The Nicole Sandler Show

Greg Mitchell is a filmmaker, author, journalist and more who seems equally interested in the history of the Atomic Bomb and music. It's one of the reasons I'm a fan and enjoy talking with him. He's written a number of books and produced at least one film about the bomb. His book,  THE BEGINNING OR THE END: HOW HOLLYWOOD -- AND AMERICA -- LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB is garnering attention again due to the highly anticipated (and equally hyped) release of Christopher Nolan's new film, OPPENHEIMER  this week.  Greg is one of the few who's seen a screening of OPPENHEIMER. He returns to the show today to talk about the man, the movie, the monstrosity and more. And you know I won't let the interview end without taking a brief musical detour with one of the original writers at CRAWDADDY magazine, the first US music magazine back in the late 60s/early 70s.

It's Friday Eve...  Howie Klein is here. We talk politics, as he runs the Blue America PAC and writes a lot at DownWithTyranny.com. But we also often talk music. Before Howie went into progressive politics full-time, he was in the music industry. I met him probably close to 30 years ago when I was doing music radio in Los Angeles and Howie was president of Reprise Records! When politics gets too toxic we have somewhere else to go!  Today, I'll tell you about what I didn't have time for yesterday, and that's the secret about credit cards and usurious interest rates they're charging. I did some research and I'll tell you which cards to use, if you must... Also, it appears that the actors are the next group to go on strike and join the WGA. I reached out to an old friend yesterday who happens to be on the Executive Board of SAG/AFTRA. You might remember David Jolliffe (if you're an old fart like me) from when he played Bernie on the early 70s show ROOM 222.  He'll join us one day next week to fill us in on the behind-the-scenes stuff. But I'll share some of our back and forth with you today.

Welcome to Wednesday. Once we get past the news that inflation is down, the economy is buzzing, yet another interest hike is on the way and I challenge you to look at the rates you're paying on credit cards, we'll turn our attention to the animals. I am an animal lover. You may know I spent every weekend for over a year leading up to the start of Covid volunteering at the Broward County animal shelter, working to help dogs find their new forever humans. I think dogs are better than humans in every way possible. I've always been interested in PETA - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an organization that's fought for animal rights and safety throughout its decades-long history of activism. Today, I'm joined by PETA President and founder Ingrid Newkirk who just updated her plan to continue her activism for animals after her death. It's as creative as anything PETA has done in the past (and they've done some outlandish things to bring attention to the issue over the years).

It's that every other (or so) Tuesday and @GottaLaff is here to shoot the shit about the news or whatever else we feel like talking about. We're both so fed up with politics and the sad state of things that we often devolve into silliness or worse. In fact, we've come up an idea for a new segment (possibly a new show) that we may debut today.... or not.

Now that's setting expectations high. There's a lot wrong in this state, but thankfully there are some people trying to turn things around. The Florida Democratic Party has been a mess for too long. Now with former Ag Commissioner and gubernatorial candidate Nikki Fried taking over as FDP Chair, she's shaking things up. This weekend, Leadership Blue held its annual confab on Miami Beach. Former chair of the Progressive Democratic Caucus of Florida Susan Smith was there, and I asked her to join us for a few minutes to tell us what happened, and if there's any hope here. Before Susan, another Floriduh story. Rebekah Jones (remember her?) will be here with exciting news. Josh Fox (Oscar-nominee, Emmy winner, director of GASLAND, and others) is making her WHISTLEBLOWER story into a film, and they've launched a Kickstarter to finance it. She'll join in to tell us all about it.

Friday has finally arrived. These three day weeks are tough, but they too eventually come to an end. And to put the period at the end of this week's sentence, we welcome the loquacious and always insightful (and sometimes inciteful) OG member of the progressive blogosphere, DRIFTGLASS back to the show. To find out what's on his mind, check out driftglass.blogspot.com or have a listen to the Professional Left Podcast (at proleftpod.com).  It's always a fascinating conversation with Driftglass... but he comes on after I share my experience from earlier today as I had my second Ketamine infusion therapy session. And Lordy, there is tape!

Almost every Thursday for the past dozen years or more (more), Howie Klein and I have spoken about what ever is on our minds. Yes, it's usually politics, and that's what we'll talk about today. The conversation could go any number of ways, so I'll just say tune in and join in the discussion!

It's difficult to come back from a four-day weekend. That's compounded when you do a news-based show but took the weekend off from all news-related information. Seriously, that's what I did, and it felt great. But I got to work last night catching up on all the things I wanted to ask Marcy Wheeler about today. Marcy's living in Ireland now, so due to the time difference, we record her appearances in the morning my time. Today's recording sounds great, but the video got corrupted (damn gremlins). So today's a day for listening... and there's a lot to digest... from the Extreme Court's scorched earth policy to the Washington Post's examination of the 1/6 DOJ investigation to Hunter Biden to Twitter and beyond.   It's information overload, so clear the cache and get ready to absorb!

So the court ended this term with a bang that blasted us back to the Middle Ages. My favorite legal expert Lisa Graves [https://truenorthresearch.org/lisa-graves/] returns today to help us understand exactly what happened and what freedoms of ours are at stake next. What a way to start the 4th of July holiday weekend, huh? Is there much left to celebrate?

We expected it, but that doesn't make the fact that the Extreme Court today basically killed off Affirmative Action in college admissions, with ramifications that likely go even further. This term of the court officially ends tomorrow, while there are still 5 decisions left. Lisa Graves returns to the show tomorrow to help us try to make sense of what they do... and what they did today. But today is Thursday, so Howie Klein of Down with Tyranny and the Blue America PAC is here. There's lots to talk about, and I'm guessing he'll have a few things to say about SCOTUS too....