The Undocumented Can Work Jobs at the U. of Calif., and Latinas Are Fighting Toxic Pollution

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Hundreds of thousands of young immigrants brought here by their undocumented parents since 2007 are not eligible for DACA. But now they may be eligible for jobs–at the University of California. UCLA law professor Ahilan Arulanantham explains.

Also: the fight against pollution in LA’s port communities, where 300,000 people, mostly Latino, live next door to oil refineries, chemical facilities, and one of the largest oilfields in the nation. For decades they’ve been fighting for basic rights and a cleaner environment. Eliza Moreno has that story.  11-24-2022

The U. of Calif. T.A. Strike: Harold Meyerson; plus Father Greg Boyle on Homeboy Industries

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48,000 Grad student employees at the University of California are on strike in the largest strike in the history of higher education and the largest strike anywhere in the US this year. But how come the auto workers’ union represents teaching assistants and research assistants? Harold Meyerson explains.

Plus: For Thanksgiving we chat with Father Greg Boyle of Homeboy Industries, a beacon of hope for young men in LA coming out of gangs and prison. (originally broadcast in January, 2018).  11-25-2022

Joan Walsh on the Georgia Runoff; Gustavo Arellano on the LA Vote

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The Georgia Senate runoff campaign has begun–Joan Walsh has just returned from Atlanta, and explains why Trump’s candidate Herschel Walker seems likely to lose. Also: comment on what happened in Stacey Abrams’ tragic loss.

Plus: in Los Angeles the terrible sheriff has lost his re-election campaign. Gustavo Arellano, the LA Times columnist, comments, and reports on how the billionaire developer running for mayor campaigned for the Latino vote.  11-17-2022

Lessons from the Democrats’ victories: Harold Meyerson, Gustavo Arellano, and Joan Walsh

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How the best Democratic candidates won – Harold Meyerson comments. Also, the inevitable announcement from Donald Trump.

Plus: LA Times columnist Gustavo Arellano on the defeat of sheriff Alex Villaneuva, Rick Caruso’s campaign for Latino votes, and red-baiting in Orange County.

Also: Joan Walsh of The Nation says Herschel Walker looks like a loser in the Georgia senate runoff.  11-17-2022

WRITING ABOUT LA IN THE SIXTIES WITH MIKE DAVIS – LARB

“A moment in rock-and-roll dreamtime: Saturday night on Sunset Strip in early December 1967.”

That beginning of an academic article was the first thing anybody saw about Mike Davis’s new project, a movement history of L.A. in the sixties. “Riot Nights on Sunset Strip” recounted how thousands of young people fought the police, ostensibly over a curfew.

… continued at Los Angeles Review of Books, HERE   11-11-2022

The Midterms Analyzed: Harold Meyerson, plus The Nation’s writers

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Barack Obama lost 63 seats in his first midterm. Trump lost 40. Biden will lose 6 or 8. How did the Dems do it? Harold Meyerson has been thinking about that.

Also, The Nation‘s top political writers analyze the good, the bad, and the ugly of the midterm elections, and find keys to building a winning coalition for 2024: D.D. Guttenplan, Elie Mystal, Joan Walsh, John Nichols, and Chris Lehmann.  11-10-2022

How We Win the Midterms: Steve Phillips; plus Black Landowners in North Carolina: Cameron Oglesby

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How can we save democracy from white nationalism and right-wing authoritarianism? Steve Phillips argues we need to organize and turn out the millions of non-voters – people of color and young people – with a long-term, data-based strategy. Steve’s new book is “How We Win the Civil War: Securing a Multiracial Democracy and Ending White Supremacy for Good.”

Also: a story about Black landownership, starting in Piney Woods, North Carolina, one of the oldest examples of uninterrupted land ownership by Black people in the US, going back to before the Civil War. Cameron Oglesby has that report.  11-3-2022

The Midterms and Democratic strategy: Harold Meyerson, Steve Phillips; Stacy Abrams on Georgia

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In the key swing states of Arizona, Pennsylvania and Nevada, the union UNITE-HERE has the biggest ground game of any organization – Harold Meyerson explains what they do, how they do it, and why they are so good at it.

Also: How can we save democracy from white nationalism and right-wing authoritarianism? Steve Phillips argues (we need to organize and turn out the millions of non-voters) – people of color and young people – with a long-term, data-based strategy. Steve’s new book is “How We Win the Civil War: Securing a Multiracial Democracy and Ending White Supremacy for Good.”

Plus; Stacey Abrams, running for governor in Georgia, is behind in the polls of likely voters. But her whole strategy is to organize and mobilize people who do NOT vote regularly – to expand the electorate with young people, people of color, and those the political scientists call “low-propensity voters.” She explains in this interview, from April, 2019, after her first campaign for governor.  11-4-2022

Stacey Abrams Explains her Work; We Remember Mike Davis

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Stacey Abrams, running for governor in Georgia, is behind in the polls of likely voters, which the pollsters define as people who vote regularly, especially in the last midterms, four years ago. But her whole strategy is to organize and mobilize people who do NOT vote regularly – to expand the electorate with young people, people of color, and those the political scientists call “low-propensity voters.” She explains in this interview, from April, 2019, after her first campaign for governor.

Also: Mike Davis, author and activist, radical hero and family man, died on Tuesday, Oct. 25. After talking about his life and work, we play part of an interview with him on this podcast from November, 2016, one week after Trump was elected.  10-27-2022