On the Ground w Esther Iverem

ON THE GROUND FOR APRIL10, As the one man with a plan, Senator Bernie Sanders, drops out of the presidential race, millions more Americans file unemployment claims while U.S. proves unable to meet its needs during a pandemic. We speak to activists the Rev. Graylan Hagler, senior minister of Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ and April Goggans of Black Lives Matter DC. But is the worse...

ON THE GROUND APRIL 3, 2020 Whether it is the pandemic, the toll of sick and dying, or the unprecedented army of the unemployed, the United States has entered uncharted territory. We speak to activists, including Pam Tau Lee of San Francisco. And even with a quarter million confirmed cases and more than 6000 dead, the pandemic has not stopped U.S. capitalism from threatening lives around the globe...

As the number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. now exceeds the number in any other country, including China, the federal government response leaves Americans with poor prospects for testing, treatment or sustained economic relief. We speak to political scientist and author Niambi Carter. And leave it to corporate media to provide only superficial coverage of the coronavirus crisis and the all-but-dis...

ON TH GROUND FOR MARCH 20, 2020 U.S.-China relations reach a new low point, as GOP Out-Lefts Dems Responding to COVID Crisis…And for this month’s episode of the F-Word on fascism: on the 17th anniversary, the U.S. invasion of Iraq still lives on in infamy as an illegal war of aggression and terror. We speak to journalist and author Nicolas J.S. Davies and historian and author Gerald Ho...

‘ON THE GROUND’ FOR MARCH 13, 2020 As coronavirus is declared to be an official pandemic by the World Health Organization, the United States proves to be a drag on testing, on treatment and on the world economy. We speak to Gerald Horne. Plus nurses speak out on safety for healthcare workers on a national day of action, while Code Pink protests at the U.S. Treasury Department against s...

ON THE GROUND FOR MARCH 6, 2020 With ‘Super Tuesday’ in the rearview mirror, the United States turns its attention to the Coronavirus. We speak to Dr. Margaret Flowers. And women tell the Supreme Court that they are not going back to the days of back-alley, illegal abortions.   Plus headlines with Gerald Horne and Chantal James on Super Tuesday, Black Southern voters, Syria and the ICC...

ON THE GROUND FOR FEBRUARY 28, 2020 Sixty five years after the lynching of Emmett Till shocked the nation and spurred the civil rights movement, Congress passes legislation making lynching a federal hate crime. Meanwhile, slanted news coverage of the U.S. presidential race continues to reveal the true face of corporate media as media for the one percent.  Plus headlines: -Frontrunner Sen. Ber...

ON THE GROUND FOR FEBRUARY 21, 2020 As Bernie Sanders continues to surge in the presidential race , he gets an assist in putting billionaires in their place. We speak to political scientist Niambi Carter about the competition in the Democratic Party and the Trump administration’s proposed budget. And in this month’s episode of “The F-Word,” Omali Yeshitela, head of the Afri...

ON THE GROUND FOR FEBRUARY 14, 2020 If you think that this year’s Iowa Caucus is proof that the U.S. is quickly becoming a banana republic, wait until you hear about the proceedings inside the federal court where the Venezuela Embassy Protectors are on trial. And then to the movies: What other flicks from 2019, in addition to the Oscar-winning ‘Parasite,’ offered sharp critiques...

A tumultuous week in U.S. politics includes a State of the Union reality show, an acquittal for the third U.S. president impeached, and a dubious beginning to the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. Also, Lydia Curtis reports: a DC Council member says that District officials are working more for developers than for the most vulnerable residents in public housing. We speak to journalist Max Blume...

The impeachment trial of Donald Trump may be winding down but the assault by the U.S. on human rights here and abroad goes on unabated. And we speak to April Goggans of Black Lives Matter DC about the case of a police officer arrested and charged with murder in the DC suburbs. Plus headlines and much more.  Voices: Esther Iverem, Chantal James, Gerald Horne, Rev. Graylan Hagler, Carl Dix, Apr...

With increased attacks on presidential candidate Bernie Sanders by corporate media, and with reporters, whistleblowers and truthtellers around the world under assault, we talk to journalist Jon Jeter about today’s world of news, lies and videotape. And on the holiday celebrating what would have been the Rev. Martin Luther Kings 91st birthday, activists marched and rallied for a variety of ca...

ON THE GROUND FOR JANUARY 17, 2020 For this hour, voices from the Fire Drill Fridays climate protest held January 10, 2020 outside the U.S. Capitol, organized and mced by actress Jane Fonda, This protest focused on the role of banks and other financial institutions in continuing to fund the extraction of oil, gas and coal that is making earth uninhabitable. With Jane Fonda, Rebecca Adamson, Eriel...

The U.S. assassination of Iran’s top general is ratcheting fears of war around the globe and re-awakening the anti-war movement in the United States. Voices from the No War on Iran protest in front of the White House on January 4, 2020, including Jane Fonda, Brian Becker and Sean Blackmon. And as apocalyptic images from Australia emerge of wildfires engulfing up to 25 million acres, we prese...

The first of two shows featuring extraordinary testimony from former Exxon scientists about the oil giant knowing and lying for decades about climate change. Experts say that an intense corporate disinformation campaign has led to decades of inaction and to today’s climate crisis. Voices include Former Exxon scientists Martin Hoffert and Ed Garvey, Naomi Oreskes, Susan Eubanks, Mustafa Santiago Al...

OUR 2019 YEAR-END SPECIAL WITH ON THE GROUND CONTRIBUTORS Professor Gerald Horne, Chantal James and Lydia Curtis weighing in with their  top stories, from the right to affordable housing in DC, to the movement for Black Lives to the imperialist posture of the United States on the world stage. And we have a special interview with Roxane Johnson, mother of Jamaal Byrd, who died in the custody o...

‘ON THE GROUND’ FOR DECEMBER 20, 2019 Whether it is the brutal repression of Muslims in India or the doublespeak of American creation mythology, Gerald Horne breaks down the elements of today’s incipient fascism for our final F-Word segment for 2019.  And scores of people have joined actress Jane Fonda in being arrested every Friday at the US Capitol to demand action on the clima...

ON THE GROUND FOR DECEMBER 13, 2019 The Donald Trump impeachment hearings overshadow a new report detailing lying, cheating and cover-ups by the FBI. We speak to CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou about the IG Report on the origins of Russiagate and about the FISA Court. And as the protectors of the Venezuela embassy head to court, false charges are dropped against journalist Max Blumenthal in a case...

‘ON THE GROUND’ FOR DECEMBER 6, 2019 From the Trump impeachment hearings to NATO’s 70th anniversary, we speak to journalist Jon Jeter and activist Ajamu Baraka about the priorities and actions of elites that are destroying lives around the globe. And as the UN World Climate change conference is underway in Madrid, we hear from veterans who launched the environmental justice movem...

ON THE GROUND FOR NOVEMBER 29, 2019 For this hour, DC-based journalist Max Blumenthal and journalist and comedian Lee Camp joins fellow writerS Margaret Kimberley and Aaron Mate on a panel titled: ‘Propaganda: How Propaganda Manufactures Consent’, sponsored by the Big Apple Coffee Party at the Community Church of NYC on Tuesday, November 19, 2019.  SUPPORT ‘ON THE GROUND’ O...

ON THE GROUND FOR NOVEMBER 22, 2019 As the U.S.-backed military coup in Bolivia continues to kill and attack peaceful protesters, a rare eyewitness report from a massive rally in La Paz by Medea Benjamin of Code Pink. And what is it about foreign policy that separates the real left from the fake left? Journalist Ben Norton on Elizabeth Warren’s true colors. Plus headlines If you enjoy our gr...

While impeachment hearings about one man dominate the news, thousands rally at the Supreme Court for an immigration case that could impact millions. And all around the world, from the Congo to Chile, from Iraq to Honduras, it is young people who are taking to the streets to fight for a future. In that spirit, we present our second feature from our recent trip to Cuba: An interview with two America...

Part one of our coverage from a gathering of 1500 people from around the globe who met in Havana, Cuba for the Anti-Imperialist Solidarity Meeting, for Democracy and Against Neoliberalism. The conference occurred as millions around the world, from Iraq to Haiti, from Chile to Honduras, protest in the streets against vast wealth inequality, poverty, environmental collapse and all the social ills br...

Millions Protest Bitter Fruits of Neoliberalism..Hundreds Gather in Cuba for Anti-Imperialist Conference…Remembering the Best of Jon Conyers and More Headlines: NOTE: THIS SHOW DID NOT AIR ON THE DC STATION SO CHECK IT OUT HERE. After weeks of mass protests throughout Iraq, a number of rockets struck near the US embassy in Bagdad’s Green Zone. Hundreds of people are gathering through Sunday,...

A new report on FBI surveillance details how nearly every major social movement of the past decade — including Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter– has been targeted by the FBI. And while this week’s Washington drama included Republicans bumrushing Trump’s impeachment hearing, far more dramatic testimony was heard about fossil fuel giants like Exxon knowing and lying...