WPKN: Politics, Policy, and Planet Podcast

Greenport, New York's native Candace Hall talks about being Greenport’s Village Clerk along with some candid personal revelations: the complexities of being part of a large family in a small town, being the first young black woman to achieve community prominence and the psychological importance to her of black representation. (WPKN May 7, 2025)

Interview with Gareth Gore, a London-based investigative journalist and editor, conducted by Scott Harris.Gareth Gore talks about his new book, “Opus: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking, and Right-Wing Conspiracy inside the Catholic Church. He discusses the late Pope Francis’ views on Opus Dei, the conservative personal prelature within the Catholic Church, and the coming college of cardinals vote for his successor, as well as the rising influence of the political right-wing inside the U.S. Catholic Church.

Interview with Kevin Martin, executive director of Peace Action, the country’s largest grassroots peace and disarmament organization, conducted by Scott Harris.Kevin Martin talks about his article, “Trump, the Peace President? More Likely the Proliferation President,” assessing the Trump regime’s foreign policy on Iran’s nuclear program, the Ukraine war, Israel’s ongoing slaughter of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and nuclear disarmament.

Interview with Dulce Guzmán, executive director of Alianza Americas, conducted by Scott Harris.Dulce Guzmán discusses her group’s concerns about the arrest of Milwaukee County Judge Hanna Dugan over allegations she obstructed justice after directing a migrant out of her courtroom as federal agents waited to arrest him. She also addresses the Trump regime’s continued defiance of federal and Supreme Court orders while hundreds of people are being deported without due process, some to a brutal prison in El Salvador.

Interview with Melvin Goodman, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, professor of government at Johns Hopkins University, a former CIA analyst and author, conducted by Scott Harris.Mel Goodman talks about his recent article, “The Meltdown of the United States,” where he observes, “The executive branch has taken on powers that are usually associated with wartime requirements. The legislative branch has been neutralized because of the near total abdication of the Republican party. And the judicial system is facing an unprecedented challenge from a president and vice president who have no respect for our courts and our judges.”

Interview with Sam Rosenthal, political director of RootsAction.org, conducted by Scott Harris.Sam Rosenthal discusses his group and Progressive Democrats for America’s petition calling for the Democratic National Committee to convene an emergency meeting, declaring that “business as usual must give way to truly bold action that mobilizes against the autocracy that Donald Trump, Elon Musk and their cronies are further entrenching every day.” He also talks about what actions petitioners are asking the Democratic party to take in response to the current constitutional crisis.

Interview with Ari Paul, a New York City-based journalist and lecturer at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, conducted by Scott Harris.Ari Paul discusses his recent article, “Failing to Rise to the Constitutional Crisis,” about the deficiencies of corporate media’s coverage of the Trump regime’s authoritarian coup, and the growing importance of independent, non-commercial progressive media outlets, conducted by Scott Harris.  Ari Paul has covered politics and labor for the Nation, the Guardian, Dissent, Al Jazeera, and the Forward.

Interview with Svante Myrick, president, People for the American Way, conducted by Scott Harris.Svante Myrick discusses the escalating constitutional as the Trump regime defies or ignores court orders — and the growing concern that the president may invoke emergency powers, such as the Insurrection Act of 1807, to eliminate all remaining checks on executive power, and establish a brutal and violent police state to crush all dissent, conducted by Scott Harris.

Interview with Nastasia Lawton-Sticklor, an organizer with the Climate Disobedience Center, conducted by Scott Harris.Nastasia Lawton-Sticklor discusses her group’s recent “Call to Courage” campaign — amid concern that the Trump regime may be getting ready to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807, which would give the president power to deploy US military on domestic U.S. soil to enforce mass deportation of immigrants and/or unconstitutionally target protesters and quash dissent.

Interview with Jeff Hauser, executive director of the Revolving Door Project, conducted by Scott Harris.Jeff Hauser discusses growing concern that people in Trump’s inner circle may have known his changing tariff policy, allowing for insider trading — combined with the fact the SEC is dismantling a key tool in collecting trading data, the Consolidated Audit Trail, which impairs regulators’ ability to understand suspicious activity.