WPKN: Politics, Policy, and Planet Podcast

Interview with Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO of T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, conducted by Scott Harris. Rabbi Jacobs talks about her group T’ruah’s condemnation of the ICE killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis, as she and religious leaders call for accountability, justice and an end to ICE brutality nationwide.

Interview with Yint Hmu coordinator of Public Citizen's democracy campaign, conducted by Scott Harris. Yint Hmu discusses the work her group is doing to challenge and resist the Trump authoritarian agenda both at home and abroad, including their many lawsuits and national protest organizing. She talks about the explosive situation in Minneapolis in the aftermath of the ICE shooting death of Renee...

The Organic Farm Stand presents:    Hot Topics with Diane Lauricella    Small Farms Report with Steve Munno    Nutrient-rich soil and how it produces nutrient-dense food with Monique Bosch  Hosts: Richard Hill and Diane Lauricella

Resistance Roundtable interviews:   1. Sandra Levinson, executive director of the Center For Cuban Studies, about Trump's recent threat to crush Cuba in the wake of the invasion of Venezuela and the abduction of President Nicolas Maduro (www.centerforcubanstudies.org);    2. Costanza Segovia, director of CT For All (www.connecticutforall.org), an immigrant rights group, discusses the increased thr...

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 commentary, “Trump Will Try to Defend Aggression Toward Venezuela. It’s Still Illegal,” and a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators that advanced a war powers resolution that ultimately failed. She also comment...

Interview with Victor Pickard, the C. Edwin Baker professor of Media Policy and Political Economy at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, where he co-directs the Media, Inequality & Change Center.    Victor Pickard talks about recent mega-media mergers, spinoffs and the effort by Trump-supporting oligarchs to buy up media properties that could dramatically impact...

Interview with Pastor Doug Pagitt, executive director of the Minneapolis-based national organization Vote Common Good, conducted by Scott Harris. Pastor Doug Pagitt talks about this moment of crisis in the aftermath of the ICE shooting death of ICE observer Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of 3. Vote Common Good organizes religious activists to take action against the Trump administration’s mass d...

Interview with Alexander Main, director of international policy at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, conducted by Scott Harris. Alexander Main talks about President Trump’s regime’s illegal kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, imposition of a naval blockade, seizure of oil tankers and the president’s declaration that the U.S. will run Venezuela and take control of that nat...

The Monthly Labor Report interviews Olivia "Liv" Ryan, a Starbucks shift supervisor and a lead organizer with Starbucks Workers United (SBWU). which has mounted a national strike against the Starbucks corporation.  Economist Michael Zweig talks about his trip to Vietnam and Australia where he met with labor organizations and discussed working class agendas and strategies. Host: Richard Hill

Interview with Lynn Stoddard, a volunteer with Third Act, conducted by Melinda Tuhus. Third Act is a national organization of American activists over the age of 60, focusing on the issues of climate and democracy. The group was founded by author and climate activist Bill McKibben, whose 2025 book titled, “Here Comes the Sun,” extols the value of solar energy for providing affordable, carbon-free p...

Interview with Kevin B. Anderson, distinguished professor of sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, conducted by Scott Harris. Professor Anderson talks about his recent article, “The Worm Turns: Trumpist Fascism,”   as well as issues related to effective resistance, the need to organize a popular front, “big tent” opposition to Trump’s authoritarian rule, while ensuring progress...

Interview with Kayla Hancock, director of Public Health Watch at Protect Our Care, conducted by Scott Harris. Kayla Hancock talks about her group’s opposition to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to cut seven grants worth millions of dollars to The American Academy of Pediatrics—jeopardizing initiatives on reducing sudden infant deaths, improving adolescent healt...

Interview with Steve Ellner, an associate managing editor of Latin American Perspective, and journalist Andreína Chávez, conducted by Scott Harris. Steve Ellner, a retired professor at the Universidad de Oriente in Venezuela, where he lived for over 40 years and Andreína Chávez, based in Caracas, who wrote the recent DropSite News article, “War of the entire people: Venezuela’s Grassroots Rise to...

Interview with Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and author of Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran, and the Triumph of Diplomacy, conducted by Scott Harris. Trita Parsi talks about his recent article, “As Expected, Netanyahu Back Demanding More War with Iran,” recent Trump threats to intervene in Iran if the government kills anti-government protester...

Stephen Zunes, a foreign policy scholar and professor in Middle Eastern studies at the University of San Francisco, analyzes and contextualizes the Jan. 3 US military strike on Venezuela and the abduction of President Nicolas Maduro and First Lady Cilia Adela Flores. Interview by Richard Hill

Interview with Paul Street, independent radical-democratic policy researcher, journalist, historian and author, conducted by Scott Harris. Paul Street talks about his recent commentary, “Four Pieces in the Fascist & Exterminist Jigsaw Puzzle,” and his hopes for effective anti-fascist organizing in 2026. Street is the author of more than 10 books. His latest is titled, " This Happened Here: Ame...

Interview with Craig Aaron, co-CEO of Free Press and Free Press Action, conducted by Scott Harris. Craig Aaron talks about CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss’ decision to kill the 60 Minutes’ story on the Trump regime’s deportation of immigrants to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT Prison, and recent corporate mergers that are enabling political censorship.

Interview with Parker Molloy, a Chicago-based media critic, cultural commentator and publisher of "The Present Age" Substack newsletter, conducted by Scott Harris.  Parker Molloy discusses her views on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s and Dr. Mehmet Oz’s, administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, recent announcement essentially banning gender-af...

Interview with Jim Saksa, a journalist with Slate, Politico, The Economist, NPR’s Morning Edition and Philadelphia City Paper, conducted by Scott Harris. Jim Saksa discusses his recent Democracy Docket article, “DOJ Sues Georgia, Illinois, Wisconsin and Washington, D.C., Expanding Campaign of Voter Data Lawsuits to 22,” and other warning signs about the Trump administration’s possible plans for di...

Interview with Mary Turner, president of National Nurses United, the largest union and professional association of registered nurses in the U.S., conducted by Scott Harris. Mary Turner discusses two issues the union is currently addressing: National Nurses United’s demand Congress take agent action to restore Affordable Health Act (ACA) subsidies to prevent a spike in monthly health insurance prem...

Interview with John Bonifaz, constitutional attorney, and co-founder and president of Free Speech For People, conducted by Scott Harris. John Bonifaz discusses Rep. Al Green’s recent introduction of articles of impeachment against Donald Trump, which was tabled by a House vote of 237-140, and what accountability for Trump’s long list of unconstitutional and corrupt actions would and should look li...

Interview with Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Code Pink Women for Peace and author, conducted by Scott Harris. Medea Benjamin talks about President Trump’s unconstitutional march to war with Venezuela, some pushback now seeing in Congress, the work Code Pink is doing to raise awareness about the regime’s murderous interventionist policy and the current lack of an active and effective U.S. peace mov...

Interview with John Nichols, executive editor of The Nation magazine, author, conducted by Scott Harris. John Nichols talks about his recent Nation magazine article, “Zohran Mamdani on FDR, LaGuardia—and Trump,” on his hopeful interview with New York City mayor-elect and the current political environment where there are increasing signs Donald Trump’s MAGA world might be starting to fracture. Nich...

The Monthly Labor Report interviews Olivia "Liv" Ryan, a Starbucks shift supervisor and a lead organizer with Starbucks Workers United (SBWU). which has mounted a national strike against the Starbucks corporation.  Economist Michael Zweig talks about his trip to Vietnam and Australia where he met with labor organizations and discussed working class agendas and strategies. Host: Richard Hill

The Organic Farm Stand checks in with Vincent Kaye about his honey bees as the winter solstice approaches; and visits with Murray Gates, owner of Artza Mendi Farm in Sprague, CT, for a conversation about regenerative farming  and organic  poultry and egg production. Hosted by Richard Hill and Diane Lauricella