The Nicole Sandler Show

When I started in radio while in college at the University of South Florida in the per-authoritarian days of the US back in 1979-80, I hosted a show called Free Form Radio. The title wasn't very creative, but the programming was. Now, in the big corp era, there is no such thing as "free form radio" any more, except on perhaps the most creative college non-commercial stations, but you'll have to really dig deep to find them. When I was starting in radio, the punk and New Wave scene was already going strong. Our regular Thursday guest, Howie Klein, was an integral part of that music scene in San Francisco. He and his work back then is the subject of a new book, "Disturbing the Peace: 415 Records and the Rise of New Wave". Author Bill Kopp joins in for the final segment of the week to talk about it, and tell us some things about Howie we otherwise wouldn't know. Before we exit the serious world of news, politics and important information, we'll recount some of the day's breaking news stories... and as usual, there's lots to choose from. But the weekend is almost here!

A bit of what's news for now

Today might be the day hell freezes over. First of all, remember that it's going to get hellishly cold this weekend, at least here on the east coast. OK, I'm going to ask Howie Klein about his article posted at DownWithTyranny.com titled "In Defense of Chuck Schumer". https://www.downwithtyranny.com/post/in-defense-of-chuck-schumer Seriously. We'll deal with current issues, but I can't spend a show with Howie Klein without asking him to weigh in on another post he wrote, "Music Biz Has Deteriorated Not Because Of Musicians, But Because Of... Extreme Capitalism" https://www.downwithtyranny.com/post/music-biz-has-deteriorated-not-because-of-the-artists-but-because-of-extreme-capitalism Congress is once again on recess, and Stephen Breyer finally decided to retire from the Supreme Court, opening the door for Mitch McConnell to again try to steal another US Supreme Court seat from the Democrats.

A bit of what's news for now

It's CyNicole Sandler, back with you. Yes, the events of the past few years has brought out the cynic in me again, so the prefix appears on my first name again. At every turn today, my cynicism kicked in. From what's going on within the Democratic Party in Nevada to Senate Republicans dirty tricks they used to steal three Supreme Court seats, my cynical inner companion has been screaming all day. Today we learned that Justice Stephen Breyer finally announced he'd retire, but my inner cynic just knows that McConnell and his fellow thieves - er- Republicans will somehow steal that seat too. Raising the level of cynicism coursing through my veins today, Nancy Pelosi announced that, despite her promises to the contrary, she will run for reelection next year. The 81-year old Speaker of the House (who will turn 82 long before election day 2022) has already served in Congress since 1987. That's 35 years. There are members of her caucus who weren't even born when she swore the oath. Just unreal. My cynicism was also exacerbated by what the DNC is doing to the Nevada State Democratic Party. I'll be joined at the top of the show by Judith Whitmer. She led the Clark County Democratic Party before she was elected to chair the Nevada State Democratic Party last March. But the party *elders* of the establishment NSDP, once led by Sen Harry Reid which now claims Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto, preferred the more conservative slate of candidates for state party leadership, who lost to a progressive coalition. So they orchestrated a coup that's still playing out. NSDP Chair Judith Whitmer joins me at the top of the show to explain the undemocratic practices of the Nevada State Democratic Party with an assist from the DNC and its leader Jaime Harrison. I'll also speak with David S. Rudolf, attorney and author of "American Injustice: Inside Stories from the Underbelly of the Criminal Justice System"... because our criminal justice system is fubar.

A bit of what's news, for now

It's the other Tuesday, so GottaLaff is here today. She'll break out her Tweet Spot, when she mines the Twitters for the best, most intriguing or most newsworthy Tweets, which provide fodder for our conversation. Join in the fun or misery, or some mindset in between...

A bit of what's news for now

We've now passed the one-year mark of the post-Trump presidency, but like other former presidents, that one won't go away. I realized last week that I had entirely forgotten about the annual Progressive Honor Roll, as designated by John Nichols and his colleagues at The Nation magazine. I think I've had John on as a guest every year for the past decade reviewing the progressive heroes of the previous year. So, I reached out to invite him on, belatedly. And learned that John's new book will be officially released tomorrow. So perfect timing having him on today! It's titled, "Coronavirus Criminals and Pandemic Profiteers: Accountability for Those Who Caused the Crisis". Obviously, we've got lots to talk about, along with the latest news and a FloriDUH update to begin the show.

A bit of what's news for now