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The Real News Podcast
Hosted by The Real News Network · EN
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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Sign up for our newsletter at therealnews.com
Text us at (410) 431-0868
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.
91episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Harsha Walia: Abolishing ICE Is the Floor, Not the Ceiling
5d ago00:30:13Tap to summarizeWhile calls to "abolish ICE" have exploded during the second Trump presidency, critics have been calling out the threats the agency poses to immigrants, US citizens, and democracy itself since it was created just over 20 years ago. In this episode of Rattling the Bars, host and former political prisoner Mansa Musa speaks with author and immigrant justice organizer Harsha Walia about the origins of ICE and what it will take to abolish it and the new American police state.Guests:Harsha Walia is the award-winning author of Undoing Border Imperialism and Border and Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism. She has been involved in community-based grassroots migrant justice, feminist, anti-racist, abolitionist, anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist movements for over two decades, including No One Is Illegal, Defenders of the Land, and the DTES Women’s Memorial March Committee.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!
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Brazil’s Battle Against Fake News & the US War to Undermine it
1w ago01:18:31Tap to summarizeThis is really a tale of two countries: The United States and Brazil. In both countries, far-right presidents come to power — Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro. In both those countries, the presidents spent several years unraveling democratic institutions and public policy. Both presidents then ran for reelection. Both presidents lied about their country's voting systems in order to undermine the elections and whip up their base. Both those president lost their reelections — Trump in 2020. Bolsonaro in 2022. They both claimed fraud and tried to carry out a coup to stay in power. But that is where these two paths diverged. In the United States, president Donald Trump continued to peddle his lies about the elections. He created his own social media platform and he used it to push his agenda. He was reelected in 2024 and returned to power. In Brazil, however, the country’s Supreme Electoral Court blocked former president Jair Bolsonaro from running for office for 8 years, because of the lies he told about the country’s electoral system.It wasn't censorship… it was a different interpretation of free speech. One that said the right to free expression must be balanced with the other rights in the country and the country’s democratic system. The United States doesn’t agree. And the Trump administration has been pushing to bend Brazil toward its definition of "free speech."In this episode, co-host Michael Fox journeys to Brazil to understand the lengths that this country has gone to fight disinformation. Michael is joined in the episode by Maximillian Alvarez, editor-in-chief and co-executive director of The Real News and the host of the Working People Podcast.The Battle for Free Speech is a production of The Real News NetworkHosted by Michael Fox and Marc SteinerTheme music by Michael Fox, Jordan Klein and Daniel NuñezOther music from Blue Dot Sessions and Epidemic SoundProduction and Sound Design by Michael Fox and Stephen FrankEditorial support by Kayla RivaraResearch by Ben SchweigerGuests: Fabio de Sa e SilvaArtur RomeuFernando PaulinoBrian Mier Resources: Follow The Battle For Free Speech on Spotify or Apple PodcastsSupport Michael Fox's reporting at patreon.com/mfox.Never miss an episode — sign up for The Real News newsletter at therealnews.comBecome 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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Establishment Democrats PANIC as Socialists Keep Winning
2w ago00:30:51Tap to summarizeEstablishment Democrats have racked up disastrous electoral losses over the past decade—so why are they furious when their own party actually wins? Taya Graham and Stephen Janis break down the meltdown of Democratic "centrist" operatives and pundits after recent socialist victories in New York and Colorado, from James Carville calling for a party "schism" to Rep. Josh Gottheimer's panicking about the future of the party on CNN. Plus: we revisit our interviews with actual Mamdani voters—the people the mainstream media refuses to talk to.Credits: Production / Post-Production: Cameron Granadino, Stephen JanisBecome 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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Train Crashes Destroyed Their Towns. Will Yours Be Next?
2w ago01:12:19Tap to summarize10 years before the catastrophic train derailment and chemical disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, one of the deadliest rail disasters in North American history took place in the Canadian town of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec.On July 6, 2013, an unattended freight train that had been parked on the tracks overnight began to roll downhill and gather alarming speed as it careened towards the city center of Lac-Mégantic. The train, which was operated by Montreal, Maine, and Atlantic Railway and carrying over 2 million gallons of crude oil, derailed around 1:15 AM. The resulting explosions and fire killed 47 people and destroyed over 40 buildings, obliterating a large portion of the downtown area and prompting mass evacuations.In this special episode of Working People, we speak with a panel of survivors of the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster in Canada and the East Palestine rail disaster in the USA.Panelists include: Robert Bellefleur, a resident of Lac-Mégantic and spokesperson for the Lac-Mégantic Citizens' Coalition for Railroad Safety; Gilbert Carette, a resident of Lac-Mégantic and a member of the Lac-Mégantic Citizens' Coalition for Railroad Safety; Gilles Fluet, a resident of Lac-Mégantic who narrowly escaped the 2013 train crash and witnessed the derailment firsthand; Anne-Marie Saint-Cerny, award-winning writer, videographer, social and environmental justice activist, and author of Mégantic: A Deadly Mix of Oil, Rail, and Avarice; Jami Wallace, a displaced resident of East Palestine, Ohio, and founder of the Chemically Impacted Communities Coalition; Christina Siceloff, a Creek Ranger and resident of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, affected by the 2023 Norfolk Southern train derailment and chemical disaster.If you or members of your community are interested in attending or participating in TRNN’s 2026 No More Sacrifice Zones conference, please contact us by emailing contact[at]therealnews[dot]com. Additional links/info: Lac-Mégantic Citizens' Coalition for Railroad Safety website and Facebook pageChemically Impacted Communities Coalition (CICC) Facebook pageRailroad Workers United website, Facebook page, and X pageAnne-Marie Saint-Cerny, Talonbooks, Mégantic: A Deadly Mix of Oil, Rail, and AvariceDimitri Lascaris, TRNN, “‘Bomb Train': Oil Execs Try to Blame Workers for Tragic Accident”Maximillian Alvarez, TRNN, “America’s toxic future looks like East Palestine, Ohio, today”Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, “Toxic Avengers: America’s poisoned and abandoned communities must stand together or die”Credits: Pre-Production: Maximillian Alvarez, Dr. Nicole Fabricant, Fritz EdlerStudio Production: Maximillian AlvarezFrench-English Interpretation: Anne Lagacé DowsonVoice Acting: Ethan Cox, Daniel LemieuxAudio Post-Production: Jules Taylor, Alina NehlichMusic: 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!
Transcribe →Rebels with a Cause: The Black Panther Party and Socialism in Practice
2w ago00:23:11Tap to summarizeOn this episode of Rattling the Bars, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Black Panther Party in 1966, host and former political prisoner Mansa Musa speaks with Dr. Joy James and Dr. K. Kim Holder about the history of the Panthers and their unique approach to, and practice of, communal socialism.This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation. Watch Part 1 here.Guests:Dr. Joy James is Ebenezer Fitch Professor of Humanities at Williams College. She is the author of numerous books, including: In Pursuit of Revolutionary Love; Resisting State Violence; and Shadowboxing: Representations of Black Feminist Politics. Creator of the digital Harriet Tubman Literary Circle at UT Austin, James is also editor of The New Abolitionists: (Neo)Slave Narratives and Contemporary Prison Writings; Imprisoned Intellectuals; Warfare in the American Homeland; The Angela Y. Davis Reader; and co-editor of the Black Feminist Reader.Dr. K. Kim Holder is an assistant professor of educational foundations and Africana studies at Rowan University. Dr. Holder earned his doctorate from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Multicultural Education and African American Studies, his masters in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street College of Education, and B.A. in History from Hampshire College.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!
Transcribe →What Is Free Speech? America at 250
2w ago01:09:43Tap to summarizeOn the eve of the United States' 250th birthday, Michael Fox sits down with Mansa Musa — longtime activist, former Black Panther, host of TRNN’s Rattling the Bars, and a man who spent nearly 49 years in prison — to ask a deceptively simple question: what does free speech actually mean?From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to Quito, Ecuador, to Frederick Douglass's 1852 address "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July," this episode unravels the gap between the promise of the First Amendment and the reality of who gets to speak in America — and who pays a price for it."There's a kind of narcotic effect of those words — free speech," says legal scholar Mary Anne Franks (Fearless Speech). "It's because we think we know it so well that we don't know anything about it."Historian Fara Dabhoiwala traces how the US broke from the rest of the world's balanced approach to free expression during the Cold War, and a forgotten 1986 Ursula K. Le Guin speech offers a radically different vision: speech as dialogue, not domination.Follow The Battle For Free Speech on Spotify or Apple PodcastsSupport Michael Fox's reporting at patreon.com/mfox. Never miss an episode — sign up for The Real News newsletter at therealnews.com.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. Additional music from Blue Dot Sessions and Epidemic Sound.Production and sound design: Michael Fox and Stephen Frank.Editorial support: Kayla Rivara. Research: Ben Schweiger.Many thanks to Sylvia Gross for providing her incredible voice acting skills in this episode.GuestsMary Anne Franks, author of Fearless Speech: Breaking Free from the First AmendmentKatherine Jacobsen, Committee to Protect JournalistsFara Dabhoiwala, author of What Is Free Speech? The History of a Dangerous IdeaResourcesUrsula K. Le Guin, "We Are Volcanoes" — Bryn Mawr commencement, 1986Danny Glover reads Frederick Douglass — Voices of a People's HistoryBecome 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 →Toxic Avengers: America’s Poisoned and Abandoned Communities Must Stand Together or Die
2w ago01:08:00Tap to summarizeFrom the explosion of AI data centers to the increasing number of toxic spills, explosions, and industrial disasters happening across the country, corporations and the government are turning the USA into one giant “sacrifice zone.” In “red” states and “blue” states, in rural areas and urban areas, poor and working people are suffering the toxic effects of a crisis that has resulted from decades of deregulation, corporate-capture of government, and the protection of private profits over the lives and health of the public.No one is coming to save us, and nothing is going to change unless residents of different sacrifice zones and poisoned communities, workers and unions on the frontlines of the industries poisoning us, environmental justice groups, community and faith organizations, scientists, journalists, and all others who have a stake in this fight start coming together, working together, and fighting back together. In this special panel discussion, recorded at the 2026 Railroad Workers United convention in Chicago, Illinois, we speak with a panel of guests who are part of a new coalition that is doing just that.Panelists include: Jeff Kurtz, a retired locomotive engineer, union officer, and Railroad Workers United member who also served as a state representative in the Iowa House of Representatives; Jami Wallace, a displaced resident of East Palestine, Ohio, and founder of the Chemically Impacted Communities Coalition (CICC); Dr. Nicole Fabricant, a professor of anthropology at Towson University and scholar-activist who has been working with chemically impacted communities in South Baltimore, Maryland, for 15 years; Scott Smith, independent testing expert and founder of the Blue Shirt Justice League; and Lesley Pacey, Senior Environmental Officer at the Government Accountability Project.Additional links/info: Railroad Workers United website, Facebook page, and X pageChemically Impacted Communities Coalition (CICC) Facebook pageBlue Shirt Justice League website and Facebook pageGovernment Accountability Project website, Facebook page, X page, Bluesky page, and InstagramCoal-Free Curtis Bay Facebook page and InstagramSouth Baltimore Community Land Trust website, X page, Facebook page, and InstagramNicole Fabricant, University of California Press, Fighting to Breathe: Race, Toxicity, and the Rise of Youth Activism in BaltimoreMaximillian Alvarez, TRNN, “America’s toxic future looks like East Palestine, Ohio, today”Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, “‘Let’s unite!’: Poisoned residents of America’s sacrifice zones are banding together”Maximilian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, “Corporations and the government are turning the USA into one giant ‘sacrifice zone’”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 →What Would the Black Panthers Say About DSA Today?
3w ago00:22:29Tap to summarizeThis year marks the 60th anniversary of the Black Panther Party, founded in Oakland, California, in 1966. On this episode of Rattling the Bars, host Mansa Musa speaks with Dr. Joy James and Dr. K. Kim Holder about the legacy of the Panthers today, and about the important differences and intersections between democratic socialism and the Black Panther model of communalism.This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation. Subscribe to TRNN and stay tuned for Part 2 next week…Guests:Dr. Joy James is Ebenezer Fitch Professor of Humanities at Williams College. She is the author of numerous books, including: In Pursuit of Revolutionary Love; Resisting State Violence; and Shadowboxing: Representations of Black Feminist Politics. Creator of the digital Harriet Tubman Literary Circle at UT Austin, James is also editor of The New Abolitionists: (Neo)Slave Narratives and Contemporary Prison Writings; Imprisoned Intellectuals; Warfare in the American Homeland; The Angela Y. Davis Reader; and co-editor of the Black Feminist Reader.Dr. K. Kim Holder is an assistant professor of educational foundations and Africana studies at Rowan University. Dr. Holder earned his doctorate from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Multicultural Education and African American Studies, his masters in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street College of Education, and B.A. in History from Hampshire College.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!
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The US, Israel, and Latin America’s Far Right Are Plotting to Crush the Left
3w ago00:46:30Tap to summarizeLeaked audio recordings between powerful right-wing figures in Latin America have revealed a massive and shocking conspiracy—involving the United States and Israel—to forge an international political network with the expressed purpose of undermining leftist leaders in the region. In this episode of The Marc Steiner Show, Marc speaks with Latin-America-based journalist and TRNN correspondent Michael Fox about “HondurasGate,” what the scandal tells us about the machinations of the international far right today, and how those machinations fit into the long, violent history of US imperialism in Latin America. Editor's Note: This episode was recorded before the 2026 presidential elections in Colombia, which resulted in right-wing candidate and Trump ally Abelardo de la Espriella becoming the country's next president. Additional links/info: Michael Fox, Under the Shadow / TRNN, “HondurasGate: Leaks reveal the far-right plan to undermine Latin America’s left”José Luis Granados Ceja, DropSite, “Hondurasgate: Key leaked audio files, revealing U.S. intervention in Honduras, found authentic ‘with moderate confidence’”Michael Fox, Under the Shadow / TRNN, “U.S.S. Honduras | Under the Shadow S1E6”Michael Fox, Under the Shadow / TRNN, “Honduras, 2009. La Resistencia. | Under the Shadow S1E7 Part 1”Michael Fox, Under the Shadow / TRNN, “Honduras, 2009. Legacy of a coup. | Under the Shadow S1E7 Part 2”Credits:Producer: Rosette SewaliStudio Production: Cameron GranadinoAudio Post-Production: David Hebden, Stephen Frank 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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‘You Can’t Serve People You Hate’: Rep. Summer Lee Breaks Down the War on the Poor
3w ago00:21:36Tap to summarizeIn this exclusive interview, recorded earlier this month at the Netroots conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Rep. Summer Lee explains her concerns about the Trump administration's push to interfere in the upcoming 2026 midterms, and argues that the best path to achieving public policies like "Medicare for All" is to take billionaires' money out of politics and to fight for electoral reforms. Credits:Production: Taya Graham, Stephen JanisPost-Production: David Hebden, Stephen JanisBecome 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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