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Michael Podhorzer @mikepod.bsky.social · 7h

Join me and @anatosaurus.bsky.social at 1pm today! We'll discuss the new Roberts Court term and Anat's vital new piece about why "Pollingism" has failed Democrats and voters (www.weekendreading.net/p/bringing-a...)

open.substack.com/live-stream/...

LIVE SOON: Meeting the Moment with Anat Shenker-Osorio

Starting Oct 8 at 1:00 PM EDT

open.substack.com

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Reposted by Michael Podhorzer

Jen Mercieca @jenmercieca.bsky.social · 1d

This is a long, thoughtful, and brilliant post about how to understand political campaigning & strategy from one of the progressive left's most brilliant thinkers and practitioners @anatosaurus.bsky.social. Read it and listen to her: Bringing a Survey to a Gun Fight open.substack.com/pub/michaelp...

Bringing a Survey to a Gun Fight

“Pollingism” Has Failed Democrats and Voters. Here’s Why, and What to Do Instead.

open.substack.com

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Michael Podhorzer @mikepod.bsky.social · 3d

ICYMI, a tour de force guest post at Weekend Reading by @anatosaurus.bsky.social

www.weekendreading.net/p/bringing-a...

Anat Shenker-Osorio @anatosaurus.bsky.social · 4d

Here it is, my answer for every time I get asked "why don't (most) Dems just...[message better, be bolder, sound authentic...etc]"

www.weekendreading.net/p/bringing-a...

Bringing a Survey to a Gun Fight

“Pollingism” Has Failed Democrats and Voters. Here’s Why, and What to Do Instead.

www.weekendreading.net

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Reposted by Michael Podhorzer

Anat Shenker-Osorio @anatosaurus.bsky.social · 4d

Here it is, my answer for every time I get asked "why don't (most) Dems just...[message better, be bolder, sound authentic...etc]"

www.weekendreading.net/p/bringing-a...

Bringing a Survey to a Gun Fight

“Pollingism” Has Failed Democrats and Voters. Here’s Why, and What to Do Instead.

www.weekendreading.net

14 130 330

Reposted by Michael Podhorzer

Michael Podhorzer @mikepod.bsky.social · 7d

Please join me on Substack Live today at 2pm ET with @thelisagraves.bsky.social.

Her must-read new book "Without Precedent: How Chief Justice Roberts and His Accomplices Rewrote the Constitution and Dismantled Our Rights" breaks much new ground on how we got here.

open.substack.com/live-stream/...

LIVE SOON: Weekend Reading Live with Lisa Graves

Starting Oct 1 at 2:00 PM EDT

open.substack.com

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Michael Podhorzer @mikepod.bsky.social · 7d

Please join me on Substack Live today at 2pm ET with @thelisagraves.bsky.social.

Her must-read new book "Without Precedent: How Chief Justice Roberts and His Accomplices Rewrote the Constitution and Dismantled Our Rights" breaks much new ground on how we got here.

open.substack.com/live-stream/...

LIVE SOON: Weekend Reading Live with Lisa Graves

Starting Oct 1 at 2:00 PM EDT

open.substack.com

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Michael Podhorzer @mikepod.bsky.social · 8d

People are far more likely to rally around a narrow flashpoint—say, a single host or program—than to demand the broader policy changes that would alter the system itself.

Until that changes, authoritarian consolidation will keep proceeding apace.

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Michael Podhorzer @mikepod.bsky.social · 8d

Positive censorship, e.g. Kimmel, is easier to see than negative censorship—the stories that don’t make it to air because vertically integrated media conglomerates decide which projects get greenlit, which stars get bookings, and which controversies die in legal or corporate affairs.

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Michael Podhorzer @mikepod.bsky.social · 8d

When oligarchs capture the mass audience, truth becomes a luxury good. Much investigative journalism (NYT/WaPo), academic research (JSTOR), and sharp satire (Last Week Tonight) live behind paywalls, while those without subscriptions watch broadcast dominated by Nexstar, Sinclair, and Fox.

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Michael Podhorzer @mikepod.bsky.social · 8d

In the 90s and onward, Democrats made a deal with the devil, aiding Republican efforts to engineer this oligarchic media landscape. After decades of treating media like a public good, Dems started treating it as just another market.

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Michael Podhorzer @mikepod.bsky.social · 8d

Oligarchs have captured much of our media—and as we’ve seen in Hungary under Viktor Orbán, private ownership captured by loyalists has done the job of state propaganda more effectively than nationalization ever could.

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Michael Podhorzer @mikepod.bsky.social · 8d

New at Weekend Reading: What the Kimmel dust-up tells us about the demise of free speech.

This incident felt like state censorship—but Kimmel’s suspension and un-suspension were both business decisions. And we almost never notice or object to the ways that censorship has been privatized. 🧵

Jimmy Kimmel Live! Lives On While the Oligarchs' Power Grab Rolls On

What the Kimmel dustup tells us about the demise of free speech

www.weekendreading.net

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Michael Podhorzer @mikepod.bsky.social · 8d

It’s no accident that authoritarians like Trump attack both public education and the labor movement.

Great chat with @rweingarten.bsky.social on why fascists fear teachers:
www.weekendreading.net/p/randi-wein...

Randi Weingarten on Why Fascists Fear Teachers

A recording of Weekend Reading Live

www.weekendreading.net

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Reposted by Michael Podhorzer

Words to Win By @wordstowinby.bsky.social · 14d

Today @ 1pm ET - join @anatosaurus.bsky.social and @mikepod.bsky.social on Substack Live.

Join the live chat here:

LIVE SOON: Meeting the Moment with Anat Shenker-Osorio

Starting Sep 24 at 1:00 PM EDT

open.substack.com

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Michael Podhorzer @mikepod.bsky.social · 19d

A geeky deep-dive on opinion research and message testing with @farrahbostic.bsky.social www.weekendreading.net/p/how-to-fix...

How to Fix Democrats' Brand Problem

Start by treating it like an actual brand. With Farrah Bostic on Weekend Reading Live.

www.weekendreading.net

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Reposted by Michael Podhorzer

Laurence H. Tribe @tribelaw.bsky.social · 19d

And remember:

it’s not just corporations, it’s wealth however packaged that drives politics —

— unless effectively constrained by law as made by and for ordinary people, not just the wealthy or the elite

Michael Podhorzer @mikepod.bsky.social · 21d

New at Weekend Reading:

John Dewey warned us: big business casts the shadow we call politics.

Today, we ignore the shadow-casters, construing their shadows—politicians and their campaigns—to be the whole story.
www.weekendreading.net/p/shadows-an...

Shadows and Shadow Casters

Politics is about power.

www.weekendreading.net

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Michael Podhorzer @mikepod.bsky.social · 20d

It was!

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Michael Podhorzer @mikepod.bsky.social · 21d

While we worry about “executive overreach” or “judicial power grabs,” all three branches are united in enabling the shadow-casters—corporations and their allies—and in grabbing power away from us.
www.weekendreading.net/p/shadows-an...

Shadows and Shadow Casters

Politics is about power.

www.weekendreading.net

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Michael Podhorzer @mikepod.bsky.social · 21d

It’s no wonder the three branches of government no longer check each other. The Roberts Court, Trump, and the Republican House/Senate caucuses are all on the same team—shadows of the same shadowcasters.

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Michael Podhorzer @mikepod.bsky.social · 21d

Or take the Roberts Court. We see the shadows—idiosyncratic individuals with legibly “conservative” philosophies—but not the shadow-casters: the Federalist Society and its billionaire/religious interests that captured the Court with true believers in those interests’ agenda.

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Michael Podhorzer @mikepod.bsky.social · 21d

For instance, when people wonder why most Democratic leaders don’t have the spine to stand up to Trump, they forget where and with whom they spend most of their time—with funders and business people who for the most part are just fine with what's going on.

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Michael Podhorzer @mikepod.bsky.social · 21d

In this narrow keyhole view of politics, we see the shadows of individual lawmakers taking positions, but not the shadow-casters—the donors, lobbies, and other interests that are the strongest influences on who gets on the ballot, what bills reach the floor, & how narrow the range of “debate” can be

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Michael Podhorzer @mikepod.bsky.social · 21d

New at Weekend Reading:

John Dewey warned us: big business casts the shadow we call politics.

Today, we ignore the shadow-casters, construing their shadows—politicians and their campaigns—to be the whole story.
www.weekendreading.net/p/shadows-an...

Shadows and Shadow Casters

Politics is about power.

www.weekendreading.net

4 32 58

Michael Podhorzer @mikepod.bsky.social · 21d

Join me on Substack Live at 1pm ET with @farrahbostic.bsky.social

open.substack.com/live-stream/...

LIVE SOON: Weekend Reading Live with Farrah Bostic

Starting Sep 17 at 1:00 PM EDT

open.substack.com

3

Reposted by Michael Podhorzer

LOLGOP ❌👑❌ @thefarce.org · 23d

Get this in your brain. Listening to it for the second time and it just keeps hitting harder.

I’m going to pull some clips of @mikepod.bsky.social and @anatosaurus.bsky.social don’t mind.

Words to Win By @wordstowinby.bsky.social · 26d

"No dollars for dictatorship."

@anatosaurus.bsky.social and @mikepod.bsky.social this week on Substack Live.

A New World Struggles to Be Born

Substack Live with Anat Shenker-Osorio

substack.com

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