The BradCast w/ Brad Friedman

'BradCast' 6/2/2026 (Trump's Favorite Election Fraud Criminal Now Runs Free) 03.06.2026 58хв

On today's 'BradCast': Voters head to the polls for 2026 primary elections in California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, and South Dakota. Colorado's disgraced former Mesa County Clerk, 2020 election denier Tina Peters, was sprung from prison on Monday, after serving a fraction of her nine-year sentence for felony crimes that included election fraud and breaching her county's sensitive election system software; she is still spewing ridiculous, baseless lies about election security. Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is now a pariah in his own party for granting Peters clemency. Foreign tourism to the U.S. has plummeted due to Donald Trump's policies, costing the US billions in lost revenue. Plus Desi Doyen has our new 'Green News Report.'

'BradCast' 6/1/2026 (One Failure After Another: An historic moment as the Trump Presidency collapses) 02.06.2026 58хв

On today's 'BradCast': The tsunami of breaking news events over the last week has two unmistakable, central storylines underway that may someday turn out to have been historic. First, the Trump Presidency is collapsing, politically, legally in the courts, and even physically - - from Donald Trump's imploding 'state fair' on the National Mall, to court orders undoing his Kennedy Center takeover and putting his wildly corrupt $1.8 billion slush fund on hold, and much, much more. The other storyline is the monumental, ongoing fight to prevent American democracy from collapsing along with Trump's failing presidency, which seems to be holding the line so far, with encouraging new developments. Callers weigh in on all the above, plus the crowded California governor's race.

'BradCast' 5/29/2026 (Encore: Republicans Are Revolting, with guests Heather Digby Parton of Salon, 'Driftglass' of 'Pro Left Podcast') 29.05.2026 58хв

Encore: original airdate 5-21-2026. On today's 'BradCast': House Republicans cancelled a vote to end the Iran War because they were going to lose it. Senate Republicans are revolting over legislation to use taxpayer money for Donald Trump's $1 billion ballroom bunker; public outrage over his $1.8 billion slush fund to pay off his supporters (including violent felons who attacked Capitol police on Jan. 6); and his administration's unprecedented scheme to grant him immunity from IRS audits. Trump is upending the 2026 midterm elections with his 'revenge tour.' The end of Stephen Colbert's late-night show marks the end of an era in American culture. Salon's HEATHER DIGBY PARTON and 'DRIFTGLASS' of 'The Professional Left Podcast' bring insight, hilarity, context and analysis to all of these topics and more. Plus Desi Doyen has our new 'Green News Report.'

'BradCast' 5/28/2026 (Encore: Do Dems Have the Courage Required to Restore and Reform American Democracy? With Kate Riga of TPM) 28.05.2026 58хв

Encore: original airdate 5-13-2026. On today's 'BradCast': In primary elections in Nebraska, voters stopped a Trump-supporting, fake Democrat intended to be a spoiler against progressive Independent candidate Dan Osbourne, who will now challenge billionaire GOP incumbent Sen. Pete Ricketts. In South Carolina, the GOP-controlled state senate rejected efforts to redraw US House maps to eliminate the state's single Black-majority district, but the reprieve is likely temporary. Journalist KATE RIGA of Talking Points Memo discusses the type of hardball actions Democrats will need to take to repair and restore our crippled democracy, the fight ahead to reset the asymmetrical playing field that Republicans use to entrench themselves in permanent power, whether Democrats have the stomach for it, and much more.

'BradCast' 5/27/2026 (Encore: Trump's $1.8 Billion DOJ-Facilitated Taxpayer Heist, with Robert Weissman of Public Citizen) 27.05.2026 57хв

Encore: original airdate 5-18-2026. On today's 'BradCast': Donald Trump has invented a new way to grift the nation. Trump has dropped his absurd $10 billion lawsuit against his own IRS, and in exchange, his Justice Department will create a $1.7 billion 'compensation' fund - - a slush fund operated by Trump himself to distribute to his supporters and cronies. ROBERT WEISSMAN of Public Citizen explains the unspeakably corrupt, taxpayer-funded Trump scam, and what can be done about it. The World Health Organization declared a global health emergency over an outbreak of Ebola in Africa. Mild Trump critic Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-VA) lost his primary bid for re-election. Protesters rallied in Selma, AL to protest the return of Jim Crow voter suppression laws as Southern states move to eliminate Black-majority U.S. House districts.

'BradCast' 5/26/2026 (Encore: Trump Activist Judges Allow Ten Commandments in TX Classrooms, with Jay Willis of Balls and Strikes) 26.05.2026 58хв

Encore: original airdate 4-28-2026. On today's 'BradCast': Donald Trump's public approval ratings continue to crater, as new polls show more Americans say their financial situation is getting worse than at any time over the last 25 years. Republicans have amassed far more campaign cash than Democrats, but it may not be enough to overcome potentially steep losses in the November midterm elections. US Senate candidate James Talarico (D-TX) is outpolling both of his potential GOP opponents. JAY WILLIS of the legal website Balls and Strikes explains the bonkers ruling and specious reasoning by the Fifth Circuit allowing Texas to mandate posting the Ten Commandments in every classroom in every public school, even thought it blatantly violates the Constitution's wall of separation between church and state. Plus Desi Doyen has our new 'Green News Report.'

'BradCast' 5/25/2026 (Encore: Reforming Our Illegitimate SCOTUS, with Alicia Bannon of NYU's Brennan Center for Justice) 25.05.2026 58хв

Encore: original airdate 5-6-2026. On today's 'BradCast': Statewide primary elections in Ohio set the slates for a US Senate race and the governor's seat. In Indiana, at least five Republican state lawmakers who rejected Donald Trump's demands to further gerrymander their already heavily-gerrymandered state lost their primaries to Trump-endorsed MAGA Republicans. In Michigan, Democratic candidate Chedrick Greene won a critical special election for state senate by nearly 20 points, maintaining Democratic control of the chamber. ALICIA BANNON of NYU's Brennan Center for Justice explains why unprecedented rulings by the rightwing supermajority on the US Supreme Court – including recently giving the greenlight to rig US House maps in the middle of active primary elections -- demonstrate the need for comprehensive court reform to protect democracy, specific elements to reform the Court and the federal judiciary, and much more.

'BradCast' 5/22/2026 (Encore: Republicans Seek Immunity for Big Oil, with Laura Peterson of Union of Concerned Scientists) 23.05.2026 58хв

Encore: original airdate 5-7-2026. On today's 'BradCast': As Mississippi grappled with yet another destructive tornado outbreak, a Donald Trump-appointed panel endorsed his goal of gutting funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and forcing states to shoulder the burden of disaster management. Tennessee's Republican-controlled state legislature rammed through new voting maps that eliminate the state's only Black-majority district, prompting a legislator to call for Memphis to secede from the state. LAURA PETERSON of the Union of Concerned Scientists explains Congressional Republicans' shocking new Big Oil shield law to grant the oil industry permanent immunity from all climate liability lawsuits, current and future, that seek to hold the industry liable for the rising costs and damages of climate impacts, and for knowingly deceiving the public about climate science. Plus Desi Doyen has our new 'Green News Report.'

'BradCast' 5/21/2026 (Republicans Are Revolting, with guests Heather Digby Parton of Salon, 'Driftglass' of 'Pro Left Podcast') 22.05.2026 58хв

On today's 'BradCast': House Republicans cancelled a vote to end the Iran War because they were going to lose it. Senate Republicans are revolting over legislation to use taxpayer money for Donald Trump's $1 billion ballroom bunker; public outrage over his $1.8 billion slush fund to pay off his supporters (including violent felons who attacked Capitol police on Jan. 6); and his administration's unprecedented scheme to grant him immunity from IRS audits. Trump is upending the 2026 midterm elections with his 'revenge tour.' The end of Stephen Colbert's late-night show marks the end of an era in American culture. Salon's HEATHER DIGBY PARTON and 'DRIFTGLASS' of 'The Professional Left Podcast' bring insight, hilarity, context and analysis to all of these topics and more. Plus Desi Doyen has our new 'Green News Report.'

'BradCast' 5/20/2026 (Primary Results from Six States; Lawsuit Challenges Trump's $1.8 Billion Taxpayer-Funded Grift Machine) 21.05.2026 58хв

On today's 'BradCast': The critical 2026 midterm elections are taking shape on the state and federal level. We have noteworthy results from primaries in Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Oregon and Pennsylvania. Voters contended with chaos and confusion in Alabama, where the GOP-controlled legislature cancelled select U.S. House races in order to redraw their already heavily-gerrymandered maps to eliminate Black-majority voting districts. In Kentucky, Donald Trump's conservative adversary Rep. Thomas Massie, who championed legislation to release the Epstein Files, lost his re-election bid. A Tennessee court approved a major settlement for a man falsely jailed after posting political content. Two Capitol Hill police officers who were attacked in the January 6, 2021 insurrection filed suit to stop Trump's unlawful $1.8 billion taxpayer-funded slush fund/grift machine for Trump supporters, including Jan. 6 insurrectionists.

'BradCast' 5/19/2026 (NAACP Calls for Voting Rights Boycott of College Sports at Southern Schools; Trump's corrupt $1.8B deal) 20.05.2026 58хв

On today's 'BradCast': The NAACP launched the 'Out of Bounds' campaign calling on black athletes and supporters to boycott universities in eight Southern states where Republican-controlled legislatures are eliminating majority-Black voting districts. Voters in Georgia have a chance to oust far-right state supreme court justices, but Republicans are gearing up to undo the election if they do. Corrupt Donald Trump endorsed corrupt Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a bitter, expensive US Senate primary runoff over incumbent GOP Sen. John Cornyn. Trump's wildly corrupt $1.8 billion Justice Department slush fund includes a 'deal' that prohibits the IRS from investigating or auditing Trump, his family, or his companies. Wildfire season is off to a dangerous start in California and New Mexico. Plus Desi Doyen has our new 'Green News Report.'

'BradCast' 5/18/2026 (Trump's $1.8 Billion DOJ-Facilitated Taxpayer Heist; Guest: Robert Weissman of Public Citizen) 19.05.2026 57хв

On today's 'BradCast': Donald Trump has invented a new way to grift the nation. Trump has dropped his absurd $10 billion lawsuit against his own IRS, and in exchange, his Justice Department will create a $1.7 billion 'compensation' fund - - a slush fund operated by Trump himself to distribute to his supporters and cronies. ROBERT WEISSMAN of Public Citizen explains the unspeakably corrupt, taxpayer-funded Trump scam, and what can be done about it. The World Health Organization declared a global health emergency over an outbreak of Ebola in Africa. Mild Trump critic Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-VA) lost his primary bid for re-election. Protesters rallied in Selma, AL to protest the return of Jim Crow voter suppression laws as Southern states move to eliminate Black-majority U.S. House districts.

'BradCast' 5/15/2026 (Encore: Billionaires Spending Millions to Lie to Voters About CA's Proposed, One-Time Billionaires Tax, with Harold Meyerson of 'The Prospect') 15.05.2026 57хв

Encore: original airdate 5-4-2026. On today's 'BradCast': Oil and gas prices continue rising as Donald Trump's War on Iran remains unresolved. The Trump Administration ignored the 60-day deadline to seek congressional approval for the Iran War. After several states recently enacted wealth taxes on millionaires, a proposed initiative in California to levy a one-time wealth tax on the state's billionaires has qualified for the November ballot. But Google co-founder Sergey Brin and fellow billionaires are funding a wildly misleading, opposing measure to negate it. The American Prospect's HAROLD MEYERSON explains how wealth taxes work, who benefits, pros and cons, and much more. GOP-controlled states moved quickly to eliminate majority-Black districts from their U.S. House maps after the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act. Plus a warning for California voters about late-arriving mail-in ballots.

'BradCast' 5/14/2026 (More GOP Vote Rigging Underway. Hey, Maryland Dems! Time to Get Crackin') 15.05.2026 58хв

On today's 'BradCast': The racist, unconstitutional SCOTUS-aided Republican Gerrymandering Wars are not over yet. To counter the rightwing U.S. Supreme Court supermajority's gutting of the Voting Rights Act, and GOP-controlled Southern states suspending their primary elections to racially re-gerrymander their already-gerrymandered U.S. House maps, Maryland's Democratic Gov. Wes Moore is pushing his state's Democratic-controlled legislature to move quickly to redraw the state's voting maps. Georgia's GOP governor signed a bill to change election rules applying only to Black-majority Atlanta, and plans a special session to re-gerrymander the state far in advance of the 2028 election in case his party loses power. Upcoming primary elections next week will be in AL, GA, ID, KY, OR, and PA. Montana judge upholds same-day registration to protect Native American voters. Plus Desi Doyen has our new 'Green News Report.'

'BradCast' 5/13/2026 (Do Dems Have the Courage Required to Restore and Reform American Democracy? With Kate Riga of TPM) 14.05.2026 58хв

On today's 'BradCast': In primary elections in Nebraska, voters stopped a Trump-supporting, fake Democrat intended to be a spoiler against progressive Independent candidate Dan Osbourne, who will now challenge billionaire GOP incumbent Sen. Pete Ricketts. In South Carolina, the GOP-controlled state senate rejected efforts to redraw US House maps to eliminate the state's single Black-majority district, but the reprieve is likely temporary. Journalist KATE RIGA of Talking Points Memo discusses the type of hardball actions Democrats will need to take to repair and restore our crippled democracy, the fight ahead to reset the asymmetrical playing field that Republicans use to entrench themselves in permanent power, whether Democrats have the stomach for it, and much more.

'BradCast' 5/12/2026 (CA Offshore Oil Rig Fire Previews Trump's Next Huge Failure; Guest: Brady Bradshaw of Center for BioDiversity) 13.05.2026 57хв

On today's 'BradCast': It has been grim witnessing Republicans' surge of corrupt actions to rig the critical midterm elections, from the rightwing US Supreme Court, state legislatures, and state courts. But new data show Donald Trump is increasingly unpopular; inflation is rising to its highest level in years; and political analysts favor Democrats to win back the majority in the U.S. House. So pro-democracy Americans still have a chance to defeat autocracy. Marine biologist BRADY BRADSHAW of the Center for Biological Diversity explains how an offshore rig fire off the coast of California this week illustrates the broad, inherently destructive environmental impacts of offshore oil and gas operations, the Trump Administration's corrupt efforts to massively expand offshore drilling, actions to protect our coasts, and much more. Plus Desi Doyen has our new 'Green News Report.'

'BradCast' 5/11/2026 (VA Supremes Nix Special Election Results, New U.S. House Map in Huge Gift to Voting Rigging GOP) 12.05.2026 57хв

On today's 'BradCast': Donald Trump and Republicans have escalated their extraordinary corruption in plain sight as they work to rig this year's critical midterm elections. The right-leaning Virginia State Supreme Court delivered a big boost to Republicans, tossing out special election results on a technicality after the state's voters approved new U.S. House maps favorable to Democrats. The corrupted rightwing supermajority on the US Supreme Court, on the heels of gutting the Voting Rights Act, is now allowing several states to redraw their voting maps to eliminate Black-majority voting districts, in the middle of an active election after voting has already started. The rightwing SCOTUS justices violated their own precedents to do it. But there are things that pro-democracy Americans can do to fight back. Callers weigh in.

'BradCast' 5/8/2026 (Encore: Corrupt SCOTUS Guts Voting Rights Act, with Dan Vicuña of Common Cause) 08.05.2026 58хв

Encore: original airdate 4-29-2026. On today's 'BradCast': Today was a grim day for voting rights in America, after the stolen and corrupted rightwing supermajority on the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 6-3 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, gutting the last remaining provision of the historic Voting Rights Act of 1965 that for decades had protected voters against racial discrimination and blatant racial gerrymandering in elections. DAN VICUÑA, National Director of Redistricting and Representation at watchdog group Common Cause, explains the impacts of the ruling, the history of how we got here, and what can be done about it. Appeals court rejects Donald Trump's bid to dismiss $84 million judgment he must pay for defaming E. Jean Carroll. Former FBI Dir. James Comey responds to the Trump Justice Department's ridiculous attempt to indict him again.

'BradCast' 5/7/2026 (Republicans Seek Immunity for Big Oil, with guest Laura Peterson of Union of Concerned Scientists) 08.05.2026 58хв

On today's 'BradCast': As Mississippi grappled with yet another destructive tornado outbreak, a Donald Trump-appointed panel endorsed his goal of gutting funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and forcing states to shoulder the burden of disaster management. Tennessee's Republican-controlled state legislature rammed through new voting maps that eliminate the state's only Black-majority district, prompting a legislator to call for Memphis to secede from the state. LAURA PETERSON of the Union of Concerned Scientists explains Congressional Republicans' shocking new Big Oil shield law to grant the oil industry permanent immunity from all climate liability lawsuits, current and future, that seek to hold the industry liable for the rising costs and damages of climate impacts, and for knowingly deceiving the public about climate science. Plus Desi Doyen has our new 'Green News Report.'

'BradCast' 5/6/2026 (Reforming Our Illegitimate SCOTUS; Guest: Alicia Bannon of NYU's Brennan Center for Justice) 07.05.2026 58хв

On today's 'BradCast': Statewide primary elections in Ohio set the slates for a US Senate race and the governor's seat. In Indiana, at least five Republican state lawmakers who rejected Donald Trump's demands to further gerrymander their already heavily-gerrymandered state lost their primaries to Trump-endorsed MAGA Republicans. In Michigan, Democratic candidate Chedrick Greene won a critical special election for state senate by nearly 20 points, maintaining Democratic control of the chamber. ALICIA BANNON of NYU's Brennan Center for Justice explains why unprecedented rulings by the rightwing supermajority on the US Supreme Court – including recently giving the greenlight to rig US House maps in the middle of active primary elections -- demonstrate the need for comprehensive court reform to protect democracy, specific elements to reform the Court and the federal judiciary, and much more.