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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May 1, 2025 • 6min

Nora Loreto's news headlines for Thursday, May 1, 2025

Canadian journalist Nora Loreto reads the latest headlines for Thursday, May 1, 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!

Apr 30, 2025 • 7min

May Day 1971: ‘If the government won’t stop the war, we’ll stop the government.’ | Ep 27 Stories of Resistance

It’s been called the most influential protest you’ve never heard about. In April and May 1971, week-long protests rippled across Washington, DC. Thousands in the streets. Their slogan: “If the government won’t stop the war, we’ll stop the government.” The Nixon administration cracked down, arresting 7,000 people in just one day, and 12,000 people over the first week of May—the largest mass arrest in the history of the United States.This is episode 27 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. You can also follow Michael’s reporting and support at patreon.com/mfox. Written and produced by Michael Fox.You can check out this excellent short documentary film about the protests: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQzgchtpUFc Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman covered the 50th anniversary of the protests and arrests in 2021: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLvpo3_X_HQSubscribe 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!

Apr 30, 2025 • 58min

FBI agents raid homes of pro-Palestine students at University of Michigan | Working People

The Trump administration continues to escalate its authoritarian assault on higher education, free speech, and political dissent—and university administrators and state government officials are willingly aiding that assault. On the morning of April 23, at the direction of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, law enforcement officers, including FBI agents, raided the homes of multiple student organizers connected to Palestine solidarity protests at the University of Michigan. “According to the group Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE), agents seized the students’ electronics and a number of personal items,” Michael Arria reports at Mondoweiss. “Four individuals were detained, but eventually released.” In this urgent episode of Working People, we speak with a panel of graduate student workers from the University of Michigan and Columbia University about how they and their unions are fighting back against ICE abductions, FBI raids, and top-down political repression, all while trying to carry on with their day-to-day work.Panelists include: Lavinia, a PhD student at the University of Michigan School of Information and an officer in the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO); Ember McCoy, a PhD candidate in the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan and a rank-and-file member of GEO and the TAHRIR Coalition; Jessie Rubin, a PhD student in the School of Arts and Sciences at Columbia University and a rank-and-file member of Student Workers of Columbia (SWC); and Conlan Olson, a PhD student in Computer Science at Columbia and a member of the SWC bargaining committee.Additional links/info:Graduate Employees Organization (GEO), University of Michigan website, Instagram, Facebook page, and X pageStudent Workers of Columbia-UAW Local 2710 website, Instagram, Facebook page, and X pageTAHRIR Coalition UMich X pageLegal Fund of Michigan Students for PalestineGEO Worker Solidarity FundGEO Press Release: FBI and police raid homes of pro-Palestine activists, including a GEO memberMahmoud Khalil statement from ICE detention: “My name is Mahmoud Khalil and I am a political prisoner”Allie Wong, The Intercept, “This is not about antisemitism, Palestine, or Columbia. It’s Trump dismantling the American dream“Grant Miner, The Nation, “Columbia expelled me for my palestine activism, but I won’t be silenced”Michael Arria, Mondoweiss, “FBI and police raid homes of Palestine activists in Michigan”Alvin Powell, The Harvard Gazette, “Harvard files lawsuit against Trump administration”Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “‘Worse’ than McCarthyism: Trump’s war on higher education, free speech, and political dissent”Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “‘A tremendous chilling effect’: Columbia students describe dystopian reality on campus amid Trump attacks”Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “‘People are hiding in their apartments’: Inside Trump’s assault on universities”Permanent links below…Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageIn These Times 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!

Apr 30, 2025 • 7min

‘Worse’ than McCarthyism: Trump’s war on higher education, free speech, and political dissent

A dystopian reality has gripped America’s colleges and universities: ICE agents are snatching and disappearing international students in broad daylight; student visas are being revoked en masse overnight; funding cuts and freezes are upending countless careers and our entire public research infrastructure; students are being expelled and faculty fired for speaking out against Israel’s US-backed genocidal war on Gaza and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. An all-out assault on higher ed and the people who live, learn, and work there is being led by the federal government and aided by law enforcement, internet vigilantes, and even university administrators. Today’s climate of repression recalls that of McCarthyism and the height of the anti-communist Red Scare in the 1950s, but leading scholars of McCarthyism and political repression say that the attacks on higher education, free speech, and political repression we’re seeing today are “worse” and “much broader.” In this installment of The Real News Network podcast, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with a panel of scholars about the Trump administration’s authoritarian war on higher education in America, the historical roots of the attacks we’re seeing play out today, and what lessons we can draw from history about how to fight it. Panelists include: Ellen Schrecker, a historian and author who has written extensively about McCarthyism and American higher education, and a member of the American Association of University Professors national committee on academic freedom and tenure. Schrecker is the author and co-editor of numerous books, including: The Right To Learn: Resisting the Right-Wing Attack on Academic Freedom; The Lost Promise: American Universities in the 1960s; No Ivory Tower: McCarthyism and the Universities; and Many Are the Crimes: McCarthyism in AmericaDavid Palumbo-Liu, Louise Hewlett Nixon Professor in Comparative Literature at Stanford University, host of the podcast Speaking Out of Place, and author of several books, including: Speaking Out of Place: Getting Our Political Voices Back; The Deliverance of Others: Reading Literature in a Global Age; and Asian/American: Historical Crossings of a Racial FrontierAlan Wald, H. Chandler Davis Collegiate Professor Emeritus of English Literature and American Culture at the University of Michigan. Wald is an editor of Against the Current and Science & Society, he serves as a member of the academic council of Jewish Voice for Peace, and he is the author of a trilogy of books from the University of North Carolina Press: Exiles from a Future Time: The Forging of the Mid-Twentieth-Century Literary Left; Trinity of Passion: The Literary Left and the Antifascist Crusade; and American Night: The Literary Left in the Era of the Cold WarStudio Production: David HebdenAudio Post-Production: Jules TaylorHelpHelp 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!

Apr 28, 2025 • 5min

Marching against El Salvador’s police state | Ep 26 Stories of Resistance

In El Salvador, thousands of innocent people have been locked up in Nayib Bukele’s crackdown on gangs. They have been held without due process for years. But family members are standing up. And on May 1 they march, carrying the pictures and the names of their innocent loved ones detained and held without rights, with the ever-increasing support of the United States.This is episode 26 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. You can also follow Michael’s reporting and support at patreon.com/mfox. Written and produced by Michael Fox. Below are some links to Michael Fox’s previous reporting on this issue with The Real News: FAMILIES 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-crackdown Nayib Bukele: El Salvador's mega-prison president detaining Kilmar Abrego Garcia for Trump https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pGDw_NxfA0 DOES NAYIB BUKELE’S REELECTION VIOLATE EL SALVADOR’S CONSTITUTION? https://therealnews.com/does-nayib-bukeles-reelection-violate-el-salvadors-constitution EL SALVADOR. BUKELE, PRESIDENTE. | UNDER THE SHADOW, UPDATE 2 https://therealnews.com/el-salvador-bukele-presidente-under-the-shadow-update-2 EL 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!

Apr 25, 2025 • 7min

Harry Belafonte—Using art for good | Ep 25 Stories of Resistance

Harry Belafonte. The King of Calypso. Incredible singer and actor. He performed in more than a dozen movies throughout his career. But above all else, he was an activist. A fighter against racism and oppression, in the United States and around the world.Belafonte joined the Civil Rights Movement. He marched alongside Martin Luther King. And he remained active into his 90s, working for prison reform, denouncing the Iraq War, George W. Bush, Trump and so much more. Harry Belafonte passed away on April 25, 2023.This is episode 25 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. You can also follow Michael’s reporting and support at www.patreon.com/mfox.Written and produced by Michael Fox.Links for some old clips of Harry Belafonte:Harry Belafonte Interview on Activism Through Art (1958)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUoAYilBgRYHarry Belafonte on racism, patriotism & war, 1967: CBC Archives | CBChttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XUlCuW7DrcHarry Belafonte’s Best Crime Thriller? Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) | BlackTree TVhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zizXTmtGlKsHarry Belafonte in Concert (Japan, 1960)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnswQxvfci8Harry Belafonte Television and Video Archivehttps://www.youtube.com/@harrybelafontetvvideoarchiveIf you like what you hear, please subscribe, like, share, comment, or leave a review. You can also follow Michael’s reporting, and support at patreon.com/mfox.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!

Apr 25, 2025 • 7min

Nora Loreto's news headlines for Friday, April 25, 2025

Canadian journalist Nora Loreto reads the latest headlines for Friday, April 25, 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!

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