WPKN: Politics, Policy, and Planet Podcast

Interview with Elizabeth Jacobs, professor emeritus, epidemiology at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona, conducted by Scott Harris.Elizabeth Jacobs discusses rising concern about newly confirmed Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr.’s agenda at this sprawling agency and the damage his anti-science views could inflict on the federal health response to contagious diseases such as measles and bird flu, federally-funded research on new drugs and food safety, as well as supervision of Medicare, Medicaid, CHIPS and the ACA.

Interview with Maria J. Stephan, author of the award-winning book, "Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict," conducted by Scott Harris.Maria Stephan talks about her recent article, “We are Stronger Than We Think,” and issues related to the rising protest movement opposing the Trump/Musk agenda, the power of collective defiance and how to make cruelty backfire. Stephan, co-lead and chief organizer of the Horizons Project, is the author and editor of five books on authoritarianism and civil resistance.

Interview with Alex Lawson, executive director of Social Security Works, conducted by Scott Harris.Alex Lawson discusses the House GOP budget resolution that calls for $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid to help pay for extending the 2017 tax cuts for billionaires and multinational corporations, primarily benefiting the wealthiest Americans. He also talks about the group’s campaign to educate and mobilize Americans to oppose this proposal that will eliminate millions of Americans’ access to affordable health care.

Vetiveah Harrison and Héctor Freedom Gerardo, discuss their unique journeys that led them to the food justice movement and ultimately tothe formation of the Liberated Land Cooperative ( https://www.liberatedlandcooperative.com/). This group of BIPOC farmers and food justice activists has created a network of CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) farms that together are making a significant dent in food and nutricion deficits that plague so many urban and rural communites in Connecticut.Hosts:  Richard Hill and Diane Lauricella

Interview with Branko Marcetic, a Jacobin magazine staff writer and author of "Yesterday's Man: The Case Against Joe Biden," conducted by Scott Harris.Branko Marcetic discusses his soon-to-be-published in-depth profile of Russell Vought, the longtime radical anti-government ideologue who, as Trump’s recently confirmed director of the Office of Management and Budget, is now poised to see through the cause of his life: “dismantling the federal government and handing unlimited power over American life back to big business.”Link: "Russell Vought Wants to Burn the Government Down"https://jacobin.com/2025/02/russell-vought-trump-project-2025  

Interview with Mel Goodman, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, a professor of government at Johns Hopkins University, conducted by Scott Harris.Mel Goodman examines Trump’s latest initiative to end the Ukraine war, his reported conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin — and how these announced negotiations could impact the people of Ukraine, Russia and Europe.  Goodman is the author of a number of books on politics including, “American Carnage: The Wars of Donald Trump.”

Interview with Kenny Stancil, a senior researcher at the Revolving Door Project with broad interests in the political economy of inequality, conducted by Scott Harris. Kenny Stancil talks about his recent article, “Where Is the Democratic Opposition?” and an update on efforts being made to organize an effective and aggressive national Trump opposition movement both inside the Democratic Party and across civil society.

Interview with John Bonifaz, a constitutional attorney and the co-founder and president of the Free Speech For People, conducted by Scott Harris.John Bonifaz assesses our national crisis as the Trump/Musk coup continues, including the constitutional crisis this administration has provoked as the Trump regime ignores judge-issued injunctions ordering them to halt their illegal actions.  Bonifaz is co-author of the 2018 book, "The Constitution Demands It: The Case for the Impeachment of Donald Trump."

Resistance Roundtable features two guests:  -Prof. Christopher Vials, who teaches English at UCONN-Storrs, discusses the theory and practice of fascism and how Trump 2.0 is careening toward a complete dissolution of what remains of American democracy.  -Leslie Blatteau, president of the New Haven Federation of Teachers, talks about the threat posed by the Maga agenda to Connecticut schools, students, parents, and communities.Interviewed by: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill

A deep dive into the history of African American involvement in the US labor movement with Steven Pitts, recently retired labor policy advisor of the UC Berkeley Labor Center; and Michael Zweig, economist, labor and civil rights activist, and founder of the Center for the Study of Working Class Life at SUNY Stony Brook.Host: Richard Hill