2462 - Tesla Takedown Protests; Whole Foods Union Fight w/ Mase Veney, Joel Lava

Summary

The Majority Report with Sam Seder

Episode: 2462
Title: Tesla Takedown Protests; Whole Foods Union Fight w/ Mase Veney, Joel Lava
Release Date: March 26, 2025

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Introduction

In this compelling episode of The Majority Report, host Sam Seder delves deep into two significant grassroots movements shaping the American socio-political landscape: the Tesla Takedown protests led by Joel Lava and the unionization efforts at Whole Foods in Philadelphia spearheaded by Mace Venney and Ed Dupree. Additionally, Seder touches upon concerning national security lapses that have rattled Republican circles and broader implications for midterm elections.

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National Security Mishaps and Political Repercussions

[00:45 – 24:46]

Sam Seder opens the episode by addressing recent alarming revelations about national security breaches. He discusses how top national security officials inadvertently exposed detailed attack plans on a group chat, causing significant embarrassment and distrust within Republican ranks. The revelation includes specific timestamps and action plans, such as:

• Pete Hegseth's "team update" detailing precise launch times for F18s and strike drones:
  • "At 12:15 Eastern, F18 launch first strike package." [10:20]
  • "Trigger-based F18 first strike window starts at 14:10." [17:15]

Seder criticizes the officials' lax approach to operational security (OPSEC) and highlights the inconsistencies in their statements during hearings. He states:

"This is all saying, this is what's going to happen. Not in real-time. Literally saying two hours out in advance..." [17:15]

The discussion underscores the potential national security risks posed by such divulgences and questions the competence of those entrusted with safeguarding sensitive information.

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Tesla Takedown Protests with Joel Lava

[31:26 – 40:45]

Guest: Joel Lava, Organizer with Tesla Takedown

Joel Lava provides an insightful look into the Tesla Takedown movement, which aims to challenge Elon Musk’s influence and attack the Tesla brand directly to undermine Musk's power and wealth. Key points include:

1. Origins and Strategy:

   • The movement began organically nine weeks prior, evolving from small-scale protests to larger gatherings across multiple Tesla showrooms.
   • The primary goal is to reduce Tesla's stock value, with reports suggesting that if the stock falls below a certain threshold (around $70), Musk could face margin calls, jeopardizing his financial standing.

2. Expansion and Effectiveness:

   • The protests have grown to involve approximately 300 participants in various locations.
   • Actions include putting up signs and distributing flyers urging Tesla owners to sell their cars.

3. Organizational Framework:

   • Tesla Takedown operates through platforms like Reddit, Indivisible, and their official website teslatakedown.com.
   • They encourage individuals to host local protests with homemade signs, leveraging media coverage and social media to amplify their message.

4. Community Engagement:

   • Protests have garnered support from Tesla drivers, many of whom are environmentally conscious and socially aware, often reacting by honking in solidarity.

Notable Quotes:

"We're going directly at Tesla to tarnish the brand and bring down the value of his brand and directly impact his power and wealth." — Joel Lava [32:34]

"Hearing the horn honks, the dopamine you get from that is worth like a hundred likes on regular social media." — Joel Lava [38:27]

Seder emphasizes the potential impact of these protests on Musk's business operations and the broader implications for corporate accountability.

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Whole Foods Union Fight with Mace Venney and Ed Dupree

[44:40 – 64:20]

Guests: Mace Venney and Ed Dupree, Organizers with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union

Mace Venney and Ed Dupree share their experiences in organizing a successful union drive at Whole Foods in Philadelphia amidst a hostile federal environment under the Trump administration. Key highlights include:

1. Initial Challenges:

   • Workers faced increasing hostility in the workplace, including the reduction of full-time positions, increased workloads without corresponding pay hikes, and punitive measures like the addition of unfair job-removal tactics.
   • The unionization effort began with a small group of five dedicated workers, which organically grew as they connected with more disgruntled employees.

2. Organizing Strategy:

   • Emphasis on building trust among workers through daily conversations and shared grievances.
   • Reached out to the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) for support when the movement garnered around 60 active participants.

3. Election and Certification Hurdles:

   • The union vote was held on January 27th, resulting in a decisive win with 130 supporting the union against 100 opposing.
   • The subsequent certification process has been stalled due to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) being compromised, with commissioners removed shortly after the vote, rendering official certification impossible.

4. Continued Advocacy:

   • Despite bureaucratic setbacks, organizers continue to maintain solidarity among workers, educate new hires about the union’s benefits, and resist management's attempts to sow dissent through favoritism and misinformation.
   • Emphasis on grassroots support and community backing, with customers expressing solidarity by supporting the union efforts.

Notable Quotes:

"It's about trust. We won because of trust." — J.D. Vance [50:38]

"Customers have been very good to us. The community's been very, very good to us." — J.D. Vance [60:11]

"We're stronger in numbers. You don't wait around for the change. Be the change." — J.D. Vance [61:58]

Seder underscores the significance of this unionization effort as a beacon for the broader labor movement, especially in an environment where federal support for unions is waning.

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Conclusion

Sam Seder closes the episode by highlighting the resilience and determination of both grassroots movements discussed. He applauds the organizers for their strategic approaches in challenging powerful corporate and political entities, emphasizing the pivotal role of community support and solidarity in effecting meaningful change.

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Key Takeaways

• National Security Concerns: Critical lapses in operational security among top officials have significant political and security ramifications.
• Tesla Takedown Impact: Grassroots protests aim to destabilize Elon Musk’s Tesla operations by targeting stock value and brand reputation.
• Unionization Success at Whole Foods: Despite federal obstacles, union organizers have successfully mobilized a substantial workforce at Whole Foods, highlighting the enduring power of collective action.

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Resources and Support

• Tesla Takedown: Visit teslatakedown.com to learn more about organizing local protests.
• Whole Foods Union Efforts: Follow the Philadelphia Whole Food Workers on Instagram at PhillyWholeFoodWorkers for updates and ways to support their unionization efforts.

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For more detailed discussions and ongoing updates, visit Majority.FM.

Transcript

[Sam Seder]

You are listening to a free version of the Majority Report. Support this [e-mail] and get an extra hour of content daily. It is Wednesday, March 26, 2025. My name is Sam Seder. This is the five time award winning Majority Report. We are broadcasting live steps from the industrially ravaged Gowanus Canal in the heartland of America, downtown Brooklyn, usa. On the program today, Ed Depress and Mace Venney.

[Matt Binder]

Ed Dupree.

[Sam Seder]

Ed Dupree and Mace Venney, organizers with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union is organizing Whole Foods in Philadelphia. Also on the program, Joel Lava, organizer with Tesla Takedown, doing work across the country. Meanwhile, the release of the full on attack plans that were exposed on a group chat have Republicans stuttering as Tulsi Gabbard is grilled in the House intel hearing. Supreme Court upholds Biden's regulation on ghost guns. Special election in Pennsylvania signals a potential wipeout for Republicans in midterms. I know that's a long way off, but that's the message. HHS hires an anti vaxxer to head a federal study of immunization and autism. At least one of those Venezuelans deported to the Salvadoran prison is found to have been a legal refugee in this country. Treasury to lay off thousands as part of Trump and Musk's plan to debilitate our government. Senate Republicans inch closer to a deal with the House as Schumer's folly has now opened the door to massive Medicaid cuts. JD Vance to join his wife in Greenland and skip all public appearances for fear of protests. ProPublica report Elon Musk, it turns out, has secret Chinese investments in SpaceX. Yesterday's Finance Committee meeting exposes Trump's Social Security administrator nominee and his plan to junk Social Security. All this and more on today's Majority Report. Welcome to the program folks. Emma Viglund off today. It is, as you know, hump day. Lots of news. Over the course of the past 24 hours, the administration has been trying just about every single excuse they could develop or every single distraction they could think of to get out from under this obvious like I mean it is impossible to imagine that there is anyone who takes national security seriously, even those like myself who do not believe that we should be bombing the poorest country on earth. But no one can look at what just happened, or I should say happened over the couple of weeks ago with the top national security experts. I mean, let's not say experts. The most powerful national security people in the country, they are clearly not experts here. I mean, we have had conversations in this office about how to get emails from people and spent more on security than it appears these people have. I mean, it is fascinating. And I'm saying this. You know, of course we knew about this story yesterday. But from what the Atlantic had revealed of this conversation, Jeffrey Goldberg was holding stuff back. And again, like, I think you can stay on that group chat and then hold stuff back until you're kicked off it, or you can leave that group chat and reveal this stuff. But there's an inconsistency there. But, but putting that aside, because all of these national security leaders, I mean, we're talking about basically the entire. I mean, the biggest names in the Cabinet, right? We're talking about Secretary of the treasury, the Vice President, the head of the CIA, the head of the. The Director of the National Intelligence, the.

[Matt Binder]

Head of white nationalism, the head of.

[Sam Seder]

White nationalism, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Nobody was there from the state. Oh, wait, no. And Marco Rubio was on that, right? I mean, Director of the National Intelligence. I mean, and then the Chief of staff, and then like another half dozen people, like, let's put it this way, I don't know if they would put all of these people in a room that wasn't in a bunker because of just like the line of succession, right? Like, not all of these people would be allowed to attend the State of the Union because they keep one person just away from that building just in case that there's somebody to. And all of these people are on there. And what we did not realize yesterday because they, because they have all tried to cover their tracks from this incredible incompetence that is shown here. They all came out and said, we didn't talk about anything that was like in any way dangerous or classified. Papa, do you have that. Get that Atlantic thing now. Get the Atlantic piece up there. Sorry. We should have had that. Because what I didn't realize was, and nobody did, Jeffrey Goldberg said the one that came out here are all the tack plans that Trump's advisor shared on signal. They. They literally put all the attack plans in real time. Yeah. Scroll down on this. And Jeffrey Goldberg released it now because they all said it wasn't classified. Okay, well, we can't show that, but I'll read from Is astonishing. What is. What is in there because they have gone through at 11:44, hegseth post in the chat. Team update 12:15 Eastern F18 launch first strike package. Then trigger based F18 first strike window starts. They're telling the Times that these attack planes are going to launch at 14:10 more F18s will launch. At 14:15 strike drones on target. 15:36, F18 second strikes start. And the best part is, at one point, he says, we are currently clean on opsec. OPSEC means operational security. Scroll through there, you'll see it. Yeah, there we go. And if you go down, you can actually see the actual chats. Goldberg released these two because they're lying about what was there. But this is stunning stuff. And, I mean, again, I don't believe that we should be. I don't believe that we should have been supporting the Saudis in their bombing of Yemen. I don't believe that we should have been involved in attacking Yemen under the Biden administration, and I don't believe we should be doing this. But the idea. Keep going down. You'll see it. The idea that they are literally putting these plans out in a. First off, it appears that the. There is. That Radcliffe may have lied yesterday when he said, yeah, look at. Here. He is literally, this is it. This is amazing. I want to make this clear. At 12:15, he's not. He's not answering. He's not saying, the F18 just launched. He is literally giving the menu, 8:00pm we're going to be serving hors d'oeuvres. At 8:15, we're going to be putting out the appetizer. At 8:30, we're going to be. I mean, this is.

[Matt Binder]

If this isn't classified, what do they classify exactly?

[Sam Seder]

I mean, honestly, like. And here's the thing. If I. If Jeffrey Goldberg was. I don't know. I mean, anybody else, really, they would have published this stuff. Maybe somebody else. I mean, you've got 18 people on there. Nobody asks, who's that? JG? Who's that JG?

[Matt Binder]

They need to know the takeoff times of our fighter planes.

[Sam Seder]

I mean, somebody could. This could have been an incredible disaster. And they're obviously doing this with a bunch of other chats. Nobody's on that chat going, hey, is this. Should we be doing this? And imagine if they're talking about stuff this sensitive. I honestly don't know what could be more sensitive than this. Here are our war plans. I don't know what could be more, worse, more sensitive than this. They're using it for anything and everything. Here is Congressman Jim Heinz. This is. Remember yesterday, the Senate intel asked Tulsi Gabbard, what's the deal with this? And she was like, oh, I can't talk about it because there's an investigation. I have no idea like which phone it was. Or there's an ongoing investigation and I can't refer to it. She doesn't quite have that line today. And again, the problem is, is that depending on which person, they're all out to save their own heights. And they all know there's one way to do this. Praise Donald Trump and then save their own hides and maybe, maybe try and deflect blame on somebody else.

[Matt Binder]

Someone's going to take the fall.

[Sam Seder]

And they're talking like, this Jeffrey Goldberg is a scumbag. And it's like, well, okay, put aside my thoughts of Jeffrey Goldberg. You're saying this guy's the worst guy in the world. Doesn't that make letting him in on your plans to attack Yemen that much worse?

[Matt Binder]

You should be saying, oh, it's just Jeffrey Goldberg. Like, he's a friendly.

[Sam Seder]

Exactly, exactly. While Steve Bannon. But I mean, you know, he's involved. Whatever. It's amazing.

[Matt Binder]

We're transparent.

[Sam Seder]

Complete cross purposes with themselves. Here's Himes in today's hearing on the Hill.

[Congressman Jim Himes]

Yes, Ranking member. My answer yesterday was based on my recollection, or the lack thereof, on the details that were posted there. I was not. And what was shared today reflects the fact that I was not directly involved with that part of the signal chat and replied at the end, reflecting the effects, the very brief effects that the National Security Advisor had shared.

[Tulsi Gabbard]

So it's your testimony that less than two weeks ago, you were on a signal chat that had all of this information about F18s and MQ9 reapers and target targets on strike, and you, in that two week period, simply forgot that that was there. That's your testimony.

[Congressman Jim Himes]

My testimony is I did not recall the exact details of what was included.

[Sam Seder]

I want to make it clear what's going on here. She is explaining to Himes why she said yesterday that this stuff wasn't classified, which caused Goldberg to release it. Because if it's not classified, and incidentally, it's not like they just took it. They contacted all of these agencies and the agencies didn't respond. The only one that Responding was the CIA that said, hey, will you redact the name of that guy? That is the undercover agent that Ratcliffe pretended wasn't remember? Because Ratcliffe yesterday said, there's no problem with that dude being on there. Just chill. Just chill. And so now Himes is saying, wait, so yesterday you said it was not classified and today you're suggesting that it is? Because now you found out was on there, you forgot that there was literally. Director of National Intelligence folks, incidentally, like, I mean, it's not like she's like, well, I'm just, you know, I'm the cdc, so I didn't really, it's like I didn't pay attention to all the jet talk.

[Matt Binder]

Sometimes I am, I am you stuff. Sometimes we text and it's hard to keep track of like, which channel that went.

[Sam Seder]

No. And a lot of times Matt will ignore stuff like, you know, where I'm talking about stuff that maybe he's not interested in like 90% of it.

[Matt Binder]

Let's throw an emoji at the end.

[Sam Seder]

Nevertheless, Hilton. Exactly. That's apparently what she did. Thumbs up. Thumbs up. Good head.

[Congressman Jim Himes]

Shared.

[Tulsi Gabbard]

So it's your testimony that less than two weeks ago you were on a signal chat that had all of this information about F18s and MQ9 reapers and targets on strike, and you, in that two week period, simply forgot that that was there. That's your testimony.

[Congressman Jim Himes]

My testimony is I did not recall the exact details of what was included there.

[Tulsi Gabbard]

That was not your testimony. Your testimony was that you were not aware of anything related to weapons packages, targets and timing.

[Congressman Jim Himes]

As the testimony yesterday continued on, there were further questions related to that where I acknowledged that there was conversation about weapons and I don't remember the exact wording that I used, but I did not recall the specific details that were included.

[Sam Seder]

Okay, so in other words, she can't remember the testimony that she had yesterday as well. I forgot everything. So last night, Himes is on with Will Kaine, who I would imagine. Or is that last night? Was this this morning? I think it was last night. Yesterday afternoon, he's on Will Kaine, who I imagine must feel pretty embarrassed today with what has come out. And Himes is rather angry. And again, like, there's no. I'm not editorializing on Himes. I am editorializing on Cain. But this is, I'm sorry, like the amount of stuff that this government classifies and it's supposed to be secret, and this stuff they're doing on a, on a signal, it's just insane. Go ahead.

[Representative]

But that was not a serious mistake putting American lives into jeopardy. And I think that your side is doing this to score political points, the first political points, and understand Will Kane.

[Sam Seder]

Did not realize that Goldberg was going to release what was actually the actual substance on that chat. Again, I. I remind you, it is Pete Hegseth literally laying out the timing.

[Matt Binder]

Down to the minute.

[Sam Seder]

Down to the minute. 14:10, F18 launch. 14:15 strike drones on target. 15:36, F18, second strike starts, this is all saying, this is what's going to happen. Not in real time. Literally saying two hours out in advance, this is how it's going to go, guys. Which is also just sort of like, wait, what? Why are you giving this information to any of you?

[Matt Binder]

Are you flexing? Like, are you trying to make yourself look important? Why does.

[Sam Seder]

No, that's the opposite. I think he's not sure. Like, anybody see a problem with this? Hey guys, this is the plan. But if there's something you that looks funny here, let me know. There's a real quality of like, I'm not 100 confident in this. Like, why is he sharing this with these 18 people on this signal chat in the first place? Like, even if it's in like a, a, like this is the kind, like, it's insane. And it really does beg the question of like, what stuff are they, are.

[Matt Binder]

They not using what else is in their signal chats?

[Sam Seder]

Go ahead.

[Representative]

Think that your side is doing this to score political points, the first political points they've been able to accomplish in two months.

[Military Officer]

Well, what we're talking about here, and I've spent a decade now watching how our intelligence community communicates with the war fighter. So I'm not going to listen to you tell me that this is about a partisan advantage. It is a mistake. And yes, it's a very serious mistake. Because if you make a mistake in Social Security and grandma doesn't get a phone call through, that's bad. But there is not zero risk that our young men and women in uniform, the ones who flew those F35s and F18.

[Representative]

How was an American life put into jeopardy, Congressman? How? Because you've made a claim. Tell me how an American life is put into jeopardy.

[Military Officer]

Because in an insecure channel, in what was acknowledged as a mistake before, whether it was a day or two hours or five hours in a signal chat that we note. Do you want an answer to your question? In a signal chat that we know that the Russians could intercept. They might have told the Houthis in an hour and in half an hour they're moving their anti aircraft stuff around. It is by the grace of God that we don't have dead pilots or sunken ships right now. And I will tell you whether it's a big mistake or a small mistake to then go and attack Jeffrey Goldberg, without whom we wouldn't even know about this mistake. It just, it's got to me.

[Representative]

Including Jeffrey Goldberg was the mistake. Including Jeffrey Goldberg was the mistake.

[Military Officer]

And the military officer on your show right now will get any military officer, any military officer serving right now, any intelligence officer, and they will tell you that Jeffrey Goldberg was the the cherry on top of using an insecure channel in advance to discuss military plans.

[Representative]

I'm not going to argue, Congressman. I'm not going to argue. I'm not going to argue that no mistake was made and I'm not going to argue that signal is the perfectly appropriate app to have this conversation.

[Sam Seder]

Perfectly appropriate. Okay, look, I want to just show you this. I just find this extraordinary. Can you get back to the actual. Right here. Okay, look. All right, scroll up again. I want to just remind you. This is Hegseth with the team update. And this happened sometime before 12:13pm okay, scroll down and you'll see he goes through everything that's going to happen. First the FD18s are going to launch. Then the an hour and a half later. The trigger based F18 at strike window starts at 14:10. This would be two 10 more F18s launch. Okay, so he's doing this at around 12:15 or just like about time. Now 11:44 is when. When he's telling everybody this. So he's talking about things that are going to launch in an hour, two hours, how half an hour, etc. Etc. Then he says at 2:15 the strike drones will hit the target. This is when the first bombs will definitely drop because the other airplanes will be in the sky at 3:15 36. 3:36 the F18 second strike starts. And then sea based Tomahawks launched. More to follow per timeline. We are currently clean on opsec.

[Matt Binder]

104 good buddy.

[Sam Seder]

104 good buddy. Now roll down. Now look, it is all of this stuff. And then J.D. vance says, I'll say a prayer for victory.

[Matt Binder]

Two emoji prayer hands.

[Sam Seder]

Two emoji prayer hands from other people. And that's at 12:15. Okay, and then Mike Waltz says we're going to disappear this in four weeks. I wonder why. Wonder why he feels that it's necessary to have any security whatsoever on this. And then Wall says building collapse had multiple positive id. Amazing job. Now understand this is. Keep scrolling. Okay, and J.D. vance says what? And then their first target, the top missile guy, we had positive ID of him walking into his girlfriend building and now it's collapsed.

[J.D. Vance]

J.D.

[Sam Seder]

Vance. Excellent. I mean they're psychopaths too incidentally, but this is all happening. And then at 5:14 the Secretary of State says, good job Pete and your team. This is so messed up. It is so messed up. This is such a abject failure. First of all, it also puts the lie, like, why should any of this be. I think they should announce all of the war plans before any attack ever.

[Matt Binder]

And I'll take offs of the fighter jets and stuff.

[Sam Seder]

The idea that Republicans would be able to sort of be the daddy party of national security after this is just absurd.

[Matt Binder]

Remember the Geraldo thing where he drew a map in the sand in Iraq and it was like a scandal for like two weeks?

[Sam Seder]

It's nuts. Do you have any idea, like, what would happen if this had happened during a Democratic administration? It would be wall to wall. I don't care if the exact same dynamic it was happening. I don't care if it was all Democrats. I don't care if the Democrats controlled the house. You know, 75 senators to 25 and 400 to, you know, 35 in the, in the, in the House. We would be hearing about this until my 6th grader goes to college. This is just like incredible. And the only reason why, like, you know, again, I don't want to be attacking Yemen at all. But if this is what they're doing with what is theoretically the most sensitive possible information you could have. I mean, short of like, hey, hey, guys, let's do our. It's time for our weekly pool on what the codes are to the nuclear weapons. And if you get it right, I'll let you know. I mean, aside from that, like, can, hypothetically speaking, can you even come up.

[Matt Binder]

With something that's more sensitive than spying on our allies? Probably like that information.

[Sam Seder]

Yeah. Hey guys, listen, I was just digging through the files. It turns out guess who killed Princess D. I mean, this is just extraordinary. In a moment, we're going to be talking to Joel Lava, organizer with Tesla Takedown. First couple of words from our sponsors. Going online without ExpressVPN is like going on a group chat and not checking who's on it. Super insecure. Most of the time, you're probably fine. One of the times it turns out you're giving highly sensitive information on a planned attack to a reporter. Want to thank ExpressVPN for supporting the Majority Report? Here's the deal. Visit expressvpn.com majority and you can get an extra 4 months free every time you connect to an unencrypted network. Cafes, hotels, airports, malls. Your online data is not secure. Any hacker on the same network can gain access and steal your personal data. It doesn't take much technical knowledge to hack somebody. Just some cheap hardware is needed. A smart 12 year old could do it. Honestly, my son literally says I hope you're using a VPN debt. I'm like I am. It's once what do you know? What are you even talking about? Your data is valuable. Hackers can make up to $1,000 per person selling personal info on the dark web. ExpressVPN stops hackers from stealing your data by creating a secure, encrypted tunnel between your device and and the Internet. Would take a hacker, a supercomputer, over a billion years to get past ExpressVPN's encryption. Fire up the app, click one button to get protected. Super Easy folks. Works on all devices, phones, laptops, tablets and more so you can stay secure on the go. Rated number one by top tech reviewers like CNET and the Verge. Super easy to use. I think that's why my son was so surprised that I use it. It is super easy. One click. That's all you got to do. You don't even realize you're using it. Secure your online data today by visiting expressvpn.com majority that's E X P R E S S V P N E X P R e s s vpn.com Majority get an extra 4 months. Free expressvpn.com Majority link will be in the podcast and YouTube description. Also, is your cat having digestive issues throwing up their food or is your cat simply in need of a diet upgrade? Well, we've all been there. Should check out our next sponsor, Smalls. This podcast is sponsored by smalls. To get 50% off your first order plus free shipping. Head to smalls.com and use our promo code Majority Smalls Cat food is protein packed recipes made with preservative free ingredients you're going to find in your fridge and it's delivered right to your door. That's why cats.com named Smalls their best overall cat food. My late cat enjoyed Smalls briefly. Sort of a upgrade for him when I found out he had cancer. But Matt's Cats Matt, how's your cats liking Smalls?

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[Joel Lava]

I actually agree. I think boycotts and protests aren't always effective. Like the fire protest. I'm sorry, the post office protests are barely getting coverage. But Elon Musk, as the owner of Twitter, who tweets 200 times a day and is a sensitive fella, his source of power and wealth is the test, primarily Tesla and his ownership of Tesla. So the thinking was to go directly at Tesla to tarnish the brand and bring down the value of his brand and directly impact his power and wealth. So that was a thinking and it's been pretty effective so far. It started just like I started nine weeks ago. I was one of the first. I didn't do it coordinated with anyone. Just had to do something other than just scream at, you know, our phone. So we went out and it started as two people nine weeks ago and it's gotten up to 300 at a couple locations. And it's the, the stock has come down, it's doing a, a little bit of a dead cat bounce right now, but things are going really well.

[Sam Seder]

It's interesting, you know, the, I, I mean, I know they're doing it here in Gowanus on Saturdays at Noon. I know this because there's at least one or two people around this area who is putting up signs. And I also noticed, what I've been noticing is that somebody's also putting flyers. Could be the same person or other people putting flyers on people's Teslas.

[Joel Lava]

Yeah.

[Sam Seder]

Saying sell your car. And so what is like, how. Give me a sense of like that relationship between his wealth and power. It's not just a matter of like annoying this guy. Right. I mean, there is like, there is a serious impact potential for him, it seems to me, if that Tesla stock continues to drop and we know that they have problems in Europe because people just aren't buying the cars like they used to.

[Joel Lava]

Absolutely. Well, first of all, like, we know going at it, it can't be forgotten that going after Tesla and Musk is really going after Trump and the people who control Trump. The. And we know that Trump values really wealthy people because he feels accepted. So there's that really childish dynamic at play. Also, it's been reported that if the stock falls to a certain point where it goes under 100, Musk will be a victim of margin calls. He loses all his leverage, and it could throw him into serious financial jeopardy. And I think if we were to succeed at all that, it shows the power of the people in a very quick amount of time. And that means we can be more empowered to take on other challenges with our protests.

[Sam Seder]

Now, where did that number 100 bucks come from? Right, Because I know, like, I've been looking at the Tesla stock and it almost doubled after the election. And the question becomes, did, did Musk, you know, go long on the stock? Did he. How much? What's his margin? You know, is there, is he borrowing against it? I mean, he's definitely borrowing against it, I think for income and to finance other things. But nobody knows where those loans have valued the Tesla stock. Right. So is 100 a speculative number? Do you guys have reason to believe that that's. That number is there's more to that number?

[Joel Lava]

No, I've seen reports. It's like I saw somewhere around 70. I haven't seen like actual verification. I don't know if actual receipts exist, but it's. I've seen it reported. And as far as the stock inflating, I mean, it's arguable that the whole Tesla stock is hype inflation. It's, it's basically a meme stock now. It's price to earnings ratio. You know, it's where it's valued at like 40 times more than what, like Toyota is valued at. And it's. It's just all hype, as we see from like the cyber truck that you can pull apart with your hands and, you know, the boring company, which isn't doing anything like part a lot of musks. Success is just hype. And obviously Tesla has done well, but it's not here to like, save the day as God's gift to mankind, which is how it's made out to be.

[Sam Seder]

So is there a national. Is there a national Tesla Takedown group? And so how do people do this in their town? Like, if they're. If. How do people do this in their towns?

[Joel Lava]

Yeah, well, it's been. I started first, I was only posting on Reddit. I. I discovered there was like a local Reddit for my own town. But then I started to go into indivisible. They have a really good way of notifying people for rallies and. And then teslatakedown.com and that's where me and many other people have gotten involved with internal calls and they've had public calls where people like Jasmine Crockett spoke at one of the calls. So Tesla Takedown has really taken us by the horns. They've got. It was founded on the fly organically by some people who have a lot of experience in grassroots organizing and protests. So what you do is you can host your own protest. And by the way, Saturday is a big global day of action, they're calling it, where they're. Tesla Takedown is trying to get a protest at every single Tesla showroom in the country. There's about 500, and all you have to do is sign up, and then all you do is you show up with a homemade sign. There's ways to get signs online or at Tesla Takedown. They have examples. They have examples of chance you can do. And even one person with a sign can be very effective. And peaking people's interest and getting people to pull out their phones and post on social media what's going on here. So, yeah, Tesla takedown.com might be the best way to go right now because it's really catching fire with the large group of organizers and people like me who are organizing protests on our own to go and meet.

[Sam Seder]

This is great stuff and I appreciate the work you're doing, Joel. And we will put a link obviously to Tesla Takedown and folks get out there. You know, there's. It's also, I imagine, a great opportunity to sort of like, meet people and organize for what ultimately may be future. I don't know reasons to organize, whether that's like demonstrations or setting a group or something like that, right?

[Joel Lava]

Oh, yeah. I've. I've literally met people. I'm helping with two protests on Saturday and I couldn't make one, so I reached out to someone I didn't know to see if they could help sponsor the other one, and they said yes. And I got to tell you, like, hearing the horn honks, the dopamine you get from that is worth like a hundred likes on regular social media. It just, it's like, it's just invigorating and it builds on itself. And then everyone's cheering and hearing all the honks of people driving by also. It's a lot. And it lets you know there's a lot of people out there who are supportive. And I also would say the most honks we get are from Tesla drivers, because you got to think most of the people who buy Teslas are socially conscious, environmentally conscious liberals, and they don't know what to do. So the least they can do is honk and support us. So, yeah, it's great. Instead of just staring at your screen or Twitter or Blue sky and getting upset, getting out there cheering with other people, it's really invigorating and yeah, it's growing.

[Sam Seder]

Have you had conversations with any, like, former Tesla owners or current Tesla owners who are like, you know, I don't know what to do or I'm just curious.

[Joel Lava]

Yeah, actually had our. At this Tesla showroom in Burbank. It's a Tesla service center. We interviewed a guy, he went to go try and get out of his lease or try to sell it, and they were giving him a hard time not being amenable. And everyone who we talked to who has a Tesla and that says they want to get rid of it, they're saying, and it is reported as well, that the, the used resale value is plummeting. They can't. They're underwater, they're stuck. They really want to move on. And there's a lot of other good options. Not just all the major car manufacturers now have great options at Electric, but Lucid and Vinfast and Rivian, those are all great options. And a lot of those car, especially the like Rivian and Lucid are having specials for 0% financing if you trade in your Tesla. So that's a smart way to, to take, to immediately convert someone to your brand.

[Sam Seder]

Oh, that's pretty good. All right, we're going to put links to Tesla takedown. Joel Love, thank you so much for your time today. Really appreciate it. Keep up the good work.

[Joel Lava]

Thanks. Big fan of Majority Port. Go guys. Thank you.

[Sam Seder]

Thanks. All right, folks, we're going to take quick break. These guys here not yet, but we'll get. Okay, we're going to take a quick break. When we come back, Ed Dupree and Mace Venney. They are organized with United Food and Commercial Workers International. These guys are right in the middle of they have voted for a union in Philly and now they're butting up against the Trump administration's assault on the National Labor Relations Board. And we're going to talk to them about what they're going to do when all this, the apparatus that has been around for the past couple of years has been completely shut down. We'll be right back in just a minute with those two union organizers.

[Matt Binder]

SA it.

[Sam Seder]

We are back. Sam Cedar on the Majority report. Emma Vigland out today. Want to welcome to the program Mace Venning, organizer with the United Food and Commercial Workers International. This is the union that is organizing workers at Whole Foods in Philadelphia. We were anticipating one of your co workers, Ed Dupree had a little technical issues with that. Sorry about that, but we got you here, Mace. Mace, just give us a little bit of like a history of, of of where we are today. But go back in terms of how you started organizing. Whole Foods of course, is a subsidiary now or I don't even consider a subsidiary, it's part of Amazon. But give us a little bit of a history of you maybe we start with like how long you've been working there and, and what point you decided you needed to unionize.

[J.D. Vance]

I've been, I've been with Whole Foods about three years working in the produce department going on for, you know, it started, you know, with frustrations, you know, you know, you talk to a lot of Kirk workers every day. You know, a lot of, you know, and then a lot of changes around the job work environment got more, you know, hostile, more, you know, very petty work environment. You started like, you know, getting rid of full time workers, hiring part timers back, putting more workload on the body but then also paying the same, you know. And you know, they was getting real stingy with the job dialogues. You know, job dialogue is, you know, you raise every year, you know, you do a valuation and then, you know, they added things like upt like, you know, like it was an hour something separate from your PTO time, you know, I mean, quick a way to get people fired, you know. And you know, you talk to your co workers every day. You know, I Know, Ed, it got together with me. I had a lot of frustrations with the job, the way they were treating me, unfair treatment. And then, you know, we decided to meet up.

[Sam Seder]

Ed approach you, or did you. I mean, did Ed approach you first or was.

[J.D. Vance]

So I had frustrations already with the job. You know, we talk about the job every day with people, you know, and, you know, and, you know, we came together, you know, and, you know, we had the thought to, you know, come together and talk to people together with. Who shared the same frustrations as us. And it started with about, like, five of us. And, you know, five of us became 10, 10 became 20, 20 became 30. And then it just went on from there.

[Sam Seder]

How. I mean, I'm interested in this. This little dynamic of it, because I think it's one of the most crucial parts of people who want to unionize their own shop. And I've had conversations with this, like, folks from Starbucks and whatnot. So you and Ed get together. You guys have been just talking in general, and, like, you both realize you both sort of got a series of complaints and maybe, you know, a couple other folks who, like, so we should go talk to, you know, Jim or Nancy, you know, and we'll take them one at a time. How, like, sort of, like, strategic, or were you in who you would approach? Like, did you. At this stage, when. When it was when you and Ed were like, hey, we have some common grievances. Maybe we should start talking about a union. Who else would we talk to? Did you guys, like, literally write out a list, or was it casual? Like, oh, I just happened to talk to, you know, this coworker at this time. Like, how. How much thought went into who you would talk? Like, the sequencing of it.

[J.D. Vance]

First, it was very casual and natural. You know, somebody would bring up some complaint about the job. You always could tell, you know, I mean, people are frustrated with the job. And then it would start like that, you know, conversation. I know you had some people that you knew, you know, not to talk to. But I think it just started off with us having connections already, before the union even became a thing. So, you know, we would talk to people who. We would talk to every day about the job, people that you already knew. You can. You already could tell if somebody's frustrated that they would be down for that. So it just started off with talking to people you trusted, and then you got other people who talk to people they trust, and then you kind of come together and do that. But I don't think, you know, we did. You Know, have. Later down the line, certain people we knew not to talk to. But it's. I started off very like, you know, casual, you know, just talking about the job. You know, that's how I started off.

[Sam Seder]

Okay, and so then at one point. At what point did you say, okay, we have the numbers now, We've talked to enough people, and my friends have talked to their friends. Did you then, like, have a meeting with 50 or 100 people? How many people work at the. At the Whole Foods?

[J.D. Vance]

I think at the time it was like 400.

[Sam Seder]

Okay, so at what point did you first. Like, did you first go to an outside union and say, hey, can you help us with this? Or did you have a meeting? Like, what was the. The sequencing there?

[J.D. Vance]

I'm not mistaken. You know, like I said, Ben and Ed, you know, you know, had some of these ideas, but I know that they, you know, we had a certain percentage because, you know, it's 30. Right. And I think it started off with the union thing. Wasn't.

[Sam Seder]

Is 30 is the number that the union will start to organize.

[J.D. Vance]

Yeah. Okay. And we over g. We got, I think, 60 already. But it didn't start off with us thinking about outside source with the union versus thought about, you know, trying to do it, you know, ourselves. And I think we had the idea, you know, to go with somebody who could, you know, you and that understood a grocery store, you know, USCW understands how it runs and how it goes. You know, I mean, and, you know, we decided to, you know, ask them and partner with them, you know, for help. But we had already had about, like, 60 people who already felt that way. And that's how it started. You know, when it build up. When we got. Once we got like, 60, it was kind of like, okay, we got to do something about that.

[Sam Seder]

I mean, you walk in with 60% of the workers, that union's gotta be like, oh, this is great, right?

[J.D. Vance]

I mean, sure.

[Sam Seder]

And so then. Okay, so around then, when was it that the United Food Commercial Workers International got involved? When was that? And then what happened after that, if I'm not mistaken?

[J.D. Vance]

I think around the summertime. I know Ed and Ben would know a little bit more than me, but I know we decided to start the signing cards after that. We held meetings, you know, just to get people updated, you know, just for them to share their knowledge and what to expect, which we're trying to do next. I know we held meetings pretty, you know, regular, you know, I mean, as much as people could come. And then we started the signing cards. So that's kind of what happened after we decided, you know, the ufcw, we decide to go that path.

[Sam Seder]

So those cards are being signed when it's still the Biden presidency and the National Labor Relations Board is hospitable to unions. Right. And so when did the, when did you guys vote ultimately vote on unionizing?

[J.D. Vance]

The vote was held January 27th, so just before, like, a little bit after, like, Trump had got in there, you know, you know, so I think the vote was the January 27th. Yeah.

[Sam Seder]

And so what were the results of the vote?

[J.D. Vance]

We won 130 to 100. So it was pretty comfortable.

[Sam Seder]

All right, so you guys won a pretty good vote. And then what happens? Like, okay, now you guys win the vote, but the National Labor Relations Board is the one that says, okay, we certify the vote, you guys are a union. And this is the way it was three months ago, I guess now, four months ago, you're now a union. And now the clock is starting to run in terms of, like, whether you get a contract or not. What happens now? Like, you win the vote, but there's no National Labor Relations Board because Trump illegally, my estimation, fired the, a couple of the commissioners, and there needs to be a quorum.

[J.D. Vance]

Yeah. So, you know, we all knew, you know, it was kind of coincidence, you know, fired the member right after we had won our vote, like you said, you know, we knew, you know, going into it after we went Amazon was going to be very difficult, and they were going to do everything in their power to, you know, waste time, because that's what this is generally all about, wasting as much time as possible, making people wait as much time as possible. And, you know, you know, we talked about this a lot, and that's why, you know, we can't rely on, you know, the NRRB to do their job and, and worry about what they're doing. We got to keep doing what we doing, and we got to keep bringing people together. And we talked about that a bunch. You know, I mean, people. We got to keep bringing people together and put pressure on them to do the right thing and do what they have to do, because they're not going to do the right thing on their own. And we see that. So, you know, that's why, you know, so this isn't.

[Sam Seder]

So you're in this stage where it's not a question of, like, you have some imprimatur or you're, you have this label, your union or not union or official or not official right now. It's just sheer, sheerly about the relationship that you have with your fellow workers.

[J.D. Vance]

Yeah.

[Sam Seder]

And that's where the power is animating from. Are you. When, when you win that election and it's 160 to 100, 130 to 100. How did, did you guys then say we need another 40 or 50 of these people to like really have, you know, because we're not going to get this sort of official status from the National Labor Relations Board because it's basically destroyed. We need to get those. So what did you guys start to do in that moment?

[J.D. Vance]

Reaching out to people who saw what we did and, and help and trying to, you know, inform them on how to start the, you know, start what we did. You know, it's going to, you're going to need people in that store who work there every day to that people trust. Because this is all about what you said, trust. This is why we won. We were at extreme disadvantage during this election. Old Foods and Amazon was able to throw a lot of things at us and we won because of trust. So, you know, trying to teach people and show people how to do these things, you know, like we did it, you know, within the community that trusts them. You know, I mean, because you need more people, you're stronger in numbers. You need more people to put pressure on these companies. That's the only way they ever going to do what they need to do. You know. So, you know, that was our thing, you know, trying to educate and teach because we've been through it already, trying to educate and teach other people that, you know, could do the same thing because we need each other.

[Sam Seder]

You're going out there and trying to develop deeper relationships with the rest of these workers. What is the, what is the management trying to do to sow dissent? Because I imagine they're not sitting there going like, hey guys, you guys need a meeting room or anything like that, or you know, I know you guys are meeting, so why don't you take one of those crudites that we got down in, you know, in produce and you know, enjoy the food. Like they're not doing that, right?

[J.D. Vance]

No, very. You know, the number one thing you can do is separate people. You know, you tell, you know, I noticed they've been giving certain things to some people who are like doing their anti union regular workers like, you know, me, Ed and Ben, you know, giving them special treatment, giving them certain things to be against us. Because that's how you, you know, that's the main way how you stop unions. You separate each other. You, you know, lying blatant lies, telling people your money gonna get taken away. All that stuff just ways to make us so we don't trust each other anymore. It was separate, you know, I mean, and you know, it worked on a few people, but you know, you just stay strong, you know, and you prepare, you know, you prepare people for this because you knew it was coming anyway, right?

[Sam Seder]

So they'll, they're, they're, they're trying to locate the people who are the most anti union maybe, and they're saying like, hey, here's a bonus this week. Or you know, they're literally like take a crudite day home, you know, that type of thing so that it creates that dissent. How is it going? Like, I mean, how has been the project of trying to sort of expand the, I guess the, the, the relationships beyond those 130 who have indicated that they trust the union. And how do you keep those people? Like, are you guys starting to do stuff more socially or are you just trying to like, what are the, what are the sort of like tactical things that you do, you know, to develop these relationships?

[J.D. Vance]

You keep people involved, you know, you. Meetings and stuff like that, you talk to people, let them know that, you know, we still, you know, are going to do what we need to do, you know, outside of just, you know, waiting, waiting around and doing that. I know we have meetings, we keep people involved. You know, we talk to people every day, let them know it's okay, you know, I mean, let them know how everything's going. You know, I mean, we make sure they okay, you know, because it's been a long process. It was a long, exhausting process. And then, you know, you got new people that's been coming into the store too. You know, you got to try to talk to them and kind of let them know because, you know, the company's not going to let them know that what happened at the store. And not a lot of them come in and they don't know about the union or what's happening. So I make sure. And me and a lot of our organizers, we make sure that we keep these people educated, you know, while trying to keep a deep connection, you know, I mean, it, it, you know, not just bombarding them with, you know, this is what happened, this is going, you know, talking to them, learning them, you know what I mean? So, you know, just, you know, keeping that connection. Keep people involved, let them know what we're doing, let them know, you know, include them. You know, people want to feel included and they want to know that they, you know, that, you know, that things are moving along regardless if, you know, they're not doing what they need to do or not. The company.

[Sam Seder]

So where are things in that respect? Like, I have the, the company, I imagine, is saying, like, well, we can't recognize your. You as a union because National Labor Relations Board hasn't said anything. What do you guys do in that instance? Do you say like, we don't care, let's negotiate right now, or do you start saying like, we're going to build towards, maybe we need to have a strike or, I mean, what, what, what do you do in this instance? And obviously, there may be some stuff that you can't say because, you know, this isn't, this isn't like an attack on Yemen where you want to share this information, like a national security information with everybody on some type of, like, group chat. But to the extent that you can tell us, tell me.

[J.D. Vance]

I mean, you know, you know, you know, they're making this wait, you know, certification and all that stuff, but, you know, you just gotta, you know, talk and do things that thing. Control things we can control, you know, and, you know, I can't say I want to say too much of the things that we got.

[Sam Seder]

Okay, I totally get that. Yes, you're much, you're much smarter about this than our Secretary of defense, the country, I will say that very much. All right, well, so there are things that you guys are doing and, and in the meantime, you're trying to just build that solidarity amongst people.

[J.D. Vance]

Yeah.

[Sam Seder]

How. Let me just ask you lastly, like, the customers, like, are you getting support from the community? How much of that is involved? Because I imagine, right, there's a set group of people who shop there and, you know, I'm sure there's some variants, but, you know, people are in habits. I always go to the same grocery store for the most part. What, what do you guys do in terms of the customer base?

[J.D. Vance]

Customers have been very good to us. You know, you get. I had a lot, A lot of customers come in, come up to us and say they support us and, you know, access how, what's going on, how we doing and stuff like that. And I think it's, it's been, the community's been very, very good to us. You know, even sometimes when it, during the vote, having customers come up have swayed a couple people who were like, in the middle, seeing the support from the communities behind them. So, you know, they keep, you know, you know, they put a lot of our, you know, they inform other people. You know what I mean? Like I know I have people come up and say they've been sending videos around, they seen videos around, that roommates are sending videos, their mom is sending videos and stuff like that. So the community. Community has been very good to us and very helpful, you know, even after the vote, asking us how we doing. Everything okay. What's happening now? You know, so customers, you know, same customers. You know, you see the same people every day. You kind of build a connection with them, too. And it's been very nice. The customers. The community's been very good to us, and I had our back a lot.

[Sam Seder]

Well, that's good to know. And it's good to know both. Like, it's encouraging to hear, but it's also good to know, I think, for people in the audience who are like, you know, how do I help when I see a strike? It really does help a lot when.

[J.D. Vance]

When.

[Sam Seder]

When. When customers are just. Other people come and offer their support.

[J.D. Vance]

Yeah, it's really nice. I mean, it's a bit boosted a lot, you know.

[Sam Seder]

Well, that's great. Well, Mace, anything else you think that.

[J.D. Vance]

We should know other than, you know, watching this? You know, we're stronger in numbers. You know, you don't wait around for the change, Be the change. So I'm going to say, all right.

[Sam Seder]

Beautiful. Mace. Fanny, one of the organizers with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union organizing Whole Foods in Philadelphia. Tell Ed sorry we didn't get to connect with him, but hopefully we'll hear you guys will have reason to come back soon.

[J.D. Vance]

Yeah.

[Sam Seder]

When things start rolling, we would love to hear from you. Really appreciate the work you're doing. And honestly, you guys are on the vanguard of this, because Europe, I would imagine, if not the first shop to. To vote, to unionize in this new era of a different National Labor Relations Board. If you're not the first, you're certainly. You got to be close, right? I mean, five days after he's inaugurated. And what you guys are doing there is gonna be meaningful, not just for your store and not just for other Whole Foods, but I think what you guys are doing there is gonna be meaningful for the entire labor movement across the country, who's gonna have to deal with a more hostile regime on a federal level. And you guys are gonna be able to show that you can still get this done, even with those. With those forces against you. And I really appreciate the work you're doing.

[J.D. Vance]

I appreciate you. I appreciate you for keeping our story out there, too. You know, informing people. I mean, it means a lot. You know, the more People to hear it. The more people, you know, we can. When we can encourage, the better.

[Sam Seder]

Do you guys have a website or something like that if people want to, like, you know, they're not in Philadelphia, but want to support you guys?

[J.D. Vance]

Well, we have a Instagram page. Philadelphia Philly workers. Let me see. I'll tell you exactly.

[Sam Seder]

Philly Whole Food Workers.

[J.D. Vance]

Yeah, there we go. Yeah, you got it right there.

[Sam Seder]

I don't remember mine either. I don't know. Well, we're gonna put a link to that. Folks should all just go and follow those Philly Whole Food workers because at one point they're gonna need your support and. Great. You know, send that around and inspire people again. Mace, thanks so much for your time today. Really appreciate it.

[J.D. Vance]

I appreciate you.

[Sam Seder]

All right, folks. Wow, look at that. 107. It's like a record that we are landing the ship within an hour of starting hour and 10, folks. It's your support that. It's your support that makes this show possible. You can become a [e-mail] when you do, you not only support, you get the free show free of commercial, but you also get the fun half and you help this show survive and thrive. There's a bunch of other things you can do too. You can like our Instagram page, or I should say, follow our Instagram page, Grandpa. You can. If you're watching on Twitch, somebody asked at the top of the show, who was it? Somebody asked the top of show which you prefer watch on YouTube or Twitch or does it not matter? It matters to us that you watch where you are comfortable. But if you are watching on Twitch, not only would I say Poggers, but I would also say, hey, you're already. If you're a Prime member, you're already paying for a. To sponsor a show. You can just go into your profile and assign that to us. Right? Is that how that works?

[Matt Binder]

So it works, yeah, if you have a Prime subscription. Also, we are at 90,774 followers on Twitch, so we are approaching the 100k mark, which get to. So if you're watching and not following, it costs nothing to follow.

[Sam Seder]

Cost nothing to follow us on Twitch. And supposedly that's. That's good to have followers Instagram better.

[Matt Binder]

Than not having them also.

[Sam Seder]

And send our clips around. Send our clips around to your friends, your family. We post them on our YouTube show and we put them on. On Facebook too, I think. So check all that out.

[Matt Binder]

I don't know anything about that.

[Sam Seder]

Also, if you listen to the podcast go to itunes and give us a, you know, a good review or, or whatever podcast app you use. It's really disparate that, that world, but wherever you are, if you can support us in that way. And again, if you want the fun half but don't have the funds, send us an email@magn majorityreporters gmail.com and put in the subject line fun Half Help. And we will help you. We will work something out because we do not want finance to keep people locked out of the show. Matt, Left Reckoning. I've been wearing your Left Reckoning hat a lot, I should say. You have Majority Report merchants, but also the Left Reckoning merch.

[Matt Binder]

Pretty good left reckoning.com store or something like that where you can get access to that. Yeah, it's up there on the, went.

[Sam Seder]

To the San Cedar School of Promotion.

[Matt Binder]

It's close enough, the Internet's good enough to find that. But last night we had Jeet here on talking about Chuck Schumer and Lacan because him and David are big Lacanians, I guess. And also Zoe Bowman on talking about a young woman from Iran who's been detained for two years, who fled the persecution of women in Iran only to be persecuted by our border police and be told by a judge that, well, her dad can go free, but she has to stay in detention. So horrible sort of situation there. Patreon.com left reckoning, where we get into a Glenn Greenwald versus Megyn Kelly debate from a couple of weeks ago that was kind of interesting where Megyn Kelly, I mean, you know, like all these right wingers are basically like, yeah, who cares about due process? They're brown people. What do I care, you know, Play me a violin. It's. I guess we'll see a little bit more with that with Tim Pool in the fun half today.

[Sam Seder]

All right, folks, see you in that very same fun half. Three months from now, six months from now, nine months from now. And I don't think it's going to be the same as it looks like in six months from now. And I don't know if it's necessarily going to be better six months from now than it is three months from now. But I think around 18 months out, we're gonna look back and go like, wow, what, what is that going on? It's nuts. Wait a second. Hold on for, hold on for a second. Emma, welcome to the program. What is up, everyone? Fun half. No, Mickey, you did it. Fun Pat. Let's go, Brandon.

[J.D. Vance]

Let's go, Brandon.

[Sam Seder]

Bradley, you want to say Hello.

[Matt Binder]

Sorry to disappoint everyone. I'm just a random guy.

[Sam Seder]

It's all the boys today. Fundamentally false.

[Joel Lava]

No.

[Sam Seder]

I'm sorry. Women. Stop talking for a second. Let me finish. Where is this coming from? Dude. But. Dude, you want to smoke this? 7A. Yes.

[J.D. Vance]

Hi, me.

[Joel Lava]

You're safe.

[Sam Seder]

Yes.

[J.D. Vance]

Is this me?

[Sam Seder]

Is it me? It is you. If it's me. Oh, it's me. I think it is you. Who is you. Every single freaking day. What's on your mind?

[J.D. Vance]

We can discuss free markets.

[Sam Seder]

And we can discuss capitalism. I'm gonna go snow white. Libertarians. They're so stupid. Though common sense says. Of course. Gobbledygook. We nailed him. So what's 79 plus 21? Challenge. Matt, I'm positively quivering. I believe 96. I want to say 8, 5, 7, 2, 1, 0.

[J.D. Vance]

35.

[Sam Seder]

5, 0, 11 half.

[Matt Binder]

3, 8, 9, 11. For instance.

[Sam Seder]

$3,400. 9. $1,900. 5, 4. $3 trillion.

[Matt Binder]

Sold.

[Sam Seder]

It's a zero sum game. Actually. You're making me think less. But let me say this.

[J.D. Vance]

You can call it satire. Sam goes satire.

[Sam Seder]

On top of it all. My favorite part about you is just like every day, all day. Like everything you do. Without a doubt. Hey, buddy. We see you. All right, folks, folks, folks, folks. It's just the week being weeded out. Obviously. Yeah. Sundial Guns out. I. I don't know. But you should know, people just don't.

[Matt Binder]

Like to entertain ideas anymore.

[Sam Seder]

I have a question. Who cares?

[Matt Binder]

Our chat is enabled, folks.

[Sam Seder]

I love it. I do love that. Gotta jump. Gotta be quick. I gotta jump.

[J.D. Vance]

I'm losing it, bro.

[Sam Seder]

2:00, we're already late. And the guy's being a dick. So screw him. Sent to a gulag. Outrageous. Like, what is wrong with you? Love you. Bye. Love you. Bye.