Will the West, not Russia, Lose the Most from the Global Sanctions Regime?
On today's episode Walter Smolarek and Prof. Richard Wolff discuss how the leaders of the wealthy G7 nations gathered in Germany this week for a summit focused on isolating Russia from the world economy. The summit discussed attempts to impose a “price cap” on Russian oil exports and a prohibition on trading Russian gold, but is this sanctions regime backfiring on the west? Professor Richard Wolff is an author & co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work. You can find his work at rdwolff.com. Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.
29 Juni 202228min
Mass Protests Erupt as Supreme Court Decimates Abortion Rights: Demand Biden Act Now!
The Supreme Court – an unelected group of nine millionaires with lifetime appointments – have overturned Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed the right to abortion at the federal level. Tens of thousands have been in the streets all over the country since the Dobbs decision was announced on Friday, and in the weeks prior to that in response to the draft decision leak. Biden called abortion “a fundamental right” in his speech Friday reacting to the decision, but has so far taken no action to restore this right. How can a militant women’s movement overcome the indifference and outright hostility of the political establishment towards abortion rights? In this special edition of The Socialist Program, we air two interviews from our video partner BreakThrough News from their live coverage just after the Dobbs decision came down. Hosts Eugene Puryear and Rania Khalek BT were joined by Kym Smith -- an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation in South Carolina -- and Mara Verheyden-Hilliard -- a constitutional rights lawyer and executive director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund. Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.
28 Juni 202234min
Building Revolutionary Solidarity Across the Americas Against the Failed “Summit of the Americas”
In a true show of intercontinental solidarity, words from Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canel joined the speeches of Native activist and Co-Director of the International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee Jean Roach, National Director of BYP100 D’atra Jackson, and host of this show, Brian Becker, at the final plenary of the three-day-long People’s Summit for Democracy in early June. Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.
23 Juni 202246min
Going Left: Lessons for the Left from French Elections
On today's episode, Brian Becker and Prof. Richard Wolff discuss the elections in France's legislature that led to a large upswing in seats won by the progressives and current President Macron's center-right party losing their governing majority. What does this energy behind the left in France tell us? Professor Richard Wolff is an author & co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work. You can find his work at rdwolff.com. Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.
22 Juni 202233min
What Westerners Should Learn About The Accomplishments & Challenges of China
Anti-China news and disinformation dominate the mainstream press in Western countries. When the pandemic hit, several researchers, mainly in the Global South, decided that they needed a news source for the facts of what is going on in China day to day. Tings Chak, based in Shanghai, and others founded Dongsheng News, which covers national policies like the campaign that eradicated extreme poverty and new advances in the fight against the climate crisis, news issues like agriculture and regional government, and important topics like culture and society for a true perspective into China. Brian is joined by Tings to take you inside China to discuss the necessity of alternative media about China, the realities of Covid in China, the US, and the world, the views in different parts of China about the U.S. and Chinese governments, and more. Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.
21 Juni 202231min
International Peoples’ Assembly: Building a New Global Movement Against Capitalism & For Socialism
Working class communities around the world are organizing against capitalism. They are also forging a new international movement of solidarity and cooperation in the International People’s Assembly. How can organizers build international unity, and oppose the tools used by the ruling class to divide and defeat the popular movements that are expanding democracy while fighting to save the planet? Brian is joined at the People's Summit for Democracy by Stephanie Weatherbee Brito with the International Peoples' Assembly. Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.
16 Juni 202241min
Workers Crushed as Inflation Hits 40-year High
On today's episode Walter Smolarek and Prof. Richard Wolff discuss the newly-released inflation report that found that prices rose at a breathtaking pace – 8.6 percent, the highest in over 40 years. Anger is spreading across the country as working people struggle to afford the basic necessities in life as fuel, food and other essential commodities become increasingly unaffordable. What can be done to solve the crisis? Professor Richard Wolff is an author & co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work. You can find his work at rdwolff.com. Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.
15 Juni 202231min
Biden's Failed Summit: Latin America Resists
On today's episode, Brian Becker interviews Roberto Lovato. Since the Monroe Doctrine, Latin America has resisted U.S. attempts to dominate the region. Last week, another instance of resistance took place around the Summit of the Americas, which many heads of state boycotted over the Biden administration's decision to exclude Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. Brian and Roberto Lovato discuss this, the urgent need to end the blockade of Cuba, and the hypocrisy of U.S. immigration policy as Ukrainians are welcomed but immigrants from Latin America and the Caribbean are caged. Roberto Lovato is the author of the critically-acclaimed memoir Unforgetting. Lovato is a journalist and visiting professor of English at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Lovato has reported on numerous issues—violence, terrorism, the drug war and the refugee crisis—from Mexico, Venezuela, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Haiti, France and the United States, among other countries. Photo credit: Midia Ninja Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.
14 Juni 202223min
