InfluenceWatch Podcast Capital Research Center
-
- News
-
The podcast where we go beneath the surface to reveal the web of connected influence, money, and motivation driving the news, sourced primarily from our website InfluenceWatch.org, the Capital Research Center's online encyclopedia of the donors, non-profits, and influencers driving politics. You can watch the video version of the podcast at: http://bit.ly/2rnQygY
-
Episode 315: The Dark Money Network of Leftist Billionaires Secretly Transforming America
If you’re a regular listener, you’ve heard the name “Arabella Advisors” before—the management company that sits at the center of a network of left-wing “dark money” advocacy nonprofits. Now, the story of Arabella Advisors, its network, and its influence is told in a volume authored by Capital Research Center’s president Scott Walter, imaginatively titled Arabella: The Dark Money Network of Leftist Billionaires Secretly Transforming America. Scott joins us this week to discuss the book.
Links:
Arabella Book
Written Testimony on Extreme Environmental Activist Groups
Donors to the Arabella Advisors Network
Shedding Light on Governing for Impact
Follow us on our Socials:
Twitter: @capitalresearch
Instagram: @capitalresearchcenter
Facebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenter
YouTube: @capitalresearchcenter -
Episode 314: ESG's Labor Angle
I’m fond of saying—it’s in my Twitter bio—that “there’s always a labor angle.” From bad MLB umpiring to anti-anti-Hamas demonstrations, Big Labor is there. So I am the least surprised person to discover that the left-wing environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) activist investing movement is backstopped in part by and operates in service of Big Labor and its Everything Leftist agenda. Joining me and my colleague Robert Stilson, who studies the ESG movement for Capital Research Center, is Vinnie Vernuccio of the Institute for the American Worker.
Links:
Unions using ESG to control workers — and drain Americans’ retirement savings
REPORT: Big Labor’s Push to Force Investment Managers to Ignore Fiduciary Duty and Promote Unions
As You Sow
20 Years of ESG Activism
Follow us on our Socials:
Twitter: @capitalresearch
Instagram: @capitalresearchcenter
Facebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenter
YouTube: @capitalresearchcenter -
Episode 313 - America's Worst Teachers Union?
It might be America’s worst teachers’ union—and knowing American teachers’ unions, that’s saying something. Since its takeover by a radical-left-wing, militant caucus in 2010, the Chicago Teachers Union has pushed a radical-left agenda through numerous strike actions and controversially aided the mayoral campaign of Brandon Johnson, a former lobbyist for the union, in the city. Just last month, the union allegedly used school time to rally students to vote for a tax hike ballot measure supported by the union and now-Mayor Johnson. Joining us to discuss the Chicago Teachers Union is Mailee Smith, Senior Director of Labor Policy at the Illinois Policy Institute.
Links:
CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION CONTRACT DEMANDS ABOUT POLITICS, BOSSES’ POWER
ILLINOIS POLICY INSTITUTE ETHICS COMPLAINT: CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION PRESSURED STUDENTS TO VOTE ‘YES’ ON TAX HIKE
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION
Karen G. J. Lewis
Chicago Teachers Union
Teachers’ Unions vs. Teachers, Parents, and Children: The COVID-19 Lesson
It’s Time to Get Mad
Follow us on our Socials:
Twitter: @capitalresearch
Instagram: @capitalresearchcenter
Facebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenter
YouTube: @capitalresearchcenter -
Episode 312: Nonprofits and the News
Journalism is changing, with nonprofit outlets, especially on the left, playing an increasing role in how information gets to the people. Just this week, the press has praised States Newsroom, the Arabella Advisors-seeded network of DEI-focused state-level journalism outlets, and a senior editor at the government-and-Big-Philanthropy-funded National Public Radio has published an article detailing how the outlet shifted from orthodox-liberal in outlook to a radical vanguardist Everything Leftism with a commitment to esoteric identity politics. Soon Capital Research Center will publish a special issue of our magazine focusing on nonprofit journalism and other ideological media projects; joining me to discuss that are my colleagues Ken Braun and Parker Thayer.
Links:
I’ve Been at NPR for 25 Years. Here’s How We Lost America’s Trust.
States Newsroom (Newsroom Network)
Press Forward
Follow us on our Socials:
Twitter: @capitalresearch
Instagram: @capitalresearchcenter
Facebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenter
YouTube: @capitalresearchcenter -
Episode 311: Government Voter Registration
It is increasingly well known, including through the work of our Capital Research colleague Parker Thayer exposing the Voter Registration Project, that left-wing billionaires and institutional interests use what are supposed to be charitable organizations to help win elections. But an Executive Order by President Joe Biden putting federal agencies into the voter-registration game has people asking whether federal taxpayers are now being dragooned into this “nonpartisan” electioneering. Joining us to discuss Executive Order 14019 is Stewart Whitson, legal director of the Foundation for Government Accountability.
Links:
Behind Massive Mail-in Ballot Push Is a Little-Noticed Executive Order
Legal Director Stewart Whitson on the Glenn Beck Program: Biden’s DOJ Is a “Threat” to State Election Integrity
Corrupt Voter Registration Scheme Persists: VRP’s Activity in 2022 and Beyond
Demos
Follow us on our Socials:
Twitter: @capitalresearch
Instagram: @capitalresearchcenter
Facebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenter
YouTube: @capitalresearchcenter -
Episode 310: Big Labor: Then, Now, And In The Future
Have you ever wondered how and why Big Labor became such a driving force in American politics, and how it’s come to be associated with the American left and the Democrat party? Many may be surprised to learn that in the Trump-era – for lack of a better expression -- some conservatives have begun embracing labor unions, and unions have, in return, begun openly donating to Republican politicians. But when one learns the history of the public and private labor union sector in this country, it’s immediately apparent that Big Labor has always been all over the map ideologically, and that political twists and turns are actually the norm rather than the exception. I’ll be interviewing the regular host of this podcast today, who also happens to be our labor expert here at CRC, Michael Watson, on a five-part history of Big Labor he recently published at our website. Sitting third chair today is CRC Special Projects researcher Robert Stilson, who will have a few questions of his own.
Links:
Big Labor’s Decline and Left Turn: A New Power Rises
The Turn at the Millennium: Why Big Labor Switched Sides on Immigration
Democracy Alliance (DA)
Follow us on our Socials:
Twitter: @capitalresearch
Instagram: @capitalresearchcenter
Facebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenter
YouTube: @capitalresearchcenter
Customer Reviews
Very helpful - but need technical help
I have found the information shared on IW to be timely and important, but almost always end up moving to a different podcast because of the audio quality. One speaker’s voice (usually Sarah’s) will be much louder than the others, or the entire program will be so low in volume that it cannot be heard clearly via earbuds if there is any outside noise.
Great info that everyone should know
I love the insight this podcast provides and I think more people should be informed on these topics. My one pet-peeve is that the host consistently interrupts and talks over his guests.
Extreme Right-wing bias, a partisan farce
The name of this podcast and the project would have you believe it’s a reasonable and objective reporter on political influence, but it is not. I started listening and thought, oh, quite a few right-leaning talking points; it will be interesting to hear what the left-leaning guest says. Yeah, that never happened; it’s a complete right-wing echo chamber. This show is what Fox would be if it had any integrity - acceptable sources, etc., but it still has biased framing and intellectually dishonest straw man articulations from the host.