Dr. Robin D.G. Kelley, a distinguished history professor at UCLA, explains why he believes the current abolitionist movement has the potential to fundamentally change the country and offers a historical analysis of the weaponization of racial capitalism throughout U.S. history. He also tells the story of the Black-led communist party of Alabama in the aftermath of the Great Depression and the racist roots of U.S.-style policing. As Attorney General William Barr continues to preside over a Justic...
Jun 24, 2020•1 hr 10 min
Chenjerai Kumanyika, assistant professor of journalism and media studies at Rutgers University, hosts a special two part discussion. Kumanyika is co-host of the podcasts Uncivil and Scene on Radio. He is an organizer with 215 People’s Alliance, and the Debt Collective. He is joined for this special episode of Intercepted by the iconic geographer and abolitionist Ruth Wilson Gilmore, author of "Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California." Gilmore is one of th...
Jun 10, 2020•31 min
Chenjerai Kumanyika, assistant professor of journalism and media studies at Rutgers University, hosts a special two part discussion. Kumanyika is co-host of the podcasts Uncivil and Scene on Radio. He is an organizer with 215 People’s Alliance, and the Debt Collective. He is joined for this special episode of Intercepted by the iconic geographer and abolitionist Ruth Wilson Gilmore, author of "Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California." Gilmore is one of th...
Jun 10, 2020•55 min
With the threat of a widespread military deployment in U.S. cities looming, the president is acting as an authoritarian dictator. Dr. Keisha Blain, author of "Set the World on Fire: Black Nationalist Women and the Global Struggle for Freedom," discusses the history of black rebellion against police violence, the deadly ‘Red Summer” of 1919, and the life of Ida B. Wells. Dr. Blain, a history professor at the University of Pittsburgh, also discusses the context of various protests tactics and the ...
Jun 03, 2020•1 hr 11 min
The modern Republican Party has mastered the art of voter suppression and gerrymandering, but the president is now seeking to exploit the pandemic to aid these efforts. In between tweets accusing Joe Scarborough of being involved with the death of an intern decades ago and spending time on the golf course as the U.S. neared 100,000 coronavirus deaths, Trump has offered an overwhelmingly fictional narrative about Democratic voter fraud punctuated by warnings of the election being illegitimate bef...
May 27, 2020•1 hr 9 min
As the Covid-19 U.S. death toll climbs toward 100,000 and unemployment is nearing 20 percent, House Democrats have offered up a bill that is intended to offer a sharp contrast to the corporatist Republican agenda. HuffPost senior reporter Zach Carter analyzes how Nancy Pelosi quashed progressive calls for action within her own party and delivered a bill filled with corporate gifts, means-tested crumbs for many, along with some good proposals. Carter also discusses his new book "The Price of Peac...
May 20, 2020•1 hr 5 min
David Blight, Pulitzer prize winning author of "Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom" and a Yale history professor, discusses the era of Reconstruction, the swift dismantling of its hard fought gains, and the enduring power of white supremacy. As Joe Biden talks of building a presidency in the spirit of FDR and the New Deal, Greg Grandin, whose book "The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America" won the 2020 Pulitzer in nonfiction, discusses the battle for t...
May 13, 2020•1 hr 19 min
Two dozen women have accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct, harassment and assault, including rape. Trump has responded by denigrating, mocking and attacking his accusers. Eight women have made allegations of misconduct against Biden and one of them has accused him of sexual assault. Biden, who is running on a campaign to restore dignity and honesty to the White House, emphatically denies he assaulted his former staffer Tara Reade and has sought to explain away his conduct toward his other a...
May 06, 2020•1 hr 24 min
The new podcast Somebody documents Shapearl Wells’s quest to find out what happened to Courtney Copeland, her 22-year-old son who wound up with a bullet in his back outside a Chicago police station in 2016 and died soon after. On April 30, Topic Studios, The Intercept, and Chicago-based journalism nonprofit Invisible Institute presented a live conversation and listening session focused on Shapearl’s experiences confronting Chicago Police and challenging the city’s long-standing racial disparitie...
May 01, 2020•49 min
While the statistics are grim, the harsh reality is how the Trump administration — as well as some governors and mayors — handled this crisis made the situation much more deadly than it should have been. New York Magazine writer Zak Cheney-Rice discusses how the economic, social, racial, and gender injustices that predate this pandemic have impacted the most vulnerable people in the United States. He also discusses Trump’s incompetence, Joe Biden’s strategy of being seldom seen or heard, and how...
Apr 29, 2020•1 hr 10 min
Hidden behind the scenes of protests against Democratic governors is the role of radical fringe groups, gun enthusiasts, and right-wing financiers, some with ties to the family of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Author Jeff Sharlet discusses the rise of right-wing religious extremists, influential members, their broader strategy, and how the shutdown protesters are being used as disposable pawns in a much longer game. Sharlet’s books “The Family” and “C-Street” chronicle the history and strateg...
Apr 22, 2020•1 hr 6 min
Across the United States right now, there are over 32,000 people in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, otherwise known as ICE. Tucked away in remote corners of the country, ICE’s detention centers have long had issues with providing adequate medical care, and have been proven breeding grounds for disease. Just last year, an outbreak of mumps overtook dozens of ICE facilities, infecting nearly 900 detainees. For the tens of thousands of people currently detained by ICE during the...
Apr 17, 2020•17 min
On March 4, 2016, Shapearl Wells wakes up to a bamming at her door. It’s the police, telling her that her 22-year-old son, Courtney Copeland, has been shot. Detectives tell her Courtney drove his BMW to a police station for help. But Shapearl’s grief turns into suspicion when police start asking her questions, so she launches her own investigation into her son’s murder, teaming up with journalists from the Invisible Institute to confront the cops and find the truth about Courtney's death. This w...
Apr 15, 2020•30 min
Bernie Sanders has suspended his campaign for the Democratic nomination for president as the country continues to be rocked by Covid-19 cases and hospitals are struggling to obtain basic supplies. The U.S. has seen almost 20 million unemployment claims in just the past few weeks while new data is revealing that Covid-19 is killing African Americans disproportionately in some major cities. What we are witnessing in stark reality is — contrary to the rhetoric of American greatness — a mask now bei...
Apr 10, 2020•49 min
Milwaukee’s Health Commissioner, Dr. Jeanette Kowalik, discusses the Wisconsin Supreme Court's reckless disregard for public safety as they force the state to conduct in-person voting. Dr. Kowalik analyzes why some 70% of Covid-19 deaths in Milwaukee are African Americans and why the city has declared racism a public health crisis. She also analyses the expected consequences of Tuesday’s crowded voting lines at limited number of polling sites across Wisconsin. Author and scholar Dr. Ibram X. Ken...
Apr 08, 2020•1 hr 11 min
Workers at Amazon, Instacart, and Whole Foods have gone on strike demanding safe work conditions. Amazon has already fired one organizer and continues to pump out misinformation and propaganda as Jeff Bezos continues to rake in billions of dollars. We hear from the fired Amazon manager Christian Smalls and talk to Jacobin magazine reporter Meagan Day about her reporting on the conditions of some essential workers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, Joe Biden’s campaign against Medicare for All...
Apr 01, 2020•1 hr 19 min
As Congress continues to negotiate a bailout, Republicans seem intent on exploiting the crisis to enrich Wall Street, while Democrats offer meek resistance. Matt Bruenig of the Peoples Policy Project breaks down the various proposals in Congress, compares the U.S. plans with other countries’ responses, and lays out some of the tenets of what a bailout for the people should look like. Meanwhile, the fate of more than 2 million people locked up in U.S. jails and prisons hangs in the balance as cor...
Mar 25, 2020•1 hr 3 min
After weeks of downplaying the seriousness of the virus and at times implying it was a hoax, the Trump administration has announced a series of government responses to the crisis. While some actions, such as expanded testing, emergency aid to states and production of medical supplies, are aimed directly at protecting public health, serious questions abound about the economic survival of millions of people. Organizer Mariame Kaba discusses the realities facing some of the most vulnerable people i...
Mar 19, 2020•44 min
The U.S. failed to respond quickly to the coronavirus and as it spreads, it is likely to overwhelm the outdated and overwhelmingly privatized health care infrastructure. Author Naomi Klein and Jeremy Scahill discuss the bipartisan ruling coalition that created and supported a health system where profits are more important than public health; how the corporate vultures are circling the crisis, and how ordinary people are rising to help each other. They also discuss the Democratic primary and the ...
Mar 17, 2020•51 min
With Michigan and other states voting in primaries today, the justice movements backing the Sanders campaign are making the case that nominating Joe Biden to take on Donald Trump is a grave risk. Poet Aja Monet and organizer Astra Taylor discuss the mini-manifesto from a multi-generational, multi-racial coalition of feminists: “ Rising for a Global Feminist Future with the Movement to Elect Bernie Sanders .” As Biden’s campaign seeks to keep him away from open microphones and limit his public ap...
Mar 10, 2020•1 hr 19 min
It’s Super Tuesday and the battle lines are drawn in a campaign that will not only determine who will face Donald Trump in the general election, but also the future of the Democratic Party. The Intercept’s Lee Fang discusses who is funding and running the Biden campaign, the role of dark money in the attack against Sanders, and the looming influence of super delegates. As the Democratic establishment intensifies its battle to ward off a Sanders insurgency, former Hillary Clinton adviser Peter Da...
Mar 03, 2020•53 min
As Bloomberg launches a massive attack ad campaign against Sanders ahead of the South Carolina and Super Tuesday primaries, Sanders is facing a multi-pronged battle against the most powerful political and economic forces in the country. From Columbia, South Carolina, Rev. Jesse Jackson discusses the red-baiting of Sanders, offers his views on Democratic Socialism, and suggests Bloomberg should have run against Trump in the Republican primary. Jackson, who won the South Carolina primary in 1984 a...
Feb 26, 2020•1 hr 1 min
Billionaire former mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, has announced he is going to unleash a spate of attack ads against Sanders; while Pete Buttigieg and Joe Biden are harping about comments Sanders made on 60 Minutes where he praised Cuba’s literacy efforts. The red-baiting attacks on Sanders are most definitely going to increase this week ahead of the South Carolina primary Saturday and next week’s Super Tuesday contest. Sanders is simultaneously battling his challengers and an often ...
Feb 25, 2020•43 min
Last month, The Intercept's research editor Margot Williams reported from Camp Justice at Guantanamo Bay during an extraordinary moment in the 40th pre-trial hearing for the five men accused of plotting 9/11. The men are being charged with crimes that can result in the death penalty and pre-trial hearings have been continuing in this case since 2012. During this hearing, the architect of the CIA's torture program, Dr. James Mitchell, was brought to the war court as a witness. This was the first ...
Feb 21, 2020•23 min
As Bloomberg nears a half a billion dollars in paid ads for his presidential campaign, he is intensifying his attacks on Bernie Sanders. Meanwhile, the red-baiting smears against Sanders are resurfacing as he surges in national polls. NYU Professor Nikhil Pal Singh, author of "Race and America’s Long War," dissects the record of Bloomberg, what his candidacy says about the state of electoral politics in the U.S. and discusses Bloomberg’s “racial terror” tactics in New York. Attorney Diala Shamas...
Feb 19, 2020•1 hr 1 min
Consumer advocate and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader talks about the state of the Democratic primary, the corporate DNC panic over Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and what would happen to the Democratic party if Sanders wins. Nader also discusses a phone call he had with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi just before the impeachment process began. As Michael Bloomberg buys his way into the Democratic primary, he is plastering the airwaves with hagiographic advertisements that ignore his a...
Feb 12, 2020•1 hr 1 min
While the Iowa Democratic Party has thoroughly fumbled reporting official results of Monday’s caucuses, Sen. Bernie Sanders’s campaign has released figures showing a significant lead. The Intercept’s Washington D.C. bureau chief Ryan Grim reports from the ground in Iowa and traces the rise of today’s progressive moment to Rev. Jesse Jackson’s 1988 presidential campaign. Producers Jack D’Isidoro and Elise Swain speak with caucus-goers in Ottumwa, where meatpacking union workers in the first satel...
Feb 04, 2020•35 min
Donald Trump’s legal team, including Allan Dershowitz and Ken Starr, argue that the president cannot be impeached for abusing his power. As the battle over Bolton testifying before the Senate intensifies, The Daily Beast’s Spencer Ackerman discusses the longterm impact of the trial on extreme executive power. He also describes his report that Saudi Arabia plotted to kidnap a critic of the regime on U.S. soil and the Cold War rhetoric deployed by the House Managers. While Bernie Sanders and Eliza...
Jan 29, 2020•54 min
Donald Trump’s impeachment trial is already unfolding as a Mitch McConnell-coordinated farce. The charges against Trump are serious, but they beg the question of why Congress has never impeached a president for war crimes. None of the three Senate trials of a president was for imperial crimes committed in plain sight, despite a long history of presidents invading countries, killing civilians, and torturing prisoners. Constitutional and international law scholar Marjorie Cohn discusses the trial ...
Jan 22, 2020•1 hr 5 min
Jeremy Scahill hosts a live discussion in New York on the unfolding crisis with Intercept senior columnist Mehdi Hasan, reporter Murtaza Hussain, national security editor Vanessa Gezari, and senior news editor Ali Gharib. They discuss what the latest developments mean for Iran and the U.S. and how tensions have rapidly escalated since Donald Trump came to office. Will Trump’s current posture hold, or will he order more violence? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jan 14, 2020•1 hr 15 min
