Episodes Newest First

Abby and Robbie talk to investigative journalist and author of the book Surveillance Valley, Yasha Levine, about his thoughts on the crime wave hysteria, the Russia "incursion" in Ukraine and the alt-media race to the bottom.

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Biden Wags the Dog on Ukraine, Alt-Media Race to Bottom & Cops Play Into Crime Panic w/ Yasha Levine

Mainstream human rights organization Amnesty International has come out publicly and said that "Israeli authorities must be held accountable for committing the crime of apartheid against Palestinians," and that Israel's "cruel system of domination" amounts to a "crime against humanity."

We discuss this report with Ali Abunimah, journalist and editor of the Electronic Intifada.

VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=-wfk4QVPwP8

Follow Ali on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/AliAbunimah

Electronic Intifada website: https://electronicintifada.net

How Israel is an apartheid regime, with Ali Abunimah

Puerto Rican public workers are protesting the neoliberal policies imposed by US colonialism and Washington's unelected Financial Oversight and Management Board. 

I speak with Ángel Rodríguez Rivera, president of the Puerto Rican Association of University Professors, about how teachers are rising up, after the minimum wage hasn't increased in 13 years.

VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=hCKxWXuEYUc

Puerto Ricans rise up against US-imposed austerity, protest poverty wages

On today's In the News roundtable, Esther Iverem, Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek discuss the latest on the dramatic situation unfolding in Ukraine. They also discuss two important historical anniversaries: Richard Nixon visiting Mao Zedong in Beijing 50  years ago, and the assassination of Malcolm X 57 years ago. The panel also covers the far right convoy in Canada, a shooting at a protest in Portland, Daunte Wright’s killer's sentencing, methane plumes seen from space, and more.

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

Crisis in Ukraine

On today's In the News roundtable, Brian Becker, Esther Iverem, Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek discuss how Congress has allocated billions of dollars  in military spending at breakneck speed to fuel the war in Ukraine, and is moving to permanently expand the U.S./NATO war machine -- but no such urgency can be found when it comes to the plight of the tens of millions of people going hungry, experiencing homelessness, or living in deep poverty in the richest country on earth. And all the while, capitalists grow even richer off these injustices.

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram.  We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you  consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more  are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

War Profiteers Cash In

On today's In the News roundtable, Brian Becker, Nicole Roussell and  Walter Smolarek discuss the latest on Ukraine -- developments from the battlefield as well as the shockwaves rippling across world politics and the economy. They also discuss how the dictatorship of capital continues to imperil lives amid the pandemic, an impending wave of utility shut offs, and more.

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram.  We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you  consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more  are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

Let it Burn: How the US Could Have Prevented the Ukraine War, But Didn't

The war in Ukraine has altered the global order. How is it changing politics around the globe? What is the historical background of the different nations in the region throughout the different historical eras and how does that affect the current conflict? What does history tell us about where this is headed?

Brian Becker is joined by Vijay Prashad, the Executive Director of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, Chief Editor of LeftWord Books, and author  of “Red Star Over the Third World.”

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram.  We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you  consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more  are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

Ukraine as a Pawn: The Real Reason the US Forced a Crisis with Russia

On today's In the News roundtable, Brian Becker, Esther Iverem, Nicole  Roussell and Walter Smolarek discuss how Joe Biden deepened the war in Ukraine during a trip to Poland over the weekend when he declared that  Russian president Putin “cannot remain in power.”  As the United States and other NATO powers raise the stakes, is there  any hope for a breakthrough in negotiations? The panel also discusses  the administration’s massive new military spending proposal, protests  against British colonialism in the Caribbean, the death of Madeline Albright, the debate over Russian oil purchases, and more.

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

U.S. Strategy vs. Russia: Regime Change, Encirclement, or Both?

On today's episode Walter Smolarek and Prof. Richard  Wolff discuss the Biden administration's budget proposal for the coming  year on Monday, proposing an enormous increase to the military budget  as the new Cold War intensifies. Biden  also included a proposal to tax the ultra-rich, but is this really  enough to make a dent in the enormous level of inequality in this  country?

Professor Richard Wolff is an author & co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work. You can find his work at rdwolff.com.

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram.  We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you  consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more  are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

Biden's New Budget Gives $31 Billion Gift to War Industry

Key international relationships are being profoundly tested by the war in Ukraine, especially the alliance between China and Russia – the two countries at the top of the U.S. empire’s hit list. How does China’s government view Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine? Will the relationship between the two countries grow closer or more distant as the western powers attempt to cut Russia off from the global economy? What consequences will this have for the entire world?

Brian is joined by Dr. Ken Hammond, professor of East Asian and Global History at New Mexico State University, founding director of the Confucius Institute at New Mexico State University, and activist with Pivot to Peace.

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The Socialist Program with Brian Becker also comes out three times per week in podcast  form — including weekly news round-ups and segments with economist Richard Wolff. Subscribe on your preferred listening platform here! https://linktr.ee/thesocialistprogram

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Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram.  We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you  consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more  are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

China Reaffirms Closer Relations with Russia as Ukraine War Continues

In this March 2022 patrons-only seminar, Brian and Nicole discuss and  answer questions about the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, including  Biden's call for Putin to be removed from power in Russia, what a nuclear war would really mean, and more. They also discuss the struggle for women's liberation and the wider "New Cold War" against China. 

Check out the preview now and subscribe at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram to hear the rest!

Brian Becker Seminar #14: Ukraine, Biden Calls For Regime Change In Russia, & More (Preview)

After decades of nonviolent resistance, abolitionists take up arms and start killing pro-slavery forces in the lead to the Civil War. Prequel to our recent episode 'LIKE MEN OF WAR: How Black Soldiers Whipped the Confederacy' with Eugene Puryear of BreakThrough News.

BLEEDING KANSAS: The Civil War Before The Civil War

To support independent media, receive bonus content and to help make this show possible, please join us at: https://www.patreon.com/thekatiehalpershow

Rapper and campaigner Lowkey (https://twitter.com/Lowkey0nline) talks about the Israel Lobby's campaign to get Spotify to remove him from their platform. Sign the petition telling Spotify not to cave here (https://www.change.org/p/spotify-do-not-buckle-to-pressure-from-the-israel-lobby-to-deplatform-lowkey?utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=custom_url&recruited_by_id=0ccb39d0-b020-11ec-b015-6f843b977d7f). 

Lowkey is a British-Iraqi hip hop artist, academic and political campaigner. He is a patron of Stop The War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Racial Justice Network and The Peace and Justice Project founded by Jeremy Corbyn. He has a Masters in Middle Eastern Studies from SOAS university and is an advisor to the website Declassified  which investigates the activities of the Ministry of Defence and British Intelligence Services.  He has spoken and performed on platforms from the Oxford Union to the Royal Albert Hall and Glastonbury. His latest album Soundtrack To The Struggle 2 featured Noam Chomsky, Frankie Boyle and Ken Loach and has been streamed millions of times. He produces and hosts his own weekly podcast for Mintpress and has interviewed US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, Roger Waters, Naom Chomsky, Naomi Klein, Ahed Tamimi, Ken Loach and Stella Moris (wife of Julian Assange).

Lowkey has become the target of a coordinated smear campaign to demonize, defame and deplatform him. Earlier this month, organised groups forced the University of Cambridge Palestine Solidarity Society to postpone his lecture and were able to stop his appearance at the National Union of Students in Liverpool. 

Now, a campaign by lobby group "We Believe in Israel" is demanding that his content be removed from music streaming service Spotify. This is unacceptable censorship.

The campaign against Lowkey is designed to silence Palestinians and their supporters. Anti-Palestinian censorship is now reaching into the artistic realm.

Israel Lobby Pressures Spotify To Remove Pro-Palestinian Rapper Lowkey

On today's episode Nicole Roussell interviews Brian Becker about the new phase of heightened conflict that world politics is entering. As the United States moves aggressively to maintain its position of the world's dominant power, the  globe is becoming increasingly polarized between supporters of this world order and those who fall outside of it -- a process dramatically accelerated by the war in Ukraine. This is playing out economically, diplomatically, and militarily.

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

Ukraine War & the New Era in Global Politics: Where Are We Headed?

In the second edition, Abby and Robbie dive deeper into what could be behind the new weaponized rhetoric of the right calling gay teachers and their political enemies 'groomers'. They discuss the disturbing trend of anti-LGBTQ legislation sweeping the country and what think tanks are behind the bills. As they discuss the organizations fueling this artificial culture war, strange associations emerge like Uyghur baseball teams, the 'Broken Windows Theory' and even the CIA. They wrap by discussing the history of LGBTQ repression in the US.

Make sure to check out Part 1: Why Neoconservative Zionist Ron DeSantis is Called a Populist & Florida’s Silly Symphony https://bit.ly/3kqczEi

Patreon subscribers at the $5 tier get access to an exclusive bonus episode per month. www.patreon.com/mediarootsradio

FOLLOW // twitter.com/AbbyMartin // twitter.com/FluorescentGrey //

Media Roots Radio

New Wave of Anti-LGBTQ Legislation, Manhattan Institute, CIA & Spooky Rufo’s Disney Leaks 2 of 2

News and views about the world for those who want to change it, with Brian Becker

War Profiteers Cash In

The Socialist Program with Brian Becker

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