The Real News Podcast

The rural landscape in the US is changing drastically: The days of the independent family farm have increasingly given way to industrial agriculture and factory animal farms. In states around the country, from Iowa and Minnesota to North Carolina, the expansion of Big Agriculture and the factory farming industry has dramatically altered local economies and communities, using up communal resources while posing serious threats to public health and the environment. Far from halting this trend, governments at the state and federal level have worked with powerful industry groups for years to incentivize large-scale farming operations and to make it increasingly difficult for local governments to adequately regulate these operations. But resistance from within rural communities, stretching across political lines, is mounting.At this very moment, farmers, residents, and environmental advocates in three rural counties in Wisconsin—Polk, Burnett, and Crawford—are engaged in a battle to protect their communities against the construction of two proposed concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), which would collectively house roughly 34,000 hogs. Residents fear that the millions upon millions of gallons of liquid manure produced by these CAFOs every year, along with their many other impacts, could cause irreversible damage to their land, air, water, property values, and ways of life. As part of a special collaboration with In These Times magazine for “The Wisconsin Idea,” TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez traveled with Cameron Granadino (TRNN) and Hannah Faris (In These Times) to Crawford, Polk, and Burnett counties to speak with residents about their concerns and their struggles to defend themselves against Big Agriculture and the factory farming industry.Pre-production:Maximillian AlvarezSimon Davis-CohenHannah FarisCameron GranadinoStudio:Cameron GranadinoStephen FrankPost-production:Cameron GranadinoStephen FrankKayla RivaraThe Wisconsin Idea is an independent reporting project of People’s Action Institute, Citizen Action of Wisconsin and In These Times.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and making a small donation: Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-ytSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/nl-ytLike 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!

After Gov. Ned Lamont signed a new bill into law in June, Connecticut became the first state in the US to make phone calls free for incarcerated people, including those in juvenile detention facilities. Studies show that having access to phone calls reduces violence in prisons and prisoner recidivism rates, so why have prisons and private companies been allowed to charge such exorbitant prices for communications between incarcerated people and the outside world? In this week’s episode of Rattling the Bars, Eddie Conway speaks with Dr. Venezia Michalsen about why Connecticut’s new law is so significant and why other states should follow suit. Dr. Michalsen is associate professor of Justice Studies at Montclair State University and author of the book Mothering and Desistance in Re-Entry.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!

Up until the pandemic, Kate was a massage therapist who loved her job. But when her employer wanted to push her and her co-workers back to work before they felt safe, she had to make a very difficult decision. In this episode of Working People, we talk to Kate about her life, the path that led her to working as a massage therapist, and we talk about the particular hazards massage therapists have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.Additional links/info below...Allison Steinberg, Allure, "These Massage Therapists Worry About the Effects of COVID-19 on the Future of Their Industry": https://www.allure.com/story/massage-therapists-covid-19Rachel Urbanski, WCHS ABC 8, "Refusing to Work Because of COVID-19 Concerns Can Risk Unemployment Benefits": https://wchstv.com/news/local/refusing-to-work-because-of-covid-19-concerns-can-risk-unemployment-benefitsPermanent links below...Working People Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/WorkingPeopleLeave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!: https://www.speakpipe.com/workingpeopleLabor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageIn These Times: https://inthesetimes.com/The Real News Network: https://therealnews.com/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!

Citizen journalists continue to play a critical role in holding police accountable, which is why they face increasing pushback from the underlying system that bolsters bad cops. PAR speaks to cop watchers Laura Shark and Lackluster about the challenges they face when reporting on police, and how auditing law enforcement has become an increasingly dicey occupation.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!

It’s been seven months since Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol building in Washington DC in an attempt to overturn the general election results. Was it merely a short but shocking fluke perpetrated by a handful of fanatics, or a sign of the right’s long (and continued) political slide towards open authoritarianism? In our first segment for this week’s episode of The Marc Steiner Show, Marc talks with author, journalist, and historian of the American right Rick Perlstein about the historical roots of the Capitol riots and the very dangerous political path we’re still on, even with Trump out of office. Perlstein’s most recent book, the fourth in an award-winning series investigating the history of modern American conservatism, is Reaganland: America’s Right Turn 1976–1980.In our second segment, we bring you the latest installment of our ongoing series “Not in Our Name,” which highlights the diverse voices of Jewish activists, artists, intellectuals, and others who are speaking out against the Israeli occupation. In this installment, Marc is joined by author and scholar Marjorie Cohn to discuss the significance of current Palestinian resistance to, and international condemnation of, the violence of Israeli occupation. Marjorie Cohn is professor emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, former president of the National Lawyers Guild, and a member of the bureau of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers and the advisory board of Veterans for Peace. She is the author of numerous books, including The United States and Torture: Interrogation, Incarceration and Abuse, and Drones and Targeted Killing: Legal, Moral, and Geopolitical Issues.Tune in for new episodes of The Marc Steiner Show every Tuesday on TRNNBecome 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!

Kip Kinkel was publicly reviled when, suffering from undiagnosed paranoid schizophrenia, he shot and killed his mother and father before killing two of his classmates and wounding 25 others in a mass shooting at Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon, in 1998. Kinkel pled guilty to murder and attempted murder and was sentenced to 111 years in jail without the possibility of parole. Since then, Kinkel's case has been repeatedly weaponized to justify extreme punishment and sentencing for juveniles. After twenty years of silence, Kinkel finally spoke to journalist Jessica Schulberg in an exclusive interview published in HuffPost in June. In this episode of Rattling the Bars, Schulberg speaks to TRNN's Eddie Conway about how Kinkel's story fits into the fight against over-incarceration and juvenile life sentences.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and making a small donation: Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-ytSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/nl-ytLike 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!

Hundreds of workers at the Frito-Lay manufacturing and distribution plant in Topeka, Kansas, have been on strike since July 5. Workers at Frito-Lay have endured years of disrespect, and many at the plant have seen their wages stagnate and fall behind other employers in the area. On top of that, workers have been caught in a horrible cycle that was greatly exacerbated by COVID 19: While more people stayed home during the pandemic and ate a lot more chips, the incredibly high turnover at Frito-Lay means that folks who stayed on have been forced to work longer hours, with some pulling 12-hour shifts seven days a week for weeks on end. In this urgent episode, we talk with Cheri Renfro, who has worked at the Frito-Lay plant in Topeka for 9 years and is currently on strike.Additional links/info below...Topeka Frito-Lay Union Members Appreciation Page785 Utility Relief Fund - Support for BCTGM Local 218 MembersCall Frito-Lay tell them to negotiate with workers in Topeka and find real workable solutions to problems in the workplaceDan DiMaggio, Labor Notes, "'We Want to See Our Families': Frito-Lay Workers Strike Over 84-Hour Weeks, Meager Raises"More Perfect Union, "Frito-Lay workers in Kansas are being forced to work 12-hour days, 7 days a week, in a dangerous factory. Their stories are shocking"Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"Steve Combs, "Work"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!

The nation's endless war on mind-altering substances has many casualties, some who refuse to be forgotten. That's why Catherine Freeman is coming forward after 47 years to describe how her family was set up by a drug informant. In this episode of PAR, we listen to her story about how the intersection of law enforcement and politics tore her family apart, and why the truth must finally be told.Help us continue producing Police Accountability Report by following us and making a small donation: Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-yt-parSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/nl-yt-parGet Police Accountability Report updates: https://therealnews.com/yt-up-parLike 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!

Amid power outages, food shortages, and continued fears over COVID-19, amplified by 60 years of economic strangulation by a US blockade, thousands of protestors in Cuba have taken to the streets to demand answers and action from their government. Mainstream media outlets in the US have jumped at the chance to paint these protests as singularly focused on repudiating the communist revolution, using them as a pretext for greater imperialist intervention, but the reality on the ground is much more complex. Author and historian Andrés Pertierra joins us to examine the deeper historical and political contexts surrounding the protests and to discuss how viewers outside of Cuba can navigate the media frenzy. Pertierra is a historian of Cuba and US-Cuban relations in the 19th and 20th centuries; he received his bachelor's degree from the University of Havana and is currently a PhD student in Latin American and Caribbean history at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. #Cuba #CubaProtests #SOSCubaHelp us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and making a small donation: Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-ytSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/nl-ytLike 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!

Sonia Kumar, senior attorney at the ACLU of Maryland, explains the movement to restore the parole option to people sentenced for serious crimes in childhood. Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and making a small donation: Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-ytSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/nl-ytLike 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!