WPKN: Politics, Policy, and Planet Podcast

The June Labor Report features Jeremy Brecher, co-founder of the Labor Network for Sustainability, and author of the iconic labor history book, Strike!, joined by economist and labor historian Michael Zweig, to discuss the latest alarming developments in the Trump regime's authoritarian putsch, and what shape and strategies an effective resistance must take to counter a free-fall into fascism. Hos...

 Interview with Umme Hoque, an organizer with Defend and Recruit, conducted by Melinda Tuhus. Avelo Airlines is the only known commercial carrier that is operating deportation flights from the U.S. under contract with Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security. One of its commercial passenger hubs is in New Haven, Connecticut, where it has grown from a few flights to as many as 14 per...

Interview with Juan Fonseca of Danbury, the campaign manager of the Trust Act NOW! coalition, conducted by Scott Harris. Juan Fonseca discusses the CT Senate’s recent passage of amendments to the state’s TRUST Act, assessing what was, and was not accomplished by groups working to strengthen protections for the state’s immigrant community.

Interview with Seth Donnelly, one of the founders of Taxpayers Against Genocide, a grassroots movement spreading across the U.S., conducted by Scott Harris. Seth Donnelly talks about his group, Taxpayers Against Genocide, and the National Lawyers Guild International Committee’s legal complaint filed with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights against the U.S. government for complicity in ge...

Interview with Andra Watkins, a New York Times best-selling author and Project 2025 dissector on the Substack online newsletter, "For Such a Time as This, conducted by Scott Harris. Andra Watkins discusses her recent column, “Project Esther: Where Dissent = Terrorism,” with a focus on the Trump regime’s targeting of individuals and groups protesting Israel’s genocide in Gaza and in support of inde...

Interview with Alan Minsky, executive director of Progressive Democrats of America, conducted by Scott Harris. Alan Minsky discusses a petition circulated by several progressive groups calling for the Democratic National Committee to “convene an emergency meeting of all its members—fully open to the public—as soon as possible,” to strategize in confronting “the predatory, extreme and dictatorial a...

Interview with Leslie Blatteau, president of the New Haven Federation of Teachers. Leslie Blatteau talks about the CT chapter of the American Federation of Teachers union’s recent civil disobedience protest resulting in the arrest of 10 members and students in front of Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s office at the State Capitol. The protest was part of a campaign to “secure more robust and equitable...

Interview with Russell Brown, Vietnam veteran, conducted by Scott Harris. Russell Brown talks about his participation in the 40-day “Veterans & Allies Fast for Gaza,” where dozens of U.S. war veterans and religious activists have gathered at United Nations headquarters in New York City to raise awareness of the famine looming over Gaza. Participants plan to consume less than 250 calories daily...

Interview with Ron Jacobs, a contributor to Counterpunch.org and author of Nowhere Land: Journeys Through a Broken Nation, conducted by Scott Harris. Ron Jacobs talks about his commentary, “Culture, Christianity, and the Afrikaner Blues,” in the context of the blatantly false claims made by Donald Trump during South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent meeting at the White House.

Interview with Alex Lawson, executive director of Social Security Works, conducted by Scott Harris. Alex Lawson discusses his group’s strategy to defeat Trump’s grotesque budget bill in the U.S. Senate that mandates the largest cuts in U.S. history — totaling $1.5 trillion from Medicaid and Medicare as well as the the SNAP food assistance program — while disproportionately giving the wealthiest Am...

Interview with Lia Holland, campaigns and communications director with Fight for the Future, conducted by Scott Harris. Lia Holland talks about her group’s opposition to a provision included in this year’s Republican reconciliation bill, similar to last year’s H.R. 9495, which would allow the Trump regime to remove the tax-exempt status of nonprofits that it says support terrorism, with no require...

Interview with Sim Kern, a former teacher, journalist, novelist, and best-selling author of The Free People’s Village, conducted by Scott Harris, conducted by Scott Harris. Sim Kern talks about his new book, Genocide Bad: Notes on Palestine, Jewish History, and Collective Liberation, a part-activist memoir, part-crash course in Jewish and Palestinian history. Genocide Bad dismantles Zionist propag...

Interview with Analilia Mejia, co-executive director of Popular Democracy in Action, conducted by Scott Harris. Analilia Mejia discusses her group’s opposition to the Trump/GOP budget proposal that will cut a combined $1 trillion from Medicaid and the SNAP food stamp program, which will result in 10.3 million people losing Medicaid coverage over the next decade to pay for major tax cuts primarily...

 Interview with Raed Jarrar, advocacy director with the Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), conducted by Scott Harris. Raed Jarrar, advocacy director with the Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), discusses the group’s views on President Trump’s recent visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the U.A.E., the deals announced, gifts received, and major issues discussed, including the ongoing slaugh...

Allison Pilcher, policy director, with the Connecticut Roundtable on Climate and Jobs discusses several important climate bills currently being debated in the Connecticut state legislature; and Luke Pickrell, a writer and member of Democratic Socialists of America, who talks about his recent Jacobin magazine article, "Only a Democratic Constitution Can Stop Trumpism." Resistance Roundtable Hosts:...

Juan Fonseca Tapia, a lead organizer with the Trust Act Now Coalition, discusses the history of this law, first passed in CT in 2013, then revised in 2019. The latest version, HB 7212, is now before the Conneticut State Legislature and contains an expansion of the protections to undocumented residents in the state. Interview by Richard Hill

Interview with Jeremy Brecher, a historian, documentary filmmaker, activist, and author of "Strike!" conducted by Scott Harris. Jeremy Brecher talks about his latest book, “The Green New Deal from Below: How Ordinary People Are Building a Just and Climate-Safe Economy,” which explores community-led initiatives in various sectors such as renewable energy, green schools and fair labor practices. Bre...

Interview with Margaret Poydock, a senior policy analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, conducted by Scott Harris. Margaret Poydock discusses EPI’s new report, “100 Ways Trump Has Hurt Workers in his First 100 Days,” which she co-authored, as well as the response of workers and opponents challenging the Trump regime policies. His new book Examines “The Green New Deal from Below” Jeremy Brecher,...

Interview with Jacob Love, senior attorney with the Boston-based group Lawyers for Civil Rights, conducted by Scott Harris. Jacob Love talks about his work challenging President Trump’s executive order to strip birthright U.S. citizenship from children born to immigrant parents. He’ll also discuss his concern about reports that the Trump regime is now actively considering deporting immigrants from...

A Catholic Worker Activist’s Appeal to Pope Leo to Visit Gaza:  Interview with Kathy Boylan, a member of the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker community in Washington, D.C., conducted by Scott Harris. Kathy Boylan discusses her hopes for Pope Leo XIV, the first American Pope, as a peacemaker and advocate for social justice, as well as personal appeal to the new Pope to visit Gaza and take a moral stand...

The May, 2025 Monthly Labor Report focuses on the fully emergent fascist assault on higher education and intellectual life the US with special guest Fred Kowal, president of United University Professions (UUP) and economist Michael Zweig.  The conversation includes an analysis of what social and political forces must coalesce to create a truly effective anti-fascist front. Host: Richard Hill

Interview with Dr. Kristen Panthagani,  a scholar with the Yale Emergency Scholars (YES) Program, completing an integrated emergency medicine residency and research fellowship focusing on health literacy and communication, conducted by Scott Harris. "The views expressed in this interview belong to Dr. Panthagani and do not necessarily reflect the views of Yale University or Yale New Haven Hospital...

Interview with Mark Colville, longtime social justice activist and leader of New Haven CT's Amistad Catholic Worker House, and a Yale student who wishes to remain anonymous, conducted by Scott Harris Mark Colville discusses Yale University administrator’s decision to revoke Yalies4Palestine university club status, the larger issues of freedom of speech on campus, the illegitimate conflation of any...

Interview with Craig Mokhiber, an international human rights lawyer and former director of the New York Office of the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, conducted by Scott Harris. Craig Mokhiber discusses Israel’s blockade of food supplies to Gaza, starving 2.3 million Palestinians, the recent International Court of Justice hearings on Israel’s attack on and interference with UNRWA and other...

Interview with Ralph Nader, America’s best-known and most effective public interest lawyer, ran for president four times with the Green Party and as an independent, conducted by Scott Harris. Ralph Nader talks about the current constitutional crisis under the Trump regime, and his new book, “Civic Self-Respect,” a handbook on democracy and how citizens are empowered by their several roles, not onl...