On the Ground w Esther Iverem

On this show, we report on a protest in DC outside the embassy of the United Arab Emirates on the one-year anniversary of the massacre of thousands of Sudanese by the UAE-backed Rapid Support Forces in El Fasher, a city in the Darfur region of western Sudan. A recent UN report provided more evidence of the “substantial” support in funding, weapons, mercenaries and coordination provided by the UAE...

A new report details the ways the Trump administration is criminalizing constitutionally protected rights of free speech, dissent and protest. We speak to our media critic Jon Jeter. And at the recently concluded meetings of the United Nations Human Rights Council, resurgent racism inside the U.S. was on full blast. We hear from Awa Dabo, United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, a...

The Trump administration is plotting to deport a standing member of Congress and may be plotting war on Latin America. We speak to political scientist Wilmer Leon for this month’s episode of the F-Word on fascism. And the Oxford Union tried to censor the Palestinian scholar and activist Susan Abulhawa but she sued and won. On this podcast we hear the FULL historic speech. Plus headlines on Y...

Sam Husseini’s in-your-face style of journalism is well-known”and now he wants to take the fight to Congress. And the family friends and advocates for Tawfiq Abdul Haqq are demanding justice after a Prince Georges County, Maryland police officer shot and killed the 33-year-old father of two. The show is made possible only by our volunteer energy, our resolve to keep the people’s voices...

The 2026 United Nations General Assembly met during what is arguably the most dangerous time in global affairs since the Cuban Missile crisis. We hear one view from the global majority, by Mia Motley, prime minister of Barbados. And as we live in a time of monumental changes on the world stage, we also live in a time of giants falling all around us. DC celebrates the life of artist and educator Uz...

After months of the U.S. strangling Cuba with an illegal oil blockade, several members of Congress held a shadow hearing on Capitol Hill about the deaths, hunger and crippling impact of the medieval-type siege. The hearing, sponsored by Rep. Delia Ramirez of Illinois and Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, was held Wednesday, September 2nd 2026 on Capitol Hill. The witnesses included Suzanne A...

On this show, more voices from “Turning the Tide: 9/11, 25 Years Later,” a conference of scholars, scientists, firefighters and a myriad of others who dispute the official narrative of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. The conference in New York City occurred as the United States nears the seven-month mark in an illegal war of aggression agai...

People around the world are marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11th, 2001 attacks on the U.S., and their aftermath of endless wars, genocide, surveillance, repression and islamophobia. And 25 years later, the movement for 9/11 truth, with scientists and engineers challenging official narratives about what really happened that day, has moved from the fringe, to the center of debate. The...

As the Trump Administration and the U.S Supreme Court continue to gut voting rights laws, thousands gathered on August 28, 2026 at the Lincoln Memorial to mark the 63rd anniversary of the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Under the slogan, ‘Defend the Vote,’ the march lifted up the promise that voters can elect politicians who will put the needs of working people above...

Israel has killed at least 22,000 Palestinian children, maimed and injured another 44,000, including hundreds killed or wounded since the so-called ceasefire in Gaza during October 2025. Two UN reports released recently document how Israel kills Palestinian children with impunity, including in the Occupied West Bank. This show includes complete June 23, 2026 press conference by the Independent Int...

“HOW TRUMP HAPPENED: A View from History,” is the title of lecture that Professor Gerald Horne delivered at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota on February 6, 2026. Rather than view Donald Trumps two presidential wins as anomalies, Gerald says these victories are a predictable outcome of centuries of class collaboration among this country’s European settlers.(Extended bonus...

On this show, part two of our coverage of DC marking one year of Trump’s occupation, with armed national guard and police from up to two dozen federal agencies in our neighborhoods. The result is several federal police-involved shootings and deaths, a crackdown on Black and Brown youth, immigrants and the unhoused. But DC is not just recounting these attacks, it is determined to keep fightin...

DC residents are protesting one year of Trump occupation. With the National Guard and federal police patrolling neighborhoods, residents are resisting any plan to make militarized policing the new normal. Plus, August 8 and 9 2026 marks the 81st anniversary of the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which killed a quarter of a million people, and maimed and poisoned scores more. Plus head...

Wanted war criminal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meets Trump at the White House and protest erupts on the streets of DC. And Professor Gerald Horne weighs in on the latest in the unprovoked war on Iran by Isarel and the U.S.  Plus headlines on ICE terror, voting rights, Nolan Wells death, DoorDash boycott in DC, and a labor roundup. The show is made possible only by our volunteer en...

The Trump administration ramps up its attack on journalists, freedom of speech, and the First Amendment, and dusts off a McCarthyite red scare attack on the left. We speak to Jon Jeter for this month’s episode of “On the Media.” DC residents protest a planned ICE headquarters in their neighborhood. Plus headlines:Iran escalation, Code Pink Disrupts Hegseth Testimony, Preliminary...

Perhaps it takes an event like the World Cup to expose the hypocrisy of the U.S. being allowed to host the games while at the same time supporting a genocide and conducting an illegal war of aggression. We speak to human rights advocate Ajamu Baraka for this month's episode of "The F-Word" on fascism. And protests continue against killings by ICE in Texas and Maine, and against construction of an...

The U.S. resumes bombing Iran, and Iran fights back. We discuss the latest in West Asia, Ukraine and here in the U.S. with historian Gerald Horne. And, in our first segment of this year for our series, “Unheard Voices,” more from leaders of the Next 250 movement, Linda Sarsour and Tameka Mallory. Plus, headlines on Dr. Abu Safiya, ICE Killing in Houston, Graham Platner Drops Out of Mai...

The show is made possible only by our volunteer energy, our resolve to keep the people’s voices on the air, and by support from our listeners. In this new era of fake corporate news, we have to be and support our own media! Please click  here  or click on the  Support-Donate tab  on this website to subscribe for as little as $3 a month. We are so grateful for this small but growing amount of month...

A new UN report documents how Israel is targeting children in its genocide against the Palestinian people, killing, maiming, torturing and sexually assaulting them. And residents in rapidly gentrifying DC win a decades-long battle to keep public land in their neighborhood in the hands of the public. Plus headlines on Iran, Cuba, the World Cup and more.  The show is made possible only by our volunt...

The defeat of the U.S. and Israel in their unprovoked attack on Iran offers a time to consider the first imperialist adventure of the U.S. beyond its borders. We speak to Gerald Horne about his new book on the U.S.-backed coup of the monarchy in Hawaii. And DC walks in the footsteps of New York City and chooses a democratic socialist as the Democratic nominee for mayor. We hear from DC councilmemb...

In Congress, 59 years of silence is ended about Israel’s deadly attack on the U.S.S. Liberty, which killed 34 servicemembers and wounded another 174. We hear from Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky. And there is a victory for both free speech and the Free Palestine student movement that blossomed at Columbia University. Plus headlines on Iran, U.S. domestic news and DC news, including...

The Celebration of Life for Black freedom fighter Assata Shakur, held at Riverside Church in New York City, was also a clarion call for the African diaspora to defend Cuba and the Cuban Revolution, which granted Shakur political asylum in 1979. We hear from her longtime attorney Lennox Hinds. The celebration was an opportunity to humanize the former political prisoner, who was able to be reunited...

A celebration of life for Assata Shakur, happening May 30, 2026 at Riverside Church in New York City, offers a space to consider legacies of struggle and paths for freedom and survival. We speak to longtime human rights activist Rosemari Mealy. And you may not get down with U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren but she does break down how private equity, another term for vulture capitalism, is killing U.S...

While corporate news organizations are focused, in their limited way, on the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, they are ignoring new dangers in the U.S.-NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine. We speak to our media critic Jon Jeter and discuss the excellent program on the subject produced by “Reason 2 Resist.” And a coalition of advocates speak out on Capitol Hill, denouncing the Supreme Cou...

This in the “On the Ground” special for Nakba Day: “The Ongoing Nakba: Greater Israel and the Open Secret of its Nuclear Weapons.” We speak to independent journalists Sam Husseini and John Steinbach. Steinbach is also co-founder of the Hiroshima Nagasaki Peace Committee of the National Capital Area. The show is made possible only by our volunteer energy, our resolve to keep...