WPKN: Politics, Policy, and Planet Podcast

Interview with Michel S. Moushabeck is a writer, editor, publisher and the founder of Interlink Publishing, conducted by Scott Harris. Michel Moushabeck discusses his article, “Palestinians Endure Another Christmas of Genocide and Displacement,” and issues related to U.S. Middle East policy under President Biden and the future under Donald Trump. He is also founder of Interlink Publishing, a 32-ye...

Interview with Kate Kelly, senior director of the Women's Initiative at the Center for American Progress, conducted by Scott Harris. Kate Kelly talks about the new national alliance that’s now urging President Biden to instruct the national archivist to certify and publish the ERA as the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which has been approved by two-thirds of Congress and ratified by thre...

Interview with Marjorie Cohn, professor emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and past president of the National Lawyers Guild, conducted by Scott Harris. Marjorie Cohn discusses her recent article, “Trump Is Using ‘Unitary Executive’ Theory in His Bid to Amass Supreme Power,” issues related to Trump and co-president billionaire Elon Musk and “Project 2025’s” blueprint to impose an authoritari...

Interview with Jasmine Rivera, executive director of the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition, conducted by Scott Harris. Jasmine Rivera discusses her group’s Dec. 18 protest action on Philadelphia’s Ben Franklin Bridge, demanding President Biden issue directives to protect immigrants from Trump’s mass deportation plan before he leaves office and the nationwide activism that will be necessary to eff...

Interview with Parker Molloy, media critic and publisher of the Present Age newsletter, conducted by Scott Harris. Parker Molloy talks about her recent article, “One Day in Anti-Trans America,” with a focus on Trump and the GOP’s demonization of the trans community, the Democrat’s non-response, and the failure of corporate media’s coverage of right-wing extremists’ dangerous scapegoating, which le...

Interview with Rachel Carroll Rivas, interim director of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project, conducted by Scott Harris. Rachel Rivas discusses her work tracking hate groups and white supremacists engaged in violence – and concerns that these groups and individuals could pose a threat to civil society as Donald Trump takes office and encourages political violence targeting immig...

Interview with Kathy Kelly, board president of the group World Beyond War, conducted by Scott Harris. Kathy Kelly discusses her recent article, “When Will the UN General Assembly Suspend Israel?” and issues related to Israel’s ongoing savage war in Gaza, the West Bank (and earlier in Lebanon,) U.S. Middle East policy under the incoming Trump regime and the devolution of international law.  Kelly a...

The Organic Farm Stand, Dec. 19, 2024:    --Hot Topics    --Small Farms Report    --CT Northeast Organic Farming Association reports on the upcoming Winter Conference and the legislative agenda    --CT Sierra Club's Samantha Dynowski discusses the organization agenda to push for a non-toxic renewable environment in Connecticut. Hosted by Richard Hill and Diane Lauricella

Interview with Heather Digby Parton, Salon columnist, conducted by Scott Harris. Heather Parton discusses Trump’s Cabinet nominees, many of whom smell strongly of oligarchy, corruption and retribution, and the national fight over the future of social security and Medicare we’ll see next year. Parton has been a Hullabaloo blogger since the early 2000s, Salon.com columnist since 2014 and won the 201...

Interview with John Stoehr, editor of the daily politics newsletter, The Editorial Board, senior editor at Raw Story, and a contributing writer for the Washington Monthly, conducted by Scott Harris. John Stoehr discusses his recent article, “Kamala Harris Wasted Money on Campaign Ads, not Beyoncé,” issues related to America’s dangerous media landscape and the corrosive political impact of widespre...

Interview with Dr. Phil Brewer, Connecticut emergency physician active with Physicians for a National Health Program, conducted by Scott Harris. Dr. Phil Brewer discusses his views on the recent wave of public anger and frustration regarding our nation’s failing health insurance industry set off by the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson and Physicians for a National Health Program’s on...

Interview with Ralph Nader, America's best known and most effective public interest lawyer, conducted by Scott Harris.  Ralph Nader, whose latest book is titled, “Let’s Start the Revolution: Tools for Displacing the Corporate State and Building a Country that Works for the People,” talks about his effort to convince U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, to take an ethical land-moral stand a...

Dr. Vivek Chibber, professor of sociology at NYU, presents a class analysis of the November 5 election, noting that the Democratic Party had long ago severed its ties to working people and adopted a neoliberal agenda beholden to corporate interests. Panel:  Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill

Interview with Po Murray, co-founder and chairwoman of the Newtown Action Alliance and the Newtown Action Alliance Foundation, conducted by Scott Harris. Po Murray will talk about the 12th year of remembrance for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting — the National Vigil for All Victims of Gun Violence in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 11, and her group’s ongoing work to end gun viole...

Interview with Jeff Hauser, executive director of the Revolving Door Project, conducted by Scott Harris. Jeff Hauser discusses his project’s concern about the history of corruption during Trump’s first four years in the White House, and the corruption the nation is likely to witness under the incoming Trump administration, as well as the consequences of that corruption on government programs and s...

Interview with John Carl Baker, Ph. D., deputy director of Programs with Ploughshares, conducted by Scott Harris. John Carl Baker talks about the issues examined in his recent Nation magazine article, “South Korean Protesters Thwarted More Than Just a Coup Attempt,” and the future of U.S. relations with both South and North Korea.

Interview with Phyllis Bennis, director of the Institute for Policy Studies' New Internationalism Project, conducted by Scott Harris. Phyllis Bennis talks about the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria by rebels led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, along with an umbrella group of Turkish-backed Syrian militias called the Syrian National Army. She also assesses the Lebanon ceasefire, Isra...

The Monthly Labor Report's first broadcast after the Nov. 5 election:     Michael Zweig, economist and labor historian, discusses the role labor must play in the resistance to the fascist anti-worker agenda of the incoming Trump administration.  Prof. Zweig performs a post mortem on Kamala Harris' loss; and analyzes the effect of a possible mass deportation immigrants and of sweeping tariffs on th...

Interview with John Lugo, community organizing director with Unidad Latina en Accion, and Carolina Bortoletto, co-founder of CT Students for a Dream, conducted by Scott Harris. John and Carolina discuss President-elect Trump’s demonization of migrants and preparations local organizations are making to defend the state’s immigrant residents in the face of Trump’s campaign pledge to conduct the larg...

Interview with Will Rice, a consultant with Americans for Tax Fairness, conducted by Scott Harris. Will Rice discusses the group’s work raising the alarm about what Trump and the Republicans have planned to make the U.S. tax system even more unfair for working families, with deeper tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and corporations — as they build a government captured by right-wing billionair...

Interview with Wajahat Ali, author of “Go Back to Where You Came From,” and creator of The Left Hook Substack page, conducted by Scott Harris. Wajahat Ali discusses his timely, incisive column, “When Will Trump Voters Be Asked to Reach Out and Understand the Rest of Us?” – and other issues related to the danger to U.S. democracy posed by Trump regime 2.0.

Interview with David Pepper, former chair of the Ohio Democratic party, publisher of the Pepperspectives substack newsletter and author of "2025," conducted by Scott Harris. David Pepper discusses his post-election column, “Resolve: 8 Reasons That Keep Me Going,” that considers what effective resistance could look like.  Pepper is the author of “Saving Democracy” and “Laboratories of Autocracy.”

Interview with Robert Jereski, a lawyer and activist who serves as the volunteer coordinator of Codepink's World Court Campaign, conducted by Scott Harris. Robert Jereski discusses the horrific ongoing war in Gaza and the significance of the International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense chief Yoav Gallant and Hamas leader, Ib...

Interview with Natasha Lennard, a columnist for The Intercept and author of the book, Being Numerous: Essays on Non-Fascist Life," conducted by Scott Harris. Natasha Lennard discusses her recent article, “The Answer to Trump Victory Is Radical Action,” and her views on the urgent need to mobilize in advance of Donald Trump taking power in Washington on January 20, 2024) Women’s March Organizing Ja...

Interview with Tamika Middleton, managing director of Women's March, conducted by Scott Harris. Tamika Middleton discusses the nationwide organizing she and others are doing in advance of the massive Jan. 18 People’s March in Washington, D.C. and other locations around the U.S. to build community and power ahead of a second Trump presidency that threatens reproductive rights, civil rights, gender...