The Nicole Sandler Show

A bit of what's news for now

This should not be happening. The images we saw last night and this morning from a suburb of Kyiv, Bucha, has the whole world crying. Except for Russia, I guess, as they're the people responsible. The footage is something that would normally not be aired, but nothing about this war is "normal." As we get news that Putin is retreating from Kyiv and the surrounding areas, choosing instead to concentrate his offensive attacks on the Dombas region, it seemed like we'd be able to take a small breath of relief. Until we saw the footage of dead civilians everywhere, many shot in the back of the head while their hands were shackled, execution style. Others were apparently just gunned down as they walked along the road or rode their bicycles. Yes, everyone should see these images so they know what Russia is doing. Today, I'll talk with Philip Ittner. He's a former reporter for a number of corporate news outlets who's had enough of working for that type of business. He's covered Ukraine and surrounding areas for decades, so returned on his own to report to the rest of the world what is happening there. To get the show started, we'll try to connect with Linda Chorney (who's on the road back to Tucson from Las Vegas), to get her first-hand account of her Grammy experience.

A bit of what's news for now

The Grammys ceremony is happening on Sunday. After delays due to Covid and last week's epic fail at the Oscars, you might think the Grammy Awards will be conflict-free. Well then, you'd be wrong! My guest today is an artist named Linda Chorney. She's now a two-time Grammy nominee, but they didn't make it easy for her. Linda is an indy... an independent artist without any label affiliation. As such, she's a unicorn in the Grammy world. But her album "Emotional Jukebox" was nominated 10 years ago for Americana Album of the Year... She was attacked and threatened over it and, after it was all over, made a movie and wrote a book about what happened. Despite her experience a decade ago, she submitted her pandemic-written song, "Bored" for consideration this year and, at first, it appeared that lightning wouldn't strike twice. Until it did! Linda Chorney joins me today to talk about the whole experience, and show that the Oscars got nothing over the Grammys... And yes, she'll perform for us too!

A bit of what's news, for now

It's another Thursday, so Howie Klein is here. With the corporate media screaming doom and gloom and predicting a shellacking in the midterms, we need to go all-in on the great candidates who can turn the party around. That's where Howie comes in. He heads up the Blue America PAC where, along with Digby and Crooks & Liars' John Amato, they identify and support the best progressive candidates running. Today, Howie introduces us to Melanie D'Arrigo, running to represent NY's 3rd congressional district.

A bit of what's news for now

Most of us learned of Brian Karem through his tough questions from the White House Press Briefing Room during the former administration. His willingness to stand up to the authoritarian regime and ask important questions prompted me to invite him on this program a few times. Now he's become one of my favorite guests. He was here last month to talk about his new book, "Free the Press," and he told us he was headed to Ukraine. Now he's back, and I want to hear all about it. But before I had the chance to invite him, I saw him promoting a new film-- HIS new film, "Six Feet Apart" that's just premiering on Amazon's Prime Video. I just finished watching it and it was everything I expected from Mr. Karem- insightful while at the same time very personal, funny and charming. So we've got lots to talk about today...

A bit of what's news for now

Will Bunch is today's guest. He's a national columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Watergate, a political scandal that brought down a president. For the past 50 years, Watergate was held up as the example of the worst of America, and every scandal was positioned in relation to Watergate. Will Bunch is a Watergate junkie. He's my age, so he was only around 12 or 13 when the hearings were everywhere. He says he raced home from school every day to watch. So I wasn't surprised that Will Bunch invoked that event when writing about the current predicament we find ourselves. So today, we'll talk about that, and when the comparisons between Watergate and the crimes perpetrated on America by the Trump crime family should have ended. And a whole lot more!