Reality Asserts Itself - With Paul Jay

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On Reality Asserts Itself I talk to leading thinkers and activists, and find out what were the formative experiences that shaped their political worldview. It's also a place to explore the major issues of our times with a sense of history, and a consciousness of class and race. Most importantly, it'…

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    • May 1, 2019 LATEST EPISODE
    • infrequent NEW EPISODES
    • 57m AVG DURATION
    • 33 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from Reality Asserts Itself - With Paul Jay

    Rana Foroohar - The Rise of Finance and the Fall of American Business

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 73:54


    On Reality Asserts Itself, Ms. Foroohar says financialization delivers stagnant wages, inequality and economic crisis; the Financial Times columnist and author of “Makers and Takers” says the financial sector represents only 7 percent of the U.S. economy, but takes around 25 percent of all corporate profit while creating only 4 percent of all jobs - with host Paul Jay

    Gabriel Byrne - From Priesthood to Actor to Activist

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 88:15


    On Reality Asserts Itself, actor and climate activist Gabriel Byrne speaks of growing up in a working class family that was religious, Irish nationalist and where joining a seminary made parents proud. He came to understand the injustice of the life working men like his father faced; with host Paul Jay

    Nina Turner - “The Democratic Party Can’t Just Whisper Sweet Nothings Anymore”

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 59:30


    On Reality Asserts Itself, Nina Turner, former Ohio State Senator and leading Bernie Sanders surrogate during the primary, tells host Paul Jay that she grew up poor, believing in the Democratic Party and the Clintons but she came to understand the failure of the Party to serve the needs of the African-American community and poor white workers

    Roger Waters - The Occupation of the American Mind

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 59:21


    Legendary musician Roger Waters and Sut Jhally discuss their new film about the Israeli public relations campaign to influence U.S. public opinion

    Thomas Drake - From 9/11 to Mass Surveillance, The Man Who Knew Too Much - Pt. 2

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 58:29


    On Reality Asserts Itself, Mr. Drake, a former Senior Executive at the National Security Agency, says he was targeted by the NSA because he exposed that the agency had intel that could have prevented the 9/11 attacks and because he blew the whistle on a massive secret surveillance program aimed at Americans

    Thomas Drake - From 9/11 to Mass Surveillance, The Man Who Knew Too Much - Pt. 1

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 58:27


    On Reality Asserts Itself, Mr. Drake, a former Senior Executive at the National Security Agency, says he was targeted by the NSA because he exposed that the agency had intel that could have prevented the 9/11 attacks and because he blew the whistle on a massive secret surveillance program aimed at Americans

    Sen. Bob Graham - Investigating the Saudi Government’s 9/11 Connection and the Path to Disillusionment

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 58:58


    On RAI with Paul Jay, Senator Bob Graham explains why he persists in making the case that facts directly connect the Saudi government with 9/11 conspirators – a REPLAY of a 2013 interview by Paul Jay

    John Kiriakou - I Believed America Could Do No Wrong - Pt. 4

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 40:19


    Mr. Kiriakou was the first U.S. government official to confirm that waterboarding was official policy. He spent 23 months in prison after being convicted of passing classified information to a reporter. He speaks to Paul Jay while still under house arrest

    John Kiriakou - I Believed America Could Do No Wrong - Pt. 3

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 56:58


    Mr. Kiriakou was the first U.S. government official to confirm that waterboarding was official policy. He spent 23 months in prison after being convicted of passing classified information to a reporter. He speaks to Paul Jay while still under house arrest

    John Kiriakou - I Believed America Could Do No Wrong - Pt. 2

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 49:10


    Mr. Kiriakou was the first U.S. government official to confirm that waterboarding was official policy. He spent 23 months in prison after being convicted of passing classified information to a reporter. He speaks to Paul Jay while still under house arrest

    John Kiriakou - I Believed America Could Do No Wrong - Pt. 1

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 48:07


    Mr. Kiriakou was the first U.S. government official to confirm that waterboarding was official policy. He spent 23 months in prison after being convicted of passing classified information to a reporter. He speaks to Paul Jay while still under house arrest

    Thomas Frank - Corporate Democrats Have a Vested Interest in Not Listening to Workers

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 54:49


    On Reality Asserts Itself, Thomas Frank, author of "What's the Matter with Kansas" and "Listen, Liberal", tells host Paul Jay that the Democratic Party serves the professional class and the top 10% and no longer cares about the poor or working class

    David Swanson - Lies and War

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 54:07


    On RAI with Paul Jay, David Swanson, author of "War is a Lie", talks about becoming a full time activist for peace

    Catarina Principe - Revolutionary Expectations and the Fight Against Austerity - Pt. 2

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 48:34


    On Reality Asserts Itself, Ms. Principe talks about growing up in Portugal expecting the promise of the social state to be fulfilled, and becoming an activist in the fight against forces dismantling the achievements of the Portuguese revolution

    Catarina Principe - Revolutionary Expectations and the Fight Against Austerity - Pt. 1

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 52:51


    On Reality Asserts Itself, Ms. Principe talks about growing up in Portugal expecting the promise of the social state to be fulfilled, and becoming an activist in the fight against forces dismantling the achievements of the Portuguese revolution

    Eddie Conway - 44 Years in Prison, Still a Revolutionary - Pt. 3

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 59:05


    Mr. Conway, a former member of the Baltimore Black Panther chapter, says as a child he didn't understand politics, but he did understand oppression

    Eddie Conway - 44 Years in Prison, Still a Revolutionary - Pt. 2

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 59:30


    Mr. Conway, a former member of the Baltimore Black Panther chapter, says as a child he didn't understand politics, but he did understand oppression

    Eddie Conway - 44 Years in Prison, Still a Revolutionary - Pt. 1

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 59:31


    Mr. Conway, a former member of the Baltimore Black Panther chapter, says as a child he didn't understand politics, but he did understand oppression

    Glen Ford - Growing Up Black in American Apartheid

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 57:07


    On Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay: Glen Ford, Executive Editor of Black Agenda Report, tells his story as a red-diaper baby, growing up facing racism in the North living with his white activist mother, and living in the Deep South with his black deejay father

    David Cay Johnston - Taking from the Many to Give to the Few

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 59:18


    Mr. Johnston, a renowned investigative journalist, says he used to believe if you worked hard you would prosper, but now, there is a completely different environment

    Gareth Porter - I Grew Up Believing in Time Magazine’s Version of America

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 53:35


    On Reality Asserts Itself, Mr. Porter tells Paul Jay that by the end of the Vietnam War, he understood the US government and military could do terrible things

    Marisela Gomez - Hopkins Trained Doctor Fights Hopkins Expansion Plans in Baltimore

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 58:06


    On Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay, Marisela Gomez, a doctor and community activist, says one can't arrive in the Hopkins community and not see the huge disparity between this institution, and surrounding it a community that's been completely disinvested and abandoned

    Phil Donahue - The Radicalization of Phil Donahue

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 59:06


    Mr. Donahue says he believed he was blessed, living in the greatest country on earth - but through hosting his show, speaking to people like Chomsky and the Black Panthers, he came to question what he had thought was true

    Michael Ratner - The Vietnam War was a Seminal Event for Me - Pt. 2

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 59:26


    Mr. Ratner, President Emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights, tells Paul Jay that the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War transformed him from a "good liberal kid" into an activist questioning the role of America in the world

    Michael Ratner - The Vietnam War was a Seminal Event for Me - Pt. 1

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 59:15


    Mr. Ratner, President Emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights, tells Paul Jay that the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War transformed him from a "good liberal kid" into an activist questioning the role of America in the world

    Christian Appy - “America Does Bad Things for Good Reasons” - Pt. 2

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 57:00


    On Reality Asserts Itself, Mr. Appy, author of "American Reckoning: The Vietnam War and Our National Identity", discusses how before direct American military involvement in Vietnam, the US financed almost 80 percent of the cost, so, in effect, France was serving almost as an American mercenary

    Christian Appy - “America Does Bad Things for Good Reasons” - Pt. 1

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 40:54


    On Reality Asserts Itself, Mr. Appy, author of "American Reckoning: The Vietnam War and Our National Identity", discusses how before direct American military involvement in Vietnam, the US financed almost 80 percent of the cost, so, in effect, France was serving almost as an American mercenary

    Trita Parsi - US Refuses to Accept Iran as a Regional Power

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 59:30


    From Afghanistan to Iraq, the Trump administration, leading Democrats and much of the foreign policy and military establishment believe the U.S. should be more aggressive towards Iran. That's a very dangerous situation that can lead to war, noted Iran expert Trita Parsi tells Paul Jay on Reality Asserts Itself

    James Early - “Liberty and Justice for Some People”

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 59:22


    James Early talks about American identity and growing up African-American facing the deep racism of the South

    Sabah Alnasseri - A Personal Take on The Modern History of Iraq – Pt. 2

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 57:05


    On Reality Asserts Itself, Prof. Alnasseri tells the story of his militant working class family, class struggle in Iraq and the sectarian conflict created by the U.S. invasion

    Sabah Alnasseri - A Personal Take on The Modern History of Iraq – Pt. 1

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 57:56


    On Reality Asserts Itself, Prof. Alnasseri tells the story of his militant working class family, class struggle in Iraq and the sectarian conflict created by the U.S. invasion

    Alan Robock - Global Warming Theory Based on Evidence, Not Belief

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 59:26


    On Reality Asserts Itself, climatologist and IPCC lead author Alan Robock tells Paul Jay that he's a skeptic who tries to be critical and make conclusions based on the evidence

    Danny Schechter - Activism In My DNA

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 45:14


    In this RAI he tells Paul Jay about the fight against apartheid and meeting and chronicling Mandela in South Africa.

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