Unf*cking The Republic

In today’s Show Notes, 99 flies solo while Max is on vacation. She covers affirmative action feedback, some housekeeping and YouTube comments. Plus, we get some bonus punch ins from Manny Faces! Listen to The End of Affirmative Action: Civil rights advocates brace for the worst. Chapters Intro: 00:00:20 Headlines: 00:01:35 Emails: 00:09:17 YouTube Shout Outs: 00:17:55 Reviews: 00:23:51 Outro: 00:2...

Affirmative action has a long history in the United States, beginning with the labor movement in the 1930s. But over time, the country and the courts developed a far more narrow definition with respect to the college and university admissions process. Today, the vestiges of affirmative action are once again under attack and likely to fall apart completely under the conservative Trump court. In thi...

In today's Show Notes Max and 99 cover headlines ranging from oil to Trump's Indictment, discuss MMT and review some Unf*cker updates. Chapters Intro: 00:00:20 Headlines: 00:04:24 Emails: 00:16:46 Instagram Shout Outs: 00:34:34 YouTube Shout Outs: 00:37:51 Buy Me A Coffee Donations + Memberships: 00:56:03 Outro: 01:07:56t Resources Manny Faces Online , Facebook , Twitter and Instagram Will Watkins...

NYS Governor Kathy Hochul is once again under scrutiny for vetoing a bill that would have protected unmarked graves of Native People. It’s another in a litany of demonic insults to Native tribes in New York. But this one comes with a kicker. In defending her administration’s policies toward Native territories in NY, she mentions the return of 1,000 acres to the Onondaga Nation. But there’s a whole...

99 is back in today's Show Notes! She and Max talk Creative Destruction, YouTube production, and something else that rhymes. Enjoy, Unf*ckers! Chapters Intro: 00:00:20 Headlines: 00:04:41 Emails: 00:15:20 YouTube Shout Outs: 00:37:06 Buy Me A Coffee Donations + Memberships: 00:51:30 Outro: 00:55:50 Resources Sign up for the UNFTR Newsletter Headlines The New York Times: ​​ After Doling Out Huge Lo...

Silicon Valley is in a slump. For all the talk about innovation, there’s a real question as to whether the U.S. tech sector is really all that innovative. Today’s episode digs into this question through the lens of a concept called “Creative Destruction,” a term coined by famed economist Joseph Schumpeter. Chapters Intro: 00:00:04 Chapter One: What is Creative Destruction? 00:05:37 Chapter Two: In...

In today's Show Notes Max flies solo as 99 is 'Down With Disease.' He covers the new Times piece regarding Carter, makes some Book Love suggestions and responds to YouTube comments. Chapters Intro: 00:00:20 Headlines: 00:02:33 Emails: 00:7:40 Facebook Shout Outs: 00:16:26 YouTube Shout Outs: 00:17:09 Buy Me A Coffee Donations + Memberships: 00:22:31 Outro: 00:023:39 Resources The New York Times: A...

This is the audio version of the fourth installment of our “Dumb Right Wing Tropes” series on YouTube that looks at the word “woke” and how it has been increasingly used by the right to belittle and dehumanize groups on the Left. We look at the origin of the term, the meaning behind it and why being woke is so much better than the alternative.  Chapters Intro: 00:00:07 Section One: 00:01:20 Fuck F...

What goes up, must come down. Unless you’re a banker. In which case it’s up, up and away with bailouts and low interest loans! Today’s episode is an accessible explainer of the unfolding banking crisis. It explains the basics of banking business models, where certain banks have exposure, the regulatory environment and some predictions as to what happens next. Hopefully, you walk away with slightly...

In today’s Show Notes, Max and 99 lightly cover bank failures, and Project Willow. Plus a discussion on prison abolition and some closing thoughts on the Federal Reserve. Enjoy, Unf*ckers! Listen to The Fed and Inflation: The stories we tell. Chapters Intro: 00:00:20 Headlines: 00:01:19 Emails: 00:14:07 Facebook Shout Outs: 00:51:41 YouTube Shout Outs: 00:54:07 Buy Me A Coffee Donations + Membersh...

Today, we’re talking about the stories we tell. Narratives that take root and stubbornly refuse to die. The economic version of urban legends. Today’s culprit is the Federal Reserve. I watched the two-hour testimony of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, so you don’t have to. And it was a masterclass in euphemisms intended to cover the Fed’s desire to put more people out of work. Two million of y...

In today’s Show Notes, Max and 99 round out the Carter series; cover more Headlines (the TN drag bill, Nord Stream 2 and Chris Hedges), and read some Facebook and YouTube comments. Chapters Intro: 00:00:20 Headlines: 00:03:52 Social Feedback: 00:37:47 YouTube Feedback: 00:45:22 Buy Me A Coffee Donations + Memberships: 00:59:30 Show Notes: 01:09:41 Resources NPR: The anti-drag bills sweeping the U....

President Carter ran out his final year in office from the confines of the Oval Office as he worked night and day to free the hostages in Iran. After 444 days, they were released on the day his successor was inaugurated. It was a bittersweet and undeserving end for an all-too-brief tenure. The final installment of our series examines the events of 1980 and offers some final reflections on Jimmy Ca...

In today’s Show Notes, Max and 99 talk even more about Carter; continue with the Headlines segment (covering a vegan news story, student debt and a rebuttal to Seymour Hersh), and hear from some all star Unf*ckers! Enjoy. Listen to James Earl Carter (Part Three) . Chapters Intro: 00:00:20 Headlines: 00:15:02 Emails: 00:41:48 Social Shout Outs: 00:47:59 Buy Me A Coffee Donations + Memberships: 00:5...

Somehow, we’re still talking about spy balloons. Long-forgotten are the revelations of Edward Snowden, who uncovered mass surveillance programs under the NSA and other U.S. agencies. Since that time, we’ve come to learn more and more about the capabilities of multiple U.S. agencies to surveil its own citizens. The spy balloon narrative overshadows the steady erosion of civil liberties in our own b...

On the heels of multiple domestic and foreign policy successes, the Carter Administration headed into 1979 brimming with hope and optimism. And the American people were mostly supportive of their humble president who helped return some dignity and sanity to the Oval Office. But trouble was brewing from within the Democratic ranks, the global economy and several bad actors abroad that would coalesc...

In today’s Show Notes, Max and 99 discuss the recent Jimmy Carter news, review Carter Part Two feedback, and introduce a new recurring segment for Show Notes. Listen to James Earl Carter (Part Two) . Chapters Intro: 00:00:20 Headlines: 00:01:23 Emails: 00:27:28 Social Shout Outs: 00:35:24 Buy Me A Coffee Donations + Memberships: 00:39:26 Reviews: 00:42:43 Outro: 00:44:19 Resources The Lever: Drivi...

In Part One of our series, we discussed the persistent attempts on the right to draw parallels between the Carter and Biden administrations. We looked at the rise of James Earl Carter from humble beginnings on a farm, to the Naval Academy and into the governor’s office in Georgia. Each step of his early journey offers insight into the development of his worldview and governing style. In Part Two,...

In today's Show Notes, 99 returns! And her audio is a little fucky (sorry). Max and 99 review Carter feedback, Max has plenty of aggressive diatribes, and they discuss what's to come on YouTube and the main feed. Listen to James Earl Carter (Part One) . Chapters Intro: 00:00:23 Emails: 00:04:34 YouTube: 00:35:24 Facebook Shout Outs: 00:46:35 Instagram Shout Outs: 00:49:13 Buy Me A Coffee Donations...

The debt ceiling crisis is a completely manufactured, self-inflicted wound that only the GOP sees fit to weaponize when it suits them. Forget the fact that it has been raised 78 times since 1960, 49 of which were under a Republican president—the House Republicans are determined to derail Biden’s economic gains any way they can. Today’s Topical Cream breaks down the fallacy of the debate and puts o...

Today we begin our look back at the brief but remarkable tenure of President Jimmy Carter. The late 70s is a fascinating period on a number of levels. Civil Rights groups had fractured into several pieces, the Vietnam era had come to a disgraceful close and the economy was beginning to falter after more than two decades of astounding post-war growth for the middle class in particular. The GOP’s gr...

GDP growth was stronger than expected. Unemployment remains historically low. Supply chain issues continue to work themselves out. China is entering a period of strong projected growth. The Fed has even signaled that it will slow the pace of interest rate increases. And yet, the tech sector is laying people off like you read about? What’s behind the doom and gloom in Silicon Valley and some areas...

Max is left to (mainly) fend for himself in this 99-less episode of Show Notes, as she takes a well deserved break. While her presence is missed, it's always worth hearing Max read listener feedback from Unf*ckers who disagree with him. This ep covers the Who to Trust in Media episode and the Airline Crisis Topical Cream (ew). Listen to Who To Trust In Media Listen to Airline Crisis: Why Is the FA...

Pete Buttigieg is in the news a lot for a Transportation Secretary. Either he’s a media darling the democratic establishment is keen to keep in the public eye, or he’s really bad at his job. Methinks it’s both. Today’s Topical Cream examines Mayor Pete’s borderline catastrophic run as head of the agency and the fallout from the multiple airline crises that have plagued his tenure. There’s no doubt...

We’re gearing up and doubling down in 2023. Today, Max makes a couple of big announcements (big to us, at least) before musing on the state of the media. The balance of the show is dedicated to highlighting other great work that we admire and follow. We are all the sum of our experiences. These experiences help cultivate our individual biases. As consumers of UNFTR—and in light of one of our annou...