Make It Plain MIP with Rev. Mark Thompson

Gavin Newsome is safe, for now, after winning the recall election that threatened his position as California’s governor. Markos Moulitsas, founder of DailyKos and Civiqs and host of podcast “The Brief,” is back for #ThursdayKos, detailing Civiq’s extremely accurate predictions on the election’s outcome, despite minds like Nate Silver who was convinced Newsome was on his way out. Markos has an idea...

Robert P. Jones is the author of “White Too Long” (which recently received the American Book Award), as well as a leading commentator on the crossroads of politics and religion. He brings us his expertise in data and theology with what he has titled the “racism index,” a scale used to examine the impact religion has had on a person’s potential racism through a series of racial attitude questions....

There is tangible momentum happening with cannabis reform at the state level, which might have you thinking that things have changed, but the people who are still sitting in prison for related offenses would beg to differ--as would Natalie Papillion, Director of Strategic Initiatives for Last Prisoner Project (LPP). LPP is an organization of attorneys, criminal justice reformers, advocates, and ju...

The school year has begun for most people in the United States, but the big question still remains: are the children and faculty safe? Randi Weingarten is President of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and she joins us from her Back to School tour to discuss the importance of getting kids back in community at school, but doing so safely. And in states like Florida, where Governor Ron DeSa...

Texas lawmakers are busy at work restricting reproductive healthcare access, but they’re simultaneously expanding the right to carry a firearm with one of their newest laws--a law that is opposed by the majority of Texas voters as well as law enforcement officials. Igor Volsky is the Executive Director of Guns Down America and he points to the research that shows states that pass more permissive g...

Markos Moulitsas discusses the California recall, anti-vaxxers and Texas’s assault on Roe on this week’s Thursday Kos. Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Did you know that the handful of guests invited on the top three news networks to comment on the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan are also responsible for pushing for the invasion 20 years ago? Angelo Carusone, President of Media Matters for America (MMFA) shows how that small group of guests appeared on those networks to discuss Afghanistan a total of 51 times in 10 days, ultimately shaping...

Voting and reproductive rights are under attack, reparations have not been paid, gun violence is a public health crisis, and our climate is worsening by the day. So it only makes sense that our country’s biggest civil rights leaders would gather in Washington D.C. for a historic Make Good Trouble Rally, in honor of the late Congressman John Lewis, to fire up the masses and speak to the realities t...

Chad Stone, Chief Economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, is back for his monthly diagnosis of our economy and our recovery since we fell into a COVID-19 recession. Where did we gain and lose, and what is the story behind the numbers? Chad breaks it all down from the August jobs report in today’s episode. Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP...

Voting rights and reproductive rights are under attack, reparations have not been paid, gun violence is a public health crisis, and our climate is worsening by the day. So it only makes sense that our country’s biggest civil rights leaders would gather in Washington D.C. for a historic Make Good Trouble Rally, in honor of the late Congressman John Lewis, to fire up the masses and speak to the real...

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court refused to intervene when they were brought an emergency appeal for an egregious Texas law that effectively brings Roe v. Wade to an end. Markos Moulitsas, Founder of DailyKos and Civiqs and host of podcast “The Brief,” explains that he believes the way we fight this is through expanding the court itself. But he’s already sweating the 2022 midterm elections, ex...

Daniel Markey is the author of “China’s Western Horizon: Beijing and the New Geopolitics of Eurasia,” and academic director of the Global Policy Program at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C. From 2007-2015, he was senior fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations. He lends us his expertise on Afghanistan as he and Mark...

Dr. Amara Enyia is the Policy and Research Coordinator for Movement for Black Lives, and in today’s episode, she details a report the organization recently released, which demonstrates how the United States government persecutes activists with the hope of dissuading them from taking any kind of political action. Though it’s easy to blame red states like Florida for putting laws in place that would...

Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh returns to MIP to discuss the $3.5 trillion dollar budget resolution recently passed by the House, which advances a bipartisan infrastructure bill and brings us a step closer to sweeping protections to our voting rights. Secretary Walsh explains how the infrastructure plan will leave no community behind, in an attempt to right the wrongs of history that previously le...

Back in July, Texas House Democrats left the state and headed to Washington D.C. in order to deny Republicans the quorum needed to pass voting restrictions in order to suppress the vote. Texas Representative Jasmine Crockett (representing the 100th District) was one of those legislators, and she joins the show today, still holding strong in D.C., while some of her colleagues have decided to return...

Markos Moulitsas is in for #ThursdayKos and he digs right into the latest numbers that show a dip in President Biden’s approval rating. He and Mark also take a look at the many opportunities Democrats could be seizing, if Republicans weren’t working overtime to stop them--and let us not forget how Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin make it that much more difficult. Markos also speaks to the r...

The House has passed the John Lewis Voting Rights Restoration Act, which is a significant step forward in protecting our democracy. Mark talks to us today about the history of voter suppression and how securing these legal protections are crucial in fighting racism and ultimately, tyranny. Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional con...

Fox News would like to you believe that the Afghanistan war is President Biden’s fault, but the irony is that some of the talking heads on the network were literally part of the administration that started it all with George Bush. Mark plays some network clips for us and discusses the origin of the war, and how the GOP would like to ignore the reality of history. Mark also gives us some more infor...

The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department (LASD) has justified the murder of Dana Mitchell Young Jr. (also known as Malik) by saying they mistook a black COVID-19 face mask he was wearing, for a handgun. He wound up dead in an alley and now his family wants answers--especially because the cop who murdered him has a violent history. Ms. Khadijah Shabazz is not just an activist and mother-in-law to M...

The Biden administration has announced that vaccinated individuals will need a booster shot. Dr. Bechara Choucair is the White House Vaccinations Coordinator so he has the inside information on the two reasons we’ll need that booster, when we’ll need it, and when, exactly, the program will begin to roll out. Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment...

Markos Moulitsas, Founder of DailyKos and Civiqs and host of podcast “The Brief” returns from his summer hiatus and we need to process all that’s happening. Markos provides insight on the situation in Afghanistan from his perspective as a veteran, and also explores the history of the war, spanning four presidents who all shoulder some level of responsibility, and how the U.S. literally built the T...

July produced an impressively healthy jobs report, after a long COVID-19 recession, which gives Labor Secretary Marty Walsh a lot of hope for our recovery. He shares lingering concerns on the Delta variant, but believes in the $1.3 trillion dollar infrastructure bill that will assist in boosting the economy with better job training, more opportunities, and increased wages. Executive Producer: Adel...

Eric Boehlert, Writer and Publisher of Pressrun.media, is our fearless leader in covering the press, and how they cover news on Capitol Hill and across the country. In today’s episode, he digs into Chuck Todd’s overcompensation for the bias liberal media accusation, and wonders why White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has to continually defend President Biden’s trips to Delaware as the media trie...

New questions have emerged surrounding vaccinations: what’s the deal with boosters, especially for the immunocompromised? When will the vaccine start wearing off? Dr. Uche Blackstock, Founder of Advancing Health Equity, answers all that and more. She breaks down the difference between Emergency Use Authorization and the typical approval process, and fills us in on the Lambda variant and if it’s so...

We’re inching closer to the start of the school year, and parents, students, and school staff are wondering what that will actually look like, as the Delta variant of COVID-19 remains a big concern. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona is with us today to discuss the Biden Administration’s large-scale plans for reopening safely and ensuring students have the support systems they need to get acclimat...