WPKN: Politics, Policy, and Planet Podcast

 Interview with Padma Dyvine, a survivor of Hurricane Helene from Bat Cave, North Carolina, conducted by Melinda Tuhus.Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus visited friends in the area in June and saw firsthand some of the damage and ongoing recovery efforts. Padma Dyvine and her husband, who live in the hamlet of Bat Cave, were airlifted from their home by helicopter when fallen trees blocked their ability to leave their home and get supplies. The couple spent 55 days as refugees, moving back home just before Thanksgiving. Increases in hurricane strength and rainfall due to the worsening climate crisis are predicted to make future hurricane seasons more dangerous over time.

Interview with Dulce Guzman, executive director of Alianza Americas, conducted by Scott Harris.Dulce Guzman discusses her group, Alianza Americas’ response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that limits the power of federal judges to issue nationwide injunctions, without addressing the constitutionality of Trump’s executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship. She’ll also discuss the next steps in defending the U.S. Constitution from the Trump regime’s authoritarian rule.

Interview with India Walton, senior strategist with RootsAction.org, conducted by Scott Harris.India Walton discusses Zohran Mamdani’s apparent and historic victory in the New York City primary election, and the attacks and obstacles he’ll likely face in the general election campaign as the Democratic party establishment, their corporate allies, and Wall Street attempt to smear Zohran as a “dangerous Muslim socialist.”Walton won the Democratic primary for mayor of Buffalo, N.Y. in 2021, but lost the general election after establishment Democrats, Republicans, and the city’s business sector pulled out all the stops to defeat her.

Interview with Amanda Marcotte, a senior politics writer at Salon.com and author of "Troll Nation: How the Right Became Trump-Worshipping Monsters Set on Rat-F*cking Liberals, America and Truth Itself." Amanda Marcotte talks about her recent commentary, “Evangelicals Push Trump into Conflict with Iran,” making the case that the Christian Right remains Trump’s most important constituency.

Interview with Sarah Kendzior, author of four best-selling books including, “They Knew: How a Culture of Conspiracy Keeps America Complacent,” and her latest, "The Last American Road Trip," conducted by Scott Harris.Sarah talks about the Trump-GOP mafia state’s aggressive attack on the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law and dissent, as the regime deploys National Guard troops and the Marines to U.S. cities and instigates war (with Israel) against Iran.

Resistance Round Table is broadcast on WPKN the 2nd Saturday of each month where we engage in conversation about local and nationwide organizing for a more just and democratic America during this pivotal and dangerous moment in our nation's history.Show hosts are: Ruth Anne Baumgartner, a longtime instructor in literature and writing at Central Connecticut State University, member of the executive Committee of the CT Conference of the American Association of University Professors. Richard Hill, host of WPKN shows, First Tuesday Rainy Day Radio and Organic Farm Stand, and a rotating host of Mic Check. Richard is a musician, teacher and mentor with youth radio Connecticut. Scott Harris, producer of WPKN's weekly public affairs program Counterpoint, and executive producer of the syndicated Between The Lines Radio Newsmagazine  In this show we speak with two guests Praisely McNamara A 50501 Connecticut organizer of protests against the Trump administration's authoritarian agenda, and Nora Benavidez senior counsel and director of digital justice and civil rights with the media democracy group Free Press.  The conversation is about "NO KINGS DAY" protests that same day, June 14th, where more than 2,000 individual protests were organized across the nation -on a day of action rejecting the Trump regime's authoritarian agenda, violations of the basic principles of the US constitution, defiance of the rule of law and attempt to transform democracy into a corrupt oligarchy. 

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.