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The Real News Podcast
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Daily Reports, specials, and podcasts by The Real News Network (TRNN). TRNN makes media connecting you to the movements, people, and perspectives that are advancing the cause of a more just, equal, and livable planet. TRNN is a nonprofit media organization. We do not accept advertising revenue or corporate sponsorship.
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Text us at (410) 431-0868
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.
79episodes
Episodes
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Attacks on Press Freedom: Lawsuits, Intimidation, and the War on Journalists | Ep. 4
Yesterday01:12:21Tap to summarizePhotojournalist Nick Stern still has nightmares from the night an officer fired a flashbang into his leg as he covered the LA immigration protests. He's one of dozens of journalists assaulted, arrested, or deported in Trump's second term — a year that pushed the US to 64th on the World Press Freedom Index, its lowest ranking ever.In this episode of The Battle for Free Speech, Michael Fox is joined by Real News investigative journalist and Capitol Hill correspondent Taya Graham to map the assault on the American press: the rubber bullets and broken bones, the billion-dollar lawsuits, the FBI raids on reporters' homes, the jailing of journalists like Georgia Fort and Don Lemon, and the deportation of immigrant reporters Mario Guevara and Estephanie Rodriguez. Featuring voices from the Committee to Protect Journalists and the National Press Photographers Association, they trace how violence, intimidation, media consolidation, and the gutting of access all serve a single goal: self-censorship — the silencing of the press in the name of free speech.The Battle for Free Speech is a production of The Real News Network.Hosted by Michael Fox and Marc Steiner. Theme music by Michael Fox, Jordan Klein and Daniel Nuñez. Other music from Blue Dot Sessions and Epidemic Sound. Production and Sound Design by Michael Fox and Stephen Frank. Editorial support by Kayla Rivara and Heather Gies. Research by Ben Schweiger.Guests: Nick Stern, photojournalistMickey Osterreicher, National Press Photographers Association Katherine Jacobson, Committee to Protect Journalists Benjamin Grazda, Reporters Without BordersResources: World Press Freedom IndexU.S. Press Freedom Tracker Georgia FortMario GuevaraEstefany RodríguezVideo of the Shooting of Nick SternThe war on our sightThe Trump administration arrested this journalist. She says the censorship is ongoing.Global Press Freedom Hits Record Low, U.S. Drops to 64th in the World: Reporters Without BordersBecome 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!
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‘Beyond the Wire’: A Grassroots Perspective on Baltimore
Yesterday00:26:06Tap to summarizeBeyond the Wire, a new, thought-provoking documentary by filmmaker and researcher Dr. S. Rasheem, offers an indespensible representation of "The Greatest City in America" and a powerful counternarrative to the popular crime series The Wire. In this exclusive interview for Rattling the Bars, host Mansa Musa speaks with Dr. Rasheem about how her background in community organizing compelled her to tell a different story of Baltimore—one focused on boots-on-the-ground activism that defies the narrative of a hopeless, crime-ridden city in need of over-policing.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!
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FBI Raids Homes of Michigan Students and Workers for Palestine Activism
2d ago00:25:09Tap to summarizeOn June 10, early in the morning, FBI agents raided the homes of individuals involved in Palestine solidarity activism at the University of Michigan. As Yarden Katz and Stephen M. Ward report in Mondoweiss, “with help from local and state police departments, including the University of Michigan Police, the raids unfolded simultaneously in Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin…The case is now known as the Michigan Eight. The Justice Department indicted the eight defendants—five of whom are current or former students at the University of Michigan, and one of whom was a University employee—on multiple counts of severe charges, including “Conspiracy to Transmit Threats in Interstate and Foreign Commerce.” The defendants, all in their twenties, now potentially face decades in prison.” In this installment of our ongoing series “Police State University,” we speak with Kevin Zheng, a member-organizer and secretary of the Graduate Employees' Organization at the University of Michigan, and Grace Viscito, a restaurant worker and former graduate student at the University of Michigan.Additional links/info: Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) website, Instagram, Facebook page, and X pageLegal Fund of Michigan Students for PalestineYarden Katz & Stephen M. Ward, Mondoweiss, “Inside the case against the ‘Michigan 8’: Palestine activism recast as antisemitic terror”Alexa Cheaney, The Michigan Daily, “The Daily breaks down the indictment against eight pro-Palestine activists”Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, “Campus life is unrecognizable in the Trump era: ‘There’s so many cops everywhere’”Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “‘The raids happened Wednesday, finals started Thursday’: FBI agents raid homes of pro-Palestine students at University of Michigan”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!
Transcribe →Steven Thrasher: Black Cops, Latino ICE agents, and the "Overseer Class"
2d ago01:05:39Tap to summarizeWe sit down with Dr. Steven Thrasher to talk about his new book, The Overseer Class; how our police state today evolved from yesterday’s slave plantations; and why Dr. Thrasher has been blacklisted from academia after defending his students at Northwestern University during the Palestine encampment movement in 2024. Guests:Steven W. Thrasher, PhD, is the author of The Overseer Class: A Manifesto and the award-winning book The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide, which was a New York Times's Paperback Row Editors' Pick, named one of the Best Nonfiction Books of 2022 by Kirkus Reviews, was longlisted for both the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction and the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction Literature, and won the 2023 POZ Award for Best in Literature. He is also the inaugural Daniel Renberg Chair for Social Justice in Reporting at the Medill School of Journalism and a faculty member of Northwestern University's Institute of Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing. An internationally renowned scholar on race, gender, and infectious disease, Dr. Thrasher's writing has been published by the Guardian, Atlantic, New York Times, Scientific American, Literary Hub, and in many academic journals.Credits:Studio Production / Post-Production: David HebdenBecome 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!
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Rep. Jamie Raskin: ICE is Acting Like a Secret Paramilitary Police Force for President Trump
1w ago00:10:26Tap to summarizeTRNN reporter Stephen Janis speaks with US Rep. Jamie Raskin about the unprecedented power of ICE in light of the $70 billion in additional funding just approved by Congress, his opposition to the proposed "anti-weaponization fund," and why the Epstein scandal needs further scrutiny. Editor's note: This interview was recorded at the 2026 Netroots Nation conference on June 6.Studio Production: Taya Graham, Maximillian AlvarezPost-Production: Stephen Janis, David HebdenBecome 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!
Transcribe →Working People LIVE SHOW w/ Kim Kelly, Alex Press, and Hamilton Nolan
1w ago01:12:07Tap to summarizeThe world as we know it is facing unprecedented crises today that are all converging at once, from “end-times fascism” and full-blown oligarchy to “artificial intelligence,” endless wars, and genocide. The formal institutions of American democracy and organized labor have shown that they cannot stop the ruling-class onslaught on working people’s lives, livelihoods, and futures, so it’s up to rank-and-file workers everywhere to stand up and fight back. In this special Working People live show, hosted by In These Times magazine in Chicago, Illinois, we speak with veteran labor reporters Kim Kelly, Alex Press, and Hamilton Nolan about the crises breaking our world today—and how to stop them. Additional links/info: Support In These Times magazine! Kim Kelly website, X/Twitter page, TikTok, Bluesky page, and InstagramAlex Press Substack, X/Twitter page, and InstagramHamilton Nolan Substack, X/Twitter page, Facebook page, Bluesky pageFeatured 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!
Transcribe →How Trump and Big Tech Are Gutting Free Speech: AI, Censorship, and Media Mergers
1w ago01:10:40Tap to summarizeOn the day of Donald Trump’s inauguration—January 20, 2025—the heads of many of Silicon Valley’s most powerful tech firms sat in the rows just behind Trump. It was a sign of Trump’s deep ties to the industry and to these powerful individuals who are transforming how we communicate, and not for the better. In this episode, Michael Fox visits Silicon Valley to try to understand the stranglehold that tech has over our media and our airwaves. Hosts Michael Fox and Marc Steiner dig into the ways media consolidation, social media, and AI are strangling our free speech, even as they claim to be liberating it—and us—with incredible insight from professors Todd Wolfson, Mary Anne Franks, Fara Dabhoiwala, Ramesh Srinivasan, and Jeff Cohen, the founder of the organization Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, FAIR.The Battle for Free Speech is a production of The Real News Network.Hosted by Michael Fox and Marc Steiner. Theme music by Michael Fox, Jordan Klein and Daniel Nuñez. Other music from Blue Dot Sessions and Epidemic Sound. Production and Sound Design by Michael Fox and Stephen Frank. Editorial support by Kayla Rivara and Heather Gies. Research by Ben Schweiger.Guests: Todd WolfsonMary Anne FranksFara DabhoiwalaJeff CohenRamesh SrinivasanResources: Mary Anne Franks’ book, Fearless Speech: Breaking Free from the First AmendmentFara Dabhoiwala’s book, What Is Free Speech?: The History of a Dangerous IdeaTodd Wolfson’s Digital Rebellion: The Birth of the Cyber Left Marc Steiner’s Interview with Jeff Cohen, "How Democrats set the stage for Trump’s assault on free speech”You can hear Ramesh Srinivasan’s Utopias Podcast here, or wherever you get your podcastsBecome 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!
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Adam Johnson: The Media’s Complicity in the Destruction of Gaza
2w ago00:50:42Tap to summarizeAs a writer, podcaster, and columnist for TRNN, Adam Johnson has been one of the fiercest, sharpest, and most consistent critics of legacy and Western media’s roles in laundering, obscuring, justifying, and manufacturing consent for crimes against humanity committed in the Gaza genocide by Israel and with the full support of the United States. But critique is not enough anymore; to ensure that these horrific crimes don’t continue, we need accountability for the political actors and media organizations that made it happen, or helped. At a live event hosted by Red Emma’s Cooperative Bookstore and Coffeehouse in Baltimore, Maryland, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Johnson about his new book, How to Sell a Genocide: The Media’s Complicity in the Destruction of Gaza, and about how to hold media organizations accountable for their roles in manufacturing the conditions for genocide.Guests:Adam Johnson is a writer, media critic, co-host of the podcast Citations Needed, and a columnist for TRNN. He is the author of the book How to Sell a Genocide: The Media’s Complicity in the Destruction of Gaza.Credits:Audio Post-Production: Alina NehlichBecome 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!
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A History of Free Speech from Abolitionists to Berkeley
2w ago01:12:07Tap to summarizeFree speech in America was never given — it was fought for, bled for, and died for. In this episode, hosts Marc Steiner and Michael Fox dive into the history of the movements that built and defended the right to speak out: the abolitionists who continued to speak — even as mobs attacked the building where they gathered — Ida B. Wells, who exposed the truth about lynching in Jim Crow Memphis, and the students at UC Berkeley who launched the Free Speech Movement of 1964.Michael takes us to Sproul Plaza, ground zero of the Berkeley free speech movement, and Marc shares his own story of carrying that fight from the civil rights movement to campuses on the East Coast. Together they trace a brutal pattern that runs from Elijah Lovejoy — the abolitionist editor murdered by a mob in 1837 — to the burning of Pennsylvania Hall, to today's crackdowns on student protest and the firing of professors for their political views.Featuring law professor Mary Anne Franks, author of Fearless Speech, on the crucial difference between fearless speech and reckless speech — and why America has so often protected the wrong one. Plus UC Berkeley historian David Hollinger on why universities are "the hill to die on," and Princeton historian Fara Dabhoiwala on why free speech has always been a battle over power.This is the second episode of The Battle for Free Speech. In this podcast series, in the lead-up to the country’s 250th anniversary, journalists Michael Fox and Marc Steiner look at the battle for our free speech rights today, and the attacks on people speaking out in the United States.The Battle for Free Speech is a production of The Real News Network.Hosted by Michael Fox and Marc Steiner. Theme music by Michael Fox, Jordan Klein and Daniel Nuñez. Other music from Blue Dot Sessions and Epidemic Sound. Production and Sound Design by Michael Fox and Stephen Frank. Editorial support by Kayla Rivara and Heather Gies. Research by Ben Schweiger.Guests: David HollingerMary Anne FranksFara DabhoiwalaResources: Mary Anne Franks’ book, Fearless Speech: Breaking Free from the First AmendmentFara Dabhoiwala’s book, What Is Free Speech?: The History of a Dangerous IdeaDavid Hollinger’s book, Christianity’s American Fate: How Religion Became More Conservative and Society More Secular The full KPFA documentary about the Free Speech movement: Voices of Independence – The Free Speech Movement: Sounds & Songs of DemonstrationsSupport KPFA here: https://support.kpfa.org/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!
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Gaza Sumud Flotilla Passengers Describe Israel’s Torture, Abuse, & Sexual Violence
2w ago00:40:09Tap to summarizeIsraeli military forces captured the latest convoy of humanitarian aid ships sailing to Gaza with the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSM) between late April and mid-May. Activists who were imprisoned by Israel for days and eventually deported have reported harrowing treatment by their captors, including targeted torture, abuse, broken bones, unauthorized injections of undisclosed substances, and sexual violence by Israeli soldiers. We speak with a panel of freed GSM participants—Thiago Ávila, Catríona Graham, and Ariadne Telles—about what they saw and endured, and about the successes, defeats, and future of the movement to break Israel’s siege on Gaza.Production / Videographer: Cameron GranadinoPost-Production: David HebdenBecome 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!
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