The Official Project Censored Show

In the first half of today's program, Mickey speaks with Project Censored's Andy Lee Roth about some of the “Top 25” censored / under-reported news stories, as well as the common characteristics of these stories. Later in the show, Nolan Higdon and Mickey examine some of the developments since Elon Musks' takeover of Twitter. They also discuss the recent declassification of another batch of JFK-assassination documents, and what they show about federal officials' relations with the press. Notes: Andy Lee Roth is Associate Director of Project Censored, co-editor of the Project's annual volume of censored stories, and co-coordinator of the Project's Campus Affiliates Program. He has published widely on media issues. Nolan Higdon is a university lecturer in media studies and history. He's also the author of "The Anatomy of Fake News," Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

Mickey, Eleanor and their guests spend the hour examining the background to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, going back to the eastward expansion of NATO, the 2014 Ukraine coup, and other factors. Their guests, both long-time peace activists, make the case for a cessation of arms shipments to Ukraine, and a negotiated end to the war. In the first half of the show, Eleanor interviews Phil Wilayto. Then we hear excerpts of a conversation Mickey had with Medea Benjamin at a KPFA-FM / Project Censored event in Berkeley, CA earlier this month. Notes: Phil Wilayto is cofounder of Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice and Equality, as well as the Virginia Prison Justice Network. He's also coordinator of the Odessa Solidarity Campaign , and the author of several books, including Notes from Iran. Medea Benjamin co-founded both the women's peace organization Code Pink and the fair-trade group Global Exchange. Her recent books, include Inside Iran and Kingdom of the Unjust. Her latest book is War in Ukraine, co-authored with Nicholas Davies, and published by OR Books. Music-break information: "Blasting Cap" by Preston Reed Image by Peace,love,happiness from Pixabay

This edition of the Project Censored Show we feature two of the country's best-known peace advocates, each with a new book out. First, Medea Benjamin discusses the Russia-Ukraine conflict, emphasizing aspects that US corporate media are not covering. Then we hear a rebroadcast of a September interview with author Chris Hedges, where he related some of the stories told in his new book, "The Greatest Evil Is War." Notes: Medea Benjamin co-founded both the women's peace organization Code Pink and the fair-trade group Global Exchange. Her recent books, include "Inside Iran" and "Kingdom of the Unjust." Her latest book is "War in Ukraine," co-authored with Nicholas Davies, and published by OR Books. Chris Hedges is a former New York Times foreign correspondent and a prolific author. His latest book, "The Greatest Evil Is War," is based on interviews with dozens of victims of war, including wounded veterans, families of soldiers, and civilian survivors of battle.

In this episode of the Project Censored Show, your host Eleanor Goldfield discusses war and fascist violence - from the very personal history of a presidential candidate to the streets of Hebron. She first sits down with army veteran and investigative reporter/producer Mike Prysner to discuss his latest work digging into the sordid past of Ron DeSantis, a man whose path to state (and possibly soon to be federal) power has been paved with horrific war crimes and torture, which up until now he has been able to avoid consequences. She then sits down with professor, artist, and activist Adam Broomberg to discuss his personal relationship with apartheid - from growing up in South Africa to now battling the state of Israel, on behalf of , but not least of all, for his fellow Jews. Broomberg compares the apartheid states of his youth and his present, and discusses how to broach the topic of zionism within your Jewish families. Song: Bahrek Gaza by Mohammed Assaf Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Mickey opens this week's program in conversation with Aaron Good; they examine the post-WWII U.S. rise to global dominance, and how that underlies many of our current events, notably the Russia-Ukraine-NATO conflict. In the second half of the show, Eleanor Goldfield speaks with Chris Garaffa about the prospects for stronger net-neutrality protections in the months ahead, as well as the broader issue of how to "democratize the internet." Aaron Good is the author of "American Exception: Empire and the Deep State," a new book from Skyhorse Publishing. He also hosts a podcast titled "American Exception." He holds a Ph.D from Temple University. In the tradition of Peter Dale Scott, Aaron's writing emphasizes the role of a 'deep state' (a powerful, secretive, unelected governing force) in history. Chris Garaffa is co-host of the Covert Action Bulletin podcast, and is a frequent radio guest on issues of technology and surveillance. Music-break information 1) "Ride Across the River" by Dire Straits 2) "Voyager" by the Alan Parson Project the Project Censored Show: Hosts: Mickey Huff & Eleanor Goldfield Producers: Anthony Fest & Eleanor Goldfield Image by Yatheesh Gowda from Pixabay

The 2022 Critical Media Literacy Conference of the Americas took place in Oakland, CA in late October. This week's Project Censored Show presents excerpts from the plenary roundtable that addressed shortcomings of corporate media, each from a different perspective, and explained how a more critically media literate public and robust independent press could foster real humanitarian progress as we face multiple existential crises. Mickey Huff moderated the roundtable discussion which included Robin Anderson, who writes the media watch group FAIR, and for Project Censored; she is professor emerita at Fordham University; Maximilian Alvarez, editor-in-chief at The Real News Network; Eduardo Garcia; a freelance environmental journalist who writes on the climate crisis; and Mnar Adley, CEO and editor-in-chief at MintPress News.  Music-break information: "The Resistance" by 2 Cellos The Project Censored Show: Hosts: Mickey Huff & Eleanor Goldfield Producers: Anthony Fest & Eleanor Goldfield

Eleanor Goldfield hosts this week's episode, and spends the hour on conditions in Iran, where demonstrators have taken to the streets in response to the death of a young woman in the custody of the Iranian "morality police." Leila Zand is an Iranian-American activist and scholar who joins the show to contextualize the events of the past month in Iran. She highlights the importance of understanding the history of Iran, and the US, and cautions against using events as an excuse for continued US imperialist aggression. People all over the world have the right to self-determination, be it in terms of government or how they dress. Zand's work pushes for these ideals to be actualized without violence. Notes: Leila Zand is an Iranian-American peace activist and scholar, based in Washington DC. She presently works with the womens' peace organization Code Pink. Music-break info: "Mahtab" by Marjan Farsad

On this Project Censored Show we discuss Media Literacy Week and more specifically Critical Media Literacy. We then discern the different approaches to media literacy which have been co-opted including corporate and a-critical media literacy. We explore this issue with experts Allison Butler and Nolan Higdon.

In this episode of the Project Censored Show Eleanor Goldfield looks at the potential for a Class I railroad strike. This struggle exemplifies the power of workers and how much corporations and their media lackeys fear collective power - particularly when that collective power represents some $2 billion a day in economic leverage. Eleanor outlines the most recent happenings on this issue and then she sits down with Mark Burrows, Railroad Workers United (RWU) member and a 41-year veteran of the railroad industry. They discuss the ongoing assault on railroad workers, not only from their corporate bosses, but from the corporate media as well. Burrows describes the lived experiences of workers like him, and how workplace demands have risen while safety standards and wages have fallen. 

On this week's program we hear a panel discussion held in observation of Constitution Day (mid September) at Diablo Valley College, where Mickey teaches. Three expert panelists examined the state of the media, the threats posed by book-banning campaigns and cancel culture, as well as the societal changes underlying these trends. For some time, the United States has been on the road to what many scholars and pundits repeatedly refer to as a coming Civil War 2.0. Major political figures call the coming elections a "war for the soul of America." With increased attacks on academic freedom from the left and right, and a massive uptick in book challenges and bans across the country, our panelists discuss the need for open dialogue, constructive communication, and advocate for protecting the right to teach, to read, and to disagree. Our guests present strategies to reduce tensions in our contentious political climate through critical thinking, as well as reciprocity and empathic listening, while seeking alternatives to censorship in the quest to overcome current challenges and ameliorate our differences. Notes: Betsy Gomez is coordinator for the national Banned Books Week Coalition. Nico Perrino is Executive Vice-President at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, formerly known as the Foundation for Individual Rights In Education. Nolan Higdon is a university lecturer in media studies and history. He's also the author of The Anatomy of Fake News, Let's Agree to Disagree, and other books on media and society.

This week, Eleanor Goldfield digs into mining - past and present. First, author and organizer Mitch Troutman discusses his latest book, The Bootleg Coal Rebellion: The Pennsylvania Miners who Seized an Industry. Mitch shares the importance of remembering and sharing a radical past, as he puts it: nothing was ever inevitable and that history is taught best when it gives us agency in the present. He also explains the role of media in uplifting the miner's struggle, something more difficult to recognize in today's media landscape. Next, Eleanor talks with Jamie Kneen from Mining Watch to discuss the fallacy of green growth vis a vis lithium - a metal that many are saddling with utopian hopes for the future while the reality screams of neocolonialist extraction in line with other precious metals in a global capitalist market. Kneen highlights the importance of scale in discussing a livable future as well as the dirty fallout from lithium mining.

For the first segment of this week's show, Mickey talks with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Chris Hedges shares some of the stories from his newest book, The Greatest Evil Is War. The book is based on interviews with dozens of victims of war, including families of soldiers, wounded veterans, and civilian survivors of battle. Hedges lays out the many costs of war, and having seen it up close, calls for its unequivocal end across the world. In the second half-hour, historian Peter Kuznick explains the often untold historical legacy of the recently-deceased former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Kuznick says that Gorbachev not only brought vital reforms to the USSR, but made unprecedented arms-reduction proposals that might have put the world on course to complete nuclear disarmament, had the Reagan Administration not rejected the ideas. Both guests call out the horrors of war and the need for a seriously rejuvenated global movement for peace. Notes: Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist with a long career as a foreign correspondent around the world, including battle zones like Iraq and the Balkans. His books include War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, Death of the Liberal Class, America: The Farewell Tour, and his new work The Greatest Evil Is War. Peter Kuznick is Professor of History at American University in Washington DC, and also directs the Nuclear Studies Program at that institution. He and Oliver Stone co-wrote The Untold History of the United States. Image by Annette Jones from Pixabay

On this Project Censored Show, host Mickey Huff dedicates the hour to Banned Books Week 2022 (Sept. 18-24). Now in its 40th year, Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating and promoting the freedom to read, and resisting efforts to ban books from library shelves, especially in school settings. Mickey's four guests bring a variety of perspectives to the program, but are united in their opposition to censorship and staunch advocacy of the freedom to read. Project Censored is a longtime co-sponsor of the Banned Books Week Coalition. Notes: -Betsy Gomez is coordinator for the Banned Books Week Coalition. -Cameron Samuels is a recent high school graduate and activist from the Katy Independent School District near Houston, Texas. Cameron was named the Youth Honorary Chair of Banned Books Week (the first time the title has been awarded) for actively opposing book banning in the District as a student there. -Jordan Smith is the digital editor at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. -Nico Perrino is Executive Vice-President at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, formerly known as the Foundation for Individual Rights In Education, an organization specializing in protecting academic freedom. Image by Pretty Sleepy Art from Pixabay

The latest Project Censored Show features a recording of a panel discussion from this summer's Whistleblower Summit and Film Festival, held in Washington DC. Mickey and Project Censored's Associate Director, Andy Lee Roth, moderated a discussion with journalist Kevin Gosztola and Rebecca Vincent of Reporters Without Borders. This panel, "Guilty of Journalism: The Political Case Against Julian Assange" examined how the imprisonment and prosecution of Assange for his work with WikiLeaks will have a negative impact on journalists and publishers. The final ten minutes of the show is an update with Kevin Gosztola explaining to Mickey the latest developments in the Assange extradition case. Notes: Kevin Gosztola is an independent journalist, and the publisher of ShadowProof.  He's also the author of "Guilty of Journalism: the Political Case Against Julian Assange," to be published in early 2023 by The Censored Press. Rebecca Vincent works at Reporters Without Borders, a non-profit organization that advocates for press freedom worldwide.

On the first half of this week's show Eleanor speaks with musician, producer, and songwriter Samantha Blanchard - talking to her about the exploitation of artists in today's often cookie cutter market, the sad trope of paying dues, and the harsh clash between capitalism and art - which is in fact just human emotion. They also discuss an upcoming EP of hers which covers several Elvis songs, his legacy, and the responsibility of white artists in regards to the black, and indigenous artists who they borrow from, and who largely never got their due. On the second half of the show, Eleanor speaks with organizer India Walton about the student loan debt crisis. India shares her thoughts on the Biden administration's latest announcement, as well as the road ahead. They discuss how those closest to the problem are closest to the solution, including canceling student loans, free higher education, and everything else under the sun.

In the first half of the show, Mickey talks with attorney and author Heidi Boghosian and Project Censored associate director Andy Lee Roth about the confluence of surveillance and censorship, and how that impacts journalism. Many people believe they have nothing to hide online, but that myth is dispelled by today's guests as they address everyday precautions citizens can take to defend their privacy online. Later, Clayton Weimers of Reporters Without Boarders joins the discussion with Mickey and Andy to address the rising incidences of violence (or threats of violence) against journalists, how they should be confronted, and the impacts they have on a free press and society at large. Notes: Heidi Boghosian is executive director of the AJ Muste Institute, and former executive director of the National Lawyers Guild. Her most recent book is I Have Nothing to Hide, And 20 Other Myths About Surveillance and Privacy. Andy Lee Roth is Associate Director of Project Censored, co-editor of the Project's annual volume of censored stories, and co-coordinator of the Project's Campus Affiliates Program. He has published widely on media issues, including most recently, The Deadly Business of Reporting Truth. Clayton Weimers directs the Washington DC bureau office of Reporters Without Borders, an international institution which works to protect journalists around the world; it also publishes the annual "Press Freedom Index" ranking of countries around the world on press freedom issues. Hosts: Mickey Huff and Eleanor Goldfield Producers: Anthony Fest and Eleanor Goldfield

For the first half of the show, Eleanor Goldfield looks into unionizing workers at a Trader Joe's store in Minneapolis and what issues they are facing. She speaks with organizer Sarah Beth Ryther about the efforts as part of growing nationwide movement of organized workers. Then we hear a rebroadcast of a conversation recorded last year between Mickey Huff and Andy Lee Roth, the associate director of Project Censored, about how big tech companies are increasingly turning to proprietary algorithms (instead of human editors) to decide what material they post on their platforms, ultimately determining the news we see. Notes: Sarah Beth Ryther is an employee at the Trader Joe's store in Minneapolis, MN and a leader in the campaign to organize workers at that store. Andy Lee Roth is Associate Director of Project Censored, co-editor of the Project's annual volume of censored stories, and co-coordinator of the Project's Campus Affiliates Program. He has published widely on media matters, including the article discussed from The Markaz Review on "The New Gatekeepers."

This week on the Project Censored Show, Eleanor and Mickey begin the hour in conversation with esteemed historian Dr. David Goldfield, who is a long-time academic and author who has just recently been asked by publishers to censor some of the shocking and uncomfortable aspects of his work so as to not “offend anyone.” As he puts it, if you offend no one, you teach no one. Eleanor, Mickey and David highlight the importance of never censoring the past, lest we distort our present, and thereby condemn our future to one built on falsehoods. In the second half of the show, Eleanor is joined by journalist Mirna Wabi-Sabi to discuss food waste as a colonialist and capitalist paradigm…moving beyond the argument for individual responsibility for climate change and incorporating global systems in our understanding of both the problem, and indeed, the solution. Image by Hermann Traub from Pixabay

Eleanor Goldfield hosts this week's show. This past May, the US Supreme Court narrowed the protection of the Sixth Amendment, by ruling that a person convicted of a crime cannot cite ineffective legal representation in state court as grounds for appeal to the federal courts. In the first half of today's program, attorney Mark Loudon-Brown explains the implications of that decision. Then in the second half-hour, Eleanor explores some of the ways big-party power brokers attempt to block third parties from the ballot, as well as constrain the influence of grassroots activists. Notes: Mark Loudon-Brown is a senior attorney at the Southern Center for Human Rights, and previously was a public defender in New York City. He holds law degrees from New York University and Georgetown University.

For the first half of this week's show, Mickey brings on co-organizers and participants of the upcoming 2022 Whistleblower Summit and Film Festival in Washington, DC, including Marcel Reid, Michael McCray, and Marsha Warfiled. They make the case for a broader public understanding of what whistleblowing is, and why those who call out corruption need better protection and support given the retaliation they face for exercising what Daniel Ellsberg, of the Pentagon Papers fame, has called civil courage. In the second half-hour, Eleanor Goldfield and her guest look at the recent election in Colombia, which saw leftist candidate Gustavo Petro winning the presidency and the first Afro-Colombian, Francia Marquez, an environmental activist, win the vice-presidency. They discuss what this may means for the region and US influence and imperialism there. Notes: Michael McCray and Marcel Reid are the co-founders of the International Association of Whistleblowers and co-organizers of the Whistleblower Summit and Film Festival. McCray is also General Counsel for the Federally Employed Women Legal Education Fund. Reid is a former member of the Pacifica Radio National Board. Marsha Warfield is a nationally-known, comedian and actress, and will be hosting some events at the Whistleblower Summit. Gimena Sanchez is a staff member at the Washington Office on Latin America. Image by German Rojas from Pixabay

This week's program begins with an update from Kevin Gosztola on the Julian Assange legal case in the UK, including the recent ruling by the Home Secretary authorizing Assange's extradition to the U.S. Gosztola explains why Assange didn't receive an impartial hearing from the UK authorities and what this portends for press freedoms worldwide. In the second half-hour, Nolan Higdon looks at the recent Supreme Court opinion reversing Roe vs. Wade, and asks why national-level Democratic Party politicians never took preemptive action to protect abortion rights (the topic of a recent article he and Mickey co-authored at Salon). He and Mickey also discuss the state of the media, including the lessons from the rapid failure of CNN+, the cable network's futile attempt to compete with new media by adding a streaming service that did little to garner a broader audience. Notes: Kevin Gosztola is the managing editor of ShadowProof. He has covered the Julian Assange legal proceedings in the UK from the beginning, as well as other press-freedom and whistleblower cases. Nolan Higdon is a university lecturer in media studies and history in northern California. He's also the author of The Anatomy of Fake News, and is a frequent guest on the Project Censored Show.

This week on the Project Censored radio show, we sit down with Fiore Longo of Survival International to discuss the colonialist and racist realities of so-called conservation, not least of all in the case of our own country's beloved national parks. Highlighting the current forced eviction of the Maasai from their ancestral lands, Fiore speaks to the need of shifting our paradigms on both eco-tourism and conservation, pointing out that removing tribal and indigenous peoples from an ecosystem not only harms the biodiversity of that place but perpetuates violence against these people. The so-called Global North's perspective of tribal and indigenous peoples must change, not only for the sake of human rights but in a very real sense for the sake of biodiversity and climate justice. There's no such thing as cuddly colonialism, there's no such thing as green capitalism. Later in the show we're joined by Jimmy Dunson, co-founder of Mutual Aid Disaster Relief to discuss the importance of community preparedness for extreme weather driven by climate chaos, as well as relational infrastructure. We also discuss his upcoming book Building Power while the lights are out - about mutual aid, disasters and dual power published by Rebel Hearts Publishing. Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

This week's program focuses on whistleblowers -- their contributions to society, the retaliation they often endure, and the legal protections they need. Mickey's guests for the hour include Tom Devine, legal director for the Government Accountability Project, a nonprofit organization that supports whistleblowers, and three historic whistleblowers who dared speak truth to power. We learn about the dangers and abuses these three men exposed over the past half century, and what reforms are needed to defend individuals who take the risks of becoming whistleblowers, and the journalists who help bring their stories to the public. Notes: Tom Devine is Legal Director at the nonprofit Government Accountability Project. Frank Serpico is a retired NYPD detective who became a household name after exposing widespread corruption within the department. His story was the subject of the 1973 Hollywood movie “Serpico." Rick Parks is a nuclear engineer who worked at the damaged Three Mile Island power plant in 1980, and has spoken out about management's and regulators' failures to prioritize safety above utility profits. He is featured on the new Netlix docu-series “Meltdown: Three Mile Island" Robert MacLean was fired from the Transportation Security Administration after criticizing dangerous shortcomings in airline security procedures after 9/11. A National Whistleblower Summit will take place in July; more information can be found here. Music-break information: 1) "After the Ordeal" by Genesis 2) "Snatch it Back" by Government Mule the Project Censored Show: Hosts: Mickey Huff, Eleanor Goldfield Producer: Anthony Fest Image by Daniel Bone from Pixabay

This week on the Project Censored Radio Show, Eleanor Goldfield dives into Pride: talking about some of the misconceptions of pride, the corporatization of pride, the radical roots of pride - from this past century and indeed beyond - and the myriad intersections of pride that are glossed over and whitewashed. Later in the show, we will be joined by Jen Deerinwater who is a bisexual, two-spirit multiply-disabled member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, an award-winning journalist and organizer. She joins us to discuss the corporatization of pride and the power of pride outside those confines. Produced by Eleanor Goldfield, Co-Host and Associate Producer.

Mickey's guests for the hour are the creators of a forthcoming graphic book that explores the far-reaching consequences of replacing classroom teaching with remote instruction and increased technology during the coronavirus pandemic. Author Adam Bessie and illustrator Peter Glanting collaborated on Going Remote: A Teacher's Journey. The book is also a personal memoir in which Bessie recounts issues such as his cancer diagnosis. In addition, Mickey and the guests examine disturbing trends in the administration of higher education that resulted from decades of neoliberal policies. Adam Bessie teaches literature, English composition, and critical thinking at a community college in Northern California.  Peter Glanting is an illustrator and product designer based in Portland, Oregon. Their book is scheduled for release in early 2023, from The Censored Press and Seven Stories Press.

Mickey's guest for the first half of the program is the theologian and philosopher John Cobb; their topic is the Living Earth Movement. Cobb explains the need for humanity to change its behavior so as to live in harmony with all other life on the planet. Addressing U.S. politics, Cobb stresses the need for cooperation with China, rather than confrontation. In the second half-hour, we hear a rebroadcast of a summer 2021 Project Censored Zoom event featuring poet and author Lisa Wells; she spoke about her new book Believers: Making A Life At The End Of The World, for which she interviewed people around the world who were working to make positive changes in their local environments, undeterred by the specter of catastrophic climate change. Notes: John Cobb is an eminent theologian, philosopher and environmentalist. He taught at the Claremont Colleges in California, has authored over 50 books, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Lisa Wells is a poet and author based in Portland, Oregon. Her conversation with Mickey Huff took place as a Zoom event in the summer of 2021, sponsored by KPFA-FM (Berkeley, CA) and Project Censored. Music-break info: 1) "Let's Work Together" by Canned Heat 2) "Who's Going To Save Us From Ourselves" by Styx 3) "Something In The Air" by Thunderclap Newman Web sites mentioned in this week's program: www.livingearthmovement.eco www.claremontecoforum.org

On May 2, 2022, a rare leak from the US Supreme Court revealed that the court was likely to reverse its historic 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision, which established a legal right to abortion. On this week's Project Censored Show, Eleanor Goldfield spends the hour addressing abortion and abortion rights, including her personal experience. In the first half of the show, she explains reproductive choice as part of health care, and as an essential element of bodily autonomy. In the second half-hour, Eleanor interviews Jessica Pinckney, who notes that even being in a "pro-choice" state (California) does not guarantee that women actually have access to abortion services. They also discuss how providers will adapt if Roe is indeed reversed. Notes: Jessica Pinckney is Executive Director of Access Reproductive Justice, a California organization that advocates for choice, and also provides support services for women seeking an abortion. Image by Mark Thomas from Pixabay

Eleanor Goldfield recently spoke with former leader of the Feminist Initiative party in Sweden, Farida al-Abani. They discussed the supposedly “neutral” country's militaristic tendencies– from the push to join NATO to being one of the world's largest weapons exporters. Farida al-Abani also shares her personal experiences with NATO as a Libyan as well as her professional struggles for peace in the din of ever crescendoing war drums. In the second segment, Mickey talks with attorney and author Charlotte Dennett about her latest book, Follow the Pipelines, which explores the pervasive role that oil and gas have played in politics and war, in both the 20th and 21st centuries right up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Notes: Born in Libya, Farida al-Abani was brought to Sweden at an early age, grew up there, and became a leader in the Feminist Initiative party. Charlotte Dennett is an attorney and author, and the daughter of a US intelligence official who died while on assignment in the Middle East just after WWII. Her previous books include The People vs. Bush and Thy Will be Done. The Conquest of the Amazon: Nelson Rockefeller and Evangelism in the Age of Oil with Gerard Colby. Music-break information: 1) "The Resistance" by 2 Cellos 2) "The Military and the Monetary" by Gil-Scott Heron 3) "Pipeline" by the Alan Parsons Project

Mickey is joined for the hour by former co-host Peter Phillips and University of California, Santa Barbara sociologist William I. Robinson. They discuss Robinson's new book "Global Civil War: Capitalism Post Pandemic” out from PM Press. Robinson says that the many types of digital technologies created, enhanced or expanded in recent years have changed the nature of world capitalism, and that -- with the advent of the coronavirus pandemic -- the capitalist class has hastened to deploy these new tools to control populations, with the aim of suppressing the peoples' uprisings that have been growing in extent and scale for more than a decade. Phillips and Robinson offer ideas about what sort of popular movement will be needed to confront this new variant of predatory capitalism. Notes: William I. Robinson teaches Sociology, Global Studies, and Latin American Studies at the University of California Santa Barbara campus. His previous books include Global Capitalism and the Crisis of Humanity and The Global Police State. Peter Phillips is Professor of Political Sociology at Sonoma State University. He's also a former director of Project Censored, and the cofounder of the Project Censored Show. His most recent book is Giants: the Global Power Elite. Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay

Mickey's first guest is Alan MacLeod, senior writer for MintPress News, speaks about PayPal's sudden cutoff of service to MintPress, Consortium News, and other journalism sites that publish antiwar opinions and analysis; Mickey and Alan also discuss the recent trend of individuals from the US/NATO security establishment being given influential posts at Facebook, Tik Tok, and other social media platforms as well as the Biden Administration's new Disinformation Governance Board, a virtual Orwellian Ministry of Truth. In the second half of the show, Steve Macek and Shealeigh Voitl of Project Censored discuss their recent Ms. Magazine article on corporate media's failures in coverage of women's' issues, especially gender violence and inequity. They also comment on the recently-leaked draft opinion from the Supreme Court, which would reverse the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision, thereby giving states wide latitude to criminalize abortion. Notes: Alan MacLeod is a media critic, a senior staff writer at MintPress News, and has also contributed to many other publications. Steve Macek is chair of Communications and Media Studies at North Central College in Illinois, and is co-coordinator of Project Censored's Campus Affiliates Program. Shealeigh Voitl is a Journalism graduate of North Central College, and a research associate at Project Censored. The Macek/Voitl article can be found here. Image by Michi S from Pixabay

This week's show is excerpted from a recent online panel discussion for the Sonoma County Library and Lumacon! in Northern California about efforts to ban certain books, keeping them from children or youth by removing them from libraries and schools. The panelists explore the possible motives for book bans, and explain why it's vital for young people to have access to books that represent diversity and marginalized communities that are most frequently targeted for banning. The featured panel members were Maia Kobabe, author of "Gender Queer: A Memoir," and Noah Grigni, illustrator of "It Feels Good to Be Yourself: A Book About Gender Identity.” The panel also included two local student activists. Both the aforementioned books have been targets for banning. The discussion took place on April 9, and was sponsored by the Sonoma County Public Library. Project Censored's Mickey Huff was the panel moderator. Audio used by permission of event organizers and parents of the minors.

In the first half-hour of this week's program, Mickey's talks to author and professor Valena Beety and veteran investigative journalist Geoff Davidian about the widespread problem of wrongful criminal convictions and the obstacles that both legal investigators and journalists encounter when they try to uncover information. Then in the second half of the program, Eleanor Goldfield speaks with long-time single-payer advocate Dr. Margaret Flowers about prospects for universal health care in the U.S. today. Notes: Valena Beety teaches law at Arizona State University, and previously worked at Innocence Projects in two states (Mississippi and West Virginia). Geoff Davidian is a reporter with over 40 years' experience, including at the Milwaukee Journal, Arizona Republic, and Houston Chronicle. Margaret Flowers is a retired pediatrician and a long-time advocate for universal single-payer health coverage. She's a member of the steering committee for HealthOverProfit.org, a group that campaigns for "a national improved Medicare for All healthcare system."

Uruguan poet and political analyst Eduardo Galeano once wrote, "Every time the US 'saves' a country, it converts it into either an insane asylum or a cemetery."  And this week on the Project Censored show, we look at the reality behind Uncle Sam's particular brand of saviorism - talking US economic warfare - also known as US sanctions - which as of 2021 affect a third of humanity with more than 8,000 measures impacting 39 countries. First, we sit down with Code Pink's Latin America coordinator Leonardo Flores to discuss the sanctions against his home country of Venezuela and how recent US thirst for Venezuelan oil could translate into the much needed lifting of some of the most oppressive sanctions. Next, we sit down with Jacquie Luqman, organizer with the Black Alliance for Peace and radio host to discuss the economic warfare against Afghanistan - which analysts suggest could prove to be deadlier in one year than 20 years of active war on the ground - and also what our role is in combating these acts of violence, as children of the empire.  This episode features the song Pyre by Eleanor Goldfield

Censorship by proxy continues in the US with the latest wave of Big Tech censorship and deplatforming spurred by increased Russiaphobia that lead to the cancellation RT America. This week, Mickey talks with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Chris Hedges about the matter noting how Roku and DirecTV pulled the channel from subscriber services. In addition, Youtube deleted the entire catalog of RT America, which housed his book review program "On Contact," as well as all other programs there, from Lee Camp's Redacted Tonight to Abby Martin's Breaking the Set, in effort to suppress dissenting views not found in US corporate media. Mickey and Chris discuss issues with RT, but also the problematic media landscape in the US that drives critical journalists out of our so-called "free press.” Later in the program, journalist Kevin Gosztola returns to review the recent developments in the Julian Assange extradition case and offers additional analysis about Big Tech censorship and how “community standards” are used as an excuse to ban content at places like YouTube with no means of appeal or accountability. Notes: Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist with a long career as a foreign correspondent in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. His books include War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, Death of the Liberal Class, and America: The Farewell Tour. Kevin Gosztola is the managing editor at Shadowproof. He has covered the Julian Assange legal proceedings in the UK from the beginning, as well as other press-freedom and whistleblower cases. His interview with Mickey was recorded on March 25.

This week on the Project Censored show, we share audio from Code Pink's recent panel on Media Censorship of Voices for Peace with Abby Martin, Lee Camp and Chris Hedges. Code Pink's Jodie Evans talks to them about how they came to speak truth to power, their personal experiences with censorship and what this latest silencing of dissident views means for what's left of free speech and free press, as well as the importance of these so-called dangerous viewpoints in contextualizing US empire, and combating violent propagandization in the face of nuclear war.

In the first segment of this week's show, Eleanor speaks with a member of Defend the Atlanta Forest. They discuss the group's purpose and motivation. In the second half of the show, Eleanor and Mickey discuss how corporate media have under-reported and mis-reported stories involving the global climate crisis, which further contributes to the deleterious effects this has to all life on the planet. Notes: "Coyote" is a member of Defend the Atlanta Forest. The organization aims to protect a 500-acre parcel of the city's historic South River Forest from development plans that would turn part of the woods into a police training center, and another part into a movie studio. Coyote explains how the conflict over the forest involves multiple inter-related issues. Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

Looking ahead to the upcoming annual conference of the Alliance for Community Media West, Mickey speaks with two long-time activists in the community-media movement- Sue Buske and Tracy Rosenberg; they discuss the future of public-access cable channels, associated public/local media, and the role community media centers can play centering marginalized voices in local news deserts, especially in hyper-artisan times. The ACM West's 2022 conference is taking place in San Jose, CA from March 30 through April 1. In the second half of the show, we learn about the iconic, pathbreaking civil-rights activist, lawyer, clergy, and feminist, Pauli Murray (1910-1985), from Simki Kuznick, author of a newly-published Murray biography. That which Murray fought for foreshadowed and impacted many of the civil rights campaigns that continue to this day. Notes: Tracy Rosenberg is Executive Director of Media Alliance, a San-Francisco-based advocacy organization involved in a wide array of campaigns, including net neutrality, personal privacy, and many other issues. Sue Buske is Vice-Chair of ACM West, and heads a consulting firm (the Buske Group) assisting local governments and nonprofit organizations on cable-TV matters. The California Assembly bills discussed on the show are AB2635 and AB2748. Simki Kuznick is the author of "Pauli Murray's Revolutionary Life" (from Rootstock Publishing). While living in California, she helped found the group Interracial Pride. Now based in the Washington, DC area, she is a writer and editor, holds an MFA in Creative Writing.

This week, Eleanor Goldfield hosts both segments of the show. Her first guest is Lee Camp, comedian and political writer, whose TV program (Redacted Tonight) ended with the recent shutdown of the Russia-funded RT America network. They discuss working on RT, and compare the journalistic latitude it allowed, versus that of corporate-owned US media. In the second segment, Chris Garaffa speaks about the shutdown of Sputnik radio in the U.S. and EU, a network where they were a regular contributor. Garaffa and Eleanor discuss how large US-based technology and media corporations have worked with the US government and its allies to prevent Americans from hearing Russian points of view, or any Russian-funded program, even if unrelated to Russia itself, or hosted by non-Russians. Garaffa also offers advice to Americans on how to circumvent government censorship. Notes: Lee Camp's political comedy program, "Redacted Tonight," had an eight-year run on RT America. He and Eleanor Goldfield collaborate on a podcast called "Common Censored." Camp is also the author of the book "Bullet Points and Punch Lines." Chris Garaffa cohosts the "Reboot" podcast and is the creator of Tech For the People. Music-break information: 1) "Long Red" by Mountain 2) "Lucifer" by the Alan Parsons Project 3) "Blasting Cap" by Preston Reed 4) "Touch and Go" by Emerson, Lake and Powell

To open this week's show, Mickey speaks with pathbreaking reporter Danielle McLean about the perilous state of US journalism, as conglomerate-owned newspapers shed reporters or devalue substantive local coverage in favor of entertainment. Then co-host Eleanor Goldfield speaks with Nolan Higdon and Mickey about their new textbook, "Let's Agree to Disagree," a work intended to show a route beyond the political divisiveness promoted by corporate media that focuses on communication, conflict management, and critical media literacy education. Notes: Danielle McLean is the first open trans person to sit on the board of directors of the Society of Professional Journalists. She has a background in local newspaper reporting, and currently writes for SmartCitiesDive.com, a trade publication that follows environmental and social-equity issues at the municipal level. She had the top censored story on missing and murdered indigenous women and girls in Project Censored's State of the Free Press 2021 and wrote the foreword for Project Censored's State of the Free Press 2022. Nolan Higdon is a lecturer in education at the University of California Santa Cruz campus. He's also the author of "The Anatomy of Fake News," and is a frequent guest on the Project Censored Show.

Mickey and his guests examine the Russian invasion of Ukraine. First, author and activist Harvey Wasserman warns of the dangers of catastrophic radioactive contamination if one of Ukraine's decrepit nuclear power plants is damaged in combat, or abandoned by its crews (not to mention Russia's nuclear arsenal). Then historian Peter Kuznick returns to the program to look at the US/NATO conduct that partly set the stage for Russian leader Vladimir Putin's actions while heavily criticizing both Putin and the current illegal attacks on Ukraine. He also examines how the war might yet be ended soon by diplomacy. Given the timely and fast changing nature of this matter, listeners should know these conversations were recorded February 24 and 25, 2022. Notes: Harvey Wasserman has been a clean-energy and anti-nuclear activist for decades. His recent article on the nuclear hazards in Ukraine, Chernobyl 2.0, was published at The Progressive. Peter Kuznick is Professor of History at American University in Washington DC, and also directs the Nuclear Studies Program at that institution. He and Oliver Stone wrote The Untold History of the United States.

This week, the Project Censored Show's new co-host Eleanor Goldfield speaks first with Benjamin Norton to learn how President Biden is "out-Trumping Trump" on immigration. Norton also offers an update on political conditions in Latin America. In the second half of the show, Eleanor talks with Eugene Puryear who explains racism's deep roots in US history, and how it cannot be defeated by superficial actions. He also looks at the significance of Black History Month, which is this month. Benjamin Norton is an independent journalist who focuses on Latin America; he's also the founder of Multipolarista. Eugene Puryear has been a peace-and-justice organizer since his high-school days; he's the author of "Shackled and Chained: Mass Incarceration in Capitalist America," and he writes at Breakthrough News.

Mickey spends the hour with American University historian Peter Kuznick, co-author with Oliver Stone of The Untold History of the United States. They discuss the current U.S. and NATO confrontation with Russia over Ukraine; summarize the recent history of Ukraine and U.S. relations, while placing current affairs in Cold War context; and emphasize the urgency of settling the crisis peacefully. Program note: Due to ongoing and possibly rapidly changing developments, this conversation took place February 10, 2022. Notes: Peter Kuznick is Professor of History at American University in Washington DC, and also directs the Nuclear Studies Program at that institution. He and Oliver Stone wrote the groundbreaking book The Untold History of the United States, now in an updated edition, and also produced a Showtime documentary series based on the book.

After several visits as a guest, Eleanor Goldfield joins the program as co-host with Mickey Huff. In the first segment of this week's show, Kevin Gosztola delivers a brief update about Julian Assange's case. Then Jayeesha Dutta speaks with Eleanor about a possible future for the Gulf of Mexico that doesn't include hazardous offshore oil drilling. In the final segment, Alan MacLeod looks at a purported fake-news watchdog, Graphika, which actually is staffed by numerous retired military, CIA and NATO personnel, and dismisses many domestic alternative media organizations as tools of foreign "enemies." Notes: Kevin Gosztola is the managing editor of ShadowProof as well as other press-freedom and whistleblower cases. Jayeesha Dutta is co-founder of AnotherGulf.com; she also works with the Climate Justice Alliance. Kevin Gosztola is the managing editor of ShadowProof. He has covered the Julian Assange legal proceedings in the UK from the beginning. Alan MacLeod is a media scholar and a senior staff writer at Mint Press News. Music-break information: 1) "Pipeline" by the Alan Parsons Project 2) "Water Song" by Hot Tuna 3) "Long Red" by Mountain 4) "Marwa Blues" by George Harrison

Journalist and filmmaker Eleanor Goldfield returns to the program to address several topics in media and world events, including the ongoing scandal of Julian Assange's imprisonment, the folly of the US and NATO threatening Russia, and the shallowness of commercial media. Then media scholar Nolan Higdon revisits the program to explain how tech giants are infiltrating the classroom by sponsoring carefully-tailored "media-literacy" course materials. The discussion delves into the differences between critical, critical, and corporate media literacy. Both guests weigh in on the latest flap between Joe Rogan, Neil Young, and Spotify with a focus on the problem of big tech deplatforming, censorship, and free speech issues. Eleanor Goldfield is a creative radical, journalist, artist, and organizer. She is co-host of the Common Censored podcast with Lee Camp. She also produced a documentary, Hard Road of Hope, about West Virginia communities confronting pollution from fracking. The Craig Murray article she mentions (about Julian Assange) can be found here. Nolan Higdon is a lecturer in education at the University of California Santa Cruz campus, he teaches media studies and history. He's also the author of the book "The Anatomy of Fake News;” co-author of "Podcaster's Dilemma” with Nicholas Baham III; and co-author with Mickey Huff of "Let's Agree to Disagree,” a critical thinking textbook out from Routledge in early 2022. His recent article (co-written with media scholar Allison Butler) is titled "Time to Put Your Marketing Cap On." It appears in the Review of Education, Pedagogy and Cultural Studies journal. Notes: Music-break information: 1) "The Resistance" by 2 Cellos 2) "Rockin' in the Free World" by Neil Young 3) "Money" by Pink Floyd

Last year, Chinese producers released The Battle at Lake Changjin, a big-budget war movie celebrating a 1950 Chinese victory against US forces in the Korean War. The New York Times criticized the movie as a militaristic intervention by Chinese authorities into popular entertainment for propaganda purposes. However, media scholar Robin Andersen, writing for FAIR, noted that the U.S. press critique ignored the fact that the Pentagon has been influencing Hollywood films producing U.S. propaganda for decades. She joins the Project Censored Show to explore the close ties between the Pentagon and Hollywood and their ongoing efforts to rewrite history and demonize counter narrative sources. Later in the show, Andersen addresses the danger of applying corporate media "both-sides-ism” and false equivalency as part of News Abuse analysis in the latest Project Censored book, State of the Free Press 2022. In the second half of the show, media scholars Nicholas Baham III and Nolan Higdon speak about their new book, The Podcaster's Dilemma: Decolonizing Podcasters in the Era of Surveillance Capitalism, and how corporate media might attempt to co-opt the new medium given its popularity and success at reaching more diverse audiences. Their groundbreaking study is both cautionary and optimistic regarding prospects for this relatively new but wildly popular medium. Notes: Robin Andersen is professor emerita at Fordham University; she also writes for Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, and once again compiled the News Abuse chapter in Project Censored's annual book, State of the Free Press 2022. Professors and authors Nicholas Baham III and Nolan Higdon have made multiple appearances as guests on the the Project Censored Show and were podcasters themselves. Their new book, Podcaster's Dilemma, is both a scholarly analysis of the fast-growing podcasting sector, and an examination of podcasting's potential as a force of decolonization. Image by David Mark from Pixabay

Mickey presents a discussion between political scientist Aaron Good and author David Talbot on the subject of the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy. This conversation is excerpted from a recent interview Aaron Good did for his new podcast series, "American Exception." Talbot explains why “Bobby was the original conspiracy theorist” about the 1963 assassination while discussing his book, Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years. Notes: David Talbot founded Salon.com, and is the author of several books, including the bestselling Brothers, the story of John and Robert Kennedy, and The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government. His work can be seen online at The David Talbot Show. Aaron Good holds a doctorate in political science from Temple University, and is the author ofAmerican Exception: Empire and the Deep State, to be released this spring by Skyhorse Publishing. Good is also the creator of the American Exception podcast.

How can the arts play a role in addressing the global climate crisis? A December 2021 exhibit at the Ceres Gallery in Manhattan, Earth on the Edge, featured the works of 12 artists on the subjects of climate change and mass extinction. In the first half of this week's show, Mickey speaks with two artist/activists whose works were included in the Ceres exhibit, Marcia Annenberg and Angela Manno. They discuss their work, along with the influence of E.O. Wilson, and intersections of art and news censorship around the climate crisis. Then we share excerpts of some of the talks given at the exhibit's opening panel. Notes: Marcia Annenberg works in painting, sculpture and mixed media. Her work, “No News is Good News," was used as the cover of Censored 2014: Fearless Speech in Fateful Times. Angela Manno uses a wide range of materials in her artwork, and focuses her subject matter on nature and humanity's place in it. Learn more about the exhibit at the Ceres Gallery. Thanks to Den Petrizzo for panel audio. This episode is dedicated to the memory of the late E.O. Wilson, who just passed December 26, 2021.

Independent journalist Kevin Gosztola of Shadowproof.com returns to the program to deliver another update about the Julian Assange extradition case in the UK, and its disturbing implications for press freedom. Then we hear a rebroadcast of an interview from earlier this year with Project Censored's Andy Lee Roth where he spoke about the New Gatekeepers in our media systems. Roth shows how algorithms are replacing human editors in deciding which news stories appear, and which are excluded, on the platforms of Big Tech companies such as Google and Facebook, constituting a more recent and insidiously pervasive form of media censorship.

Project Censored's new annual volume, "State of the Free Press 2022,” has just been released from The Censored Press. It includes the well-known 'Top 25' censored stories of the preceding year (which are found freely at their website), as well as many more chapters of media analysis. Andy Lee Roth and Steve Macek of Project Censored spend the hour with Mickey to discuss the new book, and also explain Project Censored's procedures for identifying and compiling under-reported stories while sharing some of this year's selections. Notes: Andy Lee Roth is associate director of Project Censored; he holds a PhD in Sociology from UCLA and has published widely on media issues. Steve Macek is chair of Communications and Media Studies at North Central College in Illinois. Roth and Macek are co-coordinators of Project Censored's Campus Affiliates Program.

Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and author Chris Hedges also teaches college-level courses through Rutgers University for the New Jersey state prison system. His latest book, “Our Class,” explains what happened when Hedges taught a dramatic-literature course to inmates, then helped them write a play of their own – “Caged” – based on their personal life events (published by Haymarket Books). As well, the inmates' stories illustrate the many cruelties of life in an American prison. Mickey Huff hosted Chris Hedges for this special KPFA/Project Censored Zoom event on November 18; this week's program presents excerpts from that talk. Notes: Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist with a long career as a war correspondent around the world. He hosts the program "On Contact" for RT Television, and writes online. His previous books include War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, Empire of Illusion, Death of the Liberal Class, and America: The Farewell Tour. Photo by cactusbones

Should a political lobbyist and real estate investor also be the owner of a major regional newspaper that happens to have bought up the most of the competition? Northern California's Sonoma County provides a case study: lobbyist/investor Darius Anderson is also a principal owner of the county's largest and primary daily newspaper for all of Northern California (and most of its other print media too). Today's guests are longtime independent, investigative reporters Will Carruthers and Peter Byrne. They return to the program to discuss their recent reporting which further examines some of Anderson's ethically-questionable activities, and why the people of the area are likely to be kept uninformed about them. Then Peter Byrne stays for the second half of the program, and explains the now-widespread and dubious practice of "native advertising:” advertisements in the format of news stories, sometimes written by the newspaper's own reporters, thereby pulling down the traditional 'firewall' between the editorial and business sides of journalism. Notes: Will Carruthers is a staff reporter for the North Bay Bohemian and Pacific Sun weekly newspapers, serving Northern California's Marin, Sonoma, and Napa counties. He has two recent articles on Darius Anderson's dealings involving a local rail agency; they can be read here. Peter Byrne is an investigative journalist who has written on a wide array of topics, from science and medicine to public finance. Byrne's work can be found here.