Indy Audio

First segment: Negotiators for the Writers Guild of America and the big Hollywood studios reached a tentative contract agreement that ended the screen writers’ strike after 148 days. We hear from J.T. Allen, who was a WGA strike captain at the Warner Bros. picket line near Los Angeles. Then we speak with labor historian Toni Gilpin about the historic autoworkers strike now in its third week with w...

We speak with labor historian Toni Gilpin about the historic autoworkers strike now in its third week with workers out on strike in more than 20 states. Gilpin comes from a proud UAW family and is the author of The Long Deep Grudge: A Story of Big Capital, Radical Labor, and Class War in the American Heartland.

The Indypendent News Hour on WBAI-99.5 FM // 3 Oct. ‘23 Negotiators for the Writers Guild of America and the big Hollywood studios reached a tentative contract agreement that ended the screen writer’ strike after 148 days. The contract agreement was unanimously approved by the WGA’s executive council and is now being voted on by the union’s 11,000 members. We hear from J.T. Allen, who was a WGA st...

We speak with Hector Oseguera, anti-money laundering specialist and former candidate for Congress in New Jersey’s 8th congressional district, about the corruption and bribery scandal that has engulfed New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez.

First we turn to Belleville, Michigan, where President Joe Biden joined striking auto workers outside a General Motors facility. Then we venture across the New York City region from a United Auto Workers picket line in the Hudson Valley, to the corruption scandal that has engulfed New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez, and back to New York City where our reporter Keating Zelenke has been speaking wit...

Indypendent reporter Keating Zelenke talks about her article in our September print edition on student-loan debtors who face an October 1 deadline to resume making their monthly loan payments after a three-and-a-half-year pandemic moratorium comes to an end.

On Friday, Sep. 22, United Auto Workers President Sean Fain announced the strike was being expanded to 38 parts distribution centers across the country belonging to General Motors and Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler. One of the parts distribution centers that went on strike on Friday at noon is in Tappan, NY, in Rockland County, north of the city. We are joined by Jeff Purcell, presiden...

We talk about Sunday's climate march ahead of the UN summit in NYC. There were as many as 75,000 people on hand demanding that President Biden take dramatic actions to end fossil fuels. We also hear from Bill Brunson, a co-founder of the Liz Christy Garden on Houston between Bowery and 2nd Ave., one of the first community gardens in the city.

Live Call-ins // The Indypendent News Hour on WBAI // 19 Sep. '23 by The Indypendent

We get an update on the epic struggle in Atlanta over the future of Cop City, the massive police-training facility that local officials are clear cutting a forest to build. Matt Scott, editor at the Atlanta Community Press Collective, talks about the latest developments in the referendum push, the RICO charges 61 protesters are facing, the current state of the site, an upcoming mass action in Atla...

In the first half of today’s show, we get all the the latest from the epic struggle in Atlanta over the future of Cop City, the massive police training facility that local officials want to clear cut a forest to build. Matt from the Atlanta Community Press Collective catches us up on all that and more. We cover Sunday's climate march ahead of the UN summit in NYC. There were as many as 75,000 peop...

In the first half the show, we speak with State Senator Jessica Ramos of Queens about climate change, the city’s failed response to the migrant crisis and her reaction to growing speculation that she might challenge Mayor Eric Adams in the 2025 Democratic primary. In our second segment, we are joined by long time Indypendent columnist and Contributing Editor Nicholas Powers. Nick is currently work...

We speak with State Senator Jessica Ramos of Queens about climate change, the city’s failed response to the migrant crisis and her reaction to growing speculation that she might challenge Mayor Eric Adams in the 2025 Democratic primary.

We are joined by long time Indypendent columnist and Contributing Editor Nicholas Powers. Nick is currently working on his fourth book. It explores the intersection of psychedelics, race and systems of power and it asks where psychedelics would fit in a socialist revolution. Nick is also preparing to leave in a few days for Burning Man, the annual late summer counter-cultural extravaganza held eve...

We take call-ins during the last segment of our weekly news hour and also provide updates on a newsroom search in smalltown Kansas and a recent win for the ongoing movement to stop the building of a police training center in Atlanta.

Indy correspondent Amba Guerguerian provides an update from the SAG-AFTRA picket lines where we hear from a picketer and bystanders. And then we speak with The Indy’s film critic and Screen Actors Guild member Peter Carellini who is starring in a new role — as a union strike captain out on the picket line three mornings a week leading chanting and singing. He talks about his sentiments around the...

Manhattan State Supreme Court Judge Lyle Frank issued a permanent injunction barring the Adams administration from transferring the retirees from traditional Medicare coverage to a Medicare Advantage plan controlled by the private insurance giant Aetna. The switch would have gone into effect on September 1. While that won’t be happening, the Adams administration has vowed to pursue an appeal to a...

In our first segment, we’ll look at a big legal victory on Friday for New York City’s 250,000 retired city employees. The Adams administration wanted to switch their medical coverage from traditional Medicare to a privately run plan. But that’s on ice for now. In our second segment, we have an update from the SAG-AFTRA picket lines. And we hear from The Indy’s film critic and Screen Actors Guild —...

We speak with Dr. Ronald Day of The Fortune Society about Rikers eliminating funding for outside groups who provide programming on the penal colony that educates inmates and provides support to reenter society. Seems like the Department of Correction is trying to get eyes and ears out of the notorious jail complex.

Alex Pellittieri, recently elected to the DSA’s national steering committee, talks to us about the DSA’s recent convention in Chicago. He discusses the path forward for the DSA, the central issues for DSA, and how to make the relationship between labor and socialism stronger.

First, we discuss the recent Rikers budget cuts with Dr. Ronald Day, which eliminated fundingfor outside groups who provide programming on Rikers Island that educates inmates and provides training for how to re-enter society. He covers what the programs offered to inmates and how programming being cut will hurt them. We also talk to Alex Pellittieri, who was recently elected to the DSA’s national...

We talk with Brendan Lopez, a union leader at his Starbucks location who was fired in June. Lopez and his fellow baristas confronted the boss who fired him at a Starbucks corporate headquarters. Lopez discusses his firing, Starbucks' union-busting activities, and striking.

We cover the recent historic contract settlement between UPS and the Teamsters. We speak with Antonio Rosario, an organizer with Local 804 about why the recent contract is unprecedented for workers.

First, we cover the recent historic contract settlement between UPS and the Teamsters. We speak with Antonio Rosario, an organizer with Local 804 about why the recent contract is unprecedented for workers. We then talk with Brendan Lopez, a union leader at his Starbucks location who was fired in June. Lopez and his fellow baristas confronted the boss who fired him at a Starbucks corporate headquar...

Amba Guerguerian gives updates about the deteriorating conditions on Rikers Island, including the recent cut of daily programming, and yesterday's announcement that Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor is calling for the oversight of all the jails on Rikers Island to be relinquished by the City.