On The Ground

"On the Ground: Voices of Resistance from the Nation’s Capital," produced and hosted by Esther Iverem, reports from Washington, DC on social justice activism addressing local, national and international issues.

‘ON THE GROUND’ SHOW FOR NOVEMBER 7, 2025: Gerald Horne on the Democratic Socialist Win and Trump’s Threat Against Nigeria… MD Black Community Continues Fight Against AI Data Center… Comedy by Josh Johnson and Headlines on SNAP and More…

From the win by a Democratic Socialist in New York City, to Trump’s threats against Nigeria, Gerald Horne weighs in on the news. And a majority-Black suburb of Washington, DC continues the fight against a massive, polluting AI data center. Plus headlines on SNAP, Gaza, the “Refuse Fascism” protest, the Black March on the White […]

11-07
55:40

‘ON THE GROUND’ SHOW FOR OCTOBER 31, 2025: Chris Smalls and Jill Stein Urge Labor Movement to Shut Down Weapons and Goods to Israel… DC Residents Protest ICE and Federal Police in Neighborhoods… Plus Headlines, Federal Workers Line Up for Food Aid, and More…

The call for a general strike was the most concrete demand coming from the massive no kings day protests. And labor and pro-Palestine advocates are picking up the baton, demanding that unions in the U.S. shut it down and end US weapons and shipments to the apartheid state of Israel. And, after a border patrol […]

10-31
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‘ON THE GROUND’ SHOW FOR OCTOBER 24, 2025: Jon Jeter on the War on Truth… Chicago Mayor Calls for a National Strike… Plus Headlines and Bernie at No Kings

From Gaza to Venezuela, to attacks on immigrants here at home, elites use Corporate media to keep Americans blind to the facts, to make us “good Germans.” We speak to journalist Jon Jeter for this month’s episode of ‘On the Media.’ And though millions in the U.S. attended the October 18 “No Kings” protests against […]

10-24
58:00

‘ON THE GROUND’ SHOW FOR OCTOBER 17, 2025 The F-Word on Fascism: Turbulent Times in the U.S… A Defense of the Voting Rights Act at the Supreme Court… Plus Headlines on No Kings Day, Israel Breaks Ceasefire and Tortures Prisoners, And More…

The United States is in a politically turbulent time, one that calls for residents to stand up against injustice. We speak to historian Gerald Horne for this month’s episode of The F-Word on fascism. And do voting rights for Black people discriminate against whites? We hear from attorneys who just argued a landmark voting rights […]

10-17
52:53

‘ON THE GROUND’ SHOW FOR OCTOBER 10, 2025: The Capital of Slavery: Washington, DC: 1800-1865… Interview with Gerald Horne about His New Book on the Roots of the U.S. Capital… Plus Headlines on Gaza Ceasefire, Judge Blocks National Guard from Chicago…. And More.

The enslaved and free African populations of what is now the Washington, DC area were pivotal in ending the scourge of slavery in the 19th century. And historian Gerald Horne argues that today’s African descendent population will be pivotal in fighting fascism in the 21st century. We spend the hour speaking to Professor Horne about […]

10-10
58:40

‘ON THE GROUND’ SHOW FOR OCTOBER 3, 2025: A Gaza Peace Plan Without Peace… Trump Attacks U.S. Citizens with Military… Cities Organize to Fight Back.. Plus Headlines

This week, the Trump administration presented a Gaza peace plan that was neither about peace nor a plan. It claimed that U.S. cities should be used for military training. Then chose to standby its wealth transfer to the rich and shut down the government. We speak to historian Gerald Horne. Five cities threatened by Trump […]

10-03
58:40

‘ON THE GROUND’ SHOW FOR SEPTEMBER 26, 2025: Jon Jeter On the Far Right Gobbling Up U.S. Media….Colombia’s Petro Offers Final U.N. Tour De Force Speech… Plus Headlines on James Comey Indictment, Netanyahu Protests, and Much More….

As the far right continues their attack on U.S. constitutional rights, their latest front is news and information, as they gain more control over what people in this country can see hear and read. We speak to journalist Jon Jeter for this month’s episode of On the Media. And in his speech before the UN […]

09-26
59:36

‘ON THE GROUND’ SHOW FOR SEPTEMBER 19, 2025: The F-Word on Fascism: Is Kirk’s Murder the U.S. Reichstag Fire?…Mahmoud Khalil and Karen Attiah Speak Out… Plus Headlines on Victory Against Maryland Data Center … and More

As the death of right-wing organizer Charlie Kirk is used to jumpstart new attacks on the left, are we witnessing the U.S. version of Nazi Germany’s Reichstag fire? We speak to historian Gerald Horne for this month’s episode of the F-Word on fascism. And two survivors of the new U.S. censorship regime, Mahmoud Khalil, former […]

09-19
59:42

‘ON THE GROUND’ SHOW FOR SEPTEMBER 12, 2025: Trump’s ‘Crime Emergency’ Ends in DC But ICE and Armed Guard Remain… Thousands March Against Militarization of the Capital… Investors Rule and Ruin DC’s Housing Market… Plus Headlines

Trump’s so-called ‘crime emergency’ in DC is over, but thousands protest as federal police, masked ICE agents and armed soldiers remain on the streets of the capital. And as the DC Council takes a final vote on $1 billion in taxpayer funding for a new NFL stadium, Lydia Curtis exposes why hundreds of new housing […]

09-12
58:33

‘ON THE GROUND’ SHOW FOR SEPTEMBER 5, 2025: Will DC Streets Ever Be Rid of Armed Soldiers and Federal Police?… Epstein and Maxwell Survivors Speak on Capitol Hill… Gerald Horne on India and Venezuela… Plus More Headlines

During the final days of Trump’s so-called crime emergency declared in DC, residents and lawmakers tell Congress that they want armed soldiers, masked ICE agents and federal police out of their neighborhoods. And survivors of serial sexual predators Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell speak out on Capitol Hill, demanding that all files in the case […]

09-05
59:40

‘ON THE GROUND’ SHOW FOR AUGUST 29, 2025: DC Resists Trump in Massive Labor March… An ‘Outrage Vigil’ for More Slain Journalists in Gaza… Major Meeting for the Global South in China… And Much More…

Here in the nation’s capital, we refuse to normalize National Guard soldiers  with automatic weapons on the Metro, or racist checkpoints where Uber drivers are snatched up and handcuffed by men wearing masks. On this show, we hear from speakers at the massive ‘Solidarity Season’ labor march held Thursday, August 28th, we talk to our […]

08-29
56:27

‘ON THE GROUND’ SHOW FOR AUGUST 15, 2025: DC: Trump’s Testing Ground for Fascism… When Human Rights Are Under Attack…. Plus Headlines

For this month’s episode of The F-Word, historian Gerald Horne discusses DC as a laboratory for an American brand of fascism. And with revolutionary optimism, DC activists are fighting back, defining the struggle in the district as the same as in the global south, against colonialism and snd imperialism. Plus headlines on vigil for murdered […]

08-15
58:40

‘ON THE GROUND’ SHOW FOR AUGUST 8, 2025: Voting Rights in Crisis…Pro-Palestine Encampment Protests Outside Corporate Media DC Offices… Plus Headlines

To thwart a redistricting scheme that will disenfranchise Black and Latinx voters in Texas, state Democratic lawmakers have fled the state to deny Republicans the quorum needed to pass the legislation. And Pro-Palestine activists hold an encampment outside the DC offices of several corporate news organizations, accusing them of complicity in enabling the genocide in […]

08-08
55:08

‘ON THE GROUND’ SHOW FOR AUGUST 1, 2025: $1Billion in Taxpayer Funds for an NFL Stadium?… While Cutting Public Services, DC Set to Give Billionaire NFL Owner 22 Acres for $1 Rent… Plus Headlines On Freedom for Chris Smalls and More

The DC Council is set to vote on a controversial plan to spend one billion dollars in taxpayer funding toward a new NFL stadium for the Washington Commanders. In this debate, both sides do want to bring the professional football team home, but differ on whether the current deal is good, or whether DC should […]

08-01
58:40

‘ON THE GROUND’ SHOW FOR JULY 25, 2025: Jon Jeter on Media and Culture… The U.S. Looks More Like a Police State (Especially if You’re Black or Brown)… Plus Headlines With Gerald Horne on ICE, Jacksonville Police Brutality, DC Budget and More…

From brutal immigration raids, to police attacks on peaceful protesters, to inhumane immigration detention facilities, the U.S. is looking more and more like a police state. And we speak to our media critic Jon Jeter about the continued murder of journalists in Gaza, and repression of free speech across Europe and in the U.S. Plus […]

07-25
57:31

‘ON THE GROUND’ SHOW FOR JULY 18, 2025: Wilmer Leon on Fascism and Education… Francesca Albanese on Profit from Genocide… Plus Headlines on Ukraine, Epstein, the DC Budget, and More…

Trump just fired half of the staff at the U.S. Department of Education, which serves more than 60 million people in the country. So for this month’s episode of the F-word, we speak to political scientist Wilmer Leon about fascism and education. And speaking education and information, Trump is placing economic sanctions on the UN […]

07-18
01:00:28

‘ON THE GROUND’ SHOW FOR JULY 11, 2025: Protesters Denounce Netanyahu’s Visit to DC… Gerald Horne on Gaza, Iran, BRICS…. And More

In an upside-down world, where an indicted war criminal is feted at the White House, those opposed to the Gaza holocaust are fighting back in the only way they know: by continuing to stay in the streets. On this show, we hear from speakers at a rally near the White House in opposition to the […]

07-11
58:44

‘ON THE GROUND’ SHOW FOR JULY 4, 2025: Faith Leaders Rally on Capitol Hill, and are Arrested, Protesting Trump’s ‘Immoral’ Budget

On Friday,, July fourth , Trump is scheduled to sign into law his so-called big beautiful bill which eliminates health care and food assistance for millions of Americans, adds $150 billion more for the military, and triples the budget for Trump’s mass deportation machine, making ICE the largest police force in the country. All of […]

07-04
58:01

‘ON THE GROUND’ SHOW FOR JUNE 27, 2025: Jon Jeter… It’s Official: Alternative Media is the Only Place to Get News… Walking for Juneteenth in DC… Plus Headlines, Sports and Culture

Poor news coverage of the Israeli-U.S. attack on Iran reinforces alternative media as the only place for truth about the empire. We speak to Jon Jeter for this month’s episode of On the Media. And the Trump administration may not have acknowledged the Juneteenth federal holiday but DC residents started a new tradition of honoring […]

06-28
58:45

‘ON THE GROUND’ SHOW FOR JUNE 20, 2025: The F-Word on Fascism with Wilmer Leon…Vet Speaks at Rally Against War with Iran… Plus Headlines ..

As the possibility of a new U.S. war looms in West Asia, we speak to political scientist Wilmer Lemon for this month’s episode of the F-Word on fascism. And a U.S. veteran was among those speaking out in front of the White House at a protest against Israel’s attack on Iran. Plus headlines on Gaza, […]

06-20
58:27

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