Unf*cking The Republic

This week we finally heed the call to Unf*ck the Federal Communications Commission (FCC.) We don’t get all the way there (it’s been around since 1934) but we manage to tackle the fairness doctrine, which was intended to provide balance and equal time in broadcasting and was repealed in 1987. Many credit this Reagan-era move as the beginning of the end of civility, leading to the divide in the nation today. But, of course, the story behind the doctrine is far more nuanced. We review a history of the FCC, its limitations and whether or not the fairness doctrine ever really had a place in America given the natural tension with the First Amendment. Visit the episode's accompanying site page. Chapters Intro: 00:03:53 Chapter One: What is the FCC and why should we give a shit? 00:04:51 Chapter Two: To be fair, it was never really a doctrine. 00:13:35 Chapter Three: Fairness in the eye of the withholder. 00:24:57 Chapter Four: Bring it home, Max. 00:33:27 Post Show Musings: 00:39:36 Book Love: 00:40:22 Outro: 00:49:35 Resources FCC Website Congressional Quarterly: Broadcasting Deregulation UNFTR Episode Resources Manufacturing Dissent: How We Let an Aussie Destroy the U.S. The Economics of Racism: Bootstraps, Black Banks and Redlining. Book Love Steven J. Simmons: The Fairness Doctrine and the Media Brian J. Karem: Free the Press: The Death of American Journalism and How to Revive It Ken Auletta: Backstory: Inside the Business of News Bernard Harcourt: The Illusion of Free Markets: Punishment and the Myth of Natural Order -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Join the Unf*cker-run Facebook group: facebook.com/groups/2051537518349565 Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Subscribe to Unf*cking The Republic on Substack at unftr.substack.com to get the essays these episode are framed around sent to your inbox every week. Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility. Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is written by free speech and distributed by shut the fuck up. Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, "Unf*cking the Republic."Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's Show Notes, Max and 99 talk about the future of the enablers “series,” how people like Larry Fink of BlackRock fit into the overall UNFTR ecosystem and how that relates to ESGs + the billionaire class. Plus, there’s some irrelevant movie talk, and reminders to support the Fall Raisers: Friends, Funds and Hell. Listen to Episode 74: BlackRock: The Devil's Banker. Do as I say, not as I do. Chapters Intro: 00:00:20 Housekeeping: 00:02:00 Emails: 00:07:43 Facebook Shout Outs: 00:35:45 Twitter Shout Outs: 00:36:15 Buy Me A Coffee Donations + Memberships: 00:45:32 Outro: 01:02:12 Resources Unf*cker Artist Submission Form Summer Lee Mandela Barnes Christopher Leonard: Kochland: The Secret History of Koch Industries and Corporate Power in America to Collections Jane Mayer: Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right to Collections UNFTR Episodes: Libertarians Are Exhausting (Part 1 and Part 2) Tom McGovern on TikTok, Youtube, Instagram and Twitter News Beat Podcast: The Fossil Fuel Industry's Big Lie UNFTR Episode: The Problem with Conscious Capitalism: ESG, SRI and FMF. Bloomberg: Patagonia Billionaire Who Gave Up Company Skirts $700 Million Tax Hit Ben Sheehan on Instagram and Twitter Ben Sheehan: OMG WTF Does the Constitution Actually Say?: A Non-Boring Guide to How Our Democracy Is Supposed to Work -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Subscribe to Unf*cking The Republic on Substack at unftr.substack.com to get the essays these episode are framed around sent to your inbox every week. Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility. Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is written and hosted by Max and distributed by 99. Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, "Unf*cking the Republic."Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Larry Fink, influential CEO of BlackRock, discusses the controversy surrounding his firm's push for sustainability, conspiracy theories, and the true story of BlackRock's terrifying power.

In today's Show Notes, Max and 99 discuss the conclusion of the three part Healthcare series, share plans to support two progressive candidates in the upcoming election, and get hyped for the Fall Raisers: Friend, Fund, and Hell. Listen to Episode 73: Hospitals and Healthcare: From Sanatoriums for the Indigent to Citadels of the Elite. Chapters Intro: 00:00:20 Housekeeping: 00:07:54 Emails: 00:18:57 Facebook Shout Outs: 00:41:06 Twitter Shout Outs: 00:41:19 Buy Me A Coffee Donations + Memberships: 00:42:14 Reviews: 00:49:25 Outro: 00:49:52 Resources Summer Lee Mandela Barnes Unf*ckers Facebook Group ContraPoints Youtube F.D Signifier Youtube Some More News Youtube News Beat Podcast: The Fossil Fuel Industry's Big Lie -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Subscribe to Unf*cking The Republic on Substack at unftr.substack.com to get the essays these episode are framed around sent to your inbox every week. Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility. Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is written and hosted by Max and distributed by 99. Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, "Unf*cking the Republic."Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The third and final installment of our American Healthcare series examines the evolution of the American hospital system. There are more than 6,000 hospitals in the United States and several distinctions among them. After a quick recap of the first two episodes, we look primarily at the peculiar designation of nonprofit hospitals, their relationship to practitioners and their role in driving costs in the system. We conclude the series with a few hot takes from medical professionals, some basic proposals to improve coverage and care and ask what it would take to move toward Medicare for All. Chapters Intro: 00:01:59 Chapter One: What’s a Hospital? 00:13:59 Chapter Two: For-Profit and Nonprofit Hospitals. Two sides of the same damn coin. 00:17:56 Chapter Three: Turning Doctors into Business People. 00:31:07 Chapter Four: Bring it home, Max. 00:36:09 Post Show Musings: 00:50:39 Book Love: 01:10:43 Outro: 01:11:11 Resources OECD.stat: Health Care Resources: Hospitals EOS Surfaces: Types of Hospitals in the US AAPC: What Are Relative Value Units (RVUs)? American Hospital Association: Fast Facts on U.S. Hospitals, 2022 Becker’s Hospital Review: 82 Physician-Owned Hospitals to Know AMA Journal of Ethics: Physician-Owned Hospitals and Self-Referral NPR’s Planet Money: How Non-Profit Hospitals Are Driving Up The Cost Of Health Care LWW Journals: The Growing Executive-Physician Wage Gap in Major US Nonprofit Hospitals and Burden of Nonclinical Workers on the US Healthcare System Weatherby Healthcare: Physician salary report 2022: Physician income rising again The New York Times: Why Are Nonprofit Hospitals So Highly Profitable? Hub’s List: A data-based biweekly newsletter of medical fun facts The New England Journal of Medicine: Practicing Medicine in the New Business Climate The New England Journal of Medicine: Is Quality Improvement Improving Quality? A View from the Doctor's Office CNN: 2 charts that show just how old this Congress actually is The Commonwealth Fund: International Health Care System Profiles- France Germany Visa: Health Insurance in Germany- The German Healthcare System Congress.gov: H.R.1 For the People Act NASHP: Can We Please Stop Fixating on Hospital Chargemasters? KHN: Nixon’s Plan For Health Reform, In His Own Words CBO: Estimated Budgetary Effects of Title I, Committee on Finance, of H.R. 5376, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 The Lever: Where Did The Public Option Go? UNFTR Episode Resources U.S. Healthcare. This Healthcare is Killing Us. Student Debt. Book Love Paul Starr: The Social Transformation of American Medicine: The Rise of a Sovereign Profession and the Making of a Vast Industry Steven Brill: America's Bitter Pill: Money, Politics, Backroom Deals, and the Fight to Fix Our Broken Healthcare System Nelson Lichtenstein: State of the Union: A Century of American Labor Mark Vonnegut: The Heart of Caring: A Life in Pediatrics -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Join the Unf*cker-run Facebook group: facebook.com/groups/2051537518349565 Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Subscribe to Unf*cking The Republic on Substack at unftr.substack.com to get the essays these episode are framed around sent to your inbox every week. Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility. Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is written by pre-existing conditions and hosted by declining mortality rates. Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, "Unf*cking the Republic."Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's Show Notes, Max and 99 continue to discuss the healthcare industry—this time with insight from some of the international Unf*ckers. Plus, 99 has the sniffles and sounds like Squidward. And, as always, (somehow) there’s singing. Enjoy! Listen to Episode 72: This Healthcare is Killing Us: The perpetual cycle of money madness. Chapters Intro: 00:00:20 Emails: 00:06:35 Twitter Shout Outs: 01:18:01 Instagram Shout Outs: 01:18:01 Buy Me A Coffee Donations + Memberships: 01:50:47 Reviews: 01:23:13 Outro: 01:24:27 Resources UNFTR Artist Submission Unf*ckers Facebook Group Media Roots Podcast: Alex Jones Part 1 and Part 2 IndoctriNation Podcast Amanda Montell: Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism UNFTR Episode: Global Order of Money UNFTR Episode: Global Order of Power UNFTR Episode: America Inc. Knudsen in the news -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Subscribe to Unf*cking The Republic on Substack at unftr.substack.com to get the essays these episode are framed around sent to your inbox every week. Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility. Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is written and hosted by Max and distributed by 99. Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, "Unf*cking the Republic."Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're re-releasing our Labor Union episode in honor of Labor Day. For Unf*ckers outside of the United States, this is the day government set aside as a token of appreciation to the labor movement for eight hour days, weekends, anti-child labor laws, protection from discrimination and more. (In reality, it was a consolation prize after Grover Cleveland jailed Eugene Debs and sent federal troops to beat the shit out of Pullman railcar workers on strike.) We celebrate this glorious day by giving members of the PMC a holiday to shop at stores run by the working poor. -- From Pullman and Carnegie to Kellogg's and the PRO Act, this week we unf*ck the labor movement in the United States. No single episode can possibly do labor justice but we give it our best shot. The episode includes a blow-by-blow analysis of a recent interview with the CEO of Kellogg's to translate Wall Street speak for “how to fuck workers and influence inflation.” And we rip off a few Milton references to exercise our #FMF muscle. Chapters Intro: 00:00:42 Segment 1: 00:02:11 Segment 2: 00:04:25 Segment 3: 00:12:18 Segment 4: 00:17:46 Segment 5: 00:21:29 Segment 6: 00:28:00 Segment 7: 00:30:20 Segment 8: 00:41:22 Show Notes: 00:52:15 Book Love: 00:57:17 Pod Love: 00:58:02 Emails + Shoutouts: 00:58:45 Outro: 01:10:42 Resources American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) The New York Times: Starbucks workers at a Buffalo store unionize in a big symbolic win for labor Kellogg Company: Investor Relations The Nation: Striking Kellogg’s Workers Need the PRO Act U.S. Bureau Of Labor Statistics: Work Stoppages OECD: Trade Union Dataset  U.S. Bureau Of Labor Statistics: Union Members — 2020 Economic History Association: Labor Unions in the United States History of Recessions in U.S. Unionization rates by industry in the United States, 1880-2000 More Perfect Union: Kellogg's Factory Working Conditions Media Matters: Joe Rogan Wrapped: A year of COVID-19 misinformation, right-wing myths, and anti-trans rhetoric Book Love Philip Dray: There Is Power in a Union: The Epic Story of Labor in America Nelson Lichtenstein: State of the Union: A Century of American Labor Kurt Andersen: Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America Joseph Stiglitz: People, Power and Profits Robert Shiller: Narrative Economics Pod Love Economic Update with Professor Richard Wolff: S11 E47 -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Subscribe to Unf*cking The Republic on Substack at unftr.substack.com to get the essays these episode are framed around sent to your inbox every week. Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility. Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is written and hosted by Eugene Debs and distributed by the Pinkertons. Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, ‘Unf*cking the Republic.’Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The first installment of our healthcare series encapsulated the magnitude of the industry that accounts for 20% of our nation’s GDP and how efforts to pursue universal healthcare were scuttled over the years. Today’s episode examines the role of private insurance in our system and details how Obamacare came to life with little discussion around a public option or the possibility of Medicare for All.  Chapters Intro: 00:01:58 Chapter One: Understanding the scope of healthcare. 00:03:12 Chapter Two: The Insurance Class System: 00:16:29 Chapter Three: Making the Sausage: 00:26:32 Post Show Musings: 00:46:27 Outro: 00:51:50 Resources The New York Times: U.S. Life Expectancy Falls Again in ‘Historic’ Setback Health System Tracker: How does health spending in the U.S. compare to other countries? The Atlantic: Did a Conservative Think Tank Really Invent the Individual Mandate? The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation: The Burden of Medical Debt: Results from the Kaiser Family Foundation/New York Times  UnitedHealth Group: Annual Report Humana: 2021 Annual Report Anthem, Inc: Annual Report National Association of Insurance Commissioners: U.S. Health Insurance Industry Analysis Report  Book Love Paul Starr: The Social Transformation of American Medicine: The Rise of a Sovereign Profession and the Making of a Vast Industry Steven Brill: America's Bitter Pill: Money, Politics, Backroom Deals, and the Fight to Fix Our Broken Healthcare System -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Join the Unf*cker-run Facebook group: facebook.com/groups/2051537518349565 Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Subscribe to Unf*cking The Republic on Substack at unftr.substack.com to get the essays these episode are framed around sent to your inbox every week. Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility. Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is written by means and hosted by regression analyses. Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, "Unf*cking the Republic."Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's Show Notes, Max and 99 continue talking about the student debt announcement and its impact, address more feedback from the healthcare episode, plus feedback from the last show notes re: Big Pharma, natural medicine and vaccines. Listen to Topical Cream 6: Biden’s Big Student Debt Announcement. Chapters Intro: 00:00:20 Emails: 00:09:22 Facebook Shout Outs: 01:37:40 Twitter Shout Outs: 01:45:19 Buy Me A Coffee Donations + Memberships: 01:50:47 Outro: 01:51:16 Resources UNFTR Merch Store Trust Me Podcast: Virginia Heffernan: Edge, Jeffrey Epstein, & the Intellectual Dark Web Conspirituality Podcast Maintenance Phase Podcast Unf*ckers Facebook Group UNFTR Episodes: Libertarians Are Exhausting Part One and Part Two. UNFTR Episodes: Corporate (Ir)Responsibility Part One and Part Two. UNFTR Episodes: F*ck Milton Friedman. ProPublica: How a Secretive Billionaire Handed His Fortune to the Architect of the Right-Wing Takeover of the Courts The Intercept: Joe Biden’s Role In Creating The Student Debt Crisis Stretches Back To The 1970s SocialMarketing.org: Generations X,Y, Z and the Others -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Subscribe to Unf*cking The Republic on Substack at unftr.substack.com to get the essays these episode are framed around sent to your inbox every week. Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility. Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is written and hosted by Max and distributed by 99. Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, "Unf*cking the Republic."Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lily Geismer wrote an incredible book called Left Behind. Unf*ckers who listened to our three part series on the Clinton years are familiar with it and know how important it was to framing this series. We had some follow up thoughts and questions for this esteemed author and are thrilled she obliged. Max and Lily have a wide ranging conversation about her book and the long tail effect of Clinton’s brand of neoliberalism in the second installment of Phone a Friend. Resources UNFTR Episode: The Clinton Years (Parts One, Two, and Three) Lily Geismer: Left Behind: The Democrats’ Failed Attempt to Solve Inequality Lily Geismer: Don’t Blame Us: Suburban Liberals and the Transformation of the Democratic Party Nathan J. Robinson: Superpredator: Bill Clinton’s Use and Abuse of Black America UNFTR Episode: The Economics of Racism: Bootstraps, Black Banks and Redlining Michelle Alexander: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness Mehrsa Baradaran: The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap Richard Rothstein: The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America Gary Gerstle: The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order: America and the World in the Free Market Era Lily on Twitter -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Join the Unf*cker-run Facebook group: facebook.com/groups/2051537518349565 Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Subscribe to Unf*cking The Republic on Substack at unftr.substack.com to get the essays these episode are framed around sent to your inbox every week. Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility. Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is written by Max and hosted by 99. Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, ‘Unf*cking the Republic.’Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.