It's NICOLE SANDLER, guest hosting another edition of The BradCast, and we have a busy show today.

My first guest is author, professor and journalist JEFF SHARLET (author of The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power). He went to a bunch of Trump rallies so you don't have to. Sharlet explains what he learned in Vanity Fair's "He's the Chosen One to Run America: Inside the Cult of Trump, His Rallies Are Church and He Is the Gospel."

We also check in with my old friend and radio colleague, JACK RICE. He's a former CIA officer who I wanted to speak with about the Russia bounty for dead American soldiers in Afghanistan. He has a unique perspective on the story.

Jack is also a criminal defense attorney who lives in Minneapolis, about 10 blocks from where George Floyd was killed. And he's representing someone who was arrested for pulling down a statue of Columbus.

Which leads us to an op-ed that appeared in the Sunday NY Times, written by a poet named Caroline Randall Williams. I ended the show with a reading of her devastating words that everyone should read titled "You Want a Confederate Monument? My Body Is a Confederate Monument."

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It's NICOLE SANDLER, your faithful guest host filling in for Brad and Desi today on the BradCast.

Our Justice Department is horribly corrupt with an Attorney General who really has taken on the role of Donald Trump's 'Roy Cohn'. We're also at the official end of this term of the Supreme Court. I couldn't think of anyone I'd rather speak to about both of these issues other than ELIE MYSTAL, the informative and always-entertaining justice correspondent for The Nation magazine.

Of course with all the madness in our world, we begin with the latest news...From the coronavirus --- the number of new cases of COVID-19 in the United States has gone up 80% in the past two weeks, adding to the country's record of confirmed cases, which is the worst in the world. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, warned on Tuesday that the United States could see more than a doubling of current tallies of new cases every 24 hours --- with 100,00 new cases each day a definite possibility.

Then there's the bombshell report on the Russians paying bounties on American lives to Taliban aligned fighters in Afghanistan. For the doubters out there, the NY Times is following the money, reporting "American officials intercepted electronic data showing large financial transfers from a bank account controlled by Russia's military intelligence agency --- the GRU --- to a Taliban-linked account, evidence that supported their conclusion that Russia covertly offered bounties for killing U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan."

And we run down the U.S. Supreme Court cases that were announced over the past week, and let you know which ones we're still waiting on.

There's certainly no shortage of news as we head into the 4th of July holiday!...

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It's NICOLE SANDLER, back in to guest host today's BradCast. [Audio link to show is posted below.]

Just when you think things can't get any weirder, Donald Trump announces that because the jobs report today was better than expected, that "George Floyd is having a great day". Floyd, of course, is the unarmed black man who was murdered by Minneapolis police last week when a cop held him down with his knee on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. I told you it was a strange day.

There was lots of news to cover, most of it bad. But we go through much of it on today's show.

On the second half of the show, I'm joined by JOHN NICHOLS of The Nation who has a very timely new book out, The Fight for the Soul of the Democratic Party: The Enduring Legacy of Henry Wallace’s Antifascist, Antiracist Politics.

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It's NICOLE SANDLER back again to guest-host today's edition of the BradCast. [Audio link to show is posted below.]

It's a crazy time in American history as, under the background of a global pandemic for which there is no cure, vaccine or treatment, we have an out-of-control President who hasn't got a clue how to handle the economic meltdown we're experiencing. So I called on my favorite expert to talk all things economic-- STEPHANIE KELTON! With all indicators showing that we've entered depression territory, the time is ripe for her forthcoming book, The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory and the Birth of the Peoples Economy.

And we have an out-of-control U.S. Attorney General in Bill Barr who last week moved to dismiss the charges against Trump's former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn --- charges to which he'd already pleaded guilty! I couldn't think of a better guest to call on than LISA GRAVES, who rose to Deputy Assistant Attorney General under Janet Reno in the Clinton administration, and is one of 2000 former DOJ officials signing on to a letter today asking Barr to resign...

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It's NICOLE SANDLER back again to guest-host today's BradCast, from my quarantine headquarters in South Florida.

This awful pandemic is presenting unique challenges for all of us, everywhere. I happened upon a Facebook page called View from My Window in which people all over the world are posting photos of the view from their windows where they're all sheltering at home, staying safe from the virus. So I began reaching out to some of them for a segment I call Quarantine Calling. Today, we reach out to HANNAH TURPEINEN in Finland to hear how they're faring.

Today's show also features a conversation with MSNBC's ALI VELSHI in which we discuss the unusual challenges posed by reporting on the biggest news event in our lifetimes as we're living through it!

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Greetings from the coronavirus zone, aka planet earth. It's NICOLE SANDLER back today to guest host the BradCast.

We're in the middle of a universally shared experience unlike anything in our lifetimes. People all over the world are dealing with the same crisis-- this new, very contagious and quite deadly disease for which there is no vaccine, no cure, and no prescribed treatment. All over the world, we're practicing social distancing and trying to stay safe.

Worldwide, we're coping in various ways; many are harnessing their creativity and the power of music and the internet and creating some fun and very funny music parody videos. Today, with the belief (which apparently even AP agrees with) that laughter is the best medicine, we'll share some that I've discovered over the past week or so with you. As an added bonus, I'll post the videos of the songs featured on the show today at the bottom of this article.

Now for the serious stuff. Last weekend marked the 10th anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act. I was on the air at Air America while that legislation was being written, rewritten, and debated ad nauseum. It was during that time that we first met WENDELL POTTER, still the only former health insurance industry executive with the integrity to come forward to admit what he had done and try to fix the very flawed system.

Today, Wendell Potter is president of both Medicare for All Now and Business For Medicare For All, and he joins me to talk about the lack of progress in the past 10 years, and how the coronavirus crisis proves how necessary Medicare for All is for our survival, telling me: "People are going to avoid getting the care they need because they just simply don't have the money to pay for treatment even if they have insurance because of the high deductibles that most of us are in now. And it’s important to note that we're alone in the developed world in having a system like this. ... Yes, other countries are dealing with this crisis too, but we have this particular problem of having almost 30 million people in this country who don't have insurance, another 60 million who are underinsured, who don't have enough money in the bank to cover the out-of-pocket expenses even with insurance to get the care that they need."

Here's the link to audio of today's show! The video versions of the parody songs we played today are embedded below it...

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The video versions of the parody songs I shared on today's BradCast are embedded below, since laughter --- especially now! --- really is the best medicine...

It's NICOLE SANDLER, back again to guest host today's BradCast.

With everything around us consumed with coronavirus, I thought we could use a short break from it. So, after an update on the latest from the Covid-19 front, we'll completely change the subject to speak with MSNBC's LAWRENCE O'DONNELL.

A couple of weeks ago, as I was increasingly frustrated with MSNBC's adversarial attitude toward Bernie Sanders' campaign, I remembered that Lawrence O'Donnell had proclaimed himself a socialist and commented about it on Twitter. He engaged with me. After a while I invited him to continue the discussion on the air, and he accepted.

I'm happy to be able to share it with you. I came away with a slightly better understanding of how things work over there and a much greater appreciation for Mr. O'Donnell. And it's nice to focus on something other than a killer pandemic for a few minutes....

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It's NICOLE SANDLER, back in to guest host today's BradCast. We begin with an update of the latest news.

My guest is journalist ASAWIN SUEBSAENG of the Daily Beast, whose first book, Sinking in the Swamp: How Trump's Minions and Misfits Poisoned Washington is newly released and full of the kind of stories you'd expect from Donald Trump's White House.

Today is February 14. Yes, it's Valentines Day, but it's a sad day where I live. Two years ago today, a former student entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida --- about 10 minutes from my home --- with an AK47, killing 17 people and seriously injuring another 17. And nothing has changed since.

And thirty years ago today, as the Voyager-1 was passing Neptune heading out of the solar system, it took the first picture of Earth from outer space. Carl Sagan wrote about it famous "Pale Blue Dot." Neil deGrasse Tyson read it, so we share it today to try to end the week on a positive note...

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And because laughter is good for the soul and especially needed these days, I shared a wonderful parody sent to me by a listener. The song played on the show today was good enough, but the video is even better. So enjoy!

It's NICOLE SANDLER in one more time for Brad and Desi on today's BradCast, where I grappled with the news that Donald Trump is pulling out all the stops to take our attention off of impeachment and the unredacted documents that were released earlier this week that show he was the person directly responsible for holding back aid to Ukraine.

By pulling out all the stops I mean provoking Iran by assassinating that country's most revered military leader, General Qassem Suleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Quds Force. This madman is pushing our nation toward war with Iran.

I reached out for an expert on the matter, and spoke with STEVEN SIMON of the Quincy Institute, a new foreign policy think-tank that focuses on peace and diplomacy. But when I asked him about the attitudes of regular Iranian citizens towards America, he said he couldn't really say, as we have no diplomatic channels open with Iran.

So, I decided to reach out directly. I've done this before during times of turmoil. I call hotels in other parts of the world. I choose hotels because it's more likely the person who answers the phone speaks English. I went on a human to human peace crusade to tell an Iranian citizen we don't want war. The result was very interesting.

Brad and Desi will be back for in time for the next BradCast. Thanks for hanging with me over the holidays. What a way to start the new year, huh?...

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It's NICOLE SANDLER, back again to guest host today's BradCast. It's not only a new year, but a brand new decade. So we decided to get a bit ethereal and start the year by looking at a unique way to deal with the insanity in our world, and to look back at how the hippies coped in the 60s and early 70s.

My first guest is JUDE MORFORD, founder of WomenStanding. She contacted me a few months ago to tell me about her treks to various border sites where children are held in cages by our government after being separated from their parents...by our government. She stands in silent vigils. And it works for her.

Also today: A visit with STEWART L. ROGERS, author and editor of the new book, What Happened to the Hippies: Voices and Perspectives, in which 54 people who lived through the Age of Aquarius shared their memories of how peace and love resonated during the Vietnam War and Watergate eras...

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On today's BradCast, guest host NICOLE SANDLER looks back on the year 2019, shining a spotlight on some of the biggest stories along with some that deserved much more attention.

So farewell 2019. May 2020 bring us all peace, love, prosperity, happiness, and the end of Donald Trump. Happy New Year!

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It's NICOLE SANDLER, today's guest host for another edition of the BradCast.

There wasn't a whole lot of news to report, but I began the show with the latest. Then I settled in for a long conversation with CENK UYGUR. Most people know Cenk as the founder and one of the hosts of The Young Turks. He's also the founder of Justice Democrats and the Wolf PAC and finally took the final step in walking the talk, and filed to run for Congress from California's 25th district.

We talked about everything from the issues facing that district to the current state of the Democratic party and beyond...

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On today's BradCast, with your trusty guest host NICOLE SANDLER filling in again, we take a break from the seriousness of it all and have some holiday musical fun!

My guest is LAUREN MAYER, a political musical satirist whose songs can be found at LaurenMayer.com and on her YouTube channel. We played a bunch of her songs. But this is radio. If you want more laughs, check out the videos where they lyrics are all on the screen so you can sing along. The songs we played today are:

• Let's Get Lit for Hanukkah
• The Trump-Putin Dance
• The Emoluments Song
• The Wizard of Fraud
• If My Uterus Were a Gun
• The Sexual Harassment Prevention Song
• I'm Dreaming of a White Supremacist Christmas

Enjoy!...

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On today's BradCast, it's guest host NICOLE SANDLER with a new take on a holiday tradition. December 23 is the holiday known as Festivus. One of the ways of celebrating Festivus is with an "airing of grievances," something I was able to put into practice with both of today's guests.

My first guest is 2020 Democratic hopeful TOM STEYER. I was given ten minutes with him on Friday, the day after the last debate. Ever since he threw his hat in the ring last summer, I've been critical of his plans to spend $100 million on what I perceive as a quixotic, ego stroking campaign, and have suggested that he use that money to build a progressive media center so our voices can be heard on the public airwaves again. I used our ten minutes together to tell him exactly what I thought; to air my grievances, as it were.

My second guest is former Congressman ALAN GRAYSON of Florida. He and I used to be friendly acquaintances. That all ended four years ago when I called him out on the air for his endorsement of Hillary Clinton while Bernie Sanders was still in the race. Grayson released a new book last week, High Crimes: The Impeachment of Donald Trump. Of course we talked quite a bit about the book and about Trump, but not before I aired my grievances with him over the way we left things four years ago.

So, Happy Festivus and Happy Chanukkah... and stay tuned, Christmas, Kwanzaa and New Years celebrations are just around the corner.

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It's NICOLE SANDLER again, your trusty guest host for another edition of the BradCast.

With so much happening each day we begin with a look at the latest news, including today's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the DOJ Inspector General's report on the Russia probe, another mass shooting, a courageous chief of police, and the latest example of blatant anti-Semitism from the President under the guise of fighting anti-Semitism.

We have two guests today. First up, LORI WALLACH, founder and director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch who gives us the scoop on the USMCA (or NAFTA 2.0) that the Democrats agreed to on Wednesday. Next, we turn to the UK, where tomorrow voters go to the polls yet again. American ex-pat DENIS CAMPBELL fills us in on the political climate across the pond...

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