We've had non-stop guests and lots of news recently, so I thought we'd take the day to catch up and talk. Phone lines are open for you to weigh in on anything we've been talking about... from the Extreme Supreme Court, Trump Trials, College protests, Israel-Hamas, or anything else on your mind. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nicolesandler/message

If you've listened to my show, you know that I often refer to myself as an "atheist Jew". My Judaism comes by way of heritage, family, generational stories and history. I have real disdain for organized religion of every stripe, and have often commented about how virtually every war ever fought had its basis somewhere in religion. I've been struggling since the news broke of the Oct 7 attack by Hamas terrorists with the images that play on a loop in my mind. Making it worse is the reception...

Ahh we joke, but that's how the news gets digested better. Every Monday, I'm joined by Jonathan Larsen who writes at TheFuckingNews.substack.com. Mondays are difficult enough, so I figure it's best to ease back into the new week with a bit of humor injected into the normal awfulness of it all. Today we'll have some actual funny observations about the news, something that was mostly missing from Saturday night's Nerd Prom (aka WH Correspondents Dinner). Then there's the lovely revelations...

Each Friday, Marcy Wheeler takes a break from writing at emptywheel.net to join me for a conversation about what happened that week. This week was insane, and ended at the Supreme Extreme Court. That hearing consumed much of today's show, with a few minutes at the end dealing with Trump's current criminal trial, underway in Manhattan. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nicolesandler/message

It's a Thursday, so we have a date with Howie Klein of Down with Tyranny & the Blue America PAC. It's not like there's a shortage of things to discuss... in fact, too much news for a one-hour show. There was the SCOTUS hearing this morning on Trump's ridiculous concept of absolute immunity (but there are some ridiculous people sitting on that extreme bench these days), the were 3 members of the AZ Republican House voting with all the Dems to kill the 1864 abortion ban (now goes to the...

I'm always honored when Lisa Graves joins me to lend her legal expertise to the discussion about the trials and tribulations of TFG and, of course, the machinations of the once Supreme, now Extreme, Court. Lisa has the bona fides... she served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Policy Development/Legal Policy at the U.S. Department of Justice under Attorneys General Janet Reno and John Ashcroft, Chief Counsel for Nominations for Senator Patrick Leahy on the U.S. Senate...

Today was only the second day of Trump's first criminal trial and I honestly don't think he'll survive this one, let alone three more! But I guess we'll eventually find out. With no cameras allowed in the courtroom, the media is left to its own creativity to bring the action to the public. Some outlets are doing a better job of it than others, but I thought we'd call on an actual journalist to help us navigate the coverage. Brian Karem was the last man standing (literally) at Playboy where...

Welcome to a new week. As expected the first criminal trial of Donald Trump is now underway in a NYC courtroom. Both sides delivered their opening statements and the first witness began giving his testimony. The prosecution started strong with David Pecker as the first on the stand. Notwithstanding his quite appropriate name, the former head honcho of the National Enquirer who ran interference for TFG with his "catch & kill" schemes to deal with stories that would be damaging for the...

Each Friday, we get to spend an hour with Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net for a conversation about much of what happened that week. This week was pretty remarkable in that Donald Trump is finally on trial for some of his crimes. By the time we finished recording this morning, the entire jury and six alternates had been seated. It appears that opening statements are possible on Monday. Stay tuned... --- Send in a voice message:...

Another Thursday has arrived, which means we have two things going for us today: 1. Howie Klein is here and 2. Tomorrow's Friday so the weekend is near. This has been a crazy week at a moment in history that promises to be among the craziest, certainly in our lifetimes! The number of jurors seated in the first criminal trial of TFGDJT has dropped from 7 to 5. Why? Because the defendant is intimidating potential jurors, thumbing his nose at the judge's orders not to do that. And the media is...

The first criminal trial of Donald Trump to convene is on recess today (no Wednesday sessions, per the judge), but it was a busy Tuesday as seven jurors were seated. Five more plus six alternates are expected by the end of the week, with opening arguments as soon as Monday. So today's circus was in Congress, where House Republicans walked their articles of impeachment for DHS Secretary Alejandro Majorkas, and the nonsense continued. I'll run down the latest on those and other stories, and...

Have you ever thought about running for office? Now would probably be a good time to do so. Republicans have effectively taken over state legislatures, city councils and school boards, doing great damage to our institutions along the way. And their embrace of a dictatorial conman as their presumptive presidential nominee is a mortal threat to our democracy. The stakes have never been higher, and no elected office is unimportant. School boards have become intense battlegrounds. With groups...

It's April 15. Have you done your taxes yet? Remember when TFG was in office and he told us we'd be filling out our taxes on a postcard? Yeah, not so much. But he's in a Manhattan courtroom today as his first criminal trial begins... And of course, Jonathan Larsen is here with the f*****g news. And I'm in the perfect f*****g mood for it. I just spent the morning at the doctor's office and she thinks it IS gout. FML. --- Send in a voice message:...

I am honored that the independent national security journalist Marcy Wheeler, whose original reporting you can find at emptywheel.net, joins me on my show every Friday for an hour-long discussion of the news that matters and, for the most part, hasn't been reported accurately or with enough urgency elsewhere. Today, in addition to preparing for Monday's beginning of jury selection in the NY fraud case involving the payoff to Stormy Daniels, I was thrilled to be able to congratulate Marcy for...

Howie Klein has been doing a weekly segment on my show for more than a dozen years now. He and I first met some 30+ years ago on Los Angeles where I was doing (really great) music radio and he was President of Reprise Records. When Howie exited the music biz, he turned his energies toward getting real progressives elected to office. He began blogging at DownWithTyranny.com. In 2006, Howie joined forces with Heather "Digby" Parton of Digby's Hullabaloo (digbysblog.net) and John Amato of...

I'm new to Arizona. We moved here from Florida for a number of reasons, chief among them was the fact that AZ was trending bluer while FL has become Fascist Central. Well, yesterday Arizona's Supreme Court reinstated a law that was in effect until 1973 when Roe v Wade came into effect and legalized a woman's right to choose what happens with her own body. Since that 1864 law was never officially removed from the books it was still in effect once Roe was overturned. ARGHH. I attempted to get...

Another busy day in today's strange new world. We begin today with breaking news from my adopted state of Arizona where we moved from Floriduh because AZ was a bit less fascist... Well, today the AZ Supreme Extreme Court upheld an 1864 near total ban on abortions. The only exception is to save the life of the mother. Yeah, I'll have a few words on that one to start today's show. While we're on the subject of abortion, the orange weather vane backtracked on his promise of a national abortion...

Well, so far no rapture but we did see the eclipse here in Arizona! It's another Monday so we start the f$^king week with more f$^king news from Jonathan Larsen at thefuckingnews.substack.com because someone's got to do it! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nicolesandler/message

We couldn't end the week and usher in the weekend properly without a visit from Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net. As she does each Friday, Marcy will walk us through the latest developments in Trump Trial World, including the batshit whack-a-doodle-ness of Judge Aileen Cannon who is doing TFG's bidding so much to his liking that he publicly promised her a Supreme Court nod if he's somehow re-elected. As someone suggested last week, the subtitle of this show is "You can't make this shit...

It's a Thursday, so Howie Klein takes a weekly break from writing at DownWithTyranny.com and vetting the best candidates for the Blue America PAC to support. There's no shortage of topics to discuss today, but I'm running late as I spent the morning at the doctors office and urgent care trying to figure out what's going on with my foot. (Stay tuned for another episode of the Mal-ladies, where we discuss what ails us. Ugh) I also have to share a few words from one of the people I most respect...

If you're thinking that in the US, all may theoretically be created equal, but we're sure not treated equally under the law. It's a fact that those with money, fame and power get away with (almost) murder. And if Donald Trump did, indeed, shoot someone on Fifth Avenue? Well, let's just say the jury's still out on that one. And if TFG has any say, the trial would be perpetually delayed. Of course I have a million questions for Lisa Graves, the unofficial legal expert of the Nicole Sandler...

Yes, we're in the Threats era of the Trump tour of America's court rooms. The National Lampoon magazine cover depicted on today's show graphic is a classic! It's an actual magazine cover from 1973. it was funny because it was so absurd and obviously a joke. But the current incarnation of Donald Trump isn't making humorous threats. His threats are serious. Deadly serious. Judge Merchan who's overseeing the first of the criminal prosecutions against TFG just had to revise his gag order to...

The big guns come out on Mondays.... From Rachel Maddow and Jen Psaki to Jon Stewart and now Jonathan Larsen of The F*****g News! He's here every Monday to help kick off the week with a dose of news that you're not getting from the corporate mainstream media. Today Jonathan Larsen is breaking news that will be released to paid subscribers at thefuckingnews.substack.com concerning one of the more concerning underbellies of the US government... The Family, the National Prayer Breakfast and...

Every Friday is a good Friday here because Marcy Wheeler is our guest for the whole hour, recapping most of the important news of the week. Today we touch on the Ronna NotRomney McDaniel/NBC News mess, the latest Trump trial news, Trump financial issues and gag orders, the Supreme Extreme Court, Julian Assange and Hunter Biden too... And we wish Marcy Wheeler a very happy birthday too! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nicolesandler/message