

The Real News Podcast
The Real News Network
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.Sign up for our newsletter at therealnews.comText us at (410) 431-0868Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.
Episodes
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Sep 2, 2025 • 25min
It’s not ‘complicated’: Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestine is fueled by ‘colonial racism’
“Colonial racism helps explain the Trump administration’s adulation of Israeli violence against Palestinians,” Professor Aviva Chomsky writes at The Nation. In fact, colonial racism is the common thread binding the violent, eliminationist politics of Donald Trump in the US and Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel. In this installment of our ongoing series “Not in Our Name” on The Marc Steiner Show, Marc speaks with Professor Chomsky about how Israel’s US-backed genocide in Gaza is the grim culmination of the settler-colonial project of Zionism, and how the repression of political dissent under the guise of “combatting antisemitism” is an extension of that violent project.Guest:Aviva Chomsky is a professor of history and the coordinator of Latin American studies at Salem State University in Massachusetts. She is the author of many acclaimed books, including Central America’s Forgotten History: Revolution, Violence, and the Roots of Migration; and Undocumented: How Immigration Became Illegal. Additional resources:Aviva Chomsky, The Nation, “Colonialism is alive and kicking in the US’s obsession with Israel” Aviva Chomsky, The Nation, “This group’s definition of antisemitism is providing cover for genocide” Credits:Producer: Rosette SewaliStudio Production: Cameron GranadinoAudio Post-Production: Stephen FrankFollow The Marc Steiner Show on Spotify Follow The Marc Steiner Show on Apple PodcastsHelp us continue producing The Marc Steiner Show by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Sign up for our newsletterFollow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkHelp 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!

Sep 2, 2025 • 7min
Nora Loreto's news headlines for Tuesday, September 2, 2025
Canadian journalist Nora Loreto reads the latest headlines for Thursday, August 14, 2025.TRNN has partnered with Loreto to syndicate and share her daily news digest with our audience. Tune in every morning to the TRNN podcast feed to hear the latest important news stories from Canada and worldwide.Find more headlines from Nora at Sandy & Nora Talk Politics podcast feed.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!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!

Sep 1, 2025 • 30min
Kim Kelly: "Incarcerated workers are part of the labor movement"
“Incarcerated workers are a part of the working class,” award-winning journalist Kim Kelly says. And we are “not telling the real history of labor in this country if [we’re] not focusing on the organizing efforts and the labor of people who are in prison.”Kelly recently joined Mansa Musa on an episode of Rattling the Bars exploring the history of labor exploitation and labor organizing in America’s prison system. To commemorate Labor Day 2025, TRNN is sharing Musa's full, unaired interview with Kelly. Credits:Producer / Videographer / Post-Production: Cameron GranadinoHelp us continue producing Rattling the Bars by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Sign up for our newsletterFollow us on BlueskyLike us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterDonate to support this podcastHelp 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!

Aug 29, 2025 • 6min
The slave revolt that founded a new nation
In August 1791, slaves in the French colony of Saint-Domingue revolted, rising up by the thousands. Within ten days they've taken over the whole northern province. By the following year, they controlled a third of the colony. It was the spark that would ignite the Haitian revolution — a 13-year-long endeavour. Independence would finally come on January 1, 1804. But they would have to defeat three European countries to get there.This is episode 64 of Stories of Resistance—a podcast produced by The Real News. Each week, we’ll bring you stories of resistance like this. Inspiration for dark times.Please consider supporting this podcast and Michael Fox’s reporting on his Patreon account: patreon.com/mfox. There you can also see exclusive pictures, video, and interviews. If you like what you hear, please subscribe, like, share, comment, or leave a review. And please consider signing up for the Stories of Resistance podcast feed, either in Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, or wherever you listen.Written and produced by Michael Fox.Become a member and join the Stories of Resistance Supporters Club today!Follow Stories of Resistance on Spotify or Apple PodcastsSign up for our newsletterFollow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkHelp 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!

Aug 29, 2025 • 15min
Unions face extinction under Trump. What the hell is labor doing to fight back?
On Aug. 1, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a court injunction halting President Trump’s executive order eliminating collective bargaining rights for federal unions. The decision has cleared the way for the Trump administration to execute its total assault on federal unions and workers’ rights. “Union contracts at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Agriculture have since been terminated,” The Guardian reports. “An estimated 400,000 have been affected, about 2.6% of unionized workers in the US.” After already falling to historically low levels of union density, public and private-sector unions are facing an extinction-level event under the new Trump administration. In this interview, recorded at the Netroots conference in New Orleans, LA, TRNN editor-in-chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Everett Kelley, President of the American Federation of Government Employees, about what the labor movement is doing to fight back.Guest:Everett Kelley is the national President of the American Federation of Government Employees, which is the largest union representing federal and DC government employees. He began his first term of service as national President in February 2020, was elected to another term during the 42nd National Convention in June 2022, and was reelected during the 43rd National Convention in August 2024. Kelley has been a member of AFGE since 1981. He worked at Anniston Army Depot and retired from there after 30 years of service.Additional links/info:American Federation of Government Employees website, Facebook page, and InstagramHamilton Nolan, How Things Work, “Fragile movements crumble”Michael Sainato, The Guardian, “White House cancels union contracts for hundreds of thousands of federal workers”Credits:Filming: Kayla Rivara, Rosette SewaliPost-Production: David HebdenHelp 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!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!

Aug 27, 2025 • 1h 20min
Railroad workers explain why Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific mega-merger will be a 'disaster'
Railroad workers are sounding the alarm about the potentially catastrophic consequences of the proposed mega-merger of two of the nation’s Class 1 freight rail companies. “Union Pacific said it would buy smaller rival Norfolk Southern in an $85-billion deal to create the country’s first coast-to-coast freight rail operator,” Reuters reported in July. “If approved, the deal would be the largest-ever buyout in the sector.” If this giant merger goes through, what will it mean for railroad workers, customers, and for the general public? In this episode of Working People, we speak with a panel of six veteran railroaders and members of Railroad Workers United to get a workers’ eye view of the proposed mega-merger and what it will mean for rail labor, the US supply chain, and for the public writ large.Speakers:Ron Kaminkow is a member of Railroad Workers United, currently serving as a trustee, and he is also a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), Division 51 in Reno, Nevada. Kaminkow recently retired from Amtrak; prior to working in passenger rail, he worked on the freight rail system for Norfolk Southern and Conrail.Jeff Kurtz was a railroad engineer and union member for 40 years and is a member of Railroad Workers United. He served as a union officer most of his career, including eight years as president of BLET Local 391 and chairman of the BLET Iowa State Legislative Board, where he oversaw safety and legislative matters for the union in the state for four railroads for 10 years. He retired in 2014 and served as state representative for one term in the Iowa House after winning the 2018 election in his House district.Derek Masters is a member of Railroad Workers United and works as a conductor for a major Class 1 railroad, primarily in the Northeast. He is a member of SMART Transportation Division (SMART-TD).Matt Parker is a member of Railroad Workers United who works as a rank-and-file locomotive engineer, based in Nevada, with over 20 years of experience.Matt Weaver is a founding member of Railroad Workers United and has been a member of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees (Teamsters) for 30 years. He serves as the BMWED legislative director for the state of Ohio.Nick Wurst currently serves as general secretary of Railroad Workers United who works as a freight conductor and locomotive engineer, based in Massachusetts. Wurst started working for the railroad in 2019 as an intermodal worker and member of the Transportation Communication Union (TCU/IAM) and is currently a member of SMART-TD.Additional links/info:Railroad Workers United website, Facebook page, and X pageRailroad Workers United press release: “Railroad worker group opposes Class One rail mergers”Michael Sainato, The Guardian, “Greater risk of toxic derailments if $85bn railroad merger is approved, warn unions”Sabrina Valle, Shivansh Tiwary, & David French, Reuters, “Union Pacific to reshape US freight rail with $85 billion deal for Norfolk”CNBC, “Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena & Norfolk Southern CEO Mark George on merger: Deal is 'great for America'”Featured Music:Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme SongCredits:Audio Post-Production: Jules TaylorHelp 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!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!

Aug 26, 2025 • 53min
The Nakba never ended: A conversation with Haim Bresheeth
Professor Haim Bresheeth is the son of Holocaust survivors, raised in Palestine and Israel, and a founder of the Jewish Network for Palestine. He served in the Israeli army during the Six-Day War in 1967—an event that transformed his life forever. On Nov. 1, 2024, Bresheeth was arrested in London after giving a speech at a pro-Palestine rally outside the home of Tzipi Hotovely, the Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom. In this installment of our ongoing series “Not In Our Name” on The Marc Steiner Show, Marc speaks with Professor Bresheeth about his path to becoming an Israeli Jewish scholar and activist fighting for Palestinian liberation and fighting against the horrors of Zionism, including Israel’s ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.Guest:Haim Bresheeth is a filmmaker, photographer, and a film studies scholar, retired from the University of East London, where he worked since early 2002. He is the son of Holocaust survivors and a founder of the Jewish Network for Palestine. His books include the best-selling Introduction to the Holocaust—the first version, which was reprinted numerous times, was titled Holocaust for Beginners (1993), has been translated into multiple languages, including Turkish, Croatian and Japanese.Additional resources:Jewish Network for Palestine websiteDerek Seidman, Truthout, “Jewish anti-Zionist activist describes his arrest under UK’s Anti-Terror Law”Marc Steiner, The Real News Network, “Holocaust survivor Gabor Maté: Gaza genocide ‘the worst thing I’ve seen in my whole life’”Marc Steiner, The Real News Network, “Yes, goddamnit, it’s genocide!: A conversation with Norman Solomon”Credits:Producer: Rosette SewaliStudio Production: Cameron GranadinoAudio Post-Production: Stephen FrankFollow The Marc Steiner Show on Spotify Follow The Marc Steiner Show on Apple PodcastsHelp us continue producing The Marc Steiner Show by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Sign up for our newsletterFollow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkHelp 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!

Aug 26, 2025 • 44min
Palestine, genocide, and the imperialist lie of the 'rules-based international order'
Israel’s US-backed genocidal destruction of Gaza has exploded the fiction of the “rules-based” international order and exposed the violent, people-destroying, land-grabbing imperialism it was always based on. Over the last two years, the US and Israel have carried out a genocidal war in Gaza, officially killing over 60,000 people, bombing Gaza’s cities to smithereens, and displacing 90% of its 2.1 million people. Their blockade of almost all aid has caused a famine that threatens to kill hundreds of thousands of people. Now, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced plans to invade and occupy all of the territory while he greenlights more repression and colonial settlement in the West Bank.In this episode of Solidarity Without Exception, Palestinian scholar-activist Eman Abdelhadi speaks about how we reached this grim threshold, and what comes next. Abdelhadi details the history of imperialist support for Israel’s colonial conquest of Palestine up to the current genocide, the Palestinian people’s steadfast resistance, and the urgency of global solidarity with their freedom struggle.Guest:Eman Abdelhadi is a Palestinian academic, activist, and writer who thinks at the intersection of gender, sexuality, religion and politics. She is an assistant professor and sociologist at the University of Chicago, where she researches American Muslim communities. She is co-author of Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052 – 2072.Credits:Hosted by Ashley SmithStudio Production: Ashley SmithAudio Post-Production: Alina NehlichAdditional resources: The Real News Network, Israel’s War on PalestineBrett Wilkins, Common Dreams / The Real News Network, "‘Colossal level of destruction’ as Israel ethnically cleanses Gaza City neighborhoods"Spectre Journal, Building the Palestine Solidarity Movement - An Interview with Eman AbdelhadiSpectre Journal, Palestinian Liberation: “We Teach Life” - An Interview with Rafeef ZiadahBecome a member and join the Solidarity Without Exception Supporters Club today!Follow Solidarity Without Exception on Spotify or Apple PodcastsSign up for our newsletterFollow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkHelp 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!

Aug 22, 2025 • 7min
El Salvador’s guerrilla Radio Venceremos | Stories of Resistance
The 1980s were a time of war El Salvador. The government openly attacked its citizens. Repression. Murder. Massacres.Radio Venceremos broadcasted twice a day. And it was a voice of truth. A voice of reason. A voice of resistance amid the violence and the government repression and the military bloodshed. They spoke truth to power. They offered hope to the masses—the people praying for change. Praying that El Salvador could be different. That one day they would not have to live in fear.This is episode 63 of Stories of Resistance—a podcast produced by The Real News. Each week, we’ll bring you stories of resistance like this. Inspiration for dark times.You can check out exclusive pictures of the Radio Venceremos archive at the Museum of Word and Image in San Salvador here, on Michael Fox’s Patreon. Please consider supporting this podcast and Michael Fox’s reporting on his Patreon account: patreon.com/mfox. There you can also see exclusive pictures, video, and interviews. If you like what you hear, please subscribe, like, share, comment, or leave a review. And please consider signing up for the Stories of Resistance podcast feed, either in Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, or wherever you listen. Written and produced by Michael Fox.Become a member and join the Stories of Resistance Supporters Club today!Follow Stories of Resistance on Spotify or Apple PodcastsSign up for our newsletterFollow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkHelp 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!

Aug 19, 2025 • 46min
Trump’s takeover of Washington, DC: ‘Crazy as hell!’ and ‘Distraction from Epstein’
For the last week, countless videos have circulated online showing National Guard troops menacingly patrolling the streets of Washington, DC, and militarized police setting up traffic checkpoints, harassing residents in the streets, and violently clearing encampments of people experiencing homelessness. “The state of mind of DC citizens right now is that they're under a police state, mainly in the poor Black and Brown communities,” Mansa Musa, host of Rattling the Bars at TRNN and a DC native, reports. In this episode of Working People, we speak with Mansa about the authoritarian reality DC residents are experiencing right now, and we hear from a range of residents and organizers Mansa spoke with on the ground at the “Free DC” demonstration on Monday, August 11.Additional links/info:Rattling the Bars website and Bluesky pageFree DC Coalition website, Facebook page, and InstagramChris Cameron, The New York Times, “Trump’s DC police takeover and national guard deployment, explained”Brian Mann, NPR, “Trump's purge of Washington's homeless encampments escalates”Stephen Prager, Common Dreams, “Trump may 'fabricate a national emergency' to extend DC takeover without Congressional support”Brad Reed, Common Dreams, “'We are fighting to stop it': DC Attorney General sues to block Trump takeover of City police”Featured Music:Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme SongCredits:Studio Production: Cameron GranadinoAudio Post-Production: Jules TaylorHelp 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!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!


