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The Real News Podcast
Daily Reports, specials, and podcasts by The Real News Network (TRNN). TRNN makes media connecting you to the movements, people, and perspectives that are advancing the cause of a more just, equal, and livable planet. TRNN is a nonprofit media organization. We do not accept advertising revenue or corporate sponsorship.
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Episodes
The Real News PodcastTranscending a 3x11 Cell: The Creative Genius of Cuong “Mike” Tran
In this episode of Rattling the Bars, former political prisoner and Black Panther Mansa Musa speaks with Mike “Cuong” Tran, a first-generation Vietnamese…
The Real News Podcast“Israel is a moral challenge for our times”: Jason Stanley on the Blue Tsunami
On November 3, Democrats secured a historic landslide victory over the Republican Party, securing 54 Senate seats and over 250 House seats. Five governor’s…
The Real News PodcastLula Turns the Tide on Trump’s Donroe Doctrine
On Sunday, October 25, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva defeated far-right Senator Flavio Bolsonaro by a margin of three and a half points, and…
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The devastating reality of having loved ones in prison
In this episode of Rattling the Bars, Mansa Musa speaks with independent journalist Victoria Valenzuela, who reports for a wide range of news outlets on…
The Real News PodcastFrench Students and Unions “Preparing for a Massive Strike” on November 5
For the past month—led by students and joined by parents, teachers, labor unions, and more—France has been gripped by one of the largest protest waves in…
The Real News PodcastCapitalism is destroying the world. Can socialism save it?
With a global capitalist system that is wreaking havoc on the planet, pushing most of humanity into poverty, and enabling a small number of billionaire and…
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Once upon a time in Miami: The heartland of Latin American counter-revolution
In this episode of Rattling the Bars, Mansa Musa speaks with Dr. Kimberly Dawn Miller, Co-Coordinator of the Haiti/Americas Team for the Black Alliance for…
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Are Cops Part of the Labor Movement or an Existential Threat to It?
Far from all the political bluster about police being “defunded,” six years after the earth-shaking George Floyd protests swept the US and public approval for…
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Meta Chooses Sides in Brazil's Election
In the first round of voting on October 4, Trump-ally, far-right presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro came in two points ahead of President Luiz Inácio Lula…
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Panther Spirit in DC: Organizing Against Trump’s Fascist Push
October 22nd marks the National Day to Stop Police Brutality. Free DC and Pan-African Community Action (PACA) are two organizations in the nation’s capital…
The Real News PodcastData centers, grocery bills, and the Epstein files: Inside the Pennsylvania swing district that could decide the House
As part of our ongoing midterm election coverage we are reporting from districts that could change the balance of power in Washington. In this episode our…
The Real News PodcastDo Maryland's Political Leaders Serve Maryland? Post-Gubernatorial Debate Town Hall
With elections just week's away, Maryland's gubernatorial debate between Democratic incumbent Governor Wes Moore and Republican challenger Dan Cox took place…
The Real News PodcastTrump’s war on philanthropy is a war on civil society. This donor network is fighting back.
The Trump administration continues to weaponize the federal government to attack President Trump’s critics and enact his authoritarian agenda, which includes…
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The Black Panthers at 60: You can jail a revolutionary, but not the revolution
In the second half of this insightful conversation, former political prisoner Mansa Musa joins Black Panther Party archivist and photographer Billy X Jennings…
The Real News PodcastTom Morello wants you to rock out and fight fascism
On Oct. 3, nearly 20,000 people filled the Merriweather Post Pavillion in Maryland (while tens of thousands joined via livestream) to watch a “once in forever”…
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Trump Messed With Texas. Now an Army of Pissed-Off Texans Are Fighting His Border Wall
President Trump has renewed his efforts to “Build the Wall” in areas along the US-Mexico Border that don’t currently have border barriers—including the Big…
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The Black Panthers at 60: A through line of resistance from the South to California
In this episode of Rattling the Bars, host Mansa Musa interviews archivist, photographer, and veteran Black Panther Party member Billy X Jennings. Joining the…
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He Loved Working in Concrete. Now, He’s Dying from the Chemical Exposure.
Because he was bullied in elementary school for being Native American, James Gardner’s friends lovingly call him “NDN.” His friends and family know NDN to be a…
The Real News PodcastThe real crisis for men is capitalism: A conversation with Dr. Mark Anthony Neal
From the heinous crimes of the Epstein class to the Cornell 7, from the toxic cultures of the “manosphere” to the increase of antisocial relationships with…
The Real News PodcastTrump's Plan to Swing Brazil's Election for Bolsonaro
Brazil votes this Sunday, and the Trump administration has spent months trying to tilt the outcome toward far-right presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro…
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Want to Save the World? Start by Unionizing Your Workplace
“We are living in a pivotal moment in labor history,” Cole Rockarts writes in their new book Fired Up About Unions. “At a time when corporations have more…
The Real News PodcastICE Brings Terror and Violence to Maryland
Residents are shaken and demanding answers after ICE agents terrorized a quiet, suburban neighborhood in Frederick, Maryland, earlier this month. On September…
The Real News Podcast"Resistance Is Our Only Option": Mahmoud Khalil speaks
After being abducted by plainclothes ICE agents from his New York apartment building in March of 2025 and locked away in immigration jail for 104 days, Mahmoud…
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Can This Independent Mass. Governor Candidate Rally a 67% Unenrolled Electorate?
In this episode of Rattling the Bars, the midterms edition, we take you to the Commonwealth, where Andrea James—abolitionist, author, and organizer—is…
The Real News PodcastBaltimore residents fight City Council over controversial data center bill
Editor’s Note: Council Bill 26-0174 (data centers) will get another public hearing in front of the Baltimore City Council’s Land Use & Transportation Committee…
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Toledo Residents’ Lives Upended by Deadly Brent Industries Explosions
On the morning of August 18, residents living near the Brent Industries facility in Toledo, Ohio, awoke to a series of massive explosions and a towering…
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DSA leads the blue wave — will it bend to the thin blue line?
What will a DSA-led state look like — will it back defund and community control of police, or bow to the powers that block affordability? Lawrence Grandpre…
The Real News PodcastThe Battle over Free Speech in Brazil: With Artur Romeu | Bonus 3
This is a particularly important episode, coming just two weeks ahead of the 1st round of high stakes presidential elections in Brazil. Host Michael Fox speaks…
The Real News PodcastMAGA Wants to Ban his Books. Who was Howard Zinn?
Long after his death in 2010, the books and speeches of Howard Zinn are frequently targeted by right-wing critics, MAGA book-bans, and fundamentalist…
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Fernando Cerimedo: Revealing Trump's Election Interference in Latin America
Fernando Cerimedo. A name that unless you follow Latin America closely, you likely have never heard. He’s been called “MAGA’s man” in Latin America. And he is…
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“Purge Palantir!”: Union Nurses Warn Big Tech and Big Brother Are Invading Our Healthcare System
On August 27, registered nurses, patients, and community allies rallied and stopped traffic in cities around the US to demand that hospitals and elected…
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Fearless Speech: With Mary Anne Franks | Bonus 2
Today, host Michael Fox speaks with Mary Anne Franks. She is a professor of Intellectual Property, Technology, and Civil Rights Law at George Washington…
The Real News PodcastWhy the Stories Working People Tell Ourselves About Ourselves Matter
Over the 2026 Labor Day weekend, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez spoke at the Reuther-Pollack Labor History Symposium in Wheeling, West Virginia…
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What is Free Speech? With Fara Dabhoiwala | Bonus 1
This is the first bonus episode of The Battle for Free Speech. Today, host Michael Fox speaks with Fara Dabhoiwala. He is a professor of History at Princeton…
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'American Dominance': Boat Strikes, Cuba, and Latin American Pushback
This week marks the 1-year anniversary of Trump’s boat strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific oceans. On September 2, 2025, President Donald Trump announced the…
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Can Anyone “Make It” in Today’s Music Industry?
The 20th-century days of vinyl records, tape decks, CDs, Tower Records, and MTV have given way to our 21st-century age of MP3s and music streaming, Spotify…
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New community museum honors the legacy of Eddie Conway and the Black Panthers
Author and community organizer Dominque Conway has transformed a house at the epicenter of the 2015 Baltimore uprising into "Eddie’s Front Porch," a people’s…
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Beyond the Wire | Boots on the Ground: Community-Led Safety Panel
On August 8th at the Real News Studio, a screening of the new documentary Beyond the Wire—directed by filmmaker Dr. S. Rasheem—was followed by a panel…
The Real News PodcastDavid Sirota: Why Democrats Keep Ignoring What Their Voters Want
David Sirota joins Taya Graham and Stephen Janis to expose the enormous financial incentives shaping Democratic politics and why political consultants can…
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“Katrina 2.0”: Residents of Gary, Indiana Fight to Survive Without Power for 12 days (and Counting)
After a deadly “derecho” storm and flash floods slammed the midwest in early August, downing trees and power lines, tens of thousands of residents in and…
The Real News PodcastIntroducing: Scene on Radio
Today, we are pleased to share with you an episode from the podcast Scene on Radio. It’s hosted by longtime journalist John Biewen, with co-host journalism…
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No Such Thing as “Unskilled Work”: Barbara Ehrenreich’s “Nickel and Dimed” 25 Years Later
In her 2001 masterwork Nickel and Dimed, the late Barbara Ehrenreich went undercover to report on the daily realities working people in America face trying to…
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Real public safety means more community, not cages
Effective public safety policy is founded on preventing crime and repairing harm, but these are not the foundations of America’s reactionary criminal justice…
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From Black Power to hip hop: The evolution of Mopreme Shakur
How are hip hop and Black Liberation connected? In this special Black August edition of Rattling the Bars, former political prisoner and Black Panther Mansa…
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The Student Movement for Palestine Is Not Going Away
In 2024, at the height of Israel’s US-backed genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, one of the most widespread waves of college campus protests since the Vietnam…
The Real News PodcastLayoffs, Long Waits, Obscene Prices: Vermont Healthcare Workers and Patients Face Historic Crisis
Frontline healthcare workers and the patients they serve are facing a major crisis at the University of Vermont Health network—the state’s leading healthcare…
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Oil Giant BP Locks Out Workers at Its Last Unionized Refinery in US
For the last five months, oil giant British Petroleum (BP) has locked 800 workers out of their jobs at a crude oil refinery in Whiting, Indiana. The facility…
The Real News PodcastReturning Citizens Demand Investment in Re-entry, Not Incarceration
As GOP lawmakers push “tough-on-crime” policies in Washington, D.C., re-entry advocates argue these backward measures will only increase recidivism, not…
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Railroad Jobs Have ‘Gotten Worse’ Since Biden and Congress Blocked Workers from Striking
In 2022, the United States nearly experienced its first national railroad strike in decades, until then-President Joe Biden, along with Democrats and…
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Corporate Profiteers Destroyed Journalism. Worker-Owned Media Can Save It.
When workers at the historic Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newspaper hit the picket line in October of 2022, they had no idea that they would be on strike for over…
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Baltimore Community Marches into 7-11 Where 74-Year-Old Was Brutally Beaten
A 7-11 on Liberty Heights Avenue in Northwest Baltimore, Maryland, has become a flashpoint of community rage and resistance after Ade Oba Tokunbo (Stephen…
The Real News PodcastAbdul El-Sayed Believes a New Democratic Party Is Possible: UNEDITED INTERVIEW
The outcome of Michigan’s Senate race will have major implications for the balance of power in Washington, DC, and for the future of the Democratic Party…
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Republicans’ “Dumb-on-Crime” Crusade in DC Is Coming To Your State Next
Republicans in Congress are attempting to push policies in the District of Columbia that would charge 14-year-olds as adults, increase mandatory minimum…
The Real News PodcastMarc Steiner: A Life Standing for Free Speech | Ep. 8
“Existence is struggle,” says Marc Steiner. “It always has been, and always will be.” In this podcast series, we’ve looked at the attacks on free speech rights…
The Real News PodcastLoving Sports in an Age of Authoritarians w/ Dave Zirin and Jules Boykoff
For many around the US and around the world, the World Cup was a welcome distraction from the dismal state of the world and the daily overwhelm of relentless…
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Want Less Prison Violence? Make Prison Phone Calls Free
A groundbreaking new report reveals a direct link between prison phone call rates and prison safety: higher rates fuel more violence within prisons; lower…
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Israel Is Killing Gaza’s Most Famous Doctor. Time Is Running Out to Save Him.
Time is running out to save the life of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Gaza's Kamal Adwan Hospital, who was abducted by Israel’s military and has been held…
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Fighting Disinformation in Europe: Media Education, Regulation, & Organizing
Disinformation is impacting our lives. Much of it is being pushed by unregulated Silicon Valley tech companies and their billionaires owners. But people in…
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Data Centers Are Not a “Red State” or “Blue State” Problem; They’re a Working-Class Problem
In so-called “red states” and “blue states” around the US, from rural areas to urban centers, the explosion of new data center projects is impacting residents…
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Harsha Walia: Abolishing ICE Is the Floor, Not the Ceiling
While calls to "abolish ICE" have exploded during the second Trump presidency, critics have been calling out the threats the agency poses to immigrants, US…