Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers

Joining Mike on this episde of Hitting Left are Texas 60's activists and authors Thorne Dreyer and Alice Embree.

Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is Bill Ayers, teacher, activist, and author. They discuss the current assault on academic freedom.

Joining Mike on this editon of Hitting Left is former Congresswomen Marie Newman who returns to the studio to talk about her new book, A Life Made from Scratch. We used to call her the “machine buster.”

Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is educator, author, and Chicago Board of Ed member, Elizabeth Todd-Breland. She's written a biography of the late, great, former CTU President, Karen Lewis.

Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left are Jason Rieger from Indivisible Chicago, Tom Grace, historian, author, and veteran of the Kent State shootings of 1970, and Jerry Harris, author and prominent figure in the study of globalization and its impact on society.

Brother Fred joins Mike in this edition of Hitting Left to discuss New York mayoral politics, the spineless national Democrats and Signalgate.

Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is former Chicago Mayor Lori LIghtfoot to discuss Trump's attack on the cities.

Joining Mike this edition of Hitting Left is Chicago Tribune reporter Ray Long and Democratic Party consultant Alaina Hampton to disucuss convicted former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan and Illinois' culture of corruption

Joining Mike and Susan on this edition of Hitting left is author ands poet Hilton Obenzinger. They discuss the Judaism v. Zionism debate, Trump's plan for a Gaza Riviera, and other madman MAGA tactics.

Joining MIke as cohost this editon of Hitting Left is Susan Klonsky. The guests are the author and cartoon artist Ryan Alexander-Tanner and immigrant rights activist Rev. Sandra Castillo. Ryan Alexander-Tanner has written and illustrated a book about Muhammad Ali.  Susan and Mike will get the latest update on President Trump's threatened assault on our city's migrants with Rev. Sandra Castillo, who serves the Episcopal Church in Chicago as the chair of the Diocese of Chicago's Sanctuary Task Force.

Former death row inmates, now Chicago anti-death-penalty activists Renaldo Hudson and Stanley Howard joined by Liz Futrell, author of "Lessons from Death Row."

Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is basketball coach turned novelist Rus Bradburd and filmmaker Floyd Webb. Floyd and Mike will be talking about the Black Panthers on the 55th anniversary of the murder of Illinois Black Panther Chairman, Fred Hampton.

Joining Mike and co-host Susan Klonsky on this edition of Hitting Left is Rabbi Brant Rosen from Chicago's anti-Zionist Tzedek Congregation. Gaza, Lebanon, and resistance to war and genocide in the Trump era are the topics for discussion.

Joining Hitting Left host Mike Klonsky onthis edition is Rashid Khalidi, a Palestinian-American historian of the Middle East and the Edward Said Professor Emeritus of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University.

In the wake of the election of Donald Trump Mike is joined by former co-host Fred Klonsky and political strategist Joanna Klonsky to discuss the results and where we go now.

Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is Juan Gonzalez, co-Host of Democracy Now!, Senior Fellow at Great Cities Institute of UIC, founding member of the Young Lords and leader of the '68 protest at Columbia University. Juan Gonzazez is author of a new study of the "Brown Belt" in Chicago.   

Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is author, educator, activist and long-time friend, Bill Ayers. His latest book is called, When Freedom is the Question, Abolition is the Answer: Reflections on Collective Liberation.

Another edition of Hitting Left Music feathering Nina Simone, Bob Dylan, Paul Robeson, 10,000 Maniacs, Tom Morello, Mavis Staples, and more.

Joining Mike on day three of the DNC shows are Arielle Rebekah and Beth Miller Jewsih Voice for Peace.

On day two of the Democratic National Convention Mike is joined by long-time activists Peter Kuttner, Susan Klonsky, Mike James and Bill Ayers. All five were student and community activists at the time of the 1968 Democratic Convention. On this edition of Hitting Left Mike, Peter, Susan, Mike James and Bill recall the historic protests.

This edition of Hitting Left with Miike Klonsky and Friends, the Democratic National Convention shows, include Pushkar Sharma, co-founder and president of the South-Asian American Coalition to Renew Democracy Acts, or SACRED, and Dr. Dilara Sayeed, president of the Muslim Civic Coalition.

This special Democratic National Convention edition of Hitting Left with Mike Klonsky and Friends has former Democratic congresswoman from the 3rd CD in Chicago, Marie Newman, film maker and community activist Floyd Webb and community activist Katy Hogan.

On this week's episode of Hitting Left the brothers discuss the current state of the election, the choice of Tim Walz at VP, the upcoming DNC in Chicago. They also look back at the 68 Democratic Convention in Chicago, planned protests at the upcoming Chicago convention, the impact of the war on Gaza and more.

Former member of Congress Marie Newman joins Mike and Fred (Fred zooming in from Brooklyn) on this edition of Hitting Left. On the day after the Republican National Convention and as Democratic Party leaders try to foce Joe Biden out of the race, we discuss all things politics.

Mikes guests on this editon of Hitting Left are filmmakers Bruce Orenstein and Floyd Webb.   Bruce's PBS series, "Shame of Chicago, Shame of the Nation" lays bare the story of how Chicago devised the nation's most sweeping system of racially segregated housing—and how it diminished the lives of generations of Black families, creating the vast racial wealth gap that persists to this day.   Chicago South Side native Floyd Webb, a filmmaker known for starting the Blacklight Film Festival four decades ago, calls himself an “AARP-generation success story” for reinvigorating his career at age 70.

Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is noted education historian Diane Ravitch. Diane has been a sharp critic of corporate school reform practices such as high stakes testing, vouchers and privatization. In the second half of the show Mike and Diane discuss the presidential election and the war on Gaza and the student protests against it.

Joining Mike and Fred on this edition of Hitting Left is Bard College student and activist Lucy Gunderson talking about the student movement against Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Joining Mike on this week's edition of the podcast Hitting Left are Columbia student strike '68 veteran Mark Rudd and current Columbia student activist Ava Lyon-Sereno.

Joining Mike on this edition of Hittiing Left is Kevin Gosztola. Kevin is a journalist, and author known for work on whistleblower cases, WikiLeaks, national security, and civil liberties. Formerly the managing editor of Shadowproof, he writes for The Dissenter. Gosztola has covered the court-martial of Chelsea Manning as well as the extradition of Julian Assange.   His recent book is “Guilty of Journalism: The Political Case Against Julian Assange."

Mike's guest on this edition of Hitting Left is author, photojournalist and filmmaker, Danny Lyon, whose camera captured the history of SNCC and the 60's Civil Rights Movement.  Danny, who was born in 1942 in New York, is one of the most influential documentary photographers of his generation. While still a student at the University of Chicago, he was imprisoned in the South and became the first photographer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). His photographs formed the core of the book "The Movement."   Gloria Richardson, Stokely Carmichael, and Cleve Sellers in custody in Cambridge, Maryland, 1964. (Danny Lyon pic) Upon returning to Chicago in 1965, he joined the Chicago Outlaw Motorcycle Club. The two years he spent with the club resulted in the publication of a groundbreaking book, "The Bikeriders" which inspired a new film. In 1967, Lyon gained access to the Texas prison system and produced the series "Conversations with the Dead." Danny's new book is This Is My Life I'm Talking About.

Joining Mike this episode of Hitting Left are Fred Klonsky and investigative reporter for NBC news, Tracy Ullman. Fred talks about this year's Oscar broadcast and the politics of awards. Tracy discusses the sordid connection between the corruption of the Chicago Democratic Machine and the mass murderer and pedophile, John Wayne Gacy.

Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is brother, retired teacher and activist Fred Klonsky and Steve Goldsmith. Steve is a veteran activist and currently the president of the Torrance California Refinery Action Alliance combatting the dangers of hydrogen fluroide (HF) to people and the environment.

Joining Mike Klonsky on this edition of Hittiing Left is Rabbi Brandt Rosen of the Chicago anti-Zionist Jewish congregation, Tzekek, and Yonatan Shapira, an Israeli former military helicopter pilot.

Joining Mike on this 7th anniversary edition of Hitting Left is Rachel Rubin, Senior Medical Officer at Cook County Department of Public Health.

Mike's guest on this edition of Hitting Left is American peace activist, pacifist and author, Kathy Kelly.

Joining Mike in the Lupen Radio studio on this editioin of Hitting Left are veteran '60s (and current) activists, Al Haber and Michael James. Al was a co-founder of Students For a Democratic Society (SDS) and its first president. Mike was also an SDS organizer and founder of Rising Up Angry. He has a new book out with the same name.

Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is Illinois state senator Robert Peters talking about the Gaza protests and more.

Mike will taking a look back at the 1968 Democratic Convention protests in Chicago and anticipating the upcoming DNC in Chitown next August. Joining Mike are '68 Movement veterans Mike James and Judy Gumbo plus author Pat Thomas.

    Joining Mike Klonsky on this edition of Hitting Left  is Juan Gonzalez. Juan is an author, Co-Host of Democracy Now!, Senior Fellow at Great Cities Institute of UIC, former NY Daily News columnist, and once upon a time, a Young Lord.

Mike's guest this episode of Hitting Left is poet, novelist, journalist, critic, and columnist, Luis Rodriguez. Luis was the 2014 Los Angeles Poet Laureate. He is recognized as a major figure in contemporary Chicano literature identifying himself as a native Xicanx writer. His best-known work, Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A., received the Carl Sandburg Literary Award and has been controversial on school reading lists for its depictions of gang life.   Joining Luis in the Lumpen Radio studio is Mike's daughter, Amanda Klonsky. Amanda is an educator and prison rights activist who has worked with Luis on prison reform.

Joining Mike on this episode of Hitting Left is Carlos Martinez. Carlos is co-founder of the No Cold War campaign. He is an activist based in London, He's author of "The East Is Still Red: Chinese Socialism in the 21st Century". He has given presentations and discussions on topics such as "Give Peace a Chance: China and the World Today". His work focuses on socialism, peace, and international relations.

This week host Mike Klonsky shares some more of his favorite tunes.

Joining Mike this episode is Pidgeon Pagonis, an American intersex activist, writer, artist, and consultant. They are an advocate for intersex human rights and against nonconsensual intersex medical interventions and author of Nobody Needs to Know.  It's Pidgeon's second guest appearance on Hitting Left. Mike's guest for the second half of the show will be former Harlem Globetrotter star, Dr. Curly "Boo" Johnson.  Former Globetrotter (18 years) Owner CBJ Skills For Life Basketball Academy. HALL OF FAME-Peoria High.   

Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is Troy LaRaviere. Troy is head of the Chicago Principal and Adminstrators Association. He has recently been in a battle to defend the careers of some Black CPS principals who've been removed from their posts unfairly, according to Troy, as part of a patten of racial discrimination against Black school leaders.

Joining Mike on this episode of Hitting Left is Bob Zellner. 84 year old Bob Zellner has been a social justice organizer since he first joined the original Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in 1961 at the age of 19. 

On Hitting Left with Mike Klonsky and Friends, Mike is joined by Corey Stevenson, John Daley & Fred Klonsky. Today the focus is on Chicago. There's a new mayor in town. Are we really the "sanctuary city" that we claim to be? Memorial Day Weekend gun violence and more.

Joining Mike on this show is Carl Davidson, veteran activist and Marxist philosopher.

Joining Mike this morning is Jon Melrod, author of Fighting Times: Organizing on the Front Lines of the Class War.

Noted eucator, writer and historian of education Diane Ravitch joins Charles Tocci, professor of education at Chicago's Loyola Univesity with host Michael Klonsky on this episode of Hitting Left.

Former Chicago member of Congress Marie Newman joins Mike Klonsky on this edition of Hitting Left.

Assessing the Chicago election results.