192 All News: Nike’s Kaepernick Ad Campaign, The Kavanaugh Hearings, and The White House “Insider”

Today we’re doing a news-only episode, talking about our thoughts and feelings around the recent Nike campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick, the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court confirmation hearings, and the anonymous White House “insider” who posted an opinion piece in the New York Times last week.  

In This Episode

We were too bummed out by this week’s (well, technically, last week’s) news to do a fun episode, so we decided to just talk about the news instead. Content warning for Trump, social justice issues, everything bad in the world. Don’t listen if you’re in a bad head space! The three major news stories we cover with links to the articles we read: Nike Ad
On September 3rd, former N.F.L. quarterback Colin Kaepernick became the face of Nike’s latest ad campaign celebrating the 30th anniversary of their “Just Do It” campaign, signing a new multiyear deal after being signed but not used by Nike since 2011. We have mixed feelings about this campaign – on one hand, exposure for activists like Kaepernick is always a good thing, highlighting the work he’s done and the sacrifices he’s made in order to spread his message. On the other hand, we are, of course, wary when corporations profit off of anti-oppression movements, particularly when they exploit people of color to do so. We break down the strategy behind Nike’s use of Kaepernick, why they are doing it now versus two years ago when his national anthem protests started, the scandals Nike is trying to distance itself from, Nike’s continued relationship to the N.F.L., Kaepernick’s collusion case against the N.F.L., and Trump’s thoughts about N.F.L. players taking a knee and the impact of this on coaches in the N.F.L. Articles Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearings
Trump nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court on July 9, 2018, to fill the seat vacated by Justice Anthony Kennedy, who decided to retire seemingly out of nowhere. We are, like many U.S. citizens, terrified at the ramifications of Kavanaugh’s nearly guaranteed spot on the Supreme Court, not only because it will tip the scales in favor of a severely conservative court, but also because Kavanaugh is young and could potentially be ruling on case law for generations to come. As we see it, a seat on the Supreme Court is in many ways more powerful than the presidency itself and oh god why is the country burning down around us. We get into the details around Justice Kennedy’s relationship to the two Supreme Court nominees that Trump has picked in his short one and a half year term as President, Judge Kavanaugh’s stance on several social justice issues, and the protests that have taken place during the Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings last week. Articles White House Insider
Last week, the NY Times published an anonymous opinion piece by someone who is said to be a senior official in Trump’s administration that is working against him in league with other senior officials. The insider details Trump’s reckless, dangerous, immature and immoral behavior and beliefs. Like, yeah, dude, we know. We don’t have a ton to say about this but thought it worth mentioning since it fits with the theme today and was a big news story. Overall, this person isn’t actually telling the country anything new or useful, and doubles down on their conservative views and going as far as to say they think this administration has done a lot of good. Barf. No thanks, canceled! We’re tired of everyone getting cookies for half-measures and are certainly not in the mood to give them to someone who is proud of the increases to our military and the tax reforms that have passed since Trump took over for basically saying nothing new and doing nothing substantial to change anything. Nope, not doing it. Article Joke
Why can’t you send a fax to the White House? (thank you, Lavender!)
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