CovertAction Bulletin

Over the weekend, ICE agents invaded Los Angeles and its suburbs, kidnapping dozens of people on Friday and threatening more near a Home Depot on Saturday. These masked and heavily-armed forces are part of Trump's promised 30-day surge in anti-immigrant attacks in the LA area. But wherever there is repression, there is resistance - and the people of LA are fighting back. The community in LA and the suburbs continues its anti-deportation mobilization as we record this episode.Donald Trump has sent thousands of federalized California National Guard troops to the area against the wishes of Governor Newsom, and under seemingly murky legal authority. US Northern Command announced Monday that at Trump's order it sent 700 Marines with the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division from the base at Twentynine Palms, about 2 and a half hours from LA. Trump. The resulting legal and political battle happening at the same time as the pitched street battles and the solidarity and community defense mobilizations that are spreading across the country all but guarantee a larger crisis should Trump not back down.We also react to the breaking news that the government is planning to send 8,000 people to “free up bed space at detention facilities on domestic American soil,” according to Politico.Support the show

Big data and surveillance tech firm Palantir is working with the U.S. government to bring its software into multiple government agencies under the Trump administration. In April, Wired reported that the company had a $30-million contract with ICE to provide “near real-time visibility” on immigrants in the country. Late in May, the New York Times revealed that the company is expanding its government work across agencies including the Social Security Administration, Department of Homeland Security, Health and Human Services and more in $113 million in new contracts - on top of the $795 million they were just awarded by the Pentagon.CIA-connected Palantir counts the Agency's investment firm In-Q-Tel as an early backer, and was founded in 2003 by hardcore conservative libertarian Peter Thiel along with current CEO Alex Karp and two others. It's worked with the U.S. government as well as allies in Ukraine, Israel, Australia and many private companies. Its growth as a private partner in the extension of U.S. government surveillance and data collection in the age of AI should be a cause of concern for all people no matter which party is in the White House.Support the show

NATO held its 2025 Parliamentary Assembly in Dayton, Ohio between May 22 and 26. Though it promotes itself as a force in defense of peace and security, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's history exposes its true purpose: propping up Western imperialism and hegemony. It's an international body started with the goal of containing and threatening the Soviet Union, and since the fall of the USSR has expanded well out of its target areas of North America and the Northern Atlantic, causing death and destruction from Ukraine and Yugoslavia to Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq and beyondNATO is an existential threat to countries that seek to challenge the U.S.-centered status quo and manage their own path of development that doesn't include subservience to the capitalist global order.People from Dayton and around the area recognized the severity of this threat and called for protests outside the Parliamentary Assembly. CovertAction's Rachel Hu was there to cover the events and reports on how the city spent millions of dollars on security, keeping residents away from the summit and holding extravagant fireworks events while people go hungry and don't have their basic needs met on the ground.Support the show

Donald Trump held phone calls with both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, then announced that the two countries will “immediately start negotiations toward a ceasefire” in the 3-year-long conflict between the two. His announcement also touted a goal of increased trade and economic ties with Russia. It also comes weeks after the U.S. and Ukraine signed what's been called a “mineral for muscle” deal, giving the United States the ability to profit from Ukraine's natural resources. While an end to the conflict that's gone on for over 3 years now, and has its origins further back in recent history, is more than welcome, it's important to understand how we got here and how the “peace” process is playing out. The way the Trump administration is going about this ceasefire isn't really from a desire for peace, but a desire for greater control in the region overall - over both Russia and Ukraine - and the ability to focus the U.S. military on China.Support the show

On Tuesday, UnitedHealth Group announced that CEO Andrew Witty was stepping down. The announcement came from Witty as the company suspended its full-year financial outlook - because it believes that medical costs will be higher than forecast. UnitedHealth's revenue was over $400 billion. The year before Witty became CEO in 2021, its revenue was $257 billion - that's a 55% increase.At the same time, the Trump administration's 2026 budget will slash $880 billion in cuts to the critical programs of Medicare and Medicaid, while funding the military to an even higher level than requested by the Pentagon. Some of the cuts will come in the form of privatization, pushing recipients to private plans with Medicare Advantage - described by former Cigna executive Wendell Potter as “one of the biggest scams that we've seen in this country” because of significant fraud by the private companies that administer the plans.From cuts to healthcare and other social services padding the pockets of the wealthy, to threats to eliminate habeas corpus and other key democratic rights, and into new moves on the international stage, the Trump administration is showing us an entire system in crisis and moving far to the right.Support the show

Israeli Minister of National Security and supporter of extremist, far-right policies Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the United States in late April. From the time he got off his plane in Florida and throughout events in New Haven, CT, New York City and Washington, DC, he was met with opposition, protest and resistance. Even some Zionist groups opposed his visit, which included stops at Trump's Mar-A-Lago, a Jewish society tied to Yale university, the halls of Congress, and a fundraiser in New York. Ben-Gvir is a Kahanist, a follower of the rabbi Meir Kahane who supported and encouraged and was convicted of acts of terrorism in both Israel and the United States. He famously has a portrait of Baruch Goldstein in his living room, who killed 29 Palestinians in Hebron in 1994, and he repeats the calls of Goldstein and Kahane to expel all Palestinians from their homeland.And following in those ideological footsteps, Israel's government announced this week that it plans to seize Gaza entirely for the first time since it was forced to withdraw in 2005.Support the show

April 20th marked the fifteenth anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the largest oil spill in U.S. history, which killed 11 workers and spilled 134 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. For those who rely on fishing and related industries off the Gulf Coast, as well as for those who were involved in the recovery and cleanup efforts, real relief is still yet to come. The AP reports that “all but a handful of roughly 4,800 lawsuits seeking compensation for health problems linked to the spill have been dismissed and only one has been settled,” noting that in 2012 BP paid $67 million - about $1,300 each for nearly 80% of those seeking compensation. BP has since been forced to pay billions of dollars in fines.Meanwhile, the Trump administration plans to extend fossil fuel drilling and fracking even more than the Biden administration did. The nearly $1-trillion Pentagon budget is also a hotbed of climate- and life-destroying wastes of money, as the US prepares for great-power conflict with China.This episode was recorded on Earth Day, Tuesday, April 22nd, and we get into the lasting legacy of the Deepwater Horizon spill and much more.Support the show

Mahmoud Khalil, likely days away from the birth of his first child, is still being held in Louisiana as his lawyers fight for his freedom after a judge ordered that he can be deported. Just Monday, Columbia student Moshen Mahdawi was detained by ICE during a regular interview as part of the citizenship process. Hundreds of students from more than 90 institutions across the country have had their student visas revoked.And the Trump Administration is doubling down on the disappearance of hundreds to CECOT, the maximum-security prison in El Salvador. With Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele by his side on Monday in the White House, Trump suggested that US citizens could be sent to the notorious prison, saying “Homegrowns are next. The homegrowns. You gotta build about five more places. It's not big enough.”At the same meeting, Bukele said he would not return Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who fled his home 14 years ago to escape gang violence and had an order granting him the right to stay in the United States. Garcia is married with three children and works as a first-year apprentice with SMART Local 100, the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers union. The Trump administration is ignoring multiple courts who have said the deportation of Garcia must be overturned, including the Supreme Court.Is a Constitutional crisis around the corner? Is it here? And what should we make of the threats to continue these deportations and disappearances and expand them to US citizens? Support the show

Talks are set to begin on April 12th in Oman between the United States and Iran about Iran's nuclear program. The announcement was made as Benjamin Netanyahu left the White House after his second visit to DC in as many months. In a short video posted after the meeting in Hebrew with English subtitles, Netanyahu praised Donald Trump and said, “We agree that Iran will not have nuclear weapons,” adding that any such agreement coming out of these meetings would need to be “Libyan style” - where Iran destroys its nuclear program and submits to a foreign verification regime run by the United States.The announcement of talks comes after diplomatic letters were exchanged between Trump and Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the US sent multiple B-2 bombers to the Diego Garcia base located in the Indian Ocean, within clear striking distance of Iran.What do Netanyahu and Trump seek to get out of these talks? We get into how their approaches may differ, but they have the same goal. And then, we discuss mass protests that happened over the weekend in DC and across the country.Support the show

After breaking the ceasefire deal, Israel is continuing its ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and beyond, and threatening to further ignite wider conflict by bombing Syria and Lebanon. In just one 48-hour period after the end of the ceasefire, a combination of bombings from the air and a ground invasion killed over 500 Palestinians in just 48 hours. Though both countries are increasingly isolated in public opinion and on the world stage, the U.S. government continues to provide full financial, political, diplomatic, material and military support to its genocidal client regime.The movement in the United States against genocide has been met first with contempt, mockery and dismissal, and then with outright attacks. The disappearances and government kidnappings of student leaders like Mahmoud Khalil, Rumeysa Ozturk, Badar Khan Suri, and too many others come with promises of more from the Trump administration, which has revoked the student visas of at least 300 international students for exercising the right to free speech and for taking a stand against genocide. Rather than be silenced and deterred, the movement is continuing on and strengthening. A Gallup poll released last month shows that support among Americans for Israel is at its lowest point in 25 years, with just 46% saying their “sympathies in the Middle East situation” are with Israelis rather than Palestinians. That poll was taken in early February, before Israel broke the ceasefire and before Mahmoud Khalil was taken by the government.The work of the Palestine solidarity movement has taken on many flavors. From rallies and protests to blockades and disruptions of politicians, art shows and benefit concerts to boycotts and encampments and so much more, we are at an historic point in the struggle for justice, against genocide and for Palestinian liberation. Last week, the film The Encampments opened in New York City to packed theaters and rave reviews. Featuring Mahmoud Khalil and others, The Encampments blows away the mainstream narratives of what started on Columbia's campus in April 2024 and spread across the country and the world. It exposes the University administration and New York government for their treatment of people calling for an end to genocide, showing exclusive footage taken in the encampment. The film is currently or soon will be showing in about a dozen states across the country, with more to come.And on Saturday, April 5th, a mass march on Washington will demand a permanent ceasefire, an arms embargo against Israel and an end to repression of anti-genocide activists. Buses are headed to DC from as far away as New Hampshire, Michigan and Tampa, Florida for the event organized by a broad coalition that includes the Palestinian Youth Movement, The People's Forum, ANSWER Coalition, DSA, Jewish Voice for Peace, American Muslims for Palestine and many more.Support the show

Tens of thousands of new and newly-unredacted documents related to the killings of JFK Jr, his brother RFK and Martin Luther King Jr have been released over the past week. While historians and journalists are still pouring over the files to see what new historical information can be learned from them it's becoming clear that there's no smoking gun - no document changing the official narrative of the JFK assassination. But we are learning more about CIA tradecraft as well as a number of clandestine US operations against Cuba and the USSR.We also discuss Monday's revelation that the Trump White House was using Signal group chats with disappearing messages to plan the March 15 bombing of Yemen.Finally, Rachel speaks about a new documentary film premiering this week at the Angelika Theater in New York about the student movement against the genocide in Gaza - The Encampments.Support the show

The Israeli government, with the full backing of the White House, has completely thrown out the January ceasefire and negotiations and resumed the genocidal bombing campaign against Palestinians in Gaza, which may be followed up by a full-scale ground invasion. Over 400 people were killed, including over 170 children, in Israeli air strikes on Monday night. It was the deadliest nights of the last 15 months in Gaza, since November 7, 2023, and the death toll may end up being significantly higher.Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened that “this is only the beginning,” and the Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said that the attacks are “not a one-day operation” of its war to exterminate or expel the Palestinian people, Protests across the country and the world are responding to the latest Israeli attack, which could not have been carried out with political and military support from the United States - including the F-16 and F-35 planes that are continuing to drop bombs as we record.On this episode, we discuss how Israel destroyed the ceasefire, how the ruling class wants the detention of Mahmoud Khalil and attacks on other Palestine solidarity activists to have a chilling effect on protests, the use of the Alien Enemies Act against Venezuelan immigrants, and we honor AT&T whistleblower Mark Klein.Support the show

Over the weekend, federal agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent legal resident of the United States, and said they were stripping him of his permanent resident status and going to deport him back to Palestine. During the student encampments and protests at Columbia University last year, Khalil was a public figure involved in negotiating with the University's administration on behalf of Columbia University Apartheid Divest.Though the Trump administration is promising more arrests and deportations of those in the Palestine solidarity movement and beyond, the move has been met with action and resistance inside the courts and in the streets. A federal judge has temporarily halted the deportation, and over two and a half million people have signed a petition demanding Khalil's immediate release. Protests, rallies, teach-ins and walk-outs are scheduled to happen all week.Click here to sign the petition demanding the immediate release of Mahmoud Khalil.Support the show

Following up on last week's show where we discussed the quickly-changing dynamics of U.S.-European relationships under Donald Trump, we look at the “peace deal” Trump has penned with Ukraine that reportedly includes significant mineral rights for the U.S. we focus on how the Ukraine conflict and its possible end reflect the shifting focus of U.S. imperialism. Ukrainians have been used as pawns in this war and in the conflicts that precipitated it, and as we'll get into, the U.S. government is ready to move on - not to peace, but in fact to another war, this time with China.We're joined by Walter Smolarek, editor of LiberationNews.org.Support the show

As the Trump administration openly threatens historic American allies in Europe, weighs in on German elections in favor of the far-right, and pushes the idea of MEGA - Make Europe Great Again - it's becoming increasingly clear that the relationships and dynamic between the US and Western Europe is changing at a scale we haven't seen in almost a century. The uneasy transatlantic alliance could be at risk of unraveling, and these tensions could reshape geopolitics for years. But what exactly is the Western US/European-based order, and how did it come to be in such a fragile state?We also discuss the history of Futurism, the fascist movement that inspires billionaires like Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and others, as well as Apple capitulating to the UK government's war against encryption.And finally, we honor the memory of Aaron Bushnell on the one year anniversary of his self-immolation in protest of the US-Israeli genocide in Palestine.Support the show

Donald Trump has nominated Linda McMahon, a former executive with World Wrestling Entertainment and twice-failed Senate candidate as well as the Administrator of the Small Business Administration under his first term, to lead the Department of Education. Speaking about her nomination in early February, Trump said he wants her to put herself out of a job - to shutter the US Department of Education.McMahon is wholly unqualified to run the Department. The nomination of this multi-billionaire serves the interests of those who want to roll back the basic right to an education for all people, a right that is steeped in working-class and especially Black history in this country.We're joined today by Nathalie Hrizi. Vice President of Substitutes for United Educators of SF and long-time public school teacher.Later in the show, we discuss the threats posed by the CIA flying Reaper drones over Mexico, and we celebrate the release of political prisoner Leonard Peltier.Support the show

After Hamas submitted a two-page report documenting multiple violations of the tense ceasefire in place since January 19, and said it would on its end delay the release of some hostages until the issues are resolved, the Israeli government is now ramping up for another phase of all-out war against the Palestinian people. Benjamin Netanyahu threatened that if all Israeli hostages are not released by Saturday the 15th, he would “let all hell break loose.”The developments also come days after Donald Trump claims that there is no right of return for Palestinians, who have been fighting for their homeland since even before the Nakba, or catastrophe, in 1948. He boasted of creating a “riviera of the Middle East” in Gaza, along with American and Israeli real estate developers. Some versions of the proposed plan being pushed by hardcore Zionists would force Gazans in particular to the island of Soctra, southwest of Yemen, eerily reminiscent of the Nazi plans to deport German Jews to Madagascar drawn up by Adolf Eichmann in 1940.As imperialism brings the world closer to regional and possibly global conflict once again, we're going to get into what's happening in the Middle East, the White House and beyond.Support the show

Over the weekend and early into this week, Elon Musk's so-called DOGE, Department of Government Efficiency, effectively shut down the US Agency for International Development on a temporary basis. Musk, Donald Trump and their lackeys attacked USAID because they claim it's a “viper's nest of radical-left [m]arxists who hate America,” to quote a Musk post on X, saying it's a corrupt organization that promotes so-called DEI across the world and is used to waste money.But behind the scenes, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is now the Acting Director of USAID, which is to be reconstituted under his State Department. Rubio, a fierce hawk when it comes to Cuba, Venezuela, China and beyond, will now be in charge of whatever comes up from the rubble.USAID absolutely should be shut down, for real and for good, not just moved from one spot on the government org chart to another. It's an arm of US soft power, often operating as a front for funding counter-revolutionary activity under the guise of aid or democracy programs.Support the show

After getting rain over the weekend, three of the main fires devastating the Los Angeles area are nearly 100% contained, meaning that firefighters have been able to create barriers around the fires. But the Palisades Fire, the Eaton fire and the Hughes fire continue to burn a combined nearly 48,000 acres of land. And to the south, just a few miles north of Tijuana Mexico, the Border 2 Fire has burned over 6,600 acres and is only 74% contained.More than two dozen people have been killed as a result of the fires since they started in early January. Over 200,000 have been forced to evacuate, and tens of thousands of homes and businesses have been destroyed.Rachel was in Los Angeles recently reporting on the fires, their causes, and the response of both the government and the people on the ground. While wildfires are often covered as only natural disasters and the victims of the fires are portrayed as helpless figures, the reality is much more damning for the capitalist system that refuses to take public safety, climate change and disaster recovery for working people seriously. Support the show

Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday was met with protests around the country. As he immediately launched attacks on immigrants, the environment, LGBTQ people, labor and beyond, people took to the streets in opposition, pledging to continue organizing to defend the oppressed against the onslaught of attacks from Trump and the billionaires.On this episode, we get into some of the many executive orders that Trump put out on his first day in office. We also analyze the foreign leaders he did - and didn't - invite to his inauguration, highlighting the presence of the European far right in the form of parties like the German AfD. And we talk about the protests connecting struggles from coast to coast and across the world.Support the show

On January 13th, CovertAction Magazine held a webinar featuring whistleblowers and activists who formerly have served in various U.S intelligence agencies to discuss their perspectives on what to expect from those agencies and beyond under Donald Trump. On today's show, we bring you part of the webinar, which featured John Kiriakou, Coleen Rowley, Ray McGovern and Larry Johnson, and was moderated by Jeremy Kuzmarov.To watch the full panel, including Kuzmarov's introduction, Johnson's presentation and the Q&A we couldn't fit on an episode, visit CovertAction Magazine on YouTube. Support the show

Early on New Year's Day, a truck drove into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, resulting in dozens of injuries and at least 14 deaths. The alleged attacker, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was killed in a shootout with police. Immediately, the media and government seized on supposed and self-described connections with ISIS with no critical thought towards what they're calling a terrorist attack.On this episode, we interrogate who benefits from this framing, what else is behind this story and how it's being used by the system to prop up the war drive as well as Islamophobia and anti-immigrant hate in the context of the Biden-Trump transition and beyond. We're joined for the conversation by Syed, a human rights activist and local organizer with Al-Awda in Houston.Support the show

When UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was killed on December 4th in New York, the casings of the bullets used to kill him had “deny”, “delay” and “depose” written on them. These so-called “three Ds” of the insurance industry describe how companies go out of their way to get out of paying claims.Even before a suspect was identified and arrested, popular sentiment was broadly with the shooter. The health insurance industry in the United States is so hated that people sympathized with the motives they ascribed to the shooter. Defying the traditional left-right political poles, the real division came through: working-class people all over the political spectrum who have experience with the health insurance industry could at least understand why someone would commit this act.To look more at what the shooting tells us about society, we're joined today by Jacquie Luqman, host of Darker than Blue on WPFW radio.Support the show

Calls for the resignation of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol have rung out from civil society and beyond after Yoon declared martial law on December 3rd. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) called for strikes until Yoon steps down, and groups under and beyond that organization are heeding the call.Yoon's brief and apparently sudden declaration of martial law caused many to protest outside of the National Assembly chanting “Abolish Martial Law! Down with Dictatorship!” The members of that body who were able to get into the building without being blocked by troops voted unanimously against the decree, with the chair declaring it to be “invalid” after their vote.Yoon claimed that the measure was necessary “as an act of national resolve against the anti-state forces” and that he would target “shameless pro-North Korean anti-state forces.” Now, an arrest warrant has been filed against the former Defense Minister, Kim Yong-hyun, alleging that he collaborated with Yoon and intended to cause an insurrection.To talk about this still-developing story and help us understand the history, Yoon's relationship with the U.S., what these events mean for popular movements in South Korea and the prospects for Korean reunification, we're joined by Jia Hong, a member of Nodutdol. Learn more about Nodutdol's US Out of Korea campaign here.Support the show

At the end of November, groups aligned with Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) or the “Levant Liberation Committee” and previously known as the Al-Nusra Front, launched significant attacks on the Syrian government in the Idlib and Aleppo regions, taking part of the city of Aleppo. The Syrian Arab Army has mobilized to push back against HTS.The offensive of course comes within days of the ceasefire in Lebanon that we discussed in our last episode, but also after more than a decade of US-backed insurgent groups attempting to overthrow the Syrian government. Syria has long been a target of attempted coups, assassination attempts, regime change operations, sanctions and war. This legacy and the current Western-backed attempts to overthrow the Syrian government show us why there is a critical need for anti-imperialist politics in the anti-war movement in the United States.To dive into this history and what's happening today, we're joined by Taylor Gol, an anti-war organizer who is originally from Türkiye.Support the show

On Tuesday afternoon, the Israeli security cabinet approved a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the cabinet and then with a pre-recorded video addressed the Israeli public, expressing his support for the deal. But in the leadup to the security cabinet vote, and while Netanyahu was making his case in support of the deal, Israel has been engaging in some of its heaviest bombardment of southern Lebanon since mid-September. On Monday the 26th, attacks killed 55 people and injured 160 in Lebanon. And on Tuesday, the IDF launched an intense blitz of 20 bombings in just 2 minutes, then later in the day bombed an apartment building in Hamra, a commercial area of Beirut.Over 3,800 people have been killed in Lebanon and nearly 16,000 wounded by the IDF since October 7, 2023.In making his public case for the ceasefire, which is a much-needed development to give reprieve to the people of Southern Lebanon, Netanyahu gave three reasons: First, to “focus on the Iranian threat.” Second, to “give our forces a breather and replenish stocks,” referring to the IDF. And third, to “separate the fronts” in the war.To make sense of these breaking developments and put them into an appropriate historical context, we're joined by Richard Becker. He's an anti-imperialist activist and organizer and the author of Palestine, Israel and the US Empire, which you can find at 1804 Books.Support the show

Shortly after we recorded our last episode and mentioned the bill, the House of Representatives tried and failed to vote on HR 9495, the “Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act” bill. House Republicans tried to suspend the rules and push a vote through, and got 52 Democrats to vote with them, but weren't able to get the ⅔ majority they needed under House procedural rules.But HR 9495, also called the “nonprofit killer” bill, isn't dead yet. If passed, it would allow the Trump administration to revoke an organization's nonprofit status by simply saying the organization is connected to or supports terrorism. It's another weapon the US government would have to attempt to crush dissent, targeting organizations standing up against the genocide in Gaza and many more. Civil society, activist, nonprofit and legal organizations from the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund to the National Council of Nonprofits, CAIR, ACLU and beyond have called for the bill to be rejected.To understand where this bill comes from and what its impact would be, we're joined today by Wassim Kanaan, a grass-roots-oriented advocate, focusing on direct advocacy and working with the community on high impact projects.Wassim currently serves as the Chair-person for the New Jersey Chapter of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP).Support the show

Within days of winning the election, Donald Trump is already making announcements about who will - and won't - be in his cabinet and influencing his administration. On today's show, we're going to take a look at what a second Trump term is going to look like. From Elon Musk being on calls with Trump and Zelenskyy to RFK having influence over health policy and beyond, workers in the US and around the world will be under attack on many fronts.We're joined later in the show by Walter Smolarek, producer of The Socialist Program, to talk about Trump's foreign policy and in particular what his election means for the genocide in Gaza, conflict with China, and the war in Ukraine.Support the show

We're just days out from the US presidential elections. With many polls putting Trump and Harris within just a few points of each other, it's easy to get caught up in the fear and uncertainty of the race as we continue to see horror after horror unfolding in Gaza and Lebanon as well as critical domestic crises like housing and infrastructure going unaddressed.On this show, we're focusing on the work of activists looking past the mainstream. They've been in the streets, they've pushed local resolutions, called for ceasefires and weapons embargoes, they've voted Uncommitted and called to abandon Biden and Harris and any candidate who won't speak out against genocide. We talk with some organizers who have been building peoples' movements for power and solidarity about how they view the elections, what they've been doing in the lead-up, and most importantly, we'll hear what they'll be doing on November 6 after all the ballots have been counted. We're joined by Dr. Hassan Abdel Salam - co-founder of Abandon Biden, which is now Abandon Harris.Later in the show, we discuss the No Votes for Genocide campaign with Francesca Maria, an organizer with the CT Palestine Solidarity Coalition and co-chair of Connecticut DSA.Support the show

The devastation of Hurricane Oscar, which hit Cuba on October 18th, has significantly worsened the deep crisis of the island's electric grid. The U.S. government and its media lackeys are trying to blame the socialist government for supposed mismanagement of the country's power system, but the reality is that the biggest contributor to the situation is the US blockade of Cuba.On October 22nd, The People's Forum published an open letter in the New York Times calling on President Biden to overturn the Trump administration's anti-Cuba policies. Biden has 90 days left in his term to restore the Obama-era reforms and steps towards normalization that are desperately needed.We talk more about the history of the criminal blockade and its impact on Cuba.Support the show

Hurricane Milton approached the physical limits of what a hurricane can be before it made landfall, and this was driven in part by the fact that 13 major Western corporations are responsible for the deforestation of 17% of the Amazon rainforest over the last few decades.The drastic effects of climate change are causing havoc across the globe. In the southeastern US and into Appalachia, hurricanes Helene and Milton have killed hundreds, left thousands without shelter and caused untold billions in damage. On the other side of the planet, parts of the Sahara desert flooded for the first time in nearly 50 years after intense rainstorms dropped 8 inches of rain in 2 days on parts of Morocco that don't get more than an inch or so yearly. These storms and many other examples  are showing that no one is safe from so-called storms of the century that seem to be happening weekly.Meanwhile, insurance companies in Florida have been denying claims even from people who have been paying for hurricane-specific policies, and big landlords and investors are looking to profit from these disasters by buying up more land - all while doing nothing to address the climate crisis.We're joined today Ali by Abdel-Qader, a Palestinian organizer and Tampa-based activist who's involved in relief efforts on the ground, and Tina Landis, author of Climate Solutions Beyond Capitalism.Support the relief work in Florida by clicking here.Find Tina's book at 1804 books here.Support the show

As the U.S. & Israeli war in the Middle East continues to expand with new threats of a significant Israeli attack on Iran, the Pentagon last week sent thousands of additional troops to the region. The USS Harry S Truman has been preparing for much of 2024 for a deployment to the Mediterranean Sea and departed on September 20th. Squadrons of F-15E, F-16 and F-22 fighter jets, along with A-10 attack aircraft, will not replace the American troops and equipment already in the region, but instead will now supplement them.The history of resistance and refusal within the ranks of active-duty servicemembers is usually hidden or when it is mentioned, it's maligned by the mainstream media and politicians. To dig into some of that history, the lessons for the anti-war movement, and what you should know if you yourself are going to be deployed or know someone who's going to be deployed, we're joined today by Mike Prysner. He's an Iraq war veteran turned anti-war organizer, a producer of The Empire Files, co-host of the podcast Eyes Left and much more.Support the show

On Monday, September 30th, an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah killed Wafa al-Udaini, her husband and two of her children. Wafa was a founder of the October 16 group, a mentor to young journalists and media professionals in Gaza and especially worked to highlight the voices of women impacted by the Israeli occupation. Wafa was the 174th journalist to be killed by Israel in Gaza since Israel began its bombardment of Gaza just under a year ago.Romana Rubeo wrote at the Palestine Chronicle, “Wafa's writing captured the essence of why we do what we do on a daily basis for years: amplifying Palestinian voices, and not any voices, but those that reflect the spirit of the Palestinian people, their defiance of injustice, their quest for freedom, and their courage in word and action.”Long-time listeners of this show may remember that we had Wafa on twice. First, in April 2023, she joined us to explain how the mass protests happening in Israel against Benjamin Netanyahu were about internal Israeli matters, and not concerned with the liberation of Palestinians. “So for us as Palestinians, we see that the occupation has one face, they are all the same, even if it is a far right government or a left-right government or any, it is occupation at the end.” she told us.She then came on the show a few months later for our October 11th 2023 episode, immediately after the resistance movement launched Al Aqsa Flood, to give an on-the-ground report on the Israeli bombardment, its use of white phosphorus and how people viewed the resistance.For today's episode, we'll be revisiting our past conversations with Wafa as we discuss the current and rapidly-escalating situation. We dedicate this episode to Wafa al-Udaini and her family.Support the show

As the United Nations General Assembly meets this week, world leaders have adopted a Pact for the Future to build towards a multilateral world. But the meeting is happening as regional conflicts could flare up and ignite across many parts of the globe. The US & NATO's proxy war in Ukraine rages on with few serious efforts being made towards a peaceful resolution. And it comes just days after Israel killed dozens and injured thousands in Lebanon with a long-term coordinated plan to explode pagers and handheld radios, following up with a devastating bombing campaign. The U.S. is now sending more troops, an aircraft carrier, two destroyers and a cruiser to the Middle East. The attacks have caused Lebanese acting Prime Minister Najib Mikati to skip his own scheduled trip to the UN this week.To help us wade through the various threads of the growing threat of all-out war around the globe, we're joined today by Ben Norton. Ben is the founder and editor of Geopolitical Economy Report, which you can find at geopoliticaleconomy.com.Support the show

The first and maybe only debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris happened just after we recorded our last show on Tuesday, September 10th. Over nearly two hours, the candidates attempted to talk over and through each other, regurgitating some of the same old talking points of each of their campaigns. It was light on policy and heavy on racism, bigotry and threats of war. Ultimately, what the debate showed us is that this contest is not about actually improving the lives of working-class people, but who will be better for the American empire and police state.We're joined today by Jacquie Luqman, host of Darker than Blue, as we take apart some of the key moments from the debate.Support the show

Fifty-one years ago, a bloody coup in Chile overthrew the democratically-elected president Salvadore Allende, leaving him dead. Sometimes now called “the other 9/11,” it ushered in the brutal dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, which lasted for 17 years. Over 3,000 people were killed or disappeared in that period, and nearly 40,000 people were targeted for political repression and tortured because they were leftists or suspected of being leftists.The US government played a significant role in both creating the destabilizing conditions for the coup and in its support for Pinochet. We're joined now by Abraham Márquez of Kawsachun News to discuss the legacy of the coup, the CIA's involvement, and what lessons we can learn today.Then, Rachel and Chris discuss the disastrous War on Terror that was launched in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, and the rehabilitation of George W Bush, Dick Cheney and others in the current political climate.Support the show

John Stockwell is a former CIA officer who became a whistleblower and outspoken critic of the Agency, the US intelligence community and the imperialist policies of the US government. He left the CIA in 1976 after serving there for 12 years following service in the US Marine Corps. During that time, he was told to fabricate intelligence reports on the situations in Vietnam and Angola, and eventually exposed a significant amount of information through his books and public talks. He was an early supporter and contributor to what was then Covert Action Information Bulletin, now CovertAction Magazine.In an interview with the Burton Michigan Voice in 1985, he said “I went into the CIA thinking I was doing the best thing I could with my life, the contradiction being that I was a humanist at heart. But of course, their propaganda line is that you're serving humanity by struggling to keep the world free from communism. It ook a lot of years making my way up the chain of command until I became convinced just the opposite was true. I saw it in Africa, but in Africa I was working out of embassies. I did not have Phil Agee's experience from Latin America where there was more bombing and torture and terrorism, and the issues were clearer. The inhumanity was clearer. Then I saw it in Vietnam, there was no doubt.”CovertAction Magazine has recently republished a three-hour video of Stockwell speaking in 1989 at American University, starting with an hour lecture and then answering student questions for the remainder of the time.Watch the video on our YouTube channel by clicking here.Though the names of politicians and places have changed, the things he brings up hit at the heart of issues we are still fighting against, and exposing some 35 years later.Support the Show.

The founder and CEO of social media and communications app Telegram, Pavel Durov was arrested in France on August 24th. The country, one of the Nine Eyes intelligence partners along with the US, UK, Australia and others, claims that the social media app is a hotbed for illegal activity, and Western media coverage blasts it as a tool of the Russian government. But the attack on Telegram is actually a testing ground for future attacks on encrypted messaging platforms and alternative news sources.Then later in the show, we discuss the invasion by Ukrainian forces funded with US dollars and using British tanks into the Russian territory of Kursk. The incursion marked the first significant breach of the Russian border by Ukrainian ground forces in the nearly two-and-a-half years since the immediate conflict began and follows a pattern of missile strikes and minor raids into Kursk and neighboring Belgorod since February 2022. Is this the sequel to the Ukrainian counteroffensive of 2023 that was hyped up by Western media and governments but ultimately failed to make a significant difference?  How do these developments figure into the longer history of the conflict, going back to 2014 and even further into history? And what prospects are there for peace rather than further escalation into a global conflict?We're joined by investigative journalist Kit Klarenberg to talk about all that and more.Read Kit's article Britain's Kursk Invasion Backfires? Support the Show.

The Democratic National Convention is taking place in Chicago this week. Amidst the fanfare and extravagance, there's very little actual democracy inside as big-name politicians and those trying to make a name for themselves attempt to make the case for Kamala Harris to be the next president. Hillary Clinton, AOC, Jill and Joe Biden and Barack Obama have taken the stage among others. But with Joe Biden out of the race, the DNC has made it a foregone conclusion that Kamala Harris will be the next Democratic nominee, preventing a floor fight or nominations.Meanwhile, mass protests began over the weekend and will continue throughout the week, demanding a ceasefire and arms embargo against Israel, healthcare for all, and much more. As Joe Biden was speaking, activists unrolled a giant banner inside the convention center that said “Stop Arming Israel.” In response to this demand for an end to genocide, the crowd started chanting “We love Joe” and the lights were dimmed. On Tuesday, activists with CODEPINK interrupted Tim Walz, chanting “Stop killing women in Gaza” and they were immediately met with a response of “USA, USA.”We're joined by Saja Bilasan, founder of Falasteen Favorites and organizer of Chicago Artists Against Apartheid to discuss what's happening both inside and outside the United Center in Chicago.Support the Show.

Venezuela's elections took place on July 28th. Nicolás Maudro defeated the right-wing candidate Edmundo González Urrutia by over a million votes. The imperialist machine immediately jumped into action to denounce the elections, condemning Maduro as a dictator and calling the results undemocratic. Over 1,000 international observers from 100 countries were in Venezuela for the election, and with few exceptions of those who are against the Bolivarian Revolution, they've stated that the electoral process was fair and free. That hasn't stopped the US government, its media mouthpieces, regional allies and even Elon Musk from calling for the overthrow of the Maduro government.Following the election, waves of fascist violence took the streets of Caracas and other cities, but supporters of the Bolivarian Revolution have themselves mobilized in its defense. We're joined today by Gloria La Riva of the Cuba and Venezuela Solidarity Committee.Support the Show.

In a ruling on July 19, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion that confirmed what Palestinians have been saying for over 7 decades: That the Israeli occupation is illegal, that the way Palestinians are treated by Israel is a form of apartheid, and that the occupation must end.This ruling includes the Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which have grown especially since the Israeli military withdrew from Gaza in 2005.As we are approaching 300 days of the genocide in Gaza and over 40,000 deaths at the hands of the US-funded and armed Israeli military, we wanted to talk more about the ICJ and this ruling. An ICJ advisory opinion cannot force a country to act, but can have a real impact on how the rest of the world approaches policy towards Israel.We're joined by Laith Aqel, human rights lawyer, a lecturer in the Human Rights Clinic at Yale and an organizer with the CT Palestine Solidarity Coalition.And later in the show, just days after the ICJ ruling Benjamin Netanyahu spoke in front of the US Congress as over 10,000 people rallied outside the Capitol. We'll bring you some of the speeches from that rally as well.Support the Show.

Just over 100 days away from the 2024 election, Joe Biden has dropped out of the race and endorsed Kamala Harris, signaling to the Democratic Party that there should be no debate, no other nominations and certainly no floor fight over delegates at the upcoming Democratic National Convention next month. This of course comes after a period where there were no real primaries for the Democratic Party. That's not unusual when a sitting President is running for reelection, but questions about Biden's ability to beat Donald Trump this year have lingered for quite some time.Today, we want to get into who Kamala Harris is, what interests she represents and what the absolute lack of democracy in the so-called Democratic Party means for social movements and real change through November and beyond.We're joined by activist, author and journalist Eugene Puryear, host of The Freedom Side Live on Breakthrough News.Support the Show.

The attempted assassination of Donald Trump on July 13th changed the political situation in the United States and especially surrounding the 2024 election in an instant. The Biden campaign canceled events and advertisements, while the Trump campaign began preparing for the Republican National Convention happening this week.Within minutes of the shooting, the chorus from mainstream commentators and politicians effectively had one voice. Republicans and Democrats alike condemned “political violence” in the United States and for Americans to come together despite our political differences. But who is their solidarity with? Political violence continues in this country and across the world in the forms of hunger, homelessness, skyrocketing medical debt, famine, sanctions and war waged from what MLK called the “greatest purveyor of violence in the world today”To help us make sense of this quickly shifting situation, a review of the history of political violence in the United States and how the ruling class is attempting to take advantage of it, we're joined today by Brian Becker, host of The Socialist Program.Support the Show.

Project 2025 bills itself as a comprehensive plan to undo decades of social progress - in its own words, to “dismantle the administrative state” and “return self-governance to the American people.” Democrats have jumped into using it and its connections to the Trump agenda and former staff as a reason to rally behind Joe Biden.Among its 922-page Mandate for Leadership, Project 2025 suggests eliminating the Department of Education, increasing the US nuclear weapon arsenal, harshly limiting access to reproductive care, rolling back LGBTQ rights and much more.We're joined by political strategist and movement journalist Anoa Changa to understand who's behind Project 2025 and where it comes from.Support the Show.

The U.S. government is spying on you through your mail. The little-known program called mail covers lets law enforcement request that an investigative bureau inside the Postal Service track and report on all the mail you're getting. And it's done without a warrant, without any real oversight or transparency, and at the request of agencies like the IRS, FBI, Department of Homeland Security and ICE. While the USPS Office of the Inspector General hasn't provided updates on the program in a decade, recent reporting in The Washington Post exposed more about the mail covers program.We're joined for this show by John Kiriakou. He's a former CIA counterterrorism officer, a whistleblower who exposed the CIA's torture program, and a member of the Editorial Board of CovertAction Magazine. He also has personal experience with mail covers.Read John's article on the mail covers program and his experience at Consortium News.Read Chris' article on the mail covers program at Liberation News.Support the Show.

After 1,901 days in Belmarsh Prison, and many more years fighting for his freedom, Julian Assange has agreed to a plea deal with the United States and is back in Australia. There, he'll reunite with his wife, Stella, and his children who have only seen him in jail.The official Wikileaks account on Twitter posted: “Julian's freedom is our freedom.” The struggle for Julian Assange's freedom has been a global one, involving many sectors of society - advocates, activists, whistleblowers, artists, human rights workers, doctors and so many more, and of course a brilliant team of lawyers, all working tirelessly for him.To discuss, we're joined by Kevin Gosztola, the editor of The Dissenter, the author of the book Guilty of Journalism: The Political Case Against Julian Assange, co-host of the podcast Unauthorized Disclosure and more.Support the Show.

In 2020 and 2021, a secret Pentagon program deployed fake social media accounts to sow distrust among people in Southeast Asian countries, particularly the Philippines, around China's Sinovac vaccination for COVID-19. Clusters of accounts identified as having ties to US Central Command (CENTCOM) made posts with the hashtag #ChinaAngVirus - or “China is the virus” in Tagalog suggested that the coronavirus is real, but China's vaccinations were not to be trusted. Posts in Arabic and Russian also targeted audiences in the Middle East and Central Asia.In an article published on June 14 by Reuters, an infectious disease specialist at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine said of the propaganda campaign, “I don't think it's defensible.”Dr. Nina Castillo-Carandang, a former adviser to the World Health Organization and Philippines government said “Why did you do it when people were dying? We were desperate”We're joined by Chris Bing, an investigative reporter with Reuters who worked on the June 14th article.Read the full article here: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-covid-propaganda/Read the Stanford Internet Observatory's “Unheard Voice” report mentioned in our conversation: https://cyber.fsi.stanford.edu/io/news/sio-aug-22-takedownsSupport the Show.

Over 100,000 people surrounded the White House on Saturday, June 8th, wearing red and carrying a 2-mile long banner with the names of the tens of thousands of Palestinians who have died since the renewed Israeli assault began eight months to the day before. Through a rally, march and followed by a People's Court of Justice on the Ellipse, the message was clear: the People's Red Line rejected Biden's lie that an Israeli attack on Rafah would be a so-called “red line” for him.Though most mainstream media represented it with fearmongering reporting, both Rachel and Chris were there to bring you real on-the-ground info about what it was actually like and what June 8th means for the movement. We also discuss some of the latest developments in the situation, including June 11th's ceasefire resolution in the United Nations Security Council, details of what actually happened during the Israeli assault on the Nuseirat refugee camp, and more.Support the Show.

On May 19, forces calling themselves the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo launched what appears to be a failed coup attempt, attacking the home of the Deputy Prime Minister of Economy Vital Kamerhe, as well as the Congo's presidential palace, Palais de la Nation. The country's Republican Guard forces were able to put down the attack within hours. Three of the 50 people arrested were U.S. citizens, and another U.S. citizen who reportedly led the operation was killed during the attack. Christian Malanga was the founder of the DC-based United Congolese Party, which has deep ties to the west and the United States.We talk with Maurice Carney, co-founder and Executive Director of Friends of the Congo, about the events of May 19, the history of the deadliest conflict since World War II, the role that the US and Israel play in the 3Ds: Displacement, Death and Destruction, and the resurgence of the anti-imperialist movement.Support the Show.

Over 3,500 people gathered in Detroit, Michigan for a three-day People's Conference for Palestine on May 24, 25 and 26. Led by the Palestinian Youth Movement, the conference highlighted the work that has already been done over the last 8 months but also the historical work done over years and decades in the struggle to end Zionist occupation. Participants heard about how education, art, music, literature, labor and much more play a role in this evolving struggle. The conference celebrated and uplifted the martyrs, political prisoners and fighters in Palestine. Perhaps most importantly, it laid the groundwork for the next steps for the movement to go forward. Rachel and I were both there, and today on this special episode, we'll be listening to a few clips from the conference and reflecting on what this historic convening means for the struggle. We want to thank our friends at BreakThrough News for livestreaming the plenary sessions, keynotes and many of the workshops, and for letting us use their audio on our program. You can check out the full video playlist from the conference on their YouTube page.Support the Show.

Student encampments and street protests for Palestine have been hit with a heavy wave of police violence and repression from coast-to-coast. In some cases, it's the same police departments whose staff and leaders get training from the Israeli Defense Forces that are attacking peaceful events calling for divestment and justice. In Salt Lake City, police viciously attacked students at the University of Utah on April 29th, and then arrested student organizers the next day before a demonstration at the President's Circle. Some of those arrested were held for hours or days before being released, even after bail was paid. Students and community have responded in force, mobilizing multiple times, demanding the charges be dropped, all the while keeping Palestine front and center.We're joined by Devin Martinez, a local organizer in Salt Lake City and Deja Gaston, an alumna of the University of Utah.Support the Show.