WPKN: Politics, Policy, and Planet Podcast

Interview with Daniella Hobbs, a member of the Hartford Jewish Organizing Collective, conducted by Scott Harris. Daniella Hobbs, a member of the Hartford Jewish Organizing Collective, talks about her group organizing a Passover seder on Tuesday, April 7 outside the ICE regional field office in Hartford, Connecticut “to demand ICE out of Connecticut.” The seder will include music and ritual element...

Interview with Jeff Hauser, executive director of the Revolving Door Project, conducted by Scott Harris. Jeff Hauser discusses the multiple and unprecedented instances of Trump administration corruption that the Revolving Door Project has been investigating during the president’s second term. He addresses the need for accountability and what government reforms will be necessary to prevent such bla...

Interview with David Daley, senior fellow in communications at Fair Vote and author of Antidemocratic: Inside the Far Right's 50-Year Plot to Control American Elections, conducted by Scott Harris. David Daley discusses the ongoing efforts by Donald Trump and congressional Republicans to implement voter suppression laws and policies, including Senate debate on the “Save America Act,” and the presid...

Interview with Naghmeh Sohrabi, Charles Goodman professor of Middle East History and director for Research at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University, conducted by Scott Harris. Professor Sohrabi discusses the impact of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, and average Iranian people not generally discussed in U.S. media, as explored in her blog, “These Are the True Things,” which...

Sandra Levinson, executive director of the Center For Cuban Studies (www.centerorcubanstudies.org), reports on her recent trip to Cuba, focusing on the island nation's struggle survival under the yoke of the Trump regime's total oil embargo. Interview by Richard Hill

Resistance Round Table is broadcast on WPKN the 3rd Thursday of each month where hosts Ruth Anne Baumgartner, Scott Harris, and Richard Hill engage in conversation about local and nationwide organizing for a more just and democratic America during this pivotal and dangerous moment in our nation's history. On our March 19, 2026 program we first talk about the U.S. Israeli war on Iran with Jennifer...

Interview with Xavier de Janon, an attorney representing an anti-ICE activist in the Prairieland Texas terrorism trial, conducted by Melinda Tuhus. Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Xavier de Janon, co-founder of the People’s Law Collective, which represents political defendants across the South. De Janon, a member of the National Lawyers Guild, represents one of the defendants, Elizabet...

Interview with Tom Alter, a tenured professor of history at Texas State University, conducted by Scott Harris. Texas State University history professor Tom Alter talks about his termination from the university without due process for remarks he made at a socialist conference in his capacity as a private citizen. Alter also talks about his legal battle defending free speech and academic freedom imp...

Interview with Kica Matos, the president of the National Immigration Law Center and the Immigrant Justice Fund, conducted by Scott Harris. Kica Matos discusses her critical work at National Immigration Law Center, the recent Senate confirmation of Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, what if any changes may be made in DHS/ICE policies, and her view of...

Interview with Gerry Condon, a Vietnam-era veteran and war resister, former president and current national board member of Veterans For Peace, conducted by Scott Harris. Gerry Condon assesses the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran from the perspective of veterans and active-duty service members, some of whom are now seeking advice on how to follow the protocol to disobey illegal orders and apply for conscie...

Interview with former U.S. Marine Capt. Matthew Hoh, associate director of the Eisenhower Media Network, conducted by Scott Harris. Former U.S. Marine Capt. Matthew Hoh assesses the current state of the illegal U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, including allegations that the U.S. lacks a coherent strategy and made inadequate preparations for this conflict — as well as prospects that the Trump regime may s...

Interview with Andy Shallal, owner of the Busboys and Poets bookstores and progressive political cultural hub in Washington, D.C., conducted by Scott Harris. Andy Shallal talks about the Trump regime’s blockade of oil to Cuba, the impact on the Cuban people and the Nuestra América Convoy to Cuba, which recently delivered a shipment of 6,300 pounds of critical humanitarian aid to the island nation...

Interview with Lois Parshley, climate research director with Public Citizen’s Climate Program, conducted by Scott Harris. Parshley examines the spike in energy prices and interruption in the delivery of energy supplies due to Trump’s Iran war, creating hardship for vulnerable populations. She also discusses strategies for the world escaping this cycle of endless oil wars that has caused so much vi...

Interview with Katherine Spillar, executive director of the Feminist Majority Foundation and Ms. Magazine executive editor, conducted by Scott Harris.  Katherine Spillar discusses her Ms. Magazine article, “Project 2026 Declares Open War on Women’s Rights,” with a focus on Trump administration policies’ impact on women and the SAVE Act—voter suppression legislation designed to disenfranchise milli...

Interview with Raed Jarrar, advocacy director with Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), conducted by Scott Harris. Raed Jarrar discusses the current state of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, escalation of the regional conflict destroying fossil fuel infrastructure and disrupting energy supplies, the prospect of the deployment of U.S. troops to Iran and the consequences for international law.  Jar...

Interview with Sarah Ganong, state director of the Connecticut Working Families Party, conducted by Scott Harris. Sarah Ganong discusses the Working Families Party’s Connecticut legislative agenda, which includes standing up for immigrant rights, advocating for an equitable state budget with higher taxes on the wealthy and demanding fair schedules for workers in hospitality, retail and food servic...

Excerpt of speech by Bishop William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, recorded and produced by Repairers of the Breach. In this Nov. 2, 2025 speech, Bishop William Barber talks about the Moral Mondays coalition response to President Trump and GOP’s effort to gerrymander the 1st Congressional district in North Carolina and efforts to rig the 2026 midterm election nationwide. Watch the...

Interview with Branko Marcetic, a Jacobin staff writer and the author of Yesterday’s Man: The Case Against Joe Biden, conducted by Scott Harris. Branko Marcetic talks about his recent commentaries, “Trump Is in Way Over His Head in Iran,” “The U.S. Is Fighting Israel’s War on Iran,” and “U.S. Military Aid to Israel Is a National Security Risk.”

Interview with Mel Goodman, senior fellow at the Center for International Policy and author of American Carnage: The Wars of Donald Trump, conducted by Scott Harris. Mel Goodman shares his views on the motivation and conduct of the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran, as well as the short and long term consequences for international law, the world economy and the American empire.  Goodman is a professor...

Interview with Justin Glawe, an independent journalist and editor of the American Doom newsletter, conducted by Scott Harris. Justin Glawe discusses his recent article, “Inside the FBI Raid in Georgia — and What It Really Means,” and his reports on the Trump regime plan to nationalize the 2026 midterm election in a clear effort to employ voter suppression to prevent a Democratic party takeover of...

Interview with Craig Mokhiber, former director of the New York Office of the United Nation's High Commissioner for Human Rights, conducted by Scott Harris. Craig Mokhiber discusses the catastrophic war launched against Iran by President Donald Trump and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the further dismantling of international law and the resulting death and economic chaos engulfing the re...

Interview with Steven Levitsky, David Rockefeller professor of Latin American Studies at Harvard University, conducted by Scott Harris. Professor Levitsky, co-author with Daniel Ziblatt of How Democracies Die and Tyranny of the Minority , talks about his recent article, “The Price of American Authoritarianism,” assessing Donald Trump’s first 12 months back in the White House and the threat he now...

Carol Rizzolo , Co-Founder of CT Shoreline Indivisible, highlights her experience organizing here in Connecticut against the Trump agenda, and gives a preview of the upcoming No Kings rallies that will be taking place across the U.S. and Connecticut on March 28.

Alex Taubes, a Connecticut Civil Rights Attorney , shines a light on the local legacy and landscape of wrongful convictions, including the crisis of corruption in policing and prosecution in the city of New Haven.

Andrea Miller, Founding President of The National Women's Political Caucus of Virginia and Founding Board Member of the Center for Common Ground , talks about the current voter re-districting taking place in Virginia, and what her organizations are doing to reach, educate, and mobilize scores of voters across the southern state ahead of the upcoming April 21st re-districting referendum and beyond.