WPKN: Politics, Policy, and Planet Podcast

Interview with David Schultz, distinguished professor in the departments of political science, environmental studies and legal studies at Hamline University, conducted by Scott Harris. David Schultz discusses his recent Counterpunch article, “The Tragedy of Political Violence: It Works,” recounting how violence has played a critical role in shaping history across the world and here in the U.S. He...

Interview with Phyllis Bennis, director of the Institute for Policy Studies’ New Internationalism Project, conducted by Scott Harris. Phyllis Bennis talks about President Trump’s decision to launch of air strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities, the ongoing Israel-Iran air battle, and the danger that Trump’s entry into the conflict could ignite a dangerous regional war.

Interview with Randi Spivak, public lands policy director with the Center for Biological Diversity, conducted by Melinda Tuhus. Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Randi Spivak, public lands policy director with the Center for Biological Diversity, discusses these threats and suggests ways listeners can help protect America’s public lands.

Interview with Ann Wright, a 29-year US Army/Army Reserves veteran who retired as a Colonel and a former US diplomat who resigned in March 2003 in opposition to the war. Ann Wright discusses her views on Donald Trump’s federalization and deployment of National Guard and Marine troops to Los Angeles over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, to suppress mostly peaceful protests regarding:...

Interview with Sasha Abramsky, The Nation magazine’s Western correspondent and author of " Chaos Comes Calling: The Battle Against the Far-Righs Takeover of Small-Town America," conducted by Scott Harris. Sasha Abramsky discusses his recent articles, “Trump Calls Up the Marines. Democracy Is in Danger,” and “Trump’s Dangerous Escalation in LA,” as well as the most dangerous authoritarian actions T...

Interview with Elizabeth Jacobs, professor emeritus of epidemiology at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona, conducted by Scott. Elizabeth Jacobs discusses her alarm at Trump’s Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s changes to COVID vaccine recommendations for pregnant women and children; as well as removing all 17 sitting members of...

Interview with Jennifer Loewenstein, former associate director of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, conducted by Scott Harris. Jennifer Loewenstein assesses the rationale and consequences of Israel’s attack on Iran, Tehran’s retaliation, the Trump regime’s apparent role in the attack, and the threat that this conflict could trigger a wider regional conflict involving t...

Interview with Collin Rees, U.S. program manager with Oil Change International, conducted by Melinda Tuhus. The Trump administration is cutting every subsidy and tax rebate for clean energy under the Inflation Reduction Act passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden in 2022. The Trump administration and the Republican Congress is also eliminating any other laws that promote the tran...

Interview with Charles Haynes, of Citizens Against Tyranny in America, conducted by Scott Harris Charles Haynes talks about Trump’s deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles amid protests against ICE deportation raids, and his recent column, “Trump Protestors: You Have No Idea What Is to Come,” with a focus on Israel’s seizure of ship carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza violates inter...

Interview with Brandon Wolf, Human Rights Campaign national press secretary, conducted by Scott Harris. Brandon Wolf provides an overview of Donald Trump’s many attacks on the LGBTQ+ community over the first five months of his administration and in the first few days of June Pride Month. He also discusses how HRC and a national coalition of allied groups are pushing back in the courts and on the s...

Interview with Tamika Middleton, managing director of Women's March, conducted by Scott Harris. Tamika Middleton discusses a broad coalition’s plans for the June 14th national No Kings and Kick Out the Clowns protests, which are being organized in more than 1,800 locations across the U.S. in response to President Trump and the Republican party’s attack on democracy and the rule of law.

Interview with Craig Mokhiber, former director of the New York Office of the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, conducted by Scott Harris. Craig Mokhiber discusses his urging the UN to convene under Uniting for Peace to mandate a protection force be deployed in Gaza, a call for a complete military embargo of Israel, robust sanctions against the regime, demand for a ceasefire, and action be t...

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...