WPKN: Politics, Policy, and Planet Podcast

Interview with Heather Digby Parton, Salon columnist and Digby’s Hullabaloo blogger, conducted by Scott Harris. Heather Parton discusses her recent commentary, “Trump’s antiwar claims blow up in his face after Iran fiasco.” Opposition to the president’s war with Iran among Gen Z MAGA members could help create positive political change regarding U.S. foreign policy, political history and a possible...

Interview with David Faris, professor of political science at Roosevelt University and author of The Kids Are All Left: How Young Voters Will Unite America, conducted by Scott Harris. Professor Faris talks about the issues examined in his recent Nation Magazine article, “Why Ending the Iran War May Be a Never-Ending Story.” As Trump’s “excursion” veers into quagmire territory, he may just try to w...

Prof. Richard Wolff, economist and author, discusses the current state of the US economy in the face of the US-Israeli war on Iran and the A.I. juggernaut. Community organizer Seth Garbin, talks about a new initiative, Danbury Unites for Immigrants launched to support immigrant communities in Danbury, CT. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill

Interview with Jon Copeland, an organizer with Hold the Line, conducted by Melinda Tuhus. Two companies, Oracle and Open AI, have plans to build a huge artificial intelligence data center in southern New Mexico, near its border with Texas. To power the center they call Project Jupiter, the companies plan on using methane, which is 100 times more damaging to the climate than carbon dioxide emission...

Interview with John Miksad, a member of Veterans for Peace and World Beyond War, conducted by Scott Harris. John Miksad talks about a coalition of groups sponsoring two events in Norwalk, Connecticut on Memorial Day, May 25 to promote peace, honor the fallen and support our current troops by keeping our soldiers out of harm’s way in endless disastrous wars, including Trump’s disastrous war on Iran...

Interview with Melanie D'Arrigo, executive director with the Campaign for New York Health, conducted by Scott Harris. Melanie D’Arrigo talks about the campaign dedicated to passing and implementing universal, single-payer health care in New York state. Supporters of the New York Health Act say that New Yorkers will pay less and get more by cutting out waste and using the negotiation power of 20 mi...

Interview with Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-founder and co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation and author of three books including, Woe to Women: The Bible Tells Me So," conducted by Scott Harris. Annie Laurie Gaylor talks about the taxpayer-funded Trump regime religious rally in Washington, D.C., “Rededicate 250,” that featured white Christian nationalist rhetoric from speakers including...

Interview with Dan Vicuña, senior policy director for Voting and Fair Representation at Common Cause, conducted by Scott Harris. Dan Vicuña talks about the consequences of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Louisiana v. Callais case that eviscerated the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the disenfranchisement of millions of people of color, and ways in which our nation can work toward achieving a multirac...

I made this piece as a gift to myself and to you. It is so tough right now-- so I called in some big friends. You will especially like this offering if you have a sweet spot for the amazingness of horses.

What is it like to be a queer religious leader in Florida right now? Isabelle follows up on her March 2023 piece, There’s a Bright Spot in Florida with a March 2026 interview with the incomparable Bishop Dr. Durrell Watkins. 

Interview with Thomas Meyer, strategic organizing projects director for Food & Water Watch, conducted by Melinda Tuhus. Data centers require enormous amounts of energy and water, create noise and air pollution depending on how they’re powered—and create very few jobs. Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Thomas Meyer, strategic organizing projects director for Food & Water Watch and...

Interview with Robert Greenwald, founder and president of Brave New Films, conducted by Scott Harris. Robert Greenwald talks about his important new documentary film, “ICE: No One Is Safe at Work,” which highlights how ICE immigration raids affect workers’ and their family’s lives and how listeners can view the film and support Brave New Film’s important work. Brave New Films is a nonprofit produc...

Interview with Dr. Henry Abraham, professor of psychiatry emeritus at Tufts University School of Medicine and co-recipient of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize, conducted by Scott Harris. Dr. Henry Abraham talks about a group of 36 leading physicians and other doctors with expertise in mental health, who he’s acting as a spokesperson for, “who issued a statement calling for President Donald J. Trump’s im...

Interview with Martin O'Malley, former commissioner of the Social Security Administration in the Biden administration and former governor of Maryland and mayor of Baltimore, conducted by Scott Harris. Commissioner O’Malley talks about the impact of the Trump administration’s downsizing of the Social Security workforce on customer service; how to fairly address the projected shortfall in the Social...

Interview with James Zogby, co-founder and president of the Arab American Institute and director of Zogby Research Services, conducted by Scott Harris. James Zogby discusses the dire situation in Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza under continuing military attack by Israel—critically important news that’s been lost or ignored by most corporate media coverage during the Iran war. Zogby is also directo...

Interview with Vernon Haltom, executive director of Coal River Mountain Watch, conducted by Melinda Tuhus. There was a small victory against the powerful coal companies operating in West Virginia, when on April 21, a federal judge blocked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to grant a Clean Water Act permit for valley fills associated with a mountaintop removal site on Coal River Mountain....

Interview with Liz Dupont-Diehl, associate director of the Connecticut Citizen Action Group (CCAG), conducted by Scott Harris. Liz Dupont-Diehl discusses the people who will lose health care coverage this year and in 2027 include those losing Access Health CT financial help, enrollees in the Covered TCT program, and whose coverage will be impacted by new work requirements and other bureaucratic ob...

Interview with Micah Sifry, Journalist and editor of the Connector newsletter, conducted by Scott Harris. Micah Sifry talks about his recent Substack piece, “MayDay: The Pro-Democracy Movement Structure Test.” He comments on the results of this year’s nationwide May Day actions that called for “no work, no school, no shopping” and how this tactic, if effective, could impact future resistance plans...

Interview with Phyllis Bennis, director of the Institute for Policy Studies’ New Internationalism Project and author of Understanding Palestine & Israel, conducted by Scott Harris. Phyllis Bennis, examines the dire situation in the West Bank with a rising number of murders of Palestinians and land seizures by Israeli settlers — and ongoing deadly Israeli attacks in Gaza that’s been lost in mos...

Interview with Marjorie Cohn, professor emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, dean of the People’s Academy of International Law and past president of the National Lawyers Guild, conducted by Scott Harris. Marjorie Cohn, author of the books, “Drones and Targeted Killing: Legal, Moral and Geopolitical Issues” and “The United States and Torture: Interrogation, Incarceration and Abuse,” takes a c...

Interview with Pam Garrison, West Virginia tri-chair of the Poor People's Campaign, conducted by Melinda Tuhus. Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with her about the campaign’s work and mission. Here Garrison reflects on battles against the coal industry and construction of fossil fuel pipelines across her state — and how poor people are faring today where many of the gains of recent years hav...

Interview with Greg Palast, filmmaker, journalist and author of several New York Times bestsellers including The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, conducted by Scott Harris. Greg Palast talks about his recent article, “Mr. Colbert, I’m not laughing anymore.” Palast investigates far right activist Gregg Phillips, recently appointed as associate administrator of FEMA’s Office of Response and Recovery, w...

Interview with Cameron Landin, executive vice president of College Democrats of America, and a student at the University of Chicago, conducted by Scott Harris. Landin discusses his views on some of the Democratic party’s positions on issues including the Trump-Netanyahu war on Iran, U.S. aid to Israel and proposed progressive legislation such as Medicare for All. He also talks about some of the De...

Interview with Steve Ellner, associate managing editor of Latin American Perspectives and retired professor of Venezuela's Universidad de Oriente, conducted by Scott Harris. Steve Ellner talks about his recent commentary, “U.S. Imperialism Enters a New Stage: The Left Needs to Take a Close Look at It,” which examines Donald Trump’s rhetoric and actions against Iran, Venezuela and Cuba which have f...

Interview with Lindsay Koshgarian, program director with the National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, conducted by Scott Harris. Lindsay Koshgarian talks about her group’s recent report, “Tax Day 2026: Taxpayers Are Paying More than $4,000 for War.” The report notes that while more than half of Americans are struggling to afford basic necessities, Donald Trump and the GOP p...