The Real News Podcast

From the Trump administration’s lies and flip-flops to social media feeds filled with AI slop and misinformation, it is infuriatingly difficult to get accurate and honest information about what is actually happening in the US-Israeli war on Iran. But award-winning journalist, lawyer, and former TRNN Board member Dimitri Lascaris has been reporting on the ground in Iran for the last two weeks, from the Strait of Hormuz to the Minab elementary school where US tomahawk cruise missiles killed 168 students and teachers on February 28. We speak with Lascaris about what he’s seen in Iran, and the sides of war people in the West are not seeing…Host / Producer: Maximillian AlvarezStudio Production / Post Production: Cameron GranadinoWatch Dimitri Lascaris's reporting from Iran: https://www.youtube.com/@reason2resistBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

When state violence and systemic denial of full citizenship by the state makes true belonging impossible for Black people, Black anarchists have envisioned and fought for a free life beyond the state. In this episode of Rattling the Bars, author William C. Anderson explores the rich, radical tradition of Black anarchism and its connection to prison abolitionist movements.Guests:William C. Anderson is a writer and activist from Birmingham, AL. His work has appeared in outlets ranging from The Guardian, MTV, Truthout, British Journal of Photography, to Pitchfork. He is the author of The Nation on No Map: Black Anarchism and Abolition, and co-author of As Black as Resistance: Finding the Conditions for Liberation. He’s also the co-founder of Offshoot Journal and provides creative direction as a producer of the Black Autonomy Podcast.Credits:Producer / Videographer / Editor: Cameron GranadinoBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

While facing decades-long political efforts to throttle and privatize the United States Postal Service (USPS), and while US Postmaster General David Steiner ominously warns that the USPS will “run out of money” within a year, postal workers continue to deliver the mail and serve communities across the country. But that job has gotten harder, more dangerous, and more complicated in recent years. From increases in targeted violence against letter carriers to the Trump administration’s attacks on mail-in voting, to ICE and Border Patrol agents invading communities on their mail routes, USPS workers are confronting many daily hazards on the job that the public doesn’t see. In this episode, we speak with Connor Mauche, a letter carrier in New York and a shop steward for Branch 3 of the National Association of Letter Carriers, about what it’s like to be a postal worker in America in 2026. Additional links/info: National Association of Letter Carriers - Branch 3 websiteAnn DeStefano Sutherland, The Revolt of the Good Guys (a documentary about the Great Postal Strike of 1970) Derek Dolbeare, Labor Notes, “Dispatch: Letter carriers are gearing up for another contract fight”Sara Braun, The Guardian, “Nearly blind refugee abandoned by US border patrol found dead in Buffalo”Monique Morrissey, Economic Policy Institute, “Why is President Trump attacking the Postal Service?”Susan Haigh, AP, “US Postal Service expects to run out of cash in a year without help from Congress, postmaster says”Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme SongCredits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

Earth’s Greatest Enemy, the new blockbuster documentary by independent journalist and filmmaker Abby Martin, is an expansive and terrifying investigation into the existential threat that US empire in general—and the US military specifically—poses to humanity and to our planet. In this panel discussion, recorded after a live screening of Earth’s Greatest Enemy on Jan. 29 at the TRNN studio in Baltimore, Maryland, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez and Dharna Noor, fossil fuels and climate reporter for The Guardian, speak with Abby Martin about how US militarism and imperialism are destroying the planet—and what can be done to stop them.GuestsAbby Martin is an independent journalist, filmmaker, and host of The Empire Files. She is the director of the 2019 documentary Gaza Fights for Freedom and the 2026 documentary Earth’s Greatest Enemy.Dharna Noor is a fossil fuels and climate reporter at The Guardian.CreditsStudio Production: David Hebden, Cameron GranadinoPost-Production: Cameron GranadinoBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

Increasingly, Trump has his sights set on Mexico—promising to send in US troops in the name of fighting cartels and advancing a so-called drug war policy. But Trump’s actions harken back to an era of US empire much, much older.See, Mexico has withstood a long history of foreign intervention by the Spanish, French, and multiple times by the United States.In 1848, Mexico lost more than half its territory to the United States. The US states of California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and more used to be part of Mexico. Today, host Michael Fox visits Mexico’s National Museum of Interventions in Mexico City, and we look back at the devastating history of foreign intervention in Mexico amid Trump’s threats against Mexico and elsewhere in the region today.This is Episode 9 of Under the Shadow, Season 2. Under the Shadow is an investigative narrative podcast series that walks back in time, telling the story of the past by visiting momentous places in the present. Season 2 responds in real time to the Trump administration’s onslaught on Latin America.Hosted by Latin America-based journalist Michael Fox.This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.Theme music by Michael Fox’s band, Monte Perdido. Monte Perdido's 2024 album Ofrenda is available on Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, YouTube or wherever you listen to music.Other music from Blue Dot Sessions and Epidemic Sound.Script editing by Heather Gies. Hosted, written, produced, mixed, and edited by Michael Fox.GuestsChristy Thornton, Associate Professor of History at NYUResourcesHere is the link to Mexico’s National Museum of Interventions.You can check out Michael Fox’s Patreon to see exclusive pictures of the museum and the wall out front.Here is the episode of Michael Fox’s podcast Stories of Resistance about the St. Patrick’s Brigade.This is Christy Thornton’s book, Revolution in Development: Mexico and the Governance of the Global Economy.Under the Shadow, Season 1You can check out the first season of Under the Shadow by clicking hereThe Beginning: Monroe and migration | Under the Shadow, Episode 1Panama. US Invasion. | Under the Shadow, Episode 13The legacy of Monroe | Under the Shadow, Bonus Episode 4 Support Under the ShadowPlease consider supporting this podcast and Michael Fox’s reporting on his Patreon account: patreon.com/mfox. There you can also see exclusive pictures, video, and interviews.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

3,800 workers and Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 7 members at the massive JBS beef processing plant in Greeley, Colorado, walked off the job on an unfair labor practice strike on March 16. This is the first strike ever at the Greeley plant—one of the largest in the country—and it’s the biggest meatpacking strike in the US since the 1985-86 strike at the Hormel plant in Austin, Minnesota. As Caitlyn Clark and Lisa Xu report in Labor Notes, “Strikers say JBS has been increasing the speed of the production line while cutting work hours from 40 a week to 35, squeezing out more work for less money… Workers are also demanding that the company stop charging them out-of-pocket costs for personal protective equipment like mesh vests and arm guards—essential because they work with knives, saws, and other sharp, dangerous equipment.” In this episode, we speak with Clark and Xu, who report from the JBS picket line and break down why this strike is so significant and what it will take for workers to win this fight against the largest beef processor in the US.  Guests Caitlyn Clark is a national organizer at Essential Workers for Democracy, an organization dedicated to rank-and-file member education and empowerment for UFCW members in grocery, meatpacking, and retail.Lisa Xu is a staff writer and organizer at Labor Notes. Additional links/info Caitlyn Clark & Lisa Xu, Labor Notes, “In 57 languages, meatpackers strike for the first time in 40 Years” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

The Democratic Party has lost to Donald Trump and MAGA twice, and is continuing to lose working-class voters by clinging to corporate power, militarism, and a leadership class increasingly disconnected from its base. In this episode of The Marc Steiner Show, Marc speaks with Norman Solomon about his new book, The Blue Road to Trump Hell, and the reality that the right can only be stopped by both confronting Democratic failures and rebuilding a grassroots politics rooted in class, peace, and social movements.GuestsNorman Solomon is the cofounder of RootsAction.org, executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, and the author of numerous books, including War Made Easy: How Presidents & Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death; War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of the Military Machine; and The Blue Road to Trump Hell: How Corporate Democrats Paved the Way for Autocracy.CreditsProducer: Rosette SewaliStudio Production: David HebdenAudio Post-Production: Stephen FrankBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

This week, March 24th, is the 50th anniversary of the 1976 Argentine coup that sunk the country into a brutal U.S.-backed military dictatorship. The regime would unleash terror across Argentina, disappearing 30,000 people in just seven years. Thousands detained. Tortured. Murdered.But people would resist, like the family members of the disappeared — the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. They have marched for five decades to demand justice and the return of their children and grandchildren, alive.In Argentina, March 24 is known as the National Day for Memory and Truth and Justice. It honors the victims of the military regime. Each year, big marches and demonstrations are held in Buenos Aires to mark the date. This year, they are expected to be particularly huge….In honor of this 50th anniversary, we are bringing you this bonus episode of resistance from Argentina. We produced these stories in this podcast last year. Three vignettes (here, here and here) about resistance to the evil of the military regime, the violence it unleashed, and the people standing up then and now… Still fighting for truth, justice, and memory, today.Stories of Resistance is a podcast produced by The Real News. Here is the link to listen to Season 1: https://therealnews.com/stories-of-resistance. We are currently developing Season 2.If you like what you hear, please subscribe, like, share, comment, or leave a review.You can also follow and support Michael’s reporting, and see some pictures of these stories at www.patreon.com/mfoxor in the following links:Students March to Honor the Victims of Argentina’s Dictatorship & the ‘Night of the Pencils’ — In PicturesThe Crisis of Milei’s Argentina - Panamerican Dispatch Episode #5Written and produced by Michael Fox.Michael is currently working on the next season of his podcast Under the Shadow, about Plan Condor and the U.S.-backed South American dictatorships of the 1960s and 70s. It’s expected to be released in 2027. You can listen to the current season about Trump’s onslaught in the region here.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

With the public outraged over the US-Israeli war with Iran, the Epstein Files coverup, and a cost-of-living crisis, even President Trump’s base of supporters is fracturing, and Republicans are fixing to get slammed in the upcoming midterm elections. Perhaps that explains why Trump and MAGA Republicans are obsessively focused on attacking voting rights, taking federal control over the electoral system, and preemptively casting doubt on the midterm election results before the elections even happen. TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Ari Berman, national voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones, about MAGA Republicans' effort to rig the midterms—and what can be done to stop it. Guest: Ari Berman is Mother Jones' national voting rights correspondent. He’s the author of the new book Minority Rule: The Right-Wing Attack on the Will of the People—and the Fight to Resist It, as well as Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America.Additional links/info: Ari Berman, Mother Jones, “The world is on fire. Gas prices are rising. Republicans are trying to make it harder to vote”Ari Berman, Mother Jones, “The GOP’s “show us your papers” bill is the latest effort to help Trump take over elections”Credits:Studio Production / Post-Production: Cameron GranadinoBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

Diane Wilson is a fourth-generation fisherwoman and a lifelong resident of Seadrift, Texas. Wilson has become a global folk hero over the course of her epic, decades-long journey from shrimp boat captain and mother of five to social and ecological justice warrior who took on a multibillion dollar corporation polluting the bays along her beloved Texas Gulf Coast. But the fight to save her home from industrial pollution is far from over. On March 2, Wilson began a hunger strike outside the Dow Chemical Company / Union Carbide plant in Seadrift. “I have a tent and am camping out 24 hours, 7 days a week,” Wilson wrote in a letter to Dow CEO Jim Fitterling, “to impress upon Dow/Union Carbide our intense dislike and frustration of decades of plastic pollution being discharged into our bays and waterways.” In this episode of Working People, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Wilson as her hunger strike enters its third week. Guest: Diane Wilson is a fourth-generation shrimper, boat captain, mother of five, author, and an environmental, peace, and social justice advocate. During the last 30 years, she has launched legislative campaigns, demonstrations, hunger strikes, sunk boats, and even climbed chemical towers in her fight to protect her Gulf Coast bay. She is a co-founder of CODEPINK, the women’s anti-war group based in Washington, DC, and co-founder of the Texas Jail Project, which advocates for inmates’ rights in Texas county jails. Since 2012, Wilson has been executive director and waterkeeper of San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper (SABEW) on the Texas Gulf Coast. Wilson is the author of numerous books, including: An Unreasonable Woman: A True Story of Shrimpers, Politicos, Polluters, and the Fight for Seadrift, Texas; and Diary of an Eco-Outlaw: An Unreasonable Woman Breaks the Law for Mother Earth.Additional links/info: Follow updates on Diane’s hunger strike hereDiane Wilson website Diane Wilson, “Letter to DOW CEO Jim Fitterling”San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper (SAWBE) website, Facebook page, TikTok, and InstagramPlastic Pollution Coalition, “Diane Wilson launches hunger strike after Dow requests legalization of microplastics discharge in Texas”Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme SongCredits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

With Cuba’s electric grid collapsing this week, the inhumane results of the Trump administration’s oil blockade continue to pile up and strangle Cuba and its people. In this urgent episode of The Marc Steiner Show, Marc speaks with American activist and co-founder of CODEPINK Medea Benjamin about her latest trip to Cuba, the extent of the devastation caused by the US-imposed blockade, and the twisted motivations behind it. Medea Benjamin will be sailing to bring humanitarian aid to Cuba with the Nuestra América Flotilla on March 21, 2026. Guests:Medea Benjamin is co-founder of Global Exchange and CODEPINK: Women for Peace. She is the author or co-author of numerous books, including: War in Ukraine: Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict; Inside Iran: The Real History and Politics of the Islamic Republic of Iran; and Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control. Additional links/info: Democracy Now!, “Report from Havana as Trump threatens to “take” Cuba & pushes for ouster of Cuban leader”Michael Fox, Under the Shadow / TRNN, “Trump’s war on Cuba: Crisis made in the USA | Under the Shadow S2E7”Marc Steiner, The Marc Steiner Show / TRNN, “SOS: The US is manufacturing a humanitarian crisis in Cuba”Credits:Producer: Rosette SewaliStudio Production: David HebdenAudio Post-Production: Stephen FrankBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

At least 17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean are on board with Trump’s new military alliance. They are calling it the America’s Counter Cartel Coalition. Latin America’s top right-wing leaders are involved, including El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele and Argentina’s Javier Milei. They met in Florida for the event on March 7th.The United States has promised to use lethal force to destroy cartels and narco-traffickers in those nations. Kristi Noem, the former head of Homeland Security, is the new special envoy for the coalition.This is a new phase of Trump’s plan for Latin America. Trump’s Donroe Doctrine — Monroe 2.0. The first was the offensive against his enemies in the region. Now, Trump is shoring up his allies and building a coalition where the US military can continue to take action in collaboration with countries allied with Trump. We’ve already begun to see this unfold in Ecuador. This is Episode 8 of Under the Shadow, Season 2.Under the Shadow is an investigative narrative podcast series that walks back in time, telling the story of the past by visiting momentous places in the present. Season 2 responds in real time to the Trump administration’s onslaught on Latin America.Follow Under the Shadow on Spotify and Apple PodcastsHosted by Latin America-based journalist Michael Fox.Many thanks to Belly of the Beast for the interview with Liz Oliva Fernandez and the use of the sound from several of their videos.This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.Theme music by Michael Fox’s band, Monte Perdido. Monte Perdido's 2024 album Ofrenda is available on Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, YouTube or wherever you listen to music.Other music from Blue Dot Sessions.Guests:Alexander Main from the Center for Economic and Policy ResearchAlexis Ponce Script editing by Heather Gies. Hosted, written, produced, mixed and edited by Michael Fox.Resources: You can read Alex’s excellent analysis of the Shield of the Americas summit, here.Please also check out CEPR's Americas Live Update Blog, with all of the latest from the region.You can check out the first season of Under the Shadow by clicking hereThe Beginning: Monroe and migration | Under the Shadow, Episode 1Panama. US Invasion. | Under the Shadow, Episode 13The legacy of Monroe | Under the Shadow, Bonus Episode 4 Please consider supporting this podcast and Michael Fox’s reporting on his Patreon account: patreon.com/mfox. There you can also see exclusive pictures, video, and interviews.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

As their public approval sinks lower and lower, the MAGA right is leaning harder and harder into policies of abject cruelty directed at vulnerable populations that have been turned into sacrificial scapegoats; that is especially true when it comes to immigrants and trans people. In the state of Kansas, for instance, Republicans just rammed through one of the most extreme anti-trans bills in the country. TRNN Editor-in-Chief speaks with journalist and LGBTQ+ policy analyst Erin Reed about how the new law is affecting trans Kansans and about the explosion of anti-trans policies around the country. Additional links/info: Erin Reed website, Substack, Facebook page, Bluesky page, TikTok, and Instagram Erin Reed, Substack, “Anti-Trans National Legal Risk Assessment Map: Feb 2026”Erin Reed, Substack, “"You outlaw it": Heritage Foundation President announces intent to outlaw all trans adult care”Sherman Smith & Morgan Chilson, Kansas Reflector, “Trans Kansans struggle with Legislature’s ‘cruelty’ as driver’s licenses are invalidated”Sherman Smith, Kansas Reflector, “Trans men file lawsuit over Kansas law that restricts bathroom use and invalidates driver’s licenses”Credits:Audio Post-Production: Alina Nehlich Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

38-year-old regional video gaming champion Ludovic Mbock, who came to the US legally from Cameroon, was snatched by ICE while applying for his yearly work permit—as he’s done for 20 years. He has since been detained for three weeks and moved to facilities in Louisiana and Georgia, and his freedom depends on a critical bond hearing this week. In this urgent episode of Working People, we speak with Diane Sohna, Ludovic’s sister, and Nikhil Delahaye, a close friend of Ludovic’s and a fellow gamer. Additional links/info: Ludovic Mbock InstagramGoFundMe: Support Ludovic’s Legal DefenseAntonio Planas & Rondez Green, The Baltimore Banner, “He thought it was a routine ICE check-in. Now his family fears he’ll be deported”Heidi Kemps, GameSpot, “The fighting game community bands together in solidarity to help free player from ICE”Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme SongCredits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

A new report from The Marshall Project reveals that the daily number of kids in ICE detention has increased sixfold under the second Trump administration. In this episode of Rattling the Bars, host Mansa Musa speaks with Shannon Heffernan and Anna Flagg of The Marshall Project about the the human cost of Trump’s mass deportation campaign, and about the horrifying reality inside the South Texas Family Processing Center—the "black box" facility in Dilley, TX, where children are subjected to substandard food, medical deprivation, and prolonged detention beyond legal limits.Guests:Anna Flagg is a senior data reporter at The Marshall Project and works with data to report on detention, deaths in custody, crime, race, policing and immigration. Her reporting has appeared in The Marshall Project, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, ProPublica, Politico, The Guardian, The Associated Press, Al Jazeera, and others.Shannon Heffernan is a staff writer at The Marshall Project whose work focuses on prisons and jails across the US, as well as sexual and gender-based violence, immigration and mental health, and how arts and culture shape (and are shaped by) crime and punishment.Additional links/info:Anna Flagg & Shannon Heffernan, The Marshall Project, “‘Why is this happening to us?’ Daily number of kids in ICE detention jumps 6x under Trump”Maximillian Alvarez, TRNN, “Texas’ one-of-a-kind concentration camp for children and families”Credits:Producer / Videographer / Editor: Cameron GranadinoBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

President Trump’s catastrophic decision to plunge the US into a war with Iran is following a depressingly familiar playbook to those who lived through—and those who served in—the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In this episode of The Marc Steiner Show, Marc speaks with military veteran, author, and peace activist Rory Fanning—who served two tours in combat as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan—about the reality of what the US military has done in the Middle East, and about the veterans who are speaking out against the US-Israeli war with Iran. Guests:Rory Fanning is a war resister, military counter recruiter, and writer living in Chicago, IL. Fanning served two deployments with the Second Army Ranger Battalion in Afghanistan, and he is the author of Worth Fighting For: An Army Ranger's Journey Out of the Military and Across America. Credits:Producer: Rosette SewaliStudio Production: David HebdenAudio Post-Production: Stephen FrankBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

The term “mass incarceration” is inaccurate and misleading, Distinguished Professor and author Dylan Rodríguez says: “The masses are not being policed, targeted, and incarcerated; it's a targeted war with asymmetrical casualties.” In this episode of Rattling the Bars, Rodríguez speaks with former political prisoner and Black Panther Mansa Musa about the horrifying truth behind the US prison-industrial complex—and about the "pseudo-abolitionist" politics that often dilute the power of radical movements trying to dismantle it.Follow Rattling the Bars on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Guests:Dylan Rodríguez is a teacher, scholar, organizer, and collaborator who has worked at the University of California-Riverside since 200. He is a Distinguished Professor in the recently created Department of Black Study as well as the Department of Media and Cultural Studies. He is the author of three books: Forced Passages: Imprisoned Radical Intellectuals and the U.S. Prison Regime; Suspended Apocalypse: White Supremacy, Genocide, and the Filipino Condition; and White Reconstruction: Domestic Warfare and the Logic of Racial Genocide, which won the 2022 Frantz Fanon Book Award from the Caribbean Philosophical Association.Additional links/info:Mansa Musa, Ratting the Bars / TRNN, “Manifest Destiny never ended: the domestic war for white supremacy”Credits:Producer, Videographer, Editor: Cameron GranadinoBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

Cuba is facing the greatest existential threat it has seen in decades. Trash is filling streets, because garbage trucks can’t make the rounds. Rolling blackouts, rising food prices and cuts to transportation, university classes, and hospitals amid a gas shortage, the likes of which the country hasn’t seen in years.US President Donald Trump, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and other officials have made it clear that they aren’t interested in anything less than regime change. And they’re going after that goal full throttle. The United States is now imposing an oil blockade on the island nation that is pushing it to the brink – and hitting its most vulnerable residents the hardest.In this episode, we look at Cuba, the history of the more than 65-year-old US embargo on Cuba and Trump’s actions, which are pushing the country to the brink.This is Episode 7 of Under the Shadow, Season 2.Under the Shadow is an investigative narrative podcast series that walks back in time, telling the story of the past by visiting momentous places in the present. Season 2 responds in real time to the Trump administration’s onslaught on Latin America.Hosted by Latin America-based journalist Michael Fox.This episode was made in collaboration with Belly of the Beast. Many thanks to them for the interview with Liz Oliva Fernandez and the use of the sound from several of their videos.This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.Theme music by Michael Fox’s band, Monte Perdido. Monte Perdido's 2024 album Ofrenda is available on Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, YouTube or wherever you listen to music.Other music from Blue Dot Sessions.Guests: Liz Oliva Fernandez with Belly of the BeastCamila PineiroMedea Benjamin with Code PinkPeter Kornbluh with National Security ArchivesGreg Wilpert, founder of VenezuelanalysisScript editing by Heather Gies. Hosted, written, produced, mixed and edited by Michael Fox.Resources Please visit Belly of the Beast for their excellent coverage of the situation in Cuba. You can see a copy of the Mallory Memo on the National Security Archive’s website: https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/cuba/2022-02-02/cuba-embargoed-us-trade-sanctions-turn-sixty This is the 1960 document that created the justification for the Eisenhower’s first sanctions on Cuba. Here is the link to Peter Kornbluh’s co-authored book, Back Channel to Cuba: The Hidden History of Negotiations between Washington and Havana https://www.amazon.com/Back-Channel-Cuba-Negotiations-Washington-ebook/dp/B00W1VH9LETo get involved in the flotilla to carry aid to Cuba this month, you can find out more on the Code Pink website, here: https://www.codepink.org/convergecubaUnder the Shadow, Season 1: You can check out the first season of Under the Shadow by clicking hereThe Beginning: Monroe and migration | Under the Shadow, Episode 1Panama. US Invasion. | Under the Shadow, Episode 13The legacy of Monroe | Under the Shadow, Bonus Episode 4 Michael Fox’s recent reporting on the boat strikes and the ramp-up for war in Venezuela: With the strike on a ‘drug-carrying boat,’ Trump returns to a dangerous US policy for Latin AmericaCaribbean leaders call for unified Latin American resistance to US attacksTrump’s Monroe Doctrine 2.0 outlines imperial intentions for Latin AmericaYou can check out Michael’s recent episode of Stories of Resistance about the protests against US intervention in Venezuela.NACLA’s Curated Guide to the US Attack on Venezuela Truthout’s ongoing reporting on War and Peace and the US invasion of VenezuelaVisit TRNN for all of TRNN’s coverage on this and so much morePlease consider supporting this podcast and Michael Fox’s reporting on his Patreon account: patreon.com/mfox. There you can also see exclusive pictures, video, and interviews.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

The US-Israeli war with Iran is spiraling into a regional catastrophe, and the number of dead is rising quickly. While President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the war hawks in their cabinets are responsible for this illegal war, they are not the only ones with blood on their hands. TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Abby Martin, host of The Empire Files, and Adam Johnson, co-host of Citations Needed, about how Western media and American politicians in the Democratic "opposition" have helped manufacture the conditions for war with Iran. Guests:Abby Martin is an independent journalist, filmmaker, and host of The Empire Files. She is the director of the 2019 documentary Gaza Fights for Freedom and the 2026 documentary Earth’s Greatest Enemy. Adam Johnson is a writer, media critic, co-host of the podcast Citations Needed, and a columnist for TRNN.  Credits:Post-Production: Cameron GranadinoBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

As general president of the union, Sean O’Brien has operated with a “Teamsters vs. Everybody” mentality, especially when it comes to dealing with President Trump and embracing the MAGA right. But now, 14 months into the second Trump administration, the labor movement and the entire working class—Teamsters members included—is under attack. In this episode of Working People, we speak with veteran Teamsters Richard Hooker Jr. and John Palmer, who are running to oust O’Brien from leadership in the upcoming union election.Guests: Richard Hooker Jr. has dedicated 26 years to the Teamsters, spending 20 of those years at UPS and the last six in leadership roles. He is the Secretary-Treasurer and Principal Officer of Teamsters Local 623 in Philadelphia, and he is now running on the Fearless Slate to unseat Sean O’Brien as a candidate for general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. John Palmer has 38 years of experience in the Teamsters and is currently serving as a vice president at large of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. He is running on the Fearless Slate as a candidate to be the union’s general secretary-treasurer.Additional links/info: Teamsters Fearless Slate websiteHank Kennedy, Current Affairs, “Sean O’Brien sold labor to Trump, and got nothing”Michael Sainato, The Guardian, “Labor activist takes on Teamsters leader allying with Trump: ‘He doesn’t represent the workers’”Joe Allen, CounterPunch, “Why are the Teamsters endorsing Greg Abbott?”Peter Eavis, The New York Times, “UPS says it is cutting up to 30,000 jobs”Maximillian Alvarez, TRNN, “Everybody hates Sean”Maximillian Alvarez, TRNN, “We asked 8 different Teamsters what they thought of Sean O'Brien's speech—their responses may surprise you”Featured Music:Jules Taylor, Working People Theme SongCredits: Audio Post-Production: Jules TaylorBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!