The Nicole Sandler Show

We made it to another Monday after a weekend of more news that would be unbelievable at any other time in history, but here we are with a president (sic) who says he doesn't know if he must uphold the Constitution. We truly are living in Opposite World.Each Monday we check in with Jonathan Larson of thefuckingnews.substack.com to talk about wtf is going on in this surreal world. Sadly, there's a whole lot to talk about today...

Every Friday we end the week by spending an hour (usually a bit more) with Marcy Wheeler, one of the best independent journalists working today. You can and should read her daily at emptywheel.net and follow her on BlueSky at emptywheel.bsky.social. And, of course, listen to our weekly round up of some of the Trump shit that hit the proverbial fan that week.Today there was much more to discuss than we had time for. But we did speak quite a bit about Due Process and Trump's disregard of it and efforts to erase it from our rights. We spoke about the fact that he is the most corrupt president in history and his continued assaults on our independent judiciary. As always, Marcy's depth of knowledge informs and educates us. I learn something new from her every time we talk.I also spent a couple of minutes at the beginning with sad news about an old friend of mine. Singer-Songwriter Jill Sobule was killed in a house fire yesterday. I've known Jill for over 30 years. Much of my career was spent in music radio, and I was fortunate enough to work at a few stations who were adventurous enough to play her music. I'll dedicate a whole show to her next week, featuring some of our on air appearances together. But for today, I played a couple of her political songs -- a quick one at the beginning, and closed the show with a performance she gave at Netroots Nation in 2011 when my two radio worlds came together.  I miss her already.

It's Mayday! The word "Mayday" is an internationally recognized distress signal used in radio communications, primarily by mariners and aviators, to signal a life-threatening emergency. May Day is also known around the world as International Workers' Day, commemorating the fight for workers' rights and the eight-hour workday. Both uses are fitting for today, as around the country, protesters are taking to the streets to speak out against Dump and what his administration is doing to this country and the entire world.Today is also Thursday, so we'll check in with Howie Klein of DownWithTyranny and the Blue America PAC. Today was an infusion day, so hopefully Howie will be up for talking with us today. Oh, and we have a new phone number to reach the show! It's 480-442-6584. Give it a spin and see if it works!

We survived the first 100 days of Trump's hell, depending on what your definition of "survival" is. In my case - and for millions of others, I suspect - just barely. I had a truly difficult time of it the first time around. I never thought we'd be back in this position again. And at the time, I didn't think things could get much worse. Unfortunately, I was wrong on both counts.I'm just trying to get through this hell one day at a time right now. I've heard from quite a few listeners who appreciate my work. There certainly is comfort in knowing that we're not alone in our misery and disbelief. So I promise to keep going a long as I'm able to. And I appreciate you bearing with me on those days when I simply can't, and just need a break.I'm envious of those who do this work and are able to keep a sense of humor while exposing the grift, immorality and vindictiveness that are representative of what this administration is about.Today, I'm thrilled to welcome Brian Karem back to the show. We got to know Brian from his fearless coverage of the first Dump White House. He continues his important work with a column at Salon.com, his podcast "Just Ask the Question," his new substack, his books and his appearances on this and other shows that keep the information flowing

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker delivered a barn burner of a speech in Manchester, NH yesterday in which he spoke the truth about all we're facing right now, and made me hope he runs for president in 2028. He made a lot of great points, and I'll share some of them on today's show. But it was his call for mass protests and mobilization to get us to that point that I want to focus on.Last weekend at protest march at the Arizona state capitol in Phoenix I was impressed by one of the women who appeared to be leading the rally. Before the march began I introduced myself to Erica, also known as Weird Violet, who is an Arizona state liason to 50501, and has stepped up to be one of the many grassroots organizers pulling some of these events together.With the next big nationwide day of protest planned for this Thursday, May 1, I invited Erica to join me on today's show to talk about all of it. We all must do what we can. It's how we'll survive this mess and move past the worst part of history in my lifetime...

We made it through another treacherous week in Trumpville.Every Friday, I get together with Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net who helps me unpack much of what happened since we spoke the Friday before.This was another week that felt like a decade! From Hegseth melting down, to Trump's continual lies and tweets (Vladimir Stop!), his newest illegal grift, a few judicial victories for the good guys (us) and even today's arrest by the FBI of a judge in Wisconsin for "obstructing an ICE arrest" --- we cover a lot of ground. Strap in and get informed....

Chaos. It's their mantra and goal.There's no way any one person can keep track of all the crap spewing from the White House these days, but I try to do my part in finding some of the stories that most infuriate me to share with you each day on the show.And today is Thursday, our day to check in with Howie Klein of DownWithTyranny and the Blue America PAC. Now is the time to start vetting our candidates for 2026!

After a break yesterday for a fun show about music and reliving the good old days, it's back to the real world today. The news is insane, from the orange one playing games with the world's economies, tariff roulette, SCOTUS & judicial uncertainty and more questions than we can reasonably answer. But we'll try.Today, we'll catch up with Lisa Graves, the Nicole Sandler Show's legal expert, who joins us in her personal capacity as a concerned citizen who's got the legal bona fides to back up her information and opinions. A big welcome to Randi Rhodes listeners who I hope will come join us more often now that Randi is retiring. We're here, for the time being, anyway...

Today we'll take a break from the depressing, stress-filled world of news and politics to talk about the best job ever. Today's guest is Paul Rappaport who spent his career at Columbia Records promoting rock records to radio and wrote a wonderful book recounting those glory days, GLIDERS OVER HOLLYWOOD: AIRSHIPS, AIRPLAY AND THE ART OF ROCK PROMOTION.

The weekend was chock full of news, beginning with a SCOTUS surprise at 1am on Saturday morning. For the first time in a long time, they ruled the correct way. Jonathan Larsen of thefuckingnews.substack.com joins me for our regular Monday debriefing session on what the hell is going on...