February 4 - From "American Carnage" to "American Disgrace"; Is Trump Winning In His Campaign Against the DOJ and FBI?; What the NFL is Not Talking About at Today's Superbowl

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the differing reactions to the Nunes memo which has underwhelmed many while confirming the darkest conspiracy theories of those already riled up by Fox News and right wing media.  David Schultz, a Professor of Political Science at the University of Minnesota School of Law and author of “American Politics in the Age of Ignorance: Why Lawmakers Choose Belief over Research”, joins us to discuss the weaponization of conspiracy theories by Donald Trump who has moved on from his inauguration message of “American carnage” to his current invention of “American disgrace”. With Trump seizing on the Nunes memo which he helped orchestrate as the Fox News echo chamber pumps out pro-Trump propaganda, the president appears to be doubling down on his attacks on the FBI and DOJ with Rod Rosenstein in the cross-hairs as a next target to be forced out by a president who at the very least if he does not succeed in shutting down or neutering the special counsel’s inquiry, will now be able to avoid testifying to Mueller on the grounds which the bogus Nunes memo has provided.

Part 2

Then we speak with an award-winning journalist Walter Shapiro who has covered the last ten presidential campaigns and is a columnist for Roll Call, a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University and teaches political science at Yale. He joins us to discuss his article at The Guardian “The Nunes memo shows Republicans buy their own conspiracy theories” and whether Trump has succeeded in not just getting away with not releasing his tax returns and making a mockery of the emoluments clause, but creating the pretext for either ending, delaying  or neutering the Mueller investigation.

Part 3

Then finally we assess the aspects of today’s Superbowl that the NFL is not emphasizing and that includes declining attendance, the corporatization of football, what a career playing pro football does to the human brain, and what happened to the #takeaknee protest movement started by the 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Ben Carrington, a Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at USC and author of “Race, Sport and Politics” joins us to look into why Trump’s swipe at NFL protesters got the most applause at his recent State of the Union address.