Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers: Recent Episodes
Klonsky brothers.
Each week brothers Mike and Fred Klonsky, bloggers and activists engage in conversation, often with in-studio guests. Topics may be local, national or international, but always with a Chicago sensibility and perspective, and always from "the Left side of the plate."
Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is Ken Cloke. Ken is a renowned mediator, arbitrator, and expert in conflict resolution. As the Director of the Center for Dispute Resolution, Ken has spent decades navigating complex disputes, fostering dialogue, and advocating for transformative mediation practices. His work spans labor disputes, political conflicts, and community reconciliation, and he’s the founder of Mediators Beyond Borders, dedicated to global peacebuilding. With a rich history in activism, dating back to his time at UC Berkeley, Ken brings a deep understanding of both movement politics and conflict resolution. We will be discussing mediation, neutrality, tyranny, and resistance—themes at the heart of his recent writings and ongoing work. How can mediation serve as a tool for social change in an era of heightened polarization?
Joining Mike on this episde of Hitting Left are Texas 60's activists and authors Thorne Dreyer and Alice Embree.
Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is Bill Ayers, teacher, activist, and author. They discuss the current assault on academic freedom.
Joining Mike on this editon of Hitting Left is former Congresswomen Marie Newman who returns to the studio to talk about her new book, A Life Made from Scratch. We used to call her the “machine buster.”
Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is educator, author, and Chicago Board of Ed member, Elizabeth Todd-Breland. She's written a biography of the late, great, former CTU President, Karen Lewis.
Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left are Jason Rieger from Indivisible Chicago, Tom Grace, historian, author, and veteran of the Kent State shootings of 1970, and Jerry Harris, author and prominent figure in the study of globalization and its impact on society.
Brother Fred joins Mike in this edition of Hitting Left to discuss New York mayoral politics, the spineless national Democrats and Signalgate.
Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is former Chicago Mayor Lori LIghtfoot to discuss Trump's attack on the cities.
Joining Mike this edition of Hitting Left is Chicago Tribune reporter Ray Long and Democratic Party consultant Alaina Hampton to disucuss convicted former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan and Illinois' culture of corruption
Joining Mike and Susan on this edition of Hitting left is author ands poet Hilton Obenzinger. They discuss the Judaism v. Zionism debate, Trump's plan for a Gaza Riviera, and other madman MAGA tactics.
Joining MIke as cohost this editon of Hitting Left is Susan Klonsky. The guests are the author and cartoon artist Ryan Alexander-Tanner and immigrant rights activist Rev. Sandra Castillo. Ryan Alexander-Tanner has written and illustrated a book about Muhammad Ali. Susan and Mike will get the latest update on President Trump’s threatened assault on our city’s migrants with Rev. Sandra Castillo, who serves the Episcopal Church in Chicago as the chair of the Diocese of Chicago’s Sanctuary Task Force.
Former death row inmates, now Chicago anti-death-penalty activists Renaldo Hudson and Stanley Howard joined by Liz Futrell, author of "Lessons from Death Row."
Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is basketball coach turned novelist Rus Bradburd and filmmaker Floyd Webb. Floyd and Mike will be talking about the Black Panthers on the 55th anniversary of the murder of Illinois Black Panther Chairman, Fred Hampton.
Joining Mike and co-host Susan Klonsky on this edition of Hitting Left is Rabbi Brant Rosen from Chicago's anti-Zionist Tzedek Congregation. Gaza, Lebanon, and resistance to war and genocide in the Trump era are the topics for discussion.
Joining Hitting Left host Mike Klonsky onthis edition is Rashid Khalidi, a Palestinian-American historian of the Middle East and the Edward Said Professor Emeritus of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University.
In the wake of the election of Donald Trump Mike is joined by former co-host Fred Klonsky and political strategist Joanna Klonsky to discuss the results and where we go now.
Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is Juan Gonzalez, co-Host of Democracy Now!, Senior Fellow at Great Cities Institute of UIC, founding member of the Young Lords and leader of the '68 protest at Columbia University. Juan Gonzalez is author of a new study of the "Brown Belt" in Chicago.
Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is author, educator, activist and long-time friend, Bill Ayers. His latest book is called, When Freedom is the Question, Abolition is the Answer: Reflections on Collective Liberation.
Another edition of Hitting Left Music feathering Nina Simone, Bob Dylan, Paul Robeson, 10,000 Maniacs, Tom Morello, Mavis Staples, and more.
Joining Mike on day three of the DNC shows are Arielle Rebekah and Beth Miller Jewsih Voice for Peace.
On day two of the Democratic National Convention Mike is joined by long-time activists Peter Kuttner, Susan Klonsky, Mike James and Bill Ayers. All five were student and community activists at the time of the 1968 Democratic Convention. On this edition of Hitting Left Mike, Peter, Susan, Mike James and Bill recall the historic protests.
This edition of Hitting Left with Miike Klonsky and Friends, the Democratic National Convention shows, include Pushkar Sharma, co-founder and president of the South-Asian American Coalition to Renew Democracy Acts, or SACRED, and Dr. Dilara Sayeed, president of the Muslim Civic Coalition.
This special Democratic National Convention edition of Hitting Left with Mike Klonsky and Friends has former Democratic congresswoman from the 3rd CD in Chicago, Marie Newman, film maker and community activist Floyd Webb and community activist Katy Hogan.
On this week's episode of Hitting Left the brothers discuss the current state of the election, the choice of Tim Walz at VP, the upcoming DNC in Chicago. They also look back at the 68 Democratic Convention in Chicago, planned protests at the upcoming Chicago convention, the impact of the war on Gaza and more.
Former member of Congress Marie Newman joins Mike and Fred (Fred zooming in from Brooklyn) on this edition of Hitting Left. On the day after the Republican National Convention and as Democratic Party leaders try to foce Joe Biden out of the race, we discuss all things politics.
Mikes guests on this editon of Hitting Left are filmmakers Bruce Orenstein and Floyd Webb. Bruce's PBS series, "Shame of Chicago, Shame of the Nation" lays bare the story of how Chicago devised the nation’s most sweeping system of racially segregated housing—and how it diminished the lives of generations of Black families, creating the vast racial wealth gap that persists to this day. Chicago South Side native Floyd Webb, a filmmaker known for starting the Blacklight Film Festival four decades ago, calls himself an “AARP-generation success story” for reinvigorating his career at age 70.
Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is noted education historian Diane Ravitch. Diane has been a sharp critic of corporate school reform practices such as high stakes testing, vouchers and privatization. In the second half of the show Mike and Diane discuss the presidential election and the war on Gaza and the student protests against it.
Joining Mike and Fred on this edition of Hitting Left is Bard College student and activist Lucy Gunderson talking about the student movement against Israeli genocide in Gaza.
Joining Mike on this week's edition of the podcast Hitting Left are Columbia student strike '68 veteran Mark Rudd and current Columbia student activist Ava Lyon-Sereno.
Joining Mike on this edition of Hittiing Left is Kevin Gosztola. Kevin is a journalist, and author known for work on whistleblower cases, WikiLeaks, national security, and civil liberties. Formerly the managing editor of Shadowproof, he writes for The Dissenter. Gosztola has covered the court-martial of Chelsea Manning as well as the extradition of Julian Assange. His recent book is “Guilty of Journalism: The Political Case Against Julian Assange."
Mike's guest on this edition of Hitting Left is author, photojournalist and filmmaker, Danny Lyon, whose camera captured the history of SNCC and the 60’s Civil Rights Movement.
Danny, who was born in 1942 in New York, is one of the most influential documentary photographers of his generation. While still a student at the University of Chicago, he was imprisoned in the South and became the first photographer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). His photographs formed the core of the book "The Movement."
Gloria Richardson, Stokely Carmichael, and Cleve Sellers in custody in Cambridge, Maryland, 1964. (Danny Lyon pic) Upon returning to Chicago in 1965, he joined the Chicago Outlaw Motorcycle Club. The two years he spent with the club resulted in the publication of a groundbreaking book, "The Bikeriders" which inspired a new film.
In 1967, Lyon gained access to the Texas prison system and produced the series "Conversations with the Dead."
Danny’s new book is This Is My Life I’m Talking About.
Joining Mike this episode of Hitting Left are Fred Klonsky and investigative reporter for NBC news, Tracy Ullman. Fred talks about this year's Oscar broadcast and the politics of awards. Tracy discusses the sordid connection between the corruption of the Chicago Democratic Machine and the mass murderer and pedophile, John Wayne Gacy.
Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is brother, retired teacher and activist Fred Klonsky and Steve Goldsmith. Steve is a veteran activist and currently the president of the Torrance California Refinery Action Alliance combatting the dangers of hydrogen fluroide (HF) to people and the environment.
Joining Mike Klonsky on this edition of Hittiing Left is Rabbi Brandt Rosen of the Chicago anti-Zionist Jewish congregation, Tzekek, and Yonatan Shapira, an Israeli former military helicopter pilot.
Joining Mike on this 7th anniversary edition of Hitting Left is Rachel Rubin, Senior Medical Officer at Cook County Department of Public Health.
Mike's guest on this edition of Hitting Left is American peace activist, pacifist and author, Kathy Kelly.
Joining Mike in the Lupen Radio studio on this editioin of Hitting Left are veteran '60s (and current) activists, Al Haber and Michael James. Al was a co-founder of Students For a Democratic Society (SDS) and its first president. Mike was also an SDS organizer and founder of Rising Up Angry. He has a new book out with the same name.
Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is Illinois state senator Robert Peters talking about the Gaza protests and more.
Mike will taking a look back at the 1968 Democratic Convention protests in Chicago and anticipating the upcoming DNC in Chitown next August.
Joining Mike are '68 Movement veterans Mike James and Judy Gumbo plus author Pat Thomas.
Joining Mike Klonsky on this edition of Hitting Left is Juan Gonzalez. Juan is an author, Co-Host of Democracy Now!, Senior Fellow at Great Cities Institute of UIC, former NY Daily News columnist, and once upon a time, a Young Lord.
Mike's guest this episode of Hitting Left is poet, novelist, journalist, critic, and columnist, Luis Rodriguez. Luis was the 2014 Los Angeles Poet Laureate. He is recognized as a major figure in contemporary Chicano literature identifying himself as a native Xicanx writer. His best-known work, Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A., received the Carl Sandburg Literary Award and has been controversial on school reading lists for its depictions of gang life. Joining Luis in the Lumpen Radio studio is Mike's daughter, Amanda Klonsky. Amanda is an educator and prison rights activist who has worked with Luis on prison reform.
Joining Mike on this episode of Hitting Left is Carlos Martinez. Carlos is co-founder of the No Cold War campaign. He is an activist based in London, He's author of "The East Is Still Red: Chinese Socialism in the 21st Century". He has given presentations and discussions on topics such as "Give Peace a Chance: China and the World Today". His work focuses on socialism, peace, and international relations.
Joining Mike this episode is Pidgeon Pagonis, an American intersex activist, writer, artist, and consultant. They are an advocate for intersex human rights and against nonconsensual intersex medical interventions and author of Nobody Needs to Know. It's Pidgeon's second guest appearance on Hitting Left. Mike's guest for the second half of the show will be former Harlem Globetrotter star, Dr. Curly "Boo" Johnson. Former Globetrotter (18 years) Owner CBJ Skills For Life Basketball Academy. HALL OF FAME-Peoria High.
Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is Troy LaRaviere. Troy is head of the Chicago Principal and Adminstrators Association. He has recently been in a battle to defend the careers of some Black CPS principals who’ve been removed from their posts unfairly, according to Troy, as part of a patten of racial discrimination against Black school leaders.
Joining Mike on this episode of Hitting Left is Bob Zellner. 84 year old Bob Zellner has been a social justice organizer since he first joined the original Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in 1961 at the age of 19.
On Hitting Left with Mike Klonsky and Friends, Mike is joined by Corey Stevenson, John Daley & Fred Klonsky. Today the focus is on Chicago. There's a new mayor in town. Are we really the "sanctuary city" that we claim to be? Memorial Day Weekend gun violence and more.
Joining Mike this morning is Jon Melrod, author of Fighting Times: Organizing on the Front Lines of the Class War.
Noted eucator, writer and historian of education Diane Ravitch joins Charles Tocci, professor of education at Chicago's Loyola Univesity with host Michael Klonsky on this episode of Hitting Left.
Former Chicago member of Congress Marie Newman joins Mike Klonsky on this edition of Hitting Left.
Mike is joined by anti-war activist Medea Benjamin, founder of Code Pink in the first hald of this podcast. Community organizer election Rudy Lozano Jr. is on the second half to talk about the Chicago mayoral election.
On this podcast a conversation about criminal justice reform and prisoner rights with Renaldo Hudson, who spent 37 years incarcerated in IL prisons, including many years on death row. We'll also hear from prison activists Amanda Klonsky and Jennifer Soble.
Fred and Mike talk about the Chicago mayoral election between Paul Vallas (on the Right) and Brandon Johnson (on the Left). Then they are joined by noted educator Dr. Pedro Noguera, Dean of the Rossier School of Education, who knows more than a few things about Vallas' destructive educational policies.
Here's the latest in our Hitting Left Music series, Sounds From the Freedom Movements. We start off with a song from early hip-hop poets, Digable Planets called Femme Fetal. Recorded two decades ago, it anticipated the Supreme Court’s ruling outlawing abortion rights. Thar will be followed by music from the anti-fascist Lula movement in Brazil. Buffy Sainte Marie, Pete Seeger, Stevie Wonder. Steve Earle, and much more. Playlist: 1. La Femme Fetal by Digable Planets 2. Now that the Buffalo’s Gone by Buffy Sainte Marie 3. Never Had Your Back by Arrested Development 4. The Hammer Song by Pete Seeger 5. Steve’s Hammer by Steve Earle 6. John Henry by Furry Lewis 7. Which Side Are You On? By Natalie Merchant 8. "It's Wrong (Apartheid)" by Stevie Wonder 9, “Tá na hora do Jair já ir embora” by Maderada and Tiago Doidão’ which translates to “It’s time for Jair to go away already.” 10. Here’s to the State of Mississippi by Phil Ochs 11. 'Inner City Blues (Make Me Holler)' (1971 )by Marvin Gaye 12. All Around the World by Taj Mahal & Keb Mo
Joining Mike on this episoide is veteran Illinois political and investigative Tribune reporter, Ray Long. Like Mike, Ray is a long-time Dodger fan, and someone who has documented the state and city's history of poliical corrumption. Author of The House that Madigan Built: The Record Rule of Illinois' Velvet Hammer.
Joining Mike Klonsky are Northwestern Professor Patty Loew, director of the Center for Native American and Indigenous Research at Northwestern University. She is a member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe. She’ll be talking about the legendary Indian athlete, Jim Thorpe. Also joining us will be and Native American activist/author/educator Nick Estes with more on the case of Leonard Peltier.
Mike Klonsky discusses the war in Ukraine and more with "old, new-left) socialist writer, philosopher, and 60's SDS leader, Carl Davidson.
Guests this episode are Reuben Jonathan Miller and Amanda Klonsky. Professor Miller is A 2022 MacArthur Fellow, His research at the University of Chicago, examines how racialized and poor people experience law, crime control, and social welfare policy. Dr. Amanda Klonsky is a teacher, author, and longtime prison activist whose current work focuses on Covid in Prisons
Guests this episode are Reuben Jonathan Miller and Amanda Klonsky. Professor Miller is A 2022 MacArthur Fellow, His research at the University of Chicago, examines how racialized and poor people experience law, crime control, and social welfare policy. Dr. Amanda Klonsky is a teacher, author, and longtime prison activist whose current work focuses on Covid in Prisons
Rabbi Brant Rosen of the Chicago Tzedek congregation joins Mike on this edition of Hitting Left. Tzedek is an intentional Jewish congregation based on core values of justice, equity and solidarity. Rabbi Rosen and Mike discuss recent developments in Israel and Palestine.
Continuing the music shows for December. But next week Carl Davidson, long time Movement activist and writer, will be Mike's guest.
Mike is taking a break from the usual political talk. Instead he shares some of his favorite Movement songs.
Veteran civil rights activist, teacher and South Africa anti-apartheid organizer Prexy Nesbitt joins Mike and co-host Susan Klonsky.
Joining Mike and Susan Klonsky this week is Leila Wills talking about the Black Panther Party and preserving our history.
Joining Mike and co-host Susan Klonsky is Medea Benjamin from the anti-war group Code Pink. They talk about the war in Ukraine and the urgent need to get all sides to the table for peace talks.
Joining Mike and guest host Fred Klonsky is Clem Balanoff, veteran political and labor organizer to discuss the mid-term elections.
Joining Mike on Hitting Left is Pedro Noguera, the Emery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean of the University of Southern California Rossier School of Eduction. He is recognized as a leading scholar of urban public education, equity, and school reform.
Joining Mike and Susan is veteran Chicago educator, policy advocate and community organizer, Jose Rico.
This week's Hitting Left podcast has Lumpen Radio's Ed and John for a discussion of alternative media and it's role in Chicago.
Joing Mike and Susan Klonsky this week is a hell-raiser in her own right, their old friend, historian, activist, and author, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz.
Joing Mike and Susan is Floyd Webb, a film maker with knowledge of all kinds of media and social movements
Jerry Harris, national secretary of the Global Studies Association, author and educator join Mike and Susan to discuss the international situation, war in Ukraine, China, Russia and issues of war and peace.
This edition of Hitting Left has Mike and Susan Klonsky talking to Dr. Timothy Tyson. Dr. Tyson is senior research scholar at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University and adjunct professor of American Studies at the University of North Carolina. His most recent book is The Blood of Emmett Till.
Retired teacher, activist, art maker returns as a guest and joins Mike and Susan Klonsky to discuss the week's events and how we're going to spend the $4.80 ComEd must pay its customers as a penalty for corruption.
Susan cohosts with Michael and discuss the past weeks news much of it involving Donald Trump. They are then joined by former San Francisco DA, Chesa Boudin who was recently the succesful target of a right-wing recall effort costing a record 7 million dollars.
Susan and Mike talk about the right to abortion. Harish Patel joins them to discuss Chicago's latest progressive pilot: a guaranteed annual income.
Mike Klonsky is joined once again by co-host Susan Klonsky to discuss the week's news along with John Daley producing. Helen Shiller, former Chicago alder and social justice active joins them during the second half of the show.
Mike is back in the Lumpen Radio studio in Bridgepoort's Prosperity Sphere with co-host Susan Klonsky reviewing the week's news. In the second half hour they are joined by Amanda Klonsky to discuss Covid in prisons.
The brothers Cory and Craig join us for an conversation of protest, police and politics.
The Beachwood Reporter Steve Rhodes joins the Klonsky Brothers to talk about the protests, the cops, the politics in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.
CPS teacher and author is joined by Jones College Prep senior Yadani Martinez on this week's show. In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, the pandemic and 20 years of corporate driven school reform, we talk about a vision for education in a post virus world.
Former alderman and advocate for a basic universal income, Ameya Pawar joins us along with Roberto Clack, organizer with Warehouse Workers for Justice.
Dr. Dunbar-Ortiz, an educator, historian and activist. We talk about her life, the conditions of indigenous people.
Dr. Dunbar-Ortiz, an educator, historian and activist. We talk about her life, the conditions of indigenous people.
Dr. Pedro Noguera, newly appointed Dean of the University of Southern California school of education and long-time advocate for equity and social justice in education, joins us from California.
Carl Davidson grew up in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, a steel town outside of Pittsburgh. In college he joined the student movement, organized against the Vietnam War, a traveling campus organizer, was national secretary of SDS for two years and continues as an organizer to this day.
The first half the brothers discuss the week's politics and the presidential race. The second half we are joined by poet and artist Krista Franklin.
Micky and Dick Flacks, long-time activists and authors of Making History, Making Blintzes.
Micky and Dick Flacks, long-time activists and authors of Making History, Making Blintzes.
San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin joins us in a discussion of criminal justice reform in the era of COVID19.
Two leading Chicago Latinx journalists, Jackie Serrato and Fernando Diaz join us for a discussion of COVID19 and its impact on Black and Brown communities.
Like many we are coming this week from our homes rather than the Lumpen studios, joined by poet, singer and artist of all trades, avery r. young.
We're back at a distance with Amanda Klonsky, prison activist and advocate talking about COVID19 and the need to release the incarcerated as a public safety issue.
Appointed to his first term, State Senator Robert Peters represents Barack Obama's former Illinois District. He is a strong proponent of ending cash bail. We talk about that and political organizing in the time of the coronavirus.
Christina Pacione-Zayas just returned from Puerto Rico. Alderwoman Rossana Rodriguez join us to talk about all things Puerto Rico. We take time to commemorate the passing of independista Rafael Cancel-Miranda.
Jackie Serrato has become a regular on Hitting Left. She's now editor-in-chief of the South Side Weekly. Adeshina Emmanuel also returns to talk about his work at Injustice Watch and the secret reports in a story of a death in an Alabama prison.
The first half hour is about environmental racism and the 10th Ward in Chicago with Alderwoman Garza and her policy guy., John Harrof The second half Mike and Fred talk politics - national mostly, with some Blago stuff tossed in - and it's fun.
Diane Ravitch, educational historian and activist joins us (and Mario Smith - host of Lumpen Radio's News From the Service Entrance) for an hour talk about schools and her latest book, Slaying Goliath.
We sat down with two long-time advocates of democratic education, Monty Neill, retired director of Fair Test, and founder of the ground-breaking Harlem small school - Central Park East - Deborah Meier.
We sat down with two long-time advocates of democratic education, Monty Neill, retired director of Fair Test, and founder of the ground-breaking Harlem small school - Central Park East - Deborah Meier.
Tribune reporter Greg Pratt is a newspaper Guild organizer battling the hedge fund takeover of the Trib by Alden Capital and Bob Reiter is the President of the Chicago Federation of Labor. A union show!
Tribune reporter Greg Pratt is a newspaper Guild organizer battling the hedge fund takeover of the Trib by Alden Capital and Bob Reiter is the President of the Chicago Federation of Labor. A union show!
No guest this podcast. The brothers talk Iowa, presidential politics and the progressive movement.
Native American educator Patty Loew and film professor, maker of the film, The Return of Navajo Boy. The history and current state of Native people.
Anton Seals Jr, Chicago community organizer talks equity, community investment, community farming, the "non-606" trail, and Illinois' newest industry: weed.
Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx joins us for a conversation about the criminal justice system, its impact on Black and Brown communities, the role of the prosecutor's office and the cannabis legalization among other topics.
Floyd Webb is a producer and director, known for The Search for Count Dante (2020), Yasuke-San (2022) and Daughters of the Dust (1991). Susan Kerns is Co-Director of the Chicago Feminist Film Festival and associate professor at Columbia College, Chicago.
Block Club's Jen Sabella and 39th ward aldermanic chief of staff for Samantha Nugent co-host The Girl Talk at the Hideout each month.
CTU President Jesse Sharkey joins us to discuss strikes, bargaining and the politics of teacher unionism.
Four of Chicago's important independent and alternative journalists join us for a conversation about the decline of legacy print journalism and more conversation about Chicago politics.
Jerry Harris joins us in a conversation about globalism, nationalism, imperialism, neoliberalism and the meaning of each in today's world.
This week we create our weekly morning political talks, just the two of us. We talk about the just ended Chicago teachers strike and Mike looks back on seven decades of a political life.
Journalist and film maker Assia Boundaoui joins us in a very unstructured conversation about growing up Muslim in Bridgeview, Illinois where the citizens of the town were under constant FBI surveillance for decades. Boundaoui has made a film about the story of Bridgeview called The Feeling of Being Watched.
On the second day of the Chicago teacher strike we are joined in studio by veteran political strategist Don Rose and founder of the Civics Lab Tom Tresser. The strike, the mayor, TIFS and even a little national presidential politics are our topics.
Reporter Jackie Serrato discusses her article for South Side Weekly on the 50th anniversary of the Rainbow Coalition and Fred Hampton. Yonnatan Shapira was an Israeli air force polite and refuser.
The founder of the Young Lords Cha Cha Jimenez and Daniel Kay Hertz, Chicago's new executive director of policy in the Lightfoot Department of Housing, author of The Battle of Lincoln Park, Urban Renewal and Gentrification in Chicago join us live in studio.
Mary D. Williams and Tim Tyson are from North Carolina and strong voices for social and racial justice. They teach together. Ms Williams is a singer of gospel and freedom songs and Tim is the author of a number of books. The most recent is The Blood of Emmett Till.
Alderman Vaquez joins us for a lively conversation about what he's learned about being a socialist, an alderman, providing services to his constituents, legislating and building coalitions.
Marie Newman joins us live in the studio at Lumpen Radio again as she takes on 3rd Congressional representative Dan Lipinski. This is not your grandfathers 3rd. It's a deeply blue, working class and diverse district and progressive district.
Mike is away this week. Co-hosting is reporter Jackie Flores and our guest is artist/teacher/activist Nicole Marroquin. Talking Mexican history in Chicago and the '68 Harrison High school student walk-out.
Brother Fred's away and leading Chicago political strategist Joanna Klonsky joins brother Mike and guest Alaina Hampton. She's a Springfield whistle-blower on Democratic Party sexual harassment.
How past Chicago mayors, alderman and multi-national corporations combine to threaten the health and safety of Black and Brown communities of color and all working people. They don't build coal-fired power plants and million square food distribution centers in rich people's neighborhoods.
Jackie Seratto Flores writes for the Chicago Reporter. Rosanna Rodriguez is a community organizer and socialist Chicago City Council member from the 33rd Ward. We're talking immigration, ICE raids and the movement in Puerto Rico.
Ken Davis is a long time Chicago media guy who hosted the respected weekly news summary, Chicago Newsroom. Professor Simon Balto is a historian and author of Occupied Territory: Policing Black Chicago from Red Summer to Black Power (Justice, Power and Politics). He is also writing a book on Black Panther Chairman Fred Hampton.
Ja'Mal Green is a Chicago community activist, the youngest ever to run for Chicago mayor. An ally of Mayor Lightfoot and a mentor to young African Americans in entrepreneurship. We are also joined by old friend, educator and newly appointed executive director of Illinois Humanities.
Loreen Targos is an union organizer at the EPA and Jake Lewis is the Communications Director for the Chicago Federation of Labor.
Erika Wozniak is a current CPS teacher, candidate for alderman in the recent election and union activist came to talk about the need for social workers in CPS. Sue Garza is 10th ward council member, chair of the Workforce Committee and chair of the Council's Progressive Caucus.
People's attorney Joey Mogul talks about the fight to establish a memorial to the victims of Chicago police torture. Rick Perlstein is author of several volumes tracing the Republican party since Goldwater.
Troy LaRaviere joins us to talk about schools, staffing, funding and Rahm's tenure as Mayor. Troy ran for Chicago mayor and shares some lessons.
Social justice activist, San Francisco public defender and candidate for San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin joins us for a conversation about criminal justice reform.
Chicago Reporters Jackie Serrato Flores and Curtis Black. The Rainbow Coalition then. Chicago politics now. A Chicago Casino. The new school board and more.
Shawn Harrington, star basketball player from Marshall High School and Rus Bradburd, author, coach and college basketball recruiter join us to talk about Chicago gun violence, high school sports and social justice.
Newly elected Chicago alderwoman Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez joins us for a talk about Chicago politics, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, her campaign against the Mell Machine and her view of socialism.
Chicago Friends of the Parks executive director Juanita Irizarry and 1st Ward Alderman Daniel LaSpata join us to talk about equity, privatization and Chicago's parks.
Rachel DeWoskin grew up spending a lot of years in China. She is a professor at the University of Chicago, teaching writing among other things, and has just published Someday We Will Fly, a story of a family of Polish Jews who during WWII find refuge in Shanghai, China.
Fred's in Brooklyn. But Susan Klonsky is co-host with Mike Klonsky and guest Elizabeth Todd-Breland. Dr. Todd-Breland is author of A Political Education: Black Politics and Education Reform in Chicago since the 1960s.
Singer, musician, teacher Mark Dvorak joins to for song and stories celebrating Pete Seeger's 100th birthday.
Veteran activists Mickey and Dick Flacks join us to talk about their joint memoir, Making History, Making Blintzes. How Two Red Diaper Babies Found Each Other and Discovered America.
Steve Rhodes, the Beachwood Reporter (read his blog), has been following Chicago politics and culture for years. Ra Joy is part of the transition team for Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot.
Professor Kate Phillippo, author of A Contest Without Winners. How Students Experience Competitive School Choice. We are also joined by Sol, A CPS student.
Chicago Inspector General Joe Ferguson joins us for a lively hour of history and speculation about Chicago. On Tuesday we will elect a new mayor who takes office the end of May. Joe has been IG for a decade and we discuss the culture of corruption, the systems that facilitate the corruption and how to change it.
Flint Taylor is with us to discuss his new book, The Torture Machine. Racism and Police Violence in Chicago.
We are joined in studio by Jamie Kalven of the Invisible Institute. Kalven broke the story of the Laquan McDondald killing by Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke.
Curtis Black is a long-time opinion writer and reporter for the highly regarded Chicago Reporter. In his previous visit to Hitting Left we talked police torture, forced confessions and false convictions involving the CPD. Today we talk about Tuesday's Chicago municipal elections.
Brother Mike is watching our southern border. South Florida to be precise. He reports that there is no wall and lots of immigrants and sons and daughters of immigrants seven days into the national emergency. Meanwhile we are broadcasting our last show before the Chicago municipal primary for mayor and council. Political consultant and strategist Joanna Klonsky is co-host and 32nd Ward Alderman is our guest. This is a damn corrupt city and what are we going to do about it?
A pre-Oscar Awards talk with Floyd Webb, Susan Kerns and Gordon Quinn. Susan teaches film at Columbia College and is one of the founders of the Chicago Feminist Film Festival. Floyd has been deeply involved in African American film study and film making and has a keen interest in Afro-futurism. Gordon Quinn is one of the founders of Kartemquin Films, which produced the 2019 Academy Award nominated Minding the Gap as well the new film, '63 Boycott, a documentary about the historic strike in 1963 of CPS schools by Black students.
Lisa Yun Lee and Sunny Fischer of the National Public Housing Museum join us in studio for a conversation about the history, the present and the future of public housing in Chicago and the nation. We're not just talking affordable housing, but public housing for every person who needs it.
Veteran Chicago Reader columnist and progressive talk radio host Ben Joravsky and Amisha Patel, Executive Director of Chicago's Grassroots Collaborative talk with Mike about the way Chicago politics works and doesn't work.
Fred's gone this week, so brother Mike is flying solo with guests Susan Klonsky and Professor Timuel Black. Tim just turned 100 years old AND has had his latest book, Sacred Ground, The Chicago Streets of Timuel Black as told to Susan Klonsky from Northwestern University Press.
Tom has literally written the book on corruption in Cook County. Page is an activist in the Black Lives Matter movement and founder of Assata's Daughters.
Susan Sadlowski Garza is a teacher who now is a sitting alderman running for a second term. Joining us are three more women who are teachers and political activists running for city council.
Don Rose has been a political organizer, publicist and strategist for 60 years. Henry Wallace, Martin Luther King, Jane Byrne, Harold Washington, the protests against the wars in Iraq. Don has seen it all.
This podcast brother Mike is taking some time off. Newly elected, former teacher and CTU leader, County Commissioner Brandon Johnson. Lori Lightfoot is running for Mayor of Chicago. Niketa Brar, coming off a great win to save the National Teachers Academy is now working on the Vote Equity Project
Lawyers Brendan Shiller and Aaron Goldstein were organizers of the first electoral defeat of a sitting Cook County judge in nearly 30 years. Judge Coghlan was heard cases involving Jon Burge and Reynaldo Guevara, dirty cops and torturers and was most blatant in bias towards the police. The conversation moves to the Chicago Democratic Party and the changing demographics of the city is forcing progressive change.
The union of part-time faculty at Chicago's Columbia College have been bargaining with their administration for over a year. It is a story of the corporatization of what once was a unique gem of a learning community. What is happening there has implications for organizing adjuncts nationally and for the transformation of work to a gig economy.
We are talking neighborhood disinvestment and neighborhood gentrification. Two sides of the same coin. Christian Diaz is housing organizer with the Logan Square Neighborhood Association. Cory Stevenson is a designer and community activist around equity and the built environment at Open Architecture Chicago.
Rebecca Sive is a long-time feminist and progressive activist and author of Vote Her In. Cassie Walker Burke is the Chicago bureau chief of Chalkboard Chicago. We talk about Tuesday's election, electing more women to executive positions. Executive, as in President of the United States. The election's impact on education.
There was a radio glitch in the first half hour that was heard live on the air with Chris Bearhend of the Chicago Teachers Union's charter chapter Chi-ACTS. So he is not on the podcast. But we still get to share our conversation with National Teachers Academy parents/activists Anika Matthews-Feldman and Elisabeth Greer.
Jeffreen Hayes and Regina Martinez join us to talk about a new art exhibit that documents the destruction of a westside neighborhood to build the Eisenhower Expressway in the 50s and 60s. Stevie Valles of Chicago Votes on their work in Cook County jail registering voters.
Cassie Creswell and Samay Gheewalla from Raise Your Hand Action join us to discuss recent developments in Chicago Public Schools.
Cook County Commissioner elect Brandon Johnson co-hosts with guests authors and activists Eve Ewing and Barbara Ransby.
Progressive political strategist Joanna Klonsky discusses sexual assault against women. Jose Rico is running for Alderman in the 12th Ward.
Progressive political strategist Joanna Klonsky discusses sexual assault against women. Jose Rico is running for Alderman in the 12th Ward.
Palestine Legal's executive director Dima Khalidi joins us this week to talk about the current situation in Gaza, the movement around boycotting, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel, Israeli and Zionist influence on U.S. politics and elections and attacks on the rights of Palestinians.
Esteemed educator Bill Ayers joins us for a critique of How Schools Work, the latest book by the former Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan. Duncan would not join us. We asked.
This podcast features the newest member of the Illinois legislature, Representative Celina Villanueva and Chicago Teachers Union organizer, Martin Ritter.
Rahm is out but Ja'Mal Green as been in it all along and shares his views about what Chicago needs and why he is the progressive choice. Maria Gaspar and Christopher of the 96 Acres Project, a collaboration between artists and those incarcerated at Cook County Jail.
Omar Lopez (Young Lords), Billy Che Brooks (Black Panthers), Mary Scott-Boria (Black Panthers), Rev. Slim Walter Coleman Emma Lozano (SDS), Michael James (Rising Up Angry), Marilyn Katz (SDS), my brother and I talking about the Movement in Chicago before, during and after '68.
AFSCME's Elijah Edwards joins us to talk about life after Janus. Ronald Kitchen, author of My Midnight Years, is one of the Death Row Ten and a victim of Jon Burge torture and false conviction.
Dan Cooper is co-author with Ryan Lugalia-Hollon of The War on Neighborhoods: Policing, Prison and Punishment in a Divided City. Amanda Klonsky is a Chicago teacher, activist and researcher of youth incarceration.
Ricardo Muñoz joins us in-studio again to talk about Chicago property taxes (they're up!), family separations at the border and kids being held in Chicago, Amazon and the window washers strike. We remember Rudy Lozano and talk about Chuy in Congress. Ric declares himself part of the socialist wing of the Democratic Party and promises a Latinx candidate for mayor.
Chicago poet Nate Marshall reads his Chicago poem, talks about culture and politics in Chicago. Alderman Munoz joins us late, but will be back with us next podcast. And Jennifer sings her latest about families separated.
Lori Lightfoot is running against Rahm Emanuel for Mayor of Chicago. An hour wasn't long enough, as usual. But we got into police conduct, the cop academy, immigration, pensions, taxes, school closings. Don't underestimate Ms Lightfoot. She was quarterback back in the day, and she's tough.