Hitting Left

Joining Mike on this episode of Hitting Left is filmmaker Catheryn Murphy who joins me to talk about Reading the World: Paulo Freire in Angicos, the new documentary she co-directed with Irís de Oliveira.   The film returns to Angicos in northeastern Brazil, where, in the early 1960s, Freire carried out his pioneering experiment in adult education, putting into practice ideas about literacy, democr...

Renaldo Hudson and Liz Futrell from The Death Penalty Project join Mike for a sharp conversation on the future of capital punishment — including President Trump's plan to livestream the Ft. Hood execution, a state‑sanctioned killing spectacle. Renaldo brings lived experience as a death penalty survivor. Liz, the group's communications director, brings global abolition expertise. Together, they'll...

On this edition of Hitting Left we're joined by two legendary Chicago filmmakers — Floyd Webb and Peter Kuttner — artists whose work has shaped how this city tells its stories. Webb, known for his decades documenting Black Chicago's cultural and political life, and Kuttner, a longtime member of the Kartemquin collective, bring sharp eyes, sharp politics, and a deep commitment to community filmmaki...

Joining Mike on this edtion of Hitting Left is Marie Newman in a conversation focusing on Chicago politics, national stakes, and her personal political evolution as a progressive activist. Newman, who unseated conservative Democrat Dan Lipinski in the 2020 primary for Illinois's 3rd district, represents a shift away from long-held machine politics in southwest Chicago toward progressive priorities...

Joining Mike in the Lumpen studio is Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter. This is a Labor Day conversation about power, organizing, and the future of Chicago's working class. 

We're digging into sexual harassment inside Illinois politics, where power has a long habit of circling the wagons. In studio with us: Rep. Kelly Cassidy(R) and Alaina Hampton, two women who've forced this state to confront what it prefers to ignore.   We'll talk about the fallout from the Ex-Rep. Harry Benton findings, the political machinery that kept him protected, and the role of Speaker Chris...

It's a family affair on this edition of Hitting Left as political strategist Joanna Klonsky and activist Fred Klonsky join Mike in a discussion of last Tuesday's Michigan election, Mamdani's New York, the troubles of the Democratic Party establishment, and the race for Chicago's mayor. Also, where's Andrew Cuomo?

Joining Mike on this edtion of the HItting Left podcast is former Chicago Mayor Lori LIghtfoot. Mike and Mayor Lightfoot talk WNBA basketball, recent MAGA attacks on LIghtfoot and her role in the fight against ICE.

Joining Mike is Flint Taylor, the Chicago attorney who co-founded the People's Law Office and who has spent fifty years putting the city's power structure on trial, from the killing of Fred Hampton to the CPD torture chambers run by Jon Burge. Flint is back on Hitting Left to talk about his new book, The Conviction Machine.

Mike is joined by researcher and writer Ben Lorber, whose work tracks the strange new alliances reshaping the American right — from Christian Zionists to the Gen‑Z 'America First' crowd — and what all this means for antisemitism, Palestine, and the future of Jewish politics."

This week on Hitting Left, Mike sits down with Michael Rabbitt and Joselyn Walsh, members of the Broadview 6, whose arrests during an anti‑ICE protest have become a flashpoint in Chicago's struggle for immigrant rights and the right to protest. They share their story and the broader stakes of resisting state violence.

Mike and Susan Klonsky are joined by Zayd Ayers Dohrn, playwright, screenwriter, and author of the new memoir Dangerous, Dirty, Violent & Young: A Fugitive Family in the Revolutionary Underground. Dohrn's story cuts straight into the contradictions we talk about every week on Hitting Left — the collision of family, politics, violence, and repression, and the long shadow of American radicalism. His...

Joining Mike  this week is the co-founder and trumpeter of the Grammy-winning klezmer group, the Klezmatics. The Klezmatics are a fiercely inventive New York klezmer band that fuses Jewish musical tradition with jazz, punk, folk, and political fire.

Joining Mike on May Day is Ivan Weiss, retired journalist, union organizer and the son of a Philadelpia family of McCarthy era political survivors. Now a small family farmer near Seattle, Wahington, Ivan shares with Mike family stories of life growing up during the notorious Red Scare and the lessons for today.

Jay Schaffner and Geoffrey Jacques join Mike to talk about their new volume, Red Lives: Our Years in the U.S. Communist Party (1950–2000).

Joining Mike in the Lumpen Radiio studio on this editon of Hitting Left are Shirin Vossoughi and Elham Hoominfar — two Northwestern scholars who bring depth, clarity, and a refusal to let Iran be reduced to headlines or talking points.

Back in February of 2017 the Klonsky brothers decided to do a radio show. Hitting Left is still on the air with Mike as the host. This edition of the show has the two joiining up qgain to talk about today and the last ten years of politics and strugglle. Fred zooms in from Brooklyn.

Mike's guests on this edition of Hitting Left are filmmaker and cultural historian Floyd Webb, who is promoting a new film, 'Rediscovering Fanon'. Floyd joins us with his ongoing excavation of Frantz Fanon's legacy, how Fanon's ideas move through film, memory, and current anti-colonial movements. Floyd will be joined by Peter Hudis, author of Frantz Fanon: Philosopher of the Barricades.

Joining Mike in the Lumpen Radio studio today is former Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot. They discuss Trump, his SOTU address and the threat of war. 

Joining Mike and Susan Klonsky in the Lumpen Radio studio is Michael Ansara. Michael is an organizer, writer, and longtime movement builder.

Joining Mike in the Heading Left Lumpen Radio studio is David Stovall, professor of Black Studies and Criminology, Law & Justice at UIC, and one of the sharpest voices on the intersections of race, education, and the carceral state.

On this cold artic-like day in Chicago Mike is joined by Mae Ngai, one of the most influential historians of immigration, labor, and Asian American politics. Her work has reshaped how we understand the making of "illegal immigration," the global forces behind anti‑Chinese politics, and the long arc of U.S. exclusion laws. We'll talk about how past regimes of race and labor still structure the pres...

We're closing out the year with a compelling guest. Carlos Martinez, London‑based writer, researcher, and co‑founder of Friends of Socialist China. Martinez is known for his sharp analysis of global politics, U.S.–China relations, and the shifting landscape of a multipolar world. His work challenges conventional narratives and opens space for deeper conversations about power, ideology, and the fut...

On this edition of Hitting Left Mike is joined by Ilya Sokolov, the manager behind two powerhouse acts: the Roma punk energy of Fugu Dugu and the legendary klezmer innovators The Klezmatics. They talk about the politics of music, the labor of keeping bands alive, and how art rooted in tradition can still shake the walls of the establishment. 

Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is Prexy Nesbitt. Prexy is a veteran activist, educator, and internationalist whose decades of work have connected Chicago's struggles with global movements for justice. From fighting apartheid to challenging systemic racism here at home, his voice carries both history and urgency.