CounterPunch Radio

On this episode of CounterPunch Radio, Janene Yazzie, Director of Policy and Advocacy at the NDN Collective, joins Joshua Frank and Erik Wallenberg to talk global climate policy, the plight of Leonard Peltier, and the push for clemency from President Biden. Janene, who just returned from COP29, also addresses how we move forward under a second Trump term. As a bonus, we’ve included Janene’s scorching plenary speech from Socialism 2024. To learn about NDN Collective- www.ndncollective.org For our actions and campaigns: https://ndncollective.org/take-action/ Palestine Solidarity: https://ndncollective.org/the-right-of-return-is-landback/ For Leonard Peltier work- https://freeleonard-peltier.com/ Or text ‘FREELEONARDNOW’ to 50302 The post COP29, Leonard Peltier and the Future of Indigenous Resistance w/ Janene Yazzie appeared first on CounterPunch.org.

In this episode of CounterPunch Radio, Rebecca Maria Goldschmidt speaks with members of Acción Palestina Chiapas, grassroots organizers in southern México raising awareness around Palestinian resistance within their communities. They discuss the vínculos, the connections, between local Indigenous struggles against displacement, forced migration, and narco-violence and the Palestinian struggle for liberation. The episode is dedicated to Padre Marcelo, who dedicated his life and work to the Indigenous peoples and farmworkers of Chiapas and who also advocated for Palestinian liberation in the months before his assassination in October 2024. The post Acción Palestina Chiapas: From Resistance to Revolution appeared first on CounterPunch.org.

This week on CounterPunch Radio, the tenacious Ralph Nader talks to Erik Wallenberg and Joshua Frank about why Kamala Harris lost, Israel’s influence in American politics, and demise of working class America. The post American Tragedy w/ Ralph Nader appeared first on CounterPunch.org.

CounterPunch co-editor Joshua Frank explains why abandoning the working class sunk the Harris campaign – blowback for 30 years of neoliberal capitalism. The post Why Harris Lost w/ Joshua Frank appeared first on CounterPunch.org.

This week Joshua Frank and Erik Wallenberg talk to Ramzy Baroud about the genocide in Gaza, Zionism’s shaky future and the role of the international left in helping shape its future. Ramzy is a journalist and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of five books. His latest is “These Chains Will Be Broken: Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons” (Clarity Press, Atlanta). Dr. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA), Istanbul Zaim University (IZU). His website is www.ramzybaroud.net The post Zionism’s Tenuous Future w/ Ramzy Baroud appeared first on CounterPunch.org.

On this re-aired episode of CounterPunch Radio, Eric Draitser interviews Arun Gupta about Israel’s propaganda campaign, the failed reporting of The New York Times, and how it’s all been used to dehumanize and justify genocide in Gaza. The post Israel’s October 7th Propaganda Machine: Arun Gupta appeared first on CounterPunch.org.

Rebecca Maria Goldschmidt speaks with Jumana Kaplanian, psychologist and founder of Psychology Spa, a mental health clinic in the West Bank. Jumana shares her experience supporting the mental health of youth and women in her community in Bethlehem throughout the genocide, the day-to-day impacts of the occupation, and the most recent invasion of the West Bank. Jumana Kaplanian is the founder of Psychology Spa, the first specialized non-profit company in Psychoeducation in Palestine since 2016. She is a social activist, a psychologist & mental health trainer. Since 2019, she is a member of the Board of Directors of Psychologists and Social Workers in Bethlehem. Jumana is a skilled, motivated, and ambitious psychologist experienced in providing a specialized psychological assessment of clients’ problems based upon collected data through counseling sessions in Bethlehem, Palestine. Queer Mikveh Project is currently raising funds for trauma-informed somatic and mental health programming for women and girls at Psychology Spa in Bethlehem. Donate to Venmo at @queermikvehproject or paypal.me/queermikvehproject The post Supporting Mental Health in the Occupied West Bank: Jumana Kaplanian & Psychology Spa appeared first on CounterPunch.org.

This week, Erik Wallenberg and Joshua Frank interview Eman Abdelhadi and Khury Petersen-Smith on all things Palestine, from organizing to liberation. Eman Abdelhadi is an 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. She is also a columnist for In These Times where you can follow her latest. She also organzizes with Faculty and staff for Justice in Palestine and Salon Kawakib. Khury Petersen-Smith is the Michael Ratner Middle East Fellow and Co-Director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS). He researches the U.S. empire, borders, and migration. His work has appeared widely, including in Truthout, In These Times, and Foreign Policy in Focus. He is one of the co-authors and organizers of the 2023 Black Voices for Ceasefire statement, which was signed by over 6,000 Black activists, artists, and scholars. The post All Things Palestine, From Organizing to Liberation: Eman Abdelhadi and Khury Petersen-Smith appeared first on CounterPunch.org.

Unavoidable evidence of the catastrophic consequences of climate change confronts us at every turn. Record high ocean temperatures. Once-a-century storms that appear every other year. And on and on. In the face of ongoing ecological disaster, international best-selling author Kōhei Saitō asks why our society continues to prioritize corporate profits (and the rapacious expansion on which they depend), and proposes a revolutionary alternative to unfettered capitalism: degrowth communism. In Slow Down, Saitō provocatively argues that any solutions that don’t directly confront capitalism itself—from the COP agreements to the “Green New Deal”—represent dangerous compromises that may ultimately worsen the climate emergency. Because it creates artificial scarcity and endlessly produces commodities based on their value, rather than their usefulness, our economic system itself makes it impossible to reverse climate change so long as capitalism remains in place. The biggest contributor to the problem cannot be an integral part of its solution. Instead, Saitō advocates for degrowth and deceleration, which he conceives as the slowing of economic activity through the democratic reform of labor and our system of production. By returning to a system of social ownership, degrowth communism, we can restore the abundance of things that we truly need, and can focus on those activities that are essential for human life. What would this alternative look like? How do we end mass production and mass consumption without reducing living standards? What do we need to do to redress global inequality without accelerating the rate at which the planet burns? For this launch event Saitō will be in conversation on all of this, and more, with Science for the People editor, and Pilsen Community Books collective member and CounterPunch Radio co-host Erik Wallenberg. This event occurred on May 24, 2024 at Haymarket House in Chicago. The post Degrowth Communism: Kōhei Saitō appeared first on CounterPunch.org.

Last week the 2024 Democratic National Convention took over Chicago. Over the course of the week, the Democratic Party elite rubbed elbows and egos at the United Center and the McCormick Place Convention Center while outside, thousands gathered for meetings and marches, demonstrations and disruptions. CounterPunch Radio co-host and worker-owner at Chicago’s Pilsen Community Books, Erik Wallenberg, captured voices in the streets. Nathaniel St. Clair edited and produced the episode. We hear from leaders of the opposition including Cornel West and Medea Benjamin as well as protesters who organized against the 1968 DNC and came out in the streets this year too. A speech from Chicago for Abortion Rights leader Mandy Medley, music from Songs for Liberation, and words from Mennonites for Ceasefire ring out alongside members of Jewish Voice for Peace, Students for Justice in Palestine, and Veterans Against the War. The episode closes out with a song, Fields of Palestine, which was performed by Ryan Cason, a member of Songs for Liberation and Irish Americans for Palestine. This Irish folk song, Fields of Athenry was first adpated by Seth Stanton Watkins in solidarity with the struggle in Palestine. The post DNC Protests: Voices from the Frontlines appeared first on CounterPunch.org.