The Rick Smith Show

February 29, 2024 Today we’re talking about Starbucks, more specifically about Starbucks Workers United and how they managed to get the suits to come to the table and agree to work out a framework for their very first contract. This is potentially a massive shift in worker power in America, and we have a few things to say about it. We will also discuss China’s plans to circumvent American trade po...

February 28, 2024 In this episode, we discuss a bonkers new ruling out of Alabama that bans fertility procedures like IVF, essentially keeping women who want children from accessing the scientific means to get pregnant. And to make things worse, it is very likely that other red states are likely to follow in Alabama’s footsteps, creeping closer and closer to a form of Christian Sharia Law right he...

February 27, 2024 As right-wing funded AstroTurf groups are popping up all over the country, we take a look back at America’s long history of using media and fake political front groups to destroy any and all forms of working-class organizing, whether in the workplace or the in the halls of Congress. Don’t miss our daily TV show on Free Speech TV:  www.freespeech.org Find us on: ·      DirecTV (Ch...

February 26, 2024 It just doesn’t get much weirder than the annual CPAC conference, where the right wing of the country gathers to exchange conspiracy theories and plot out the end of democracy in America. We break down some of the nuttier moments from the conference and react to this and other stories from around the country. Our guest is Journalist Sarah Burris of RawStory. Don’t miss our daily...

February 23, 2024 As working people across America are beginning to gain power and respect in the workplace, the response from the wealth class and the politicians they own has been to turn to children as cheap and disposable labor. As a number of GOP dominated states roll back child labor protections, we take a look at the problem and get to the bottom of why the right is so intent on abusing our...

February 22, 2024 We’re Americans, and that means we just love cheap stuff. But our addiction to cheap consumer trash didn’t happen by accident. For generations, American corporations have combed the globe for cheap, exploitable labor they can use to cut cost, cut prices, and of course, cut good-paying American jobs. On today’s show, we discuss this addiction, and how we can break it, with Scott P...

February 20, 2024 As the AI tidal wave continues, we are beginning to see how intrusive it is, or soon will be. Many workplaces now have AI monitoring system watching workers on the job and controlling their actions. And this is just the beginning. To discuss this new threat, we are joined by Lisa Gilbert, Executive Vice President at Public Citizen. To learn more about their work, go to  www.citiz...

February 19, 2024 For years, the right has been pushing a narrative that would have us believe that Joe Biden and his son are hardened criminals who are out to get us – all of us. However, last week the right’s primary source for this nonsense found himself in handcuffs, charged with lying to the FBI. That’s right – it was all a big lie. More on this and also a discussion on the economy with Econo...

February 16, 2024 The Memphis Sanitation Strike – a pivotal moment in the civil rights and labor rights movements – began in February of 1968. Several weeks later, while visiting Memphis in support of this strike, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. And while history is very good at teaching us about deaths and dates, it often leaves out the details and circumstances, leaving many of us o...

February 14, 2024 The title may sound a bit dramatic, but we assure you that the threat is both real and immediate. Now that Trump has packed the courts with corporatist judges, the rich are bringing out the big guns and going after our most fundamental rights in the workplace. In new lawsuits filed by SpaceX and Trader Joe’s, the hard right is seeking to dismantle the National Labor Relations Act...

February 13, 2024 As the country is trying to make sense of why Donald Trump would encourage Putin to attack out NATO allies, we are also being told by the right-wing hate machine that the “deep state” has rigged the Superbowl for its favorite pop star. And our mainstream media, always looking for a horse race, spent the week talking about a DOJ report written by a Republican hatchet man to make u...

February 12, 2024 The Biden economy is creating good, family sustaining jobs at a pace we haven’t seen in a very long time. But the Biden Boom also brings a number of questions, like “Who is going to do these jobs?” and “How do we create all the skilled labor we’re going to need?” Today we speak to the tradesmen and union leaders who can answer those questions, and who might just be able to connec...

February 9, 2024 In an extraordinary day in Congress, the GOP managed to kill its own immigration bill, and they also failed to impeach Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for absolutely no reason because they somehow forgot how to count votes. It’s a colossal waste of time and tax dollars, and all of it is designed for one purpose and one purpose alone – to stoke right-wing outrage in service of a guy c...

February 8, 2024 These days, it’s not enough that we buy overpriced things, and in many cases, that we need overpriced things simply to survive. According to the Wall Street Journal, we need to be thankful for the price gouging; we need to thank our betters for their benevolence, that they allow us to overpay. Tune in to hear more about the ways corporate America is reaching into our pockets for m...

February 7, 2024 While the right-wing rage machine is feeding anger to the masses, the puppet masters behind the curtain are lying, cheating, and flat-out stealing all of your hard-earned money, and their favorite way to steal is to not pay the taxes the rest of us pay. We are joined by Will Rice of American for Tax Fairness, who just released a new report that shows us just how this thieving is d...

February 6, 2024 One year after corporate power destroyed a small Ohio town, too little has been done to fix what is broken, and nothing has been done to keep it from happening again. People are still sick, the problems are still there, and the company responsible is spending its money on lobbying and public relations so they can declare a victory that simply isn’t real.  In this episode, we speak...

February 5, 2024 It’s Identity Theft Prevention Week, and a recent study just said that 73% of us have been victims in one way or another. To discuss these issues, and what we can do about them, we are joined by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. There are ways we can protect ourselves, and there are certainly ways that our government can help.  Don’t miss our daily TV show on Free Speech TV: ...

February 2, 2024 In the follow up to Teamsters President Sean O’Brien’s trip to Mar-a-Lago, in which he took the now famous thumbs-up hostage photo, Donald Trump has now traveled to Teamsters HQ in DC to bully them into an endorsement that he will never deserve. Also, we sit down with Newsguild President Jon Schleuss to discuss a number of strikes and layoffs in print media, and what they say abou...

February 1, 2024 Today we begin the show with a discussion of one of the crazier ideas to come out of the right-wing echo chamber in quite some time – the “Taylor Swift is secretly working for the Democrats” conspiracy. Join us as we laugh at the snowflakiest thing that ever snowflaked, and then we’ll move on to some serious policy talk with Scott Paul of The Alliance for American Manufacturing. D...

January 31, 2024 The silly season is here again, and it appears that, from now until November, we are going to be fed a steady diet of horse race journalism, as story after story will be spun into an election story, whether the story in question is one or not. We speak with journalist and State politics expert Carolyn Fiddler about the mind-numbing state of legacy journalism, how it sold itself ou...

January 30, 2024 Over the course of the last several decades, the wealth class has spent billions to separate us from our institutions – to turn “our” government into “the” government, so it can be demonized and used to divide us. And it worked. To bridge this divide, we’re going to have to start talking to each other again … and these days, that has become difficult, if not impossible. Do we have...

January 29, 2024 While the right has always been in opposition to public education, or really any kind of education for the working class, the attacks have gained a lot of momentum (and a lot of money) in recent years. In this episode, we discuss these trends, and the forces behind them, with one of America’s leading voices in education, Randi Weingarten, President of The American Federation of Te...

January 25, 2024 UAW President Shawn Fain made the choice clear when he announced his union’s endorsement of President Biden. Both candidates have a labor record to run on, but Trump’s record is terrible, and Joe supports working families. Don’t miss our breakdown of the day’s events, including analysis of Trump’s weak finish in New Hampshire with our guest Colin Seeburger, Senior Advisor for Comm...

January 24, 2024 The results are in, and Donald Trump has won the New Hampshire Republican Primary. But what does this mean? Is it over? Is Trump the inevitable nominee, or is there still a chance for some other Republican to defeat him? And if he is going to be the nominee, can he actually win in November? We discuss this and more with today’s guest, comedian and podcast host Pete Dominick. Don’t...

January 24, 2024 Education has become a subject of many divisions in recent years, and most if not all of those divisions are being fueled and stoked by right wing interests that want to turn our schools into corporate profit centers. Our guest today is Mary Cathryn Ricker, Executive Director of the Albert Shanker institute,  a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to three themes: excelle...