The Bitchuation Room

Fox News fires Tucker on a dime and the fallout will be juicy. Turns out Carlson was as vile off air as he was on air as a former staffer's lawsuit alleges. She also has tapes! Wosny Lambre of The Ringer joins to discuss that and Biden/Harris 2024. Joe's not throwing in the towel yet. He wants four more years to finish a job that no one has that much clarity on, including him. Then, the Teamsters...

Will we ever ditch the war on drugs? Author Maia Szalavitz joins to talk harm reduction, the fentanyl crisis, responsible regulation, and why Francesca's husband can't get his ADHD meds. Plus comedian Jenny Zirgrino on the Pentagon leaks and the right's latest hero, and why the right isn't going to let Dianne Feinstein be temporarily replaced on the Senate Judiciary Committee unless she resigns. A...

From Tennessee to superyachts carrying supreme court justices, this episode asks: why are the rich and powerful also so fragile? Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report joins Francesca to bitch about the "SF crime" narrative in the wake of the murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee, the 20-year sugar daddy relationship between Harlan Crow and Justice Clarence Thomas, and the fight for democracy and gun...

Trump is FINALLY indicted, bringing all the New York MAGA nutters to the yard. Former Rep. Katie Hill (CA-25) joins Francesca to weigh in on this historic day, and the first of likely many criminal charges levied on the Hamburglar of democracy. THEN, Miles Kampf-Lassin on the Chicago mayoral race and the historic campaign (AND VICTORY!) of Brandon Johnson. Paul Vallas will undoubtedly move on to p...

Millions of Americans believe in the QAnon conspiracy. Some of them have committed extreme acts of violence, and most of them don't know how streaming services work which let's be real would probably fill a lot of their idle time. Journalist Will Sommer joins Francesca to talk about his new book Trust The Plan: The Rise of QAnon and the Conspiracy That Unhinged America. Also, another mass shooting...

Jordan Peterson got duped by fetish porn, Biden tries to ban TikTok, and Matt Taibbi is a tool! A taste of the BONUS BISH, a solo stream every Friday 1pm PT/4pm ET on YouTube and Twitch. Free to watch LIVE, and available to listen and watch back for Patrons, members on YouTube & subscribers on Twitch. Become a Patron to get the whole episode: www.patreon.com/bitchuationroom . Hosted on Acast....

Trump says he's about to be arrested but we're all still waiting. Of course no one should hold their breath as to whether a guy who does crimes like he drinks Diet Coke will face any consequences. Comedian and retired Trump impersonator Anthony Atamanuik joins Francesca to talk about D-day for Donald and the 20 year anniversary of the American invasion of Iraq, and the stain that it has left on th...

Money in government is crushing our democracy. Rep. Summer Lee, the first Black legislator to represent Pennsylvania, stopped by to talk about being a progressive freshman in Congress and trying to fight for truly transformational policies, while going up against an onslaught of corporate cash. Then comedian Megan Gailey joins to talk about the imminent indictment of Donald Trump and the Lt. Gover...

Why do we hand everything over to Big Pharma and the Amazon Corporation when they continually f*ck us over? Comedian Maggie Maye and activist Rafael Shimunov join the pod to talk about why Amazon's construction of HQ2 in Virginia has stalled, what the corporate Cthulhu wants next and how grassroots pressure is the only thing that has worked. Then, pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly voluntarily lower...

What's become of the feminist uprising in Iran? Journalist and podcast host Negar Mortavazi joined Francesca to explain the roots of the movement and how the authoritarian Islamic Republic is as brutal as it is scared of its own people. Then a 4-day work week pilot program has proven working less is both healthier and more profitable for businesses. YES PLEASE! And then a Trump-appointed judge is...

"Medicare for All should be the floor", according to author Beatrice Adler-Bell. We talk about why overall health must be an organizing framework for real anti-capitalist transformation. And more private text and emails from Fox News reveals just how cynical and fake the network and its personalities truly are, stoking the Big Lie while privately calling Trump ghouls idiotic. And Nikki Haley is tr...

Free Palestine, Ohio. After a train derailment the town is choking on toxic chemicals. How did corruption, greed, and crushing train workers unions lead to this accident and thousands of others. Plus, what's the way out of the Russia/Ukraine war? Are we headed closer to a peace settlement or global nuclear annihilation? Jacobin writer Branko Marcetic discusses whether the U.S. missed opportunities...

An activist was murdered outside of Atlanta trying to protect the Weelaunee Forest from the development of a police training ground. Why aren't we hearing more about it? Fellow organizer Micah Herskind joins Francesca to explain what Cop City is and the depths of the corruption surrounding its construction. And Akela Lacy, politics reporter for The Intercept, joins to talk about the double-speakin...

What does the police murder of Tyre Nichols mean for police reform? It means it doesn't work. Turns out Memphis had implemented some of the most basic changes and that officers had plenty of training. Writer and host of Citations Needed, Adam Johnson, joins Francesca to discuss how not just the far right but liberal media ensure that the killing of innocent people at the hands of police will only...

The extremist SCOTUS has the U.S. in a Christian nationalist headlock. Justice reporter for The Nation, Elie Mystal, joins to break down the cases that are determining basic LGBTQ+ rights, affirmative action, labor rights, gun control and whether or not politicians can do the whole 'alternate slate of electors' thing that the Big Lie began. Also, comedian Billy Wayne Davis joins to talk about the...

Royally screwed mega donor Sam Bankman Fried used his crypto fortune to support both Democrats and Republicans. But which Democrats and why is the real story few are covering. Organizer and writer Max Berger joined to talk about following the overlap between AIPAC money and Crypto Money, and why Bankman Fried wanted to take crypto legit. Plus comedian Josh Gondelman on Brazil's own January 6th and...

Many former military personnel were at the Capitol on January 6th. Now on the two-year anniversary, progressive veterans are asking leaders to listen to their calls to reign in extremism and forever wars. Naveed Shah of Common Defense joins Francesca in the first episode of the year to discuss. And comedian Chloe Hilliard on how "God hates ugly", Andrew Tate and Rep. Kevin McCarthy. Finally, what'...

In the last episode of the year, we're thinking BIG about real political revolution with mentor of the show Max Elbaum. We discuss grassroots electoral work, the limitations and gains of the progressives Squad, and the lasting Bernie effect. All of it discussed in Max's new book Power Concedes Nothing: How Grassroots Organizing Wins Elections. But before that, Gareth and Francesca take stock of wh...

Rich idiots are getting caught this week. First Elon's Twitter policy-by-polling spins out of control and then the January 6th House committee concludes that yes indeed Trump (and others) should be criminally charged for the insurrection. John Iadarola of The Damage Report joins Francesca to bitch about it all and how sad it is that nobody reads anymore. And comedian Sara Schaefer joins to to talk...

From the allegories of Andor to the baldfaced corruption of the Supreme Court, Francesca is joined by author Wajahat Ali to dig into the week. Then documentarian Blake Zeff on his film "Loan Wolves", how the student debt crisis was manufactured by dogsh*t legislation. And finally, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema declares herself independent from the Democratic party and fully dependent on corporate cash. Plus...

If only Hunter Biden's laptop held the key to how to break up Big Tech and wrest it from the clutches of billionaires. Paris Marx, host of the podcast Tech Won't Save Us, joins Francesca to explain the importance of Twitter and what happens now that Elon Musk has put his grubby rich paws all over it. He also helps us envision a future where communication platforms aren't boosting the most heinous...

Not all progressives agree on police or prison abolition, but the conversation is breaking through to the mainstream. Movement lawyer Olayemi Olurin joins Francesca to discuss the overblown crime narrative and how to begin thinking about both defunding and divesting from the prison industrial complex, and also imagining something different. Also in the room is comedian Jena Friedman, whose new tru...

If only we could pummel the Christian nationalist agenda with heels like the heroes of Club Q. Comedian Nato Green joins Francesca to break down yet another hate-fueled mass shooting in America, and both bitch about respective health insurance problems. Then David Dayen of the American Prospect explains what the GOP will do with a majority in the house. Spoiler: rob from the poor and give to the r...

The GOP's midterm performance is surely like their performance in bed: overpromising and underwhelming. Dark Brandon's will has been done and Democrats hold onto the Senate. Nelini Stamp of Working Families Party joins Francesca and comedian Kurt Braunholer to discuss. How did progressives, young people and women show up the party establishment? Plus, Trump announces he's running again! After all...

If there's one person who's rejoicing Musk's Twitter takeover it's self-proclaimed philosopher and pure carnivore Jordan Peterson. You know him, he's like the Lorax only instead of the trees he speaks for the incels. Francesca and Matt Lieb react to Peterson's Pride Month freak out, smack dab in the middle of a banner Twitter year for him, where he was banned for harassing of trans actor Elliot Pa...