Ralph Nader Radio Hour

Pratap Chatterjee, executive director of CorpWatch, joins us to discuss their latest report, MAGA Inc., which identifies the Crypto Czars, the Tech Titans and the Prison Profiteers who have bankrolled and benefited the most from Donald Trump’s corrupt regime. Then, Ralph welcomes Elliot Negin, executive editor of Money Trail to talk about how Donald Trump is trying to turn Washington DC into a mon...

Ralph speaks to economist Dean Baker about the hypocrisies behind the supposed Social Security shortfall and Republicans' "waste, fraud, and abuse" panic. Then, Ralph talks to journalist and ocean activist David Helvarg about his new book: Forest of the Sea: The Remarkable Life and Imperiled Future of Kelp. Offer for Ralph Nader Radio Hour Listeners— Armistice Day and the Empire by Matthew Hoh Dea...

Ralph welcomes political consultant and pollster, Celinda Lake, to outline a ten-point Progressive Contract for America that she and Ralph believe – if adopted by Democratic candidates— will ensure they landslide the Republicans in the midterms. Then, Ben Cohen stops by to fill us in on his “Free Ben & Jerry!” campaign to take back the brand from the conglomerate that no longer retains the social...

Ralph talks to journalist and M.Div. Chris Hedges about Pope Leo XIV's encyclical on artificial intelligence. Then, Ralph speaks with Rick Engler (former member of the US Chemical Safety and Hazards Investigation Board) about Trump's proposed closing of that agency. Finally, Ralph pays tribute to some recently departed friends. Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, who spent nearly...

In a program devoted to the topic of AI, Ralph welcomes first, Tyson Slocum, director of the energy group at Public Citizen, who tells us about the local backlash against the construction of data centers. Then New York Times climate writer, David Wallace-Wells, explains how the Big Tech CEOs did not count on human beings possibly rising up against them and their machines. Tyson Slocum is director...

Ralph speaks to independent investigative journalist Lylla Younes to discuss her reporting on Israel's assault on southern Lebanon. Then, Ralph and media studies professor Robin Andersen discuss her new book "The Complicit Lens: US Media Coverage of the Genocide in Gaza." Lylla Younes is a Beirut-based journalist. She is an editor at The Public Source , and a frequent contributor to Drop Site News...

Ralph welcomes back union organizer, Chris Townsend, to discuss the reasons why the AFL-CIO shrinks from effectively fighting for its members and expanding the power of workers. Then, political scientist Lee Drutman lays out a system of proportional representation that would take away the incentive to gerrymander congressional districts. Plus, Ralph gives some quick takes on Thomas Massie’s primar...

Ralph speaks to Dr. Marina Nord of the V-Dem Institute about this year's V-Dem Democracy Report and how the Trump Administration is dismantling democracy in the US. Then, Ralph welcomes Dr. Ralph Estes to discuss corporations' shady accounting practices. Dr. Marina Nord is a postdoctoral research fellow at the V-Dem Institute. She is co-author of V-Dem’s Democracy Report 2026: “Unraveling The Demo...

Ralph welcomes back Adolph Reed, Professor Emeritus of political science at the University of Pennsylvania and Distinguished Visiting Professor at Mount Holyoke College to discuss the latest Supreme Court decision gutting the Voting Rights Act. Then, Ralph and our resident constitutional scholar, Bruce Fein, talk about what ordinary citizens can do to pressure their reps to impeach Donald Trump. A...

Ralph welcomes six authors to discuss their books: “Beyond Nuclear” founder Linda Gunter; trial lawyer Sean Simpson; law professor Elizabeth Burch; naturalist David Schmidt; industrial hygienist Marc Axelrod; and educator and advocate Jonathan Kozol. Linda Gunter is the founder of the US-based non-profit Beyond Nuclear and serves as its international specialist. Previously, she was a journalist at...

Ralph welcomes Professor Nicholas Chater, co-author of “It's on You: How Corporations and Behavioral Scientists Have Convinced Us That We’re to Blame for Society's Deepest Problems.” Then, as most of the media turns its attention to Iran, we return to the ongoing genocide in Gaza and welcome back Dr. Feroze Sidhwa to break down his three-part series published in Zeteo called “The Truth About Gaza'...

Ralph welcomes journalist and author Megan Greenwell to discuss her book "Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream." Then, Ralph speaks to James Zogby (co-founder and president of the Arab American Institute) about the recent Israeli attacks on Lebanon. Megan Greenwell is a journalist who has written or edited for publications including the New York Times , the Washington Po...

Ralph welcomes Haley Hinkle, policy counsel at Fairplay to tell us about how a New Mexico jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million for harming children’s mental health and safety, violating state law. Then when present highlights from last week’s symposium on impeachment, featuring Dennis Kucinich, CIA whistleblower, Jeffrey Sterling, Public Citizen co-president, Rob Weissman, GW law dean Alan Morris...

Ralph welcomes international security expert Paul Rogers to discuss the US-Israeli war on Iran. Then, Ralph speaks to constitutional law experts Bruce Fein and John Bonifaz about their upcoming impeachment symposium. Paul Rogers is Emeritus Professor of Peace Studies in the Department of Peace Studies and International Relations at Bradford University , and an Honorary Fellow at the Joint Service...

Ralph welcomes Wes Bryant, a retired Air Force special operations master sergeant and former analyst at the Civilian Protection Center who talks to us about how civilians, either through incompetence or negligence, are not being protected during American missile strikes. Then our resident constitutional scholar, Bruce Fein, joins us to break down his latest op-ed “The Power to Declare War Belongs...

Ralph welcomes international human rights lawyer Craig Mokhiber to discuss the U.S. and Israel’s illegal war on Iran. Then, Ralph speaks to investigative reporter David Cay Johnston about the finances of Donald Trump. Craig Mokhiber is an international human rights lawyer and activist, and a former senior United Nations human rights official. A human rights activist in the 1980s, he would go on to...

Ralph spends the whole hour with progressive activist, Corbin Trent, former communications director for Alexandria Ocasio Cortez to discuss the lack of vision and the spineless leadership in the corporate Democratic Party. Corbin Trent is a co-founder of Brand New Congress and former co-director of Justice Democrats, two grassroots organizations working to elect progressive Democrats to Congress....

Ralph welcomes sociologist and historian Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi to discuss the United States' war of aggression on Iran. Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi is an Iranian-born American historian and sociologist. He is a Research Fellow at the Center for Place, Culture, and Politics at the CUNY Graduate Center. He was the Chair of the Department of Near Eastern Studies and Director of the Sharmin and Bijan Mo...

Events are moving rapidly in the Middle East, so we wanted to provide our loyal podcast listeners with some context to help digest everything that’s happened so far. We hope to provide a longer view of the what, where, who, how and why and offer some perspective on this military action’s broader historical, political, and legal implications. Ted Postol is Professor of Science, Technology and Natio...

Washington Post personal finance columnist, Michelle Singletary, tells the moving story of how a visit to her grade school by the Reverend Jesse Jackson inspired her life and career as described in her column, “How the Rev. Jesse Jackson Taught Me to Keep Hope Alive." Then Ralph welcomes Professor Eric S. Fish from U.C Davis School of Law to explain how grand juries are no longer rubber-stamping f...

Ralph welcomes J.B. Branch (Public Citizen's Big Tech accountability advocate) to discuss some of the sectors that Big Tech is disrupting with artificial intelligence. Then, Steve, David, and Hannah speak to Russell Mokhiber about the latest issue of the Capitol Hill Citizen. Finally, Ralph speaks on the legacy of the late Rev. Jesse Jackson. J.B. Branch is the Big Tech accountability advocate for...

Ralph welcomes, Robert Weissman co-president of Public Citizen, to discuss his Senate testimony about the many ways the Trump Administration’s assault on fraud is itself fraudulent. Plus, Ralph informs us of a report from Aljazeera about the MK-84 weapon the IDF is using in Gaza that is designed to generate so much heat it literally vaporizes people. Robert Weissman is a staunch public interest ad...

Ralph welcomes Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson to discuss a wide range of topics, including NATO, Greenland, Gaza, and more. Then, Ralph speaks to Rabbi Alissa Wise (founding director of Rabbis for Ceasefire) about the “Jews for Food Aid for People in Gaza" campaign. Finally, Ralph and the team address some current events. Lawrence Wilkerson is a retired U.S. Army colonel. Over his 31 years of service,...

Capitalism as an economic system has been around in various forms for over a thousand years and according to our featured guest this week, it keeps evolving. Join us for a lively and challenging discussion between Ralph and Harvard history professor, Sven Beckert, as they discuss his book “Capitalism: A Global History.” Sven Beckert is the Laird Bell Professor of History at Harvard University. He...

Ralph welcomes professor and historian Daniel Immerwahr to discuss the history of the United States' overseas possessions and his book "How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States." Daniel Immerwahr is a professor and historian at Northwestern University. He is the author of Thinking Small: The United States and the Lure of Community Development and How to Hide an Empire: A Histo...