RNN Archives

Episode 158: Hypocrisy probably makes it into the top three characteristics, alas, of the vast majority of politicians. That isn’t a reason not to participate in the electoral process but it’s just one of those cautionary, red lights to keep an eye out for. To wit: all those politicians who eloquently talk about the importance of unions—mostly that talk comes when a politician wants a union endors...

Featured Stories: --Are Dems Barking Up The Wrong Tree On Impeachment? --How Corporate Media Fueled Trump's Rise --Why the NFL/Kaepernick Saga Is Bigger than Football

Ralph talks to maverick former FCC Commissioner, Nicholas Johnson, about his two new books, the memoir, “Catfish Solution: The Power of Positive Poking” and “Columns of Democracy” and his views on how to repair our democracy.

Episode 157: Deval Patrick has become very, very rich since leaving the post of Massachusetts governor. That’s what happens when you become a managing director of Bain Capital, one of the behemoths in the private equity industry. Patrick became rich working for a company—being a managing director of a company—that has screwed thousands of workers, especially 30,000 workers for Toys R Us who don’t...

The Police Accountability Report obtained an exclusive recording of a 911 operator threatening to arrest a caller complaining about a SWAT team that stormed her property without a warrant. The call is part of our ongoing investigation into the arrest of Columbus, OH resident Nick Pettit, who was charged after filming officers slapping a suspect.

Ralph hears from courageous former Boeing Quality Control Manager, John M. Barnett, who blew the whistle on shoddy production of the 787 Dreamliner, how the FAA has backed off on oversight, and how Boeing “bean counters” have put profits over safety.

Featured Stories: --White Nationalists Are Running the White House --Bloomberg Could Buy the White House to Kill a Wealth Tax --Elite Institutions Hoard Wealth While Cities Die Around Them

Episode 156: Anyone remember that TV advertisement that Merrill Lynch used to have, with the big bull trotting along a beach? I’m reincarnating that bull today for a pretty simple discussion: what is economic progress and how do we have economic growth without destroying the planet? Evelyn Astor, an economic and social policy advisor at the International Trade Union Confederation, joins me to talk...

Featured Stories: --AOC Says Bloomberg Run Isn't 'What We Need Right Now' --Private Equity Firms are Modern Day Vampires Sucking the Lifeblood Out of Our Society --Right Wing Nationalist Rulers An International Movement That Threatens Our Future --Brazil's Ex-President Lula Freed, Promises to Continue Fight for Justice --Thousands Rally with Bernie and AOC at Iowa Climate Summit

Episode 155: IKEA, Volkswagen, Nestle and Airbus are pretty different companies but all of them have a two-faced corporate Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde that explains a lot about the oppression workers face in the U.S. South. Across the pond, all those companies have a pretty reasonable posture towards unions and workers trying to unionize. But just let them come hunting over in the U.S. South to do bus...

In our continuing series honoring whistleblowers, Ralph welcomes winner of the Joe A. Calloway Award for Civic Courage, Dr. George Luber, former head of the Centers for Disease Control’s Climate Health program, who despite pressure from the newly-minted Trump Administration, blew the whistle after refusing to cancel a convention on how the climate crisis was affecting public health.

Ralph welcomes Thomas Mueller, author of “Crisis of Conscience: Whistleblowers in an Age of Fraud,” where they discuss the heroic stories of the brave man and women, who at great personal cost, have called to account malfeasance across government and industry. Plus, Ralph answers your questions.

Episode 154: The Gordon Gekko boast in the fictional movie “Wall Street” that “Greed is Good” is really an organizing principle for the financial vultures who rob the country day after day. Today, you will hear two tales of greed and robbery by hedge fund and private equity vultures. First, it’s Paul Singer, the CEO of a hedge fund called Elliott Management, who has a net worth of $3.5 billion, is...

Featured Stories: --Union Organizer Takes On Neoliberal Fearmongering and Wins --Joe Biden's Acceptance of Super PAC Shows Campaign's Desperation --Facebook's Threat to Democracy Could Motivate Redefinition of Anti-Trust Laws --Boris Johnson Pushes for New Election as Brexit Fiasco Continues

Labor writer, Steven Greenhouse, joins Ralph to discuss his new book “Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present and Future of American Labor.” Then Steve, David, and Ralph have a spirited discussion about how the 99% can wrest power from the 1%.

Episode 153: I’m in a politics mood today, having nothing to do with impeachment or the bizarre spectacle of a previous Democratic presidential candidate going seriously off the rails and accusing with no evidence, in McCarthyite fashion, another Democrat of being some sort of asset of Russia…I mean, crazy shit fills up my news dump every day. So as an antidote, I figured I’d bring to you two more...

Featured Stories: --How Would Sanders Give Workers Power? --Chicago Teachers Strike for Children's Services and Affordable Housing --Spain Sentences Catalan Leaders in Contradictory Ruling

A member of “The Squad,” Rashida Tlaib, joins Ralph to talk about her aborted trip to the Occupied Territories, Israel and Palestine, poverty in Southern Michigan, and of course, impeachment. Plus, listener questions!

Featured Stories: --As Democrats Look for Unity, Debate Displays Party's Division --What Happens When the FBI Chooses Sides --Can the US Protect the Kurds Without Using Military Force? --Mozambique Braces for Election

Episode 152: The running joke about Whole Foods is its nickname: Whole Paycheck. But there’s a far darker side to the touchy-feely, organic feel of Whole Foods than the higher prices—the exploitation of workers everywhere along its supply chains where workers labor in slave-like conditions, and are abused day after day, especially women workers. Oxfam is out with a devastating report on Whole Food...

Featured Stories: --Trump Spouts Conspiracy Theories and Attacks Omar at Minnesota Rally --The Murder of Joshua Brown: Tragic Coincidence, or Something Bigger? --Voting Access Still a Problem For Students at HBCU Prairie View A&M University --California Lawmakers Passed a Bill Banning Private Prisons

With a Constitutional crisis afoot, we continue our discussion of impeachment with Constitutional scholar Bruce Fein. And, Ralph welcomes Middle East policy expert, Hassan El-Tayyab, to fill us in on what’s going on with the humanitarian tragedy that is the war in Yemen.

On this episode of the Police Accountability Report we analyze an investigative report on controversial police shootings in Greenville, South Carolina that points to a troubling trend of police using deadly force against people suffering mental distress.

Featured Stories: --China vs NBA --Trump's Withdrawal From Syria: Betrayal of Kurds or End to Endless War? --How Useful Is Modern Money Theory for Developing Countries? --California Emission Standards Have Trump Admin Blowing Smoke

Working Life Podcast - Episode 151: I would never have said it before today but it turns out health insurance companies aren’t the most evil players in the healthcare industry. Don’t freak out—health insurance companies are bad, and they are bankrupting millions of people, and the country. But it turns out even worse than the health insurers are some big mega private equity vultures who are gobbli...