The Real News Podcast

Read the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/dozens-of-texas-prisoners-are-hunger-striking-against-solitary-confinement Across the US, some 50,000 incarcerated people are kept under conditions of solitary confinement. Advocates and prisoners have pushed to define the practice as a form of torture, pointing to the devastating psychological and physical effects it has on victims. In...

Insurgent fascist movements are shaping global politics from the US to Brazil. Where does the antifascist movement go from here? Shane Burley is a writer and filmmaker. His most recent work is No Pasarán!: Antifascist Dispatches from a World in Crisis , an anthology of antifascist writings. Studio/Post-Production: Cameron Granadino Help us continue producing The Marc Steiner Show by following us a...

Read the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/from-brazil-to-peru-the-far-right-is-on-the-move-in-latin-america Between former Peruvian president Pedro Castillo being removed from office and Jair Bolsonaro’s far-right supporters in Brazil storming the halls of government in a January 6-style coup attempt, the pitched battle for political power in Latin American states is intensifyin...

Read the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/exclusive-interview-from-prison-carla-j-simmons-on-what-an-inhumane-carceral-system-does-to-human-psyches In this urgent, exclusive interview for Rattling the Bars , Mansa Musa speaks with Carla J. Simmons from inside the Georgia prison system, as well as Page Dukes of the Southern Center for Human Rights . Simmons, who has been incarcer...

Read the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/the-nlrb-ruled-in-favor-of-amazon-union-organizers-whats-next JFK8 worker-organizers Michelle Valentin Nieves, Jordan Flowers, and Gerald Bryson join TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez for a discussion on the fight to unionize Amazon thus far, and what lies ahead. Studio/Post-Production: Cameron Granadino Help us continue producing...

The notion of "autonomy" has growing political appeal in a time of rising fascism, but what does this term really mean, and what kinds of potential might it offer? TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez sits down with author and artist Janet Sarbanes to discuss her book, Letters on the Autonomy Project. Janet Sarbanes is an author and a professor of creative writing and cultural studies. Her boo...

Read the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/cops-discovered-he-was-filing-a-complaint-against-them-then-they-struck-back A Georgia man who tried to file a complaint against law enforcement in Bullock, GA, but found himself in handcuffs instead. Studio: Stephen Janis Post-Production: Stephen Janis, Adam Coley Help us continue producing Police Accountability Report by following us a...

Read the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/rosa-parks-myth-civil-rights-movement-history Rosa Parks's decades of activist experience have been overshadowed by a selective history of the Civl Rights Movement that ignores its roots in a longer, protracted struggle for justice. Biographer Jeanne Theoharis and documentarian Yoruba Richen join The Marc Steiner show to set the record s...

To read the transcript of this podcast, click here: https://therealnews.com/without-drastic-action-the-great-salt-lake-could-dry-up-in-5-years A dire new report has sounded the alarm on the future of Utah's Great Salt Lake, which could vanish in as little as five years unless lawmakers in Utah take drastic action. Save Our Great Salt Lake cofounder and organizer Chandler Rosenberg joins TRNN Edito...

Read the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/a-cop-watcher-attended-the-trial-of-a-corrupt-officer-the-judge-made-him-pay-for-it The trial of Ft. Worth police officer Aaron Dean for the killing of Atatiana Jefferson ended in a conviction for manslaughter and 12-year sentence. But in this episode, PAR investigates how the judge retaliated against supporters of Jefferson’s family who...

Read the transcript of this interview: https://therealnews.com/now-or-never-grad-student-workers-at-johns-hopkins-mobilize-ahead-of-union-election Graduate student-workers at the prestigious Johns Hopkins University are fighting to unionize under the banner of Teachers and Researchers United. After a supermajority of grad student-workers signed union cards in October and November, an official date...

Read the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/his-wrongful-arrest-was-caught-on-camera-now-the-cops-wont-leave-him-alone Daniel Alvarez first appeared on the Police Accountability Report in June, 2021 after an LA sheriff put him in handcuffs for stopping at a stop sign. Since then, Alvarez has documented numerous instances of LASD officers continuing to target and harass him. Alvare...

Read the transcript of this interview: https://therealnews.com/these-women-are-fighting-nevadas-prison-system-and-winning The start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 exacerbated the existing crisis of incarceration in the US, which has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world. During this time, a group of women with loved ones incarcerated in Nevada’s prison system founded the org...

On Jan. 8th, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed Brazil's capital in a failed attempt to spark a military coup. In scenes that drew instant comparison to the events of Jan. 6th, 2021 in the US, Bolsonaro supporters smashed windows, destroyed artwork, and even climbed on the roofs of government buildings before being rounded up and arrested en masse by security forces. In this update to Brazi...

Read the transcript of this podcast: Former Maryland state medical examiner Dr. David Fowler testified at the trial of police officer Derek Chauvin in 2021 that the cause of George Floyd's death ought to be ruled "undetermined." Hundreds of doctors across the country repudiated Fowler's testimony and called for his previous rulings to be investigated. After an independent review of Fowler's ruling...

Read the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/new-anti-union-law-in-uk-takes-aim-at-strike-wave The Tory government in the UK under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is mulling new anti-strike legislation that aims to crack down on the growing worker unrest spreading throughout the country. Faced with a historic cost-of-living crisis, workers across the UK made 2022 the busiest year for st...

Read the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/the-government-killed-him-a-tribute-to-activist-and-programmer-aaron-swartz-10-years-after-his-death Jan. 11, 2023 marks the tenth anniversary of the death of Aaron Swartz. Swartz had a prolific career as a computer programmer: At the age of 12 he created The Info Network, a user-generated encyclopedia widely credited as a precursor to W...

Read the transcript of this podcast and read the show notes: https://therealnews.com/organizing-workers-from-amazon-to-minor-league-baseball Last month Working People hit a new milestone: We recorded our first live episode in front of an audience! Organized by the Action Builder / Action Network team and hosted by Busboys & Poets in Washington, DC, we got to speak with Michelle Valentin Nieves...

Read the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/louisiana-to-imprison-juveniles-at-angola-prisons-death-row The state of Louisiana is considering transferring at least 20 minors incarcerated in its juvenile correction system to be housed on death row. The state alleges these children are amongst its most problematic incarcerated minors, and that placing them on death row is in line wi...

As part of our investigative series "Tax Broke," reporters Taya Graham, Stephen Janis, and Jayne Miller discuss how Baltimore's first attempt at an exclusionary housing law was watered down behind the scenes. "Tax Broke" is a TRNN investigative project focused on the use of tax break and subsidies stimulate growth in a city that continues to lose population and struggle with poverty. The centerpie...

Editor's note: This video was recorded prior to Ray Liotta's passing. Police Accountability Report show hosts Taya Graham and Stephen Janis kick off the holidays with a spoilers-free review of the exceptional film Cop Land. Taya and Stephen take a tour behind the scenes of police culture and explore how difficult it really is for individual officers to hold other police accountable for their crime...

With strikes and unionization drives spreading throughout the country, 2022 has been a year of intense labor struggle. However, the bosses, the ruling class, corporate politicians, and their lackeys in the media are doing everything they can to squash these rank-and-file movements and beat workers back into subservience. If we want to see the labor movement grow, we need to be there for workers wh...

The planet we share, the only home we’ve ever known, has its limits. Its resources, its ability to sustain all life, are not infinite—and every day we are bearing witness to the disastrous consequences of mortgaging our collective future on the false belief that they are. The path we are on now is untenable, something’s going to give. Whether it comes from us or for us, change is coming nonetheles...

As humanity barrels towards climate catastrophe, the need to envision and build more ecologically sustainable societies and economies becomes more pressing with each passing day. However, our collective imagination is often so limited that it becomes impossible to envision societies and economies that aren't organized around the quest for profit and infinite growth. So, what could a "degrowth" eco...

Read the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/big-tech-has-rigged-the-game-against-artists-heres-how-we-can-fight-back TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez joins Rebecca Giblin and Cory Doctorow for the launch of their new book, Chokepoint Capitalism: How Big Tech and Big Content Captured Creative Labor Markets and How We'll Win Them Back. This event was hosted by The Peale Muse...