People's Republic: Recent Episodes
People's Republic
We are joined for this episode by Rachell Tucker, an elementary school teacher in San Antonio who has been fighting for safe schools and transparency in San Antonio. Rachell documented extensive lies by the school district around COVID, as well as a year-long campaign of retaliation against her, before the school district terminated her contract in May. We talk about what she faced, how the school district pushed through in-person learning against all guidelines, and what it will take for communities to win safe, transparent public schools.
Read more about her story and the struggle against unsafe schools here:
https://www.liberationnews.org/san-antonio-teacher-fighting-retaliation-after-speaking-out-against-unsafe-schools/
https://www.liberationnews.org/texas-schools-are-peddling-lies-to-normalize-covid-at-the-expense-of-communities/
This week, we cover the beginning of a statewide campaign against privatization and fossil fuels as activists from across the state bring the struggle to ERCOT's doorstep.
This week, we speak with Jovanni Reyes and Monisha Rios, veteran anti-war organizers, about the hybrid warfare the U.S. is waging against Venezuela, the democratic elections of 2020, and the precedents that Venezuela is setting in the face of U.S. imperialism.
We are once again joined by Ken Zarifis, president of Education Austin, to discuss the situation with Austin ISD attempting to send teachers back into unsafe classrooms.
For the show today, we are joined by Ken Hammond, professor of history at New Mexico State University. We discuss the latest news around China and outline what to expect from the incoming Biden administration, which has already announced its plans to continue Trump's aggression against China.
For our first episode in the New Year, we discuss the impending danger to the public as school districts force unsafe "reopenings" to schools. Despite the obvious scientific proof that schools and children are carriers of COVID, districts continue to distort figures and lie about the nature of its spread. We spend the entire hour talking with teachers to get the facts straight and discuss what teachers, students, and parents can do to protect their communities. We are joined for the full hour by Rachell Tucker and Zac Vecellio.
Gloria La Riva, presidential candidate for the Party for Socialism and Liberation, speaks on a range of political issues in Dallas on Monday, October 26.
On November 1, Austin organizers held a community webinar titled "Democracy for Whom?" First, Izzy lays out a history of voter suppression by various names in Texas. Later, we hear from Luis, who breaks down the myths of capitalist democracy and compares this to socialist democratic systems in the Paris Commune, USSR, and Cuba.
October 1 is National Day, the commemoration of the establishment of the People's Republic of China after the defeat of colonialism in that country. We talk with Sheila Xiao of the Party for Socialism and Liberation about the conditions that China endured under colonialism, the progressive legacy of the Chinese Revolution, and the role of China in today's multipolar world.
Later, we rebroadcast a segment from Breakthrough News covering the first presidential debate, which took place on Tuesday, September 29.
We begin this episode with an announcement about a horrifying roundup of anti-racist activists by Denver-area police departments. As of the time of this recording, five organizers in Denver were being held without bond, having been snatched from their homes, parking lots, while driving, and around the city for protests held earlier this summer. They have since been released on bond, but are still facing the ludicrous charge of "kidnapping." The Party for Socialism and Liberation is demanding that that all charges be dropped.
We later talk with Houston-area organizer Caleb Granger about environmental racism, abdication of responsibility for civic preparedness, and disaster capitalism following the hurricane that hit Louisiana earlier this month.
Finally, we are re-airing an interview with the late Kevin Zeese, co-founder of Popular Resistance, who passed away suddenly September 6. We talked with Zeese last year about the Embassy Protection Collective, which stood in defiance of Trump's coup and assault on the Venezuelan embassy in DC.
We begin this episode by talking with Luke Amphlett, a teacher and union representative at Burbank High School in San Antonio, who faced retaliation for speaking up about unsafe working conditions in schools.
Later, we are joined by Sarah Jalandoon, the co-coordinator for Malaya Movement Texas, about the continued state-sponsored violence in the Philippines and the Pentagon's role in enabling this violence.
We begin this episode by talking with Wyatt Reed, an independent journalist and the producer of By Any Means Necessary on Radio Sputnik. We discuss the brutal police crackdowns on medics and journalists at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, DC.
Later, we continue our discussion on the growing U.S. aggression against China. Ken Hammond, Professor of History and editor of the Journal of Chinese History, joins the show to analyze the University of North Texas' hostility against Chinese scholars.
For our first segment, we are joined by Lilith McKenzie and Will Arment, journalists for Liberation News. We discuss their reporting from the scene of Kenosha protests following the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Laura Nadine of the Party for Socialism and Liberation also contributed to their article, "On the ground with Kenosha protesters: 'We want justice.'"
https://www.liberationnews.org/on-the-ground-with-kenosha-protesters-we-want-justice/
Later, we are joined by Chris Garaffa for Tech for the People, a monthly look at the latest tech news from a working-class perspective. We discuss Palantir's full embrace of the military-industrial complex, a journalist's burying of vital information on facial recognition, Amazon seemingly going full Pinkerton with job applications, and what you can do to keep your Venmo transactions safe from prying eyes.
We conclude our month-long study of Black August with a conversation about the contemporary movement for Black liberation. We break down reformist trends within the U.S. today and look at what radical alternatives younger generations could be engaging with. We are joined by Jacquie Luqman, co-host of By Any Means Necessary and co-editor in chief of Luqman Nation.
This week, we continue our commemoration of Black August with Dr. Gerald Horne, professor of history and author of over 40 books, including The Counter-Revolution of 1776. We start by discussing Dr. Horne's latest book, The Dawning of the Apocalypse: The Roots of Slavery, White Supremacy, Settler Colonialism, and Capitalism in the Long Sixteenth Century. We also cover a basic history of Black resistance to U.S. capitalism and the racialized forms that class relations in the U.S. have taken.
Later, we are joined by Dr. Ken Hammond, Ken Hammond, professor of history at New Mexico State University and Associate Editor of the Journal of Chinese History. We break down U.S. aggression against China and the media's contradictory portrayal of right-wing billionaire Jimmy Lai as a "pro-democracy tycoon."
We continue our commemoration of Black August by speaking with Eugene Puryear, author of Shackled and Chained: Mass Incarceration in Capitalist America, as well as the host of Breakthrough News. We discuss the roots of the mass incarceration system known today as the "prison-industrial complex."
Then, we return with our monthly segment Tech for the People with Chris Garaffa. We talk about what a "stingray" is, third-party data collection through apps, Twitter censorship, and the Trump administration's hypocritical, racist plan for a "clean" internet.
This week, we begin our commemoration of Black August, a month of study and training against U.S. imperialism and mass incarceration. For the first segment, we talk with Joe Tache,an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation based in Boston. We discuss Tache's article, "Study, fast, train, fight: The roots of Black August."
https://liberationschool.org/study-fast-train-fight-the-roots-of-black-august/
Later, we are joined by Lillian House of the Denver Liberation Center to discuss the latest in Aurora's spirited resistance to police repression and right-wing attacks.
This week, we dedicate the full hour to education issues. We are joined by Ken Zarifis, president of Education Austin, to discuss Austin ISD's threats to reopen schools while COVID infections are at record highs. We also talk about the failures of two-party politics, teachers' union engagement with the Black Lives Matter movement, and why unions are the surest long-term investment for workers.
We continue our coverage of the nationwide rebellion against police violence. Monica Johnson joins us from Atlanta, Georgia, to discuss the community's response to the killing of Rayshard Brooks. Then, we hear from Eliza Lucero in Denver on the state of affairs after police violently attacked a peaceful musical protest for Elijah McClain.
These interviews were conducted shortly before the occupation of the space outside an Aurora Police Department precinct. This is a breaking story as of publication time. We will follow up with organizers on future episodes.
This week, we dedicate most of the hour to a discussion with Clarence Thomas, a retired worker with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. Thomas talks about the Juneteenth work stoppage that shut down all 29 ports on the West Coast in solidarity with, and as a part of, the growing movement for Black lives.
For the last segment, we hear the sound and fury from a protest in Philadelphia on June 6. Puryear spoke before a crowd of 100,000 people about the nature of the now-global uprisings against police brutality.
This week, we air the debut episode of The Reawakening, a podcast project of the Del Valle Blast featuring host Richard Franklin. Del Valle is a food desert and unincorporated area outside of Austin that suffers from a severe lack of resources. Richard interviews Brianna Griffith and Tina Byram about the issues that Del Valle faces.
We continue our coverage of the nationwide rebellion by turning to the social, political, and economic conditions facing Dallas leading up to the uprising there. We hear first from Marissa Rodriguez, an organizer with the Dallas/Fort Worth branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
Brianna then briefly discusses her own experience with the Austin uprisings before turning back to Dallas. We are then joined by Dariel Hernandez and Cooper Feste, two more organizers with the Dallas/Fort Worth branch of the PSL, to discuss their article "Pandemic reveals worker exploitation in Texas meatpacking industry."
https://www.liberationnews.org/pandemic-reveals-worker-exploitation-in-texas-meatpacking-industry/
We begin our coverage of the nationwide rebellions of hundreds of thousands (likely millions) against police brutality. We are starting with voices from Texas cities to get a sense of this movement in areas outside of traditional "protest" strongholds. Brianna Griffith has also been on the ground, both as an organizer and a journalist, in protests in Austin.
First, we hear from Mike Zendejas, an organizer in Houston, about the 60,000+ people who have risen up against police terror in that city.
For the second half, we hear from Jake and Rachell Tucker about the burgeoning protest movement in San Antonio. Despite its conservative reputation as "Military City USA," San Antonio's City Council and police forces are creating the conditions for historic rebellions against state repression.
In the weeks after COVID-19, a couple in Del Valle, TX struggled to pay rent. They were both employed in carpentry, worked at the same business, and were tenants on the same lease. A reporter for the Austin American-Statesman implied the man was the sole breadwinner and leaseholder, while mentioning the woman only once: as a "live-in girlfriend." This reinforces sexist stereotypes about societal roles and completely erases the role of women in blue-collar professions. We speak with Sage Westbrook, a carpenter and one of the tenants in the story, to correct the record about her work. We also talk about the struggles women face in male-dominated blue-collar professions.
Later, we speak with Walter Smolarek, an editor of Liberation News. We discuss the geopolitical realities obscured by U.S. fearmongering and posit a different thesis: that the United States, not China, is the primary threat to global stability.
American mercenaries were captured in Venezuela trying to overthrow the government in a Bay of Pigs-style operation. They were quickly apprehended even as seemingly pre-scheduled Tweets about the operation continued to be published. We talk with Jovanni Reyes, an organizer with About Face, about the forces behind the assault.
Then, we have our segment Union News with Ken Zarifis, where we discuss the latest developments from Education Austin. If teachers and AISD employees are essential workers during COVID - which they absolutely are - then they deserve to be paid like essential workers. A petition can be found to support AISD employees here:
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/support-aisd-teachers-and-school-employees
We conclude with Tech for the People with Chris Garaffa, where we discuss the latest tech news from a working-class perspective. We discuss companies' and governments' use of COVID-19 fears as a pretense to implement dangerous surveillance technologies. While tracing COVID-19 points of contact is important, the tracking technology being implemented has implications far beyond the pandemic.
We celebrate May Day by highlight three ongoing struggles by working and oppressed people. First, we speak with Ryan Hamby, an organizer with the Denver branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, about the nationwide protests demanding to #CancelTheRent.
Then, we examine Austin PD's shooting of Mike Ramos while his hands were in the air on April 24. The shooting happened just days after a damning report showing systemic racism, sexism, bigotry, and a culture of retaliation across all of APD. Chris Harris, an organizer with HomesNotHandcuffs, joins the conversation.
Finally, we hear about the ongoing struggle to free ICE detainees from detention centers across the state of Texas. We speak with Rafael Aguilar with Never Again Action, a Jewish political action organization seeking to prevent genocide from happening in the U.S.
A Gofundme for the family of Mike Ramos can be found at https://www.gofundme.com/f/justice-for-mike-ramos.
We speak with Austin DSA organizer Marina Roberts about her article in the Austin Chronicle, "Capitalism Has Failed Americans in This Crisis." We also discuss the latest wave of anti-government protests and the latest reports of Austin's police racism.
Later we hear from Richard Franklin, the president of Youth Unlimited and former Del Valle School Board member, about Del Valle's fight for community health services.
We speak public health policy, geopolitics, media bias, and China with K.J. Noh. K.J. is a peace activist and scholar on the geopolitics of the Asian continent who writes for Counterpunch and Dissident Voice. He is special correspondent for KPFA Flashpoints on the “Pivot to Asia,” the Koreas, and the Pacific. He has recently authored "Yellow-caking an epidemic: New York Times spreads the virus of hatred, again."
We highly recommend this article:
https://mronline.org/2020/03/05/yellow-caking-an-epidemic/
We begin this episode with Union News with Ken Zarifis. We discuss the mass resignations of special education professionals within Austin ISD, while the district spends $53 million on a new headquarters.
Then, we continue with Environmental Justice with Marissa Rodriguez. Marissa talks about the January explosion in Houston that left several people dead, the effects of environmental deregulation, and the Pentagon as a weapon of ecological destruction.
Finally, we have Tech for the People with Chris Garaffa. We cover tech ground including the botched Iowa caucus app, the prosecution of Joshua Shulte around Vault 7, Clearview AI's legal troubles for scraping billions of pictures for law enforcement, and newly revealed information that the CIA had secretly owned an encryption company that it used to listen in on world affairs for decades.
For this entire episode, we feature speeches given by community members and organizers for the No War on Iran global day of protest which took place Jan. 25. Over 200 cities in 19 countries took place. Austin's protest included speakers from Iraq Veterans Against the War, Palestine Solidarity Committee, the Alliance for Global Justice, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the ANSWER Coalition, and many others.
Another global protest will take place between March 19-21 in cities around the world. The ANSWER Coalition, which organized many of the Jan. 25 protests, will be participating in these as well. More information can be found at answercoalition.org.
We begin the show with Latin America in Focus with Luis Francisco Rangel. We discuss recent military killings in Colombia, Morales' call for citizens' self-defense committees in Bolivia, and Juan Guaido's deranged antics and "parallel parliament" in Venezuela.
Later, we talk with Mike Prysner, host of Eyes Left Podcast and producer of The Empire Files with Abby Martin. We discuss the history of resistance to wars within the military, as well as what Trump's escalation toward war with Iran means for soldiers.
For our first segment, we talk with Jacob Aronowitz about Texas politics. We discuss the coalitions that have formed on either side of the political battle lines around homelessness in Austin.
Later, we speak with Chris Harris, an organizer around police accountability issues, about alternative models to policing. This discussion comes in the wake of yet another Austin Police Department scandal around disparaging and racist texts sent by an assistant police chief.
We kick off our first segment of Latin America in Focus with Luis Francisco Rangel, a musician, educator, and member of the Venezuelan diaspora. For this episode, we talk about Luis' home country, Venezuela, which is seeing signs of a major economic recovery despite deadly U.S. sanctions which have killed 40,000 Venezuelans.
Then, we continue Socialism 101 with Winn Ellinger. This month, we talk about the political and philosophical interventions made by Lenin at the time of the Russian Revolution.
Finally, we talk with Carl Zha, host of the Silk and Steel Podcast, about the protests that rocked Hong Kong throughout much of 2019. We talk about the political, economic, social, and geopolitical factors that led to the protest movement.
We are joined for our monthly segment Texas Politics with Jacob Aronowitz. We discuss everything you need to know in order to register to vote for the primaries in Texas. The deadline to register to vote in the primaries is February 3. Early voting runs from Feb. 18-28, and the date of the primary is March 3. You can find Jacob's guide for registering and voting at https://bit.ly/atxregguide.
Then, we speak with Chris Harris with the #HomesNotHandcuffs campaign about marijuana decriminalization and the latest Austin PD scandals, including likely retaliation against whistleblowers.
In October 2019, Nebane Abienwi, a 37-year-old Cameroonian man, died in ICE custody in San Diego. Abienwi was one of at least 10,000 Cameroonians seeking asylum in the United States. We speak with Joe Tache, an editor and writer for Liberation News, about the colonial history and neocolonial present of Cameroon.
Later, we air an interview from last year with Dr. Gerald Horne. We discuss the radical legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King and his situation within the Black radical tradition.
For this episode, we discuss the situation leading up to the U.S. assassination of General Soleimani in Iran. Walter Smolarek, an organizer with the ANSWER Coalition, joins us to talk about the geopolitical tensions and the bipartisan support for endless warfare. Later, Winn Ellinger, a musician based in Austin, talks about the 20th century history of imperial wars.
U.S. anti-war groups are planning a global day of protest to speak out against U.S. war on Iran. You can find more information at answercoalition.org.
To kick off the New Year, we are starting two new monthly segments.
Union News with Ken Zarifis will discuss the latest on union organizing. Ken is the president of Education Austin. This month, we talk with Ken about how he started getting involved in his union.
Environmental Justice with Marissa Rodriguez will cover the latest news on environmentalism and how it intersects with race, class, and global politics. This month, we discuss the tainted water supply of Green Tree Estates.
Finally, Tech for the People returns for the new year. We discuss Barr's attempt to circumvent encryption, location tracking, Stingrays, and the attempt to capitalize on .org domain names.
We finish out 2019 with Jacquie Luqman, co-host of By Any Means Necessary and co-editor in chief of Luqman Nation. We discuss the end-of-year stories, including Labour's loss to the Tories, the endless Democratic debates, and the hypocrisies of the impeachment saga.
We are joined by Jovanni Reyes and Todd Arena, organizers with About Face, to discuss the mechanisms of the coup in Bolivia and the history of power relations in that country.
For International Migrants Day, we are joined by Paige Corich-Kleim, the media coordinator for No More Deaths, to talk about the militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Later, we speak with Danny Shaw, a professor of Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the City University of New York, about the coup in Bolivia.
For our final episode on the global uprisings against neoliberalism, we are joined by Dan Kovalik, a human rights and labor lawyer and the author of several books, the latest of which is No More War.
We continue our discussion of the global uprisings against neoliberalism. For the first segment, Kim Ives, editor of the English section of Haiti Liberte, discusses the protests in Haiti that have brought the government of Jovenel Moïse to its knees.
Later, we discuss the unfolding intifada in Lebanon which aims to overthrow the entire neoliberal government. We are joined from Lebanon by Jana Nakhal, a member of the Central Committee of the Lebanese Communist Party.
For the first half hour, we are joined by Dr. Amy Frishkey, author of the upcoming book, The Crossroads of Neotraditionalism and Neoliberalism in Garifuna Popular Music. Dr. Frishkey discusses the history of neoliberalism and dictatorship in Honduras.
Later, Brianna Griffith discusses the Permian Highway Pipeline, the destruction of the Amazon, and the commodification of land.
We speak with Walter Smolarek about the burgeoning global resistance to neoliberalism, focusing on events in Chile and Iraq.
We are joined by Dominique Jones, an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation - DFW, to talk about recent police killings in DFW and community resistance.
We talk with Naomi Wilson - an activist with Austin DSA, Antifa Church, and TENT - about LGBTQ struggles in Austin. Later, we're joined by Walter Smolarek, a Sputnik News analyst, to talk about the geopolitics of Ukraine and Turkey.
This week, we speak with Roderick Reed, brother of Rodney Reed and CEO of the Reed Justice Initiative, about the evidence exonerating his brother and implicating corrupt cop Jimmy Fennell in the murder of Stacey Stites.
Later, Ken Zarifis, president of Education Austin, discusses Austin ISD Police Department's flagrant violation of the Fourth Amendment in the seizure of his phone. We also discuss the struggle for LGBTQ inclusion and proper sex education in Austin.
Chris Garaffa of Tech for the People discusses Amazon's partnership with police through its Ring "smart doorbells," facial recognition, visa denial based on social media, and new information on Dutch attacks against Iranian nuclear infrastructure. Amanda Lewis of the Survivor Justice Project talks about how Austin police created a national scandal around rape investigations, and what real accountability and justice for survivors looks like.
Candace Aylor, Pastor and Minister of Justice of the Antifa Church, discusses the successful struggle to shut down transphobic and homophobic hate speech on AISD property. Marina Roberts and Maddie Detelich join the show to discuss the 2020 presidential candidates' housing platforms.
Brianna Griffith reports back from the 2019 Eco-Socialism Conference in Albuquerque, NM, on the intersections between capitalism and the climate crisis.
Philip Mitchell talks about life and struggles for homeless people. Jacob Aronowitz joins the show to discuss Texas politics and the Democratic Party's chances of turning Texas blue.
Ben Norton of The Grayzone joins us from Caracas, Venezuela. Norton discusses the U.S. embargo of Venezuela, massive unrest in Honduras, the Sandinista Revolution, and the future of progressivism in Latin America.
On the night of July 24, Puerto Ricans who had been protesting for hours in San Juan began to chant a victorious “Olé Olé Olé” as they celebrated governor Ricardo Rosselló’s resignation. The protests came after the revelation of homophobic, sexist, anti-worker, and other bigoted comments revealed by an in-depth journalistic investigation into the Puerto Rican government. But just as pressing for the Puerto Rican people were the revelations of blatant corruption. These revelations were, in some ways, the straw that broke the camel’s back in Puerto Rico. Decades of neoliberal reforms and privatization schemes have devastated the island, but have also sown the seeds for the revival of a people’s anti-colonial movement.
In this episode, we talk with Norma Perez, a teacher formerly with the Federacion de Maestros de Puerto Rico, or Teachers’ Federation of Puerto Rico. Perez now works with Call to Action on Puerto Rico in New York City as part of the Puerto Rican diaspora organizing for independence from U.S. colonialism. Over the next hour, we discuss the broader economic and political situation in Puerto Rico, especially the social and cultural changes that have rocked the island in the decades leading up to Hurricane Maria and Puerto Rico’s disaster capitalism.
This week, we debut a new monthly segment: Socialism 101. As socialism reenters the mainstream of American politics, we first ask the question, what exactly is capitalism? We then get into a Marxist analysis of capitalism and how that analysis is relevant today. We are joined by Derek Ford, an assistant professor of education studies at DePauw University and a community organizer whose latest book is “Politics, Pedagogy, and the Post-Truth Era." Ford is also the editor of Liberation School.
Later, we talk with Chris Garaffa for our regular monthly segment, Tech for the People. We discuss the implications of Cloudflare's dropping of 8chan, as well as Amazon's collaboration with over 200 police departments across the country.
We're joined for the full episode by Jacob Aronowitz, a member of Austin DSA, for a deeper analysis of Texas electoral races. We examine key Congressional districts, municipal policies, and how this connects to a national conversation and organizing shift.
This week, we talk with Jacqueline Luqman, co-editor in chief of Luqman Nation. We discuss the white supremacist mass shootings that happened over the weekend, the Democratic debates, and the boundaries of "socialism" on the agenda in the U.S.
We talk with Eugene Puryear, host of By Any Means Necessary on Radio Sputnik and author of Shackled and Chained, about the geopolitical implications, historical context, and strategies used in the people's uprisings and nascent revolution in Sudan that has ousted Omar al-Bashir.
We are joined by Candice Bernd of Truthout to discuss the Permian Highway Pipeline, resistance in the state of Texas, and Texas HB3557, which largely criminalizes protests at the site of oil pipelines.
Austin has officially decriminalized several activities related to homelessness, but faced heavy resistance from reactionary groups connected to real estate and corporate interests. What did the city win, and what are the next steps in the struggle? Later, we hear from Maddie Detelich and Marina Roberts of Austin DSA on the #HomesNotHandcuffs campaign.
2016 presidential candidate, journalist, and political organizer Gloria La Riva reports back from her trip to Venezuela after her national Venezuela speaking tour.
Ben Norton discusses the ongoing situation in Iran and places it in the larger geopolitical context of the Middle East. We also hear a preview of Kevin Zeese, co-director of Popular Resistance, on the siege of the Venezuelan embassy.
Chris Harris discusses Austin city policy around public defense and the establishment of a public defender's office. Giorgos Stratis of Underpaid at UT discusses labor organizing for grad students.
Amanda Beatriz Williams (Lilith Fund) and Kamyon Conner (Texas Equal Access Fund) discuss the state of abortion access and reproductive rights in Texas.
Claire Cook of the ANSWER Coalition DC recounts the siege of the Venezuelan embassy in DC. Amanda Woog (Texas Fair Defense Project) discusses the fight to establish a public defender's office in Travis County.
Chris Garaffa analyzes the latest tech news from a working-class perspective. Meagan Bluestein, an activist with Extinction Rebellion, discusses environmentalism in Texas.
For our first segment, we speak with Mong Palatino, a human rights advocate and former Philippine Congressman, about the human rights situation and U.S. support for the Duterte government in the Philippines.
Later, we are joined by Shelby Shoup and Jake Asbell in Tallahassee, Florida, to talk about working conditions for teachers, the power of unions, and labor struggles in education.
This week, our full episode is dedicated to the issue of housing. We talk about Austin overpolicing, environmental racism, indigenous history, the Vienna public housing model, the Green New Deal, and so much more. We are joined by Maddie Detelich and Marina Roberts of the Austin Democratic Socialists of America.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a comedian who played the president on a popular Ukrainian TV show, overwhelmingly defeated the incumbent Poroshenko in the Ukrainian elections. American media have situated Ukraine entirely in terms of its opposition to Russia, but what are some of the social divisions and political realities within the country that led to such a historic ouster of a sitting president? We talk with Walter Smolarek, an analyst for Radio Sputnik and a producer of Loud & Clear with Brian Becker, about the current political moment and historical divisions within Ukraine.
Later, we talk about the ICE raids at a worksite in Allen, Texas, near Dallas. ICE rounded up and arrested nearly 300 people in the largest raids in a decade. We are joined by Marissa Rodriguez, an organizer in Dallas, about what the community is doing to push back.
This episode, we're joined again by Dan Kovalik, human rights and labor lawyer and author of the upcoming book The Plot to Overthrow Venezuela: How the U.S. Is Orchestrating a Coup for Oil, available June 25. Dan recently returned from a trip to Venezuela and Nicaragua, where he assessed the humanitarian situation and effects of U.S. sanctions in those countries.
We are later joined by Njera Keith and Kristina Brown of Black Sovereign Nation to talk about the #NoSanctuariesForBlackFutures campaign to demilitarize the Austin Public Library for the good of Black youth.
Finally, we hear from Yvette Arrellano, Senior Staff at Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services, about the environmental destruction and potential toll on human health taken by the Deer Park fire in Houston.
We are first joined by Kevin Kamps of the organization Beyond Nuclear to talk about a proposed nuclear dump site in West Texas with massive implications for the environment and the planet.
Later, we talk with Juliet Barbara of the Workers Defense Project about a new Texas Workforce Commission ruling that would rob "gig economy" workers of wages and drain millions of dollars from the state unemployment fund.
This week on Tech for the People, we talk with Chris Garaffa about the implosion of the Russiagate conspiracy theory and hoax. We later hear from Brian Becker, National Coordinator for the ANSWER Coalition, about the reorientation of U.S. empire in the 21st century.
This week, we talk with Michael Zendejas, a political organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation in Houston, about the Deer Park chemical fire that put America's 4th largest city in danger of environmental catastrophe.
Later, we are joined by Winn Ellinger for Perspectives on the News. We continue our focus on Texas and environmental justice by talking about recent religious freedom bills, BDS restrictions, and struggles between fossil fuels and nuclear waste in the Lone Star State.
This week, we are reporting again from the front lines of the anti-war movement with a selection of speeches from the National March on the White House, held by the ANSWER Coalition on March 16. We begin with some perspective from Brian Griffith on the current moment in Latin America, then hear from a variety of national anti-war organizers, journalists, indigenous Bolivians, and Venezuelans themselves about the need to end the illegal U.S. economic warfare against Venezuela.
This week, we speak with Julie Ann Nitsch, one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Austin officials that seeks justice for rape and sexual assault survivors. We are also joined by Elizabeth Myers, a partner with Thompson & Knight, who is representing Julie and the other plaintiffs in this lawsuit.
We are also reporting from the road between Atlanta, GA and Washington, DC, where Brian Griffith is traveling with the ANSWER Coalition to report on the National March on the White House.
For this episode, we are joined again by Paul Dobson of Venezuelanalysis to talk about the failing coup in Venezuela, where Juan Guaido is today, and what the actual food situation on the ground is. We also rebroadcast part of an interview from Gloria La Riva, 2016 presidential candidate for the Party for Socialism and Liberation, on the developing political situation in Latin America.
Donald Trump has attempted to declare a national emergency to get full funding for his border wall, but nearly unanimously, affected communities along the border say there is no crisis. In fact, the crisis at the border appears to be the environmental crisis that the Trump administration is threatening with the destruction of the National Butterfly Center to build a border wall. We are joined by Juan Mancias, chairman of the Carrizo/Comecrudo tribe of southern Texas, to discuss indigenous peoples’ attempts to protect nature and native sovereignty around the artificial U.S.-Mexico border.
https://www.facebook.com/CarrizoComecrudoTribeOfTexas
Denver teachers won massive gains from Denver Public Schools after just three days of striking. This follows 15 months of being stonewalled by DPS during contract negotiations. During the course of the strike, Denver Public schools insisted on keeping schools open, risking the safety of students. The district additionally threatened to report immigrant teachers to ICE and suspend the licenses of school nurses, among other Trumpian tactics, but were ultimately powerless to stop teachers’ solidarity. Moira Casados Cassidy, an ELL teacher and union organizer, joins us from Denver to take us through the unfolding of this struggle.
https://denverteachers.org
The Texas Workforce Commission has voted to classify workers hired via online platforms as "independent contractors," a gross miscategorization that has massive implications for the safety and well-being of Texas workers. What impact will this have on the economy and workers' safety? What is an "independent contractor"? Does the TWC have the authority to make this call? And who is behind the shadowy lobbying effort that is shaping up all across the country to further deregulate the already deregulated "gig economy"? We are joined by Juliet Barbara of the Workers Defense Project to talk about all of this and more.
Then, we talk about the latest scandals and revelations in the world of tech. Facebook has once again revealed its cavalier attitude toward privacy, this time paying teens to install a VPN that spies on them. We also discuss the nature of machine learning for beginners. This is all part of our new monthly segment, Tech for the People with Chris Garaffa.
This week, we talk with Jacqueline and Abdus Luqman, co-editors in chief of Luqman Nation, about the unfolding Democratic primaries. Later, we talk with Chris Garaffa for our new segment, Tech for the People, featuring technology news for the common people.
Juan Guaidó, an almost entirely unknown politician with the far-right Popular Will party, has declared himself the president of Venezuela. 80% of Venezuelans have never heard of Guaidó and he did not run for president, but the United States and its allies moved immediately to recognize him as the "legitimate" president of the country. We are joined from Venezuela by Paul Dobson, an editor with Venezuelanalysis, to discuss the coup attempt.
In our new segment, Survivor Justice, we discuss the latest news around obtaining justice for survivors of rape and sexual assault with Kristen Lenau, an organizer with the Survivor Justice Project.
Finally, we continue our coverage of the push to legalize abortion in New Mexico by covering an Albuquerque forum on the New Mexico abortion ban.
Since we had to cut our segment with Kristen Lenau short, here is the article referenced in the segment:
https://www.propublica.org/article/austin-police-department-misclassified-cleared-rape-cases-orders-deeper-investigation-after-audit
This week, we premiere our new segment, Perspectives on the News, a look at the latest news of the week with organizers from across the country. We are joined for the first segment by Winn Ellinger, an Austin-based political organizer, to talk about the LA teachers’ strikes, the government shutdown, and Brexit.
Then, we talk with Madeline Detelich and Marina Roberts, co-chairs of the Austin DSA housing committee, about the viability of home ownership and the mass purchase of land by private equity firms.
This episode is devoted entirely to reproductive justice struggles coming up in the South and Southwest. First, we talk with Candice Yanez, an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation in Albuquerque, about the upcoming rally to repeal New Mexico's abortion ban. Then, we discuss Austin's sixth annual Women's Rally at the Capitol with Paula Trietsch Chaney.
This week, we are joined by Sofia Casini and Martha Mercado to discuss the upcoming rally to free Griselda in Laredo, Texas. Later, we hear from Gloria La Riva, from a speech given at the Southwest Socialism Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico in mid-2018.
This week, we are joined again by Jacqueline and Abdus Luqman, co-editors in chief of Luqman Nation, to talk about the news of the day. We discuss neoliberalism in France, the Yellow Vest movement, and the climate change summit in Poland.
For the last segment of the show, we air an older segment with Dn Kovalik on the situation in Nicaragua.
Chief Brian Manley confirmed that the Texas Department of Public Safety is currently reviewing how the Austin Police Department processes and clears sexual assault cases. Run by DPS's Uniform Crime Reporting program, the audit intends to ensure APD is acting in accordance with federal guidelines. For context: last month, reporters with Newsy, Reveal, and ProPublica, together with a former sergeant with APD’s sex crimes unit, uncovered that Austin Police Department had allegedly and knowingly miscategorized as many as 1400 rape cases as having been “exceptionally cleared,” when, in fact, no charges had been filed and no arrests had been made. Can we expect DPS to shed light on Austin’s apparently rogue police force, or is this another case of the fox guarding the henhouse? We are joined for the first segment by Amanda Lewis, a social worker and community organizer with the Survivor Justice Project.
Then, we are joined by Dan Kovalik, a human rights and labor lawyer and the author of The Plot to Control the World, about the illegal sanctions that the U.S. Senate just passed. These sanctions are expected to devastate the Nicaraguan economy. We also discuss the municipal elections in Venezuela.
This week, we are joined again by Dr. Greg Shupak, professor of media studies at the University of Guelph and author of the book The Wrong Story: Palestine, Israel, and the Media. We discuss the firing of Marc Lamont Hill, the internal logic of the Israeli state's racial hierarchy, and its role as mercenary of the U.S. empire. Then, we hear from Jacqueline and Abdus Luqman, co-editors in chief of Luqman Nation, about the rise of the far right in Brazil. Starting in January, we will feature the Luqmans in a monthly segment to discuss important news items.
This week, we're joined by journalist Adan Plascencia, who covered the Honduras caravan for Liberation News, about the U.S. firing of tear gas on asylum seekers at border. We talk about the roots of the violence in Honduras, U.S. taking a page from Israel in border militarization, and the role of grassroots organizations such as the Party for Socialism and Liberation in mobilizing for refugees.
Then-Dallas police officer Amber Guyger was just indicted for murder after shooting Botham Jean in his own home. What does this mean for local organizers, who have worked hard to bring justice for Botham Jean? We talk with John Fullinwider, the co-founder of Mothers Against Police Brutality and a veteran organizer in Dallas, about the history of police brutality and grassroots resistance in Dallas.
On this episode, we are joined by Kristen Lenau of the Survivor Justice Project to discuss Austin Police Department's shameful rape case clearance scandal. Then, in celebration of resistance to settler-colonialism this Thanksgiving, we are rebroadcasting a discussion with Dr. Gerald Horne about his book, The Counter-Revolution of 1776.
The City of Austin passed an ordinance on November 15 creating the Office of Police Oversight. Even as this new police accountability goes into place, Austin Police Department, the deadliest in the state, faces several looming scandals. What safeguards does the city have in place against its cavalier police department, what remains to be accomplished, and how will this effect the shocking revelations that APD may have falsely cleared as many as 1,400 rape cases without an arrest or charge? We talk to Chris Harris, an organizer with Grassroots Leadership, for the full hour about police transparency and accountability policies throughout the nation.
In the second half of this episode of Empire Supernova, we use Venezuela as a case study in CIA regime change operations. We are joined by Mike Prysner, producer of The Empire Files with Abby Martin and co-host of the Eyes Left podcast. The full episode can be found on Patreon.
https://www.patreon.com/EmpireSupernova
We turn now to the fight to release Griselda Cruz Lopez, one of several hundred women being held at the T. Don Hutto Detention Center in Taylor, Texas. Griselda has been separated from her child, has not heard from her child in a month, and suffers complications from a skull fracture suffered in the care of Core Civic, which runs the detention center. Joining us is Sofia Casini, an organizer at Grassroots Leadership, fighting to end the abuses at Hutto Detention Center.
The far-right candidate Bolsonaro has just surged to victory in Brazil, now putting the future of the Amazon in jeopardy and certainly spelling danger for Black and indigenous Brazilians. Meanwhile, a rash of far-right hate crimes has once again plagued the U.S. What can we expect out of a right-wing dominated Brazil and what can the left do to better prepare itself? For this segment, we speak with Jacqueline and Abdus Luqman, co-hosts of Luqman Nation.
On this episode, we are joined by Jacob Aronowitz, the eastern regional field director of the Mike Siegel campaign, to talk about his arrest in Waller County as he tried to demand an end to systematic voter suppression. We discuss the history of Waller County (where Sandra Bland died under mysterious circumstances in police custody), the unbroken history of U.S. voter suppression, the lawsuit being brought against the county by Prairie View A&M students, and what can be done to fight this disenfranchisement.
This week, we discuss the Kavanaugh hearings and the nature of the Supreme Court for the full hour. We are joined first by Jaqueline Luqman, co-host of Luqman Nation. Later, we talk to Marina Roberts and Maddie Detelich, co-chairs of the Austin DSA housing committee, to talk about local actions to protest the Kavanaugh confirmation.
The city of River Oaks, Texas, west of Forth Worth, is experiencing an environmental crisis as water pours out of the taps brown. The city is ostensibly planning to replace the 70-year-old iron pipes, but how do we know the replacement will work and what will residents do in the meantime?
We are joined by Archer St. Hilaire, a resident of River Oaks, to talk about the struggle that River Oaks residents face. Meanwhile, the city is looking for any excuse to evict citizens, setting the stage for violent gentrification by developers.
You can see the water quality here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/253040188077011/permalink/1828507693863578/
For the last segment, we are joined by Marissa Rodriguez, a Dallas-based organizer, to talk about the struggle for #JusticeForBotham.
In this reupload of the Southwest Socialism Conference keynote speech, Brian Becker discusses the shifting orientation of U.S. empire. We also hear from PSL leader Gloria La Riva on the state of affairs throughout Latin America.
A rash of attacks has hit a local mosque, as well as a Middle Eastern grocery store, and authorities believe it is likely the same person. Starting in Mid-August and continuing through September, this attacker has smashed windows, slashed tires, and urinated on one of the vans belonging to the North Austin Muslim Community Center. Is this a hate crime, and if so, how has this affected the Muslim community of Austin? We are joined by Imam Islam of the North Austin Muslim Community Center to discuss the ramifications.
Dallas Police Chief U. Renee Hall has refused to fire police officer Amber Guyger, even as Guyger faces manslaughter charges for shooting Botham Jean in his own apartment on September 6. Meanwhile, community outrage continues to grow as Dallas PD fail to get their story straight. What will it take to get justice for Botham Jean? Marissa Rodriguez, a community organizer who has been involved with the Justice for Botham movement in Dallas, discusses the struggle for #JusticeForBotham.
This week, we talk about Austin Proposition A, a $250 million bond that would seek to develop affordable housing for Austin residents. How is this money likely to be spent, what material impacts would it have, and how can it be situated within a larger framework of the nationwide housing and gentrification crisis? Joining us for the full hour to talk theory and organizing are Maddie Detelich and Marina Roberts, co-chairs of the housing committee of the Austin DSA.
This week, we talk to Lewis Conway, an organizer with Grassroots Leadership, author of two books, and candidate for Austin City Council District 1, about his campaign and life.
Then, we discuss SESTA-FOSTA Rainny Daze, a representative with the Austin chapter of the Sex Workers Outreach Project.
This week we are continuing to feature presentations from the Southwest Socialism Conference put on by the Party for Socialism and Liberation in early August 2018. First up, we have Gloria La Riva speaking on the recent political developments across Latin America. You can find more information on the PSL at PSLweb.org.
This week, we’re talking with Dan Kovalik, a human rights and labor lawyer, as well as the author of The Plot to Scapegoat Russia. We’ll be discussing his latest book, The Plot to Attack Iran, for the full episode, and really digging into the history of U.S. overthrow of Iranian democracy.
This week, we are continuing our coverage of the Southwest Socialism Conference that took place in Albuquerque, New Mexico last weekend. We feature Brian Becker's keynote presentation, The Reorientation of U.S. Imperialism: Gearing Up for Conflict with Russia and China. Then we include a part of Gloria La Riva's speech, Latin America: The Sharpening Class Struggle. All of these speeches will be made available in full on our Spreaker page.
NPR station WABE, based in Atlanta, has published a racist hit piece on Black progressive journalist Anoa Changa, accusing her of using “Russian-Backed Media” to spread her message. This is the latest in a series of smear campaigns by corporate media, which has used the so-called “Russiagate” conspiracy theory to discredit any left voices critical of the establishment. What ends do these attacks serve and who benefits from the silencing of left voices? And of course, what is the message that the corporate media is so eager to silence?
Trump has declared his support for an Arab military presence in Syria, which would continue the U.S. occupation of Syria’s most mineral-rich areas by proxy. This comes after a largely unsuccessful U.S. airstrike aimed at Damascus. While U.S. escalation in Syria for so-called humanitarian pretenses receives bipartisan support, the massive atrocities committed by U.S., Saudi, and Israeli forces in Palestine and Yemen still go largely unanswered.
Nationwide protests were called in response to Donald Trump’s airstrikes on Syria on April 13, with demonstrations happening in almost every major city. Could these protests be the first step in rebuilding the anti-war movement in the United States?
This is a reupload of an earlier episode for broadcast. We will resume programming new content next week with the release of the second Empire Supernova episode.
This week, we are celebrating the 200th birthday of Karl Marx, one of the most influential political philosophers and the founder of scientific socialist thought. Beyond inspiring the socialist revolutions that have transformed societies across the globe, Marx made major breakthroughs in economic thought, theorizing the origin of commodity production and the labor theory of value. To study the living legacy of Marx today, we are now joined from Beijing by Ian Goodrum, an editor with China Daily and a member of the Communist Party USA.
We are also joined by Dr. Derek Ford, an educational theorist at Depauw University, to discuss the historic summit that just took place in Korea.
This is a reupload of an earlier episode for rebroadcast. Brian Griffith is off this week.
For our first segment, we will be discussing several unfolding world events. The United States has unveiled its new embassy in occupied Jerusalem, as Israel opens fire on protesters in Gaza. The ceremonial opening of the embassy stands in stark contrast to the violence being leveled against Palestinians across the country, which has continued largely unabated between Palestinian Land Day on March 30, Nakba Day on May 15, and the present.
Later, Maduro has been reelected as the president of Venezuela with 67 percent of the vote. Venezuelan elections have been monitored by hundreds and sometimes thousands of international observers and the Venezuelan electoral system has been described as one of the most transparent in the world by many commentators, including former president Jimmy Carter. But the U.S. media largely refuses to acknowledge these certifications. Instead, most U.S. media has taken fringe right-wing elements of the Venezuelan opposition at face value. What is at stake for Maduro and the PSUV as they continue their process of stabilizing the country after right-wing attacks and crippling U.S. sanctions?
We are joined for this discussion by Abby Martin, host of The Empire Files on Telesur and co-founder of the citizen journalism project Media Roots.
This week we’re also talking with Dr. Gerald Horne, professor of history and African American studies at the University of Houston, about his 2014 book, The Counter-Revolution of 1776: Slave Resistance and the Origins of the United States of America. Rather than begin the story of the American Revolution in the late 1700s, Dr. Horne examines the colonial history of a century earlier, asserting that the independence movement in the American colonies grew largely out of an attempt to preserve slavery for the white landowning ruling class. The result of American independence can thus be seen not as a major leap forward for democracy, but as a world historic defeat for African and indigenous peoples.
A history instructor at an Austin charter school told a Black student that she would “hang her upside down on a tree” and “take her down when she is no longer breathing.” The school has written a letter formally apologizing, but has so far refused to fire, suspend, or even investigate the teacher’s conduct. The teacher is still actively working and has attended school events that the student has also attended. What are the larger implications for school accountability and what steps are being taken to ensure a safe learning environment for Austin students?
We are joined by Arenda Lawson, the mother of the student who was threatened, and by Chas Moore, the Executive Director of the Austin Justice Coalition, which is circulating a petition on social media to the school to hold the teacher accountable.
Later, we commemorate the Stonewall Rebellion that occurred 49 years ago on June 28, 1969. The uprising marked a clear turning point in the struggle for LGBTQ rights. As Pride parades are now held across the country, where are the new points of struggle for LGBTQ liberation today, and what lessons can we learn from Stonewall? For this segment, we are joined by Jorge Gutierrez, National Coordinator for Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement.
The Democratic Party is attacking Donald Trump’s foreign policy from a position far to the right of Trump’s own “fire and fury” position. Why are the Democrats advocating for nuclear confrontation, and what are the facts on the ground from the Singapore summit? Later, we talk about a new Amnesty International condemnation of the United States’ massive infliction of civilian casualties in Raqqa. We are joined by Walter Smolarek, an analyst for Sputnik News; and Dr. Greg Shupak, author of the book The Wrong Story: Israel, Palestine, and the Media.
This week, Austin City Council will be voting on two resolutions pertaining to the fightback against Texas SB4, the draconian anti-immigration bill that made national news for its infringement on immigrant rights last year. What is at stake with the City Council vote on these items, and what precedent might that set for cities and organizations working to push back against attacks on immigrant communities at the local level?
We are joined by Chris Harris, a data analyst and campaign coordinator; and Rebecca Sanchez, immigration organizer and visual projects coordinator. Both work with Grassroots Leadership. Grassroots Leadership is a non-profit that works for a more just society where prison profiteering, mass incarceration, deportation and criminalization are things of the past.
For our first segment, we will be discussing several unfolding world events. The United States has unveiled its new embassy in occupied Jerusalem, as Israel opens fire on protesters in Gaza. The ceremonial opening of the embassy stands in stark contrast to the violence being leveled against Palestinians across the country, which has continued largely unabated between Palestinian Land Day on March 30, Nakba Day on May 15, and the present.
Later, Maduro has been reelected as the president of Venezuela with 67 percent of the vote. Venezuelan elections have been monitored by hundreds and sometimes thousands of international observers and the Venezuelan electoral system has been described as one of the most transparent in the world by many commentators, including former president Jimmy Carter. But the U.S. media largely refuses to acknowledge these certifications. Instead, most U.S. media has taken fringe right-wing elements of the Venezuelan opposition at face value. What is at stake for Maduro and the PSUV as they continue their process of stabilizing the country after right-wing attacks and crippling U.S. sanctions?
We are joined for this discussion by Abby Martin, host of The Empire Files on Telesur and co-founder of the citizen journalism project Media Roots.
This week we’re also talking with Dr. Gerald Horne, professor of history and African American studies at the University of Houston, about his 2014 book, The Counter-Revolution of 1776: Slave Resistance and the Origins of the United States of America. Rather than begin the story of the American Revolution in the late 1700s, Dr. Horne examines the colonial history of a century earlier, asserting that the independence movement in the American colonies grew largely out of an attempt to preserve slavery for the white landowning ruling class. The result of American independence can thus be seen not as a major leap forward for democracy, but as a world historic defeat for African and indigenous peoples.
We are starting this week with a discussion of Donald Trump’s nominee for CIA director, Gina Haspel. In 2002, Haspel became a chief of base for a CIA black site in Thailand, codenamed “Cat’s Eye,” where she oversaw acts of torture against al Qaeda suspects. Three years later, she would oversee the destruction of 92 tapes of evidence related to the torture of Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. Haspel has been described as “quite literally a war criminal” by Jameel Jaffer of the ACLU, and the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights has called on German officials to issue an arrest warrant against Haspel. But instead of facing a day in prison over her egregious violations of human rights under international humanitarian law, Haspel has instead been nominated to lead the very agency she used to carry out these crimes. Two Democrats - Joe Donnelly, and Joe Manchin III - have announced their support for Haspel, while only two Republicans - Rand Paul and the ailing John McCain - are currently opposing. What would a Haspel confirmation mean for the CIA and for the U.S. role in world affairs? We are joined by John Kiriakou, a former CIA official who blew the whistle on the CIA’s torture programs in 2007, joins us for this segment. John is also a member of the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity.
For the second half, we discuss the situation in Honduras with Dr. Amy Frishkey, an independent scholar of Honduran culture and part of KOOP's Fresh from the Underground collective.`
This week, we are celebrating the 200th birthday of Karl Marx, one of the most influential political philosophers and the founder of scientific socialist thought. Beyond inspiring the socialist revolutions that have transformed societies across the globe, Marx made major breakthroughs in economic thought, theorizing the origin of commodity production and the labor theory of value. To study the living legacy of Marx today, we are now joined from Beijing by Ian Goodrum, an editor with China Daily and a member of the Communist Party USA.
We are also joined by Dr. Derek Ford, an educational theorist at Depauw University, to discuss the historic summit that just took place in Korea.
This week, we are joined from workers across the U.S. for discussions on labor struggles. We are first joined by Dr. Curry Malott, a professor in the Department of Educational Foundations and Policy Studies at Westchester University of Pennsylvania, to discuss the teachers' strikes and history of global class war. Then, we talk to Quest Riggs and Malcolm Suber of the New Orleans Workers Group on struggles against the tourism industry. Finally, Luis Francisco Rangel of the All Rhythms Ensemble discusses cultural work, as well as the upcoming People's Congress of Resistance Latin dance night at the Sahara Lounge on May 9.
NPR station WABE, based in Atlanta, has published a racist hit piece on Black progressive journalist Anoa Changa, accusing her of using “Russian-Backed Media” to spread her message. This is the latest in a series of smear campaigns by corporate media, which has used the so-called “Russiagate” conspiracy theory to discredit any left voices critical of the establishment. What ends do these attacks serve and who benefits from the silencing of left voices? And of course, what is the message that the corporate media is so eager to silence?
Trump has declared his support for an Arab military presence in Syria, which would continue the U.S. occupation of Syria’s most mineral-rich areas by proxy. This comes after a largely unsuccessful U.S. airstrike aimed at Damascus. While U.S. escalation in Syria for so-called humanitarian pretenses receives bipartisan support, the massive atrocities committed by U.S., Saudi, and Israeli forces in Palestine and Yemen still go largely unanswered.
Nationwide protests were called in response to Donald Trump’s airstrikes on Syria on April 13, with demonstrations happening in almost every major city. Could these protests be the first step in rebuilding the anti-war movement in the United States?
We are joined this hour by Anoa Changa, Greg Shupak, and Winn Ellinger.
The Oklahoma teachers’ walkout enters its second week as teachers keep pressure on legislators for more permanent solutions to the state’s education crisis. At least 58 of the state’s 500-plus school districts - including Oklahoma City and Tulsa - will be closed. What are conditions like in Oklahoma schools and what are the teachers’ demands?
New Yorkers gather to mourn the death of Saheed Vassell, a black man who was shot and killed by police during what appeared to be a mental health episode. Along with several other high-profile police killings in recent weeks, the death of Vassell has reignited a national conversation about police violence and gentrification. What are the facts on the ground in Vassell’s case and the stakes for Crown Heights?
Donald Trump’s recent announcement that the U.S. would be leaving Syria “very soon” was met with open hostility from corporate media. The current presence of U.S. troops on Syrian land is a violation of international law, but that has rarely been mentioned in American reporting. Instead, the Washington Post and CNN are using the specter of Russiagate as a justification for continued U.S. military action. Is this the beginning of another U.S. ground war in the Middle East?
We are joined for this show by Scott Heins, a freelance photojournalist and reporter; and Dr. Gregory Shupak, professor of media studies at the University of Guelph in Toronto. Shupak is also the author of The Wrong Story: Palestine, Israel, and the Media, which is available for pre-order now at OR Books.
Israel has killed 18 protesters and injured over 1,500 after opening fire with live ammunition on the Gaza border. This happened during Land Day, an annual protest of Israel’s annexation of large tracts of Palestinian land in 1976. As Israel intensifies its Zionist settler-colonial project, could this signal another military assault on the Gaza strip? We are joined by Haithem el-Zabri, an Austin-based Palestinian activist and director of the Palestine Online Store (palestineonlinestore.com).
Houston police are coming under scrutiny for the shooting of 34-year-old Danny Ray Thomas. Thomas was unarmed and experiencing a mental health crisis when he was shot and killed by officer Cameron Brewer. The officer was carrying a Taser at the time, but opted for lethal force instead. What does this mean for the state of police reform in Texas? Chris Harris of Grassroots Leadership weighs in on body cameras, the role of police in society, local response to the Austin bombings, and the state of Black Lives Matter and related movements for black liberation.
In this week's People's Republic, we are joined live by Amy Frishkey, a KOOP programmer who hosts Fresh from the Underground. We discuss the latest in national and local events, including a retrospective of the Austin bombings, a left analysis of the March for our Lives movement, and the attempted consolidation of East Side schools by Austin Independent School District.
Russian elections ended in victory for Vladimir Putin this Sunday, who will now serve his fourth presidential term since 2000. As Western governments continue to push the deterioration of relations with Russia, what are the political stakes for the Russian government in what is likely Putin’s last term? How does the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal, and the immediate push to blame Russia, factor into the possibility of armed conflict? We are joined by Brian Becker, host of Loud and Clear on Radio Sputnik and National Coordinator for the ANSWER Coalition, to discuss the increasingly tense situation between Russia and Western powers.
Israel makes a move to officially define the country as a Jewish nation-state. The bill that has been known as “Zionism’s flagship bill” has been fast-tracked for approval by the Knesset. It would enshrine Israel officially as an Apartheid state. This comes on the heels of legislation revoking the residency rights of Palestinians who engage in so-called “anti-Israel activities.” Is the Zionist settler-colonial project reaching an end game, and what does this mean for the Palestinian people? Dan Cohen, an independent journalist and filmmaker, weighs in on the current legislation and the state of Zionism today.
Donald Trump announced late last week plans to meet at the invitation of Korean leader Kim Jong Un, breaking suddenly with the administration’s aggressive annihilation rhetoric. Does this signal a shift in U.S. policy on the Korean peninsula? Just as importantly, what does the DPRK hope to gain from normalized relations with the United States?Teachers in West Virginia win a victory for 21st century labor. A series of statewide wildcat strikes ended with a 5 percent pay raise for state employees, a freeze in health insurance costs, and an end to intrusive neoliberal health “monitoring” system linked to their insurance. What significance does the strike have for changing labor relations in the United States?
Democratic turnout in the 2018 Texas primary increased 98 percent over previous midterm primaries. The Democratic Party is predicting a blue wave in the 2018 elections, which would be a huge upset for this deeply conservative state. But how likely is this to come to fruition, and if it does, what policy effects might this have on the national level?
We are joined for these discussions by Derek Ford, education chair at the Hampton Institute, a working-class think tank; Scott Heins, a freelance journalist who wrote about the West Virginia teachers' strike for the Intercept; and Andrew Dobbs, a writer and socialist activist.
This week, we talk once again to Jose Garza, the Executive Director of the Workers Defense Project, about the campaign for paid sick leave waged by the Work Strong Austin coalition. The Austin City Council is slated to vote on paid sick leave this Thursday at 6pm, and the Workers Defense Project along with its allies is mobilizing workers to show their support for this legislation. They face opposition from Koch brother-backed business interests, which have once again poured obscene amounts of money into delaying and stopping even common-sense progressive legislation.
This week, we continue our discussion with Chris Harris of Grassroots leadership about the state of the police contract in Austin.
This week, we speak to Chris Harris, data analyst with Grassroots Leadership and co-host of Hip Hop Hooray on KOOP. We discuss the intersections of social and economic oppression, city negotiations with Austin's police union, civilian oversight, immigration, and homelessness. Our main focus is on the racist outcomes of discretionary arrests by the Austin Police Department.
Cornel West theorized the "Santa Clausification" of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a process by which his radical politics were co-opted into a more respectable veneer for the consumption of patriotic white liberals. The official history of Dr. King has been largely whitewashed away from his anti-imperial, socialist, and at times even communist roots. Joining us to provide a fresh perspective on Dr. King's radical politics is Dr. Gerald Horne. Dr. Horne is a distinguished professor of history and African American studies at the University of Houston, and has written well over 30 books and 100 scholarly articles on racism, history, labor, militarism, war, and many other issues. We also discuss the larger legacy of black radical politics, which includes understanding the American Revolution to be in essence a counter-revolution by an entrenched colonial slaveocracy. This episode of People's Republic of Austin is the first in a continuing series of discussions on black radical thought that we will be developing in the coming months.
Around the New Year, protests began emerging in rural areas of Iran. Partly driven by economic grievances due largely to U.S.-imposed sanctions, the Iranian protests have seemingly taken on a more chauvinistic attitude. Some protesters have even chanted, "Not Gaza, not Lebanon, Sacrifice both for Iran," which would give pause to the U.S. media-driven narrative that the protests are against the country's religious leadership.
Media reporting practices have been increasingly disingenuous. Corporate media outlets have repeatedly misrepresented pictures from the massive pro-government demonstrations, claiming them to be part of the anti-government demonstrations, which reportedly number only in the thousands nationwide.
In addition, publications such as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, New York Post, and Politico have relied largely on commentary from the far-right wing, pro-Israel think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies. They present this think tank - funded largely by casino mogul Sheldon Anderson, Home Depot founder Bernard Marcus, and Wall Street speculator Paul Singer - as an objective analysis group rather than a largely propagandistic front.
Joining us to discuss the history of U.S. media coverage of Iran is Adam Johnson, a writer for Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (fair.org) and host of Citations Needed Podcast, which covers "the media, power, PR, and the history of bullshit." We discuss Johnson's latest work for FAIR.org, "Think Tank-Addicted Media Turn to Regime Change Enthusiasts for Iran Protest Commentary," and get into his earlier analysis of media coverage of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran nuclear deal.
While there are no doubt a number of legitimate grievances and human rights concerns in Iran, as with almost all countries on Earth, the greater threat remains the spectre of U.S.-backed regime change. Everywhere that the U.S. has tried to intervene in the name of the "human rights" of a country, the result has been devastating to the quality of life of that country's citizens. Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and many other countries have all been the proud recipients of U.S. "humanitarian bombings," and each instance of U.S. interference has led to a massive plummet in the quality of life for the population.
As we cover the Iran protests on People's Republic of Austin, we will continue to remind listeners that regardless of the window dressing of "human rights" concerns, the government of the United States does not have a mandate, either by their own people or the international community, to destabilize or interfere in the affairs of another sovereign nation.
January 1 marks the 59th year of the victory of the Cuban Revolution against the Batista dictatorship. With this victory, the Cuban people were able to chart a new course for the development of society, one that put the needs of the workers before the profit margins of U.S. corporations. Despite 59 years of U.S.-backed counterrevolutionary plots, Cuba has continued to completely reverse the oppression and economic impoverishment wrought by the Batista dictatorship. Cuba now leads the way in LGBTQ rights, women's rights, and is making great strides in medical technology, proving that a socialist society can undo in decades the oppressive social structures that capitalism took centuries to impose.
But the fight is not yet over. The presidencies of Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Trump alike have seen both overt attempts to penetrate Cuban society with international finance capital via the tourism industry, as well as subversive acts by U.S. regime change operatives to completely subvert Cuban democracy. Whether in the guise of economic "freedom" or ruthless blockade of badly needed resources, the U.S. continues to invest massive resources into overthrowing the Cuban government - resources that could have been spent to provide healthcare and education to its own population. Despite these threats, the Cuban experiment of radical democracy rooted in the community remains strong.
This week, we talk to Gloria La Riva, the 2016 presidential candidate for the Party for Socialism and Liberation, about the history of the Revolution and the state of Cuba today. Gloria La Riva just returned from her most recent trip to Cuba, where she observed Cuban society, visited several key locations including a major center for biotechnology research, and studied the state of economic production on the island. This episode will cover a diverse array of Cuba-related issues from a perspective never heard in corporate media.
After the show, this interview will be available on Soundcloud, iTunes, and Stitcher. Just go to your podcast app of choice and type in "People's Republic of Austin" to stay updated with our show. You can also follow host Brian Griffith at twitter.com/PeoplesRadioATX for political news and updates about the show!
The Donna Brazile revelations added new fuel to the fire of the allegations against the Democratic Party. This week, we're talking about the DNC's continual rightward shift over the past few decades with Brandon Sutton, host of The Discourse with B.J. Sutton and a journalist with Progressive Army. We also get into deeper aspects of social and political theory, such as defining the "republic" and understanding the Constitution as a symbolic document.
Half a year after the passing of SB4, Texas communities continue to fight for the rights of immigrants against a draconian and arguably proto-fascist bill. Much of the legality of SB4 has been tied up in the court system. Still, ICE raids remain an ever-present threat and the processes of raids and deportations remain unaccountable and opaque to the public.
Joining us this week to talk about the status of SB4 is Jose Garza, Executive Director of the Workers Defense Project. We also discuss other projects of the WDP, including the Work Strong campaign for paid sick leave for Austin workers, and the WDP's work in Houston during the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.
Immigrant communities in the United States have long lived in a state of upheaval and uncertainty. The last decade of immigration "reform" was dominated largely by executive orders, as Congresss skewed far to the right of popular opinion. If any action is taken to ensure the security of immigrants against racist and arbitrary deportations, it needs to be pushed by the people.
Joining us to talk about the DREAM Act and Texas culture are Zaira Garcia of FWD.US, as well as Maura Masters from Austin High School. We take a digression from policy analysis to talk about the Austin High School Ballet Folklorico, and also discuss the contributions of immigrants to the U.S. economy.
One year after the election of Donald Trump, the official narrative of the Russiagate conspiracy theory continues to change rapidly, and to date, zero evidence has been produced by any party to show that Russia “hacked” the elections. Instead, the conspiracy theory that Russia "hacked the elections" has largely fallen apart. The accusations have grown increasingly broad and abstract to include "collusion," "meddling," and "interference." Why the turn to such unprovable and indefinable terms?
The three interested parties that have driven the Russiagate conspiracy theory are 1) the Clinton wing of the Democratic Party; 2) the establishment media; and 3) an alliance of state intelligence agencies, chiefly the FBI, CIA, and NSA. All three of these major parties have faced serious and repeated crises of legitimacy in the eyes of the public, and all three have obvious political and financial incentive to stoking war between two nuclear-armed powers that could potentially end in nuclear apocalypse. More immediately, they are using the Russiagate conspiracy theory to silence dissenting voices in the media that object to endless U.S. warmongering in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East.
Joining us for the next two weeks to talk about Russiagate is Brian Becker. Becker is the National Coordinator for the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (A.N.S.W.E.R.) Coalition, a revered anti-war and anti-capitalist organizer, and host of Loud and Clear on Radio Sputnik. Our interview covers the history of Russiagate, the state of international politics, the electoral college, the rehabilitation of George W. Bush, CIA whistleblowers, and media censorship as Russiagate continues to devolve into a political witch hunt. This is one of our most thought-provoking interviews that provides a compelling counterpoint to the prevailing corporate media narrative on the Russiagate conspiracy theory.
On November 2, 1917, the British empire declared its support for a Jewish colonial state in Palestine. Why did Zionist leaders seek support from European imperial powers. and why did the British declare support for Zionism at the height of the struggle for world empire? Is the Israeli state under Netanyahu facing a crisis of legitimacy, and if so, what would follow after an end to military occupation of Palestine?
Joining us for a two-week special interview is Dr. Samir Abed-Rabbo, author of The Case for One Democratic State in Historic Palestine. Dr. Abed-Rabbo argues that if a two-state solution was ever viable, Israel's military occupation and continued ethnic cleansing of Palestinian land has made this impossible. As do many other scholars of Palestinian history, he believes that the only viable path to peace in the Middle East is now a single, democratic state spanning historic Palestine that favors social and economic justice instead of the apartheid of the current Israeli state.
Also joining us for today's show is Tura Cook of the Interfaith Community for Palestinian Rights. The ICPR has an upcoming event, "Palestine & The Aftermath of Britain's 1917 Balfour Declaration," to be held on Thursday, November 16, at the Westminster Presbyterian Church on 3208 W Exposition Blvd. More information about the ICPR can be found at https://www.facebook.com/ICPRAustin.
The first half of the interview will air Tuesday, November 7 at 2pm on KOOP. The second half will air the following week, November 14 at 4pm. Afterward, the whole interview will be available on our Soundcloud page, soundcloud.com/PeoplesRadioAustin.
Sustainable development for Guatemala and the first ever Cumbre de Migrantes y Retornados, to take place in Guatemala on October 20-21.
Regina Joseph of the Tallahassee SDS and the student movement to take back control of universities from neoliberalism, as well as the upcoming SDS national convention on October 21-22.
Eddie Barrera of WWP in San Antonio talks about working-class art and the 100th anniversary of the Soviet Union.
For this episode, we tackle the subject of police brutality: first by covering recent news items, then with guest Kit O'Connell, gonzo journalist.
Dr. Shawgi Tell, author of Charter School Report Card and professor at Nazareth College, debunks the myths behind charter schools and public education.
Jerssay Arredondo of Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement speaks on the intersection of immigration and trans liberation, as well as the upcoming HereToSlay protest at the Texas State Capitol on August 4.
Sofia Sepulveda discusses upcoming marches for a national healthcare system and the need for a single-payer system in the U.S.
Gloria La Riva of the Party for Socialism and Liberation discusses the socialist resurgence in the age of neoliberalism and Trump. We also talk about the People's Congress of Resistance, a new initiative by grassroots organizers to establish a congress representative of the people, for the people. This extended interview aired in two parts on July 11 and July 18.
Estevan Hernandez of the Party for Socialism and Liberation talks about the need for socialism and upcoming initiatives, including the People's Congress of Resistance.
This week, we interview Jacob Pointon, founder of Pravda Media. http://pravda-m.com/ https://www.facebook.com/media.pravda/
"Governor Greg Abbot is sitting on a powderkeg right now, and every day, the fuse of our movement burns underneath him." -Jose Garza, Workers Defense Project
First episode of People's Republic of Austin. Topics discussed: ridesharing, Betsy DeVos, and the meaning representation.