WPKN: Politics, Policy, and Planet Podcast

Interview with David Daley, former editor-in-chief of Salon, conducted by Scott Harris. David Daley discusses his recent Nation article, “How the GOP Hopes to Gerrymander Its Way to a Midterms Victory,” given what Trump and Republicans are doing to carve out five new GOP-leaning districts in Texas and what democracy defenders could and should be doing now to prevent the further erosion of our demo...

Resistance Roundtable double header:     --the fight against the genocide in Gaza with Branko Marcetic, staff writer with Jacobin Magazin; and Daniella Colombi, a graduate student at the U. of Maryland who led the fight that resulted in court settlement of $100,000 to the Students for Justice in Palestine by UMD    --Connecticut re-groups to fight for a clean environment in the face of the Trump r...

Interview with Kimberly Fountain, consumer financial justice field manager at Americans for Financial Reform, conducted by Melinda Tuhus. Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Kimberly Fountain, consumer financial justice field manager at Americans for Financial Reform. Here she explains why medical debt shouldn’t be included in consumers’ credit ratings and the disparate impact it has on di...

Interview with Ayesha R. Clarke, executive director of the Connecticut-based Health Equity Solutions, conducted by Scott Harris. Ayesha Clarke discusses how the federal slashing of social safety net programs in Trump’s recently passed budget bill will impact Connecticut residents, and what Gov. Ned Lamont and the legislature can do to prepare and offset the pain and disruption to essential service...

Interview with Rebecca Gordon, TomDispatch.com writer, longtime political activist, and adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco, conducted by Scott Harris. Rebecca Gordon discusses her important coverage of how the Trump regime is expanding the “surveillance state” targeting perceived enemies to extend and consolidate authoritarian power. Gordon taught philosophy at the University of...

Interview with Richard W. Behan, a contributor to Counterpunch, conducted by Scott Harris. Richard Behan discusses his recent Counterpunch article, “The Peril of Spectacle, Especially Jeffrey Epstein’s,” explores where the deepening bipartisan suspicion and anger about Donald Trump’s expanding scandal may lead the country; and how it may serve as a distraction from the central, existential fight t...

Interview with Jennifer Loewenstein, former associate director of Middle Eastern studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, conducted by Scott Harris. Jennifer Loewenstein examines the current famine crisis in Gaza; the Trump regime’s incoherent and dishonest policies toward Gaza and Palestinians; France, the U.K. and Canada’s plan to recognize a Palestinian state — and what, if any, differen...

Interview with Scarlett de Leon, executive director of ACT-LA, conducted by Melinda Tuhus.  Scarlett explains that after June ICE raids led to the arrests of hundreds of immigrants in Los Angeles. ACT-LA sent a letter to the L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority asking for changes to strengthen protections for immigrants against ICE abductions.

Interview with Hannah Levintova, Mother Jones' magazine D.C. bureau reporter, conducted by Scott Harris. Hannah Levintova talks about her investigation featured in the Public Radio series, “Reveal,” titled, “The Landlord Gutting America’s Hospitals,” which examines how a real estate company buys up hospitals and then leases them back to healthcare systems, causing dozens of its hospitals to go ban...

Interview with Robert Greenwald, founder and president of Brave New Films, conducted by Scott Harris. Robert Greenwald talks about his new documentary titled, “Gaza: Journalists Under Fire,” which exposes Israel’s crimes against journalism and humanity, where more than 200 Gaza-based journalists have been killed since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel — through the lives and deaths...

Interview with Sharif Abdel Kouddous, Drop Site News Middle East and North Africa editor, conducted by Scott Harris. Sharif Abdel Kouddous discusses his coverage of Israel’s starvation campaign against Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinian civilians — and the Trump regime’s role in this war crime via the U.S.-backed “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” — as reported in his recent article, “Palestinians are Col...

Interview with Melvin Goodman, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, and professor of government at Johns Hopkins University, conducted by Scott Harris. Melvin Goodman, a former CIA analyst and author, discusses his recent Counterpunch commentary, “The Waste and Futility of the Golden Dome National Defense System,” estimated to cost between $161 billion and $542 billion over two...

News and views from and to the organic community:   -Hot Topics with Diane Lauricella   -Small Farms Report by Steve Munno of Massaro Farm   -Legislative update from CT NOFA by Dr. Kim Stoner   -Special guest, Reggie St. Fort Colin discussing BIPOC farming and food justice issues in Connecticut Hosts: Richard Hill and Diane Lauricella

Interview with Joan Cavanagh, a founding member of Progressives Against Medical Assisted Suicide, conducted by Scott Harris. Joan Cavanagh talks about the new documentary film titled, “Thoughts on Medical Assisted Suicide,” which will be available for viewing online from July 23 through July 30, in honor of the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which was signed into la...

Interview with Greg Palast, author of several New York Times best-sellers including,The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, conducted by Scott Harris. Greg Palast talks about his recent investigations into the Trump-Republican party plan to win the 2026 midterm elections in 2025 by employing massive voter purges in purple states, racial gerrymandering, and voter suppression tactics.

Interview with John Tarleton, editor-in-chief of The Indypendent, New York City's free progressive monthly newspaper, conducted by Scott Harris. John Tarleton discusses his coverage of Zohran Mamdani’s surprise victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary and the obstacles ahead for his progressive campaign in the November election, where he’ll face both Mayor Eric Adams and former New Yo...

Interview with Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, a trauma and critical care surgeon, and Dr. Ayaz Pathan, an emergency room physician, conducted by Scott Harris. Dr. Feroze Sidhwa and Dr. Ayaz Pathan discuss their experiences working as physicians in Gaza; the ongoing slaughter and starvation of Palestinian civilians there; and their understanding of the mission of the Israeli-U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Found...

Dr. Jack Rasmus, professor emeritus at St. Mary's College and author of The Scourge of Neoliberalism--US Economic Policy from Reagan to Trump, looks under the hood of the recently-passed MAGA tax and spending cut bill, and finds more of the putrefaction associated with neoliberalism and late-stage capitalism. Interview by Richard Hill 

Excerpt of speech by Jonathan Kuttab, Palestinian-American human rights lawyer and author of Beyond the Two-State Solution, recorded and produced by Melinda Tuhus. Beyond the current bloody war and genocide in Gaza, people across the Middle East and world are asking whether or not the long-standing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians can ever be resolved. Jonathan Kuttab is a Palestinian-Am...

Interview with Debra, an organizer with the group Indivisible Amity, Connecticut -- and Tom of the Indivisible chapter in Orange, Connecticut, conducted by Scott Harris. Indivisible organizers Debra and Tom discuss plans for the Thursday, July 17 “Good Trouble Lives On Rally” — with speakers and music on the New Haven Green in downtown New Haven, CT from 6 to 7 pm. This event, part of the day’s so...

Interviews with several participants in the pro-democracy, anti-Trump ‘No Kings Day’ June 14, 2025, protests in Trumbull and Newtown CT, conducted by Scott Harris. The ‘No Kings Day’ protests involved 2,100 protest sites across the U.S. and attracted the participation of an estimated 5 million protesters.

Interview with Kali Holloway is columnist for The Nation and the former director of the Make It Right Project, a national campaign to take down Confederate monuments and tell the truth about history, conducted by Scott Harris. Kali Holloway discusses her recent articles on white supremacy and the Trump regime, with a focus on the multiple ways Trump has carried out an explicitly racist, white supr...

Interview with Victor Pickard, professor of media policy and political economy at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication, where he co-directs the Media, Inequality & Change Center. Victor Pickard discusses the important issues examined in his recent Nation magazine article, “The Media’s Profits Trump Democracy, Once Again,” with Paramount’s settlement with Trump as...

Interview with Xavier de Janon, an attorney representing one of 61 ‘Stop Cop City’ defendants in Atlanta, conducted by Melinda Tuhus. Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Xavier de Janon, an attorney representing one of the 61 defendants. Here, he discusses the status of the cases and the serious possible sentences — up to 20 years in prison — that await any who are convicted. On July 7, a...

Interview with Maggie Mitchell Salem, executive director of Connecticut-based IRIS, Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services, conducted by Scott Harris. Maggie Mitchell Salem discusses the impact of the Trump administration’s new immigration policies on IRIS services, as well as federal funds revoked or withdrawn from IRIS’ budget. She also talks about her group’s latest Know Your Rights campaign...