next contests will be next Tuesday, June 7th when California with , Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, and South Dakota hold their primaries and Caucuses. California is the big kahuna with its 548 delegates at stake. Before we get there on June 4th the Virgin Islands will vote and on June 5th Puerto Rico goes to the polls. DC will close out the season on June 14. 

Today on Out d’Coup, we’ll be getting into the weeds a little bit. We are talking with Sean about his article, "Financial Institutions are Coming for the Paychecks of Pennsylvania’s Low Wage Workers,"  about newly proposed legislation that would allow employers to pay their workers in pre-paid debit cards. On the surface, you might say, “that doesn’t sound so bad.” But as they say, the devil’s in the details, so down the rabbit hole we go! 

For more discussion of this bill and what it will do to workers, don't miss Rick Smith's interview with labor attorney Irwin Aronson last week on the Rick Smith Show.

Also check out the recent report, "The High Cost of Getting Paid," by Restaurant Opportunity Centers United. 

We also want to put a plug in for the March for a Clean Energy Revolution on July 24 in Philadelphia - that’s the day before the Democratic National Convention begins in Philly. Organizers hope for a huge turnout. For more information you can go to http://www.cleanenergymarch.org/. To find a car pool or bus to the event, go to http://www.cleanenergymarch.org/bus. Next week, we’ll have Karen Feridun of Berks Gas Truth on The Sitdown to talk about the Clean Power Plan and the Clean Energy March. So, check it out.

And one last plug for Keystone Research Center's 20th Anniversary conference next week at the Crowne Plaza in Harrisburg, PA. The theme of the conference is "It’s Time for Broadly Shared Prosperity in Pennsylvania." What a better way to spend a couple of days! 

The Sit Down | UPDATED Interview with Dr. Amy Lynch-Biniek on contingent labor in higher ed and the "Indianapolis Resolution"

UPDATED: Corrected audio, 5/24/16 11:08 pm. Fixed errors and updated audio file. 5/25/16, 7:59 pm.

Today on the Sit Down, we’ll be talking with Dr. Amy Lynch-Biniek. Amy is a faculty member in the English Department at Kutztown University.  Amy writing pedagogy, literacy studies, and labor studies. Her forthcoming book,Contingency, Exploitation, and Solidarity: Labor & Action in English Composition is a co-edited anthology with Seth Kahn & Bill Lalicker that explores the ways and means of labor reform on college campuses. She is the Chair of the State APSCUF Adjunct Faculty Committee and she is the current editor of Forum, a peer-edited journal from the National Council of Teachers of English.

We’ve got Amy on the program today to talk about issues of adjunct and contingent labor in higher education and the Indianapolis Resolution, a resolution urging professional organizations in the field of Composition and Rhetoric to actively cultivate equitable labor conditions in academic departments across the country.

Check out the full text of the Indianapolis Resolution and sign on here: 

http://www.compositionist.net/indianapolis-resolution.html

Sorry for any confusion here. I made the newbie mistake of loading the unedited sound file in the first release of this episode of The Sit Down. Can I crawl into a hole now?

Out d'Coup | Episode 12 | Bernie's Dem Platform Dream Team; destroying schools in Erie and Philly; & PA DEP shake-up

It’s another Tuesday in this presidential election season. For the first time in a long time we don’t have a primary or caucus! But just because there are no primaries, doesn’t mean that there is no news. We’ll get into the big news of Bernie Sanders getting the opportunity to appoint a Dream Team to the Democratic platform committee. What will this mean for the future of the Democratic Party?

Plus, we’ll talk about the shocking proposal by Jay Badams, the Superintendent of the Erie School District, to shut down all of the city’s public high schools due to a lack of funding from the state. The proposal comes on the heels of a cutting video released by the school district, “Doing Nothing is Not the Answer,” putting pressure on PA politicians to adequately fund public education in the Commonwealth.

Then we’ll ask what’s creeping around in Philly public schools? Sean Kitchen will give us a preview of his upcoming story. And, what’s going on with the big shake up in the PA Department of Environmental Protection? DEP Secretary John Quigley gets the boot after some gas-loving Democrats put pressure on Gov. Wolf to kick him to the curb? Did the Governor cave to Big Gas?

Finally, Sean will give us a preview of his Rocky Mountain vacation and gives us a stellar beer recommendation.  “I drank a growler,” says Kitchen. Can you say “Murren River IPA” from Pizza Boy Brewing?

And our crowdfunding page is up! Become a patron, get cool stuff!

Oh! And can you spot the editing mistake? The first person to send us an email with the editing mistake will get a Raging Chicken Press sticker! Just email us at ragingchickenpress@gmail.com! We'll announce the winner on next week's podcast. 

The Sit Down | Interview with Steve Horn of DeSmogBlog about investigating ExxonMobil and climate denial

Welcome to the first edition of The Sit Down - new project of Raging Chicken Radio! In addition to our regular weekly podcast, "Out d'Coup," Raging Chicken Press editor, Kevin Mahoney, will talk with activists, public intellectuals, and hell-raisers of all sorts. 

For our first episode, we sit down with Steve Horn, Research Fellow  at DeSmogBlog and freelance investigative journalist, to talk about his article "Exxon's Lawyer in Climate Science Probe Has History Helping Big Tobacco and NFL Defend Against Health Claims." This is one in a series of articles in which Steve digs into the on-going probe into ExxonMobil's role in stoking the climate denial industry. That probe is being headed by New York Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman. 

Be sure to check this article and all of Steve's work right here:

"Exxon's Lawyer in Climate Science Probe Has History Helping Big Tobacco and NFL Defend Against Health Claims."

http://www.desmogblog.com/2016/05/11/ted-wells-exxon-big-tobacco-nfl-concussions

Here's a link to all of Steve's writing on DeSmogBlog:

http://www.desmogblog.com/user/7018

Check out all the awesome investigative journalism focused on climate change on DeSmogBlog:

http://www.desmogblog.com/

Out d'Coup | Episode 11 | PA Right-Wing & PennLive go after teacher seniority; Katie McGinty makes some changes; & Primary Day in Kentucky and Oregon! PLUS: EXPANDED PODCAST

A HUUUUUUGE day for Raging Chicken Radio. Today we officially roll out our expanded podcast! After our regular Out d'Coup podcast, keep on listening for our interview with Steve Horn, Research Fellow for DeSmogBlog and freelance journalist, about the on-going probe into ExxonMobil's role in the climate denial industry. Check out Steve's article RIGHT HERE. 

On today's podcast, Kevin Mahoney and Sean Kitchen get the rage on concerning pending legislation to strip seniority rights away from teachers with the deceptively named "Protecting Excellent Teachers Act." We look at this latest attack on teachers from PA Republicans walking lock in step with their Koch Brother masters. We also ask why the main paper in Harrisburg, the Patriot-News/PennLive is calling on Gov. Tom Wolf to sell out teachers and get behind the Republican bill. 

We also talk about some interesting adjustments to Democrat Katie McGinty's Senate campaign, signalling that the Democratic Party is all in to try and kick Republican Senator Pat Toomey to the curb as part of its effort to regain the Senate majority. We also talk about today's Democratic primaries in Kentucky and Oregon. 

Finally, Sean gives a bit of a preview into his project to expand Raging Chicken Radio into the world of craft beer! You've got to hear this one! 

NOTE: Sorry for the tinny audio on Kevin's side of the conversation. Had the wrong mic activated. Part of the bumps of getting the process down pat!

Out d'Coup | Episode 10 | Election Reflection! On West Virginia primary day, we look at Trump, social movements, and PA corruption

On today's episode we do a little Election Reflection now that Donald Trump is the presumptive GOP nominee for president...what are Trump's prospects in the General? Are the Democrats up to the task to defeat him? Meanwhile, the Democratic primary is still going strong. Today is Primary day in West Virginia and it looks like Bernie Sanders may take the contest for the second week in a row. Meanwhile, the Hillary Clinton campaign backs off their decision to focus solely on the general election and vows to begin running ads in the remaining primary states to secure the nomination. 

We also talk about the prospects for a progressive movement growing, Democrats toying with shooting themselves in the foot in this year's campaign, and an expansive FBI investigation into corruption with PA's legislature. All the gritty details expected to come out!

Just a little show note, we let today's episode run. Frankly, we just had too much to say to contain in 30 minutes. So, enjoy!

Out d'Coup | Episode 9 | Katie McGinty's natural gas ties, role of progressive journalism, and new directions for Out d'Coup!

It's May 3, 2016. On today's episode of Out d'Coup podcast, we talk to Sean Kitchen about his upcoming article on Katie McGinty's ties to the natural gas industry as she prepares to take on Pat Toomey for a PA Senate seat this fall. We talk about the sway of money in politics and the need for the Democratic party and Big Green environmentalist organizations to make a hard commitment to save our planet. 

Also, as Democrats begin to pressure progressive activists to rally behind the Party's likely nominees and quit the critiques and protests, Kevin Mahoney and Sean Kitchen talk about the importance of NOT letting up the pressure and to continue to fight for progressive policies and directions for the Democratic party. 

Finally, we talk more about the future of the Out d'Coup podcast. What's that you say? Segments on craft beer? Public intellectuals? And more? Tune in to hear all the details. 

Out d'Coup | Episode 8.1 #PAPrimary postmortem

Yesterday was the Pennsylvania primary. Kevin Mahoney and Sean Kitchen are here with a special edition of Out d'Coup for a little #PAPrimary postmortem. 

Not only do we focus on Katie McGinty's surprising win in the Democratic Party primary for US Senate, we also dive into John Fetterman's strong showing taking about 20% of the vote. We talk about what Fetterman's campaign might hold for the future of the PA Democratic party. 

We also recap the Democratic and Republican presidential primary results, with a special focus on Trump winning every county in the state.