Hitting Left

Former death row inmates, now Chicago anti-death-penalty activists Renaldo Hudson and Stanley Howard joined by Liz Futrell, author of "Lessons from Death Row."

Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is basketball coach turned novelist Rus Bradburd and filmmaker Floyd Webb. Floyd and Mike will be talking about the Black Panthers on the 55th anniversary of the murder of Illinois Black Panther Chairman, Fred Hampton.

Joining Mike and co-host Susan Klonsky on this edition of Hitting Left is Rabbi Brant Rosen from Chicago's anti-Zionist Tzedek Congregation. Gaza, Lebanon, and resistance to war and genocide in the Trump era are the topics for discussion.

Joining Hitting Left host Mike Klonsky onthis edition is Rashid Khalidi, a Palestinian-American historian of the Middle East and the Edward Said Professor Emeritus of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University.

In the wake of the election of Donald Trump Mike is joined by former co-host Fred Klonsky and political strategist Joanna Klonsky to discuss the results and where we go now.

Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is Juan Gonzalez, co-Host of Democracy Now!, Senior Fellow at Great Cities Institute of UIC, founding member of the Young Lords and leader of the '68 protest at Columbia University. Juan Gonzalez is author of a new study of the "Brown Belt" in Chicago.   

Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is author, educator, activist and long-time friend, Bill Ayers. His latest book is called, When Freedom is the Question, Abolition is the Answer: Reflections on Collective Liberation.

Another edition of Hitting Left Music feathering Nina Simone, Bob Dylan, Paul Robeson, 10,000 Maniacs, Tom Morello, Mavis Staples, and more.

Joining Mike on day three of the DNC shows are Arielle Rebekah and Beth Miller Jewsih Voice for Peace.

On day two of the Democratic National Convention Mike is joined by long-time activists Peter Kuttner, Susan Klonsky, Mike James and Bill Ayers. All five were student and community activists at the time of the 1968 Democratic Convention. On this edition of Hitting Left Mike, Peter, Susan, Mike James and Bill recall the historic protests.

This edition of Hitting Left with Miike Klonsky and Friends, the Democratic National Convention shows, include Pushkar Sharma, co-founder and president of the South-Asian American Coalition to Renew Democracy Acts, or SACRED, and Dr. Dilara Sayeed, president of the Muslim Civic Coalition.

This special Democratic National Convention edition of Hitting Left with Mike Klonsky and Friends has former Democratic congresswoman from the 3rd CD in Chicago, Marie Newman, film maker and community activist Floyd Webb and community activist Katy Hogan.

On this week's episode of Hitting Left the brothers discuss the current state of the election, the choice of Tim Walz at VP, the upcoming DNC in Chicago. They also look back at the 68 Democratic Convention in Chicago, planned protests at the upcoming Chicago convention, the impact of the war on Gaza and more.

Former member of Congress Marie Newman joins Mike and Fred (Fred zooming in from Brooklyn) on this edition of Hitting Left. On the day after the Republican National Convention and as Democratic Party leaders try to foce Joe Biden out of the race, we discuss all things politics.

Mikes guests on this editon of Hitting Left are filmmakers Bruce Orenstein and Floyd Webb.   Bruce's PBS series, "Shame of Chicago, Shame of the Nation" lays bare the story of how Chicago devised the nation's most sweeping system of racially segregated housing—and how it diminished the lives of generations of Black families, creating the vast racial wealth gap that persists to this day.   Chicago...

Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is noted education historian Diane Ravitch. Diane has been a sharp critic of corporate school reform practices such as high stakes testing, vouchers and privatization. In the second half of the show Mike and Diane discuss the presidential election and the war on Gaza and the student protests against it.

Joining Mike and Fred on this edition of Hitting Left is Bard College student and activist Lucy Gunderson talking about the student movement against Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Joining Mike on this week's edition of the podcast Hitting Left are Columbia student strike '68 veteran Mark Rudd and current Columbia student activist Ava Lyon-Sereno.

Joining Mike on this edition of Hittiing Left is Kevin Gosztola. Kevin is a journalist, and author known for work on whistleblower cases, WikiLeaks, national security, and civil liberties. Formerly the managing editor of Shadowproof, he writes for The Dissenter. Gosztola has covered the court-martial of Chelsea Manning as well as the extradition of Julian Assange.   His recent book is "Guilty of J...

Mike's guest on this edition of Hitting Left is author, photojournalist and filmmaker, Danny Lyon, whose camera captured the history of SNCC and the 60's Civil Rights Movement.  Danny, who was born in 1942 in New York, is one of the most influential documentary photographers of his generation. While still a student at the University of Chicago, he was imprisoned in the South and became the first p...

Joining Mike this episode of Hitting Left are Fred Klonsky and investigative reporter for NBC news, Tracy Ullman. Fred talks about this year's Oscar broadcast and the politics of awards. Tracy discusses the sordid connection between the corruption of the Chicago Democratic Machine and the mass murderer and pedophile, John Wayne Gacy.

Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is brother, retired teacher and activist Fred Klonsky and Steve Goldsmith. Steve is a veteran activist and currently the president of the Torrance California Refinery Action Alliance combatting the dangers of hydrogen fluroide (HF) to people and the environment.

Joining Mike Klonsky on this edition of Hittiing Left is Rabbi Brandt Rosen of the Chicago anti-Zionist Jewish congregation, Tzekek, and Yonatan Shapira, an Israeli former military helicopter pilot.

Joining Mike on this 7th anniversary edition of Hitting Left is Rachel Rubin, Senior Medical Officer at Cook County Department of Public Health.

Mike's guest on this edition of Hitting Left is American peace activist, pacifist and author, Kathy Kelly.