The Real News Podcast

In the premiere episode of the all-new series Edge of Sports, host Dave Zirin interviews DeMaurice Smith, outgoing Executive Director of the NFL Players' Association. The episode also touches on the controversy surrounding Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson's new $260 million deal—and how scrutiny regarding players' salaries is never extended to the big bucks pocketed by franchise owners. Finally, sports journalist Professor Travers joins 'Ask a Sports Scholar' to discuss the right-wing hullabaloo over trans kids playing sports.Click here to read the transcript: https://therealnews.com/nfl-players-association-trans-kids-edge-of-sportsClick here to watch the full, unabridged interview with DeMaurice Smith: https://youtu.be/nq_e-CS9aL0Studio Production: David Hebden, Cameron Granadino Post-Production: Taylor Hebden Opening Sequence: Cameron Granadino Music by: Eze Jackson & Carlos GuillenHelp us continue producing Edge of Sports with Dave Zirin by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer:Donate: https://therealnews.com/eos-pod-donateSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/eos-pod-subscribeLike us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnewsFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnewsBecome 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!

Plans to build Cop City have been mired in controversy and civil rights violations from the beginning—from the city government's attempts to ignore residents' and activists' objections and force through the construction of Cop City in Atlanta's ecologically vital Weelaunee Forest, to police raiding an encampment of peaceful protestors and murdering one of them, Manuel ("Tortuguita") Esteban Paez Terán, who was shot 57 times, to the truly Orwellian crackdown on protestors and advocates, dozens of whom are being arrested and charged with "domestic terrorism."As Micah Herskind writes, "The struggle to Stop Cop City is not just a battle over the creation of a $90 million police urban warfare center. It's not just a fight to protect the 381 acres of forest land, known as one of the "four lungs" of Atlanta, currently under threat of destruction. It's not just a conflict over how the city invests the over $30 million it has pledged to the project, to be supplemented by at least $60 million in private funding. The movement is all of those things. But even more fundamentally, the struggle to Stop Cop City is a battle for the future of Atlanta. It's a struggle over who the city is for: the city's corporate and state ruling class actors who have demanded that Cop City be built, or the people of Atlanta who have consistently voiced their opposition and demanded a different vision for the city." Make no mistake, though, the fight to Stop Cop City is all of our fight, and that very much includes the labor movement.In this urgent episode of Working People, Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Kamau Franklin and Mariah Parker about Cop City, the fight to stop it, and why labor needs to get off the sidelines and join that fight. Kamau Franklin has been a dedicated community organizer for over thirty years, beginning in New York City and now based in Atlanta. He is also a lawyer, writer, and the founder of Community Movement Builders, Inc. Mariah Parker is labor and community organizer, a rapper (known by the stage name Linqua Franqa), and recently served as District 2 County Commissioner for Athens-Clarke County in Athens, Georgia, from 2018 - 2022.Additional links/info here.Music / Post-Production: Jules TaylorHelp us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer: Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-podSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/newsletter-podLike us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnewsFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnewsBecome 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!

TRNN show host Marc Steiner's Rise of the Right series has followed the ascendance of far-right political forces domestically and internationally. In a special episode of The Marc Steiner Show, TRNN Editor-in-Chief takes the mic to put Marc in the hot seat. From a childhood in Baltimore among family members who had survived the Holocaust, Marc's activism in the 1960s and 70s took him from the ranks of SNCC to organizing alongside the Young Patriots of the Black Panther's Rainbow Coalition. Marc looks back on his life as an organizer and journalist, and how it frames his understanding of our present moment.Studio / Post-Production: David HebdenHelp us continue producing The Marc Steiner Show by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer:Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-pod-mssSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/nl-pod-stLike us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnewsFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnewsBecome 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!

Months after a catastrophic Norfolk Southern train derailment changed their lives and communities forever, residents of East Palestine, Ohio, and the surrounding area feel “numb,” lied to, and abandoned. On Tues, May 30, TRNN hosted a solidarity livestream and pledge drive to raise money and secure much-needed supplies for residents living in and around East Palestine. We spoke directly with residents living in and around East Palestine about what they and their families are going through, what assistance they are (or are not) receiving from the government and from Norfolk Southern, and what we can all do to help.To read the transcript, click here: https://therealnews.com/east-palestine-residents-have-been-left-behind-and-theyre-running-out-of-waterFundraiser and information links:GoFundMe: East Palestine Off The Rails!GoFundMe: Start over. EP resident (Ashley McCollum)GoFundMe: The Miller Family’s Derailment AftermathChristina’s CashApp: $safekeeper115Soup Mama Official: Info for June 3 Supply Drop for East PalestineFacebook Group: Unity Council for EP Train DerailmentStudio Production: David HebdenHelp us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer: Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-podSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/newsletter-podLike us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnewsFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnewsBecome 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 topic of solitary confinement was the focus of a recent episode of John Oliver's Last Week Tonight on HBO. Thanks to the hard work of activists organizing against solitary confinement for decades, awareness of the brutality of this practice has begun to enter the mainstream. Its history as a counterinsurgency tactic, however, has yet to be fully examined in the light of day. TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez joins Rattling the Bars to speak with Mansa Musa, who spent 48 years behind bars himself, a number of which were spent in solitary, to discuss the cruel truths about solitary confinement that people on the outside need to know but rarely hear about.Click here to read the transcript: https://therealnews.com/former-prisoner-of-48-years-reviews-john-olivers-report-on-solitary-confinementReport: Time-In-Cell: A 2021 Snapshot of Restrictive Housing Based on a Nationwide Survey of U.S. Prison SystemsStudio Production: David Hebden, Cameron GranadinoPost-Production: Cameron GranadinoThe Real News is an independent, viewer-supported, radical media network. Help us continue producing Rattling the Bars by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer: Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-pod-rtbSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/nl-pod-rtbGet Rattling the Bars updates: https://therealnews.com/up-pod-rtbLike us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnewsFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnewsBecome 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 onset of the Great Depression brought devastation to Pennsylvania's coal region. Suddenly rendered unemployed, coal miners with no other way to make a living turned to 'bootleg' mining, setting up their own mines. The only problem was that legally, they were on company property—specifically, property owned by the likes of JP Morgan. What unfolded was a vicious, heroic, and almost unbelievable fight to unionize the coal fields by workers whose livelihoods were labelled 'illegal.' TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez sits down with Mitch Troutman to discuss his new book, The Bootleg Coal Rebellion: The Pennsylvania Miners Who Seized an Industry, 1925-1942.Mitch Troutman is a writer, educator, organizer, and member of Anthracite Unite.To read the transcript of this interview, click here: https://therealnews.com/how-illegal-great-depression-era-pennsylvania-coal-miners-fought-cops-banks-and-bosses-to-unionizePost-Production: Jules TaylorHelp us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer:Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-podSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/newsletter-podLike us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnewsFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnewsBecome 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 the underlying logic of the cash bail system in the US may sound convincing on paper, in practice it has become a means of denying justice to, and destroying the lives of, people who have not even been convicted of a crime. “The US Constitution prohibits ‘excessive bail’” The Bail Project notes on their website. “Excessive bail forces people to stay in jail—even though they’ve not been convicted of anything. Unfortunately, today judges routinely set bail amounts that exceed what most people can afford. The result? Jails are full of people waiting for trial. They are presumed innocent on paper, but in practice, they are being held for weeks, months, and sometimes years as they wait for trial.” David Gaspar, CEO of The Bail Project, joins Mansa Musa on Rattling the Bars to talk about how cash bail creates a two-tier system of justice that punishes people for the “crime” of being poor—and what we can do about it.David Gaspar is the Chief Executive Officer of The Bail Project, a nonprofit organization that provides free bail assistance to those in need and advocates for better, more humane pretrial policies. A formerly incarcerated individual directly affected by the cash bail system, Mr. Gaspar earned his GED and bachelor’s degree and studied law while in prison, won his appeal, and was released 11 years early.Studio Production: David Hebden, Cameron GranadinoPost-Production: Cameron GranadinoThe Real News is an independent, viewer-supported, radical media network. Help us continue producing Rattling the Bars by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer: Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-pod-rtbSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/nl-pod-rtbGet Rattling the Bars updates: https://therealnews.com/up-pod-rtbLike us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnewsFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnewsBecome 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!

Read the transcript of this episode here: https://www.therealnews.comWe hosted a Working People live show at The Real News Network studio in Baltimore on May 18. In this panel discussion, co-hosted by Max and Baltimore writer and editor Rebekah Kirkman, we speak with a diverse panel of worker-organizers from around the city about their respective struggles to unionize their workplaces, what being in a union means to them and their coworkers, and what all of us can do to support one another and grow the labor movement in our town. Panelists include: Dever Cunningham, MOM’s Workers United (Teamsters); Martin Yepes, Teachers & Researchers United (United Electrical Workers) at Johns Hopkins University; Leila Grothe, Baltimore Museum of Art Union (AFSCME); Andre Elkridge, UNITE HERE Local 7; Rachel Leeds, Walters Workers United Museum of Art.Additional links/info below...Watch the video version of this live showRebekah's website and Twitter pageMom's Workers United Twitter pageTeachers & Researchers United website, Facebook page, Twitter page, and InstagramBaltimore Museum of Art Union Facebook page, Twitter page, and InstagramUNITE HERE Local 7 website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageWalters Workers United website, Facebook page, Twitter page, and InstagramRebekah Kirkman, The Real News Network, "Walters Art Museum Sends Public Labor Day Email Criticizing Staff for Not Nnionizing Quickly, Yet Refuses to Recognize Union"Rebekah Kirkman, The Real News Network,"MOM’s Organic Market Workers Vote to Unionize Baltimore-Area Store"Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Baltimore Museum Workers Are Fighting for a 'Wall-to-Wall' Union"Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Now or Never: Grad Student-Workers at Johns Hopkins Mobilize Ahead of Union Election"Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Workers at Maryland's First Unionized Starbucks Describe Their Fight for Workplace Democracy"Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Baltimore's Enoch Pratt Free Library Workers Move to Unionize"Jaisal Noor, The Real News Network, "Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel Workers Say Managers Pocket Half Their Tips"Permanent links:Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageIn These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageThe Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive at freemusicarchive.org)"Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song"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!

Jeff Sharlet has been studying and reporting on far-right movements in the US for decades, but something feels different now. From Waco and Ruby Ridge in the ‘90s to the 2014 Bundy family standoff with the federal government in Nevada, from the rise of Donald Trump to the “martyrdom” of Ashli Babbitt, who was shot and killed raiding the Capitol on Jan. 6, from the overturning of Roe v. Wade to COVID-19, from the Q-Anon conspiracy to the veneration of vigilantes like Kyle Rittenhouse, new and long-brewing currents of rightwing rage and resentment are converging to change the American political landscape in ways that we will have to contend with for years, if not decades, to come. In the latest installment of our ongoing “Rise of the Right” series on The Marc Steiner Show, Marc speaks with Sharlet about his new book The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War, the volatile moment America is in right now, and what we need to do to confront the far right today. Jeff Sharlet is the New York Times best-selling author and editor of eight books, including The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, adapted into a Netflix documentary series, and This Brilliant Darkness. His reporting on LGBTIQ+ rights around the world has received the National Magazine Award, the Molly Ivins Prize, and Outright International’s Outspoken Award. His writing and photography have appeared in many publications, including Vanity Fair, for which he is a contributing editor; the New York Times Magazine; GQ; Esquire; Harper’s; and VQR, for which he is an editor at large. He is the Frederick Sessions Beebe ’35 Professor in the Art of Writing at Dartmouth College, where he lives in the woods with many animals.Studio / Post-Production: David HebdenHelp us continue producing The Marc Steiner Show by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer:Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-pod-mssSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/nl-pod-stLike us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnewsFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnewsBecome 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!

Read the transcript of this interview: https://therealnews.com/three-years-later-george-floyds-family-members-are-still-fighting-for-justiceThe name George Floyd has become a symbol across not only the US, but also the wider world. While George Floyd became known to most of us in death, he also lived a life that was deeply cherished by those closest to him. George's brother, Philonise Floyd, and his sister-in-law, Keeta Floyd, join The Real News for an exclusive interview looking back on George's life three years since his death at the hands of convicted former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Philonise and Keeta, who have since established the Philonise and Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change, continue to struggle for police accountability and racial justice. Production: Nelly Cardoso, Michael Ma Post-Production: Michael MaHelp us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer: Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-podSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/newsletter-podLike us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnewsFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnewsBecome 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!