6 chapters across the catalog
In a throwback clip, Lurie Daniel Favors passionately denounces Michael Bloomberg's "racist" stop-and-frisk policies, only to admit she would still vote for him if he were the nominee. The hosts use this to illustrate what they perceive as a lack of respect for Black men, noting that Favors would support a candidate whose policies she claimed led to the assault of her own husband.
A heated rant details Michael Bloomberg's controversial record on "stop and frisk" policing, gentrification, and education policies in New York City. Despite these criticisms, the speaker concludes that they would still vote for Bloomberg if he were the Democratic nominee to defeat Trump. This segment illustrates the "party over person" mentality that critics argue renders the black vote a captured commodity.
The hosts investigate the timeline of the BIE document, noting it originated under FBI Director James Comey during the transition between the Obama and Trump administrations. They discuss the difficulty of validating leaked documents and criticize the pivot in the congressional hearing from black activists to broader "people of color" and Muslim narratives.
Using Neely Fuller's definition of white supremacy as a global system of governance, the hosts draw a parallel between the black experience of racism and the public's experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. An anecdote about a woman in Florence, Italy, being targeted for not wearing a mask serves as a metaphor for racial profiling. The segment likens pandemic travel restrictions and "papers please" requirements to the "stop and frisk" policies historically used in minority communities.
The 1994 Crime Bill is analyzed for its "truth in sentencing" provisions, which provided billions in federal subsidies for states to build more prisons. The hosts discuss how this created a financial incentive for mass incarceration and the deployment of 100,000 new, militarized police officers. The impact of "stop and frisk" and the use of armored vehicles in residential raids are highlighted as consequences of these policies.
Leaked audio from a 2015 Aspen Institute appearance captures Michael Bloomberg defending "stop and frisk" by claiming 95% of murderers and victims fit a specific minority profile. Bloomberg argued that the most effective way to remove guns from the streets was to "throw them up against the walls and frisk them." While Bloomberg later apologized as he entered the 2020 race, the audio confirms his long-standing commitment to the controversial policing tactic.
