WPKN: Politics, Policy, and Planet Podcast

Interview with Marjorie Cohn, professor emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and past president of the National Lawyers Guild, conducted by Scott Harris.Marjorie Cohn discusses her recent commentary, “Trump Will Try to Defend Aggression Toward Venezuela. It’s Still Illegal,” and a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators that advanced a war powers resolution that ultimately failed. She also comments on the legal and accountability issues related to the ICE murder of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.

Interview with Victor Pickard, the C. Edwin Baker professor of Media Policy and Political Economy at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, where he co-directs the Media, Inequality & Change Center.   Victor Pickard talks about recent mega-media mergers, spinoffs and the effort by Trump-supporting oligarchs to buy up media properties that could dramatically impact news coverage and cultural content. He touches on his recent co-written piece, “The Political Economy of the US Media System: Excavating the Roots of the Present Crisis.” 

Interview with Pastor Doug Pagitt, executive director of the Minneapolis-based national organization Vote Common Good, conducted by Scott Harris.Pastor Doug Pagitt talks about this moment of crisis in the aftermath of the ICE shooting death of ICE observer Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of 3. Vote Common Good organizes religious activists to take action against the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda.

Interview with Alexander Main, director of international policy at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, conducted by Scott Harris.Alexander Main talks about President Trump’s regime’s illegal kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, imposition of a naval blockade, seizure of oil tankers and the president’s declaration that the U.S. will run Venezuela and take control of that nation’s oil for many years ahead. He also addresses Trump’s threat to attack other nations including Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Panama, Greenland, Canada and Iran.

The Monthly Labor Report interviews Olivia "Liv" Ryan, a Starbucks shift supervisor and a lead organizer with Starbucks Workers United (SBWU). which has mounted a national strike against the Starbucks corporation. Economist Michael Zweig talks about his trip to Vietnam and Australia where he met with labor organizations and discussed working class agendas and strategies.Host: Richard Hill

Interview with Lynn Stoddard, a volunteer with Third Act, conducted by Melinda Tuhus.Third Act is a national organization of American activists over the age of 60, focusing on the issues of climate and democracy. The group was founded by author and climate activist Bill McKibben, whose 2025 book titled, “Here Comes the Sun,” extols the value of solar energy for providing affordable, carbon-free power, and the importance of making this renewable energy source accessible to everyone in the world.

Interview with Kevin B. Anderson, distinguished professor of sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, conducted by Scott Harris.Professor Anderson talks about his recent article, “The Worm Turns: Trumpist Fascism,” as well as issues related to effective resistance, the need to organize a popular front, “big tent” opposition to Trump’s authoritarian rule, while ensuring progressives don’t sacrifice minority constituencies or controversial positions on the climate crisis, the right of Palestinians to self-determination and independence, and trans people’s rights to basic human rights.

Interview with Kayla Hancock, director of Public Health Watch at Protect Our Care, conducted by Scott Harris.Kayla Hancock talks about her group’s opposition to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to cut seven grants worth millions of dollars to The American Academy of Pediatrics—jeopardizing initiatives on reducing sudden infant deaths, improving adolescent health, preventing fetal alcohol syndrome and identifying autism early.

Interview with Steve Ellner, an associate managing editor of Latin American Perspective, and journalist Andreína Chávez, conducted by Scott Harris.Steve Ellner, a retired professor at the Universidad de Oriente in Venezuela, where he lived for over 40 years and Andreína Chávez, based in Caracas, who wrote the recent DropSite News article, “War of the entire people: Venezuela’s Grassroots Rise to Resist Trump’s Naval Blockade,” examine the consequences of Donald Trump’s attack on Venezuela and kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro, in Venezuela, Latin America and the world.

Interview with Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and author of Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran, and the Triumph of Diplomacy, conducted by Scott Harris.Trita Parsi talks about his recent article, “As Expected, Netanyahu Back Demanding More War with Iran,” recent Trump threats to intervene in Iran if the government kills anti-government protesters and the message to Iran’s leaders after the U.S. kidnapping of Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro.