People's Republic

Chris Harris discusses Austin city policy around public defense and the establishment of a public defender's office. Giorgos Stratis of Underpaid at UT discusses labor organizing for grad students.

Amanda Beatriz Williams (Lilith Fund) and Kamyon Conner (Texas Equal Access Fund) discuss the state of abortion access and reproductive rights in Texas.

Claire Cook of the ANSWER Coalition DC recounts the siege of the Venezuelan embassy in DC. Amanda Woog (Texas Fair Defense Project) discusses the fight to establish a public defender's office in Travis County.

Chris Garaffa analyzes the latest tech news from a working-class perspective. Meagan Bluestein, an activist with Extinction Rebellion, discusses environmentalism in Texas.

For our first segment, we speak with Mong Palatino, a human rights advocate and former Philippine Congressman, about the human rights situation and U.S. support for the Duterte government in the Philippines.Later, we are joined by Shelby Shoup and Jake Asbell in Tallahassee, Florida, to talk about working conditions for teachers, the power of unions, and labor struggles in education.

This week, our full episode is dedicated to the issue of housing. We talk about Austin overpolicing, environmental racism, indigenous history, the Vienna public housing model, the Green New Deal, and so much more. We are joined by Maddie Detelich and Marina Roberts of the Austin Democratic Socialists of America.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a comedian who played the president on a popular Ukrainian TV show, overwhelmingly defeated the incumbent Poroshenko in the Ukrainian elections. American media have situated Ukraine entirely in terms of its opposition to Russia, but what are some of the social divisions and political realities within the country that led to such a historic ouster of a sitting president? We talk with Walter Smolarek, an analyst for Radio Sputnik and a producer of Loud & Clear with Brian Becker, about the current political moment and historical divisions within Ukraine.Later, we talk about the ICE raids at a worksite in Allen, Texas, near Dallas. ICE rounded up and arrested nearly 300 people in the largest raids in a decade. We are joined by Marissa Rodriguez, an organizer in Dallas, about what the community is doing to push back.

This episode, we're joined again by Dan Kovalik, human rights and labor lawyer and author of the upcoming book The Plot to Overthrow Venezuela: How the U.S. Is Orchestrating a Coup for Oil, available June 25. Dan recently returned from a trip to Venezuela and Nicaragua, where he assessed the humanitarian situation and effects of U.S. sanctions in those countries.We are later joined by Njera Keith and Kristina Brown of Black Sovereign Nation to talk about the #NoSanctuariesForBlackFutures campaign to demilitarize the Austin Public Library for the good of Black youth.Finally, we hear from Yvette Arrellano, Senior Staff at Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services, about the environmental destruction and potential toll on human health taken by the Deer Park fire in Houston.

We are first joined by Kevin Kamps of the organization Beyond Nuclear to talk about a proposed nuclear dump site in West Texas with massive implications for the environment and the planet.Later, we talk with Juliet Barbara of the Workers Defense Project about a new Texas Workforce Commission ruling that would rob "gig economy" workers of wages and drain millions of dollars from the state unemployment fund.

This week on Tech for the People, we talk with Chris Garaffa about the implosion of the Russiagate conspiracy theory and hoax. We later hear from Brian Becker, National Coordinator for the ANSWER Coalition, about the reorientation of U.S. empire in the 21st century.

This week, we talk with Michael Zendejas, a political organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation in Houston, about the Deer Park chemical fire that put America's 4th largest city in danger of environmental catastrophe.Later, we are joined by Winn Ellinger for Perspectives on the News. We continue our focus on Texas and environmental justice by talking about recent religious freedom bills, BDS restrictions, and struggles between fossil fuels and nuclear waste in the Lone Star State.

This week, we are reporting again from the front lines of the anti-war movement with a selection of speeches from the National March on the White House, held by the ANSWER Coalition on March 16. We begin with some perspective from Brian Griffith on the current moment in Latin America, then hear from a variety of national anti-war organizers, journalists, indigenous Bolivians, and Venezuelans themselves about the need to end the illegal U.S. economic warfare against Venezuela.

This week, we speak with Julie Ann Nitsch, one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Austin officials that seeks justice for rape and sexual assault survivors. We are also joined by Elizabeth Myers, a partner with Thompson & Knight, who is representing Julie and the other plaintiffs in this lawsuit.We are also reporting from the road between Atlanta, GA and Washington, DC, where Brian Griffith is traveling with the ANSWER Coalition to report on the National March on the White House.

For this episode, we are joined again by Paul Dobson of Venezuelanalysis to talk about the failing coup in Venezuela, where Juan Guaido is today, and what the actual food situation on the ground is. We also rebroadcast part of an interview from Gloria La Riva, 2016 presidential candidate for the Party for Socialism and Liberation, on the developing political situation in Latin America.

Donald Trump has attempted to declare a national emergency to get full funding for his border wall, but nearly unanimously, affected communities along the border say there is no crisis. In fact, the crisis at the border appears to be the environmental crisis that the Trump administration is threatening with the destruction of the National Butterfly Center to build a border wall. We are joined by Juan Mancias, chairman of the Carrizo/Comecrudo tribe of southern Texas, to discuss indigenous peoples’ attempts to protect nature and native sovereignty around the artificial U.S.-Mexico border.https://www.facebook.com/CarrizoComecrudoTribeOfTexasDenver teachers won massive gains from Denver Public Schools after just three days of striking. This follows 15 months of being stonewalled by DPS during contract negotiations. During the course of the strike, Denver Public schools insisted on keeping schools open, risking the safety of students. The district additionally threatened to report immigrant teachers to ICE and su

The Texas Workforce Commission has voted to classify workers hired via online platforms as "independent contractors," a gross miscategorization that has massive implications for the safety and well-being of Texas workers. What impact will this have on the economy and workers' safety? What is an "independent contractor"? Does the TWC have the authority to make this call? And who is behind the shadowy lobbying effort that is shaping up all across the country to further deregulate the already deregulated "gig economy"? We are joined by Juliet Barbara of the Workers Defense Project to talk about all of this and more.Then, we talk about the latest scandals and revelations in the world of tech. Facebook has once again revealed its cavalier attitude toward privacy, this time paying teens to install a VPN that spies on them. We also discuss the nature of machine learning for beginners. This is all part of our new monthly segment, Tech for the People with Chris Garaffa.

This week, we talk with Jacqueline and Abdus Luqman, co-editors in chief of Luqman Nation, about the unfolding Democratic primaries. Later, we talk with Chris Garaffa for our new segment, Tech for the People, featuring technology news for the common people.

Juan Guaidó, an almost entirely unknown politician with the far-right Popular Will party, has declared himself the president of Venezuela. 80% of Venezuelans have never heard of Guaidó and he did not run for president, but the United States and its allies moved immediately to recognize him as the "legitimate" president of the country. We are joined from Venezuela by Paul Dobson, an editor with Venezuelanalysis, to discuss the coup attempt.In our new segment, Survivor Justice, we discuss the latest news around obtaining justice for survivors of rape and sexual assault with Kristen Lenau, an organizer with the Survivor Justice Project.Finally, we continue our coverage of the push to legalize abortion in New Mexico by covering an Albuquerque forum on the New Mexico abortion ban.Since we had to cut our segment with Kristen Lenau short, here is the article referenced in the segment:https://www.propublica.org/article/austin-police-department-misclassified-cleared-rape-cases-orders-deeper-investigation-after-audit

This week, we premiere our new segment, Perspectives on the News, a look at the latest news of the week with organizers from across the country. We are joined for the first segment by Winn Ellinger, an Austin-based political organizer, to talk about the LA teachers’ strikes, the government shutdown, and Brexit.Then, we talk with Madeline Detelich and Marina Roberts, co-chairs of the Austin DSA housing committee, about the viability of home ownership and the mass purchase of land by private equity firms.

This episode is devoted entirely to reproductive justice struggles coming up in the South and Southwest. First, we talk with Candice Yanez, an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation in Albuquerque, about the upcoming rally to repeal New Mexico's abortion ban. Then, we discuss Austin's sixth annual Women's Rally at the Capitol with Paula Trietsch Chaney.