The Marc Steiner Show

Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student activist at Columbia University, is currently in ICE detention facing deportation proceedings—and the future of free speech in America hangs on the outcome of his case. Khalil, who has permanent resident status, was illegally abducted by ICE agents in front of his pregnant wife on March 8, sparking national and international outrage and raising alarms about wh...

The view from inside the United States has many wondering if the days of democracy are numbered, but that's not the story everywhere. In spite of a global surge in far-right politics, many countries are still making progressive strides and demonstrating the problems facing the US have real, proven solutions. Natasha Hakimi Zapata , author of  Another World is Possible , joins  The Marc Steiner   S...

While teaching at Muhlenberg College,  Maura Finkelstein  made no secret of her support for Palestinian liberation. Even before receiving tenure, Finkelstein taught courses on Palestine and made her views publicly known. Then, in May of 2024, she was unceremoniously fired for sharing pro-Palestine content on her personal social media account. Finkelstein joins The Marc Steiner Show to discuss her...

It's no secret that Israel has sought to fully annex the West Bank for decades—and now, many believe the time may be near. For Rabbi  Arik Ascherman , the struggle to defend Palestinians in the West Bank from settler attacks has become his life's work. But it's a task that is only becoming more difficult with time, as the extreme dehumanization of Palestinians becomes all-the-more normalized by th...

Hunger. Cold. Thirst. Disease. These are the daily realities of life in Gaza, where for the past 423 days Israel has unleashed a genocide that will come to define our contemporary era. As Palestinians struggle to meet their daily needs, they are also faced with a battle to preserve their memories and dignity. Over the past year, journalist and filmmaker Ruwaida Amer has produced numerous powerful,...

Not even a month has passed since the presidential election, and the incoming slate of Trump cabinet nominees is already beset with controversy and scandal. But the litany of sex crimes and other misdeeds Trump's appointees are accused of is just the tip of the iceberg—what's even more threatening is the agenda they represent. Journalists and returning guests Steven Monacelli and Jeff Sharlet join...

The future of Jewish identity is at a crossroads thanks to Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza. The question facing millions of people is whether to take the path of solidarity with Palestine or the road of Jewish supremacy trodden by the leadership of major Jewish institutions and by the Israeli government itself.  Rabbi Cat Davis  of  Beyt Tikkun  joins The Marc Steiner Show for a discussion on how t...

Not many people today know about the radical history of the Jewish Labor Bund, the Jewish socialist party founded within the Russian Empire in 1897—but they should. Understanding the Bund is essential for understanding the long and critically relevant tradition of Jewish anti-Zionism. “From the Bund's very earliest days,” artist and author Molly Crabapple says, members “saw that if there was an at...

Donald J. Trump is headed back to the White House for a second term, Republicans will control the Senate, and if they win a majority in the House of Representatives, they will control all three branches of government: the Executive, the Legislature, and the Judiciary. In the 2024 presidential race, the support holding up Democrats’ “blue wall” in 2020 crumbled, and a MAGA-led “red wave” swept larg...

Voting day has arrived. As millions around the country head to the polls with a clear candidate in mind, millions of others are wondering if voting still means anything. In a special address for The Marc Steiner Show, our host addresses this question with the benefit of more than 60 years of experience in activist struggle. Studio / Post-Production: Cameron Granadino Help us continue producing The...

The MAGA movement didn't disappear after Trump's defeat in the 2020 election. If anything, Republicans and extremists outside the party have learned how to effectively organize and seize power in the intervening years. We can look to Florida and Texas, and even to smaller-scale examples like Shasta County to glean what could come from a Trump victory next Tuesday. The Marc Steiner Show looks back...

We are now just days away from the 2024 presidential election, and the outcome remains uncertain. With the possibility of a new Trump administration around the corner, the question of how we got here is more pressing than ever. Rick Perlstein and Bill Fletcher Jr. join  The Marc Steiner Show for a look back on the mistakes of liberals and leftists that helped nurture the MAGA movement, and what th...

The movement in solidarity with Palestine has a sizable presence of progressive Jewish Americans. As an anti-Zionist rabbi, Brant Rosen  has made it his life's work to build religious and cultural community for other likeminded Jews whose solidarity with Palestine runs deep. The Marc Steiner Show returns with another edition of 'Not in Our Name.' Studio Production: Cameron Granadino Audio Post-Pro...

Young Jewish Americans are playing an outsized role in the movement for Palestine—but not without facing consequences. In a recent article for  In These Times ,  Shane Burley  investigates the ways anti-Zionist Jews are facing persecution from community institutions they once called home. Burley joins The Marc Steiner Show for a discussion on the growing divide over Zionism in Jewish communities,...

Israel's genocide in Gaza has now surpassed a year, and is quickly spiraling into a regional war that now includes a ground front in Lebanon. As the world reels from the horrors witnessed in the past year alone, how are members of Israeli society justifying those horrors to themselves? In part two of this two-part episode commemorating the solemn anniversary of Oct. 7, Canada-based Israeli filmmak...

After a year of Israel's genocidal onslaught on Gaza, and after more than 75 years of Israeli occupation, Palestinians like Ashira Prem Rachana Darwish still believe in the hope of a free Palestine. In its murderous rush to flatten Gaza and embroil the Middle East in a large-scale war, "Zionism is breathing its last breath," Darwish says. In Part 1 of this two-part episode of The Marc Steiner Show...

For Palestinian farmers in the West Bank, land and livelihood are deeply intertwined concerns—and the only way to defend them is through organization. Faced with a hostile legal apparatus, a military occupation, and attacks from violent settlers, Palestinian farmers have banded together under the umbrella of the Palestinian Farmers' Union . The union's executive director, Abbas Milhem, joins  The...

Israel's almost year-long genocide of Palestinians in Gaza has brought many long-simmering questions of politics and identity within the international Jewish community to the fore. What does it mean to be Jewish? Is 'never again' a statement primarily based in nationalism or in an ethic of universal justice? Speaking from his experience organizing Canada's Jewish community against Israel's genocid...

France was the birthplace of modern democracy, and it may well be the start of its end. After the surprise victory of the left New Popular Front in this year's elections, President Macron has betrayed democracy in a deal with the right to make Michel Barnier Prime Minister. Axel Persson, General Secretary of France's CGT Railroad Union, joins The Marc Steiner Show for a post-mortem of the election...

Israel's war on Palestine has now decisively expanded to the West Bank, where the most aggressive IDF military campaign in decades is now underway. Yet not all was well in the West Bank before this most recent invasion. Palestinians in the West Bank have dealt with a protracted war waged by Zionist settlers and the IDF for decades. One method of resistance has been through agriculture, which for m...

With Donald Trump continuing to demonize immigrants, especially immigrants from Latin America, and with Republicans calling for "Mass Deportation Now," Latinos in the US find themselves in the crosshairs of a national debate over immigration, border policy, racism, and economic justice. What can the Chicano Movement of the 20th century teach us about how to combat attacks on Latinos and other marg...

On August 29, 1970, the Chicano Moratorium Against the Viet Nam War mobilized the largest Chicano protest and the largest anti-war protest led by a community of color at the time. Combining a critique of US imperialism abroad and racism at home, the Chicano Moratorium was the result of years of organizing and consciousness raising by Chicano liberation activists around the country. Former Brown Be...

It's a presidential election year, and a deeply divisive imperialist war has split the public. As the Democratic National Convention gathers in Chicago, anti-war organizers vow to be in the streets to protest US responsibility for a genocide overseas. No, this isn't 2024. It's 1968. And the police riot that follows in the city of Chicago has effects on US politics that will reverberate for decades...

J.D. Vance's rise to the GOP ticket has opened up scrutiny into the junior senator's past and roots. Before he entered politics, Vance entered the public spotlight as the author of a best-selling memoir, Hillbilly Elegy. While often marketed as an authentic glimpse of Appalachian working class life, what Elegy really offers is a portrait of a man whose roots and life path have been decidedly diffe...

The images of members of US Congress giving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu multiple standing ovations during his recent visit to Washington DC are certain to go down in history. While Netanyahu spoke of "finishing the job" in Gaza, to raucous applause, peace activists Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon also recently addressed members of Congress—but with a message of peace and reconciliation,...