Project Censored

This week: the 44th annual Banned Books Week. This week celebrates the right to read and protecting your right to know. This past year the American Library Association, a co-sponsor of Banned Books Week, tracked 4,235 unique titles challenged - in 2025 alone. That's the second highest ever documented, the highest ever was in 2023. In a special one hour episode this week, Mickey speaks with President of the American Library Association Dr. Maria McCauley, and one of the youth honorary chairs, Marshall Romero.    Notes:  Dr. Maria McCauley is the 2026-2027 American Libraries Association President. Maria is Director of Libraries for the City of Cambridge, where she leads 167 dedicated professionals in delivering an inclusive, futurefocused vision of library service for all. Maria previously served as Director of Libraries in Santa Monica, CA and in Somerville and held key leadership roles at Northeastern University.  Marshall Romero is a youth advocate based in Houston, Texas. Their advocacy journey has taken them from local neighborhoods to the Texas Legislature, where they spoke out against harmful policies targeting LGBTQ+ and marginalized students. As someone who sees themself within banned literature, Marshall believes it is critical we are all engaged to abolish book banning in our country.

Eleanor Goldfield and Mickey Huff host this week’s program.   First up, Trumps dictators toolkit and how we got here. Eleanor sits down with journalist, researcher and policy director of Defending Rights & Dissent Chip Gibbons to talk about the NSPM-7, the latest in a long line of attacks on our basic constitutional rights. Chip warns that we should neither look at this as a new phenomenon in US history nor should we be flippant about the severity of Trumps escalation. By looking at history we can contextualize our current moment and understand more of what the government is thinking with regards to our rights, our movements, and our future.  Next up, cohosts Mickey Huff and Eleanor Goldfield sit down to dig into some news that didnt make the news, focusing on attacks on journalists and academic freedom. They outline how Congress is blackmailing universities to swear loyalty to Israel, the myriad attacks on journalists abroad and at home, and how DHS is using a customs law to obtain the private data and correspondence of journalists, non-profits and unions. They also dig into some recently released documents that show how the powers that be were well aware of the toxicity of ground zero after 9/11, but hid it so that Wall Street could re-open.  Notes:  Chip Gibbons is a journalist, researcher and policy director of Defending Rights and Dissent, and he is currently working on a book on the history of FBI political surveillance for Verso books, coming out in February 2027.     the Project Censored Show:

This week: combating and reframing big tech. First up, I sit down with Ed from DeFlock to talk about ALPRs - Automatic License Plate Readers, and their handy way of circumventing the 4th amendment meant to protect against unlawful search. Ed also talks about the massive network of data sharing across law enforcement and private corporations, the use of the data for more than stated purposes - from assisting ICE to stalking ex-girlfriends. Ed reminds us that a functioning democracy does not surveil their population, and lists ways that communities across the country are fighting back.  Next up, I sit down with Heidi Lim from AI Resist List to talk about reframing AI, and the possible futures that both buck the current iteration of AI and avoid the binary of anti-tech vs. pro-tech. Heidi points out that the purpose is not just to give people hope but to give them ideas, to become literate in not only what AI is but how to combat it creatively - because if AI is where creativity goes to die, perhaps combating it is where creativity can be reborn.   Notes:  Ed is a member of DeFlock and has been organizing and researching police use of surveillance technologies for nearly a decade. Heidi Lim is a climate communicator focused on increasing climate literacy and rooted in environmental justice. Her work puts a climate lens on topics like technology, justice, and culture, which is ultimately how she came more recently to working on AI ethics. 

Mickey Huff hosts this week’s program.   The First Casualty is Truth: Censorship and Propaganda in the US/Isreali Wars in the Middle East, with media scholar Bill Yousman, editor of the special issue of the journal Democratic Communiqu on Freedom of Expression, Campus Politics, Academic Freedom, and the War in Gaza; and Robin Andersen, author most recently of The Complicit Lens: US Media's Coverage of Israels Genocide in Gaza; both interviewed by Mickey Huff.    Notes:  Dr. Bill Yousman is a Professor Communication, Media & The Arts & Director of MLDC Graduate Program at Sacred Heart University Robin Andersen is a professor emerita of Communications at Fordham University, and author of the recent book "The Complicit Lens: U.S. Media Coverage of Israels Genocide in Gaza."   the Project Censored Show:

Eleanor Goldfield hosts this week’s program.   First up, I sit down Kels Menchaca, an organizer with the DFW Support Committee to talk about the Prairieland case. With combined sentences of 562 years, the defendants represent the latest intensification in the US governments violent assault on free speech, freedom of assembly, freedom to have zines, freedom to think, and more. We discuss the egregious and absurd case - from the prosecution outright lying in court to the judge fining lawyers for defending their clients. Taken all together, it is a terrifying reminder that in these times, you could face decades in jail for not liking your government.  Next up, Leonardo Flores joins the show again to talk about the fallout from the double earthquake in Venezuela. Leo outlines some of the recent US media propaganda attempting to smear Venezuela when in fact it is the US paralyzing Venezuelas disaster response through unilateral economic warfare. Leo and I discuss the US and Israel vying for shock doctrine access, how grassroots coordination post-disaster builds revolutionary solidarity, and more.     Notes:  Kels Menchaca is part of the Dallas Fort-Worth (DFW) Support Committee and a friend of some of the Prairieland defendants. Leonardo Flores is a co-founder of the Venezuela Solidarity Network. He previously worked as an organizer with CODEPINK and as an analyst with the Venezuelan Embassy in the U.S. Leonardo was born in Venezuela and maintains close ties to social movements that have transformed the country over the past twenty-six years.      the Project Censored Show: ...