I'm missing Friday's show with Erika & Jen from The Girl Talk Show. Damn!

Erika, Jen, & Joanna from The Girl Talk Show

I can't believe I'm missing tomorrow's show featuring two of my favorite people. Jen Sabella and Erika Wozniak will be Fred's in-studio guests. For those who don't know them (you must not live in Chicago), Jen and Erika co-host The Girl Talk Show on the 4th Tuesday of every month, over at the Hideout.

Jen, who describes herself as a "professional tequila drinker", is actually a working Chicago journalist. Erika is a veteran, award-winning, teacher and union activist who currently works as an aldermanic chief-of-staff.

I should add that the GTS is produced by ace political strategist, Joanna Klonsky (yes, we are related).

I'm heading down to FL for a few days to visit family, escape the Chicago windchill, and get rid of this damn cold. So, Fred and Annie will have to carry on without me. I'll be listening and kibitzing by text, from 11-noon CT, via live-stream at lumpenradio.com.

One of the funniest (not so funny) parts of The Girl Talk, is when Jen and Erika present the "Douchebag of the Month Award" to some sexual harasser or predator.

My nominee for this month's award is the co-founder of KIPP charter schools, Mike Feinberg.

Feinberg would have been eligible for the award anytime during the past 15 years. He was finally fired by the KIPP board last year in response to allegations of sexual misconduct with former students and now he's suing KIPP and KIPP is suing him back. What a shit show.

According to Chalkbeat:

A former student alleged that KIPP co-founder Mike Feinberg sexually assaulted her under the guise of a medical exam, and a former KIPP employee said he offered her money in exchange for sex, according to a court filing by the KIPP charter school network.

The filing offers new details on the sexual harassment and abuse allegations that led to Feinberg’s firing last year, a move that shocked many in the charter school movement. The motion, filed in November, asks for the dismissal of a defamation suit Feinberg filed against KIPP, the country’s largest nonprofit charter network.

There's still no explanation as to why it took KIPP so long to get rid of Feinberg. He was "involved" with a former KIPP student, employed by KIPP Houston in 2004, which led to a "financial settlement" at the time.

Please don't worry about Feinberg's recovery from this ordeal. He's doing much better than his victims. He's currently the president of the governing board of the Texas School Venture Fund, a conservative group that funnels millions of dollars to charter schools, vouchers, and other school privatization initiatives. 

He'd be a deserving awardee.