Protests & Resistance
Protests & Resistance
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
Kent State Plus 50: Time to Face The Truth
On May 4, 1970, Laurel Krause was just 15 years old. That night in a hospital with her parents she identified her 19-year-old sister Allison’s lifeless body. The bullets that killed Kent State University students Allison, Jeff, Sandy and Bill,
The System is Sick, More than the Coronavirus
The novel coronavirus is forcing us to see that the very economic structure of America itself is in ill health. We know more poor Americans are dying, they can’t work from home and stay safe. All of us depend on
Thirties Historian: This is Not Depression 2.0
Both the Great Depression and today’s recession started off in a time of great economic inequality. Both economic calamities brought to the surface systemic inadequacies. Perhaps the most recognized authority on the history of the Great Depression, Stanford history professor
Hardly A Science, Can We Actually Learn From History?
Often called the father of scientific or objective history, the ancient Greek philosopher Thucydides did not see himself that way. According to our guest, history can never be a blueprint. We just can’t make sense of it. There are no
Plundered Iraq Rising Up
It didn’t start with W’s 2003 war on Iraq. The British have plundered what is now Iraq since the 19th century. After the incredible economic and physical devastation and perhaps a million deaths, though little noticed in the news, the
The DNA of Democracy: It’s A Recessive Gene
We take democracy for granted, but as author Richard C.Lyons tells it, democracy is a recessive gene. Tyranny is much more able to dominate. Tyranny? What does that ancient word even mean? In his new book: The DNA of Democracy,
DNA of Democracy: It’s a Recessive Gene
We take democracy for granted, but as author Richard C.Lyons tells it, democracy is a recessive gene. Tyranny is much more able to dominate. Tyranny? What does that ancient word even mean? In his new book: The DNA of Democracy,
The Criminalization of Humanitarianism
Leaving jugs of water in the desert for desperate migrants can be a crime. The Border Patrol regularly hunts for them to stab and drain. Thousands of people have already died in the vast desert trying to escape violence in
WBCN And The American Revolution
Like a pebble tossed in a pond, the cultural and political ripples from the pioneering WBCN continue. Launched in March 1968 with Cream’s “I Feel Free,” it became a national phenomenon. With the release of the long anticipated documentary “WBCN
Beyond the 2020 Electoral Circus: Action
Two minutes every four years, just going into the voting booth to choose a president, is hardly a sufficient tool to leverage the changes which we both need and are possible. As author Paul Street points out, idling capital is
Nonviolent Refusal To Cooperate: The Irish Set The Standard
Gandhi and Nehru took their inspiration from the Irish, people like Arthur Griffith. Who? Though violence gets all the headlines, rendering the powerful suddenly powerless though noncooperation is by far the most effective tactic. Our guest Professor David C. Cochran
France’s Yellow Vest Movement Explained
Neither the traditional French Socialist Party nor the right wing National Front, the yellow vest movement sweeping across France is something new, leaving the political powers including President Macron befuddled. With about 70% public support, the people on the streets