WPKN: Politics, Policy, and Planet Podcast

Sonia Hernandez and Veronica Ubaldo are team members with the community support organization Make the Road Connecticut , one of a national network of grassroots immigrant-led groups.  They share their personal stories of struggle for a better life in the US and their involvement in the fight for immigrant rights in their home town of Bridgeport, CT. Hosted by Richard Hill

A conversation with Medea Benjamin, co-director of Code Pink, and Francesca Rheannon, host of A Writer's Voice, a podcast which airs nationally and on WPKN-CT. Our guests cover topics from the ramped up oppressive measures against women's rights under Trump 2.0; to the possibilty of an end to the war in Ukraine; and the assault on DEI, free speech and public education. Hosts:  Ruthanne Baumgartner...

This month the Labor Report focuses on the rapid devolution of the American political system into an authoritarian fascist oligarchy. Michael Zweig, economist and labor historian, provides an overview of these dangerous developments and the type of resistance needed to combat them. Special guest Sultana Hossain, recording secretary for tha Amazon Workers Union, reports on the "holiday strike" agai...

Interview with Mike German, a fellow with the Liberty and National Security program at the Brennan Center for Justice, conducted by Scott Harris. Mike German talks about his new book, “Policing White Supremacy the Enemy Within,” a former FBI agent’s urgent call for law enforcement to prioritize far-right violence and end tolerance for police racism, and an increasingly dangerous situation where Do...

Interview with Nicole Carty, Executive Director of Get Free, a youth-led progressive activist movement, and Carson Delia, a Temple University student and Get Free member, conducted by Scott Harris. Nicole Carty and Carson Delia talk about confronting the Trump regime’s attempt to eliminate DEI policies in higher education and censor curricula that don’t conform to their white supremacist ideology....

Interview with Katherine Jacobsen, Canada, and Caribbean program coordinator with the Committee to Protect Journalists, formerly worked for The Associated Press in Moscow and as a freelancer in Ukraine, conducted by Scott Harris. Katherine Jacobsen talks about CPJ’s call on the Trump administration to restore Associated Press access to the White House, and the Trump regime’s removal of the White H...

Interview with Norman Solomon, co-founder of RootsAction.org and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, conducted by Scott Harris. Norman Solomon discusses his recent article, “Democrats Irritated by Voters Who Elected Them Need an Attitude Adjustment.” where he warns that Democratic legislators who are “perceived as wimps who failed to put up a fight against President Trump, Vic...

Excerpt of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, Senate floor speech on Feb. 4, 2025, edited and produced by Scott Harris. In this Feb. 4, 2025 excerpt of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ speech, he addresses the Trump-Musk coup, describing it as a dangerous movement toward oligarchy, authoritarianism and kleptocracy.

Interview with Elizabeth Jacobs, professor emeritus, epidemiology at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona, conducted by Scott Harris. Elizabeth Jacobs discusses rising concern about newly confirmed Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr.’s agenda at this sprawling agency and the damage his anti-science views could inflict on the federal health respon...

Interview with Maria J. Stephan, author of the award-winning book, "Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict," conducted by Scott Harris. Maria Stephan talks about her recent article, “We are Stronger Than We Think,” and issues related to the rising protest movement opposing the Trump/Musk agenda, the power of collective defiance and how to make cruelty backfire. Step...

Interview with Alex Lawson, executive director of Social Security Works, conducted by Scott Harris. Alex Lawson discusses the House GOP budget resolution that calls for $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid to help pay for extending the 2017 tax cuts for billionaires and multinational corporations, primarily benefiting the wealthiest Americans. He also talks about the group’s campaign to educate and mo...

Vetiveah Harrison and Héctor Freedom Gerardo, discuss their unique journeys that led them to the food justice movement and ultimately to the formation of the Liberated Land Cooperative ( https://www.liberatedlandcooperative.com/). This group of BIPOC farmers and food justice activists has created a network of CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) farms that together are making a significant dent...

Interview with Branko Marcetic, a Jacobin magazine staff writer and author of "Yesterday's Man: The Case Against Joe Biden," conducted by Scott Harris. Branko Marcetic discusses his soon-to-be-published in-depth profile of Russell Vought, the longtime radical anti-government ideologue who, as Trump’s recently confirmed director of the Office of Management and Budget, is now poised to see through t...

Interview with Mel Goodman, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, a professor of government at Johns Hopkins University, conducted by Scott Harris. Mel Goodman examines Trump’s latest initiative to end the Ukraine war, his reported conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin — and how these announced negotiations could impact the people of Ukraine, Russia and Europe.  Good...

Interview with Kenny Stancil, a senior researcher at the Revolving Door Project with broad interests in the political economy of inequality, conducted by Scott Harris.  Kenny Stancil talks about his recent article, “Where Is the Democratic Opposition?” and an update on efforts being made to organize an effective and aggressive national Trump opposition movement both inside the Democratic Party and...

Interview with John Bonifaz, a constitutional attorney and the co-founder and president of the Free Speech For People, conducted by Scott Harris. John Bonifaz assesses our national crisis as the Trump/Musk coup continues, including the constitutional crisis this administration has provoked as the Trump regime ignores judge-issued injunctions ordering them to halt their illegal actions.  Bonifaz is...

Resistance Roundtable features two guests:   -Prof. Christopher Vials, who teaches English at UCONN-Storrs, discusses the theory and practice of fascism and how Trump 2.0 is careening toward a complete dissolution of what remains of American democracy.   -Leslie Blatteau, president of the New Haven Federation of Teachers, talks about the threat posed by the Maga agenda to Connecticut schools, stud...

A deep dive into the history of African American involvement in the US labor movement with S teven Pitts, recently retired labor policy advisor of the UC Berkeley Labor Center; and Michael Zweig, economist, labor and civil rights activist, and founder of the Center for the Study of Working Class Life at SUNY Stony Brook. Host: Richard Hill

Isabelle sits down with her friend Regina Mosley, a community organizer, to talk about love and community organizing. Clips from past conversations with community organizers are included and a wide ranging conversation ensues. Everything from key elements of organizing to the patriarchy's impact on Valentine's Day gift giving is discussed. Music from Ayminor featuring Call Me Ace is included. Plea...

Interview with Kay Evert, one of the co-founders of the group NoVoiceUnheard, and Sydney, an organizer with the Pittsburgh branch of the 50501 protest movement and 50501’s national press liaison, conducted by Scott Harris. Kay Evert talks about the national mobilization network opposing Donald Trump’s illegal conduct and authoritarian agenda that, on Feb. 5, coordinated some 80 protest rallies in...

Interview with Derek W. Black, Professor of Law at the University of South Carolina, conducted by Scott Harris. Derek Black discusses what’s at stake in the Trump administration’s attack on the federal Department of Education, his motivation for this assault, and the importance of federal funds to providing quality primary and secondary education to millions of students across the U.S. He also tou...

Interview with Amanda Marcotte, a senior politics writer at Salon.com and author of "Troll Nation: How the Right Became Trump-Worshipping Monsters," conducted by Scott Harris. Amanda Marcotte discusses her article re: Oligarch billionaire Elon Musk’s lawless federal agency takeover, “‘ Hitler had some decent points’: Internet trolls guide Musk’s covert coup,” examining the vile white supremacy tha...

Interview with Phyllis Bennis, a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and international adviser for Jewish Voice for Peace, conducted by Scott Harris.   Phyllis Bennis talks about Donald Trump floating the idea that the US should take over Gaza, ethnically cleanse 2.3 million Palestinian residents and rebuild it into a “Middle East Riviera,” as well as the international rejection of this cri...

Immigration Defense Special John Lugo of Unidad Latina en Accion, and Bethany Perryman, communications director for the Connecticut ACLU, discuss strategies for defending undocumented people against ICE raids in local communities. Host: Richard Hill

Interview with Mazin Qumsiyeh, director of the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability at Bethlehem University, conducted by Melinda Tuhus