It Could Happen Here

Peter LaRochelle, a Schumacher Center staffer running BerkShares, explores local currencies and community economics. Investigative journalist Zarin Burnett joins him to examine alternative money and its history. Palestinian scholar and public health researcher Yara Asi discusses Gaza’s collapsing healthcare system, blocked medical evacuations, and restricted aid. The compilation also covers worker movements, Amazon delivery organizing, French student protests, Bolsonaro’s comeback, and third-country deportations.

A whirlwind of global upheaval: French students revolt against austerity, while Brazil’s Bolsonaro dynasty gains ground. Border tree-sits face raids, and third-country deportations threaten legal protections. The discussion also covers media consolidation, political sexual violence, a contained plague exposure, Iran’s attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, and the sanitized legacy of Dennis Hastert.

Yara Asi, a Palestinian scholar, author, and public health researcher, examines attacks on Palestinian health in Gaza and the West Bank. She discusses the collapse of hospitals, blocked medical evacuations, and aid restrictions. The conversation also explores UNRWA’s precarious role, alleged sexual violence in detention, displacement, and the deliberate erosion of healthcare infrastructure.

Matt Mareska, a labor organizer with NYC-DSA, discusses Amazon’s subcontracted delivery network and the proposed Delivery Protection Act. Topics include dangerous routes, algorithmic surveillance, union-busting, hidden corporate control over drivers, rising injuries, Amazon’s lobbying campaign, and grassroots efforts to win citywide support. The bill could become a national model for holding Amazon accountable.

Zaron Burnett, a journalist and narrative storyteller, explores whether communities can print their own money with Peter LaRochelle, who administers Massachusetts’ BerkShares program. They trace America’s local-currency history, why Davis Dollars struggled, and how BerkShares circulate. The conversation contrasts community currencies with crypto and company scrip, while examining local economic power, small-business resilience, digital barriers, banking partnerships, and the stories embedded in Berkshares’ notes.

A deep dive into the DOJ’s investigation of alleged egg price fixing, from coordinated bids and market manipulation to soaring prices. The discussion also examines bird flu, cage-free laws, weakened federal responses, industrial farming, labor trafficking, and the striking connections between animal welfare and human exploitation.

A sweeping look at how the international workers’ movement lost its power. The discussion explores workplace democracy, ownership, and the fractures created by gender, race, nationalism, and imperialism. It traces how globalization and fragmented supply chains weakened collective identity, then turns to the Zapatista uprising and its vision of a renewed internationalism.

A haunted gorge, missing teenagers, and a cave hiding an impossible altar set the stage for a deeply eerie tale. As reality starts slipping and adults dismiss what the girls remember, they return to the darkness seeking answers. The story unfolds into queer horror filled with crystal chambers, mysterious maidens, ritual, desire, and a strange path through fear and transformation.

Carlos Berríos Polanco, a journalist focused on Caribbean politics, examines U.S. boat strikes and alleged extrajudicial killings. Dana Al-Kurd and migration justice writer Harsha Walia unpack the Ceuta crossing and anti-migrant backlash. Kevin Foster and law professor Moira Meltzer-Cohen explore Macklemore, Palestine, and censorship. Kim Kelly covers labor victories, while Bridget Todd investigates voter purges and Title IX failures.

Mia Wong, a journalist covering politics, labor, and power, and Bridget Todd, a technology and culture commentator, unpack a turbulent news cycle. They examine flawed DHS voter purges, taxpayer-funded Trump messaging, Palantir’s influence, a Cornell assault, and the return of Trump-era Title IX rules. They also explore Hungary’s anti-corruption campaign, Brazil’s tight election, tariffs, pressure on the Federal Reserve, and activists defending Arizona’s ancient cottonwoods.