WPKN: Politics, Policy, and Planet Podcast

Carol Rizzolo, co-lead for  CT Shoreline Indivisible and co-founder of Safe Vote CT, discusses the plans for No Kings rallies planned in nearly 50 towns in Connecticut. Carol shares her thoughts on the national emergency we are contending with in the face of the Trump regime's openly authoritarian actions and dictats.Interview by Richard Hill

Interview with Danny Tsoi, a furloughed federal worker at the Department of Health and Human Services, conducted by Scott Harris.Danny Tsoi, a federal worker at the Department of Health and Human Services, is one of 620,000 government employees who’ve been placed on furlough since the shutdown began on Oct. 1. Between The Lines’ Scott Harris spoke with Tsoi, who works at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in New York and is a member of the American Federation of Government Employees union, about what’s at stake in negotiations to end the shutdown for workers like him and essential government programs that serve the needs of millions of Americans.

Interview with Crystal Cavalier-Keck, 7 Directions of Service cofounder, conducted by Melinda Tuhus.Dr. Crystal Cavalier-Keck, 7 Directions of Service co-founder with her husband Jason Crazy Bear, talks about four presentations she made during Climate Week at the United Nations, and summarizes the information shared here.

Interview with David Rovics, an internationally known songwriter, musician, writer, podcaster and Portland, Oregon-based activist, conducted by Scott Harris.David Rovics, talks about Trump’s targeting of Portland with a National Guard troop deployment — which Rovics wrote about in a recent commentary, “Portland, Oregon: Myths and Realities in 2025,” covering what is, and is not going down on the ground in that city — while providing context for understanding Portland’s unique activist history over recent decades. David will be touring the Northeast states in October, including a concert in New Haven, Connecticut on Oct. 16, which he discusses in the interview.

Interview with Chuck Collins, a senior scholar and director of the Institute for Policy Studies' Program on Inequality and the Common Good, conducted by Scott Harris.Chuck Collins talks about his latest book titled, "Burned by Billionaires," where he chronicles how the actions of the top .01 percent have severe consequences for the rest of us, exposing how the rich rig the game in their favor, resulting in a concentration of wealth in the hands of a tiny class of billionaires—and leading to both intense income and political polarization.

Interview with Mel Goodman, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, professor of government at Johns Hopkins University, and a former CIA analyst, conducted by Scott Harris.Mel Goodman, author of American Carnage: The Wars of Donald Trump, and national security columnist for CounterPunch.org, discusses his recent article, “Setting the Stage for the Insurrection Act,” which examines the possibility that the Trump regime could invoke the Insurrection Act and declare martial law in certain cities or nationally, escalating the president’s attack on Americans’ civil liberties, the Constitution, rule of law and free speech.

Interview with Rick Goldsmith, documentary filmmaker of “Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink,” conducted by Melinda TuhusHere Goldsmith talks about his film which examines the role of vulture capital in the wrecking of local newspapers nationwide. The film profiles the courageous journalists who fought against the hedge funds gobbling up newspapers in order to save and rebuild local journalism.  

Interview with John Whitehead, founder and president of The Rutherford Institute, conducted by Scott Harris. Whitehead is an attorney and author who has written, debated and practiced widely around constitutional law, human rights, and popular culture.Here he discusses his recent Counterpunch commentary, “Would Orwell Be Branded a Terrorist? The Government’s War on Thought Crimes,” regarding the Trump regime’s daily violation of the Constitution and rule of law, seen most recently in the selective and vindictive grand jury indictment of former FBI Director James Comey — and the criminalization of Trump critics as terrorists who must be prosecuted and imprisoned.

Interview with Alan McPherson, professor of history at Temple University, conducted by Scott Harris.Alan McPherson examines whether recent U.S. military attacks on small boats off the coast of Venezuela were a violation of the congressional War Powers Resolution of 1973 and international law. McPherson also expresses his concern that the current buildup of U.S. military forces in the region could be a prelude to a U.S. assault on Venezuela to remove the nation’s President Nicolás Maduro from power.

Interview with Abby Maxman, president & CEO of Oxfam America, conducted by Scott Harris.Abby Maxman shares her perspective on Donald Trump’s UN speech; his closing down USAID worldwide and the cost in lives lost; the ongoing slaughter and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza and other priorities Oxfam is currently working on.