Category: In the media

Heartwarming New Pod Hosted by Rick Sorkin and Sharon Kopelmann Makes Every Day Mother’s Day NEW YORK, April 7, 2021 Everybody and their mother has a podcast. It’s true. It’s also the title of the newest podcast production from the powerful innovators at Righteous Media. Everybody & Their Mother (Has a Podcast) launched a brand new season today, with Episode One, weeks before Mother’s Day. Have you ever imagined creating a podcast with your mom? Rick Sorkin did. And he made it happen with his amazing mother, Sharon Kopelmann. And it’s amazing. Watch the trailer now here And hear Episode One for free now here. Since the pandemic hit, Rick and his mom (Sharon) have been quarantining together in a secret desert location. And it’s been VERY interesting. And fun and inspiring. Everybody takes you inside the house with Rick and Sharon, two other humans, (and their cat), and along for some very special adventures. From Rick’s music-making, to Sharon’s painting, to their shared passion for supporting and understanding the developmental disabilities of Rick’s brother, to breaking down current events–this show will bring smiles and warmth to your ears every time you download it. This charming, fun, inspiring weekly podcast will be like a warm cup of cocoa with your mom or best friend. Rick is a little bit of everybody. He’s Santa Monica-based Music Producer, Multi-Instrumentalist, Creative Strategist, Plant-based Chef and Co-host of Everybody. He’s also 6’5”, ambidextrous and followed on Twitter by Barack Obama. Born and raised in Philly, Rick earned a Business and Music Degrees from The George Washington University. He’s spent time on Madison Avenue and in the center of Hollywood, where he created and contributed to many of the now-common global digital advertising and talent practices. He also executive produced the star-studded, get-out-the-vote event ‘Telethon for America’, has performed at the world-famous Hollywood Improv, and has been in about a million bands you’ve never heard of and has a forthcoming plant-based cookbook. And now, he has a podcast with his mom. Sharon Koppelman is Rick’s amazing mom–and one of the best moms you’ll ever meet. She’s also an artist, career educator and the wise and learned life coach you wish you had. Sharon’s guiding philosophy is that everyone benefits personally by contributing to their household and their community, and therefore should be supported to do so regardless of ability level. She’s intelligent, kind and caring–and is Past Board Chair of SPIN, Inc., a non-profit that provides a life of possibilities and assistance to thousands. Sharon taught in the Philadelphia public school system and was adjunct Assistant Professor at Drexel University, where she taught in the Education program. Sharon holds a B.S.Ed from Temple University and an M.S.Ed from Gratz University. Sharon’s stand-up comedy experience has so far been limited to a single performance in Philly at the now-legendary Cabaret L’Etage. And now, she has a podcast with her son. The last year has been a rough ride. This pod will help you recover from it. In a brash and loud world of arguing and chaos, Everybody is like a warm bath of nice and lovely content. It’ll soothe your soul–and leave you feeling better than when you started. And, as with every Righteous production, it’ll bring you the 5 I’s: independence, integrity, information, inspiration and impact. Everybody and your mother has a podcast. But this one will quickly become one of your favorites. Call your mother. And subscribe now anywhere you get your podcasts or: Apple Podcasts. Google Podcasts. Spotify. Amazon. TuneIn Radio. ABOUT RIGHTEOUS: Righteous is the media company for independent and unaffiliated Americans and a rising force in new media content and community. Focused on news, politics and culture, and founded by renowned activist Paul Rieckhoff, Righteous powers innovative podcasts, video, television and film titles including Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff, The Dispatches, While the Rest of Us Die and more. Righteous is built around core values that we define as the “5 I’s”: independence, integrity, information, inspiration and impact. What about the massive, underserved middle? What about the politically unaffiliated? What about the independent Americans? They don’t have a real home in the media. Until now. Righteous is built around a simple principle: news and politics is important and interesting. And it should be independent. It doesn’t have to be the tool of one political party or the other. It can be patriotic without being extreme. And it doesn’t have to suck. It delves into music, sports, parenthood. It can be fun. Especially with the massive heaviness of the terrible shit happening in America right now, we all need a dash of levity. Enter Righteous. See more and join the movement at www.Righteous.us. CONTACT: Chris Rosenthal Righteous press@righteous.us

Paul Rieckhoff joins Amy McGrath in ringing the alarm about the threat white nationalism in the military creates for our country. CNN: “The military is still the most respected institution in America, but this respect is not a given. The politicizing of the military under the Trump administration and the growth of right-wing extremism among veterans are serious threats to that national admiration. Veterans made up as much as 20% of the people arrested so far in relation to the violent insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, according to an NPR count. This is a much higher percentage than the 7% of veterans in the population as a whole. Additionally, most of them served since 9/11. These domestic terrorists who attacked our democracy included men and women, officers and enlisted, spanning almost all of the service branches. As a nation, we must face the hard fact that there may be a systemic problem here, the nature and depth of which is yet to be determined.” https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/11/opinions/military-extremist-mcgrath-rieckhoff/index.html

Denis McDonough for Secretary of Veterans Affairs is a stunning and disappointing pick by President-elect Joe Biden. I’ve met McDonough and have always been impressed by him. But there’s no world in which I would have ever envisioned him as our next VA Secretary. He is not a vet, let alone a post-9/11 vet. Instead, he’s another well-credentialed, civilian, white guy leading an agency that badly needs a transformative leader who can understand and represent an increasingly diverse community. Biden had countless dynamic, inspiring, competent, transformative options—including over 3 million post-9/11 vets to pick from. Yet instead of picking a respected, celebrated, and proven vet like Nadja West—the Army’s first Black lieutenant general, Army surgeon general, and commander of the Army Medical Command—Biden picked a Washington political insider who’s never run an organization as massive as the VA, never worked at the VA, and never been a patient at the VA. He’s never even worn the uniform. This as the sprawling agency wrestles with an explosion of COVID cases disproportionately affecting veterans of color, a shocking sexual assault situation, and an unprecedented politicization of our community under Donald Trump. The vets community is stunned. I was not consulted—and I am not a Democrat. But if I was in the Senate, I could not support McDonough for VA Secretary. I expect many Democrats—and especially progressives—will lose their shit over this wildly out-of-touch pick. And rightly so. In America, right now especially, representation matters. The VA should be no exception. After two decades of war, this was the time for a transformative, empathetic, inspiring secretary. One who could encourage vets (and all Americans) to be part of VA’s new future. A leader who could translate our experiences for the 99 percent of Americans who’ve never served since 9/11. A person who could embody the success that is possible for us. Instead, the new secretary of Veterans Affairs is a political operator, who is not one of us. It feels patronizing and swampy. It wouldn’t be accepted by Democrats at any other agency. It shouldn’t be accepted here at VA. Other agencies are getting “groundbreaking” and “trailblazing” cabinet nominees. Yet again, VA settles for “competent.” In the next few weeks, you’ll hear from lots of insiders and political people who know McDonough supporting this extremely controversial pick. That’s to be expected. It’s how these things work in Washington. But ask the activists, the front-line VA workers, the vets dying from COVID in nursing homes, the vets who don’t follow politics what they think. Because Biden clearly did not. The VA nomination news could have been an uplifting, inspiring, exciting moment for 19 million vets and their families. Instead, it’s confusing, disappointing, infuriating, insulting—or even worse—irrelevant. Tragically, after two decades of war and struggle, we’re used to it. There is a lot of changing in American in 2020. This is not. It’s yet another sad reflection of how low veterans rate in terms of understanding and prioritization for American political leadership—from both parties. https://www.thedailybeast.com/what-the-hell-was-biden-thinking-with-his-wildly-out-of-touch-choice-for-veterans-affairs-secretary?ref=scroll

Vice TV has announced that its new series, “While the Rest of Us Die: Secrets of America’s Shadow Government,” will premiere on Nov. 16 at 10 p.m. Based on the book by Garrett M. Graff, the six-part series exposes the U.S. government’s flawed plans to protect its citizens. The show unpacks America’s national security spending on hidden underground cities, a secret air force and a plan to suspend democracy in order to serve the interests of the elite class. The series features interviews with political figures including former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson and former National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure, Protection and Counter-terrorism Richard Clarke, and national security experts Malcolm Nance, Elizabeth Goitien and Paul Rieckhoff. It will be narrated by “Westworld” star Jeffrey Wright. “The events of this last year have laid bare the economic, political and health inequities at the core of American society,” said Graff. “Our hope with ‘While The Rest Of Us Die’ is to show Americans how those inequities are central to the way our supposedly egalitarian society and democratic government operates. From Puerto Rico to COVID-19 to Black Lives Matter, America has long treated some American lives as more worthy than others. This isn’t new, and in fact, in the seventy years since the Cold War, the U.S. has long prioritized spending trillions of dollars in the wrong places in the wrong ways, a problem that has been felt from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan to the streets of American cities.” https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/while-the-rest-of-us-die-vice-tv-1234829368/