Unf*cking The Republic

Max flies solo while 99 goes on a long distance mission from god. Left to his own devices, Max dips his pinky toe into the Palestinian conflict to set the table for our upcoming series and responds to listener feedback from the last couple of episodes. Seems like Pitchfork Nick was particularly well received so cheers to the Pitchfork Economics crew for playing in our sandbox. -- If you like the p...

Max interviews Nick Hanauer, co-host of the Pitchfork Economics podcast and founder of Civic Ventures. They discuss Nick’s work at Civic Ventures to promote the $15 minimum wage among other initiatives and have a wide ranging discussion about the power of neoliberal messaging, Bidenomics and the struggle to break through the “pack of lies” we’ve been sold by corporations to maintain the status quo...

In this episode of Show Notes, Max and 99 lightly discuss Israel/Palestine in preparation for a future episode, continue with some Socialism feedback, and 99 makes an admission about shoelaces. Chapters Intro: 00:00:20 Headlines: 00:26:43 Emails: 00:34:22 Facebook Shout Outs: 01:09:54 YouTube Shout Outs: 01:11:38 Buy Me A Coffee Memberships + Donations: 01:13:12 Reviews: 01:15:02 Outro: 01:15:44 H...

Max struggles to understand exactly what Matt Gaetz is after, but has his suspicions. Regardless of the right-wing endgame, this week’s fiasco was made possible by Newt Gingrich in the 1990s. Gingrich’s run marked not only the end of civility, but the beginning of a GOP hostile to anything that impedes the complete destruction of the welfare state. We look at how this came to pass and who is the c...

Today's Show Notes is brought to you by: Hip-Hop! Max and 99 get an assist from Manny Faces who responds to an Unf*cker, and DJs while Max and 99 sing. They also discuss capitalism, the working class and Max's new haircut. Chapters Intro: 00:00:20 Headlines: 00:05:22 Emails: 00:10:02 Instagram Shout Outs: 00:46:09 YouTube Shout Outs: 00:49:59 Buy Me A Coffee Memberships + Donations: 00:51:56 Outro...

The final, final (no really) installment in our series on socialism looks narrowly at the period between World War One and the Russian Revolution to identify factors that contributed to the Bolshevik departure from Marxist theory and how nationalism squashed any hope for an internationalist movement. We revisit the words of the theorists and activists we covered in the series from Jeremy Bentham t...

99 is back in this episode of Show Notes; her and Max talk Taylor Swift, unions + strikes, and read some opposing view feedback from Unf*ckers. Enjoy! Chapters Intro: 00:00:20 Headlines: 00:17:43 Emails: 00:42:42 Buy Me A Coffee Memberships + Donations: 01:28:04 Outro: 01:30:55 Headlines The Intercept: House Republicans Are Hurtling Toward the Most Pointless Shutdown Ever Resources UNFTR Facebook...

Strike! Union actions are everywhere. High profile work stoppages from the Screen Actors Guild to the United Auto Workers have put the labor movement front and center in ways we haven’t seen for decades. How powerful is the impact of these actions? You’re not going to like my take on it. But we need to have some authentic dialogue about the labor movement, the corporate class and new strategies re...

Max flies solo in this episode of Show Notes while 99 is out with consumption (COVID). He covers AOC + Socialism feedback, goes on a Boebert rant, and reads tons of Unf*cker feedback. Enjoy! Chapters Intro: 00:00:20 Headlines: 00:02:54 Emails: 00:07:41 Facebook Shout Outs: 00:33:03 Instagram Shout Outs: 00:41:13 YouTube Shout Outs: 00:41:43 Buy Me A Coffee Memberships + Donations: 00:54:13 Outro:...

This is technically the final installment of our series “Understanding Socialism” where we cover the period between the Paris Commune in 1871 and onset of World War I, which precedes (and leads to) the Russian Revolution in 1917. We’re going to cover the Russian Revolution briefly in an epilogue that speaks to the divergence from classical Marxism from the Revolution forward and where socialist mo...

AOC. The country continues to obsess over the bright light of the progressive caucus and most high profile member of “The Squad.” From day one, AOC has been the subject of harsh criticisms steeped in misogyny and class resentment; mostly from the right. Oftentimes, however, the criticisms have come from inside the Democratic Party establishment. Recently, however, she’s been in the crosshairs of t...

Max and 99 are reunited in this episode of Show Notes! They talk Bidenomics, Phone A Friend, and sharting. (Sorry.) Chapters Intro: 00:00:20 Headlines: 00:16:41 Emails: 00:27:51 Facebook Shout Outs: 00:47:00 Buy Me A Coffee Memberships + Donations: 01:04:24 Reviews: 01:06:04 Outro: 01:06:21 Headlines HRW: “They Fired on Us Like Rain”: Saudi Arabian Mass Killings of Ethiopian Migrants at the Yemen-...

“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” “Is there life after death?” “If the POTUS says the economy is great but no one feels it, is it really a recovery?” I’ll leave the first two for philosophy majors. On the third question, I have some thoughts. The administration is touting what it calls, “Bidenomics.” Much like Obama chose to own “Obamacare” and tu...

Francesca Fiorentini is a journalist, activist, comedian and host of the popular Bitchuation Room podcast and YouTube channel. Max and Francesca talk swimming pools, presidential politics, California candidates and the liberal obsession with tearing down AOC & the squad. Watch the interview on YouTube. Resources Francesa on YouTube The Bitchuation Room Podcast Francesca on Twitter Francesca on...

Happy Max-less Show Notes to all who celebrate! 99 is joined by Manny this week and they discuss Socialism Part Four, Barbie, Hip-Hop and podcasts! Chapters Intro: 00:20:00 Start Barbie Spoilers: 00:07:37 End Barbie Spoilers: 00:10:56 Emails: 00:12:14 YouTube Shout Outs: 00:22:08 Reviews: 00:25:27 Podcasts: 00:27:43 Outro: 00:45:51 Resources Bernard E. Harcourt: Critique and Praxis News Beat: Invi...

Nathan J. Robinson is the author of 10 non-fiction books and four illustrated books. He defied modernity by launching a magazine (yes an actual physical magazine), called Current Affairs which blends eye-popping and fun illustrations with scathing prose and real, authentic journalism. Nathan and Max have a wide-ranging conversation from education to socialism in our Phone A Friend. Resources Curre...

It’s Part Four this week, and things are really heating up. We’re bridging the gap between the “critique” years and the “praxis” years with a deep dive into the late 1800s. Mikhail Bakunin and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon make grand entrances into our narrative and bring some intrigue along with them. Part Four covers the pivotal year of 1870, the splinter between the anarchist and Democratic socialist...

In this episode of Show Notes, Max and 99 review some housekeeping, Headlines (Leonard Leo, NY State + the ADA), and talk Socialism Part Three. Enjoy, Unf*ckers! Chapters Intro: 00:00:20 Headlines: 00:22:43 Emails: 00:44:55 Facebook Shout Outs: 00:51:40 YouTube Shout Outs: 00:56:48 Buy Me A Coffee Memberships + Donations: 01:02:26 Outro: 01:02:58 Headlines The Lever: The Church Of Leonard Leo Offi...

We have the third installment in our socialism series, where we resume our journey beginning in 1825 and the collapse of Robert Owen’s New Harmony experiment. This next chapter introduces the work of John Stuart Mill and Karl Marx and touches on Mikhail Bakunin and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, both of whom we’ll explore more fully in Part Four. Not gonna lie, this series may never end. But this is a cr...

In the second part of Show Notes, Max and 99 delve into Unf*cker emails and social comments; weighing in on some heavy hitting topics like Israel/Palestine and term limits. Chapters Intro: 00:00:20 Emails: 00:01:03 Facebook Shout Outs: 00:55:29 Instagram Shout Outs: 00:59:39 YouTube Shout Outs: 01:01:26 Buy Me A Coffee Memberships + Donations: 01:03:57 Outro: 01:08:25 Unf*cker Recommendations Less...

Today we have a first: a two part Show Notes! In Part One, Max and 99 catch up, and delve into some headlines. Part Two to come tomorrow. Chapters Intro: 00:00:20 Manny’s Corner: 00:05:00 Headlines: 00:22:50 Outro: 00:52:28 Headlines The Intercept:  Judges Keep Ruling That Anti-Trans Health Care Bans Make Shitty Law. The GOP Isn't Giving Up. Emissions Substack: The Food Problem Is Bigger Than Lett...

"If our democracy is to survive, the empire must be dismantled.” That’s what Dr. Cornel West told our friends at News Beat in an exclusive, wide-ranging interview in which he talked about dismantling systems of oppression, uplifting the poor and working class, ending America’s military industrial complex, and abolishing poverty, homelessness, and prisons. West, who is vying for the Green Party nom...

[An update from Max, 6/26/23] Hey Unf*ckers. This episode updates the Assange piece we released a while back. It’s possible that by the time you hear this, there will have been movement on his case. If not, it seems likely that his extradition to the United States is imminent. So I’ve updated the episode with some new thoughts and generally cleaned up the text; it’s very similar, almost a re-relea...

Today’s Show Notes is a rousing display of show notes. Headlines, emails + donations galore. Enjoy! Chapters Intro: 00:00:20 Headlines: 00:03:50 Emails: 00:17:00 Instagram Shout Outs: 01:00:13 YouTube Shout Outs: 01:01:23 Buy Me A Coffee Donations + Memberships: 01:06:06 Outro: 01:06:52 Headlines RSF: UK: Julian Assange dangerously close to extradition following High Court rejection of appeal Moth...

Believe it or not, we’re still not up to Karl Marx because we’re mired in the turn of the 19th Century. Part Two reveals the progenitors of socialist theory toward the end of the Enlightenment era. Charles Fourier, Henri de Saint-Simon and Robert Owen lay the groundwork coming out of the American and French revolutions by imagining new societies and mechanisms of power. In their writings we begin...