The Nicole Sandler Show

Senator Cory Booker stood up yesterday - actually, the day before - an made history. Not only did he break former senator and lifelong racist Strom Thurmond's record for the longest senate speech in history, he also used it to denounce Thurmond's racism and the shameful chapter in American history he tried to prolong. Booker's speech and feats of strength also seems to have breathed new life into dejected Democrats, as he implored each of us to do what we can to save our nation from the ravages of Dump and his army of magats.When Senator Booker ended his historic speech, the special election returns began rolling in. Florida disappointed us again, eventhough the margin of the GOP victory shrunk by half in the two districts that went to the polls. But Wisconsin showed up to save democracy, as the Musk/Dump-endorsed candidate for that state's Supreme Court was soundly defeated by Susan Crawford, with a 10 point victory. For once, Elmo's millions couldn't buy that election...As I'm prepping for today's show, we're awaiting word from the orange man about how much more pain and suffering he'll inflict on the America people today as he declares it "liberation day" and announces yet more tariff's to cripple our economy and our spending power. The always amazing Lisa Graves joins us today in her personal capacity to share her legal expertise on all that's going on, especially the big WIN in Wisconsin, where she lives.

There's something happening here. Can you feel it?Joan Walsh and her fellow contributor at The Nation, Micah Sifray, both wrote this week about the resistance. Or as they both prefer, the defiance. But whatever you call it, it's here. And if you're not participating in it, then you're helping to take down our nation and our future. Today, Joan Walsh will join us to talk about it, for what it's worth.Senator Cory Booker has been speaking, holding the senate floor since 7pm ET last night. I'm writing this shortly before 4pm ET. I go on the air at 5. He's not delaying a vote, so it's not technically a filibuster. But he said he needed to do something different. "John Lewis and so many heroes before us would say that this is the time to stand up, to speak up,” Booker said near the start of his remarks. “This is the time to get in some good trouble, to get into necessary trouble. I can’t allow this body to continue without doing something different, speaking out.”As I've not been able to listen for the now 19 hours he's been speaking, I can't tell you that I'll share the highlights. But we'll share some of them. And perhaps we'll hear him wrap it up.

Welcome to another Monday when you wake up hoping it's all just been a horrible nightmare, but the you realize this is really happening.I believe that the bad news goes down easier with some snark and expletives, so we'll check in for our usual Monday get-together with Jonathan Larsen of thefuckingnews.substack.com. There's plenty on the crap menu to choose from today: a president openly confirming he wants to defy the Constitution and remain in power indefinitely, SignalGate or WhiskeyLeaks, or whatever you want to call the biggest threat to our national security in recent history and the mountain of denial and hypocrisy from the right concerning it, tomorrow's special elections and how the guy who purchased the presidency for Trump is handing out millions to try to purchase the WI Supreme Court. And yes, there's lots more.We could - and will - also look to the positive and talk about those special elections happening tomorrow (there's cause for cautious optimism), a blow against fascism in France, more protests coming this weekend. I know, the bad stuff outnumbers the good, but I'll continue to try to stay on the lookout for solutions rather than reinforce the crap that they're pushing on us.

I've been plagued by computer problems all week. I'm still not out of the woods, but I was able to cobble something together to be able to record today's Emptywheel Friday episode with Marcy Wheeler. Good thing too, as this one another hell of a week!We learned about the Signal chat debacle (aka WhiskeyLeaks in honor of the drunken Secretary of Defense Hegseth) and much of the rest of the shitshow that's been playing out all week as I sat by without a working studio or computers.I hope to be back at full strength on Monday, but no promises. I'll keep you posted at nicolesandler.com and on Bluesky @nicolesandler.bsky.social.Donations to the computer repair fund are welcome at nicolesandler.com/donate-2

It was a weekend with some hope as I tried to focus only on the good stuff, and there was cause for encouragement. Bernie Sanders and AOC held five rallies in Nevada, Arizona and Colorado, and they were awesome in the truest sense of the word. Record crowds everywhere, with reports that most were not necessarily previous Sanders voters or supporters. People are rising up and there are more actions planned. Keep 'em coming!It's been a couple of weeks since Jonathan Larsen of thefuckingnews.substack.com was here, but he's back today. Good thing because there's lots of breaking news that shows just how broken this country is... Did you hear the one about the imbecilic Secretary of Defense mistakenly adding a reporter from The Atlantic to a Signal chat revealing highly classified information about an impending attack on the Houthis in Yemen? Just lovely.... Feel safe yet?

We made it to another Friday, and another end of the week recap with Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net. We keep noting that each week seems like an eternity, but this one seemed to have been even longer. I cannot keep up with all that’s happening. I don’t have the bandwidth, physically or emotionally to handle it. It’s one of many reasons why I’m so grateful for Marcy Wheeler and her indefatigable work at emptywheel.net, and that she brings it to us here each Friday.

Howie Klein has been my regular Thursday guest for over a dozen years now, but our friendship goes back further to the early 90s, when I was doing rock radio in Los Angeles and he was president of Reprise Records. When Howie left Reprise and Warner Brothers as Time Warner and AOL merged, he began devoting all of his time to progressive politics, launching Down with Tyranny and the Blue America PAC.Danny Goldberg also worked in the music industry as a personal manager, record company president, public relations man and journalist since the late 1960s. When Howie and I first met, Danny managed Nirvana, Hole, Sonic Youth, Bonnie Raitt, The Allman Brothers, Rickie Lee Jones and more. From 2005-2006, Danny was CEO of Air America Radio. That was a few years before I joined the network and hosted a nightly show there.All three of us share the common experience of working in the music industry and being very involved in progressive politics. Today, we're all dealing with our current political situation as best we can. Admittedly, I am not handling it well.Two weeks ago on the show, Howie mentioned that he had dinner with his dear old friend Danny Goldberg, and told me that Danny had some very important and insightful thoughts on surviving these dark days and fighting back, and suggested we have Danny join us on the show. So he is doing that today. They'll be here for the second half-hour.Tonight, Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez will be in my neck of the woods. They're heading out west as part of Bernie's Fighting Oligarchy tour. I will be there and will bring you coverage tomorrow and Monday. They're leading the way of the resistance, but it's up to all of us. At the top of the show, I'll share some more constructive ways we can and are fighting back. It's all in our hands right now...

Both Alex and I had technical problems last week when he joined us, so he's back today as the regime's attack on Social Security intensifies. The news has only gotten more alarming and unprecedented in the last seven days.Alex Lawson is executive director of Social Security Works, an organization dedicated to fighting to protect and expand Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid; lower drug prices; ensure economic justice for all; and guarantee health care as a human right—because everyone deserves to live in dignity.

Monday mornings always come with a rude awakening... it's that "here we go again" feeling as we embark on another week in a world we no longer recognize. With each Monday comes the now-routinely awful news of what happened over the weekend when we tried to look away from the train wreck happening constantly before our eyes.This weekend brought with it the moment we knew was coming while we hoped it wouldn't... when Trump and his administration openly ignored a court order. It involved due process for a group of men who Trump decided were terrorists, without so much as a hearing before they were rounded up, shackled and deported to El Salvadore.Although a judge ordered that if a plane was in the air it be returned, that did not happen. So here we are.. I guess this is the constitutional crisis they've been warning us about? If so, then what? I wish I knew the answer.Our guest today is David Enrich, who's been making the media rounds promoting his important new book, MURDER THE TRUTH: FEAR, THE FIRST AMENDMENT, AND A SECRET CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT THE POWERFUL.For more, go to nicolesandler.com/3-17-25 or get the substack at nicolesandler.substack.com

We wrap up each week on Fridays with Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net. We try to cover much of the important news from the week just ending. With the avalanche of shit raining down on us constantly, there's a lot of information to parse. Marcy is in Ireland, I'm in Arizona, so we record our Friday get-togethers at around noon Eastern. The show goes live at 5pm ET.There's a lot happening today, as the senate will vote on the "continuing resolution" offered by the magats. That may or may not happen by showtime. But as Marcy and I discuss, it's a lose-lose situation. There is no good outcome on this bill. Either way, whether the Democrats block it triggering a government shut-down or they vote for cloture allowing it to pass, we're screwed.Today we'll talk about why and how we continue to fight on... and yes, there are some reasons for cautious optimism, coming from the third branch of government -- the courts.