As is customary, HUD released its annual report on homelessness at the end of 2024. It revealed a startling year-over-year increase in homelessness among individuals and families in the United States. Among the devastating data, there were bright spots such as a decrease in homeless veterans. But the reporting and punditry surrounding the report was less than stellar, and the news was buried in a matter of days. Crucially, some of the worst reporting on HUD’s findings came from left wing media sources who pointed to immigration as one of the drivers of the increase, conveniently and uncritically parroting conservative talking points while ignoring the more pertinent narratives. Chapters Intro: 00:00:37 Chapter One: A Point in Time. 00:03:12 Chapter Two: Whether Building a Home or a Narrative, Framing Matters. 00:07:39 Chapter Three: Housing First: When Evidence Meets Ideology. 00:17:03 Bring it Home, Max. 00:26:20 Post Show Musings: 00:30:55 Outro: 00:58:21 Resources HUD: The 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress  Tsemberis, S., & Eisenberg, R. F. (2000). Pathways to Housing: Supported Housing for Street-Dwelling Homeless Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities National Alliance to End Homelessness. (2000). A Plan, Not a Dream: How to End Homelessness in Ten Years. Washington, DC U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. (2010). *Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. Washington, DC Department of Housing and Urban Development. (2014). Housing First in Permanent Supportive Housing Brief Gillespie, S., et al. (2021). Denver Supportive Housing Social Impact Bond Initiative: Final Outcome Report. Urban Institute Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. (2019). Housing for Health Year Four Evaluation Report Wright, B. J., et al. (2016). Health in Housing: Exploring the Intersection between Housing and Health Care. Center for Outcomes Research and Education National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2018). Permanent Supportive Housing: Evaluating the Evidence for Improving Health Outcomes Among People Experiencing Chronic Homelessness Gubits, D., et al. (2016). Family Options Study: 3-Year Impacts of Housing and Services Interventions for Homeless Families. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Y-Foundation. (2020). A Home of Your Own: Housing First and Ending Homelessness in Finland National Alliance to End Homelessness. (2020). Rapid Re-Housing Works: What the Evidence Says Padgett, D. K., et al. (2016). Housing First: Ending Homelessness, Transforming Systems, and Changing Lives. Oxford University Press UNFTR Episode Resources Over The Borderline Series: Introduction. Part One. Part Two. Part Three. -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, TikTok and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility. Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99. Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, "Unf*cking the Republic."

Today we’re tackling our second non-negotiable pillar of establishing a Civilian Labor Corps, and the timing couldn’t be more critical. You may have picked up on chatter in the wind about the impending job apocalypse at the hands of artificial intelligence (AI). I’m here to tell you that this is real. It is coming faster and more furiously than you realize, and we are wholly unprepared. This episode breaks down the speed and totality of what’s coming in the AI revolution and speaks to how prominent economists from history through today would manage the impending employment crisis. Chapters Prologue: 00:00:43 Introduction: Storm Clouds. 00:03:52 Chapter One: The Coming AI Job Apocalypse. 00:06:52 Chapter Two: Full Employment. 00:20:55 Chapter Three: Breaking from Neoliberal Thinking. 00:28:34 Bring It Home, Max. 00:37:26 Post Show Musings: 00:42:23 Outro: 01:10:58 Watch YouTube Video: Unpacking the Ceasefire Agreement: Shades of the Iran Hostage Deal. https://youtu.be/Bnfzl1xWumc Resources Goldman Sachs: What to expect from AI in 2025: hybrid workers, robotics, expert models Levy Institute: Working Paper No. 542 Keynes’s Approach to Full Employment: Aggregate or Targeted Demand?  Fisher Phillips: U.S. House Delivers Sweeping AI Report: 10 Biggest Takeaways for Employers 118th Congress: Bipartisan House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence Congressional Budget Office: Artificial Intelligence and Its Potential Effects on the Economy and the Federal Budget Congressional Research Service: The Macroeconomic Effects of Artificial Intelligence Convin: Is AI a Threat to the BPO Industry? AI in BPO Industry Explained UNFTR Episode Resources Housing First: Non-Negotiable #1. The U.S. Economy: Have we reached a boiling point? Has “Creative Destruction” Reached Silicon Valley? The Capitalism Trap. Modern Monetary Theory. Can we afford it? Yes. Yes, we can. F*ck Milton Friedman. The Chicago school of economics. Book Love Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo: Good Economics for Hard Times Kurt Vonnegut: Player Piano -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, TikTok and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility. Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99. Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, "Unf*cking the Republic."

America’s healthcare system isn’t broken—it’s working exactly as designed. The problem is that it was designed to generate profits, not health outcomes. We spend roughly 20% of our GDP on healthcare, about double what other developed nations spend per capita, yet we have shorter life expectancy, higher infant mortality rates, and leave tens of millions uninsured or underinsured. Medicare for All is the obvious and attainable solution but it has fallen out of mainstream conversation since Biden bested Bernie for the 2020 nomination. Rekindling this spark is vital and should be one of the primary non-negotiables of the Left movement. Chapters Intro: 00:00:40 Chapter One: Changing the Intent. 00:03:09 Chapter Two: Building the Narrative. 00:07:51 Chapter Three: A System Designed to Fail. 00:11:44 Chapter Four: Understanding Medicare for All. 00:16:34 Bring it Home, Max: 00:24:20 Post Show Musings: 00:28:41 Outro: 00:38:57 Book Love Ken Lefkowitz: Medicare For All: An Economic Rationale Abdul El-Sayed and Micah Johnson: Medicare For All: A Citizen’s Guide Steven Brill: America’s Bitter Pill Paul Starr: The Social Transformation of American Medicine -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, TikTok and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility. Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99. Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, "Unf*cking the Republic."

The movement to get money out of politics will take a very long time. I know people don’t want to hear that. My guess is, in the best case scenario, we’re looking at 20 years. Best case. If it makes you feel any better, the movement to get money into politics took 181 years so by that measure, two decades to unravel what took 181 to build isn’t all that bad. Either we’re committed to playing the long game or not. The assholes that got us here were. Chapters Intro: 00:00:33 Chapter One: Non-Negotiable #4. 00:01:11 Chapter Two: The Long and Winding Road to Citizens United. 00:07:05 Chapter Three: Media Complicity. The Revolution Was Already Televised. 00:16:46 Chapter Four: Defying Its Creator. The Tale of Mitch McGolem. 00:20:43 Bring it Home, Max: 00:28:47 Post Show Musings: 00:37:13 Outro: 01:11:09 Resources OpenSecrets: Money-in-Politics Timeline Brennan Center for Justice: Since Citizens United, a Decade of Super PACs Cambridge University: Dark Parties: Unveiling Nonparty Communities in American Political Campaigns De Gruyter: Television Advertising in the 2022 Midterms De Gruyter: Digital Advertising in the 2022 Midterms Bowdoin College: Government Scholar Michael Franz on Impact of Ads during the 2024 Election Cycle Brennan Center for Justice: Life Tenure for U.S. Supreme Court Justices Is a Global Oddity with Clear Costs Ballotpedia News: Looking ahead at 2025 ranked-choice voting legislation Justia: Citizens United v. FEC | 558 U.S. 310 (2010) Senate: Saving American Democracy Amendment  Constitution Center: Interpretation: The Twenty-Seventh Amendment American Promise CampaignFinanceReform.org Book Love Adam Jentleson: Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy Kermit L. Hall: The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States UNFTR Episode Resources Housing First. Building a Civilian Labor Corps: Bracing for the AI Job Apocalypse. Medicare for All. Project 2025. What’s the Deal with Peter Thiel? “Russputin” and the Tsar. Convention of States. -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, TikTok and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility. Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99. Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, "Unf*cking the Republic."

This is the final installment of our 5 Non-Negotiables of the Left series where we detail three short-term goals to take back the country and two long-term fights that must be waged for the sake of our democracy and the planet. This fifth entry speaks to the now back-burnered but ever-present threat to life on this planet: Climate change. This is the most difficult case we’ll make to you. We expect pushback and disappointment at first but if we do our job, we’ll shift you to acknowledgement and resolve. This fifth Non-Negotiable isn’t for us. It’s for someone you might know, but more than likely it’s for someone you’ll never meet. We present the establishment of The Climate Trust: Social Security for the Planet. Chapters Intro: 00:00:57 Chapter One: Diet, Exercise and Nuclear Power. 00:01:25 Chapter Two: The Social Cost of Carbon. 00:06:21 Chapter Three: Settling into Reality. 00:10:37 Chapter Four: We’ve Known It All Along. 00:17:55 Non-Negotiable #5: The Climate Trust. 00:26:36 Post Show Musings: 00:30:30 Outro: 01:23:22 Resources IPCC: Summary for Policymakers — Special Report on Climate Change and Land Institute for Policy Integrity: Gauging Economic Consensus on Climate Change The Center for Climate & Security: Chronology of Military and Intelligence Concerns About Climate Change World Economic Forum: This is How Climate Change Could Impact The Global Economy Swiss Re: World economy set to lose up to 18% GDP from climate change if no action taken, reveals Swiss Re Institute's stress-test analysis The New York Times: 40 Million People Rely on the Colorado River. It’s Drying Up Fast. The Black Vault: Global Climate Change Implications for the U.S. Navy Thomas Malthus: On the Principle of Population United Nations: Food Systems Summit United Nations: Secretary-General’s Chair Summary and Statement of Action on the UN Food Systems Summit US EPA: Global Greenhouse Gas Overview Penn State: Plant-Based Diet Rodale Institute: Farming Systems Trial Coller FAIRR Protein Producer Index The EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet, Health Energy Education: Discovery of the greenhouse effect APS: August 1856: Eunice Foote Concludes That Carbon Dioxide Could Warm the Atmosphere, Three Years Before John Tyndall Did DQYDJ: Income Percentile Calculator for the United States Eunice Foote: Circumstances Affecting the Heat of the Sun’s Rays CNA: National Security and the Threat of Climate Change GovInfo: National Security Implications of Global Climate Change to 2030 U.S. Department of Defense: Department of Defense 2014 Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap Global Monitoring Laboratory: Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) UNIDO: HCFC Phase-Out PBS NewsHour: Antarctic ozone hole believed to be shrinking Book Love James Howard Kunstler: The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Cent Cass R. Sunstein: Climate Justice: What Rich Nations Owe the World—and the Future Tad Delay: Future of Denial: The Ideologies of Climate Change Nicoletta Batini: The Economics of Sustainable Food: Smart Policies for Health and the Planet Mark Bittman: Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food, from Sustainable to Suicidal: A Food Science Nutrition History Book Michael T. Klare: All Hell Breaking Loose: The Pentagon's Perspective on Climate Change Lester R. Brown: Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization John Tyndall: Heat Considered as a Mode of Motion William Stanley Jevons: The Coal Question UNFTR Resources Building the Climate Industrial Complex. The Montreal Protocol. Phone A Friend: Tad Delay. A (Mostly) Vegan World. UNFTR Non-Negotiables. -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, TikTok and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility. Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99. Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, "Unf*cking the Republic."