Vaya Con Muñoz 2.20.21

This week Natalia is joined by Nathaniel Waring, Kate Albright-Hanna, Matt Szafranski, and Dan Torres in discussing the so called basket of deplorables comment by Hilary Clinton and how those on the far right are showing themselves to be those deplorables; where the future of the republican party is headed, and whether we are going to see more trump style politics in 2022, 2024, and beyond; where the slide of the republican party towards right extremism leaves moderate republicans like Mitt Romney and the 6 other senators who voted to convict trump; the recent death of radio hate monger Rush Limbaugh and how his rise to prominence both mirrored and also ushered in the rise of extremism within the Republican party; the vaccine rollout, and how problems with the system have plagued Massachusetts’s handling of it; and the recent weather in Texas, and how the deregulation of their electrical grid, combined with some good old fashioned greed, had left thousands of its citizens literally out in the cold;

Vaya Con Muñoz 2.13.21

On this week’s show our panelists – Tanisha Arena, Kate Albright-Hanna, Matt Szafranski, and Nathaniel Waring – join Natalia in discussing the Baker administration’s vaccination rollout, and the problems it has had in doing so; the vaccination site in Springfield, and how it’s the only site that serves a large swath of western mass; the new covid variants and how they might affect the vaccination and the future of covid in the long run; why children under 12 are not currently able to be vaccinated, when that might change, and why teachers are notably absent from the vaccine schedule; former Pittsfield State Senator Ben Downing’s recent announcement that he will be running for Governor of Massachusetts in 2022 and what challenges he will have given the pandemic; the importance of internet during quarantine, and how Comcast’s recent announcement that they will be capping data and charging customers more is going to affect access to essential services during a pandemic; and the ongoing senate trial of former president Trump, and if the republicans in the senate will have the moral fortitude to vote to convict.

Vaya Con Muñoz 1.30.21

This week our panelists – Nathaniel Waring, Tanisha Arena, Dan Torres, and Matt Szafranski – talk about the ongoing legal battle between Mayor Sarno and the Springfield City council around the council’s decision to switch from a police commissioner to a 5 person civilian police commission; the Massachusetts Republican party’s attempts to censure governor baker over his support of the second impeachment of former president Trump, and how it’s a symptom of a greater movement within the republican party towards extremism; how the political spectrum is more complicated than simply left and right, and how the real nature of our political and economic systems relate to the words we use for them, and how important words can be to a common understanding; and discuss what’s happening with reddit and the stock market, and how everyday investors banded together to take down a hedge fund, and shine a light on the problems that have always existed within our stock market.

Vaya Con Muñoz 1.23.21

1-23-21 Vaya.mp3

This week Natalia and our panelists – Nathaniel Waring, Tanisha Arena, Dan Torres, and Kate Albright-Hanna – reflect on the inauguration of Joseph Biden as the 46th president of the united states, and how the return to civility is a breath of fresh air after four years of Trump; where the Biden inauguration leaves the q-anon supporters, right wing media, and donald trump; how the power a handful of media moguls have is a threat to democracy, and what needs to be done to return truth to journalism; the Bernie Sanders inauguration meme and how the senator’s simple wardrobe contrast with other attendees; and how Hillary Clinton’s historic run influenced Kamala Harris’s becoming the first woman to be vice president.

Vaya Con Muñoz 1.16.21

Vaya Con Muñoz 1.9.21

This week our panelists – Kate Albright-Hanna, Tanisha Arena, Dan Torres, Matt Szafranski, and Nathaniel Waring – discuss the Mayor of Northampton, David Narkewicz, announcing that he will not run for another term as mayor, and whether the incoming mayor will be a proponent of the defund the police movement; the coup attempt in Washington on Wednesday, and how the capitol police let the domestic terrorists enter the capitol building with little to no resistance; what kind of consequences the perpetrators of this coup will face, and how that contrasts from how other groups are treated when they are lawfully protesting; and the Democrats winning both the senate seats in Georgia and how that changes the political landscape for the next 2+ years, and what it means for those who live in Georgia and to the country as a whole.

Vaya Con Muñoz 1.2.21

This week our panel welcomes in the new year with our regulars, Kate Albright-Hanna, Tanisha Arena, Matt Szafranski, Dan Torres, and Nathaniel Waring. We discuss how things may or may not be different in 2021 than they were in 2020, and what our expectations are for the new year; how the pandemic will likely unfold over the coming year, and what part the government’s lack of action to support its citizens has led to the state we find ourselves in; how other countries are handling the pandemic and what we can learn from them, and how a $2000 stimulus plays into our country taking the pandemic seriously; the ROE act in Massachusetts’s passing, being vetoed, and that veto being overridden, and how the no votes may have been more complicated than simply a vote against abortion; and how the federal justice department’s handling of the tamir rice case – and other cases of police brutality against black people – has failed to bring justice to the families of the victims.

Vaya Con Muñoz – 1.1.22

This week on the show Nathaniel Waring hosts and is joined by Natalia Munoz, Matt Szafranski, and Dan Torres in discussing…

Vaya Con Muñoz 12.26.20

This week our engineer, Nathaniel Waring, fills in for Natalia and is joined by Matt Szafranski and Danny Torres for a special ‘Bros of Vaya’ episode. We discuss Trump’s flurry of pardons and what they have in common, and how his usage of the presidential power undermines the office; the myriad of crimes the Trump himself is guilty of, and whether he can pardon himself; the future of the republican party and how we as a country get back to some assemblance of a normal democracy; and the recent vote by the Springfield city council to elect their incoming city council president for 2021, and how the proceedings to do so were fraught with controversy and confusion.

Vaya Con Muñoz 12.19.20