Episodes
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When UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was killed on December 4th in New York, the casings of the bullets used to kill him had “deny”, “delay” and “depose” written on them. These so-called “three Ds” of the insurance industry describe how companies go out of their way to get out of paying claims.
Even before a suspect was identified and arrested, popular sentiment was broadly with the shooter. The health insurance industry in the United States is so hated that people sympathized with the motives they ascribed to the shooter. Defying the traditional left-right political poles, the real division came through: working-class people all over the political spectrum who have experience with the health insurance industry could at least understand why someone would commit this act.
To look more at what the shooting tells us about society, we’re joined today by Jacquie Luqman, host of Darker than Blue on WPFW radio.
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Calls for the resignation of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol have rung out from civil society and beyond after Yoon declared martial law on December 3rd. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) called for strikes until Yoon steps down, and groups under and beyond that organization are heeding the call.
Yoon’s brief and apparently sudden declaration of martial law caused many to protest outside of the National Assembly chanting “Abolish Martial Law! Down with Dictatorship!” The members of that body who were able to get into the building without being blocked by troops voted unanimously against the decree, with the chair declaring it to be “invalid” after their vote.
Yoon claimed that the measure was necessary “as an act of national resolve against the anti-state forces” and that he would target “shameless pro-North Korean anti-state forces.” Now, an arrest warrant has been filed against the former Defense Minister, Kim Yong-hyun, alleging that he collaborated with Yoon and intended to cause an insurrection.
To talk about this still-developing story and help us understand the history, Yoon’s relationship with the U.S., what these events mean for popular movements in South Korea and the prospects for Korean reunification, we’re joined by Jia Hong, a member of Nodutdol. Learn more about Nodutdol’s US Out of Korea campaign here.
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At the end of November, groups aligned with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) or the “Levant Liberation Committee” and previously known as the Al-Nusra Front, launched significant attacks on the Syrian government in the Idlib and Aleppo regions, taking part of the city of Aleppo. The Syrian Arab Army has mobilized to push back against HTS.
The offensive of course comes within days of the ceasefire in Lebanon that we discussed in our last episode, but also after more than a decade of US-backed insurgent groups attempting to overthrow the Syrian government. Syria has long been a target of attempted coups, assassination attempts, regime change operations, sanctions and war. This legacy and the current Western-backed attempts to overthrow the Syrian government show us why there is a critical need for anti-imperialist politics in the anti-war movement in the United States.
To dive into this history and what's happening today, we’re joined by Taylor Gol, an anti-war organizer who is originally from Türkiye.Support the show
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On Tuesday afternoon, the Israeli security cabinet approved a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the cabinet and then with a pre-recorded video addressed the Israeli public, expressing his support for the deal. But in the leadup to the security cabinet vote, and while Netanyahu was making his case in support of the deal, Israel has been engaging in some of its heaviest bombardment of southern Lebanon since mid-September. On Monday the 26th, attacks killed 55 people and injured 160 in Lebanon. And on Tuesday, the IDF launched an intense blitz of 20 bombings in just 2 minutes, then later in the day bombed an apartment building in Hamra, a commercial area of Beirut.
Over 3,800 people have been killed in Lebanon and nearly 16,000 wounded by the IDF since October 7, 2023.
In making his public case for the ceasefire, which is a much-needed development to give reprieve to the people of Southern Lebanon, Netanyahu gave three reasons: First, to “focus on the Iranian threat.” Second, to “give our forces a breather and replenish stocks,” referring to the IDF. And third, to “separate the fronts” in the war.
To make sense of these breaking developments and put them into an appropriate historical context, we’re joined by Richard Becker. He’s an anti-imperialist activist and organizer and the author of Palestine, Israel and the US Empire, which you can find at 1804 Books.Support the show
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Shortly after we recorded our last episode and mentioned the bill, the House of Representatives tried and failed to vote on HR 9495, the “Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act” bill. House Republicans tried to suspend the rules and push a vote through, and got 52 Democrats to vote with them, but weren’t able to get the ⅔ majority they needed under House procedural rules.
But HR 9495, also called the “nonprofit killer” bill, isn’t dead yet. If passed, it would allow the Trump administration to revoke an organization’s nonprofit status by simply saying the organization is connected to or supports terrorism. It’s another weapon the US government would have to attempt to crush dissent, targeting organizations standing up against the genocide in Gaza and many more. Civil society, activist, nonprofit and legal organizations from the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund to the National Council of Nonprofits, CAIR, ACLU and beyond have called for the bill to be rejected.
To understand where this bill comes from and what its impact would be, we’re joined today by Wassim Kanaan, a grass-roots-oriented advocate, focusing on direct advocacy and working with the community on high impact projects.
Wassim currently serves as the Chair-person for the New Jersey Chapter of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP).
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Within days of winning the election, Donald Trump is already making announcements about who will - and won’t - be in his cabinet and influencing his administration. On today’s show, we’re going to take a look at what a second Trump term is going to look like. From Elon Musk being on calls with Trump and Zelenskyy to RFK having influence over health policy and beyond, workers in the US and around the world will be under attack on many fronts.
We’re joined later in the show by Walter Smolarek, producer of The Socialist Program, to talk about Trump’s foreign policy and in particular what his election means for the genocide in Gaza, conflict with China, and the war in Ukraine.
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We’re just days out from the US presidential elections. With many polls putting Trump and Harris within just a few points of each other, it’s easy to get caught up in the fear and uncertainty of the race as we continue to see horror after horror unfolding in Gaza and Lebanon as well as critical domestic crises like housing and infrastructure going unaddressed.
On this show, we’re focusing on the work of activists looking past the mainstream. They’ve been in the streets, they’ve pushed local resolutions, called for ceasefires and weapons embargoes, they’ve voted Uncommitted and called to abandon Biden and Harris and any candidate who won’t speak out against genocide. We talk with some organizers who have been building peoples’ movements for power and solidarity about how they view the elections, what they’ve been doing in the lead-up, and most importantly, we’ll hear what they’ll be doing on November 6 after all the ballots have been counted.We’re joined by Dr. Hassan Abdel Salam - co-founder of Abandon Biden, which is now Abandon Harris.
Later in the show, we discuss the No Votes for Genocide campaign with Francesca Maria, an organizer with the CT Palestine Solidarity Coalition and co-chair of Connecticut DSA.
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The devastation of Hurricane Oscar, which hit Cuba on October 18th, has significantly worsened the deep crisis of the island’s electric grid. The U.S. government and its media lackeys are trying to blame the socialist government for supposed mismanagement of the country’s power system, but the reality is that the biggest contributor to the situation is the US blockade of Cuba.
On October 22nd, The People’s Forum published an open letter in the New York Times calling on President Biden to overturn the Trump administration’s anti-Cuba policies. Biden has 90 days left in his term to restore the Obama-era reforms and steps towards normalization that are desperately needed.
We talk more about the history of the criminal blockade and its impact on Cuba.
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Hurricane Milton approached the physical limits of what a hurricane can be before it made landfall, and this was driven in part by the fact that 13 major Western corporations are responsible for the deforestation of 17% of the Amazon rainforest over the last few decades.
The drastic effects of climate change are causing havoc across the globe. In the southeastern US and into Appalachia, hurricanes Helene and Milton have killed hundreds, left thousands without shelter and caused untold billions in damage. On the other side of the planet, parts of the Sahara desert flooded for the first time in nearly 50 years after intense rainstorms dropped 8 inches of rain in 2 days on parts of Morocco that don’t get more than an inch or so yearly. These storms and many other examples are showing that no one is safe from so-called storms of the century that seem to be happening weekly.
Meanwhile, insurance companies in Florida have been denying claims even from people who have been paying for hurricane-specific policies, and big landlords and investors are looking to profit from these disasters by buying up more land - all while doing nothing to address the climate crisis.
We’re joined today Ali by Abdel-Qader, a Palestinian organizer and Tampa-based activist who’s involved in relief efforts on the ground, and Tina Landis, author of Climate Solutions Beyond Capitalism.
Support the relief work in Florida by clicking here.
Find Tina’s book at 1804 books here.Support the show
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As the U.S. & Israeli war in the Middle East continues to expand with new threats of a significant Israeli attack on Iran, the Pentagon last week sent thousands of additional troops to the region. The USS Harry S Truman has been preparing for much of 2024 for a deployment to the Mediterranean Sea and departed on September 20th. Squadrons of F-15E, F-16 and F-22 fighter jets, along with A-10 attack aircraft, will not replace the American troops and equipment already in the region, but instead will now supplement them.
The history of resistance and refusal within the ranks of active-duty servicemembers is usually hidden or when it is mentioned, it’s maligned by the mainstream media and politicians. To dig into some of that history, the lessons for the anti-war movement, and what you should know if you yourself are going to be deployed or know someone who’s going to be deployed, we’re joined today by Mike Prysner. He’s an Iraq war veteran turned anti-war organizer, a producer of The Empire Files, co-host of the podcast Eyes Left and much more.
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On Monday, September 30th, an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah killed Wafa al-Udaini, her husband and two of her children. Wafa was a founder of the October 16 group, a mentor to young journalists and media professionals in Gaza and especially worked to highlight the voices of women impacted by the Israeli occupation. Wafa was the 174th journalist to be killed by Israel in Gaza since Israel began its bombardment of Gaza just under a year ago.
Romana Rubeo wrote at the Palestine Chronicle, “Wafa’s writing captured the essence of why we do what we do on a daily basis for years: amplifying Palestinian voices, and not any voices, but those that reflect the spirit of the Palestinian people, their defiance of injustice, their quest for freedom, and their courage in word and action.”
Long-time listeners of this show may remember that we had Wafa on twice. First, in April 2023, she joined us to explain how the mass protests happening in Israel against Benjamin Netanyahu were about internal Israeli matters, and not concerned with the liberation of Palestinians. “So for us as Palestinians, we see that the occupation has one face, they are all the same, even if it is a far right government or a left-right government or any, it is occupation at the end.” she told us.
She then came on the show a few months later for our October 11th 2023 episode, immediately after the resistance movement launched Al Aqsa Flood, to give an on-the-ground report on the Israeli bombardment, its use of white phosphorus and how people viewed the resistance.
For today’s episode, we’ll be revisiting our past conversations with Wafa as we discuss the current and rapidly-escalating situation. We dedicate this episode to Wafa al-Udaini and her family.
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As the United Nations General Assembly meets this week, world leaders have adopted a Pact for the Future to build towards a multilateral world. But the meeting is happening as regional conflicts could flare up and ignite across many parts of the globe. The US & NATO’s proxy war in Ukraine rages on with few serious efforts being made towards a peaceful resolution. And it comes just days after Israel killed dozens and injured thousands in Lebanon with a long-term coordinated plan to explode pagers and handheld radios, following up with a devastating bombing campaign. The U.S. is now sending more troops, an aircraft carrier, two destroyers and a cruiser to the Middle East. The attacks have caused Lebanese acting Prime Minister Najib Mikati to skip his own scheduled trip to the UN this week.
To help us wade through the various threads of the growing threat of all-out war around the globe, we’re joined today by Ben Norton. Ben is the founder and editor of Geopolitical Economy Report, which you can find at geopoliticaleconomy.com.
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The first and maybe only debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris happened just after we recorded our last show on Tuesday, September 10th. Over nearly two hours, the candidates attempted to talk over and through each other, regurgitating some of the same old talking points of each of their campaigns. It was light on policy and heavy on racism, bigotry and threats of war. Ultimately, what the debate showed us is that this contest is not about actually improving the lives of working-class people, but who will be better for the American empire and police state.
We’re joined today by Jacquie Luqman, host of Darker than Blue, as we take apart some of the key moments from the debate.Support the show
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Fifty-one years ago, a bloody coup in Chile overthrew the democratically-elected president Salvadore Allende, leaving him dead. Sometimes now called “the other 9/11,” it ushered in the brutal dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, which lasted for 17 years. Over 3,000 people were killed or disappeared in that period, and nearly 40,000 people were targeted for political repression and tortured because they were leftists or suspected of being leftists.
The US government played a significant role in both creating the destabilizing conditions for the coup and in its support for Pinochet. We’re joined now by Abraham Márquez of Kawsachun News to discuss the legacy of the coup, the CIA’s involvement, and what lessons we can learn today.
Then, Rachel and Chris discuss the disastrous War on Terror that was launched in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, and the rehabilitation of George W Bush, Dick Cheney and others in the current political climate.
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John Stockwell is a former CIA officer who became a whistleblower and outspoken critic of the Agency, the US intelligence community and the imperialist policies of the US government. He left the CIA in 1976 after serving there for 12 years following service in the US Marine Corps. During that time, he was told to fabricate intelligence reports on the situations in Vietnam and Angola, and eventually exposed a significant amount of information through his books and public talks. He was an early supporter and contributor to what was then Covert Action Information Bulletin, now CovertAction Magazine.
In an interview with the Burton Michigan Voice in 1985, he said “I went into the CIA thinking I was doing the best thing I could with my life, the contradiction being that I was a humanist at heart. But of course, their propaganda line is that you’re serving humanity by struggling to keep the world free from communism. It ook a lot of years making my way up the chain of command until I became convinced just the opposite was true. I saw it in Africa, but in Africa I was working out of embassies. I did not have Phil Agee’s experience from Latin America where there was more bombing and torture and terrorism, and the issues were clearer. The inhumanity was clearer. Then I saw it in Vietnam, there was no doubt.”
CovertAction Magazine has recently republished a three-hour video of Stockwell speaking in 1989 at American University, starting with an hour lecture and then answering student questions for the remainder of the time.
Watch the video on our YouTube channel by clicking here.
Though the names of politicians and places have changed, the things he brings up hit at the heart of issues we are still fighting against, and exposing some 35 years later.
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The founder and CEO of social media and communications app Telegram, Pavel Durov was arrested in France on August 24th. The country, one of the Nine Eyes intelligence partners along with the US, UK, Australia and others, claims that the social media app is a hotbed for illegal activity, and Western media coverage blasts it as a tool of the Russian government. But the attack on Telegram is actually a testing ground for future attacks on encrypted messaging platforms and alternative news sources.
Then later in the show, we discuss the invasion by Ukrainian forces funded with US dollars and using British tanks into the Russian territory of Kursk. The incursion marked the first significant breach of the Russian border by Ukrainian ground forces in the nearly two-and-a-half years since the immediate conflict began and follows a pattern of missile strikes and minor raids into Kursk and neighboring Belgorod since February 2022. Is this the sequel to the Ukrainian counteroffensive of 2023 that was hyped up by Western media and governments but ultimately failed to make a significant difference? How do these developments figure into the longer history of the conflict, going back to 2014 and even further into history? And what prospects are there for peace rather than further escalation into a global conflict?
We’re joined by investigative journalist Kit Klarenberg to talk about all that and more.
Read Kit’s article Britain’s Kursk Invasion Backfires?Support the show
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The Democratic National Convention is taking place in Chicago this week. Amidst the fanfare and extravagance, there’s very little actual democracy inside as big-name politicians and those trying to make a name for themselves attempt to make the case for Kamala Harris to be the next president. Hillary Clinton, AOC, Jill and Joe Biden and Barack Obama have taken the stage among others. But with Joe Biden out of the race, the DNC has made it a foregone conclusion that Kamala Harris will be the next Democratic nominee, preventing a floor fight or nominations.
Meanwhile, mass protests began over the weekend and will continue throughout the week, demanding a ceasefire and arms embargo against Israel, healthcare for all, and much more. As Joe Biden was speaking, activists unrolled a giant banner inside the convention center that said “Stop Arming Israel.” In response to this demand for an end to genocide, the crowd started chanting “We love Joe” and the lights were dimmed. On Tuesday, activists with CODEPINK interrupted Tim Walz, chanting “Stop killing women in Gaza” and they were immediately met with a response of “USA, USA.”
We’re joined by Saja Bilasan, founder of Falasteen Favorites and organizer of Chicago Artists Against Apartheid to discuss what’s happening both inside and outside the United Center in Chicago.
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Venezuela’s elections took place on July 28th. Nicolás Maudro defeated the right-wing candidate Edmundo González Urrutia by over a million votes. The imperialist machine immediately jumped into action to denounce the elections, condemning Maduro as a dictator and calling the results undemocratic. Over 1,000 international observers from 100 countries were in Venezuela for the election, and with few exceptions of those who are against the Bolivarian Revolution, they’ve stated that the electoral process was fair and free. That hasn’t stopped the US government, its media mouthpieces, regional allies and even Elon Musk from calling for the overthrow of the Maduro government.
Following the election, waves of fascist violence took the streets of Caracas and other cities, but supporters of the Bolivarian Revolution have themselves mobilized in its defense. We’re joined today by Gloria La Riva of the Cuba and Venezuela Solidarity Committee.
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In a ruling on July 19, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion that confirmed what Palestinians have been saying for over 7 decades: That the Israeli occupation is illegal, that the way Palestinians are treated by Israel is a form of apartheid, and that the occupation must end.
This ruling includes the Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which have grown especially since the Israeli military withdrew from Gaza in 2005.
As we are approaching 300 days of the genocide in Gaza and over 40,000 deaths at the hands of the US-funded and armed Israeli military, we wanted to talk more about the ICJ and this ruling. An ICJ advisory opinion cannot force a country to act, but can have a real impact on how the rest of the world approaches policy towards Israel.
We’re joined by Laith Aqel, human rights lawyer, a lecturer in the Human Rights Clinic at Yale and an organizer with the CT Palestine Solidarity Coalition.
And later in the show, just days after the ICJ ruling Benjamin Netanyahu spoke in front of the US Congress as over 10,000 people rallied outside the Capitol. We’ll bring you some of the speeches from that rally as well.Support the show
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Just over 100 days away from the 2024 election, Joe Biden has dropped out of the race and endorsed Kamala Harris, signaling to the Democratic Party that there should be no debate, no other nominations and certainly no floor fight over delegates at the upcoming Democratic National Convention next month. This of course comes after a period where there were no real primaries for the Democratic Party. That’s not unusual when a sitting President is running for reelection, but questions about Biden’s ability to beat Donald Trump this year have lingered for quite some time.
Today, we want to get into who Kamala Harris is, what interests she represents and what the absolute lack of democracy in the so-called Democratic Party means for social movements and real change through November and beyond.
We’re joined by activist, author and journalist Eugene Puryear, host of The Freedom Side Live on Breakthrough News.
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