WPKN: Politics, Policy, and Planet Podcast

Interview with Mike Ferner, former director and former chair of the board of Veterans for Peace, conducted by Melinda Tuhus.Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Mike Ferner, a former national director of Veterans for Peace who served in the Navy during the Vietnam War, later discharged as a conscientious objector. Ferner began the fast with the others, but was forced to drop out after 21 days due to health reasons. Here he talks about his hope that the fast will draw attention to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and end the suffering of Palestinian civilians there.

Interview with Carolina Bortolleto, co-founder of Connecticut Students for a Dream, and Juliana Soares, immigrant rights activist, conducted by Scott Harris.Carolina Bortolleto and Juliana Soares discuss recent ICE deportation raids in Danbury and elsewhere in Connecticut, the Danbury community’s response and demands issued by Danbury Unites for Immigrants, a collective of local immigrant community leaders.

Interview with Norman Solomon, co-founder of RootsAction.org, executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy and author, conducted by Scott Harris.Norman Solomon talks about the recent massive June 14th nationwide anti-Trump protests and his recent commentary, “No Kings Day’ Was Historic: Now We Need a Powerful — and Independent — Movement Against Trump,” discussing the strategies and tactics necessary to stop the Trump-GOP march toward fascism.

Interview with David Schultz, distinguished professor in the departments of political science, environmental studies and legal studies at Hamline University, conducted by Scott Harris.David Schultz discusses his recent Counterpunch article, “The Tragedy of Political Violence: It Works,” recounting how violence has played a critical role in shaping history across the world and here in the U.S. He examines Donald Trump’s and the Republican party’s embrace and normalization of political violence, such as the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and the more recent deployment of U.S. military forces to suppress anti-Trump/ICE protests in Los Angeles, as well as how Trump’s MAGA movement could employ political violence to extinguish U.S. democracy.

Interview with Phyllis Bennis, director of the Institute for Policy Studies’ New Internationalism Project, conducted by Scott Harris.Phyllis Bennis talks about President Trump’s decision to launch of air strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities, the ongoing Israel-Iran air battle, and the danger that Trump’s entry into the conflict could ignite a dangerous regional war.

Interview with Randi Spivak, public lands policy director with the Center for Biological Diversity, conducted by Melinda Tuhus.Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Randi Spivak, public lands policy director with the Center for Biological Diversity, discusses these threats and suggests ways listeners can help protect America’s public lands.

Interview with Ann Wright, a 29-year US Army/Army Reserves veteran who retired as a Colonel and a former US diplomat who resigned in March 2003 in opposition to the war.Ann Wright discusses her views on Donald Trump’s federalization and deployment of National Guard and Marine troops to Los Angeles over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, to suppress mostly peaceful protests regarding: militarized ICE deportation raids, and growing concern about the Trump regime’s partisan politicization of the U.S. military. 

Interview with Sasha Abramsky, The Nation magazine’s Western correspondent and author of "Chaos Comes Calling: The Battle Against the Far-Righs Takeover of Small-Town America," conducted by Scott Harris.Sasha Abramsky discusses his recent articles, “Trump Calls Up the Marines. Democracy Is in Danger,” and “Trump’s Dangerous Escalation in LA,” as well as the most dangerous authoritarian actions Trump may take in the coming days.

Interview with Elizabeth Jacobs, professor emeritus of epidemiology at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona, conducted by Scott.Elizabeth Jacobs discusses her alarm at Trump’s Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s changes to COVID vaccine recommendations for pregnant women and children; as well as removing all 17 sitting members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee and replacing them with new members, many of whom are reported to be critics of mRNA vaccines and public health measures taken during the COVID pandemic.

Interview with Jennifer Loewenstein, former associate director of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, conducted by Scott Harris.Jennifer Loewenstein assesses the rationale and consequences of Israel’s attack on Iran, Tehran’s retaliation, the Trump regime’s apparent role in the attack, and the threat that this conflict could trigger a wider regional conflict involving the U.S.