Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Human Rights, U.S. Militarism, Violations of U.S. and International Law, War Resister
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How to Stop a Nuclear War
In 1947, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists created the “Doomsday Clock” to draw attention to the existential dangers posed by human technology. The time was set to seven minutes to midnight, with midnight symbolizing destruction of life on Earth. Just two years before, in 1945, the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The world saw firsthand the potential of a nuclear annihilation.
As World War II was ending, a different kind of conflict was underway: the Cold War. And over the next four decades, the United States and Soviet Union competed for nuclear dominance—not only through foreign policy and military strategy, but also on the home front, using propaganda and retaliation against critics. Throughout this period, people of conscience, like Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers in the early 70s, repeatedly sounded the alarm. Ellsberg and others warned that there was no way to “win” a nuclear war. If one side launched a nuclear weapon, the other would inevitably respond, leading to mutual destruction.
Today, more than 30 years after the end of the Cold War, the nuclear arms race continues. According to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, nine nations continue to stockpile nuclear weapons, including the US, Russia, China, Israel, Pakistan, France, the United Kingdom, and North Korea.
Last January, a week after Donald Trump began his second term as president, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moved the Doomsday Clock forward to 89 seconds to midnight—the closest humanity has ever come to global catastrophe. The Bulletin announced that it will update the time this week. Whether the clock is set closer to midnight or not, the question remains: Is there time and the will to change our trajectory, to learn from the past, and avoid a path to global destruction?
Guest – Paul Jay, award-winning journalist, filmmaker, and founder of theAnalysis.news. Jay has spent decades investigating the inner workings of government, corporate power, and military policy, combining investigative rigor with a storyteller’s clarity. He is currently working on a new project, How to Stop a Nuclear War, a groundbreaking documentary set to be released in the fall of 2027 based on extensive interviews with Daniel Ellsberg and narrated by Emma Thomson. Through rare interviews and in-depth research, the film examines how close humanity has come to nuclear catastrophe—and why Ellsberg’s warnings remain urgently relevant today.
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The Imperial Bureau: the FBI, Political Surveillance, and the Rise of the US National Security State.
The forces of American fascism are rapidly consolidating in our country. It is chilling to think that President Trump has only been an office for one year. American fascism is considered to be a unity of the MAGA forces around Trump and certain billionaire sectors of the capitalist class. Their project, like those of the Nazis in Germany, is what the Germans called “Gleichschaltung” meaning “bringing into line.”
In America,independent centers of power have been brought into line. Universities, the large law firms, the media and much of the court system. The Supreme Court is now subservient to the dictates of the Trump administration. President Trump is working to get more people and institutions to knuckle under. We talk today about the threat to crush the left with the recent issuance of his National Security Presidential Memorandum 7. It is known as NSPM7.
The genius of the U.S. Constitution, which limited power by setting up a system of checks and balances, has been sidestepped as President Trump now essentially rules by executive order. The Supreme Court uses the shadow docket to avoid public consideration of cases involving liberty.
Congress is not consulted about declaring war as President Trump ordered the secret bombing of Venezuela and kidnapping of its leader and his wife. The Voting Rights Bill has been gutted. It’s not illegal for big corporations to contribute any amount of money they want. Both the Democratic and Republican parties are subservient to big capital. The old form of democracy, however, limited by race and class, has almost disintegrated.
In the recent months, the world has watched as ICE has terrorized populations in major American cities. Already its budget is $11 billion. They are seeking to hire another 10,000 recruits. The DHS vetting process has recently come under scrutiny revealing it as careless and negligent. Some are recruited from gun shows. Recruits are given a $50,000 signing bonus with salaries ranging from $49,000-$89,000 a year. NSPM7 supplemented by the Attorney General’s memorandum targets among others those who speak out against racism, war, injustice, misogyny, capitalism and white Christian nationalism.
Guest – Chip Gibbons has written about NSPM 7. Mr. Gibbons is the Policy Director of Defending Rights and Dissent. His organization has awareness of the perils of this memorandum. He edits the Gaza First Amendment Alert. He is also the author of the forthcoming book The Imperial Bureau: the FBI, Political Surveillance, and the Rise of the US National Security State.
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CIA Sponsored Terror, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Human Rights, U.S. Militarism, Violations of U.S. and International Law
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Locals On Edge As Right Wing Christian Company Builds Community
A quiet rural county in Tennessee has become an unexpected frontline in a national struggle over identity, democracy, and belonging. Jackson County—a small Appalachian community of rolling hills, family farms, and a slowly revitalizing town center—is now at the center of a political and ideological clash. Longtime residents are facing a wave of out of state White Christian nationalists developers. Their stated goals include rolling back civil rights gains, discouraging women from higher education or voting, and expelling immigrants who are already U.S. citizens.
At the heart of this effort are developers RidgeRunner and New Founding; they’re buying up hundreds of acres to create an ideological enclave and consolidating local political power. RidgeRunner’s CEO, Josh Abbotoy, has sold land to two podcasters, Andrew Isker and C. Jay Engel. These “ambassadors” state publicly that they want to attract “hundreds or thousands” of people to Jackson County who share their Christian nationalist vision.
Locals fear the county is being used as a pilot site for a broader national strategy: intentional migration to reshape rural America and take over local governments. In a place where county elections are often decided by fewer than 300 votes, the danger isn’t theoretical. A disciplined ideological bloc of just a few hundred people could rewrite policy, alter governance, and silence dissent.What’s happening in Jackson County is an example of a growing pattern across the country: planned ideological enclaves, politically motivated relocation, and increased activity under the banner of Christian nationalism.
Guest – Kimberly Silvestri is a homeowner in Gainesboro, she’s a former professional pilot with a background in science. She’s currently working on her Master’s degree.
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International Law And U.S. Soldiers Refusing Illegal Orders
The extent to which Donald Trump is willing to go to dismantle of the rule of law at home and abroad is breathtaking and dangerous. In some cases, leaders are pushing back but in other cases major institutions are enabling Trump’s lawlessness. In a recent 90-second video organized by Sen. Elissa Slotkin (Democrat of Michigan), two senators and four Congress members, all U.S. military or CIA veterans, took turns reading a statement addressed to active service members, urging them to refuse to follow illegal orders. “Like us, you all swore an oath to protect and defend this Constitution,” the lawmakers said. “Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders…. No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution.”
In Truth Social, Trump immediately responded: “It’s called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL.” In subsequent posts, Trump wrote: “LOCK THEM UP???” … “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” Trump also reposted a statement saying: “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD!!” Now the Department of War is investigating one of the Senators, Mark Kelly for “serious allegations of misconduct,” threatening to call him back to active duty and court-martial him.
Meanwhile, on November 17, 2025, the UN Security Council enshrined Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian lands, put its imprimatur on Israel’s genocide, and granted colonial control over the lives of the Palestinians to the United States, which has aided and abetted the genocide. The Council adopted Resolution 2803, by a vote of 13-0. Russia and China, both permanent members of the Security Council, could have vetoed it. But they abstained. The resolution incorporates Donald Trump’s “peace plan.” It grants control over Gaza to the U.S.-led “Board of Peace” and it orders the deployment of a U.S.-led occupation force called “International Stabilization Force (ISF).” Trump will oversee both colonial bodies, in collaboration with Israel. Palestinians will not be allowed to participate in their own governance.
Guest – Marjorie Cohn is Professor Emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, Dean of the People’s Academy of International Law, and former president of the National Lawyers Guild. She is a legal and political analyst who does media commentary and writes columns on Truthout and other outlets, and she a former host on Law and Disorder radio. Her most recent book is Drones and Targeted Killing: Legal, Moral, and Geopolitical Issues.
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Censorship, Civil Liberties, Criminalizing Dissent, Economics, Freedom Of Speech, Gaza, genocide, Human Rights, U.S. Militarism, Violations of U.S. and International Law
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From The Flag To The Cross: Fascism American Style
From The Flag To The Cross: Fascism American Style is the title of a recently published anthology edited by Zachary Sklar and our own Michael Smith. Co-host Jim Lafferty wrote the introduction. The book draws from seven key interviews with prominent socialist thinkers in the United States and Canada. They include Margaret Kimberly, Henry Giroux, Dianne Feeley and Bill Mullen. Bill will also be joining Michael and Jim in the guest seat. He’s Professor Emeritus of American Studies at Purdue University and author of We Charge Genocide! American Fascism and the Rule of Law.
Chris Hedges who is also included in this book, writes “when fascism comes to America, it will be mass of recitations of the pledge of allegiance, the Christian cross and the flag.” We’ll explore these frayed boundaries of Christian fascism, capitalism, and the assaults on free speech and censorship while highlighting the strategies of community based actions.
Guest – Michael Steven Smith is the author, editor, and co-editor of many books, mostly recently Imagine: Living In A Socialist U.S.A. and “The Emerging Police State,” by William M. Kunstler. He has testified before committees of the United States Congress and the United Nations on human rights issues. Mr. Smith lives and had practiced law in New York City with his wife Debby, where on behalf of seriously injured persons he sues insurance companies and occasionally the New York City Police Department.
Guest – Jim Lafferty is the Executive Director Emeritus of the National Lawyers Guild in Los Angeles and the host of The Lawyers Guild Show on Pacifica Radio’s Los Angeles station, KPFK. Jim has been a national leader in the peace and social justice movement for 60-years. He served as a national Coordinator of the National Peace Action Coalition, the group that organized the largest protests against the U.S. war in Vietnam, and in leadership positions in other peace coalitions opposing various imperialist U.S. wars. In the early 1960’s he was the national Director of the National Lawyers Guild during its historic work in the South. In the mid-1960’s until the 1980’s, Jim was in the private practice of law in Detroit, Michigan, where he specialized in Selective Service law, employment discrimination law, and civil rights law. He serves on the governing board of the A.C.L.U. of Southern California, is a member of the steering committee of the national Julian Assange Defense Committee, and a Fellow at the Institute for the Humanities at the University of Southern California.
Guest – Bill Mullen is professor emeritus of American studies at Purdue University and the co-founder of The Campus Anti-fascist Network. He’s also co-author of The Black Antifascist Tradition and We Charge Genocide: American Ashes and the Rule of Law. He’s a contributor to the just published Law And Disorder book From the Flag to the Cross: Fascism American Style.
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Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Criminalizing Dissent, Freedom Of Speech, Human Rights, police accountability, U.S. Militarism
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Defending My Enemy: Skokie and the Legacy of Free Speech in America
At the heart of Trump’s blizzard of chaotic, cruel, and corrupt attacks on our democracy is one of the most turbulent, disruptive, and consequential assaults on freedom of speech in American history. Trump and his obedient underlings have enlisted the full force of the federal government’s overwhelming criminal, civil, administrative, immigration, and national security apparatus to illegally crush protest, dissent, and free speech.
On an unprecedented scale, directly and indirectly, Trump is violating the First Amendment rights of every person in the United States to express and receive information and ideas free of government censorship. He is going after the Voice of America, the Smithsonian Museum, the Associated Press, NPR, PBS, ABC, CBS, the Library of Congress, local public libraries, foreign and domestic students, immigrants, colleges and universities, elected officials, law firms, and judges. And by silencing all of these voices, he is denying the constitutional right of every American to hear what those voices have to say.
The United States is in a constitutional crisis. It is imperative that we vigorously defend our rights. The reissuance of the seminal book Defending My Enemy: Skokie and the Legacy of Free Speech in America by Aryeh Neier could not have come at a better time to remind us of the importance of defending the essential freedom upon which all others depend – freedom of speech.
Defending My Enemy was originally published in 1979. At that time Neier was the national executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, which agreed to represent the Nazis in the Skokie controversy. Defending My Enemy was a brave book when it was originally published, and almost 50 years later it remains an indispensable guide to help us navigate today’s convulsive debates over free speech on American campuses and throughout our society.
This edition of Defending My Enemy is enhanced by a new foreword by Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, a new afterword by Nadine Strossen, president of the ACLU from 1991 to 2008, and an extensive new chapter by Neier himself offering his views on the contemporary challenges facing free speech in America. In addition to previously serving as Executive Director of the ACLU, Neier co-founded Human Rights Watch, and is President Emeritus of the Open Society Foundations, where he remains active in their work. He has written seven books and over three hundred articles and op-eds on civil and human rights.
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National Guard Occupy The Streets Of DC
Soldiers in uniform are still patrolling the streets of Washington, D.C. They’re not just on guard duty — they’ve been spotted picking up trash, spreading mulch, and even posing with tourists. And now their mission has been extended indefinitely. The Army has ordered nearly a thousand National Guard members to remain on active duty through November 30, 2025. Donald Trump could end it sooner, or push it even further, but for now the deployment is open-ended. Another 1,300 Guard troops from states like Louisiana and Ohio are also staying through December.
The official line is they are tackling “out of control” crime. But many residents and local officials see something else: a military force filling civic space, performing chores that look more like public relations than public safety. Ward 1 Commissioner Peter Wood called the outreach “uncomfortable and concerning,” stressing that soldiers patrolling civilian neighborhoods creates more fear than comfort.
This isn’t just about crime or clean-up crews — it’s about what kind of country we want to be when soldiers become part of daily civic life.
Guest – Attorney Mara Verheyden-Hilliard from the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund and the Center for Protest Law and Litigation in Washington, DC. Mara is one of the nation’s leading litigators defending protesters and winning numerous reforms in police practices at mass assemblies and demonstrations.
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Civil Liberties, Human Rights, Truth to Power, U.S. Militarism, Violations of U.S. and International Law, War Resister, worker's rights
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From The Flag To The Cross: Fascism American Style
From The Flag To The Cross: Fascism American Style is the title of a recently published anthology edited by Zachary Sklar and our own Michael Smith. Co-host Jim Lafferty wrote the introduction. The book draws from seven key interviews with prominent socialist thinkers in the United States and Canada. They include Margaret Kimberly, Henry Giroux, Dianne Feeley and Bill Mullen. Bill will also be joining Michael and Jim in the guest seat. He’s Professor Emeritus of American Studies at Purdue University and author of We Charge Genocide! American Fascism and the Rule of Law.
Chris Hedges who is also included in this book, writes “when fascism comes to America, it will be mass of recitations of the pledge of allegiance, the Christian cross and the flag.” We’ll explore these frayed boundaries of Christian fascism, capitalism, and the assaults on free speech and censorship while highlighting the strategies of community based actions.
Guest – Michael Steven Smith is the author, editor, and co-editor of many books, mostly recently Imagine: Living In A Socialist U.S.A. and “The Emerging Police State,” by William M. Kunstler. He has testified before committees of the United States Congress and the United Nations on human rights issues. Mr. Smith lives and had practiced law in New York City with his wife Debby, where on behalf of seriously injured persons he sues insurance companies and occasionally the New York City Police Department.
Guest – Jim Lafferty is the Executive Director Emeritus of the National Lawyers Guild in Los Angeles and the host of The Lawyers Guild Show on Pacifica Radio’s Los Angeles station, KPFK. Jim has been a national leader in the peace and social justice movement for 60-years. He served as a national Coordinator of the National Peace Action Coalition, the group that organized the largest protests against the U.S. war in Vietnam, and in leadership positions in other peace coalitions opposing various imperialist U.S. wars. In the early 1960’s he was the national Director of the National Lawyers Guild during its historic work in the South. In the mid-1960’s until the 1980’s, Jim was in the private practice of law in Detroit, Michigan, where he specialized in Selective Service law, employment discrimination law, and civil rights law. He serves on the governing board of the A.C.L.U. of Southern California, is a member of the steering committee of the national Julian Assange Defense Committee, and a Fellow at the Institute for the Humanities at the University of Southern California.
Guest – Bill Mullen is professor emeritus of American studies at Purdue University and the co-founder of The Campus Anti-fascist Network. He’s also co-author of The Black Antifascist Tradition and We Charge Genocide: American Ashes and the Rule of Law. He’s a contributor to the just published Law And Disorder book From the Flag to the Cross: Fascism American Style.
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Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Human Rights, Human Trafficking, U.S. Militarism
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The Trump Administration and ACLU Legal Counteraction Strategy
The very day President Donald Trump returned to the White House on January 20, 2025, the American Civil Liberties Union celebrated the beginning of its 106th year. Based on its long experience combating repressive governments, the ACLU had been carefully planning for the possibility of Trump’s reelection. That day it announced that it was fully prepared for the threat Trump posed to our constitutional democracy.
The ACLU recalled that “Since first leaving office in 2020, Trump has threatened to enact policies that would endanger immigrant families, further restrict reproductive health, and weaponize the federal government against protesters and political opponents. Now that he has returned to the White House and will be buoyed by many allies in his cabinet and in Congress, these threats could become real.” And they certainly have.
During the first Trump’s administration, the ACLU took legal action more than 430 times. In the last six months, they have followed a clear playbook to fight back – and win – challenging a wide range of Trump’s policies that are aimed at destroying our civil rights and civil liberties.
Guest – Ben Wizner, Deputy Legal Director of the ACLU, and Director of the ACLU’s Center for Democracy, which encompasses the organization’s work on free speech, privacy, immigrants’ rights, voting rights, human rights, and national security. For more than two decades at the ACLU, Ben has litigated cases involving the right to protest, freedom of expression online, government surveillance practices, airport security policies, targeted killing, and torture. Since July of 2013, he has been the principal legal advisor to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and advised Julian Assange. I’ve known Ben since he started at the ACLU of Southern California over 20 years ago. I witnessed how he devotes his keen legal mind and deep compassion to defending the people he represents who are struggle to vindicate their constitutional rights.
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The Mexican Reintegration Project
Immigration news continues to dominate headlines: from the approval of the bill that provides another $170 billion for immigration enforcement to the images of masked men in unmarked vehicles roaming around cities like Houston, Los Angeles, New York and Chicago… and arresting people from their homes, workplaces, or even just off the street.
Now, these controversial strong-arm tactics haven’t been a total success: court battles, community opposition, and even ICE officer burnout are throwing a wrench into the administration’s deportation goals. Yet still, for millions of noncitizens living in the US, it is impossible not to wonder: what happens if I — or my loved one – is taken from our family and home here without notice…. And transplanted to a country where we no longer have roots? Or community? Or safety?
Our guests today, Professors Luz Herrera and Nancy Plankey-Videla, are among a team of researchers who studied what happens when people are deported or otherwise return to Mexico after they’ve made their home in the US. Were they able to find work? Reunite with family? Find support?
Guest – Luz Herrera is an attorney and Law Professor at Texas A&M University Law School. Her roots are in Los Angeles: In 2005, she co-founded Community Lawyers, Inc. in Compton which – 20 years later – continues to provide access to justice and legal help to under-served communities.
Guest – Dr. Nancy Plankey-Videla is associate professor of sociology at Texas A&M University and currently coordinates the Latino/a and Mexican American Studies Program. She’s also the Director of Graduate Studies in the Sociology Dept. and has a joint appointment in the School of Law. Her research and teaching is informed by a global perspective on inequality and agency.
