Comedian, actor, & influencer Amanda Seales joins Bad Faith to reflect on the canonization of Charlie Kirk, her viral Jubilee debate video (who says the left is unwilling to debate?), being canceled by Hollywood for speaking out about Palestine and the failures of the Democratic Party, her IRL confrontation with Kamala Harris, staying sane in the public eye, and so much more. It's an intimate, funny, broad conversation with one of the internet's most engaging political personalities.
This week, Briahna interviews Matt Taibbi about a narrow concern she's had with the Twitter Files archive: Despite the obvious value that Matt and other twitter files reporters have created by exposing links between the intelligence agencies and online censorship, is it fair to characterize Twitter's bias as against the right and indifferent to the left given how little we know about which documents have been turned over by Elon Musk and why? Unlike Musk, most whistleblowers are not the heads of the organizations they're informing on. Does Musk's investment in and control over Twitter demand more journalistic scrutiny? Is it possible to characterize the files reviewed so far without making broader claims about about the total archive that, at this point, can't be substantiated? Has there been sufficient inquiry into bias against the left, and has their been sufficient disclosure about the limitations Musk has put on the journalists who've been given access to the archive? It's a difficult and nuanced discussion.
Last week's assassination of right wing personality Charlie Kirk last week was a shock -- and so was the choice of many left and liberal media outlets to publish pieces that lauded the openly supremacist activist for his contribution to American political life. Ezra Klein wrote in The New York Times that Kirk was "practicing politics the right way." Rachel Cohen wrote in Vox that she was "sitting shiva" for a man she described as saying "blatantly antisemitic things," and Ben Burgis offered that at least Kirk "didn't descend into personal attacks." Briahna, who also debated Kirk, felt differently. She discusses the hagiography of Charlie Kirk with journalist Zaid Jilani and whether the left is troublingly indifferent to anti-Black racism if delivered "politely." Note that this episode was supposed to include a lengthy conversation about Matt Taibbi's refusal to cover censorship by right-leaning institutions, but, alas, the conversation didn't get that far. Fortunately, Brie has recorded a separate follow-up interview on that topic to be relased shortly -- stay tuned.
Minnesota State Senator Omar Fateh made headlines in July after winning the state Democratic Party's endorsement for mayor of Minneapolis as a DSA-backed, millennial Muslim going up against an establishment-backed incumbent. It was giving big Mandani energy until that incumbent, Jacob Frey, challenged the result and got the endorsement revoked. Now, with less than two months until Election Day, Fateh joins Bad Faith to discuss comparisons to Zohran, why Frey has lost the confidence of the party, how DSA candidates can remain accountable to the organization, and how to handle the corporate media's attacks on the defund movement -- especially as a candidate running in the city where George Floyd was killed.
New York Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado has been sidelined by Gov. Kathy Hochul ever since he announced that he would not be running for reelection -- raising suspicions that he would instead run for Governor. Now that he's declared his challenge to Hochul, he's ready to explain why he would be a better partner for a Mayor Zohran Mamdani, where he falls on the political spectrum, why he called for both Biden and Eric Adams to step down, and why he declined to identify as a progressive despite endorsing a progressive agenda. There's no candidate interview like a Bad Faith candidate interview.
Former Al Jazeera journalist Sana Saeed joins Bad Faith to discuss comedian Adam Friedland's viral interview with Zionist Representative Ritchie Torres and the internet's harsh reaction to Sana and other critics who questioned whether the enthusiastic reaction to this particular interview is reflective of the disproportionate value the West places on the feelings of Jewish people versus the Arab victims of Israel's genocide. Also, Sana digs into Taylor Lorenz' viral story exposing a number of liberal content creators as paid mouthpieces for the DNC and ends with Kshama Sawant's takedown of Rep. Adam Smith's rhetorical shift "left" on Palestine.
Former United Stats Marine Corps intelligence officer, former UN Special Commission weapons inspector, author, & commentator Scott Ritter joins Bad Faith to discuss Trump's recent summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, claims that Trump is being persuaded by the war machine around him to draw out the war despite his alleged "America first" or anti-war leanings, what a realistic end to the conflict looks like, and more.
The American labor organizer who founded the first independent, worker-led union at a Staten Island Amazon warehouse Chris Smalls recently made headlines when he was illegally detained by Israel after joining the recent Gaza Freedom Flotilla headed to Gaza to break Israel's illegal siege, and deliver food and medical supplies. Smalls explains how he and the one Arab member of the flotilla were treated differently from his fellow crew members, how he was assaulted & strip searched, and how he was abandoned by the US embassy (in contrast to how other governments supported their nationals). Moreover, he dives deep into his betrayal by labor leadership and leftists leaders like Bernie Sanders and AOC who remain silent on Small's capture and assault to date. Chris reveals plans to develop a new labor party that cannot be ignored by Dem-captured labor leadership, the need to leave the Democratic Party "plantation," and why he won't be supporting an AOC 2028 run.
