LA Progressive

Predatory lending, predatory treatment of low-wage workers, predatory destruction of small businesses through private equity vehicles, predatory violation of young girls and boys: it's all part of the same lawless romp for these high-flying folks. Dick Price and Sharon Kyle of the LA Progressive have a conversation with Peter Laarman, a retired minister who formerly led Progressive Christians Unit...

Trump friend-turned-foe Conway has enraged the MAGA right by charging on X, “They may not want to hear it, and it may incense them, but the parallels between what the Nazis did then [with Wessel], and what Trump and MAGA are doing today [with Kirk], are striking, chilling – and as any expert on authoritarianism will tell you, straight out of the same toxic, but dog-eared, playbook.”In a conversati...

Andrea Mazzarino, the co-founder of Brown University’s Costs of War Project joins Dick and Sharon to discuss the consequences of war rarely discussed. While conventional casualty figures focus on battlefield deaths, Andrea Mazzarino asserts that the indirect toll—the number who die or suffer due to illness, malnutrition, disrupted infrastructure, lack of healthcare, mental trauma, and disability i...

The rapid rise of a pugilistic and politicized white evangelicalism occurred in direct tandem with the virulent reaction to the advances of the midcentury civil rights movement. Peter Laarman a retired minister who formerly led Progressive Christians Uniting in Los Angeles joins Dick and Sharon of the LA Progressive to discuss how white christian nationalism was sparked by the same elements that p...

In a political landscape increasingly defined by polarization and corporate influence, Jeff Mackler stands as a principled voice for revolutionary socialism. As the national secretary of Socialist Action, a Trotskyist political organization, Mackler has spent decades fighting capitalism, imperialism, and environmental destruction—often from far outside the mainstream. His is a politics rooted not...

Frank Joyce and Elizabeth Woodson joined Dick and Sharon of the LA Progressive to talk about the role that white people MUST play in creating democracy for all. They are both dedicated to dismantling racism. When speaking of herself and Frank, Elizabeth said, “We are not of the same gender or generation. But we have two things in common. We are both white as defined by the racial categories entren...

From his early days as a commentator on BET to his groundbreaking role as the first African American to host signature talk programs on both NPR (The Tavis Smiley Show) and PBS (Tavis Smiley), he has consistently used his platform to uplift stories that are too often ignored—those rooted in the Black experience, in the struggle for justice, and in the enduring quest for dignity. Tavis Smiley spent...

Across the country, classrooms are under pressure—politically, ideologically, and pedagogically. One quiet but powerful force distorting how young people understand the world is reductionist reasoning and erasure of marginalized perspectives in the teaching of history. Dick Price and Sharon Kyle invited Nora Lester Murad to discuss her first hand knowlege of the erasure of Palestinians in Israel....

Culture is the primary battlefield authoritarians use to establish a foothold in the public imagination, where fear is normalized, dissent is demonized, and history is rewritten to serve the interests of power. In our conversation with Henry Giroux, a regular writer for the LA Progressive, Dick and I learn more about the ways of authoritarians who thrive on ignorance, historical amnesia and the br...

After the disastrous November election, we have not seen the emergence of a Democratic Party agenda or any effort that clearly goes to the heart of the Latino community. During the fall’s Presidential elections, Latino voters across the country expressed their concerns with the status quo by reluctantly voting for the Democratic incumbent or aggressively and spitefully voting for her unqualified o...

Forty years ago. Bill Astor was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. In this conversation with Dick Price, himself a Vietnam Veteran, the two military veterans reflect on two decades of military service and their participation in a system deeply embedded in America’s military-industrial complex. While Bill Astor never directly engaged in violence, he critically examines the para...

Is Donald Trump Bullying Judges and Law Firms? Has he taken a page from Hitler’s playbook? It appears that Trump is bullying America's legal system. Nine of America’s largest and most powerful law firms have surrendered to President Donald Trump’s illegal threats. They demeaned themselves by agreeing to provide an astonishing $940 million in free legal services to causes chosen by Trump and the fi...

On April 25th, the FBI arrested Hannah Dugan, a circuit court judge who serves on the Milwaukee County Circuit Court in Wisconsin. She was taken away in handcuffs, a highly unusual maneuver–specifically, Judge Dugan was handcuffed and arrested by FBI agents at the courthouse where she presides, during court hours. The arrest was conducted publicly within the courthouse premises. She was led out in...

Former CIA counterterrorism officer and a former senior investigator with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, John Kiriakou, engaged in a great conversation with Dick and Sharon a while back. We are republishing it here. John became the sixth whistleblower indicted by the Obama administration under the Espionage Act—a law designed to punish spies. He served 23 months in prison as a result of h...

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) played a vital role in U.S. foreign relations for over six decades. What began as a Cold War instrument to allegedly "curb communism" through economic development grew into a global agency addressing some of the world's most pressing challenges. This support was not met without criticism or opposition, as was recently reported here at...

Stephen Rohde offers a review of Corey Brettschneider’s engaging new book The Presidents and the People: Five Leaders Who Threatened Democracy and the Citizens Who Fought to Defend It. Brettschneider offers lucid and revealing profiles of five presidents - John Adams, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Woodrow Wilson, and Richard Nixon - who “stoked the fire of a constitutional crisis” and “wielded t...

Author and longtime journalist, Desi Cortez, joins Dick Price and Sharon Kyle of the LA Progressive to discuss the role of Black professional athletes in the fight for civil liberties and civil rights, particularly when the Black community is under fire. Speaking of recent actions taken by the Trump administration, Cortez says, “The alarms are blaring. The sirens are wailing. The enemy isn’t just...

Thought leader, writer, lecturer and political activist, Stephen Rohde joins Sharon Kyle and Dick Price of the LA Progressive to discuss the perils we find ourselves facing with the current supremem court. Rohde maintains that throughout his rise to power, Trump has recruited obedient enablers to do his bidding. He says that Trump’s henchmen have compliantly cleared the way for him to lie, steal,...

Dr. Butch Ware, Dr. Jill Stein's 2024 running mate on the Green Party presidential ticket, has announced his candidacy for another office. With a rich background in academia and community organizing, Dr. Ware brings a unique perspective to the campaign. Sharon Kyle of the LA Progressive spent time with Dr. Ware discussing his vision. https://butchware4gov.com/ Click here for more stories from the...

Georgetown Law Professor and thought leader Michele Goodwin joined Dick and Sharon of the LA Progressive to discuss the impact of Donald Trump's immunity case and its impact on his accountability as president of the United States. In a piece Ms. Goodwin penned for Ms. Magazine titled " Reflecting on Trump’s Immunity Win Before the Supreme Court as He Strips Security Details From Former Government...

Colonel (Ret.) Lawrence Wilkerson, a seasoned military officer and former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, has long been known for his candid and often critical views on U.S. foreign policy. His analysis of the Trump administration and his concerns about the leadership in the Department of Defense, particularly regarding Pete Hegseth’s role, provides a crucial perspective on the...

The Grammy Awards are more than a music event; they’re a cultural touchstone with the power to challenge the status quo, promote equity, and redefine who gets to be celebrated in the global music industry. By embracing DEI, the Grammys can help shift cultural attitudes toward greater inclusivity and fairness—not just in music but across society at large. With that in mind, Mario Solis-Marich, a La...

To be alive spiritually means that one is concerned with more than personal survival. Unlike a beast of the wild whose daily concerns are limited only to what can be foraged or killed for consumption to survive to repeat the cycle. A type of survival of the fittest existence. But a person who has spiritual life is in relationship with God or at least appreciates that there is something bigger and...

As President Biden greenlights another $8 billion in weapons to Israel in his last days in office and Secretary Blinken gives a parting New York Times interview in which he denies that a genocide is taking place in Gaza, many pro-Palestine activists are anxiously counting down the days until “Genocide Joe” and his crew exit the White House. But what will Pro-Palestine Activists have to contend wit...

We open this podcast acknowledging the tragic wildfires in Southern California. The LA Progressive operates just a few short miles away from Pasadena, CA. Our thoughts and prayers (yes, we pray) are with all of the members of our community who have been impacted by the tragedy. O n January 14 at 9:30 a.m., the Fox News commentator and Army National Guard Major Pete Hegseth is scheduled to be quest...