The Real News Podcast

From May 8-12, the 30th Constitutional Convention of the Canadian Labour Congress took place in Montréal. Reporting for Working People and The Real News Network, Max attended the convention and spoke with a number of rank-and-file workers, organizers, and union officers about the state of the labor movement in Canada.In Part 2 of our two-part dispatch from the CLC, we talk to: Nora Loreto, writer, editor, organizer, podcaster, co-host of Sandy and Nora Talk Politics with Sandy Hudson, and author of numerous books, including Spin Doctors: How Media and Politicians Misdiagnosed the COVID-19 Pandemic, and Take Back The Fight: Organizing Feminism for the Digital Age; Meg Davis, brand director, illustrator, and former member of the organizing committee at Point Blank Creative ad agency, where workers unionized with UFCW Local 1518; Larry Rousseau, current Executive Vice President of the Canadian Labour Congress; and Nicholas Marcus Thompson, Trinidadian-Canadian social justice advocate, union leader, and Executive Director of the Black Class Action Secretariat.Click here to listen to Part 1: https://therealnews.com/canada-labour-congress-strike-waveStudio Production: Jesse FreestonPost-Production: Jules TaylorFeatured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org): Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme SongClick here for additional links/information.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer: Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-podSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/newsletter-podLike us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnewsFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnewsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

Shasta County, California has become a laboratory for far-right activists in search of power. The county has long been a Republican outpost in a blue state, but since the COVID-19 pandemic, local politics have taken a hard right turn. A recall election in 2022 swept a moderate Republican majority from the County Board of Supervisors in favor of a new class of extremists. Buoyed by popular discontent with mask mandates and school closures, Shasta's newly elected rulers have turned their sights on eliminating voting machines, purging "Critical Race Theory" and LGBTQ-friendly content from schools, and trying to force all local officials to take an oath on the Second Amendment. Those who stand in their way, like former County Public Health Officer Karen Ramstrom, or local journalist Doni Chamberlain, have found themselves the targets of political retaliation and even public death threats. The Marc Steiner Show digs into the disturbing developments in Shasta County and what they might presage for the country's future, turning to journalists Sasha Abramsky and Doni Chamberlain for their expertise.Sasha Abramsky is a regular contributor to The Nation and the author of several books. He recently wrote an article for The Nation on the far-right takeover in Shasta.Doni Chamberlain is an award-winning independent journalist and co-founder of A News Cafe. She lives in Redding, California.Click here to read the episode transcript: https://therealnews.com/shasta-county-board-of-supervisors-far-right-takeoverStudio / Post-Production: David HebdenHelp us continue producing The Marc Steiner Show by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer:Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-pod-mssSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/nl-pod-stLike us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnewsFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnewsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

Juneteenth has become a federal holiday—yet prison slavery under the 13th Amendment continues. Uprooting the prison industrial complex is vital to completing the abolition of slavery. In California, the Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB) coalition aims to close 10 state prisons in the next 5 years as part of the People's Plan for Prison Closure. CURB Executive Director Amber-Rose Howard joins Rattling the Bars to discuss this bold plan. Amber-Rose Howard is a poet, public speaker and organizer from Pomona, California. She currently serves as Executive Director of CURB.Click here to read the transcript: https://therealnews.com/a-juneteenth-call-to-close-prisonsProduction: Cameron GranadinoStudio Production: David HebdenPost-Production: Cameron GranadinoThe Real News is an independent, viewer-supported, radical media network.Help us continue producing Rattling the Bars by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer: Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-pod-rtbSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/nl-pod-rtbGet Rattling the Bars updates: https://therealnews.com/up-pod-rtbLike us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnewsFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnewsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

Editor’s note: Unfortunately, the original audio recording of this event contained a significant amount of echo picking up from the multiple microphones. We have done our best to diminish the echo interference while still maintaining listenable audio quality. Bill Fletcher, Jr. is a world-renowned racial justice, labor, and international activist, scholar, and author; he has served in leadership positions with many prominent labor organizations, including the AFL-CIO and the Service Employees International Union; he is the former president of TransAfrica Forum and the author of numerous books, including “They’re Bankrupting Us!” And 20 Other Myths about Unions. He is also the author of two works of fiction: The Man Who Fell from the Sky and a new novel, The Man Who Changed Colors. At a book-launch event hosted by Red Emma’s cooperative bookstore and cafe in Baltimore, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez sat down with Fletcher, Jr. to talk about his new novel, what fiction gives us that other realms of writing and thinking don’t, why the right is so much better than the left at harnessing the political power of storytelling—and what we can do to change that. Post-Production: Jules TaylorClick here to read the transcript for this episode: Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer: Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-podSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/newsletter-podLike us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnewsFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnewsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

Bradley was finishing a walk with his dog along a nature trail near the rural town of Plattsmouth, Nebraska, when local police suddenly pulled him over. When the officers immediately went for Bradley's center console and produced a CBD pipe, he knew something was off. When he confronted the police, they admitted they'd searched his parked car while he was away—and then waited for him so they could pull him over while driving. Police Accountability Report examines this disturbing case, and what it says about the activities police departments devote their bloated budgets toward.Production: Stephen Janis, Taya GrahamPost-Production: Stephen Janis, Adam ColeyClick here to read the transcript for this episode: https://therealnews.com/nebraska-cops-break-into-parked-carHelp us continue producing Police Accountability Report by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer: Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-pod-parSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/nl-pod-parGet Police Accountability Report updates: https://therealnews.com/pod-up-parLike us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnewsFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnewsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

Update: The Denton County Prosecutors’ Office has informed The Real News that the sheriff’s department never turned over charges or submitted evidence concerning Thomas’s arrest or investigation. Read more.Thomas, a Texas firefighter, was driving in Denton County when he was suddenly pulled over by local sheriffs. Despite being completely sober, he quickly found himself railroaded into a DUI charge by police, who claimed he appeared “slow” and “heavy footed.” Body camera footage has since revealed that the arresting officers even commented during the arrest that they did not believe Thomas was drunk. So why was Thomas arrested, and what does this reveal about the capricious nature of police power? Police Accountability Report examines the evidence.Production: Stephen Janis, Taya GrahamPost-Production: Stephen Janis, Adam ColeyClick here to read the transcript for this episode: https://therealnews.com/he-was-a-firefighter-until-texas-sheriffs-destroyed-his-lifeHelp us continue producing Police Accountability Report by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer: Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-pod-parSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/nl-pod-parGet Police Accountability Report updates: https://therealnews.com/pod-up-parLike us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnewsFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnewsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

In the early 2010s, two Baltimoreans fell down a trash chute in The Park Charles apartment building and died. Police say both incidents were "accidents." The Land of the Unsolved explores the evidence in both cases, raising unanswered questions about the odd circumstances of both cases and clues police might have missed.Click here to read the transcript for this episode: https://therealnews.com/baltimore-trash-chute-deathsHelp us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer: Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-podSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/newsletter-podLike us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnewsFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnewsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

In this episode of Edge of Sports, host Dave Zirin highlights two takes on the gender politics of sports culture. Dr. Cheryl Cooky joins the Ask a Sports Scholar segment to discuss the history of sports and gender equality, as well as her book, No Slam Dunk: Gender, Sport, and the Unevenness of Social Change. Finally, W. Kamau Bell climbs aboard for a special interview looking back on his career as a media personality, from the early days of Totally Biased to United Shades of America.Click here to read the transcript.Studio Production: David Hebden, Cameron Granadino Post-Production: David HebdenOpening Sequence: Cameron Granadino Music by: Eze Jackson & Carlos GuillenHelp us continue producing Edge of Sports with Dave Zirin by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer:Donate: https://therealnews.com/eos-pod-donateSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/eos-pod-subscribeLike us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnewsFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnewsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

From May 8-12, the 30th Constitutional Convention of the Canadian Labour Congress took place in Montréal. Reporting for Working People and The Real News Network, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez attended the convention and spoke with a number of rank-and-file workers, organizers, and union officers about the state of the labor movement in Canada.In Part 1 of our two-part dispatch from the CLC, we talk to: Emily Leedham, the Prairie Reporter for PressProgress and editor of Shift Work, PressProgress‘ weekly national labour newsletter; Guy Smith, president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees; Mary Newman, a journalist and producer for the Canadian Broadcast Corporation and member of the Canadian Media Guild; James Russwurm, a quality assurance tester for Keywords Studios, where workers formed the first union in the video gaming industry and affiliated with UFCW Local 401; Liz Ha, 1st Vice President of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) Local 154, chair of the OPSEU provincial human rights committee, and vice-chair of the OPSEU Coalition of Racialized Workers.Studio Production: Jesse FreestonPost-Production: Jules TaylorJules Taylor, “Working People” Theme SongClick here for additional links/information.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer: Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-podSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/newsletter-podLike us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnewsFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnewsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

White vigilante terror is older than the United States itself. The lawful use of violence by white citizens to establish political supremacy can be found throughout US history—from slavery and Indian killings to lynchings. Today, figures such as George Zimmerman, Kyle Rittenhouse, and most recently, Daniel Penny, carry on this shameful American tradition. And the far right can't get enough of it. Spencer Ackerman joins The Marc Steiner Show to examine the right's embrace of vigilante violence, which he recently wrote about for The Nation, and what it tells us about the future the far-right wants.Spencer Ackerman, a Pulitzer Prize and National Magazine Award–winning reporter, is the author of Reign of Terror: How The 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump. Since the dawn of the War on Terror, Ackerman has reported from Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, and elsewhere as a staff writer for outlets like Wired, The Guardian, The Daily Beast, and The New Republic. He writes a newsletter, Forever Wars, on Ghost; and is the co-author of the DC Comics miniseries Waller vs. Wildstorm.Click here to read the show transcript: https://therealnews.com/yes-the-far-right-wants-civil-warStudio / Post-Production: David HebdenHelp us continue producing The Marc Steiner Show by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer:Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-pod-mssSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/nl-pod-stLike us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnewsFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnewsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!