It’s been a strong week for Republican villainy — and that’a a high bar to clear. The GOP continues its all-out assault on public welfare, as Iowa Republicans proposed a bill that would cruelly restrict who qualifies for SNAP and what quality of food they receive from the program. If your lavish lifestyle includes having multiple cars or more than $2,750 on hand, members of the Iowa GOP don’t believe you should have access to food stamps. And if you do qualify under their suffocating means-testing, you wouldn’t be allowed to buy “meat, flour, butter, cooking oil, frozen prepared food,” according to Luke Elzinga of the Iowa Hunger Coalition.
Right-wing radicalization, especially on social media, is a huge focus on the podcast this week. We’re joined by YouTuber Lonerbox as he takes us through the history of right-wing censorship and the arguments for and against free speech, Trump’s engagement with and mobilization of a far-right fringe via social media, and much more. When should the left call for censorship? When do hateful words become life-threatening actions? These are the questions we’re grappling with, and they’re urgent ones for the left to address.