The Real News Podcast

On June 6, thousands of veterans, union members, VA hospital nurses, elected officials, and more gathered on the National Mall in Washington D.C. at the “Unite for Veterans, Unite for America rally” to protest the Trump administration’s attacks on veteran jobs, benefits, and healthcare. In this on-the-ground edition of Working People, we report from Friday’s rally and speak with veterans and VA nurses about how Trump’s policies are affecting them now and how to fix the longstanding issues with the VA.Speakers:Peter Pocock, Vietnam War veteran (Navy) and retired union organizerEverett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government EmployeesTerri Henry, Air Force veteranEllen Barfield, Army veteran and national vice president of Veterans for PeaceLindsay Church, executive director and co-founder of Minority Veterans of AmericaLelaina Brandt, veteran (National Guard), 2SLGBTQIA+ advocate, and part-time illustrator and graphic designer.Eric Farmer, Navy submarine veteranIrma Westmoreland,  registered VA nurse in Augusta, GA, secretary-treasurer of National Nurses United, chair of National Nurses United Organizing Committee/NNU-VAAndrea Johnson, registered VA nurse in San Diego, CA, medical surgical unit and the NNOC/NNU director of VA Medical Center- San DiegoJustin Wooden, registered VA nurse in the intensive care unit (ICU) at James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital in Tampa, FLCecil E. Roberts, Vietnam War veteran (Army) and president of the United Mine Workers of AmericaAdditional links/info:Tim Balk & Helene Cooper, The New York Times, “Military parade in Capital on Trump’s birthday could cost $45 million, officials say”Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press, “Transgender troops face a deadline and a difficult decision: Stay or go?”Eric Umansky & Vernal Coleman, ProPublica, “Internal VA emails reveal how Trump cuts jeopardize veterans’ care, including to ‘life-saving cancer trials’”Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “Trump cuts leave VA hospital nurses and veteran patients in a crisis”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.Sign up for our newsletterLike 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!

Independent journalists say they are under threat in El Salvador. At least 15 journalists have fled the country in recent weeks. Roughly a dozen more are in hiding out of fear for their safety.“There's an atmosphere of fear, of anxiety. Of insecurity,” says Oscar Orellana, the head of the community media association ARPAS.But many continue to report. They continue to denounce the unjust detention of human rightsdefenders. They continue to tell the stories that need to be told. Resisting… despite everything.This is episode 45 of Stories of Resistance—a podcast co-produced by The Real News and Global Exchange. Independent investigative journalism, supported by Global Exchange's Human Rights in Action program. Each week, we’ll bring you stories of resistance like this. Inspiration for dark times.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.Visit patreon.com/mfox for exclusive pictures, to follow Michael Fox’s reporting and to support his work. Written and produced by Michael Fox.More of Michael’s Reporting on El Salvador: Marching Against El Salvador’s Police States — Stories of Resistance, Episode 26:https://therealnews.com/marching-against-el-salvadors-police-stateFamilies of the detained see echoes of dictatorial past in El Salvador’s gang crackdown: https://therealnews.com/families-of-the-detained-see-echoes-of-dictatorial-past-in-el-salvadors-gang-crackdownNayib Bukele: El Salvador's mega-prison president detaining Kilmar Abrego Garcia for Trump:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pGDw_NxfA0Does Nayib Bukele’s reelection violate El Salvador’s constitution?: https://therealnews.com/does-nayib-bukeles-reelection-violate-el-salvadors-constitutionEl Salvador, Bukele, Presidente. | Under the Shadow Update 2: https://therealnews.com/el-salvador-bukele-presidente-under-the-shadow-update-2El Salvador’s civil war | Under the Shadow Episode 4: https://therealnews.com/el-salvadors-civil-war-under-the-shadow-episode-4Subscribe to Stories of Resistance podcast hereBecome a member and join the Stories of Resistance Supporters Club today!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!

Canadian journalist Nora Loreto reads the latest headlines for Wednesday, June 11, 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.Sign up for our newsletterLike 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!

Move over, Jon Stewart. The Real News is here… We’re happy to announce that this episode of The Marc Steiner Show has been nominated for a prestigious Signal Award. Help us win by voting before October 9th and show that our scrappy team of former prisoners, organizers, and low-wage workers can go toe-to-toe with the best and biggest media organizations out there.Doctors Sarah Lalonde, Rizwan Minhas, and Yipeng Ge have all recently returned to Canada from volunteer medical delegations in Gaza with a harrowing message for the rest of the world. In this episode of The Marc Steiner Show, Marc speaks with all three doctors about what they saw and experienced attempting to provide medical care for patients in the midst of Israel’s genocidal slaughter of Palestinians.Content Warning: This episode contains vivid descriptions of wartime conditions, genocide, violent physical injuries, and death.Guest(s):Dr. Sarah LaLonde is an emergency and family physician specializing in community, rural, and remote emergency medicine, with a particular focus on Indigenous communitiesDr. Rizwan Minhas is a Toronto-based physician specializing in sports and regenerative pain medicine, with extensive experience in emergency medicine.Dr. Yipeng Ge is a primary care physician and public health practitioner based on the traditional, unceded, and unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg in Ottawa, Canada.Additional resources:CityNews, “Canadian doctors returning from Gaza detail eyewitness accounts: 'We are telling the truth'”Global March to Gaza websiteFollow The Marc Steiner Show on SpotifyFollow The Marc Steiner Show on Apple PodcastsSign up for our newsletterHelp us continue producing The Marc Steiner Show by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on BlueskyLike us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterDonate to support this podcastCredits:Studio Production: David HebdenAudio Post-Production: Alina NehlichHelp 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!

During its reign as the dominant global superpower, the US imposed its will and wreaked imperialist havoc around the world. But as the power of US empire declines and the global order is restructured, hypernationalism and violent competition between imperial and regional powers are surging around the world, like they did before the great world wars. Can an internationalist, working-class movement of movements for peace, prosperity, and self-determination help humanity avoid a future of imperialist plunder, planetary destruction, and escalating violence? In this episode of Solidarity Without Exception, cohosts Blanca Missé and Ashley Smith speak with TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez about the dire need for such a movement in our terrifying new age of global disorder, and they discuss movement-building lessons that have emerged from the conversations they’ve hosted on the podcast so far in Season One.Additional resources:Eli Friedman, Kevin Lin, Rosa Liu, & Ashley Smith, Haymarket Books, China in Global Capitalism: Building International Solidarity Against Imperial RivalryUkraine: A people’s peace, not an imperial peace (joint declaration by ecosocialist, anarchist, feminist, environmental organisations, and groups in solidarity with the Ukrainian resistance and for a self-determined social and ecological reconstruction of Ukraine)Credits:Audio Post-Production: Alina NehlichHelp us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis 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!

Canadian journalist Nora Loreto reads the latest headlines for Tuesday, June 10, 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.Sign up for our newsletterLike 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!

Protesters have taken to the streets of Los Angeles and San Francisco. They’re protesting the detention and arrest of thousands of immigrants by Donald Trump’s immigration officials. Protests have carried on for days. They’ve shut down highways. They've shouted, “No.” Trump has responded, calling in the national guard, despite objections from local state officials. It’s the first time a president has unilaterally called in the national guard in 60 years. California governor Gavin Newsom says he’s suing Trump for illegally deploying federal troops and “flaming the fires.” People have promised to resist. More protests are planned for today and the coming days. This is episode 44 of Stories of Resistance—a podcast co-produced by The Real News and Global Exchange. Independent investigative journalism, supported by Global Exchange's Human Rights in Action program. Each week, we’ll bring you stories of resistance like this. Inspiration for dark times. 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. Visit patreon.com/mfox for exclusive pictures, to follow Michael Fox’s reporting and to support his work. Written and produced by Michael Fox. Subscribe to Stories of Resistance podcast hereBecome a member and join the Stories of Resistance Supporters Club today!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!

Canadian journalist Nora Loreto reads the latest headlines for Monday, June 9, 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.Sign up for our newsletterLike 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!

If a picture is worth a thousand words, his spoke novels. He was Steinbeck, Tolstoy, and Tolkien, all in one. His images capture the spirit of the poor and working classes. And they grip the viewer. Refusing to let your eyes peal from the picture before you. Pictures in black and white. Pictures that seem to have been painted by brush strokes, but which are as real as the camera equipment he used.Sebastião Salgado was an artist. And he was a documentarian. Capturing the plight of the downtrodden, but also their soul. Their beauty.Sebastião Salgado passed away on May 23, 2025, at the age of 81.Today, we dedicate this episode to the incredible life and work of Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado. His legacy lives on. This is episode 43 of Stories of Resistance—a podcast co-produced by The Real News and Global Exchange. Independent investigative journalism, supported by Global Exchange's Human Rights in Action program. Each week, we’ll bring you stories of resistance like this. Inspiration for dark times. 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.Visit patreon.com/mfox for exclusive pictures, to follow Michael Fox’s reporting and to support his work.Written and produced by Michael Fox. ResourcesHere is Sebastião Salgado’s Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/sebastiaosalgadooficial/ Here is a beautiful written piece about Sebastião Salgado’s work on workers: https://www.holdenluntz.com/magazine/new-arrival/sebastiao-salgados-workers-an-archeology-of-the-industrial-age/Subscribe to Stories of Resistance podcast hereBecome a member and join the Stories of Resistance Supporters Club today!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!

Already burdened by years of funding cuts and understaffing, registered nurses who work at Veterans Health Administration (VA) facilities across the country are facing a crisis as the impact of the Trump administration’s cuts to the federal workforce take effect. In this episode of Working People, Maximillian Alvarez speaks with VA nurses and union representatives for National Nurses United about how these cuts, coupled with Trump’s attempt to strip over one million federal workers of their collective bargaining rights, are hurting VA workers, the quality of care they’ve been trained to provide, and the veterans they serve.Guest(s):Irma Westmoreland, a registered VA nurse in Augusta, Georgia, who currently serves as secretary-treasurer of National Nurses United and chair of the National Nurses United Organizing Committee/NNU-VASharda Fornnarino, a navy veteran who has worked as a VA nurse for 25 years, and who currently serves as the National Nurses United director of the Denver VA.Additional links/info:National Nurses United website, Facebook page, X page, and InstagramNational Nurses United - Veterans Affairs websiteNNU Press Release: National Nurses United RNs join Unite for Veterans, Unite for America rally in Washington, DCNNU statement on executive order seeking to strip federal employees of their protected union rightsEric Umansky & Vernal Coleman, ProPublica, “Internal VA emails reveal how Trump cuts jeopardize veterans’ care, including to ‘life-saving cancer trials’”Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “What’s really behind Trump’s war on federal unions?”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.Sign up for our newsletterLike 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!