Shows
Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss Bunny8 Myths About Federal Debt16 May 2019 – I promised you that in our next show I would get into the myths about Federal debt. This is that show. In addition, Will talks about why we should be going into space – for real. Some of the ideas sound crazy but I think there is enormous value in doing the work that takes us down those paths, regardless. There is so much possibility, why would we not get serious? At the top of the show we touch on the new agreement, between the UK and the Republic of Ireland, to establish a comm...2019-05-181h 01Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyIt. Never. Ends…Brexit Update, Debt Politics2 April 2018 – Since I, admittedly, went on and on about debt politics in this episode, I will keep my description very short. Will updates you on the latest on Brexit crazy. May has completely lost control of Parliament and Macron will not continue to be impatient with British incompetence. I talk little bit about the mechanism of federal debt and a lot about the politics of federal debt. The concept of federal debt has been weaponized for a reason.I said on the show that next week I would talk about some of the my...2019-04-051h 06Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyWe Aren’t Dead! Plus Brexit & MMT12 March 2019 – We are back and we have a lot to say. I begin by explaining why I disappeared into my rabbit hole for so long and I talk a bit about how my process for healing and, hopefully, staying that way. Will then talks about how we have reimagined the show and made it more sustainable. We both summarize a laundry list of the things we will be talking about in upcoming shows.Then we are off to the races. I talk about the fact that MMT is absolutely storming the field and mainstream economists are se...2019-03-191h 28Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyACA Endangered Again – Seriously30 August 2018 – Because of the holiday we did not have a show planned for Monday but then I noticed a tweet from ACA expert, Charles Gaba (@Charles_Gaba). The ACA is at serious risk again, this time in the courts in what Charles refers to as the Texas Fold ’em Case (Texas v Azar). Normally, this would not be a case which posed any threat but the Trump administration has opted not to defend the ACA (you can insert “not to defend the rule of law,” same difference) so with very little warning a collection of Attorneys General from various blue states a...2018-08-3147 minHopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyTruth vs Zombie Lies About Social Security27 August 2018 – This week we have Nancy Altman, the President of Social Security Works and the Chair of the Strengthen Social Security Coalition. We are dedicating this entire episode to Nancy’s new book, The Truth About Social Security: the Founder’s Words Refute Revisionist History, Zombie Lies and Common Misunderstandings. Guess what…Social Security is NOT going bankrupt. Social Security is neither an entitlement nor welfare. Instead, Social Security is an insurance program which will be there to pay its beneficiaries indefinitely into the future. Monied interests have been deeply invested in lying about Social Security all the way back to the 1...2018-08-2758 minHopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyUS Law is Crushing Puerto Rico20 August 2018 - Will is off today due to a family emergency and our expected interview has been rescheduled so it's just me and I thought I would try to get a jump start on our coming Puerto Rico interview show. In trying to understand what is going on with the economy and, therefore, the post-Maria recovery in Puerto Rico, I kept tripping over one thing again and again, a group of SCOTUS rulings collectively called the Insular Cases. I decided to get into it and, as it turns out, there's a reason almost everything in PR funnels back to this...2018-08-201h 28Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyTrade, Peace, and Youtube7/30/2018 - Media often speaks of trade as if it is partitioned off from the rest of US interests including many major areas like national security, human rights and climate. Of course, these things (and many, many more) are all deeply intertwined. Sadly, that is a level of complexity which is well beyond the capacity of Trump. In this show Arliss talks not about the specific daily news around trade but about the legal underpinnings and, in particular, how the work of the Trump administration to break down the rule of law is threatening to US national security.
Will's deep dive...2018-07-301h 20Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyMIA in US Media (Almost)23 June 2018 - We are back (and trying to stay that way.) This is a grab bag show covering a number of international issues which are getting only cursory coverage by US media (for obvious reasons.) Will has news about currency plans for Scotland which, for MMT folk, is especially frustrating. On another front, remember all those times, pre-Brexit vote, when we said that the problem was going to be the Irish border. Well, the problem is the Irish border and it is both threatening to bring down the May government and cause the UK to "crash" out of the EU i...2018-07-231h 35Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyHow to Talk About Suicide: Dan Reidenberg14 May 2018 – This past week, with the suicide of Frightened Rabbit frontman, Scott Hutchison, media and, well, all of us, once again came up against how best to talk about suicide and best practices for media. Dr. Dan Reidenberg, Executive Director of Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE), joined us for the interview. In particular he spoke about the fact that everybody has a role in suicide prevention and that including stories of hope, of those who have survived, is important. Dan also mentioned a number of websites and I am including links for you: SAVE.org; Live Through This; Blogging on...2018-05-1458 minHopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyNathan Tankus: Defending Job Guarantee7 May 2018 – Job Guarantee remains the talk of the Twitter town (nest?) as well as some mainstream media. Critics have been vocal and a core of MMT thought leaders have been guiding the response to the push-back. Nathan Tankus (@nathantankus), who is a research scholar at the Modern Money Network and a terrific follow on Twitter, is among those leaders and joins us for the interview.
Will focuses in on the court case between the British and Scottish Parliaments and why that is another example of the losses incurred by the structures of norms which underlie both the US and UK sy...2018-05-071h 02Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyRevised! Nathan Tankus: Defending Job Guarantee (Includes Extra Mad)Update: The original episode released this morning did not contain the extended interview. We've corrected that this evening.
7 May 2018 - Job Guarantee remains the talk of the Twitter town (nest?) as well as some mainstream media. Critics have been vocal and a core of MMT thought leaders have been guiding the response to the push-back. Nathan Tankus (@nathantankus), who is a research scholar at the Modern Money Network and a terrific follow on Twitter, is among those leaders and joins us for the interview.
Will focuses in on the court case between the British and Scottish Parliaments and why that...2018-05-071h 43Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnySteve Attewell: the history of Job Guarantee30 April 2018 – As I was flying through my Twitter stream this week, dipping in here and there to read all the many job guarantee (JG) tweets, I came across a thread, by Dr. Steven Attewell (@stevenattewell), that served to put JG into a historical context and provide background as to why past efforts had failed. What could be more timely! Steven joins us for a deep-dive interview into the history of past JG-type efforts and exposes the fact that we liberals played a substantial role in the collapse of the plans and programs. Now that was something I had never heard…had...2018-04-301h 37Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyInherent Contempt: Not Just Another Pretty Statute23 April 2018 – Everyone is talking about the Comey memos and I think I’m about over it BUT I have been curious about how Congress and the Justice Department both run investigations in parallel without pulling a Nunes or embarrassingly dropping a Gowdy on the floor. David Waldman (@KagroX), who is a lawyer, Congressional procedure expert and the master of all that is Kagro in the Morning, is on the show to walk us through why it is such a mess right now, how it is supposed to be done and, in Extra Mad, he gets into something I had never hear...2018-04-231h 16Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyDems Dangerous Debt Dance with Bluegal16 April 2018 - There comes a time in every federal budget cycle when I have to find a way to talk about debt and, specifically, the Dems dangerous debt dance. This time I decided to switch things up and invited Frances Langum (Bluegal), from my favorite podcast, The Professional Left, to interview me and to provide push-back. Fran is someone for whom I have enormous respect but, like 99% of the Dems out there, she comes at economics from a purely Keynesian perspective...and that's what I wanted. You are going to love the conversation and, I hope you find it an...2018-04-161h 20Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyJim Harper – SOS Candidate; Elections & Census9 April 2018 – Democrats are finally learning that Secretaries of State are more critical than even governors in state elections so we are lucky to have elections expert and Indiana State Democratic SOS candidate, Jim Harper for the interview. Jim is a strong candidate for Indiana and the videos on his FB page reinforce why he is a great choice both for progressive and moderate Democrats.
Will is talking about elections and the fall-out in Catalonia. The Germans are standing-up for the Catalans and the UK may be as well. We’ll see. Meanwhile, Russia continues to play in that sandbox exclusively to i...2018-04-0957 minHopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyMarlon Bundo & SpaceIn these days of increasing uncertainty, self-care gets to be more important. Toward that end, Will and I did a lightweight show this week. We dramatize the pearly gates meeting between Saint Peter and Pete Peterson. Will leads us in a discussion about the resources available in space and how important taking the next steps are in so many scientific fields. As is incumbent upon me, I close out the show with the definitive drill-down into the Marlon Bundo controversy (here is a link to my favorite snarkie review of Marlon’s book) and remind everyone that bunnies aren’t gift...2018-03-2655 minHopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyFadhel Kaboub of the Binzagr Institute - MUST Listen!12 March 2018 - Dr. Fadhel Kaboub (@FadhelKaboub and @BinzagrInfo), President of the Binzagr Institute for Sustainable Prosperity and Associate Professor at Denison University, gave us such a wonderful interview that we dedicated the entire show to it including the compelling extended part of the interview. Dr. Kaboub became interested in modern monetary theory (MMT) early in his studies at a time when there was virtually no understanding of how the precepts of MMT could be applied to developing economies. His work in this area and his emphasis on the specific issues faced by the peoples and economies of the Middle East...2018-03-111h 58Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnySpecial! Mad Testimony on Trade8 March 2018 – This is a special combined Hopping Mad and Irreverent Testimony entirely focused on trade. Travis Rosen and Rachel Hutcheson of Irreverent Testimony joined Will and I to talk about the domestic and international implications of the Trump Trade Tariffs and the basics of what international trade really means. This is a dive into what we should all really be messaging about trade and why “trade deficit” matters not at all.
Will and I will be back on Monday for our regular show. Carrots! – Arliss2018-03-081h 20Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyReal Progressives’ Steve Grumbine5 March 2018 – WOW! We had an exhilarating, affirming, healing conversation with Real Progressives founder, Steve Grumbine (@sdgrumbine) who was on with us for the whole show. Steve is a long-time MMT evangelist and activist. He also has been active and is well known in Bernie & Green Party circles. I knew, from having heard his panel at the MMT conference in Kansas City last summer, that we shared many values and virtually all objectives and that was why I was determined to have him on as a guest. Still, I worried a little bit because the Hillary/Bernie divide runs so deep am...2018-03-051h 27Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyWhite Men, BS & Deficits vs Investment26 February 2018 – Perhaps this time we will be willing to finally talk about the elephant in the room, white men and guns. We will never be able to ask the right questions or find workable solutions until Americans acknowledge that white men are not only usually the shooters but purchase most of the guns, organize the gun shows, protest in favor of their gun-based religion, own the gun manufacturers and are the legislators. The problem is white men from top to bottom.
Will begins the show talking about Jeremy Corbin and the Czech spy fiasco in the UK and then moves on...2018-02-261h 00Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyWe Cannot Win Until We Win & Carolyn Fiddler19 February 2018 – At this point it really all boils down to one thing, we cannot win until we win. Everything we cover on the show today boils down to that. Prosecuting those who colluded with Russia, opening our hearts and borders to Syrian refugees, securing our elections, passing gun safety legislation – none of these are doable until we have taken Congress back (and even then it’s going to be a tough fight.) AND we can’t just win on the Federal level – states are key and that’s why we wanted to have Carolyn Fiddler, the Daily Kos Political Editor and Senior C...2018-02-191h 06Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyThe Good, the Strange & the Stock Market12 February 2018 – We’re BACK!!! At least, we are back on the air. I’m still traveling so I’ll keep this really short. At the top of the show Will emphasizes the importance of continuing to work toward victory in November and not making the mistake of thinking we are already over the finish line. I get into the latest in the Brexit talks with the EU insisting that Northern Ireland remain within the common market.
In his main block Will talks about the shifting sands within the German government and why this may be a generally hopeful sign. In my block...2018-02-121h 00Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyScience, 2017, and Farming with Liz Brownlee18.12.2017 – What a year this has been. We were happy to end this year’s interview with the amazing Liz Brownlee, who talked farm policy with us, while Arliss tackled the continuing war on science, and the two of us discussed our hopes for 2018.
What a year. Star Wars is breaking records at the box office again, and you know, when Episode 4, A New Hope came out, there was this feeling that the Empire had been around forever. But having watched the prequels, it’s only about 20 years old. And boy do I understand that because 2017 could basically have lasted 20 years.
But 20...2017-12-181h 08Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyDonor's Relief Bill, Sexual Harassment & Fire Department Health Insurance4 December 2017 - Though Will is still on vacation, I am joined by two of our associates. Basically, we came at the subject of framing from many different directions throughout the show. I start with a fairly deep dive into dynamic scoring. I know––you can't wait, right?!? While scoring methodology is one of those suuuuuppppper dry subjects, dynamic scoring in important because of the framing space it supposedly grants to Republicans and because this frame is so good at getting us to take our eyes off the carrot. Paying attention to what actually matters in this reality means that we MU...2017-12-041h 11Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyEmoluments & NAFTA Reprised with Armando Llorens20 November 2017 - What's old is new again or, in the case of Trump, never went away. Due to a confluence of unexpected events we were unable to produce an entirely new show this week so I went back to 30 January 2017 and grabbed the interview we did at the time with attorney, Armando Llorens. I put both the original broadcast interview and the Extra Mad extended interview into the show and edited out comments we made which were too dated to really be applicable now.
Armando, who is also a Daily Kos front-pager, cleared-up all the questions I h...2017-11-2058 minHopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyRural Spaces13 November 2017 – We accidentally ended up with a theme this week – rural spaces. During our interview block we were fortunate enough to have Lane Siekman (@LaneSiekman), Congressional candidate in IN-6, and Dearborn County, Indiana Democratic Party Chairman, Tricia Gaustad (@GaustadTricia). Lane gave us an articulate and well thought out rundown of his priorities including progressive favorite, Medicare for All. Tricia talked about why the 2018 cycle is not at all the same as the 2016 cycle even in her deep red county. She is listening to local Dems and has built a strategy to truly fight the good fight.
Will started the show talk...2017-11-131h 17Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyJD Alt Dreams in MMT Reality6 November 2017 – Architect and author JD Alt again graced us with his thoughts, this time talking about his new novella, Low Earth Orbit. The novella takes the functionality of modern monetary theory and applies it to solve major issues facing a society on the brink. The novella lives at the intersection between architecture, environment, society and economics with a light touch which will bring you back to it again and again in the future. Low Earth Orbit demonstrates the dreams of which reality is made and I could not recommend it more.
I begin the show with background information about Trump’s no...2017-11-061h 27Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyAmanda Werner, Brad Voracek & Michele LeSure are All Back!30 October 2017 – It worked! Brad Voracek (@bradvoracek) is back this week and the wait was worth it. This time you are able to hear his full answers on youth employment, Senator Sander’s & Congressman Conyers’ Employ Young Americans Now bill, the science versus human aspects of economics and his thinking on so-called (and wildly mis-named) “Right to Work” laws. Brad is a founder of the not-to-be-missed website, The Minskys and I recommend regular visits there.
We were also extremely lucky to have Amanda Werner, of Americans for Financial Reform and Public Citizen (aka The Monopoly Man), back with us to fill us in on t...2017-10-301h 20Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyBrad Voracek from The Minskys: Part 123 October 2017 - This was one of those shows which fought every step of the way.* While at the MMT conference this summer I recorded a terrific interview with the bright and articulate young economist Brad Voracek (@bradvoracek) from one of my favorite websites, The Minskys. Embarrassingly, I managed to error during the recording process and had both a sound problem and actually lost part of the interview...twice. As I say in the show, I am making it my life's work to have Brad back for a fully and competently recorded interview very, VERY soon.
Meanwhile, though Will told me...2017-10-2357 minHopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyAction, ACA & #SonomaCountyProud16 October 2017 – Charles Gaba (@charles_gaba) comes back again to explain why Trump’s latest move against the ACA is so incredibly dangerous. This time, however, there are some really specific things we can be doing to help to keep the ACA from imploding. Join the Indivisible ACA Sign-up Project (@2018ACASignUps) and get involved on the ground with GetAmericaCovered.org. As I mention at the end of the interview, Charles is a national resource who is taking time away from his real job to maintain expertise and educate us in all kinds of ways on all the subjects associated with the ACA...2017-10-161h 55Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyThe Monopoly Man!At the last minute we were incredibly lucky to get an interview with the oh-so-popular Monopoly Man! Amanda Werner, of Americans for Financial Reform and Public Citizen, joined us right at the top of the show to talk about her experience as the Monopoly Man at the recent Senate hearing on SJ Res 47. GOP members of the Senate want to rollback the new rule from the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) which eliminates forced arbitration clauses. Due to careful tactical planning, the Monopoly Man was able to get a seat behind and just a bit to the left of the...2017-10-081h 29Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyPavlina Tcherneva & the World Beyond Trump2 October 2017 – Some days it’s hard to remember that despite all appearances, there is a world out there beyond Trump and all the many, many ways he is failing this week. The truly dazzling economist Dr. Pavlina Tcherneva (her excellent site is here) is with us for the interview. I was able to interview her in person at the First International Conference of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT Conference). We talked about how the, now famous, chart (see above) she developed was able to influence the conversation around inequality and how a job guarantee program can add more than just jobs to a...2017-10-011h 00Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyThe NFL, The German Election, and Zach CarterIn this weeks show, Arliss interviews Zach Carter, and I discuss both the NFL and the German election.
Yesterday was a tough day for German Democracy. The Far-Right took third place in their election, entitling them to become the third largest political party in the Bundestag. What's particularly worrying is the tough path that Merkel now has to form a government, the fractures in the left wing SDP, and the poor coalition options. Which include trying to get the Greens to work the CDU and the FDP. Three parties that agree on very little.
We're also poadcasting the first of s...2017-09-2548 minHopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyThe Caribbean; Energy; Profit & Hate18 September 2017 – Every time Denise Oliver-Velez is on our show I learn so much! This week we asked Denise to join us to cover what is happening in the Caribbean following Hurricane Irma. I particularly loved the posts Denise put up at Daily Kos on Puerto Rico and the history of the word “hurricane” as well as her thoughts on the subject. We spend most of our time on Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, the places where Irma really did first make landfall in the US. (If you thought that was Florida you weren’t alone.)
In our Lying Liar Lie...2017-09-181h 26Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyStorms, Religion & DACA - Got Empathy?11 September 2017 - The always interesting and informed Rachel Hutcheson, of Irreverent Testimony, joined us for a mini-roundtable. Will, Rachael and I each brought a topic and we spent some time thinking out loud about them.
Will started us off talking about climate change, in terms both of the hurricanes and fires currently razing huge swaths of the United States. Will made the point that in the not-too-distant past we prepared for disaster through federally organized civil defense. Now those activities have been broken apart and many have fallen through the cracks. We already know that recovery from Harvey and Irma...2017-09-111h 29Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyHurricanes and Libraries with Michelle LeSurWe started our show this week with a discussion of Republican exaggerations of the demise of Obamacare. Ryan claimed that dozens of counties were without an insurer. Turns out the actual number was one when he said it, and is now zero.
In my block I discussed hurricanes and the lack of infrastructure and zoning laws, as it relates to Harvey, and Houston Texas. Houston was not ready for another hurricane, as reported by the Texas Tribune. Thankfully, the dams holding back two reservoirs are holding, for now. The Army Corps of Engineers is being forced to release water into B...2017-08-2855 minHopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyAmerica has a Fascism ProblemWe weren't expecting what happened in Charlottesville, just over a week ago, but by the time events unfolded, last week's show was already recorded. And a portion of this week's as well.
But with the terrorist attack that happened quite close to where I live, I thought a deep dive into the thread far-right terrorism represents was important. Joel and I discussed recent events, a brief history of far-right terrorism in the US both recent and in the past, and also, we discussed what can be done about the problem.
Arliss is away this week on business, and will be a...2017-08-2154 minHopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyDarlene McDonald for Congress14 August 2017 – All across the country incredible first-time candidates are entering the political fray. Darlene McDonald (@VoteDarlene), running in UT-4, is an articulate, accomplished, woman with a truly compelling backstory. This is the very kind of candidate who has the ability to change the Democratic party…and I don’t mean only if she wins. Darlene’s message, story and her campaign carry the voice of the party in the way no amount of tweeting, blogging or, frankly, podcasting, every will. Darlene is precisely how and why the Democratic party will shine and grow in the future and we LOVED having so much...2017-08-141h 29Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyCharles Gaba - Fixing the ACA, a Deep Dive7 August 2017 - This week we go really deep into the weeds, which is our favorite place! National ACA expert, Charles Gaba (@charles_gaba aka Brainwrap) of ACASignUps.org fame is with us to help us sort out current legislative efforts, what needs to be done as well as what is politically possible. Charles also defines and clarifies terms like "Medicare for All" and explains the problems with Dems settling on that vocabulary and policy at this point.
Will starts us out with a bang and a rant. I chime in too. We have both just HAD IT with with the "...2017-08-071h 57Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyThe CFPB is under attack!31 July 2017 - We were incredibly lucky to have just the right interview guest at just the right time, Amanda Werner (@wamandajd), Arbitration Campaign Manager for Americans for Financial Reform & Public Citizen, was with us to talk about the dangerous efforts, by Congress, to overturn the new arbitration rule just published by the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB). In the first half of the interview Amanda gets into some great detail about why forced arbitration is problematic and why some communities are particularly impacted. In the second half we get into the politics of the rule and explain why it is e...2017-07-311h 22Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyFreedom of Speech w. Armando LlorensThis weeks show was a first amendment extravaganza. Arliss had to leave on business, but she still made time to participate in the show this week. In my section, I discussed freedom of speech with Joel Dent, long time listener and new member of the Hopping Mad team. We talked about what freedom of speech is, what it isn't, and how the alt right represents a threat to it.
Arliss discussed being blocked on twitter by Donald Trump, and why that's probably illegal. Yes, the president of the United States is so offended by rational discussion of how money works...2017-07-241h 17Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyLandon Shroder on Terrorism & White Nationalism17 July 2017 - Will is back and he brought political risk and security expert Landon Shroder (@LandonShroder) with him. The interview, both in the broadcast and in the podcast versions of the show, is longer than usual and with good reason. We go wide getting into Mosul, the Kurds, Saudi, Yemen and the UAE during the broadcast show and then, in Extra Mad, coming stateside to talk about the rise of terrorism within the white nationalist movement.
Will continues his series on small "d" democratic principles and progressives. For this show Will is thinking about citizenship and it's relationship with social r...2017-07-161h 23Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyErasing Women, Healthcare, Trade & Policing - Something for Everyone10 July 2017 - Today I was joined by all three of the new associates: Michele LeSure, David Paquette & Joel Dent. They are all bringing new perspective and strengths to the show so I am reveling in the opportunity to showcase them. Will is still on vacation but he is back next week with, hopefully, some interesting stories to tell.
Michele starts off the show with a brief introduction of herself and then her nomination for the Hopping Mad Lying Liar Lie of the Week - Donald Trump. He claims, in some truly twisted ways, to respect women but his actions show u...2017-07-1054 minHopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyNRA Ad Abomination & Trade War Trouble3 July 2017 - Will is on vacation this week (and next) so I am joined on the show by two of our three new associates, Joel Dent and David Paquette. David, a self-professed connoisseur of lies, starts us off with a spectacular lie direct from a true master of the subject, Senator Orrin Hatch. I respond with a whopper from Secretary of Energy, Rick Perry but Hatch won the day on style points. Here, by the way, is David's recommended maple syrup video. "The moment" is right at the very end but the whole thing is hilarious. Remember as you watch i...2017-07-0357 minHopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyTrumpcare, Medicaid & Rights26 June 2016 - Most of this show was recorded within a few hours after the Senate released their "Better Care" bill and we were lucky enough to have Linda Benesch (@LindaBenesch), the Communications Director for Social Security Works, with us to spell out the depth of the depravity of the GOP. I began by asking her "On a scale of 1 to I'm moving to Norway, how bad is it?" She recommended the Arctic. And she's not wrong. Linda got into some detail (because we, at Hopping Mad, love to go out into the weeds) but she was also very clear that...2017-06-261h 11Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyYou Heard It Here First...19 June 2017 - This was one of those shows where Will and I covered a lot of ground. We did not have an interview (and there is no Extra Mad) so we just moved straight through the show with no breaks.
I began with a nod acknowledging Will for bringing on Math Campbell last week and taking time from the discussion of the UK snap election results to talk with Math about the fact that the new agreement between the May government and the DUP has destabilized the already precarious Good Friday Agreement. This week Gerry Adams and the group of...2017-06-1957 minHopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyUK Election, Trumpcare & Positive Liberty12 June 2017 - While the results of the snap election in the UK were not quite as unexpected as the most recent US election, they came close. Recovering politician and the founder of English Scotts for YES, Math Campbell (@MathCampbell and @EnglishScottsForYES) joins us to sort out the chaos. We take extra time to really understand why British PM Theresa May opted to form a coalition government with the terrorist affiliated political party from Northern Ireland, the Democratic Unionist Party. Since this tipping of the delicate balance in Northern Ireland toward the unionists and away from the republicans could potentially re-ignite...2017-06-121h 34Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyWe. Are. Back!!!! Today's Guest: Carolyn FiddlerWe are celebrating our return from hiatus by joining in the celebration for the arrival of the brand new Daily Kos Political Editor and Senior Communications Advisor, Carolyn Fiddler (@cFidd). Carolyn begins her work with dKos today so it seemed the perfect time to interview her. She comes to dKos from the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) where she was the Communications Director. She has deep knowledge of state-level campaigns and her hiring signals the fierce nature of the focus dKos bringing to its work to elect Democrats nationwide at all levels of government.
Today is also the beginning of...2017-06-051h 20Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyIndivisible SE IN "Where's Waldo" Themed Town Hall28 February 2017 - Indivisible Southeast Indiana (@IndivisibleSEIN on Twitter and Indivisible Southeast Indiana on FB) met on Sunday, 19 February, for our second meeting. We gathered in the home of one of the organizers and decided that we needed to act immediately. One week later, on Sunday, 26 February we hosted a "Where's Waldo" themed constituent town hall. We invited Congressman Luke Messer (R - IN-6) and Senator Todd Young (R-IN). Both declined to come. In fact, neither held any open-to-the-public town halls or events anywhere during this recess. We persisted.
Our Where's Todd? Where's Luke? Town Hall was held in front of...2017-02-2859 minHopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyFebruary 2017 RoundtableThis week we were joined by Travis and Rachel of Irreverent Testimony and Tom of The Coffeecast. We discussed the direction of the US, and the future of the republic. Unfortunately, this will be our last show for a few weeks. As our broadcast goes out Monday morning, Arliss will be in surgery to correct a longstanding illness. All of us are wishing her a speedy recovery, and we will keep you updated about our schedule - and her health - moving forward. - Will2017-02-0558 minHopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyArmando on Emoluments Standing plus More30 January 2017 - Armando Llorens, attorney and Daily Kos front pager, cleared-up all the questions I had about the emoluments clause of the Constitution and standing. Plus, typical of Armando's frequent contributions to David Waldman's Kagro in the Morning, Armando lead us merrily off track and onto the subject of NAFTA and how Trump's special brand of crazy (literally) can significantly damage the US economy in the area of trade. Happily, there were many other brief side tracks too. There's a reason so many of us follow Armando on DKos and on David's show.
Will spoke about his visit with both...2017-01-301h 40Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyFlippable.org, Journalists, Emoluments16 January 2017 - The genius of flippable.org is that it engages us with "small bite" activism. On a weekly basis Flippable suggests little bits we can each actually do to help Democrats take back state legislatures and governor's mansions around the nation. Catherine Vaughan and Chris Walsh, two of the three Flippable founders, join us to talk about the genesis of the project and the leadership they and their team are collectively providing to flip targeted state legislatures from red to blue. I know that 2018 and 2020 seem like a long way away but in political terms they are, basically, tomorrow...2017-01-161h 12Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyIndivisible, Action & Rural Dems9 January 2017 – We’re baaaaack…!
This week we kept is simple and talked about what we can all do to fight the good fight. For short term specifics we talked about the ACA Day of Action, scheduled for 15 January in cities and towns all around the nation and a sampling of many of the actions scheduled for Inauguration weekend.
Will used his block to talk again about the importance of Democrats who live in rural spaces, how to listen to them and how to activate them. I talked about the Indivisible Guide a fabulous new tool for optimizing the effectiveness of protes...2017-01-0957 minHopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyCharles Gaba on the ACA & How Fake News Works19 December 2016 - We are thrilled to welcome back ACA expert Charles Gaba (ACASignUps.net, Brainwrap.com, Brainwrap on Daily Kos and @Charles_Gaba on Twitter) to the show. It's hard to even understand all the rumors flying around about the ACA (aka "Obamacare") these days and Charles helps us to parse what different options will mean. Basically the ACA is a towering healthcare Jenga and the GOP is imagining they can pull the foundational blocks out without the whole thing crashing down. They are wrong. [BWT - there's a GoFundMe on Charles' ACA page. His work is unique in media...2016-12-191h 53Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyStanding Rock & Suiting Up5 December 2016 - It's time to suit-up. The coming battle will be extraordinarily difficult emotionally, physically, economically, politically and, well, in every other way imaginable. But we are still here and while they may have a choke-hold on power, that hold is fragile. Now that they will have the responsibility of leadership squarely on their shoulders it will not take long for them to be exposed as the king who wore no clothes. They will be naked and we will be in our best battle armor. We fight. We keep fighting. We never, never, never lose hope. This week the show...2016-12-051h 16Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyMoving Forward & Denise Oliver-Velez14 November 2016 - As was said so beautifully by American civil rights lawyer and Sikh, Valerie Kaur, in her moving piece in the Washington Post following the white supremacist massacre of the Charleston Nine, she still felt optimism "Because today we mourn. Tomorrow we organize." Many of us are still spinning with emotions following the 8 November election we must take a breath to grieve, we must take care of ourselves, our families and our loved ones - and then we must organize. Fast. There is no time to waste.
Our guest for the interview this week is Professor Denise Oliver-Velez (@DeOliver47...2016-11-141h 34Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyDr. Randall Wray on Minsky31 October 2016 - Modern Monetary Theory innovator and torchbearer, Dr. L. Randall Wray is with us for most of the show in a deep dive interview on his book, Why Minsky Matters: An Introduction to the Work of a Maverick Economist (here from Princeton University Press or here from Amazon). If you have been a listener for more than a couple of weeks you have undoubtedly heard me speak of Dr. Wray. I may have discovered MMT through Dr. Stephanie Kelton but it was Dr. Wray's book, Modern Money Theory: A Primer on Macroeconomics for Sovereign Monetary Systems, which entirely captured...2016-10-311h 56Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyStingers: Bees, Donald Loves Dictators, & Audit the Fed24 October 2016 - We don't have and interview today due to a last minute cancellation but Will and I had a LOT to say so everything worked out as it was meant to be. At the top of the show Will uses the example of the Vauxhall automotive plant, in Liverpool, to illustrate why Brexit is creating such a tenuous employment environment all across the UK. It is incredible that people thought they could place a protest vote for something every expert was telling them would damage their economy and yet they are still stunned that companies are talking about moving...2016-10-241h 28Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyJD Alt on "The Millennials' Money"; Alt Right & the Trump Economy17 October 2016 - I have been talking on the show about JD Alt's book, The Millennials' Money, since it was still a series of posts on the modern monetary theory (MMT) blog, New Economic Perspectives. This book is that good and it's that important. JD not only covers the basics of MMT effectively and in an especially accessible manner, he goes much further and explains why it has particular applicability to millennials and how it can be the tool they need to make the changes in the world they have been calling for so articulately. JD's ideas for using MMT to...2016-10-171h 21Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyTrump is Toast & Fascism in the UK10 October 2016 - We were lucky to have Scottish National Party Councillor Math Campbell to preview for us what it looks like when fascism takes over a country. The British government of Prime Minister Theresa May is talking about creating a "registry" for all foreign nationals and has decided that no organizations which advise Whitehall can include foreign nationals among their advisors. Prime Minister May has also announced that when negotiating Brexit from the European Union, limiting immigration will take priority over jobs, the economy and justice. It's good to know she has established her priorities. Math let us know that...2016-10-101h 35Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyFlipping the Senate, Trump's Lies & the AltRight3 October 2016 - We are fortunate again to have back on the show progressive political pundit Jesse LaGreca (@JesseLaGreca) to talk about the efforts by Democrats to flip the Senate. Something we were once so sure of has become seriously imperiled and Jesse takes us through the top targeted Red to Blue Senate races step by step. It matters that we are about to put a Democrat in the White House but without the Senate President Clinton will not be able to accomplish many of our goals, including appointing decent human beings to the Supreme Court. We can not roll-back Citizens...2016-10-031h 31Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyFlipping the Senate, Trump's Lies & the AltRight3 October 2016 - We are fortunate again to have back on the show progressive political pundit Jesse LaGreca (@JesseLaGreca) to talk about the efforts by Democrats to flip the Senate. Something we were once so sure of has become seriously imperiled and Jesse takes us through the top targeted Red to Blue Senate races step by step. It matters that we are about to put a Democrat in the White House but without the Senate President Clinton will not be able to accomplish many of our goals, including appointing decent human beings to the Supreme Court. We can not roll-back Citizens...2016-10-031h 31Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnySocial Security Works!, Charlotte & Banks26 September 2016 - We are finally back up to full power this week and have a truly terrific interview with Alex Lawson of Social Security Works! Because our listeners already have heard me talk about the mechanics of how Social Security works, Alex was free to wade out into the weeds where the world gets really interesting. He went into a great deal of detail about the dirty underbelly that the lying liars are trying so hard to keep us from seeing when they promote the privatization of Social Security. He also recommended that we take a side trip to the...2016-09-261h 14Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss Bunny1st Anniversary! Media, Money & Bitcoin19 September 2016 - We are ONE! This is our first year podcast-aversary and we truly want to thank those at Netroots Radio who were so much a part of getting us launched. Also right at the top of the show I talk about where we came from and where we are going. We're pretty excited about the future.
We do not have an interview this week. Alex Lawson, of Social Security Works!, had a family emergency and had to cancel at the last minute but we can all look forward to having Alex with us next week.
In his segment Will...2016-09-1958 minHopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyWe're BACK with Failed Tech & Blockchain12 September 2016 - The stars have almost fully aligned. Will and I are both fully functional this week. Sadly, we have no interview or Extra Mad, because we are both frantically catching-up at work, but the show is all new this week and next week, for our 1-year anniversary show, we have an interview I have been trying to get for a while so I'm excited.
At the top of the show I talk about the bankruptcy filing by South Korean shipping giant, Hanjin. Sea freight is a canary in the coal mine economic indicator and the sinking of Hanjin speaks...2016-09-1252 minHopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyCommon Core Reprise & Update29 August 2016 - Will is out of town on business this week and I have finally managed to struggle back up onto my paws after six days in the hospital and way too many more in recovery at home. Under normal conditions Will and I would have tried to prepare a show in advance but it was impossible to predict that I would be hospitalized and he would have a concussion at the same time almost immediately followed by an emergency business trip. Obviously, fate is snickering at us.
Hopping Mad is a show which requires considerable preparation and, because Will...2016-08-281h 36Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyHRC & DNC Conspiracy Theories & The IMF Says "Whoops!"8 August 2016 - This week we had a lot of territory to cover and very little time due to scheduling issues. We have no interview or Extra Mad today but do start with breaking news on a new and unexpected humanitarian crisis. From there I plunge into Trump's views on and utter lack of knowledge about nuclear weapons. (Be afraid. Be VERY afraid.) Will then moves on to the newest nation in the world, South Sudan, which represents an incredible opportunity missed and a sad story we will be hearing for a very long time.
Will wanted to spend some time...2016-08-0858 minHopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyFrances Coppola, Putin & Rajan1 August 2016 - It is always glorious when we can have the well-known banking expert, economics wonk and blogger, Frances Coppola on the show. We were thrilled to welcome her back this week to talk about threats to the independence of central banks. We also discussed her recent panel at the Financial Times Festival of Finance where she consistently pointed out that the rise in populism expressed both through the Brexit vote and in the Trump candidacy, is all about the local.
Will and I had a lot of fun at the top of the show where he reveled in the...2016-08-011h 30Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyJesse LaGreca, China & Italian Banks25 July 2016 - Jesse LaGreca (@JesseLaGreca), political activist and commentor, manages to be both incisive and hilarious with his jackhammer-pounding, nailgun-fast insight into the underlying structure of the current election cycle. In the first half of the interview Jesse both breaks down the structural problems with the GOP and brings true thoughtful analysis to the pick of Tim Kaine. In Extra Mad he gets into more detail and provides some of the sharpest wit I have heard on these topics to date.
At the top of the show I round-up the latest developments in court rulings on voting rights summarizing the...2016-07-251h 23Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyPPP & NN1618 July 2016 - Will and I drove out of St. Louis yesterday full to the tippy top with almost too much information. We were extremely lucky to be able to capture some interview time with Tom Jensen the Director of the highly respected Democratic pollster Public Policy Polling (PPP). I know why PPP has managed to maintain its edge as a scientific pollster with just a dash of the ludicrous, Tom is a funny guy and he laughs a lot. That bodes well for anyone who operates all day, every day in the political sphere. Tom takes us behind the scenes...2016-07-181h 12Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyLosses & Listening, Mark Carney's Leadership & Bank Stress Testing11 July 2016 - We could not begin without acknowledging that yet again our nation has suffered terrible losses: Alton Sterling, Philander Castile, Michael Krol, Michael Smith, Lorne Ahrens, Brent Thompson and Patrick Zamarripa. Will sums up our feelings by reading parts of Hillary Clinton's speech in Philadelphia which, we feel, speaks for us.
It's hard to believe there was anything else important in a week like this past one but there was and I get to two of the big pieces of financial news. The US Federal Reserve released the stress test results of both the quantitative (DFAST) and qualitative (CCAR...2016-07-1157 minHopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnySNP Councilor Math Campbell-Sturgess27 June 2016 - Well, THAT happened. Brexit basically ate the news cycle of much of the world this past week. Who knew so many people could find legitimate use for the word "gobsmacked." We were lucky to be guided through the chaos by Scottish National Party Councilor Math Campbell-Sturgess. Will has been wanting to have the Inverclyde Council representative on for a quite a while and this seemed like the moment. In fact, the timing was so good that Will trimmed down his block and I ditched mine completely because there was just too much ground to cover. I am especially...2016-06-271h 45Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyDr. James Brusseau on Inequality & Philosophy20 June 2016 - Both of the main topics this week, inequality through the lens of philosophy and Brexit, ended up stretching me to a new perspective. In both cases I default to the economics and the associated numbers but it turns out this wasn't the week for that. Dr. James Brusseau is an author, a professor at Pace University and recently hosted a new documentary, the Wealth Inequality Workshop. Most people think about inequality in terms of the political sphere or the economic sphere but James brings a new voice, philosophy, into the conversation and in so doing the realization that...2016-06-201h 42Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyAriella Barker on PwD Advocacy13 June 2016 - We always think our interview guest is going to give us a strong interview but there is no way to predict when an interview is going to be breathtaking. Ariella Barker, advocate and activist for persons with disabilities (PwDs) gave us a truly stunning, erudite and heartfelt interview. It is no surprise that this is our longest interview to date. Ariella had a lot to say and all of it was important. I tracked Ariella down after I read her 18 May blog post, "'Berned' by Bernie," which was suddenly all over my Twitter timeline one day. You. Must...2016-06-132h 06Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyReprise: Alexis Goldstein & Dodd-Frank6 June 2016 - Will and I were unable to record a new episode this week so we are reprising our episode from March which featured Alexis Goldstein of Americans for Financial Reform. Alexis gave us a truly exceptional interview on Dodd-Frank and given that our interview last week was on the foreclosure crisis, with David Dayen, we thought touching back to our conversation with Alexis made sense.
You can go here for our original episode notes.
We will be back next week with an all new Hopping Mad. - Arliss2016-06-051h 37Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyDavid Dayen on "Chain of Title" & Housing Choices30 May 2016 - I have a house rabbit named David Dayen. That's how highly I think of our guest this week. Dayen is a highly respected financial news and economics journalist for a reason. He finds a way to make even the most dry and dense topics understandable while also making it absolutely clear why we should all care. David's first book, Chain of Title: How Three Ordinary Americans Uncovered Wall Street's Great Foreclosure Fraud (also on Audible.com here), is meticulously researched and a deep dive into the foreclosure crisis. Typical of David he found a unique way into the...2016-05-301h 39Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyCounter-Messaging ISIS, Immigration & Transphobia23 May 2016 – Middle East expert Landon Shroder (@LandonShroder) has returned to talk to us about the work being done to counter-message ISIS. His new company and foundation, Applied Mathematics, combines the skills of experienced foreign policy experts with the messaging genius of marketing professionals to create authentic, high quality content which will provide a counter-weight against on-line, violent, extremist media.
Will starts off the show with a story about flags. Because they had nothing better to do with their lives, Spanish soccer authorities tried to ban the Catalan flag, the Estelada, from being waved by fans during a championship match. Will th...2016-05-231h 40Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyConspiracy Theories, Social Security & Democracy16 May 2016 - When you have Mark Potok, from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), on for the interview, you already know it's going to be a good show. Mark is the editor of the SPLC quarterly journal, Intelligence Report and most of this interview is based upon an article he and Don Terry wrote for the Winter issue, Margins to the Mainstream. While Mark is one of the leading experts in the country on extremism (and we will have him back in a few weeks on that very subject) this article took a look at the conspiracy theories which have...2016-05-161h 21Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyPutting Pundits in Context & Learning From Labour's Loss9 May 2016 - This week on Hopping Mad we had two guests for an extended interview which we dubbed our Pundit Primer. Greg Dworkin (DemFromCT at dKos and Twitter) and Driftglass ( his own blog and Mr_Electrico on Twitter). Greg starts most weekday mornings on the popular Netroots Radio show and podcast, Kagro in the Morning with David Waldman. Driftglass joins Bluegal on the podcast The Professional Left, which also airs on Netroots Radio. These are both shows I can honestly say I never miss and I encourage you to give them a listen if you have not done so in...2016-05-091h 48Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyWilliam Spriggs, Scots & Saudis2 May 2016 - Even more than in the past there is this nexus between the progressive movement and the labor movement in the US. This week we were joined for the interview by the Chief Economist of the AFL-CIO, the deeply knowledgable Dr. William Spriggs. Dr. Spriggs kindly gave us an unusually long and detailed interview and we highly recommend visiting some of the pages, to which I refer during our talk. They are on the excellent website of the AFL-CIO here, here, here and here.
At the top of the show Will fills us in on what is going on...2016-05-021h 48Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyThe awful truth: Trafficking of LGBT Youth in the US is a realityRachel Hutchiston of irreverent testimony joined me as a guest host, because Arliss is on vacation.
Today we started with a tiny bit of coverage on the Scottish elections. Our UK listeners will note that I didn't talk much about Nicola, and that's because I'm saving a full segment for her next week, as I talk about the Scottish elections on May 5th. Only when those are over and done with will I give Brexit my full attention.
That was followed by a discussion of LGBT strategy when it comes to elections, and a discussion about how we take state...2016-04-251h 32Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss Bunny@DeRay for Mayor!11 April 2016 – Every time I hear DeRay McKesson speak or read an article he has written I am again convinced that we need someone like this running every major city in America. Our interview with the Baltimore Mayoral candidate, civil rights activist and educator reveals him to be a holistic thinker, a realist and a revolutionary all at the same time. If you don’t already, you must follow him on Twitter at @deray. Will has referred to DeRay’s platform on past shows and, if you have not already done so, go and read a plan for an American city that i...2016-04-111h 17Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyAward-Winning Author Matt Rees4 April 2016 – Most of us have a short list of “desert island” authors and I have to admit that award-winning author Matt Rees has been on my list since I stumbled across his novel, The Collaborator of Bethlehem, early in 2007. Reading Matt’s work over the years has changed my perspective and every time I re-read one of his books I find that once again I am seeing part of the world in a new way. In the interview today we spend most of our time on Matt’s newest book, The Ambassador, which he wrote with co-author Yehuda Avner. You will likel...2016-04-041h 37Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyRabbit Rescue with Mara Hurwitt28 March 2016 - In the interest of full disclosure, as a Rabbit American I admit a bias on the topic of rabbit welfare. Toward that end Will and I were able to have attorney Mara Hurwitt join the show to talk about the legal complexities and issues related to rabbits. Mara is a long-time educator for the House Rabbit Society, a leading international rabbit rescue organization. Mara has provided pro bono legal support for a variety of animal welfare organizations and has worked at the Federal level to protect wild horse herds (which, in my opinion should be considered a national...2016-03-2857 minHopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyDodd-Frank with Alexis Goldstein21 March 2016 – This week we take a deep dive into Dodd-Frank. As I have been promising for the past several weeks, I start out with a fast but fairly detailed backgrounder on the legislation itself. Then, our guest, Alexis Goldstein updates us on where we are today with the implementation process. Alexis is a Senior Policy Analyst at Americans for Financial Reform and has been in the thick of the Dodd-Frank battle from back in her days with Occupy the SEC when she co-authored a 325-page Comment letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission urging them to write rules for a st...2016-03-211h 36Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyWOW! Frances Coppola on Brexit14 March 2016 - I follow many media sources on economics but none more closely than I do Frances Coppola. Frances' insight on banking fraud, regulation and on the Greek crisis has contributed significantly to my thinking on these subjects. Having her on the show to talk about Brexit is especially exciting for me and I know you will be bowled over by her as well. Her blog, Coppola Comment and other writings, at The Guardian, the Financial Times, The Economist, Forbes and her appearances on the BBC provide an accessible clarity rare among financial industry wonks.
Will is breaking news today...2016-03-141h 44Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyCharles Gaba & Elections!29 February 2016 - This week, we talked Iranian, Irish, and Scottish elections. I discussed Labour's demise in Scotland, and talked about how they've never recovered from the death of Donald Dewar. It looks as if Labour is heading for yet another defeat in the upcoming Holyrood elections.
Arliss went over some banking terms (I know! What could possibly be more exciting?) because the jargon of the financial industry is a language of obfuscation. In order for us to understand what the heck these people are talking about, we need to learn what is essentially a separate language. That's by design. If...2016-02-291h 39Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyDeRay Mckesson, GDP, Puerto Rico & Umberto Eco22 February 2016 - This week Will and I ended up with so much to say that we did the whole show ourselves. I open with an update on the economic crisis in Puerto Rico and I follow that with a quick take on economic canaries, Maersk and CSX.
Will follows me with news about the terrific campaign of DeRay Mckesson in the mayoral race in Baltimore. DeRay has released spectacular position papers and proposals and is running the kind of campaign which deserves to draw support from progressives across the nation.
I'm up next with answers to listener questions relating to...2016-02-221h 17Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss Bunny2016 Politics with Jesse LaGreca8 February 2016 – I love political detail. The nitty gritty, pixel level parts that combine to render something one can only see fully by stepping back. Jesse LaGreca (@JesseLaGreca on Twitter and MinistryOfTruth on Daily Kos) gave us some excellent, granular information on the seats most likely to help Democrats to flip the Senate. He also got into gerrymandering, the GOP Presidential nominees and why running away from Obama and the word “liberal” doesn’t fly with the Democratic Party base.
Will reminded us that Trayvon Martin would have turned 21 this week. Will also gave a nod to the Sanders campaign for policing...2016-02-082h 02Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyJim Crow Never Died11 January 2016 - Ever since the Black Lives Matter hashtag rose to prominence I have found myself on a steep learning curve. Our guest for this show is Dr. Lawrence Brown an Assistant Professor at Baltimore's Morgan State University School of Community Health and Policy. Dr. Brown is a rising national voice spreading the word that Jim Crow never died and the kind of hyper-segregation seen in Black communities, like that in Baltimore, has shocking and far reaching public health and societal consequences far more pervasive than are initially apparent. Dr. Brown clearly conveys the implications of policies, both historical and...2016-01-111h 57Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyModern Policing, Climate Change & Taxes7 December 2015 - We are back with an all new show including a first-rate interview with Police Chief David Hewitt. For eleven years Chief Hewitt has been running a small town, Midwest department which is known for its considered approach to law enforcement. His thinking on social justice, the militarization of policing, use of force and the pressures being placed on law enforcement to fill gaps which are not being met at the source are all well worth hearing. Listen to him saying "You can't arrest your way to" a solution. If he could tell all departments across the nation one...2015-12-0757 minHopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyISIS, Taxes & Strategy23 November 2015 - The news just doesn't ever seem to get any easier to watch, does it? With the horror of terrorism and the insanity of our nation quaking in fear at the prospect of extending our hearts to the very people who have fled the terrorists we so despise, it has been a long week. So much for that whole "...home of the brave..." thing, right! Maybe it's just me but I do find it helps me to be able to cope when I can put it all into political, historical, economic and religious context. Middle East expert Landon Shroder...2015-11-232h 12Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyParis & ISIS - Backgrounder21 November 2015 (for 16 November show) - I should begin by apologizing for not having posted here this past Monday. My family experienced a serious (and ongoing) family emergency. As we all learned again this week, be it via media or in person, life can be completely and utterly changed in just a moment.
That being said and in the lee of the attacks in Egypt, Beirut and Paris, Will was left to handle the podcast alone with no notice so he soberly took a look at world events and ran our first interview with Middle East expert, Landon Shroder. When we...2015-11-1657 minHopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyComcast Data Caps, What is Money? & Hawaiian Independence9 November 2015 - Today on Hopping Mad, Arliss was unavailable to record the intro, but was still able to cover her usual financial beat, explaining the power of a fiat currency. Will covered Comcast's Data Caps, and our guest was Professor Francis Boyle, Human Rights Lawyer and International Law Expert. He explained that the Hawaiian situation is unique, as the laws which apply to Native Americans apparently do not apply to Native Hawaiians. Unfortunately, his time was limited, so there is no Extra Mad section this week. But the good news is that we're now on both Stitcher and iTunes! For...2015-11-0957 minHopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyCommon Core, Spratly Islands & Fiscal vs Monetary Policy2 November 2015 - This week we interviewed an expert on Common Core and, seriously people, she was incandescent. Even if you don’t have kids in school, you REALLY want to listen to this interview. Debra is a teacher-consultant of the National Writing Project and the California History Project, a school district Director of Libraries and Literacy leader, with a PhD in Language, Literacy and Culture from UCBerkeley. She has 25 years classroom teaching experience and provides professional development for teachers. So, clearly, she’s a rock star. What is especially revelatory about this interview is that Debra talks about Common Core from...2015-11-021h 38Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyIraq Expert Landon Shroder, the "U" in UK and Fiscal Policy26 October 2015 – This week we were fortunate enough to have Landon Shroder (@LandonShroder on Twitter) join us for the interview. Landon spent seven years living in Iraq representing Royal Dutch Shell, the last five of which as Shell’s head of intelligence and assessment. Now he is writing for Vice News and continuing to cover the region as a journalist. Landon gave us an incisive interview for the broadcast show but the podcast version, below, contains the additional Extra Mad portion of the interview and it is exceptional. Truly.
In his block Will covered the new version of crazy in the UK w...2015-10-261h 50Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyParliament, the House & Margaret Pless Goes Meta19 October 2015 – We started out simply this week with a big tip of the carrot to Whole Foods in thanks for their decision to no longer sell bunny in their freezer section. Rabbit Americans everywhere join me in collective relief. Will and I are both reading unusually good books this week. I’m reading the magical, Two Years, Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights Nights by Salman Rushdie. I’ll be the first to admit that I never managed to struggle to the end of The Satanic Verses but Rushdie’s new book is in the style of 1001 Nights and is truly a book t...2015-10-1958 minHopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyDailyKos' Armando Explains Why You Can Never Have Your Day In Court12 October 2015 – It’s true, over the past eight years the Supreme Court has been steadily chipping away at citizen access to Federal courts for civil actions. Not only is the bar to individual access almost impossible to surmount, climbing the mountain of barriers put before those attempting to gain certification for a class action is very nearly impossible. Corporations are people and welcomed into the courts but actual people…not so much.
Armando, who is a lawyer, frequent contributor to Daily Kos Radio Kagro in the Morning with David Waldman and a Daily Kos front pager, joined us to walk us thr...2015-10-121h 25
Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyHopping Mad Goes "Extra Mad! with Joe Firestone5 October 2015 – We realized something this week. While we must maintain a tight 58 minute schedule for the version of our show which airs on Netroots Radio (at 8AM Eastern on Mondays) we have no such limitation for the version which posts here. Joe Firestone, who joined us to talk about his new book, “Who Needs Balanced Trade? Who Needs a Balanced Budget?” was so fascinating that we simply had lots more to ask…so we did. The version of the show here on the site adds an additional 25 minutes of the interview with Joe and you must listen because Joe really had time...2015-10-051h 26Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss BunnyHopping Mad Meets Challenges and the Amazing Caroline Ward Holland28 September 2015 - This podcast was tough. The combination of our learning curve and strange technical issues was exhausting. Eventually, both Will and I ran out of time. We also ran over time. If you heard the podcast when it aired on Netroots Radio you immediately noticed that the introduction was trimmed, there was no interstitial music, there was no opening chatter between Will and I and Will’s comments on the Catholic church were both fascinating and lightening fast. Will, who handles the editing, had to cut seven minutes out so everything not absolutely necessary got thrown overboard. Obviously, we ma...2015-09-2857 min