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To begin this week's show, Mickey welcomes back media scholar Nolan Higdon. They discuss his new podcast Disinfo Detox and recurring special feature “The Gaslight Gazette,” which analyzes current events and media coverage of them through a critical media literacy lens aiming to deconstruct deceptive media messaging. They also discuss legacy media's failure to adequately cover Joe Biden's physical and cognitive decline in the last election, which a new book co-authored by CNN's Jake Tapper addresses. The authors shift blame from corporate media to the Democratic Party, without noting their own lack of in-depth coverage, even though there were stories published at the time in the independent press. Later in the show Eleanor Goldfield and Mickey present another installment in their “Is This the Best We Can Do?” segment that analyzes the competency of current government appointees for the positions they fulfill. They examine recent cases of astonishing ignorance by two of Trump's department heads, as well as the way Biden's former State Department spokesman changed his story once out of office. Nolan Higdon teaches in the Education Department at the University of California Santa Cruz campus. He's also written extensively on media issues and is a frequent guest on the Project Censored Show.   The post Disinfo, Decline, and Dysfunction / Ignorance and deception in high places appeared first on KPFA.

Eleanor Goldfield hosts this week's program. In the first segment, we learn about the ongoing crisis that began with Hurricane Helene and why it continues, as federal and state authorities fail to address the actual needs of the people affected by the disaster. Next, a look at how the Trump administration, and some states, are working to suppress free speech by labeling any criticism of Israel as “antisemitism” and why this effort is actually a danger to Jewish people. Chelsea White-Hoglen is a lifelong Western North Carolina resident, a community organizer, and a mutual-aid worker. She also produces and hosts “Rednecks Rising,” a podcast about Appalachia. Alex Kane is a senior reporter at Jewish Currents magazine (www.jewishcurrents.org).   The post Continuing impacts of Hurricane Helene / Governments weaponizing antisemitism appeared first on KPFA.

In the first segment of today's Project Censored, Mickey welcomes back Lauren Harper and Seth Stern from the Freedom of the Press Foundation. They discuss several matters including their latest FOIA work on how the Trump administration has been treating immigrants, students and other vulnerable groups across the country. They provide an update on Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk and her release from detention in Louisiana, as well as updates on attacks on non-profits and the press at large, including attacks on major establishment media outlets. Later in the program, Mickey welcomes back the iconic attorney and prolific author Ralph Nader. They discuss his new book, out from Seven Stories Press, Civic Self-Respect. It's a how-to guide on being a more meaningfully engaged citizen with steps anyone can use to fight against growing authoritarianism in the U.S. and how we can create a more robust and representational democratic republic and protect our civil liberties before it's too late. GUESTS: Lauren Harper is Daniel Ellsberg Chair on Government Secrecy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation (www.freedom.press). Seth Stern is Director of Advocacy, also at the Freedom of the Press Foundation. Founded in 2012, the Foundation is a non-profit organization that defends both freedom of the press and freedom of speech. Among its projects is the Press Freedom tracker, a database of press-freedom violations in the U.S. Ralph Nader's name has been a household word in the US since the 1960s. His activism has covered issues from product safety to health-care policy, and he has founded multiple public-interest organizations.   The post Defending Freedom of Speech and Civil Rights Against Trump / Ralph Nader on “Civic Self-Respect” appeared first on KPFA.

Today's episode of Project Censored is preempted by special programming for KPFA's 2025 Spring Fund Drive. Brian Edwards-Tiekert speaks with author and political commentator Malcolm Harris about his latest book, What's Left: Three Paths Through the Planetary Crisis. To support our mission and receive the Malcolm Harris's book What's Left as a thank-you gift, please donate here or call (800) 439-5732 (800-HEY-KPFA).   The post Special Spring Fund Drive Programming: Malcolm Harris on Saving the World appeared first on KPFA.

Today's episode of Project Censored is preempted by special programming for KPFA's 2025 Spring Fund Drive. Jesse Strauss speaks with accomplished author, scholar, educator, cultural organizer, poet, and playwright Eve L. Ewing about her book Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism. To support our mission and receive Eve L. Ewing's book Original Sins as a thank-you gift, please donate here or call (800) 439-5732 (800-HEY-KPFA).     The post Special Spring Fund Drive Programming: Eve L. Ewing on Original Sins appeared first on KPFA.

Today's episode of Project Censored is preempted by special programming for KPFA's 2025 Spring Fund Drive. Nora Barrows-Friedman speaks with renown historian and author Rashid Khalidi about his work documenting the history of Palestine and his recent book The Hundred Years' War on Palestine. Rashid Khalidi is the author of numerous books about the Middle East, among them the award-winning Palestinian Identity, Brokers of Deceit, and The Iron Cage. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and many other publications. He is the Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University and coeditor of the Journal of Palestine Studies. Nora Barrows-Friedman is a longtime broadcaster and journalist who has focused on Palestine and Palestinian rights issues for nearly 20 years. She was the co-host and senior producer of Flashpoints on KPFA from 2003-2010, and has since been an associate editor and reporter for The Electronic Intifada. Nora is the author of In Our Power: U.S. Students Organize for Justice in Palestine. To support our mission and receive Rashid Khalidi's book The Hundred Years' War on Palestine as a thank-you gift, please donate here or call (800) 439-5732 (800-HEY-KPFA).     The post Special Spring Fund Drive Programming: Rashid Khalidi and The Hundred Years' War on Palestine appeared first on KPFA.

Eleanor Goldfield hosts this week's program, which focuses on two major issues on U.S. campuses. First, a look at how universities (notably Columbia) have suppressed student protests against the Israeli genocide in Gaza and what explains the severity of those actions. Then, how are universities dealing with student complaints about faculty members? Are the processes fair? What are the implications for academic freedom? GUEST: Kei Pritzker is a journalist at Breakthrough News, and a co-director of the documentary “The Encampments.” Nick Wolfinger teaches at the University of Utah, and is the editor of the new book Professors Speak Out, which presents 22 accounts of campus investigations, as told by the faculty members involved.   The post Crackdown on Pro-Palestine Students / “Professors Speak Out” on Investigations appeared first on KPFA.

Mickey Huff and Eleanor Goldfield co-host this week's program. They dedicate the hour to interviews about the 2025 “Izzy” Awards. Named for the famous muckraking reporter I.F. “Izzy” Stone (1907-1989), the annual awards honor outstanding works in independent journalism published during the preceding calendar year. Now in their 17th year, the awards are bestowed by the Park Center for Independent Media (PCIM) at Ithaca College in upstate New York. Chris Albright is a resident of East Palestine, Ohio, and a survivor of the 2023 railroad derailment, fire, and chemical spill. Max Alvarez is Editor-In-Chief at the Real News Network (www.therealnews.com). Victor Pickard is a media scholar at the University of Pennsylvania, and a member of the panel of judges for the Izzy Awards. Arielle Angel is the Editor of Jewish Currents magazine (www.jewishcurrents.org).   The post Honoring Independent Journalism: The 2025 “Izzy” Awards appeared first on KPFA.

This week we're looking at the insidious and nefarious sides of tech, starting with a conversation with Esra'a Al Shafei discussing her new site Surveillance Watch, an incredible trove of data formulated into an easily searchable and interactive site that exposes the vast interconnected web of global authoritarian surveillance systems. Esra'a discusses the impunity with which these corporations and financial institutions operate, with no care for borders, side-stepping sanctions, and using genocide as a marketing tool. She highlights the importance of bringing this information to light, of acting to protect ourselves and each other and never normalizing the Orwellian panopticon. Next, cohost Mickey Huff sits down with investigative journalist Peter Byrne to unveil a new 10-part series titled Military AI Watch: the dangerous militarization of AI and the profiteering behind it. Peter and Mickey discuss the first piece in the series, “One Ring to Rule them All,” where Peter names the cast of characters in this dark fantasy turned reality, their terrifying aims, the monopoly on murder, and more. GUESTS: Esra'a Al Shafei is a Bahraini civil rights activist, free-speech advocate, and the founder of Surveillance Watch, a website that monitors the global surveillance industry. Peter Byrne is a veteran investigative reporter who has written on topics ranging from breast cancer, to wildlife conservation, to corruption at the Postal Service. Together with Project Censored, he is launching “Military AI Watch,” a ten-part series on the militarization of AI.   The post The Dark Side of Technology: Surveillance and Militarization appeared first on KPFA.

Eleanor Goldfield hosts this week's Project Censored Show. Her first guest, Ben Price, speaks about the concept of “rights of nature” and how a legal system based on the control of “property” necessarily subordinates both the rights of humans and the rights of nature. In the second half of the program, Maya Schenwar and Kim Wilson examine the effects of the U.S. prison system on the families of prisoners and explain why “prisons are the canaries in the coal mine.” GUESTS: Ben Price is the education director at the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (www.CELDF.org). Maya Schenwar and Kim Wilson are the coeditors of the 2024 book, “We Grow the World Together,” a collection of essays on the impact of  imprisonment on families — especially the children of prisoners.   The post Rights of Humans, Rights of Nature / Incarceration and Families appeared first on KPFA.

Eleanor Goldfield speaks with Chip Gibbons, who details the acquiescence of academia and corporate media to the Trump  administration and Israel and sets these in the historical context of prior federal attacks on First Amendment rights. Next, Gene Bruskin explains the connection between the militarized U.S. economy and the daily pocketbook issues that confront American workers. GUESTS: Chip Gibbons is Policy Director at Defending Rights and Dissent (www.rightsanddissent.org), a free-speech-advocacy organization. His book on the history of the FBI is scheduled for release in 2026. He has a recent article in Jacobin magazine. Gene Bruskin is a 50-year labor activist, and the cofounder of the National Labor Network for a Cease-Fire.   The post Long history of attacks on free speech / How the militarized economy makes us poorer appeared first on KPFA.

In an era when algorithms are reshaping how news is gathered, produced, distributed, and consumed, every journalist, regardless of specialty, needs some degree of algorithmic literacy. We're joined by 2024-25 Reynolds Journalism Fellowship fellow Andy Lee Roth, who led a team to create a website about Algorithmic Literacy for Journalists. It provides a practical toolkit to help journalists and the general public better understand the functions, impacts, and ethics of algorithms, including shadow banning and other forms of censorship. In the second half of the show, we present Frame Check, a new monthly series that will be available on social media and podcast platforms. This new segment on The Project Censored Show is hosted by Reagan Haynie, Kate Horgan, and Shealeigh Voitl. Frame Check explores pop culture, news, and feminism through a critical media literacy lens, helping audiences deconstruct dominant news frames. In the debut segment, the hosts examine how corporate media sensationalizes the manufactured spectacle of Elon Musk and Donald Trump's relationship — amplifying their antics while failing to critically assess their influence — turning even significant political developments into junk food news.   The post Algorithmic Literacy for Journalists / Frame Checking the News appeared first on KPFA.

Eleanor Goldfield opens the program, speaking with Gaza physician Khalil Khalidy about continuing aggression by Israel, despite the supposed Gaza cease-fire. He also explains how decades of Israeli occupation and travel restrictions have split Palestinian populations from one another, not only geographically, but also culturally. Later, Eleanor and Mickey Huff discuss recent under-reported or mis-reported stories, as well as corporate media's propensity to “normalize” abusive behavior the by U.S. government. Khalil Khalidy is an orthopedist in Deir al-Balah, Gaza.   The post Gaza's Reality, Propaganda, and the Fight for Justice appeared first on KPFA.

This week, a special Project Censored episode: “What To Us Is International Women's Day?,” a variation on the question asked by Frederick Douglass: What to the Slave is the 4th of July? March 8th is International Women's Day, and while many will and do celebrate this day in revolutionary ways, the truth is that IWD, like so many other holidays, is often used to serve the vehemently anti-feminist goals of the architects of our oppression. So-called white feminism perpetuates the evils of white supremacy, colonialism, capitalism, patriarchy, and imperialism — but with a femme facade, pushing us to ask what to us is an international women's day which doesn't seek to dismantle the very systems that use, abuse and torment women across the U.S. and the globe? Award-winning journalist Mnar Adley and organizer Afeni Evans will join Eleanor Goldfield for this special hour-long dive into the insidious machinations of white feminism, who gets violently othered and why, the internationalist demands of a revolutionary feminism, and what really to us, is — or could be — International Women's Day?   The post What To Us Is International Women's Day? appeared first on KPFA.

Today's episode of Project Censored is preempted by special programming for KPFA's 2025 Winter Fund Drive: Brian Edwards-Tiekert interviews Jeff Miller, the founder and Executive Director of the Alameda Creek Alliance. Miller also works with the Center for Biological Diversity on media, outreach, writing endangered species listing petitions, and working on biodiversity issues. His latest book is Bay Area Wildlife: An Irreverent Guide. Author and artist Obi Kaufmann discusses his book The State of Fire: Why California Burns. To support KPFA's mission, please donate here or call (800) 439-5732.   The post Special Winter Fund Drive Programming: Jeff Miller on Bay Area Wildlife / The State of Fire, with Obi Kaufmann appeared first on KPFA.

Today's episode of Project Censored is preempted by special programming for KPFA's 2025 Winter Fund Drive. To support our mission, please donate here or call (800) 439-5732.   The post Special Winter Fund Drive Programming appeared first on KPFA.

In this special fund drive episode of Project Censored, Mickey Huff and guests discuss the growing trend toward book bans in U.S. schools, as well as the Trump Administration's attempts to suppress public access to the records of federal agencies. First, we hear about a soon-to-be-released documentary titled Banned Together (www.bannedtogetherdoc.com) that looks at efforts by local school boards, or state-level politicians, to restrict students' access to books. Next, two press-freedom advocates warn that the Trump Administration is engaged in unprecedented, and possibly illegal, efforts to reshuffle how federal agencies' records are kept. Allyson Rice and Dorri Scott are members of the team that created Banned Together. Seth Stern and Lauren Harper are staff members at the Freedom of the Press Foundation (www.freedom.press) To support KPFA's mission, please donate here or call (800) 439-5732.   The post Special Fund Drive Episode : Book Banning / Government Record Keeping appeared first on KPFA.

Mickey Huff and Eleanor Goldfield co-host this week's Project Censored Show. In the first half of the program, Palestinian legal expert Hassan Ben Imran speaks with Eleanor about the continuing international-law case against Israel. He also expresses his concern that the Trump administration may surpass previous US administrations' defiance of rulings that go against the U.S., by actively attempting to defund and disempower agencies like the International Criminal Court. In the second half, Mickey Huff joins Eleanor for a discussion of recent news and news coverage, most notably major U.S. media's reluctance to cite estimates of the true death toll in Gaza or to tally the U.S. tax dollars that went to fund the genocide. Hassan Ben Imran is a member of the Governing Council of Law for Palestine and a PhD researcher in Law at the University of Galway, Ireland.     The post Gaza, Israel, and International law / U.S. media's failure on Gaza appeared first on KPFA.

In the first half of the program, Eleanor Goldfield interviews a Native American reporter who was arrested while covering a protest about land claims, despite showing the police his press credentials. Isaac White is a Mohawk journalist based in Akwesasne, upstate New York. His story highlights the importance of and dangers to local and Indigenous media. Then Mickey Huff speaks with John Collins, the founder of the independent journalism site weavenews.org, about the responsibilities of the non-corporate press in the years ahead, as the biases and failures of corporate media become increasingly evident. Collins is a professor emeritus of global studies at St. Lawrence University. He explains that journalism is too important to be left to the powers that be and what we need right now more than ever is news of, for, and by the people. John also talks about his books and years of work on Palestine and how Palestine is in fact not only an issue unto itself but also a lens for examining colonialism, capitalism, media, the politics of representation, and more.   The post The Special Challenges to Indigenous Reporting, a Case from NY / The Mandate for Grassroots Journalism appeared first on KPFA.

In the first part of the program, economist Dr. Richard Wolff joins co-host Eleanor Goldfield to set the record straight on what tariffs really are and how bizarrely hypocritical it is that the famously anti-tax republican party is now the party that wants a lot of taxes — taxes aimed at you and me. Professor Wolff also explains the wrong-headed thinking about immigration: in fact, steady immigration into the U.S. is and has been a sign of a healthy economy, so the fact that the nation can't and won't embrace immigration today is actually a big red flag that our economy is weak — as further evidenced by how well the BRICS nations are doing compared to the G7. In the second half, co-host Mickey Huff speaks with journalists Maya Schenwar and Negin Owliaei about how media must NOT back down to Trump's threats against press freedom. Maya and Negin outline the multi pronged attacks that journalists and media organizations are facing, remarking that none of us alone can surmount these problems but that real active solidarity and community building is key — along with contextualizing our today in the struggles of yesterday and NEVER complying in advance   The post Don't Get Distracted: Bitter Economic Pills and Threats to Free Press Hit Everyone appeared first on KPFA.

In the first half of today's show, co-host Eleanor Goldfield speaks with Leyna Quinn-Davidson, the Fire Network Director for the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources about the confluence of issues that are quite literally fueling the fires in LA County. Leyna highlights how we have to shift our thinking about not only how fires burn but their historic and vital role in bolstering healthy ecosystems. She also pinpoints some simple actions people in the area can take to protect their homes and, perhaps more important, their communities, since what your neighbor does or doesn't do in these situations will directly affect you. In the second half, experienced conflict correspondent Theia Chatelle joins the program to talk about suing Yale PD, a frustrating but enlightening process that uncovered a vast and deep web of surveillance and repressive tactics aimed at students engaging in constitutionally protected speech and protest. Theia discusses the frightening levels of coordination between campus police, local and federal law enforcement, Zionist organizations, and even counter-terrorism agencies. She connects this to a larger pattern of repression across U.S. colleges, universities, and towns and cities beyond campus borders, where the panopticon-style surveillance follows anyone and everyone who could be deemed a threat to the status quo.   The post Lessons from the LA fires / Surveillance of Student Protesters: The Case of Yale appeared first on KPFA.

This week, we swing into the new year (2025), with Mickey engaging media scholar Nolan Higdon. They discuss the incoming administration, Trump 2.0, the failures of the punditocracy, and what might mean for press freedom in his second term; social media and an end to so-called fact-checking; and why we will continue to need a truly independent press to keep us informed moving forward. Later in the program, media scholar Steve Macek joins the conversation, and it's Deja Vu all over again as they revisit previously censored news stories around significant current events (including in Gaza) and how the ongoing lack of establishment media coverage around key issues contributes to low information voters and allows myriad injustices to persist at home and around the globe. Nolan Higdon is a lecturer in Education at the University of California Santa Cruz campus, a prolific author on media issues, and a frequent guest on the Project Censored Show. His books include The Anatomy of Fake News; he  also writes on Substack. Steve Macek teaches communications and media studies at North Central College in Illinois. He's also the co-coordinator of Project Censored's Campus Affiliates Program.   The post Pressing Issues for 2025: Trump 2.0, Media Failures, and the Fight for Press Freedom appeared first on KPFA.

Eleanor Goldfield hosts this week's program. Her first guest is Shrouq Aila, a Palestinian journalist/producer and resident of the Gaza Strip. She describes daily life under Israeli invasion and genocide, Israel's targeting of reporters for assassination, and the challenges of living the story she covers. Then former State Department official Matthew Hoh shares his observations from a recent visit to Israel and the occupied West Bank and explains his belief that Israel's primary goal for the next several years is to displace the West Bank's remaining Palestinian population and annex the entire territory. GUESTS: Shrouq Aila is a Palestinian journalist/producer and resident of the Gaza Strip. She lost her husband in an Israeli attack. Her work can be found at www.instagram.com/shrouqaila. Matthew Hoh is a Marine Corps combat veteran, and a former State Department official.   The post Reporting Under Fire: Gaza, Genocide, and the Truth Behind the Headlines appeared first on KPFA.

We begin 2025 on an optimistic note, with a timeless speech by the legendary political activist and consumer-rights advocate Ralph Nader. Nader outlines some of the most critical problems facing Americans, including exorbitant military spending, out-of-control corporations, and thousands of annual deaths in the workplace, or from lack of health-care coverage. But then he names some individuals who've made a difference in recent U.S. history, explains what students can accomplish on campus, and how voters can hold legislators accountable. Nader spoke on March 5, 2018 at Sonoma State University in northern California, as part of the campus's annual Social Justice Week Lecture Series.   The post Ralph Nader on Social Justice and World Affairs appeared first on KPFA.

Project Censored's new yearbook, “State of the Free Press 2025” is fresh off the presses. In the first segment, Andy Lee Roth and Shealeigh Voitl talk with Mickey about the extensive process that culminates in the selection of the annual “Top 25” censored stories. They also speak about the need to extend media analysis beyond fact-checking to “frame-checking.” In the second half, Mickey and co-host Eleanor Goldfield speak about Eleanor's new article on media literacy for activists, including various ideas on how activists can successfully interact with the different categories of media. Mickey and Eleanor also alert listeners to the dangers of House Bill 9495, a measure that would empower the U.S. Treasury Secretary to unilaterally remove an organization's non-profit status. GUESTS: Andy Lee Roth is Associate Director of Project Censored and the coordinator of the Project's Campus Affiliates Program. Shealeigh Voitl is digital and print editor at Project Censored.   The post Unplugging the News: The Fight for Local Journalism and the State of the Free Press (encore) appeared first on KPFA.

Project Censored's new yearbook, “State of the Free Press 2025” is fresh off the presses. In the first segment, Andy Lee Roth and Shealeigh Voitl talk with Mickey about the extensive process that culminates in the selection of the annual “Top 25” censored stories. They also speak about the need to extend media analysis beyond fact-checking to “frame-checking.” In the second half, Mickey and co-host Eleanor Goldfield speak about Eleanor's new article on media literacy for activists, including various ideas on how activists can successfully interact with the different categories of media. Mickey and Eleanor also alert listeners to the dangers of House Bill 9495, a measure that would empower the U.S. Treasury Secretary to unilaterally remove an organization's non-profit status. GUESTS: Andy Lee Roth is Associate Director of Project Censored and the coordinator of the Project's Campus Affiliates Program. Shealeigh Voitl is digital and print editor at Project Censored.   The post Unplugging the News: The Fight for Local Journalism and the State of the Free Press appeared first on KPFA.

Today's episode of Project Censored is preempted by special programming for KPFA's 2024 Holiday Fund Drive. To support our mission, please donate here or call (800) 439-5732.   The post Special Holiday Fund Drive Programming appeared first on KPFA.

The News That Didn't Make the News. Each week, co-hosts Mickey Huff and Eleanor Goldfield conduct in depth interviews with their guests and offer hard hitting commentary on the key political, social, and economic issues of the day with an emphasis on critical media literacy. The post Project Censored – December 6, 2024 appeared first on KPFA.

What does the genocide in Gaza have to do with the working class here at home? Well, quite a lot. Imperialism is a home game and the same corporations and international interests that make bank off of blood oppress the U.S. workforce for that same bottom line. This week in a special one-hour interview episode, three guest experts join the Project Censored Radio show to discuss the U.S. supply chain and war: labor educator Gifford Hartman, researcher and CGPU-UAW union member Abdullah Farooq, and 40-year rail and marine transportation veteran Fritz Edler. Together they outline not only the current actions and efforts of workers to connect the dots between oppression here at home and abroad but also the silenced and buried history of workplace organizing against war, including direct action and strikes. Our guests also dive into the importance of public ownership of transportation such as rail, the nefarious ways in which automation fuels both the war machine and destitution here in the U.S., and what a just transition away from war could mean not only for workers here but indeed around the whole world.   The post Connecting the Dots: The War on Workers Is The War Abroad appeared first on KPFA.

In the first half of today's show, Eleanor's topic is India's occupation of Kashmir and its violent suppression of human rights there. She says, for this topic, the guest's chair stayed empty, because Kashmiri journalists and activists — even those outside Kashmir — are forced to stay silent for fear of retribution against their families. Eleanor also points out the multiple parallels and connections between the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the Indian  occupation of Kashmir. In the second half-hour, Ben Norton returns to the program to discuss the recent BRICS summit in Russia; he also compares the fast-growing BRICS group of economies with the US economy and its rising inequality. Ben Norton is editor-in-chief at the Geopolitical Economy Report (www.geopoliticaleconomy.com)   The post Kashmir occupation / BRICS summit implications appeared first on KPFA.

Legendary consumer-rights campaigner and political activist Ralph Nader returns to the Project Censored Show to discuss his two forthcoming books. Let's Start the Revolution explains how grassroots people-power can defeat corporate power, while Out of Darkness is a collection of Nader's writings from 2012 to 2022. Later in the program, Mickey talks with political sociologist Peter Phillips about his new book Titans of Capital: How Concentrated Wealth Threatens Humanity. The sequel to his 2018 book Giants, Titans identifies the money managers who control the world's largest sums of capital, in their jobs at Black Rock and other huge investment firms, and how their power worsens the problems facing the human race. Note: These interviews were recorded prior to the November 5 election.   The post Ralph Nader and Peter Phillips on Corporate Power versus People Power appeared first on KPFA.

Mickey's first guest this week is Project Censored's Associate Director, Andy Lee Roth. Roth is a 2024-25 Reynolds Journalism Institute Fellow where he is developing an “algorithmic literacy” toolkit for journalists. He explains why today's journalists need a basic understanding of the algorithms used by internet and social media tech giants to better serve the public. Issues around horse-race poll coverage, shadow banning, and algorithmic gatekeeping are discussed. In the second half of the show, Maya Schenwar of Truthout and Lara Witt of Prism introduce the organization they co-founded, the Movement Media Alliance. They explain why social-justice-oriented media outlets should work together, both to enhance their impact and to better the working conditions for journalists in independent media. GUESTS: Andy Lee Roth is Associate Director of Project Censored, co-editor of its state-of-the-free-press yearbooks, co-author of The Media and Me, and coordinator of its Campus Affiliates Program. His work on algorithmic literacy for journalists is supported by a fellowship from the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri. Maya Schenwar is Editor-At-Large for Truthout, and writes extensively on prison and policing issues. Lara Witt is Editor-In-Chief at Prism Reports.   The post Algorithmic Literacy for Journalists / A New Movement Media Alliance appeared first on KPFA.

With the 2024 US elections drawing near, host Mickey Huff moderates an expert panel discussion with three media scholars and educators about how critical-media-literacy education can enhance civic engagement. They outline the many challenges posed by social media, hyper-partisanship, and fake news, but also explore what educators can do to engage today's students and equip them with critical tools necessary to deconstruct media messaging and bridge communication barriers, both inside and outside the classroom. This program is also a special broadcast that is part of the Big Rhetorical Podcast Carnival. GUESTS: Allison Butler is a Senior Lecturer in Communications at the University of Massachusetts and the Director of the Media Literacy Certificate Program in the Department of Communication at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Amherst, MA, where she teaches courses on critical media literacy. Butler co-directs the grassroots organization, Mass Media Literacy, where she develops and conducts teacher training for the inclusion of critical media literacy in K-12 schools. She is co-author of The Media and Me and Surveillance Education. Nolan Higdon is a co-founding member of the Critical Media Literacy Conference of the Americas; a University Lecturer at the Merrill College and the Education Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz; a Project Censored National Judge; and an author of several books on media issues, including The Anatomy of Fake News, as well as co-author of The Media and Me and Surveillance Education. Sydney Sullivan is a Lecturer at San Diego State University, and a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Davis. Her research focuses on education and digital rhetoric with an emphasis on well-being. Sydney's most recent chapter in Transformative Practice in Critical Media Literacy is out now, titled “Rethinking Curriculums: How Critical Digital Literacy and Mandatory Composition Courses Collide.”   The post Crisis, Culture, and Civility: Critical Media Literacy Education and Election 2024 appeared first on KPFA.

The National Association for Media Literacy Education has named the week of October 21 as “Media Literacy Week.” In light of this — and the upcoming November election — Mickey speaks with media scholar Nolan Higdon about identifying fake news and attempts at opinion manipulation, from all possible quarters. Then, photojournalist Orin Langelle joins Eleanor to discuss his new book, Portraits of Struggle, a collection of images of people engaged in the defense of their lands and lives across the globe. He also explains the stories behind the images and what he's learned about corporate/government domination and popular resistance. Nolan Higdon is a lecturer in Education at the University of California Santa Cruz campus, a prolific author on media issues, and a frequent guest on the Project Censored Show. His books include The Anatomy of Fake News. He writes at NolanHigdon.substack.com Orin Langelle has been a photojournalist for 50 years; his work has been featured in many publications, both corporate and nonprofit. Orin Langelle is an award-winning photojournalist whose work spans 50 years on six continents. He has been published in the corporate media and the nonprofit world. He prefers the nonprofit sector that allows him more freedom in exposing reality. Orin's also an activist and photographer, senior strategist, and cofounder of Global Justice Ecology Project. His book Portraits of Struggle was published by Global Justice Ecology Project for their 20th anniversary.   The post Media Literacy Week: Guide to Fake News and Voices from the Frontlines appeared first on KPFA.

Julian Assange has been a free man since June, but the issue of his long confinement in a UK prison is still in the news. Recently he testified before the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), and the Council then passed a resolution declaring that Assange could be designated a political prisoner. Independent journalist Kevin Gosztola joins Mickey to examine the implications of the PACE decision. They also discuss other press-freedom issues, notably the unprecedented death toll among journalists in the Gaza Strip, at the hands of Israeli forces. Then Steve Macek looks at foreign campaign spending in U.S. elections, taking note both of its widespread presence as well as the relative lack of interest by corporate media in reporting on the subject. He observes that only occasional stories about individual politicians' potential campaign funding transgressions (such as those of NYC Mayor Eric Adams) make the news, but the system itself is seldom covered. Kevin Gosztola is the editor of the Dissenter newsletter, www.thedissenter.org. His book on the Julian Assange case, Guilty of Journalism, was published in 2023.   The post Assange testifies at PACE / Pervasiveness of foreign money in U.S. political campaigns appeared first on KPFA.

In the first half of today's episode, international human rights lawyer Karnig Kerkonian discusses Azerbaijan's ethnic cleansing of the Artsakh-Armenians from the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Karnig outlines the genocidal intent of President Ilham Aliyev, how the U.S. knew and yet didn't take steps to stop it, and how the international community should respond — not least of all as this year's climate summit (COP29) is being held, ironically, in what Karnig calls the petrol-dictatorship of Azerbaijan. Then, journalist and researcher Chip Gibbons joins the show to discuss Israel's targeted and mass killing of journalists on the ground in Gaza. Chip highlights the vehement hypocrisy with which the U.S. pretends to uphold freedom of the press while not only ignoring the murder of journalists but also pushing for a media blackout and censorship of reports from Gaza. GUESTS: Karnig Kerkonian is the founder of the Chicago-based law firm Kerkonian Dajani. Chip Gibbons is Policy Director at Defending Rights and Dissent, an NGO created by the merger of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee and the Defending Dissent Foundation. He is working on a book about the FBI, tentatively titled The Imperial Bureau.   The post A genocide in the Caucasus? / Israeli killings of journalists appeared first on KPFA.

The voices of Palestinians in Gaza are some of the most censored in the world. When not killed outright, they are silenced by purposeful omission, in order to support Israel's narrative. It is therefore vital that alternative media work to find and platform these voices and that people who are not fooled by pro-Israel propaganda engage with them, share them, and allow them to inform our actions. This week Eleanor Goldfield sits down with Dr. Khalil Khalidy, an orthopedic doctor in Gaza. His testimony is necessary, powerful, and understandably distressing. We are therefore including a content warning for this week's show, as Dr. Khalidy does not sugarcoat his lived experiences. The following program includes descriptions of an ongoing genocide and of psychological and physical suffering from the perspective of a doctor trying to work in abominable conditions with little to no supplies. Khalil Khalidy is an orthopedist in Deir al-Balah, Gaza. He is also trained in psychology.   The post Voices from Palestine: A Doctor's Testimony from Gaza appeared first on KPFA.

Please donate online at kpfa.org or by calling 1800-439-5732 The post Special Fund Drive Programming – September 27, 2024 appeared first on KPFA.

On this special fund-drive episode, Mickey's first guest is journalist Jeff Cohen, who discusses the career and legacy of the late Phil Donahue. Donahue was an innovative television talk-show host, who was fired by MSNBC when he continued interviewing pro-peace guests during the buildup to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. Then Mickey interviews author Norman Solomon about the bias in corporate-media coverage of Israel's assault on Gaza (which obscures the essential U.S. connection) and in overall coverage of war and the U.S. military. Jeff Cohen is a co-founder of the media-watch group FAIR (www.fair.org), and the author of Cable News Confidential. He was senior producer of Phil Donahue's MSNBC show in 2003, when it was canceled. Norman Solomon is an author and media critic. A new edition of his book War Made Invisible, contains an afterword about the Israeli attack on Gaza. More information can be found at www.warmadeinvisible.org.   The post Phil Donahue's Legacy / War Made Invisible appeared first on KPFA.

On this special fund-drive episode, Mickey's first guest is journalist Jeff Cohen, who discusses the career and legacy of the late Phil Donahue. Donahue was an innovative television talk-show host, who was fired by MSNBC when he continued interviewing pro-peace guests during the buildup to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. Then Mickey interviews author Norman Solomon about the bias in corporate-media coverage of Israel's assault on Gaza (which obscures the essential U.S. connection) and in overall coverage of war and the U.S. military. Jeff Cohen is a co-founder of the media-watch group FAIR (www.fair.org), and the author of Cable News Confidential. He was senior producer of Phil Donahue's MSNBC show in 2003, when it was canceled. Norman Solomon is an author and media critic. A new edition of his book War Made Invisible, contains an afterword about the Israeli attack on Gaza. More information can be found at www.warmadeinvisible.org.   The post Phil Donahue's legacy / War Made Invisible appeared first on KPFA.

Eleanor Goldfield is joined on this week's program with a special guest co-host: Maximillian Alvarez, Editor-in-Chief at the Real News Network. Their subject is the Julian Assange case and its implications for press freedom going forward. Their guests provide a recap of the case and new information on why the U.S. abandoned its years-long effort to extradite Assange from the UK and instead agreed to a plea bargain under which the Wikileaks founder was freed. GUESTS: Chip Gibbons is Policy Director at Defending Rights and Dissent, www.rightsanddissent.org. Kevin Gosztola is the editor of the Dissenter newsletter, www.thedissenter.org. His book on the Julian Assange case, Guilty of Journalism, was published in 2023.   The post The Julian Assange Case and the Future of Journalism appeared first on KPFA.

This week we offer a special episode featuring Project Censored's recent “Decoding Democracy” series, a collection of interviews showcasing media scholars, journalists, and activists discussing how an informed public and an independent press are vital aspects of any free and just society. These excerpts are part of the larger Project Censored aim to empower individuals to better navigate the media landscape and political climate, becoming more engaged citizens. The focus of the series is to promote critical media literacy education while harnessing the power of a free and independent press to spur more broadly and deeply informed civic engagement among the electorate. Among the many commentators featured in the Decoding Democracy video series, and included in this radio broadcast, are Mnar Adley, Nora Barrows-Friedman, Eugene Puryear, and Victor Pickard.   The post Decoding Democracy: Exploring Critical Media Literacy Education, Independent Journalism, and Civic Engagement appeared first on KPFA.

Eleanor Goldfield hosts this week's show. July 26 marked the 34th anniversary of the signing of the Americans With Disabilities Act. But is the ADA as far-reaching as it should be? Are the large disability-rights organizations keeping too close to the country's ruling institutions and, in doing so, defeating their own professed objectives? In the first segment of the show, Eleanor's guests talk about the limitations of the ADA and the inherent lapses that disability-rights groups make by not confronting the institutions that inflict disabilities and worsen the lives of those already living with disabilities, most notably in Gaza. In the second half, Eleanor and guests discuss the prospect of humans inhabiting Mars: is it a harmless sci-fi concept, or are “astro-colonial” ideas a distraction from the urgency of addressing the climate crisis on planet Earth? Jen Deerinwater and Ezra Star are members of Disability Divest (www.disabilitydivest.org), a collective that demands that “the disability establishment ends its relationships with war profiteers.” Zara Zimbardo is one of the creators of “Marsification” (www.marsification.com), a concept album that explores the idea of inhabiting space and finds it to be a continuation of colonialist ideology.   The post Systemic failure of major disability organizations / What is Marsification? appeared first on KPFA.

In the first segment, we learn about the phenomenon of “dark money”: political campaign contributions designed to be difficult or impossible for the public to know about or trace. Mickey talks with media scholar Steve Macek about GOP plans for legislation to make it even easier to keep these contributions secret, as well as the failure of corporate media to energetically report on dark money and the wider issues of what big donors get for their dollars. Then, Project Censored's curriculum development coordinator Mischa Geracoulis guest co-hosts the show to address the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, the conservative wish list for a second Trump term. Mischa speaks with Lisa Graves, who specifically addresses how education and the media landscape would be changed if Project 2025 is actually implemented. GUESTS Steve Macek is a professor of communications and media studies at North Central College in Illinois. He's also the co-coordinator, with Andy Lee Roth, of Project Censored's Campus Affiliates Program. Steve was also one of the editors of the recent book Censorship, Digital Media, and the Global Crackdown on Freedom of Expression (Peter Lang, 2024). Lisa Graves is the founder and executive director of True North Research, a national investigative watchdog group. She has previous experience at the Justice Department and in the federal court system. More analysis of Project 2025 can be found at project2025admin.com.   The post Dark Money and Project 2025: A Deep Dive into Political Secrecy and Conservative Ambitions appeared first on KPFA.

Eleanor Goldfield hosts this week's show. In the first half-hour, we hear the story of a Texas prison inmate, his struggle to publicize the abuses that go on behind the walls, and the prison authorities' efforts to suppress his work and retaliate against him. We also discuss the significance of prison journalism in the overall battle for press freedom. In the second half, the latest about Palestine, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC). A legal expert examines the recent ICJ opinion on the illegality of the Israeli occupation, as well as the ICC's possible issuance of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Resources on Incarceration: www.securustech.net prisonjournalismproject.org themarshallproject.org GUESTS: Jeremy Busby, inmate #00881193 in the Texas prison system, is a journalist who covers prison life from the inside. His writing can be found at freedom.press and other outlets. His personal web site is www.joinjeremy.org. Seth Stern is Director of Advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation (www.freedom.press). Hassan Ben Imran is a member of the governing council of Law for Palestine (www.law4palestine.org) and a researcher in law at the University of Galway in Ireland.   The post Journalism behind bars / Palestine and international law appeared first on KPFA.

In the first half of the show, cohost Eleanor Goldfield speaks with Juley Fulcher — attorney and worker health and safety advocate for Public Citizen's Congress watch division — about her recent report, Scorched States, an expose of the inadequate or wholly lacking protections for workers facing extreme heat in the age of climate chaos. Juley describes the legislative morass standing in the way of workers' rights and how states like Florida and Texas have actually made it illegal to protect workers. Next, Mickey Huff joins Eleanor for a conversation about whether the corporate media are accurately covering immigration or, instead, are exaggerating the differences between the Biden and Trump administrations' immigration practices.   The post Scorched States, Where Heat Kills Workers / Media and Immigration Narratives appeared first on KPFA.

In the first half of the show, we learn about members of the U.S. military who've resigned their posts over moral objections to the U.S. support of Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza and speak with Palestinian-American Mohammed Abouhashem, a former U.S. Air Force sergeant. He also rebuts claims that Israeli forces attempt to minimize civilian casualties and questions whether Israel was really taken by surprise by the October 7 Hamas attack. Next, Eleanor speaks with Australian filmmaker Kym Staton about his documentary “Trust Fall,” just released in the U.S. this month. “Trust Fall” recounts the personal and professional life of Julian Assange, as well as the U.S. campaign against him. The film was completed before Assange gained his freedom, yet Kym says “Trust Fall” is still a vital chronicle of an effort to punish a journalist. He notes that some Australian media continue to spread falsehoods about Assange, despite the legal proceeding being over. GUESTS: Mohammed Abouhashem was a career sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, who resigned last October after 22 years in the USAF. Kym Staton is an Australian filmmaker, musician and poet.   The post Conscience-driven Resignations from the U.S. Military / New Julian Assange Documentary appeared first on KPFA.

Mickey's guest for the hour is media scholar Nolan Higdon. They discuss how the principles of critical media literacy could help the public make sense of the current, chaotic election season in the U.S. and how the divide and contrasting worldviews between the older and younger generations can be partly explained by their choices of media. They discuss the consequences of our serious lack of media literacy education and how the American electorate could benefit from learning media literacy skills and by diversifying their media diets to include more independent outlets and fewer corporate, establishment ones, too busy cheering and jeering Team Red or Team Blue to report factually on the key policy issues that really matter to voters most. Note: This program was recorded on July 12, prior to the shooting attack against former president Donald Trump. Dr. Nolan Higdon is a lecturer in Education at the University of California Santa Cruz campus and a prolific author on media issues. He is the author of The Anatomy of Fake News and co-author of The United States of Distraction, The Media and Me, and Let's Agree to Disagree. He writes on Substack at NolanHigdon and also has an article, which we discuss, in the June/July issue of The Progressive magazine titled “The Establishment Strikes Back.”   The post Critical Media Literacy and the 2024 Election appeared first on KPFA.

In the first part of the program, Eleanor Goldfield speaks with journalist and analyst Ben Norton about the ongoing proxy war between Russia and NATO happening in Ukraine, the bludgeoning of multiple peace deals by the U.S., and the ultimately pointless struggle against a multipolar world. Ben also highlights the recent media kerfuffle on the petrodollar: what it is, why it matters, and where our economy is headed. Next, Eleanor speaks with Swedish actor, writer, and activist Håkan Julander about Sweden's fall from grace — the country that isn't what you think it is. Håkan outlines the abysmal state of Swedish media, the selling of Sweden's soul to a declining empire, where hope lies, and more.   The post The Motives for Ukraine Intervention / What Happened to Sweden? appeared first on KPFA.

In a plea bargain with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, the Justice Department ended its effort to extradite him to the U.S. for an Espionage Act trial, and Assange, freed from Britain's Belmarsh Prison, returned home to Australia a free man. The Assange legal case is over, but what are the ongoing implications for press  freedom? We hear from the reporter who covered the Assange case for its entire duration. Then … How might social media influence the 2024 election? Mickey speaks with the three authors (also Project Censored staffers) of a new article on social media, the efforts of government and Big Tech to control or censor it (often without users'  knowledge), and the countermeasures employed by online communities to maintain communications. GUESTS: Kevin Gosztola is an independent journalist. He has covered the Julian Assange legal proceedings in the UK from their beginning, as well as other press-freedom and whistleblower cases, and has been a frequent guest on the Project Censored Show. His book on the Assange case, Guilty of Journalism, was published in 2023. Gosztola is also the editor of the Dissenter newsletter, www.thedissenter.org. Kate Horgan is Website Design & Media Assistant at Project Censored. Reagan Haynie is Social-Media Manager at Project Censored. Shealeigh Voitl is Digital & Print Editor at Project Censored.   The post Julian Assange is Free / Social Media 2024 appeared first on KPFA.

The Progressive magazine dedicated its June/July issue to an in-depth look at media and media literacy, especially in the context of the upcoming election. On this week's program, we hear from the publisher of the venerable political journal, as well as two Project Censored staffers who took part in producing the special issue. Later in the program, Mickey and Eleanor discuss the usefulness — and limitations — of electoral politics. Norman Stockwell is the Publisher of the Progressive (www.progressive.org). Andy Lee Roth is Associate Director of Project Censored, coordinator of the Project's Campus Affiliates Program, and a contributor to the current issue of the Progressive. Mischa Geracoulis is Curriculum Development Coordinator at Project Censored and the guest editor for the Progressive's June/July media issue.   The post The Progressive Magazine and Project Censored Look at U.S. Media in an Election Year appeared first on KPFA.