Voice of the People: Radio By and For the 99%

We cover the Montana Legislature from the "we will not be shamed" House Republicans chastising trans Rep. Zooey Zephyr, to the People's Veto Petition Campaign as explained by Sandy Burch. The Word of the Week is "Taxes" as we look at the 1945 speech by then-NY Fed Chair Beardsley Ruml: "Taxes for Revenue Are Obsolete." No joke. And there is more disturbing informa...

This show is dedicated to two excellent interviews by Helena DSA member Frank Kromkowski on the topic of the Montana Legislature. The first is with former Montana Representative Danny Tenenbaum from Missoula. The second is with retired Montana Supreme Court Justice Jim Nelson, who sounds the alarm on attacks on Montana's Constitution and judiciary.

Soundman Jim, Linda Gillison and Mark explore the word of the week "citizen." Featured is an interview with Jonathan Motl, dean of Montana's citizen initiative process, and an editorial by Tony Davis on the rail accident in E. Palestine, Ohio. Also discussed is the bailout of the wealthy depositors in the Silicon Valley Bank by the Federal Reserve Bank, the 2 day strike by Los Angele...

"Nationalize" is word of the week. We look at the call of Railroad Workers United to nationalize US railroads. Interview with Rep Mary Caferro on the MT Legislature. Editorial by Sarah McClain. We also look at: Nordstream Pipelines, Twitter Files, the Warrior Met strike ending and COVID news. With co-hosts Linda Gillison, Soundman Jim and Mark.

With the word of the Week "Liberal Democracy," Soundman Jim, Sandy Burch and Mark report on and talk about the Montana Legislature, the economic winners and losers so far in the War in Ukraine, and the terrible rail accident in East Palestine, Ohio. The interview is of Joanie Kresich, Board Chair of the Northern Plains Resource Council, by Frank Kromkowski of the Montana Democratic Socialists of A...

This week's show features an edited version of the Belmarsh Tribunal held in Washington DC on January 20, 2023. The Belmarsh Tribunal focuses on the case of Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks. The event featured expert testimony from journalists, whistleblowers, lawyers, publishers, and parliamentarians on assaults to press freedom and the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. This was o...

Soundman Jim, Sandy Burch and Mark explore this year's Montana Legislature. Legislation about abortion, trans Montanans, labor, tax cuts for the rich and a Federal balanced budget convention call are explored. Featured is an interview with State Senator Mary Ann Dunwell of Helena. We also look at some promising news on the COVID  epidemic.

Soundman Jim, Sue Kirchmyer and Mark choose some of the most important stories of 2022 and take another look at them. Also there is an interview of Sandy Burch about reproductive justice and the 2023 Montana Legislature, produced by Montana Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

Soundman Jim and Mark dive deep into how football's World Cup ought to make us look differently at human rights by reading selections from Neil Vallelly's article in Jacobin magazine. We also continue our look at why the labor movement ought to learn profound lessons from the two recent and successful strikes in Ontario as described by Jane McAlevey. And we highlight Adolph Reed's assessment of th...

The Word of the Week is "democracy," as Soundman Jim, Friend of the Show Linda Gillison, and Mark look at the recent US election results. We also dive into the story of a near and credible general strike in Ontario as public workers fight back against their government's attempt to strip workers of their rights. We also discuss how the US Federal Reserve's fight against inflation is ruinous to othe...

Our Word of the Week is Inflation, and we look at the current causes of it and what can be done. Missoula City Councilman Daniel Carlino tells us about the controversy of closing the Authorized Camp Site for houseless people. Bob Rosen reads his editorial "Our Healthcare System is Sick." Soundman Jim and Mark discuss the Congressional Progressive Caucus' letter to President Biden calling for negot...

Soundman Jim, Richard the Bishop and Mark analyze the apparent sabotage of the Nordstream 1 and 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea, what economic and other impacts will likely be forthcoming, and who might have done this. We also cover the passage of an nasty anti-worker law in Ukraine this summer, and what else may be in store for worker rights there.

This week we cover the Greater Northwest Passenger Rail Summit held in Billings, Montana on August 22 and 23, 2022. Excerpts from the Summit include: how the recently passed infrastructure bill (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) opens the door to expand passenger rail service, the importance of geographic, class and racial equity, a personal look at the needs of native peoples, possible stak...

On our Labor Day weekend show we take a current look at unions. We feature an interview with David Van Deusen, president of the Vermont AFL-CIO. Friend of the Show John Andrechak, Soundman Jim and Mark look at what we might learn from the history of unions - especially in the 1920's and 30's - to guide us today. We also look at a report regarding union finances and priorities, catch up on Missoula...

Friend of the Show Sue Kirchmyer join soundman Jim and Mark to discuss public health, the CDC, COVID, and the monkeypox outbreak. We also look at the end of the COVID vaccine mandate in Costa Rica. And we look at the US Federal Reserve Bank making the choice to increase economic misery to fight inflation, and what should be done instead.

Our word of the Week is "power." Richard Bishop joins soundman Jim and Mark to discuss how the 99% can get power. Carol Wald, W MT Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) organizer, discusses the organizing around reproductive justice in Montana, including advocating for a "no" vote on LR-131. We also look at the progress of rank-and-file democracy at the United Autoworkers Convention. And we see t...

Maria Bustos joins Jim and Mark to talk about the new "Pink Tide" progressive governments being elected in Latin America. We take a deep look at what neoliberalism is and how it is a critical part of the political tide south of the US. We look at the constitutional process unfolding in Chile. And we discuss the current US rail unions strike vote of 99.5% and the prospects for a nationwide rail str...

This week Soundman Jim, Linda Gillison and Mark discuss the effectiveness of economic sanctions, those applied to Russia, and their economic blowback. Our feature interview is with Prof. Monte Mills of the University of Montana Indian Law Clinic about the recent terrible decision by the SCOTUS on Native sovereignty, Oklahoma v Castro-Huerta . We also put on our rubber boots and look at an essentia...

In today's show we look at the overturning of Roe V. Wade, how did we come to this, and where can we go from here with Sandy Burch and Carol Wald. They also talk about the rally on Sun 6/26 at 11 am at the Missoula County Courthouse. Our Word of the Week is "strategic discrimination," which describes a highly ironic burden on women and people of color electoral candidates. And we catch up with som...

Linda Gillison, Soundman Jim, and Mark explore "nationalism" and how it could unite the 99%. We look at the Summit of the Americas, the history of US economic sanctions and how nationalism affects them. We also look into the real reasons why inflation is so high and the latest on COVID.

We feature an interview with Vermont State Labor Council, AFL-CIO President David Van Deusen about union democracy, preparing for general strikes and the Vermont labor movement. We also look at the origins of the Second Amendment to the US Constitution and how the pivotal Shays Rebellion led to its adoption. We celebrate worker victories in unionizing at Black Coffee Roasters in Missoula and at th...

We explore a bit about collective bargaining and unions. We also hear from Dave Jones on true energy security and from a March 23 rally on a constitutional lawsuit against the Montana utility Northwestern Energy and the state of Montana. Linda Gillison and soundman Jim discuss the anti-war movement in Ukraine and how the war has eroded freedom of speech in the US.

Our "Word of the Week" is "Union." We follow up on our local story of the Black Coffee workers forming the Third Wave Union in Missoula. We also update the Minneapolis educators strike and the amazing independent union victory at the Amazon Warehouse on Staten Island, New York. Sound sound man Jim and Friend of the Show Sue Kirchmyer share running commentary to a recording of President Biden's rec...

We take down in detail why cryptocurrency is a scam and not even close to real currency. We also look at the failure of the all-vaccine strategy and where we might be going from here with the pandemic. And, as a follow-up to our story this summer on drone whistleblower and Missoula citizen Brandon Bryant, we interview his mother LanAnn Bryant on her putting up her $100k in her retirement funds for...

Our annual review of the year show with sound Soundman Jim, Friend of the Show Linda and Mark. we review the Jan 6 riot at the Capitol, year two of the COVID pandemic, the infrastructure bills before Congress, the Brandon Bryant acquittal, the continuing climate disaster, the housing crisis in Missoula, Latin America movements and politics, and workers' strikes in the US.