WPKN: Politics, Policy, and Planet Podcast

Interview with Richard Eskow, host and managing editor of "The Zero Hour" and the lead writer for Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign. He recently wrote the piece "Dems Are Afraid Gaza Will Cost Them the Election. They're Not Afraid Enough," conducted by Scott Harris. Richard Eskow discusses the Biden/Harris administration’s position on Israel’s savage war in Gaza and how it may impact the...

What do you do when you are in a town that is politically polarized? Join Isabelle as she navigates bridging in a purple town. john a. powell, director of the Othering and Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley, provides sage advice to help Isabelle along. 

Interview with Teddy Wilson, a journalist and researcher on the U.S. radical right, conducted by Scott Harris. Teddy Wilson discusses the threat posed to the 2024 presidential election by Republican operatives, including the American First Legal Foundation, which are filing multiple lawsuits and laying the groundwork to challenge county and state election outcomes if Trump loses, as well as sowing...

Interview with David Noll, associate dean for faculty research and development and a professor of law at Rutgers University, conducted by Scott Harris David Noll discusses his new book, “Vigilante Nation: How State- Sponsored Terror Threatens Our Democracy,” co-written with UCLA professor of law Jon Michaels, which examines Trump/Republican election denialism, xenophobia and embrace of political v...

An excerpt of former first lady Michelle Obama's speech delivered in Kalamazoo, Michigan on Oct. 26th, 2024. Michelle Obama powerfully spoke about the issue of reproductive rights and what’s at stake in the 2024 election, directly addressing the urgency of the issue for men, whose wives, sisters, mothers, cousins, aunts and girlfriends’ lives are jeopardized by Trump’s abortion ban.

Interview with Chris Lehmann, DC Bureau chief for The Nation magazine and a contributing editor at The Baffler, conducted by Scott Harris Chris Lehmann discusses his recent article, “The Press Needs to Start Taking Trump Literally,” addressing the media’s coverage of Trump’s unhinged and dangerous comments pronouncing Jan. 6 as “a day of love,” calls to use the U.S. military to round up his politi...

 Interview with Dr. Kate Sugarman, a family physician and election canvass volunteer with Seed the Vote, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

Interview with Josh Ruebner, adjunct lecturer at Georgetown University's Justice and Peace Studies program and author of "Shattered Hopes: Obama's Failure to Broker Israeli-Palestinian Peace," conducted by Scott Harris. Ruebner discusses the ramifications of Israel’s killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the rising death toll in Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, Biden/Harris administration calling for...

Interview with Jason Stanley, the Jacob Urowsky Professor of Philosophy at Yale University and author of "How Fascism Works," conducted by Scott Harris. Professor Stanley talks about his newest book, “Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite The Past To Control The Future,” and the threat posed to democracy by Donald Trump and the Republican Party in the 2024 election and beyond.

Neil Meyer, contributing writer to Jacobin Magazine, discusses his recent article spelling out a strategy for progressives to steer a Harris-Walz administration to the left should they win on Nov. 5 ( jacobin.com/2024/09/harris-sand…-labor-dsa-strategy ). Neil also co-edits The Left Noes Newsletter ( www.left-notes.com/ ). Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill Sept. 14, 2024

Interview with Robert Creamer, a veteran political organizer and strategist, conducted by Scott Harris. Robert Creamer talks about his new book, “Nuts and Bolts: The Formula for Progressive Electoral Success,” a step-by-step field manual for how progressives can win electoral campaigns and a textbook for anyone who wants to know how electoral politics really works. Creamer has been a veteran polit...

Interview with Andra Watkins, a New York Times best-selling author and editor of the Substack online newsletter, “How Project 2025 Will Ruin Your Life, conducted by Scott Harris. Andra Watkins talks about her recent article, “What Nobody is Reporting About Project 2025 Disaster Response,” and the deadly disinformation that’s being spread by Donald Trump and his supporters that has undermined Hurri...

Interview with Justin Glawe, an independent journalist, frequent contributor to Rolling Stone magazine and the newsletter American Doom, conducted by Scott Harris Justin Glawe discusses the important issues examined in his recent articles regarding GOP threats to undermine the 2024 election with a focus on the conduct of Georgia’s election board and the mass purging of eligible voters in that stat...

Monthly Labor Report hosts, Richard Hill and Michael Zweig, interview Leonard Aguilar, secretary-treasurer of the Texas AFL-CIO, about the reach and growth of union organizing in Texas -- with special focus on Latinx participation and projected voting patterns. Interview by Michael Zweig and Richard Hill, Oct. 1, 2024

  The Resistance Roundtable show interviews Branko Marcetic who discusses his recent Jacobin Magazine articles on Biden's horrific Gaza policy; and the apparent decision by the Harris campaign to keep Tim Walz off the campaign trail. Interview by Scott Harris, Richard Hill and Ruthanne Baumgartner, Oct. 12, 2024

The Brennan Center has reported that in 2023, there were at least 356 voter suppression bills considered by lawmakers in 47 states. No matter what Nancy Pelosi tells me in her emails, chipping in five bucks is not going to increase the health of our democracy. Let's talk about what will and also about how the health of democracy impacts our health as Americans. We'll talk to folks from Fair Count,...

Maria Hinojosa is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, founder of Futuro Media, and anchor of Latino USA. She sat down with Isabelle Barbour for this feature interview that first aired on WPKN Community Radio in Bridgeport in August of 2024. The conversation includes reflections on changes to the democratic presidential ticket in the Summer of 2024 as well as an update on Maria's time at a MAGA gy...

Matt Bruenig discusses the important issues examined in his recent article, “Our Verdict on Kamala Harris’s New Plans,” and issues related to economic policies being debated by Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election campaign.

Greg Palast talks about Georgia’s five-member state election board, dominated by MAGA election deniers, which adopted new rules raising alarm about the potential for confusion and interference in the election certification process this November, examined his article, “Prepare for November’s Quiet Coup.” Palast is also the New York Times best-selling author of “The Best Democracy Money Can Buy.”

James Risen will discuss the important issues of race and racism in the 2024 election campaign examined in his recent Intercept article, “Racism Is Why Trump is so Popular,” where he argues: “Trump’s popularity with his base isn’t the result of economic anxiety, as many claimed in 2016. It’s about race and demographics.” Risen is The Intercept’s senior national security correspondent who waged a s...

Nora Benavidez talks about the coalition led by Free Press calling on corporate media outlets to report on rising authoritarianism and threats to democracy during the 2024 election campaign, covering six practices the media should adhere to during moments of crisis.

Brian Tokar discusses his article “Movements for Climate Action: Toward Utopia or Apocalypse?” which examines the climate crisis and how we can chart a new path to a future that is not only sustainable but better than the way we currently live and interact with technology. Tokar will be addressing this topic at Hamden, Connecticut’s Unitarian Society on Sept. 14.  

Mark Green talks about his newest book titled, “The Inflection Election: Democracy or Fascism in 2024,” which warns Americans that this November will be a choice between a Party of Progress and a Party of Dangerous Extremism that may determine the path for American governance for generations.

Jay Young and Cheri Quikmeyer discuss the work Common Cause is doing on election protection, i.e. addressing voter suppression, mass purges of the voting rolls, intimidation of poll workers, GOP election deniers’ threats to delay certification of vote totals and thus sow chaos, and the group’s recruitment of volunteers to be poll watchers.

Wajahat Ali discusses the presidential debate and election campaign, with a focus on Trump’s threat to democracy, his demonization of immigrants and white supremacist rhetoric and action, as well as corporate media’s skewed election coverage.  Ali is also author of “Go Back to Where You Came From: And Other Helpful Recommendations on How to Become American.”