Wendell Potter is Founder of the investigative reporting group, “Tarbell” Wendell is an author, former corporate public relations executive and journalist. His books include, “Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR Is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans ; Obamacare: What’s In It for Me/What Everyone Needs to Know about the Affordable Care Act (an ebook); and Nation on the Take: How Big Money Corrupts Our Democracy and What We Can Do About It.”

An extended conversation with Moira Weigel, postdoctoral scholar at the Harvard Society of Fellows, & the author of Labor of Love: The Invention of Dating and a founding editor of Logic magazine

An extended conversation with computer scientist, author, and composer Jaron Lanier. 

Jaron Lanier is the author of "Dawn of the New Everything: A Journey Through Virtual Reality" and "You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto "

Originally Aired: January 27, 2018

Yasha Levine is a journalist and a former editor of Moscow-based satirical newspaper The eXile. He is the author of "Surveillance Valley: The Secret Military History of the Internet."

Lauren Pagel is the Policy Director for Earthworks, discussing the recent methane "leak" near Powhatan Point, OH at an XTO site & more. 

An extended conversation with computer scientist, author, and composer Jaron Lanier. 

Jaron Lanier is the author of "Dawn of the New Everything: A Journey Through Virtual Reality" and "You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto "

Terry Gibbs - associate professor of political science at Cape Breton University in Nova Scotia, Canada. She is the author of the book Why the Dalai Lama is a Socialist: BUDDHISM, SOCIALISM AND THE COMPASSIONATE SOCIETY

Lee Billings - Science journalist covering space and physics for Scientific American. He is also the author of Five Billion Years of Solitude, a book on the search for alien Earths

Charles Sauer - President of the Market Institute and an economist and policy specialist. He has been published on Entrepreneur.com, Fox Business, the Daily Caller, and Women Entrepreneur in addition to writing congressional testimony and speeches for politicians, business owners, and academics.

David Dayen - David Dayen is a contributor to The Intercept and also writes for Salon, the Fiscal Times, the New Republic, and more. His first book, “Chain of Title,” about three ordinary Americans who uncover Wall Street’s foreclosure fraud, was released in May 2016.

Nomi Prins - renowned author, journalist and speaker. Her new book, Collusion:How Central Bankers Rigged the World, will be released May 1, 2018

Nathan J. Robinson - Nathan J. Robinson is a PhD student in Sociology & Social Policy and the editor of the magazine Current Affairs. He is author of the book, Trump: Anatomy of a Monstrosity

This episode originally aired on October 7, 2017. 

Alexander Zaitchik is an American freelance journalist and author who has written for The Nation, Salon, The New Republic, the New York Observer, Rolling Stone, Mother Jones, Foreign Policy, the International Herald Tribune, Wired, the San Francisco Chronicle, and The Believer. His recent book is titled, "Out of the Ooze: The Story of Dr. Tom Price."

Héctor J. Figueroa is the President of 32BJ Service Employees International Union, the largest property services union in the country. 32BJ represents more than 163,000 property service workers.

Scott Edwards is co-director of the Food & Water Justice project

Merith Basey is the Executive Director of Universities Allied for Essential Medicines

Best of, featuring: Miriame Kaba is a New York based organizer, educator and curator, and founder of Project NIA. Her years of tireless work have focused on ending violence, dismantling the prison industrial complex, transformative justice and supporting youth leadership development
You can find some of her writing at usprisonculture.org

Frances Moore Lappé is the author or co-author of 19 books about world hunger, living democracy, and the environment, beginning with the three-million copy Diet for a Small Planet in 1971. Adam Eichen is a member of the Democracy Matters board of directors and a fellow at the Small Planet Institute. He served as the deputy communications director for Democracy Spring. Their new co-authored book is Daring Democracy: Igniting Power, Meaning, and Connection for the America We Want

Best of show, featuring: Amy Julia Harris, a reporter for Reveal, covering religion and its intersection with public life. She has also written enterprise stories for The Seattle Times, Half Moon Bay Review, and Campaigns and Elections Politics Magazine.

And, Shoshana Walter, a reporter for Reveal, covering human trafficking and public safety. Her investigation on America's armed security guard industry won the 2015 Livingston Award for Young Journalists for national reporting and also was featured in a two-part installment on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360."

Best of show featuring Cara Liebowitz: an activist with DC Metro ADAPT, which stands for Americans Disabled Attendant Programs Today, and Development Coordinator for the National Council on Independent Living.

Lucy McBath is the mother of Jordan Davis who was shot at age 17 by a white man in a gas station who got bothered by Davis and his friends playing loud music. McBath organizers and gives speeches around gun violence.

Harry Stein is the Director of Fiscal Policy at the Center for American Progress. Prior to joining the Center, he worked as a legislative assistant to Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI)

Alice Speri is a multimedia journalist with an interest in justice, civil rights, and the struggle for equality. She has reported on state violence and institutional failure in the U.S. and abroad, from Ferguson, Missouri, to Haiti and Palestine. Her work has appeared in VICE News, Al Jazeera America, the New York Times, and several other publications. She recently wrote about counterterrorism tactics used against Standing Rock demonstrators.

Ben Spielberg is a Research Associate with the Federal Fiscal Policy division and manages the Full Employment Project at Center on Budget & Policy Priorities. He is also the co-host of the podcast On the Economy with Jared Bernstein. His recent post at The American Prospect is titled Below the Minimum No More.

The Zero Hour is on a break this week. This episode was previously recorded on January 28th, 2017.

Jasmine Jefferson, Legislative Director of Social Security Works, on the fight to protect Medicare.

Ryan Cooper, National Correspondent for The Week, on How American health care kills people. Read his article at: http://theweek.com/articles/666799/how-american-health-care-kills-people

Nancy Altman is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Pension Rights Center and the President of Social Security Works.

Bruce Gibney is a writer and venture capitalist. He has worked at a hedge fund and as a partner at one of Silicon Valley’s leading venture firms, Founders Fund. His new book is A Generation of Sociopaths: How the Baby Boomers Destroyed America

Michael A. Hiltzik is an American columnist and reporter who has written extensively for the Los Angeles Times.

Dr. Danielle Martin is a family physician and the board chair of Canadian Doctors for Medicare. She is clinical staff at Women's College Hospital and lecturer in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. She served on the Health Council of Canada from 2005-2011. Her new book is Better Now: Six Big Ideas to Improve Health Care for All Canadians

Ryan Grim is an author and the Washington bureau chief for The Huffington Post. His writings have appeared in several publications, including Rolling Stone, The Washington Post, and Politico. He is the author of "This Is Your Country on Drugs". One of his most recent posts at Huffington Post is called While Nobody’s Watching, Paul Ryan Is Taking A Sledgehammer To Medicaid’s Promise To Seniors

Jessica Mason Pieklo is a writer and adjunct law professor in Boulder, Colorado. She is the former assistant director of the Health Law Clinic at Hamline Law School in St. Paul, Minnesota and former litigator.

Cat Duffy is a Researcher at Media Matters. She is a PhD candidate at the Annenberg School at the University of Southern California. Cat also has an M.A. in Communication from Wake Forest University and a B.A. in International Relations from Michigan State University. She is the author of a recent study at Media Matters on how TV news ignored the prescription drug price problem.

Rebecca Vallas is the Managing Director for the Poverty to Prosperity Program at American Progress. She is also the host of the recently renamed and relaunched radio program and podcast, Off-Kilter

Marcy Wheeler is an independent journalist writing about national security and civil liberties. She writes as emptywheel at her eponymous blog

This hour John Feffer demonstrates that politicians like Donald Trump aren't that uncommon if you just look to Europe. And later, Yannet Lathrop, Researcher and Policy Analyst at National Employment Law Project, discusses her group's new report on the massive impact on worker pay the Fight for 15 has achieved.

This hour we're joined by Sarah Sorscher, an attorney with Public Citizen's Health Research Group, about the 21st Century Cures Act. Later, we speak with Tim Wu, professor at Columbia Law School, about his new book The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads.  

We break down the news of the week, then talk to Jessica Jackson Sloan, National Director and Co-Founder of #cut50, about the need to slash in half the number of people in prison. 

In the final hour of the show, Richard speaks with Eric Garcia from CQ/Roll Call about the forecast for Senate races on November 8, and Philadelphia Daily News' Will Bunch asking why Chris Christie hasn't been impeached yet. 

In hour 2 of the show, Richard speaks with Matt Stoller, Senior Policy Advisor and Budget Analyst at Senate Budget Committee, about his new article at The Atlantic, and Allyson Fredericksen, Deputy Director of Research at People's Action Institute, about their new report on how low wages and student debt keep prosperity out of reach. 

Hour 1 of the show features the Breaking the News recap as well as an interview with Media Matters' Eric Boehlert on how Donald Trump manipulated the press' coverage of his campaign of lies.

First this hour we speak with Mickey Davis, Professor at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, explains march-in rights and the fight to lower drug costs.

Later, we speak with Social Security Works' Nancy Altman about the deception and false equivalence around AARP's call for candidates to "take a stand." 

First we speak with Nick Buffie, research assistant for Center for Economic and Policy Research, who makes the case that the job market is weak right now.

After that Bill Black, Editor-in-Chief and Contributor of New Economic Perspectives, and Associate Professor of Law and Economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, does a deep dive into the scandal tearing apart Wells Fargo following revelations they created millions of fake accounts to pad their statistics.

First off we go through the big news of the week including two more black men killed by police, Donald Trump's verbal fascism, and a hero teacher standing up to perverse "lunch-shaming" of children who can't afford a meal. 

Then we talk to Rebecca Vallas of Center for American Progress and host of TalkPoverty Radio about encouraging news about poverty in America and what we have to do to keep it going.

"Dee," a prisoner in the Carolina area, speaks out about the prison worker strike going on right now and what the oppressed workers are demanding.

And Garry South, the "Carville of California," tells us about Yes on Prop 61, a ballot measure in California to help stem the tide of rising drug costs. 

Zoë Carpenter of The Nation discusses her recent article on the myths surrounding the EpiPen price-gouging scandal.

And Jessica Luther talks about her new book Unsportsmanlike Conduct which offers a powerful look inside the problem of rape culture in college football.

We break down the news of the week including Clinton's "basket of deplorables" and Trump Foundation's (alleged!) corruption. We then speak with Simone Pathé of CQ/Roll Call who analyzes the ten seats in congress most likely to switch parties this November. Spoiler alert: they're all Republicans.

Bob DeMars, former college football player, previews his new documentary "The Business of Amateurs" about the dark side of college sports.

Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz discusses his new book on the Euro and how it may be a doomed currency. 

Historian Kathleen Frydl joins the show again to discuss her thoughts on Hillary Clinton injecting the idea of "American exceptionalism" into the presidential debate. We also speak with AFL-CIO's Executive Vice President Tefere Gebre about Donald Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric.

We break down the news of the week before speaking with Tim Carney of The Washington Examiner about whether Trump support can be pinned on racial anxiety or economic anxiety... or both?

First we talk to Thomas Ferguson from the Institute for New Economic Thinking’s Director of Research Projects about his new report of the impact of money on elections.

Later we speak with Adolph Reed, Jr., professor of political science at University of Pennsylvania about why we need to just go ahead and vote for the "lying neoliberal warmonger."

We talk with viral sensation Brandy Young, a second grade teacher from Godley, Texas, who recently decided that the kids in her class would not be given formal homework assignments and instead encouraged to spend more family time.

Later, we look at an old lie about Social Security from Donald Trump and out-of-control medicine prices like the EpiPen with Michael Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times.

Breaking the News featuring Executive Producer Bradley Herring

A conversation with Amy Kapczynski, a Professor of Law at Yale Law School and faculty director of the Global Health Justice Partnership, about how we can bring down out-of-control drug prices

Tina Dupuy - nationally syndicated op-ed columnist, freelance investigative journalist, comedian and on-air commentator. Her new podcast, Cultish, launched this past week with its first two episodes. (Starts at 7:05)

William K. Black - Editor-in-Chief and Contributor of New Economic Perspectives. (Starts at 20:15)

Alvaro Bedoya - Founding Executive Director of the Center on Privacy & Technology

Cliff Schecter - author, pundit and public relations strategist

Roger Sorkin - fellow with the Truman National Security Project and director of The Burden

The Zero Hour spent the weekend at Netroots Nation, where we interviewed leaders for all corners of the progressive movement, including Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA)

Mary Bottari, Deputy Director of the Center for Media and Democracy

Nomi Prins, Senior Fellow at Demos

Ryan Grim, Washington Bureau Chief, Huffington Post

Linda Tirado, author of Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

Stephen Miles, Coalition Coordinator, Win Without War

Todd Gregory, Editor, Media Matters for America

Lynn Stuart Parramore, Senior Editor, AlterNet

Ryan Grim, Washington Bureau Chief, The Huffington Post

Robert L. Borosage, Founder & President, Institute for America's Future

Ron Kaminkow, General Secretary, Railroad Workers United

Brother Anthony Shahid, Organizer for the Black Community

Ernest Coverson, Regional Field Organizer, Amnesty International USA

Deirdre Smith, US Divestment Organizer, 350.org

Nelini Stamp, Organizer & Coordinator, Freedom Side

Cliff Schecter, Co-Founder, We Act Radio & Contributor, The Daily Beast

Reverend Osagyefu Uhuru Sekour, Freeman Fellow, Fellowship of Reconciliation & Pastor for Formation & Justice, First Baptist Church, Jamaica Plain, MA

Reverend Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou, Freeman Fellow, Fellowship of Reconciliation & Pastor for Formation & Justice, First Baptist Church, Jamaica Plain, MA

Justin Duckham, Senior Washington Correspondent, Talk Radio News Service

Mike Batchman, Community Leader, BASIC

Seth Jackson, Multimedia Coordinator, We Act Radio

Eric Kingson, Co-Director/Founder, Social Security Works

Julian Blair, Community Organizer, SPACEs in Washington, DC and Maryland

Cole Stangler, Staff Writer, In These Times

Eileen Applebaum, Senior Economist, Center for Economic & Policy Research

A Very Special Hour Featuring RJs Views & On The Ground Reporting in Ferguson, MO.

Peter James Callahan, Executive Producer, The Zero Hour with RJ Eskow

Ryan Grim, Washington Bureau Chief, The Huffington Post

Peter James Callahan, Executive Producer, The Zero Hour with RJ Eskow

Richard "RJ" Eskow breaks down this week's news (and condones shagging).

Stephen Miles, Coalition Coordinator, Win Without War

Eric S. "Rick" Perlstein, Author, "The Invisible Bridge"

Mark Ames, Staff Writer, PandoDaily

Sam Riddle, Political Director, Michigan National Action Network

Phyllis Bennis, Director, New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies

Dave Gilson, Senior Editor, Mother Jones

Nancy Altman, Co-Director, Social Security Works

Zaid Jilani, Former Blogger, ThinkProgress.org & Campaigner, Progressive Change Campaign Committee

Yasha Levine, Roving Reporter, PandoDaily

Michael Arria, Author, "Medium Blue: The Politics of MSNBC

Dean Baker, Co-Founder, Center for Economic and Policy Research

Zephyr Teachout, New York Gubernatorial Candidate

Diann Rust-Tierney, Executive Director, National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

This Is The Zero Hour. The Time Is Now.
Featuring News & Commentary From Richard "RJ" Eskow & His Esteemed Panel. This Episode Includes:

Mark Weinstein, Founder & CEO of Sgrouples on Taking Control of Our Privacy & Just Saying No To Private Big Brothers

Mark Ames, Staff Writer at PandoDaily & All-Around Bad Ass on Silicon Valley Wage Fixing, The Techtopus & Should We Nationalize Big Tech?

This Is The Zero Hour. The Time Is Now.
Featuring News & Commentary From Richard "RJ" Eskow & His Esteemed Panel. This Episode Includes:

John Boehner's Case (Or Lack Thereof) For Suing The President

Cole Stangler, Staff Writer for In These Time On The Push Back Against Cove Point & How Local Governments Are Saying No To Tar Sands

This Is The Zero Hour. The Time Is Now.
Featuring News & Commentary From Richard "RJ" Eskow & His Esteemed Panel. This Episode Includes:

Rebecca Vallas from The Center for American Progress' Poverty to Prosperity Program on Social Security Disability Insurance

Jeff Bryant from the Education Opportunity Network & the Campaign for America's Future on Bill Gates Using His Wallet To Bully Educators

Exclusive Audio Obtained By Organize GA of Coca-Cola's Director of Labor Relations, Brian LaVelle, Holding A Mandatory, Anti-Union Captive Audience Meeting with Workers Trying to Unionize at a Coca-Cola Distribution Center Outside of Atlanta

Kai Newkirk, Co-Founder, 99Rise

Heather "Digby" Parton, Blogger, Digby's Hullabaloo

Cenk Uygur, Host, The Young Turks

Dean Baker, Co-Director, Center for Economic & Policy Research

Shenna Bellows, Candidate, U.S. Senate - Maine

Harry Browne, Author, "The Frontman: Bono (In The Name Of Power)

Julia Kann, Staff Writer, Labor Notes

Travis Waldron, Sports Report, ThinkProgress

Joan Entmacher, Vice President for Family Economic Security, National Women's Law Center

Katherine McFate, President & CEO, Center for Effective Government

Sam Riddle, Political Director, Michigan National Action Network

Stephen Miles, Coalition Coordinator, Win Without War

This Is The Zero Hour. The Time Is Now.
Featuring News & Commentary From Richard "RJ" Eskow & His Esteemed Panel. This Episode Includes:

Sean McElwee, Contributing Writer for The Washington Post On GDP Foolishness

George Dvorsky, Contributing Editor for Io9 On Eugene's Turing Test Sideshow

Plus Commentary From Executive Producer, Peter James Callahan On The Implications of Eugene Goostman's Turing Test Win

Subscribe to The Zero Hour with RJ Eskow for more: http://bit.ly/TheZeroHour If you liked this clip of The Zero Hour with RJ Eskow, please share it with your friends...  and "like" it, really "like" it (hit the "like" button right above you!)

Music bumpers featuring Lettuce, http://lettucefunk.com - Do the right thing, buy their music :)

This Is The Zero Hour. The Time Is Now.
Featuring News & Commentary From Richard "RJ" Eskow & His Esteemed Panel. This Episode Includes:

David Dayden, Prolific Blogger & All Around Awesome Journo On Eric Cantor, Inequality & Policy

This Is The Zero Hour. The Time Is Now.
Featuring News & Commentary From Richard "RJ" Eskow & His Esteemed Panel. This Episode Includes:

Terry O'Neill, President of the National Organization for Women On #YesAllWomen & George Will's Misogyny

Elliot Fineman, President of the National Gun Victims Action Council On Hallmark & The Mass Shooting Epidemic

Featuring News & Commentary From Richard "RJ" Eskow & His Esteemed Panel. This Hour Includes:

Yasha Levine, Roving Reporter, PandoDaily

Evan Greer, Campaign Director, Fight For The Future

Featuring News & Commentary From Richard "RJ" Eskow & His Esteemed Panel. This Hour Includes:

Kenneth P. Vogel, Author & Chief Investigative Reporter, POLITICO

Ernie Powell, Co-Founder, Senior Votes Count

Featuring News & Commentary From Richard "RJ" Eskow & His Esteemed Panel. This Hour Includes:

Brad Markell, Executive Director AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH)

Featuring News & Commentary From Richard "RJ" Eskow & His Esteemed Panel. This Episode Includes:

Daniel Berger, Attorney & Patriotic Millionaire

Maverick Welsh, President, Houston GLBT Caucus

Cliff Schecter, Co-Founder, We Act Radio & President, Libertas LLC

Richard "RJ" Eskow talks with Marianne Williamson, Author & Candidate for the U.S. Congress in California's 33rd District, about her campaign, her passions and what congressional candidates and office holders should aspire to. 

On this hour of The Zero Hour, Richard "RJ" Eskow and Rich Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO have a candid discussion about wealth, inequalty, and labor in the 21st Century. 

1:00 Monologue 

1:15 Roger Hickey On The New Populism & the Conference

1:30 Roger Hickey On The New Populists (Warren, Sanders, Barber)

1:45 Joe Dinkin On Making The New Populism Count At The Ballot Box (WFP)

Featuring News & Commentary From Richard "RJ" Eskow & His Esteemed Panel. This Week Includes:

Mark Ames, Writer, PandoDaily - On Putin Power, American Foreign Policy Blindness & General Bewilderment

Prof. Willoughby Britton, Neuroscientist, Brown University

Andrew Slack, Executive Director, Harry Potter Alliance

Cristina Finch, Managing Director, AIUSA's Identity & Discrimination Unit

Kyle Serrette, Director of Education Justice Campaigns, Center For Popular Democracy

Alex Lawson, Executive Director, Social Security Works

Mari Lynn Evans, CEO & Executive Producer, Evening Star Productions

Prof. John P. Abraham,Ph.D., Professor of Thermal Sciences, University of St. Thomas

Relaunch Monologue 

Jamais Cascio, Senior Fellow, Institute For Ethics & Emerging Technologies

Julia Ho, Organizer, Wash U Students Against Peabody

Bianca Alexander, Host & Creative Director, Conscious Living TV

Ernie Powell, Veteran Organizer & Political Activist

Richard Rothstein, Research Associate, Economic Policy Institute