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Media Cyphers is a weekly radio show out of Kalamazoo, MI where we discuss local issues, analyze and critique local and national media, cover important organizing in the SW Michigan region, and call out the establishment on its B.S. Listen to us live every Tuesday from 12PM-2PM on 89.1 WIDR or online at widrfm.org.
Episodes
Friday Oct 21, 2022
Friday Oct 21, 2022
We talk with Emily Greenman Wright- currently running for Library Trustee here in the Kalamazoo area. We discuss the library's push for equity, unresolved issues with their recently unionized library aides and custodial hourlies, and how to approach a political climate where libraries are under attack from reactionary harassment and censorship.
Wednesday Oct 19, 2022
Wednesday Oct 19, 2022
We start our show with a story that really lays out class conflict in a very obvious way here in the City of Kalamazoo. Lakeside Academy, shut down since the summer of 2020, was being eyed as a potential site for affordable and transitional housing for the houseless community. Instead it was bought up by a real estate holding company and will be sold to the Kalamazoo County Club to expand their golf course. From the city's ruling class to the houseless- "let them eat golf balls."
On the east side, social justice organization "Detroit Will Breathe" wins their long protracted lawsuit against the City of Detroit over the abuse of Detroit police against protestors during the uprisings of 2020. We look at how an ostensibly "liberal" city went very aggressively against the DWB organization up to counter-suing them and slandering them on Fox News.
We take a look at the dark money flooding into our state from right-wing oligarchs seeking to defeat Proposition 3 (Reproductive Rights for All) as well as the fallout from restrictive abortion measures in a neighboring state.
We look at a horrifying bill from the Michigan GOP in the state legislature that would effectively criminalize being a trans youth and giving trans youth gender-affirming care.
We close out with our thoughts on the Whitmer/ Dixon debate (and a bit on the debate between Herschell Walker and Raphael Warnock in Georgia).
02:20- 19:30 Golf & Class Conflict: Potential Site for Housing for the Houseless Sold to Kzoo Country Club
19:50- 33:15 Brett Favre the "Welfare Queen"
33:15- 42:00 Detroit Will Breathe Wins Lawsuit Against the City of Detroit
42:00- 1:04:15 Dark Money, Prop 3, and Abortion Rights
1:04:15- 1:22:00 Michigan GOP Wants to Outlaw Trans Youth
1:22:00- 1:41:30 Dixon/ Whitmer Debate
SOURCES
Country club plans golf course at site once eyed for homeless housing in Kalamazoo
Detroit Will Breathe Statement on Lawsuit Against the City of Detroit
https://www.leftvoice.org/victory-in-detroit-will-breathe-lawsuit-against-the-city-of-detroit/
Ahead of an Abortion Rights State Ballot Measure, Anti-Choice Cash Is Flooding Michigan
https://jacobin.com/2022/10/antiabortion-ads-michigan-ballot-measure
Michigan’s New Anti-Trans Bill Threatens Care-Providing Parents With Life in Prison
https://theintercept.com/2022/10/13/anti-trans-bill-michigan/
Friday Oct 14, 2022
Friday Oct 14, 2022
In the first of our local candidate interview series for the 2022 election we talk with Josh Hilgart- currently running for 9th Circuit Court judge here in the Kalamazoo area. We talk about the importance of this often ignored local elected position, what he has been talking with constituents about during his run, and his background and reason for running.
https://www.hilgart4judge.com/
Friday Sep 30, 2022
Friday Sep 30, 2022
A teach-in organized by the Socialist Party of Michigan and conducted by Media Cyphers host Andy Argo.
"Recently President Biden unveiled a plan to provide a small amount of student debt relief for people in the U.S. Much ink has been spent by those in the corporate media alternatively praising these measures and decrying them as "student debt Socialism." However, given a global context where many other countries provide free higher education, it is worth asking why the working class in the United States is subjected to student debt in the first place.
Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire
https://theintercept.com/2020/01/07/joe-biden-student-loans/
The Origin of Student Debt: Reagan Adviser Warned Free College Would Create a Dangerous “Educated Proletariat” The Intercept
https://theintercept.com/2022/08/25/student-loans-debt-reagan/
Wednesday Sep 21, 2022
Wednesday Sep 21, 2022
A recent post on social media has called attention to local business support for an organization called "Alternatives Kzoo" with decidedly anti-choice politics. While many locally were informed about these businesses lending financial support to them, we go further and explain who and what Alternatives Kzoo is- a "Crisis Pregnancy Center." We talk about CPCs, how they often mislead and misdirect people with services to push their anti-abortion agenda, and how that relates to the broader conservative media ecosystem.
We look at how Tudor Dixon recently attacked the Michigan Department of Education for suggesting in a training video that teachers use discretion when talking with parents about their child's gender/ sexual identity. Alarmingly, the Whitmer administration concurred with a broader criticism for the MDE to make sure they "involve parents." All this skirts around the core issue of protecting student privacy against potentially homophobic/ trans-phobic parents, and amounts to throwing LGBTQ+ students under the bus- and validating bigoted talking points.
In some tragic Michigan news, a follow of QAnon reportedly murdered their wife and attempted to murder their daughter. We talk about the tragic circumstances of this event and more broadly about who and why people are drawn to conspiracy theories like Q.
We briefly touch on Governors Abbot and DeSantis grossly shuffling asylum seekers across the country as a political stunt, and the racist cry-babies on the internet with very strong opinions of what skin color a fictional fish-woman should have.
2:00- 25:20 Local Businesses Supporting Anti-Choice Org 'Alternatives Kzoo'
25:20- 49:00 Dixon AND Whitmer Throw LGBTQ+ Students Under the Bus
49:00- 1:06:00 Michigan QAnon Follower Murders Wife
1:06:00- 1:16:15 Moving Around Asylum Seekers as Political Stunt
1:16:15- 1:34:18 Part of That World: Mermaids and Racist Man-Babies
SOURCES/ FURTHER READING
"Why Crisis Pregnancy Centers Are Legal but Unethical"
List of 'Alternatives Kzoo' Business Support
"Michigan Dept. of Education LGBTQ, gender training blasted by Dixon, Whitmer"
https://www.bridgemi.com/talent-education/michigan-dept-education-lgbtq-gender-training-blasted-dixon-whitmer?fbclid=IwAR3d8c6wszdyjw0rsea1NhvNYH-TlgF1KLFchPN9FaeyXjpQpW69wLOBkKI
Wednesday Sep 14, 2022
Wednesday Sep 14, 2022
We talk about the ongoing struggle against Graphic Packaging Inc. and their pollution on the Northside neighborhood. Area residents recently demonstrated at Kalamazoo City Hall to call attention to the Northside being an environmental "sacrifice zone." We give you some historical context about this ongoing issue and talk about how national decisions from the Supreme Court weakening the EPA play into this local injustice.
Last week Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety officers accosted some local residents in a stairwell at an apartment complex- after surrendering a legally owned firearm the residents were beaten bloody by the officers and dragged down concrete steps. We reflect on this brutal incident and the trajectory of overt brutality seen from Kalamazoo police in recent years.
Good news everyone! Abortion and voting rights WILL be on the ballot, and the Big River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians have won a lawsuit against Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline.
We spend the rest of the hour reflecting on a big international story- the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. We look at the colonial history of the British Empire under the monarchy and Queen Elizabeth II, discuss a big generation gap on how people are approaching the Queen's death, and the response from the mainstream media that omits much of the darker histories we discuss.
We close out the show with some reflections on the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
3:15- 22:15 Northside Residents Protest Pollution at City Hall
22:15- 46:50 Local Residents Beaten Bloody By Kzoo Police
46:50- 1:02:50 Good News on Abortion, Voting Rights, and Line 5 in Michigan
1:02:50- 1:06:00 Steve Bannon Arrested For Fleecing His Own Supporters
1:07:00- 1:32:40 God Save (Us From) The Queen: Colonizer Legacies and Media Mourning
1:32:40- 1:44:50 Reflections on the 9/11 Anniversary
SOURCES
Citizens protest over toxins found in the air near their homes in Kalamazoo
Black Lives Matter Kzoo/ Battle Creek Statement on Recent Police Brutality
Video Footage of Incident (WARNING: Explicit Footage of Police Violence)
Judge rules for tribe in Line 5 suit, says Enbridge is trespassing and must pay damages
Thursday Sep 08, 2022
Thursday Sep 08, 2022
In today's episode we begin with an update to a story we have been following for the past year. Last fall protestors stood with the houseless population to prevent the city-sanctioned eviction of the Ampersee encampment. They were pushed around and pushed out by police, and several of them were arrested. Local organizer Monica Padula is facing charges from KDPS from the incident, and local organizations like Revolutionary People's League and Black Lives Matter Battle Creek/ Kalamazoo are standing with them and pointing out some very unjust contradictions (such as evicting houseless people off of stolen land).
We then look at how conservative litigators were working to kill the Reproductive Rights For All ballot initiative with- we kid you not- typesetting errors. As of our recording this was still in the courts, but GOOD NEWS UPDATE, the Michigan Supreme Court has ruled to allow it on the November ballot.
At University of Michigan nurses have voted overwhelmingly to go on strike.
In national news, the Warner Bros/ Discovery merger is playing out on the neoliberal news network CNN with corporate leadership that would like to see their coverage take a far-right turn. We look at and analyze this confluence of media, politics, and commerce.
1:40- 12:20 Local Groups Rally For Indigenous Activist Charged by KDPS
13:00- 29:10 The Attempt to Overturn Abortion Rights Ballot Initiative Because of... Typos???
30:10- 38:25 University of Michigan Nurses Vote Overwhelmingly to Go on Strike
38:50- 54:00 New Owners at CNN Want Them to Be More Like FOX News
SOURCES
Statement From Revolutionary People's League on Monica Padula's Charges
"735K signed abortion-rights petition. How word spaces may keep it off ballot"
"Michigan Supreme Court Revives Abortion Rights Amendment For November's Ballot"
"Nurses vote by 96 percent for strike action against Michigan Medicine"
"The changes at CNN look politically motivated. That should concern us all"
RECOMMENDED READING
"The New States of Abortion Politics" by Joshua C Wilson
https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=24837
Recorded Live on 89.1 WIDR 9/6/2022
Background Music by Quantum Fleek
Wednesday Aug 31, 2022
Wednesday Aug 31, 2022
We open with some local stories about the Northside Ministerial Alliance organizing an anti-gun violence carnival and houseless residents protesting on the Kalamazoo City Hall steps.
We comment on the recent verdict in the trial of two men who plotted to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer, and give our analysis of a recent Michigan GOP rally featuring all of their statewide candidates (Governor, Lt. Governor, Secretary of State, and Attorney General). We look at their words and read between the lines.
We spend the next part of our show deep diving into the history of student loan debt- our response to Biden's 10k debt forgiveness and its relation to his campaign promise to relieve ALL student loan debt and his congressional record of helping create and worsen the student debt crisis. We then take the long-view and show how the capitalist class in the United States has long prioritized restricting access to education and anti-capitalist views on campus, the significant break in the 70s from affordable college nationwide to skyrocketing tuition rates, and how that campaign against higher education has impacted the current state of campus life.
We look at some workers who have successfully unionized a Chipotle in Lansing, and how corporate media often gives the bosses the first word. We end with some stray thoughts on the raid at Mar-a-Lago.
2:00- 12:30 Anti-Gun Violence Carnival on the Northside
12:30- 28:40 Houseless Residents Protest at Kzoo City Hall
28:40- 39:00 Would Be Whitmer Kidnappers Sentenced
39:00- 1:00:25 Michigan GOP Rally Response
1:00:25- 1:40:35 A Brief History of Student Debt in the U.S.
1:41:20- 1:58:00 Chipotle Workers Unionize in Lansing
1:58:00- 2:08:00 Stray Thoughts on the Mar-a-Lago Raid
SOURCES
Joe Biden’s Role in Creating the Student Debt Crisis Stretches Back to the 1970s
https://theintercept.com/2020/01/07/joe-biden-student-loans/
The Origin of Student Debt: Reagan Adviser Warned Free College Would Create a Dangerous “Educated Proletariat”
45 Years and Counting: Sustaining Power of “The Powell Memo”
Neoliberalism's War on Higher Education (Second Edition)
By Henry A. Giroux
https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1386-neoliberalism-s-war-on-higher-education
Wednesday Aug 17, 2022
Wednesday Aug 17, 2022
After a brief hiatus, Media Cyphers is back to call out the B.S.- but first we preface a lot of very depressing stories with a meditation on revolutionary optimism and its importance in the face of rising fascism and bigotry.
We look at how the Democratic Party used their resources to elevate an extreme Trumpist candidate against Peter Meijer in Michigan, how it parallels a nearly identical strategic gambit in 2016 with their "Pied Piper" strategy- which had a direct role in elevating Donald Trump, why the corporate establishment keeps returning to a well of very bad ideas, and the media coverage of it.
We give an update about a Paw Paw man who tried to burn down Kalamazoo's Planned Parenthood and the local ramifications of rising extremism- as well as how Facebook is firmly on the side of authoritarianism in turning over private messages to police about one of their users seeking an (illegal in their state) abortion.
We spend the rest of the show looking at how the far-right propaganda onslaught against the LGBTQ community is manifesting here in Michigan through a handful of news stories- and conclude with a glint of good news amongst the bigotry and misinformation.
3:40- 12:30 The Importance of Revolutionary Optimism
13:15- 25:20 Democratic Party Boosts Extremist Against Peter Meijer/ "Pied Piper" Deja Vu
26:10- 33:45 Paw Paw Man Tries to Burn Down Kzoo Planned Parenthood
33:50- 41:40 Conservative Michigan Town Defunds Their Library Due to Anti-LGBTQ Propaganda
41:40- 47:20 Tudor Dixon Wants Michigan Schools to Out Their Queer Students to Parents
48:10- 53:20 Republican States Want to Stop LGBTQ Students From Being Fed at School
53:20- 56:40 Michigan High Court Rules that Anti-Discrimination Laws Apply to LGBTQ+ Residents
SOURCES
"Democrats face blowback after boosting far-right Michigan candidate"
"Man, 25, accused in Kalamazoo Planned Parenthood arson denied bond"
"Facebook gave police their private data. Now, this duo face abortion charges"
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/10/facebook-user-data-abortion-nebraska-police?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other&fbclid=IwAR3NwXULjSV3FxDNEmpm-vBEnONJLLh_Jg6JL_ovykyoLnZ2d54j1aMd8AY
"Upset over LGBTQ books, a Michigan town defunds its library in tax vote"
"Republican States Sue to Let Schools Block LGBTQ Children From Getting Meals
"Michigan High Court: Anti-Discrimination Law Applies to LGBTQ Residents"
American Security Projects Discusses Climate Crisis Messaging
Recorded Live on 89.1 WIDR August 16th, 2022
Background Music Performed by Quantum Fleek
Wednesday Aug 03, 2022
Wednesday Aug 03, 2022
A few weeks ago, the Kalamazoo City Commission reduced the penalty for public urination and defecation from a misdemeanor to a civil infraction. This effectively means that people caught doing their business in public won't be hit with criminal records. While initially a rather benign change to city code, some business owners downtown took issue with less punitive laws regarding bodily functions and tied it to their interactions with the homeless population. Commissioners responded by pointing out that helping people avoid criminal records is helpful for everyone and provides more equity in the community.
Like sharks to blood (or, in this case, dung beetles to dung), the right-wing corporate media erupted with coverage of our little town's minor legal changes- countless articles on the web that (not so subtly) used the instance to deride and ridicule the concept of "equity" itself and punch down on the homeless. Tucker Carlson himself spent time on his show to discuss it and literally called for a "sh*t hit" on City Commissioner Chris Praedel's front lawn.
We deep dive on how this procedural change got turned into a national media circus, and the motives and money behind the coverage.
Radiant Church breaks their silence with the local press after their local businesses were vandalized, and in national news we talk about Chick-Fil-A's insulting offer to the working class and several updates about what nonsense is happening in congress.
0:00- 30:00 The Sh*t Hits the Fan- The Class Politics & Propaganda Around Kzoo Decriminalizing
30:30- 43:00 Radiant Church Speaks to the Press
43:30- 47:40 Chick-fil-A Tries to Pay Workers in Chicken
47:50- 56:55 Republicans Vote AGAINST Bills for Human Trafficking Victims & Vets
57:00- 1:05:40 Congressional Hearing w/ Gun Manufacturers
Interview w/ Casey Grooten on Radiant Church
https://mediacyphers.podbean.com/e/ep-16-interview-w-casey-grooten-on-radiant-church-s-space-downtown-and-their-anti-lgbtq-bigotry/