The Real News Podcast

On December 20, 1989, the United States invaded Panama with tens of thousands of troops. It was the largest US invasion since Vietnam. The first US military action since the fall of the Berlin Wall one month before. The testing ground for the Iraq Wars. The US invading forces destroyed 20,000 homes and killed hundreds of innocent Panamanians, dumping bodies into mass graves.And the United States government and the mainstream media ignored or whitewashed the violence. The story told to the American people was that of a tremendous success: The liberation of the people of Panama. All in the name of "democracy" and the so-called "war on drugs."In this episode, host Michael Fox takes us to the working-class Panama City neighborhood of El Chorrillo, which received the brunt of the US attack. He meets with Panamanians who have long fought for justice, and visits a former US military barracks that was the first home of the US School of the Americas. This is Episode 13.Under the Shadow is an investigative narrative podcast series that walks back in time, telling the story of the past by visiting momentous places in the present.In each episode, host Michael Fox takes us to a location where something historic happened—a landmark of revolutionary struggle or foreign intervention. Today, it might look like a random street corner, a church, a mall, a monument, or a museum. But every place he takes us was once the site of history-making events that shook countries, impacted lives, and left deep marks on the world.Hosted by Latin America-based journalist Michael Fox.This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.Guests: John Lindsay Poland, Olmedo Beluche, Celia Sanjur, Gilma CamargoGrahame Russell, Pedro Silva, Efrain Guerrero, Omar GonzalezEdited by Heather Gies.Sound design by Gustavo Türck.Theme music by Monte Perdido and Michael Fox. Monte Perdido's new album Ofrenda is now out. You can listen to the full album on Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, YouTube or wherever you listen to music.Other music from Blue Dot Sessions.Additional links/info:Emperors in the Jungle: The Hidden History of the U.S. in Panama (Duke, 2003), is John Lindsay Poland’s expose on the U.S. military involvement in Panama.You can watch the documentary, The Panama Deception, here.Here are several links to Democracy Now! coverage, over the years, looking back at the U.S. invasion of Panama (here, here, and here).El Chorrillo Neighborhood Tour: You can find out more about Efrain Guerrero's work trying to protect the memory of El Chorrillo, plus his neighborhood tours, on his Instagram or TikTok. His organization is called Movimiento Identidad. Here's the website to set up a tour.Support Under the Shadow:You can see pictures of host Michael Fox’s reporting in Panama City, here. You can also listen to his new podcast, Panamerican Dispatch on his Patreon page. There, you can follow and support him and Under the Shadow: https://www.patreon.com/mfoxHelp us continue producing Under the Shadow 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!

With Donald Trump continuing to demonize immigrants, especially immigrants from Latin America, and with Republicans calling for "Mass Deportation Now," Latinos in the US find themselves in the crosshairs of a national debate over immigration, border policy, racism, and economic justice. What can the Chicano Movement of the 20th century teach us about how to combat attacks on Latinos and other marginalized groups today? Last week, to mark the 54th anniversary of the Chicano Moratorium, The Marc Steiner Show hosted a retrospective panel on the role of the Chicano Movement in building an anti-imperialist front in the US. For a follow-up discussion on how the lessons of the past can be applied to the future of Latino organizing, longtime Chicano liberation and environmental justice activist Bill Gallegos returns to the show, along with Maricela Guzman of the Mexican Solidarity Project and Eddie Bonilla, professor of history at Boston College.Read the transcript of this podcast here. Studio Production: Cameron GranadinoPost-Production: Alina NehlichHelp us continue producing The Marc Steiner Show 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!

The housing and affordability crisis is getting worse, and more people around the country are facing the grim reality of homelessness. Rather than treating housing as a human right and committing to large-scale construction of accessible housing, states like California are responding with police raids of homeless encampments and imprisonment for unhoused people. On this episode of Rattling the Bars, host Mansa Musa discusses non-carceral solutions to the housing crisis with Zachary Murray and Estuardo Mazariegos of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE).Maria Briones, Cal Matters, "If California won’t back affordable housing funding, well, you get what you pay for"Read the transcript of this podcast here. Studio / Post-Production: Cameron GranadinoHelp us continue producing Rattling the Bars 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!

Kamala Harris has made it clear that, while a new name is now at the top of the Democratic ticket in the 2024 elections, the party policy on immigration and the border has not changed and will not change. At the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Harris and other speakers continued to adopt the language of Donald Trump and Republicans when speaking about immigration policy and the "crisis" on the US-Mexico border. Harris also declared her commitment to signing the Bipartisan Border Security Bill, which Republicans and six Democrats killed in the Senate earlier this year, into law; the bill would, among other things, require hundreds of millions of dollars of unspent funds to be used to continue building a wall on the border. However, prominent voices within the Democratic party are speaking out and urging the Biden-Harris Administration and the Harris campaign to change course on immigration and border policy. TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Juanita Martinez, chair of the Maverick County Democratic Party in Texas, about how the so-called “immigration debate” is shaping this election, and who and what is being left out of that debate.Read the transcript of this podcast here. Studio Production: Cameron GranadinoPost-Production: David HebdenHelp 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!

From rumors that Beyonce was going to perform to Uncommitted delegates staging an all-night sit-in outside the United Center to demand that a Palestinian voice be given time to speak on the main stage, there were many storylines that emerged from the 2024 Democratic National Convention. But the DNC also showed how the ruling establishment and corporate media work together to curate a fantasy version of reality, especially when it comes to whitewashing the Biden-Harris Administration's unequivocal support for Israel's genocidal assault on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Sarah Lazare, editor of Workday Magazine, and Adam Johnson, co-host of Citations Needed and a columnist for TRNN, about what reporting at the DNC taught us about the changed media environment we are all part of. Read the transcript of this podcast here. Studio Production: Cameron GranadinoAudio 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 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!

The death toll in Gaza continues to climb, with conservative estimates putting the numbers of dead around 40,000, but a recent report in the British medical journal The Lancet estimates the actual death toll could be 186,000 or even higher—that’s roughly 8% of Gaza’s population. And with each passing day, the humanitarian crises unfolding in Gaza and the West Bank gets orders of magnitude worse. Seeing the dire situation in Palestine, seven major US labor unions collectively drafted, signed, and sent a letter to President Biden demanding that US military aid to Israel stop immediately. The letter reads, in part: "Large numbers of Palestinian civilians, many of them children, continue to be killed, reportedly often with US-manufactured bombs. Rising tensions in the region threaten to ensnare even more innocent civilians in a wider war. And the humanitarian crisis deepens by the day, with famine, mass displacement, and destruction of basic infrastructure including schools and hospitals. We have spoken directly to leaders of Palestinian trade unions who told us heart-wrenching stories of the conditions faced by working people in Gaza." In this episode, Max and Mel speak with George Waksmunski, president of the United Electrical, Radio, & Machine Workers of America (UE), Eastern Region, and Brandon Mancilla, Region 9A Director for the United Auto Workers, about why their unions signed onto this call for an end to US aid to Israel and what organized labor can do to end the genocide in Gaza.Read the transcript of this podcast here.Additional links/info below…UAW website, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and InstagramUE website, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and InstagramMichael Sainato, The Guardian, "Seven major US labor unions call on Biden to ‘shut off military aid to Israel’"Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "UAW endorses Harris, but won’t stop fighting for ceasefire in Gaza"Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Organized labor shows up for Palestine"Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Labor organizers explain why they’re marching on DC for Palestine"Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Tortured Palestinian activist describes military and settler carnage in the West Bank"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 website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageThe Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music…Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme SongStudio Production: Max AlvarezPost-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!

On August 29, 1970, the Chicano Moratorium Against the Viet Nam War mobilized the largest Chicano protest and the largest anti-war protest led by a community of color at the time. Combining a critique of US imperialism abroad and racism at home, the Chicano Moratorium was the result of years of organizing and consciousness raising by Chicano liberation activists around the country. Former Brown Beret Bill Gallegos and CSU Northridge professor Theresa Montaño join The Marc Steiner Show for a look back on the Chicano Moratorium and the struggle from which it arose.Studio: Cameron GranadinoPost-Production: Alina NehlichHelp us continue producing The Marc Steiner Show 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!

It's a presidential election year, and a deeply divisive imperialist war has split the public. As the Democratic National Convention gathers in Chicago, anti-war organizers vow to be in the streets to protest US responsibility for a genocide overseas. No, this isn't 2024. It's 1968. And the police riot that follows in the city of Chicago has effects on US politics that will reverberate for decades to come. Former member of the Weather Underground Bill Ayers joins The Marc Steiner Show for a timely look back on the events of the 1968 Chicago DNC, and its resonance with the current Chicago DNC happening amid the genocide in Gaza funded and perpetuated by the Biden-Harris administration.Studio Production: Cameron GranadinoPost-Production: Alina NehlichHelp us continue producing The Marc Steiner Show 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!

The issue of mass incarceration has been far less central to the 2024 election thus far in comparison to the 2020 presidential race. However, that doesn't make the matter any less pressing for incarcerated people, their loved ones, or the activists fighting tirelessly to free prisoners. There are a range of ways presidential candidates could commit to ending mass incarceration, but one tool stands out as a quick fix that can be implemented through presidential prerogative alone: the power of clemency. For months, activists with the FreeHer campaign have been building pressure for the next president to wield their clemency powers to swiftly release women serving extended sentences. Andrea James, founder and executive director of the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, and Families for Justice as Healing, joins Rattling the Bars to discuss the importance of clemency.Studio / Post-Production: Cameron GranadinoAudio Post-Production: Alina NehlichHelp us continue producing Rattling the Bars 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!

Since the start of the pandemic (and really, before that), frontline healthcare workers have been rightfully lauded for the tireless work that they have done to keep the healthcare system from cratering in this country. This is no easy task, as we have seen the devastation that the pandemic has wrought among our communities, and especially within the healthcare field. In Southern California, the cost of living crisis has filtered into the workplace, with many healthcare workers finding themselves priced out of their neighborhoods due to rising costs and unchecked gentrification, their stagnant wages and dwindling access to healthcare benefits compounding an already untenable situation. More than 2,200 healthcare workers at Keck Medicine at the University of Southern California are fighting for improved working conditions and a chance to combat the cost of living crisis with a new contract. So far, they have been met with an aggressive management that is hellbent on freezing wages and striking some of the most important benefits that healthcare workers enjoy from the contract. Represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers, or NUHW, these workers - medical technicians, respiratory therapists, licensed vocational nurses, housekeepers and nursing assistants - have made clear their demands for improved working conditions at multiple USC healthcare facilities across Los Angeles, and we’ve brought on Francisco Cendejas and Noemi Aguirre, two worker-organizers at Keck Medicine, to talk about the ongoing contract negotiations.Note: This episode was recorded on July 18th, 2024. Negotiations with Keck-USC are still ongoing.Additional links/info below…NUHW - Keck-USC Negotiations FactsheetPenn Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, “How Inadequate Hospital Staffing Continues to Burn Out Nurses and Threaten Patients”National Union of Healthcare Workers - Main SitePermanent 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 website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageThe Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music...Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme SongHelp 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!