Out d’Coup Podcast
Raging Chicken Media is a progressive, activist media space based in Pennsylvania. We've rapidly established ourselves as the go-to site for fight-back, citizen journalism in the state. This is our podcast.
Out d’Coup LIVE | Alan Gratz on his latest book ”Two Degrees,” climate change, and controversy
This week I welcome Alan Gratz to the show. We'll be talking about his latest #1 New York Times bestselling young adult novel, Two Degrees and the controversy over the Kutztown Area School District's canceling their "One Book, Once School" middle school program that was set to read Two Degrees. Why did they cancel reading his book? It's a familiar story of right-wing extremism infecting our schools. Right-wing members on the school board and in the community objected to reading …
Friday Politics Roundup | SCOTUS goes after student loan forgiveness; extremists in FL; Twitter Files; Pennridge SD faces lawsuit; Gov. Shapiro’s lukewarm budget; and, more!
The Supreme Court seems poised to strike down Biden’s student loan forgiveness program not for Constitutional reasons, but because the right-wing members of the court don’t like it. Biden’s pick to serve as an FCC commissioner, Gigi Sohn, withdrew her name after 16 months of targeted pressure and harassment by communication’s industry lobbyist groups. Sohn has a long history as a public interest advocate and would have been the first openly gay FCC commissioner. Weirdness in Congress in the House …
Out d’Coup LIVE | Rohan Montgomery writing in In These Times on the epic victory of D&D community over corporate greed; and, voice actors organizing for fair wages & better working conditions.
This week I welcome Rohan Montgomery to the show. We'll be talking about his recent articles in In These Times about revolt against corporate greed in the tabletop role-playing gaming community - specifically Dungeons & Dragons - and labor organizing by anime voice actors. Rohan's piece, "Slaying the Gold-Hungry Dragon" reports on the Dungeons & Dragons community epic victory against corporate greed. In "Anime Voice Actors Speak Out: It's Not Kawaii When We Aren't Paid," he dives into organizing fights …
Out d’Coup LIVE | Patricia Roberts-Miller, Prof. Emeritus Rhetoric & Writing U of Texas - Austin on Demagoguery and Democracy
This week I welcome Dr. Patricia Roberts-Miller to the show. We'll be talking about her book, Demagoguery and Democracy and her work on the continued threat a culture of demagoguery poses to democracy, equity, and justice. In Demagoguery and Democracy she writes, "Demagoguery isn't about what politicians do; it's about how we, as citizens, argue, reason, and vote. Therefore, reducing how much our culture relies on demagoguery is our problem, and up to us to solve." Patricia Roberts-Miller, formerly Director …
Out d’Coup LIVE | Robyn Underwood from KOFEE (Kutztown Organized for Educational Excellence) on book bans and reclaiming our schools
Welcome to this week's Out d'Coup LIVE. This week I welcome Robyn Underwood to the show. Robyn leads KOFEE - Kutztown Organized for Educational Excellence which formed to push back against rising extremism on the Kutztown Area School District. The KASD middle school was planning on reading Alan Gratz's book, Two Degrees as part of their "One Book, One School" program. Two Degrees centers around the lives of four middle-school students struggling to survive disasters brought on by climate change. …
Friday Politics Roundup | Majority of Republicans fans of Christian nationalism; state courts attack LGBTQ & abortion; student debt forgiveness threatened; Central Bucks; Temple grad strike; more!
According to a new survey from the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute and the Brookings Institution, more than half of Republicans either adhere to or sympathize with Christian nationalism. The survey also found that half of those who believe in Christian nationalism and 40 percent of those who sympathize with it “support the idea of an authoritarian leader in order to keep Christian values in society.” In Oklahoma, a judge stripped a lesbian mom’s parental rights to her son and …
Out d’Coup LIVE | Alyssa Bowen, Senior Researcher & Manager Editor for Truth North Research, on expanded right-wing strategy to dominate school boards
This week I welcome Alyssa Bowen back to the show. Alyssa is a Senior Researcher and Managing Editor for the progressive watchdog group, True North Research. Tonight we'll be talking about her recent article in TruthOut, "The Right has Expanded Its Dark Money Strategy for Dominating School Boards." If we thought we'd get a break from extremism in our school board elections, we were VERY wrong. Alyssa received her PhD in History from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill …
Friday Politics Roundup | 22K killed by earthquake in Tukey and Syria; SOTU; Fetterman health scare; Telford council meeting off the rails; The Good Liars in CBSD
More than 22,000 people have been killed by the devastating earthquakes that ravaged Turkey and Syria this week and the death toll keeps rising. There is a desperate need for humanitarian and medical assistance. You can help by donating to Doctors Without Borders (DoctorsWithoutBorders.org) or UNICEF (UNICEFusa.org). Biden does some effective political theater of his own, by saying some Republicans wanted to cut Social Security. On the spot, Biden got all the Republicans to stand and cheer that they do …
Out d’Coup LIVE | Hannah Leffingwell on the need for fundamental change in higher education
This week I welcome Hannah Leffingwell to the show. We'll be talking about her recent article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, "The Academic Career is Broken" and the need for fundamental change in higher education. She argues, "We are in the midst of a crisis in academe, to be sure, but it’s not an economic crisis. It’s a crisis of faith. The question is not just whether our institutions pay faculty fairly, but whether any wage is worth the …
Friday Politics Roundup w/ Amy Knecht. Politics and Dragons and Middle Earth, oh my!
Raging Chicken's Friday Politics Roundup for February 3, 2023. We're here to break down the good, the bad, and the ugly in state and national politics. Today I'm joined once again by Amy Knecht! We'll take a look at the politics of the week and ongoing school board craziness. Then we'll dig into our takes on the The Rings of Power and House of the Dragon (and, who knows, maybe we'll even sneak in a little of The Wheel of …