Unf*cking The Republic

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...

Public education is a universal part of the American experience. Every one of us interacts with our system of education whether directly or through taxation. Since the nation's founding, a commitment to universal education has been a pillar of our society. More recently, however, public education has come under attack from several places. Some of the criticism is fair. But some of the sharpest att...

In this very special Show Notes, Max and 99 are joined in-person by the one and only Manny Faces! They cover some Unf*cker feedback from the last two episodes, reflect on what was covered in 2022, and tease what’s to come in 2023. Listen to The Black & Jewish Divide in America. Listen to Quickie 14: How New York F*cked the Country. Chapters Intro: 00:00:20 Emails: 00:07:02 Facebook Shout Outs:...

Welcome to a very special edition of Phone a Friend, where we reach out to experts, authors and intellectuals who know way more shit about certain subjects than I will ever know. Now this one is a real home game and should prove to be both informative and a lot of fun. He is a Mohawk broadcaster hiding out on Seneca territory in Western New York. John Kane has been the face and voice of resistance...

From failing to run opposition research on the most fraudulent candidate ever to colluding with Republicans on key judgeships, the NY Democratic Party is rife with mediocre careerists more interested in the status quo than winning elections. In this Quickie we offer three stories that demonstrate just how incompetent the NY Dems are and how they’re basically responsible for losing control of the H...

Fascism, Nazism and antisemitism are back in the headlines. Conservative media and the New Right are relaxing with popcorn and settling in to watch as tensions between the Black and Jewish communities increase once again. Today’s episode traces the legacy of conflict between Black and Jewish people in the United States from the so-called “Grand Alliance” of the Civil Rights era, the Black Power an...

In today's unusually quick Show Notes, Max and 99 review feedback from the final installment of the Education series and read out some 5 star reviews! Listen to Public Education (Part Three): Criticize, Demonize, Then Privatize. Chapters Intro: 00:00:20 Emails: 00:03:06 Facebook Shout Outs: 00:19:39 Reviews: 00:22:56 Outro: 00:23:42 Resources Dan G’s UNFTR Art Unf*cker-Led Facebook Group -- If you...

This is it. The moment about seven of you have been waiting for. The dramatic conclusion to the three part series on public education that no one asked for. Oh, and it’s long. In sparing our beloved Unf*ckers a fourth part, we jammed 50 years of education policy into one hot mess of learning. To quote the estimable Manny Faces, “This iz EP last of smart edumaction.” In Parts One and Two we explore...

In today's Show Notes, Max and 99 review feedback from Education Part Two, talk about some language nuances and 99 is a wee bit cranky. Enjoy, Unf*ckers! Listen to Public Education (Part Two): Expansion, Reconstruction & Desegregation. Chapters Intro: 00:00:20 Emails: 00:06:36 Instagram Shout Outs: 00:39:42 Buy Me A Coffee Donations + Memberships: 00:46:03 Outro: 01:02:08 Resources Wolves of G...

Today is the great professor and renowned linguist Noam Chomsky's birthday. December 7th. A day that lives in infamy to this pod, because we love us some Uncle Noam. So in honor of this great public intellectual we wanted to reshare our Chomsky tribute episode. We've got show notes to follow tomorrow and part three of our education series dropping on Saturday, so enjoy this appetizer while we prep...