Sarah Lee

Episode 209: Protecting Big Labor's Paycheck

March 11th, 2022  |  29 mins 31 secs

In 2020 as the coronavirus hit and governments ordered mass lockdowns of length and scope unprecedented in American history, Congress passed the “Paycheck Protection Program” or PPP to help small businesses maintain their payrolls with forgivable loans. But before 2021, labor unions were not supposed to receive funds from PPP; my guest, the Freedom Foundation’s Maxford Nelsen, documented as many as 226 forgivable loans made under PPP totaling over $36 million that went to labor unions and related organizations. Max joins us today to discuss this and the Freedom Foundation’s other work on government worker unions.

Episode 208: Blackrock Loves China

March 4th, 2022  |  24 mins 41 secs

blackrock, larry fink, woke, woke boardroom

Today, Sarah Lee hosts as Will Hild from Consumer's Research discusses the man behind the "woke boardroom", Larry Fink, and his empire, BlackRock.

Episode 207: Saving our Elections

February 25th, 2022  |  21 mins 34 secs

election integrity, election reform, heritage action, save our elections

Our host Mike Watson and guest, Jessica Anderson of Heritage Action discuss their efforts regarding state level election reforms to have safer, more secure elections.

Episode 206: Equality and the Value of Humans

February 18th, 2022  |  13 mins 28 secs

black lives matter, black lives matter global foundation network, blm, color us united, financial disclosures, irs, washington examiner

Equity is based on arbitrary concepts like fairness. Equality is based on the value of humans. Join us this week as we discuss the stark differences between equity and equality with Christian Watson from Color us United.

Episode 205: When Rules Begin to Apply

February 11th, 2022  |  26 mins 41 secs

Our guest today went digging for the federally mandated financial disclosures that the BLM Global Network Foundation was supposed to file. He couldn't find them which only raised more questions. Where did all the money go that BLM shoveled in during the 2020 riots go? Join us in a discussion about BLM's lack of financial accountability with our guest, Andrew Kerr from the Washington Examiner.

Episode 204: An Education on Image

February 4th, 2022  |  25 mins 33 secs

The teachers' unions are receiving a lesson for themselves on the subject of image. Join us for a discussion with Dan Gainor of Media Research Center about how they are tracking the teachers' unions efforts to create a more positive image.

Episode 203: Did ZuckBucks buy the 2020 Election? - Virginia's Response

January 28th, 2022  |  23 mins 59 secs

2020 election, election 2020, election integrity, virginia, voter fraud, zuckbucks

Since we shined a light on ZuckBucks and how it influenced the 2020 Election, many state legislatures are responding to prohibit private dollars going to local election superintendents' offices. Join Mike Watson for a discussion with CRC President Scott Walter and researchers Hayden Ludwig and Parker Thayer about the Virginia Legislature's response to ZuckBucks.

Episode 202: Virginia's Education Deep State

January 21st, 2022  |  19 mins 30 secs

As Virginia has been turning blue, the education system in that Commonwealth has become more ingrained with leftist policies and ideals. However, shifts could be occurring upon the election of Glenn Youngkin and his executive orders banning divisive educational concepts and promoting parental involvement in their childrens' education.

Episode 201: Education Distrust

January 14th, 2022  |  27 mins 23 secs

Listen to Dr. Jay Greene as he describes the impetus behind Critical Race Theory and why American parents are so upset.

Episode 192: Election Integrity Begins With Local Politics

October 22nd, 2021  |  25 mins 13 secs

election integrity, local politics, unions

In this episode: Sarah Lee interviews Mike Watson on why local politics -- and the involvement of union organizers and activists at that level -- have played a role in some of the election integrity concerns plaguing modern American politics.

Episode 186: Is Mail-In Balloting Here to Stay?

September 9th, 2021  |  23 mins 17 secs

center for voter information, mail-in ballots, virginia gubernatorial election, voter participation center

In this episode: Sarah Lee is joined by CRC Senior Investigative Researcher Hayden Ludwig to discuss a recent article he wrote on the effort by some left-leaning activist groups to promote and facilitate mail-in balloting in Virginia before the gubernatorial election in November. Is pervasive mail-in balloting destined to the be the left's favored election strategy forever more?

Episode 184: Liberal Myths About H.R. 4

August 26th, 2021  |  27 mins 24 secs

big government, elections, ken blackwell, states rights

In this episode: With both sides of the political aisle claiming a desire to protect elections, Mike Watson gets to the heart of the debate with the always edifying Ken Blackwell. Join them as they discuss the myths liberal legislators peddle as they attempt to pass H.R. 4, legislation that would federalize elections.

Episode 183: The Redistributionist Right

August 19th, 2021  |  26 mins 18 secs

american compass, national review, oren cass, redistributionist right, wall street journal

In this episode: Sarah Lee and Mike Watson talk about the merits (or lack thereof) in a conservative embrace of unions, a conversation that comes after Watson publicly called out American Compass (in an op-ed at National Review) for pushing a new "conservative" approach to labor unions while taking significant funding from decidedly less than conservative donors such as the Omidyar Network.

Episode 182: Living Orwell Instead of Reading Him

August 12th, 2021  |  21 mins 57 secs

censorship, colleges, first amendment, free speech, universities

In this episode: Cherise Trump, Executive Director of Speech First, joins the Influence Watch podcast to discuss the challenges and trends related to censorship and infringement of speech on college campuses.

Episode 179: Social Justice Unionism

July 22nd, 2021  |  25 mins 46 secs

In this episode: Can unions continue to claim they advocate for the worker when they embrace social justice advocacy that has little or nothing to do with their original mandate? CRC's Research Director Mike Watson tries to answer this question.

Episode 177: Teachers Unions Running Wild (with guest Alleigh Marre)

July 9th, 2021  |  13 mins 36 secs

alleigh marre, community, critical race theory, critical theory, crt, education, free to learn coalition, freedom, k-12, left, parents, politics, pta, right, school, society, teachers, unions

In this episode: Our regular podcast host, CRC’s Research Director Mike Watson, is on vacation so CRC's Director of Communications and External Relations Sarah Lee is filling in. We are thrilled to welcome a Alleigh Marre to talk about a subject that is everywhere in the news right now and one of great importance to parents and school children. Alleigh Marre leads the Free to Learn Coalition, a group that describes itself as a nonpartisan organization established to support parents, caregivers, and community organizations in their advocacy for quality K-12 education. Specifically, the coalition wants to make classrooms safe enough again that students are: Free to ask questions, Free to develop individual thoughts and opinions, Free to think critically of ideas and concepts and, Free to achieve.