Protests & Resistance
Protests & Resistance

Seriously Radical Action To Defend the Earth
It’s a tale of fiction but in his new book Altar to an Erupting Sun well known activist and author Chuck Collins tells the story of the main character Rae Kelliher who, facing her own death, makes a bold, shocking,

Madison’s Intent for the Second Amendment
In short, it was not about individual rights but about protecting the institution of slavery. It created militias as slave patrols. And despite conventional wisdom, militias were useless in the war for independence. Historian Carl Bogus’s new book Madison’s Militia,

“Courage Unexcelled in US History”
It was a crime to even be a member of the “One Big Union.” But even Helen Keller was a member of the IWW, the Industrial Workers of the World. On this show, Ahmed White talks about his new book

20 Years After Iraq Protests: They Actually Worked
Despite current assumptions, “protests can win even as they appear to lose.” So says Notre Dame professor emeritus David Cortright in his new essay in The Nation. On this show, we show how there are two superpowers on the planet:

The Struggle to Rule American Democracy
Democracy and oligarchy: since our founding it’s been a long balancing act. In his new book Realigners: Partisan Hacks, Political Visionaries, and the Struggle to Rule American Democracy, author historian Timothy Shenk tells of how very diverse people like Mark

The Cellphone Camera: The Power of Truth That Can’t Be Stopped
We all know there are powers determined to destroy democracy. The ubiquity of hand held video cameras has the unique power to disrupt the narrative of power. On this show author Phil Allen talks about his new book The Prophetic

The Unique Success From Undoing Intentional Invisibility
Divide and rule. It’s worked quite well for many decades. When sectors of America are made invisible, behind walls, it takes away the power of democracy. In their new book Standing Up, Tales of Struggle, authors Ellen Bravo and Larry

Behind the Neat Myth of the American Revolution
It’s the bedrock of who we are today. But to believe there was agreement among the “Founding Fathers” to replace plutocracy with democracy is just wrong. A lot of the answers as to where we find ourselves today, good and

Courageous Movement for Change That Works
Breaking the mold of powerlessness happens, in the US Senate and in our neighborhoods. On the first segment Political Science professor and author Ron Feinman points to six little known US Senators who courageously stood up against war and injustice.

The Prescience And Vision of Rosa Luxemburg. Who?
Precapitalist indigenous cultures have a lot to offer us today for a better, greener future. And socialism is not how its pictured. Neglected by the Great Men study of history, Rosa Luxemburg, a 4′ 11″ disabled young woman from what’s

For Inspiration Today: Fannie Lou Hamer In the Early 60s
When she came onto the civil rights stage, the men assumed she’d sing, not speak. But Fannie Lou Hamer was a force. As author Kate Clifford Larson tells the amazing story in her new book Walk With Me, she stood

Are We There? How Empires Fall
The prospect of losing the power of empire brings out fear which can lead to police states. Or it can be seen as an opportunity for significant improvement. On this show, Matt Wehmeier, who spent recent years in the former

David Beats Goliath: Water Over Gold
The most dangerous thing to be in Central America is a water defender. The transnational mining interests frighten regional governments with massive lawsuits if they don’t get their way. And they have killed. But as the new book The Water

Berta Caceres Trial Will Test Biden’s Central America Policy
When VP Kamala Harris went to Central America, Honduras was not on the list of stops. She has reason to not want to appear with their right wing president. He is supported by the powerful global extractive industries, but there’s

The Remarkable Success of MayDay 1971
Traditional liberals argued we’d alienate some by civil disobedience in the streets of Washington. The idea was to stop the center of the war machine to stop the war, which went on an on despite marches and speeches and everyone

In Military Gear, Patriots Invade the Capital: 50 Years Ago
Self-professed “patriots” stormed the US Capitol Building January 6th, but it was Vietnam Veterans Against the War in late April 1971 who were the real patriots. They came for what they considered another tour of duty, after serving in the

Unknown Activist: Challenges, Successes, and Rewards
Even if it never makes it on TV, progressive action does make a difference. There’s a place for all activists, forcing hidden problems and opportunities to the fore. Our guest Dinah Yessne has a new book called Politically Defined. There’s

Democracy Lost to Powerful Men in 2000, but Women Saved it in 1937
Pounding on windows, yelling Stop the Count; the tactics of physical intimidation (led by the president’s men) succeeded in crushing democracy in the US election of 2000. On part one, our guest historian Robert Toplin tells the story where fear

A Carnival of Breaking Stuff and Lynching: January 6th
So much we have to learn from January 6th. On the first part of today’s show History Professor Robert Schneider calls it a “Populist Transgression,” without a legitimate grievance. Other uprisings and disruptions are purposeful. He likens Trump to Mao:

A Surprising Team for Justice: Malcolm X and Martin Luther King
They are often pictured as competitive opponents, but Malcolm X and Martin Luther King were “The Sword and the Shield” leading the same revolution with the shared goal of human dignity. On this show, Dr Peniel Joseph talks about his

January 6th: Not Who We Are?
The Trumpian mob attack on the Capitol shocked America. We thought “this is not who we are.” But maybe it actually is, more than we’d thought. If we dare to look at our history, it was not such an exception.

Occupy Wall St. 2011 Was Just The Start
From its birth in one block in New York City to more than a thousand town squares, the conversation began ten years ago. It was the first social media driven movement and as Heather McKee Hurwitz writes in her new

After 50 years, A Tipping Point for the Defeat of Fossil Fuels?
What we’ve been saying all the years has come true. The easy oil days are over. Banks are always leery of making bad investments, and heavy footprint fossil fuel interests also frighten the insurance industry. Oil is just not profitable

Thomas Frank’s New Book On Elitist Anti-Populism: “The People, NO”
The parties have flipped: It used to be that Republicans were for Wall Street, Democrats were for Main Street. Now the Democrats are seen as the party of the elitists, Republicans are for the common people. On this show Thomas

Treason: What Is It Really?
The word treason has been thrown around a lot lately. By Trump against his detractors and also leveled at Trump for seeking to stage a coup against America. On this show one of the nations leading authorities on the law

Unsafe to Protest? Realities Behind the Portland Picture
We’ve seen it on the nightly news: the police, the tear gas, the fires, and the wall of moms. Our guest today, David Rovics is there in Portland Oregon and he explains that the city’s police protected the far right

“Homeland Security:” Ideal Authoritarian Tool
Other countries, like those we defeated, use the paramilitary domestically, not America. Or so it was before the Department of Homeland Security was transformed into the ideal authoritarian tool. Former CIA analyst and professor of government at Johns Hopkins University

Are We The Enemy Now?
For nearly 20 years, the goal of America’s perpetual war has been about dominating the world. It has been largely out of sight, but now it’s on our streets. Our president has turned the weapons on us; again the goal

Never Again? Denying The Crime Is Part of the Crime
Denial is the final stage for a successful genocide. Since Nuremberg, we’ve heard the phrase “Never Again.” But that requires facing real history, hearing the voice of the victims not just the winners. Though the Turkish genocide of a million

I) May Day 71 II) Silver Lining of Pandemic
On part one, Ron Jacobs and MayDay veteran Burt Cohen discuss the virtually unknown MayDay 1971 protest in DC when 13,000 people were arrested. And on part two, five college world security professor Michael Klare examines the significant silver lining