Mark Riley: The Intersection of Politics and Culture

America, tell me who are you afraid of winning the most… as all roads lead to the appointment of one of three uber-qualified Black women to the Supreme Court? For my friends who like a wager, is your money on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson (Harvard), California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger (Yale), or Judge J. Michelle Childs (USC)…my bet says with any one of these choices y'all need to listen...

New Podcast Episode: I'm not a big fan of reality TV, but the "TrumpWorld family" would make a great storyline. In just this month the keywords are: Supreme Court, White House records, lower court rulings, Capitol insurrection, executive privilege, witch hunt, seizure of voting machines, Ivanka... and of course, what story would be without a good protagonist… Attorney General of New York, Letitia...

Giuffre vs The Duke of York: With the key miscreant dead from suicide and the other about to rot in jail without bail, this story might only be left to the tabloids and screenwriters… but what we do know as fact is that Prince Andrew consorted with sex traffickers. Meanwhile, the Democrats score another loss from self-sabotage as Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) throws her President under the bus on...

NEW PODCAST EPISODE: Could the US be heading for another Civil War? The anniversary of the insurrection on the Capitol and a recent poll from Time Magazine points to, yes! I say one way to divert the imminent course is to attach the Republican enablers to the rebel outliers. The public needs to connect the links to those Trump-loving elected officials to the dangerous outer fringe of his supporter...

NEW PODCAST EPISODE: Omicron - what more or little do we know this week? It boils down to health vs the economy and an action-thriller guessing game. Should we turn up the heat on restrictions at risk of the collapse of entire industries, like hospitality or Performance Arts? Ukraine vs Russia. How much do we really know about this complex tussle, and who says the Ukraine belongs to Russia just be...

NEW PODCAST EPISODE: 'Booster' is the new December buzz word, but are the new global mandates falling on deaf ears for hardcore antivaxxers?  It comes down to health vs personal freedom, but the lesser privileged around the world don't have the luxury of that choice. They simply don't have access to vaccines. Have you heard? The Social Media imps are circulating a new conspiracy of their own to pr...

New Podcast Episode: Should a protest song of 1964 still be relevant today? The answer is, no, it shouldn't…yet Nina Simone's "Mississippi Goddamn" still screams to that state's position on anti-choice laws just as it shone a spotlight on their barbaric views on America's rights to slavery. Equally as rancid is Gun Violence and the school shooting in Oxford, MI. Were there no lessons learned from...

New Podcast episode: Snails pace. That's the speed justice was traveling in the case of Ahmaud Arbery's barbarous murder with 74 days passing before they even arrested anyone. But prosecutor Linda Dunikowski was able to extract a guilty verdict in just two days of deliberation, from a jury of 11 whites (and one black) in a jurisdiction where 25% of the population is black. Things that make me say...

New Podcast episode: Deep dive into the Kyle Rittenhouse trial verdict -- the US teenager who says he acted in self defense and has been cleared of all charges in relation to the two men he shot and killed during unrest in Wisconsin. My guest to discuss this outcome and other US racial tensions is John Nichols , National Affairs correspondent for  The Nation and associate editor of  The Capital Ti...

NEW PODCAST EPISODE: Wait, what? There are still Climate Change deniers around? COP26 has finally come to an end, but it's just the beginning for the Under-30s as they watch the Over 70s sheepishly return home on…ahem…jet planes. Jobs are also getting an eye roll from American workers - a recent study shows a record-high number of workplace resignations from employees who are fed up with low pay a...

New Podcast Episode: It's My Party and I'll Cry if I Want To… The Democratic Party is in a shambles. Candidate wars have lost the plot while Critical Race Theory and cancel culture are in the rear-view mirror. But above all they seem to have no clear message; Accountability for the killer drone in Afghanistan has also drifted into the subconscious realm with history being repainted with wide strok...

NEW PODCAST EPISODE: Republicans – the ultimate mixologists - have put together yet another deadly cocktail using a combination of court decisions and legislative chicanery to put the right to vote for millions of Americans at great risk. Garnish with a toxic filibuster and the world of Democracy is heading for a screeching halt… What do the departments of Homeland Security and Defense, the Nation...

New Podcast Episode: I'm a lifer when it comes to my support of the Oakland Raiders, and I feel personally betrayed to learn that [now ex-] coach Jon Gruden's emails reveal racism, misogyny and homophobia that includes likening the lips of NFL Union head to a Michelin car tire! New COVID vaccine stats show that Black America has turned a corner and getting jabbed…despite the 40-year wounds and Gov...

New Podcast Episode: Money makes the world go 'round…the Pandora Papers reveal some 330 politicians from 90 countries and their involvement in money laundering…er…I mean, Offshore Accounts. Meanwhile, unemployment benefits face grinding to a screeching, Conservative-backed halt, but hey…it's a fair and balanced world that we live in. Meanwhile, the Facebook exposé shows they COULD do something abo...

NEW PODCAST EPISODE: A whistle-blower says Facebook monetizes hate, and the newly released Pandora Papers call out how politicians and other big ballers shelter their mega bucks…Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who got his 15 minutes of fame denouncing the Sandy Hook massacre as a hoax, is now leading the cat and mouse chase to avoid the multiple lawsuits demanding reparations for his callous lies....

New Podcast Episode: Of all the Trump policies Biden could have junked, he chose to keep the one to deport tens of thousands of Haitians. Result: He's either shot his own party in the foot, or he's unleashed a new generation of Progressives who won't get duped again! The Arizona voter probe finds Biden received even more votes than the official count stated one year ago – will this latest humiliat...

NEW PODCAST EPISODE: When does the US Military get checked? American intelligence said that a car heading to Kabul Airport in August was carrying explosives aimed at killing American soldiers …they turned out to be water bottles costing 10 civilians their lives -- US drone strikes have gone terribly wrong before in Afghanistan and Iraq! US gymnast Simone Biles testified before a US Senate committe...

Why are the five men charged in connection with the 9/11 attack still being held at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base 20 years on? Why not CHARGE them and ship them out to ADX to join The Unabomber, Shoe Bomber, the Boston Marathon Bomber and "El Chapo?'  Biden's ordered employers with 100+ workers, federal employees, and healthcare workers must get their workers vaccinated or tested…Rep Governors are not...

What does freedom mean, how do we measure success and who sets the KPIs? We know there are racial inequities, but some people are placing mask-wearing a constraint right up there with women's rights and labor discrimination. Texas…keeps wanting to secede and we won't allow it. WHY are we clinging on to a state that touts voter suppression and a reversal of Roe Vs. Wade in its mission statement? Wh...

Afghanistan: You can blame Trump for negotiating the pull-out, Obama for the mission creep, GW Bush for invading in the first place…but if I were president, I'd be telling the Taliban the deadline is when WE say it is! The COVID jab… freedom rights are yours to decide but stop with the viral videos and fake press. Why not give healthcare workers refusing to vaccinate a valid reason they can respec...

The Taliban have taken over Afghanistan but face challenges that weapons and bloodlust won't fix. The dust is settling on a frozen Treasury and a mass exodus of the very people with the skills it takes to run a country – civil workers. Meanwhile, Federal Unemployment Benefits in the US are about to expire, yet the impact of COVID still runs rampant among the unemployed. This week we also take a lo...

September 11 th the date set for the total withdrawal of US and allied forces from Afghanistan. Why hasn't the Afghan military been able to fight the Taliban and win without help? Who is financially backing the Taliban and how will things turn out under a regime that will now feel emboldened to use Sharia Law to oppress Afghan women even further than they did when in power 20 years ago. New York's...

New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo accused of sexually harassing 11 women and creating a hostile work environment for women! Cuomo resists, as even President Joe Biden has called for his resignation. Meanwhile in the Wild West, Gov. Mike Parson (R-MO), has just pardoned the McCloskeys, that gun-toting couple who threatened peaceful protestors last year in St.  Louis…just a smidgen of our elected off...

Can someone explain to me where we are with the coronavirus? Am I the only one utterly confused? CDC mask guidance flip-flops, some states are preventing businesses and schools from requiring mask-wearing, and still we have rapidly increasing infection rates. What are Americans supposed to do? We'll also be discussing the reopening of nightlife with my guest and international DJ, Colleen "Cosmo" M...

The investigation has officially begun… I say, subpoena all those right wing congresspeople who spread the Big Lie about the 2020 election, and have them explain to the American people why they heralded the fantasies of a grifter president. Then maybe the real truth of January 6, 2021, will be known to all! Extreme weather is crippling nations worldwide, proving true Greta Thunberg's prophecies.  ...