WPKN: Politics, Policy, and Planet Podcast

The Organic Farm Stand, Nov. 4, 2026:

Hosts: Richard Hill and Diane Lauricella

Health insurance dominates all aspects of health care in the United States. It is also unaffordable for many people. Isabelle uses her personal health insurance search as a pathway to examine how Federal descisions have made health care access in Connecticut more challenging. The piece features interviews with Katy Golvala, CT Mirror and James Michel, Access Health CT. It also includes a chance to think about how things could and should be better.

The Resistance Roundtable welcomes:
   John Nichols, Executive editor of The Nation Magazine, who discusses the issues and political challenges confronting voters in the Nov. 3 midterms;
   Jim Chappdelaine, co-founder of Indivisible CT, who talks about the strategies the resistance networks are deploying in the face of the many-faceted voter suppression by the Trump regime.

Panel:  Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner, and Richard Hill

Interview with Shilpa Jindia, policy counsel with the media and democracy group Free Press, conducted by Scott Harris.

Shilpa Jindia talks about her group’s recent report, “Enemies of the State: NSPM-7 and the Trump Plan to Crush Dissent,” which she co-authored, warning that the Trump administration has established a coordinated federal strategy to criminalize political dissent, intimidate opposition groups and undermine constitutional protections for free speech and assembly.

Interview with Jennifer Loewenstein, former associate director of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, conducted by Scott Harris.

Jennifer Loewenstein discusses Israel’s Oct. 27 election, Trump’s latest threat to escalate his war against Iran, the renewed Houthi-Saudi conflict, and the ongoing blockade of oil through the Strait of Hormuz.

Interview with Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, conducted by Melinda Tuhus.

Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. Here she talks about the racial, gender and geographic bias in death penalty cases, recent trends away from its use and growing public opposition.

Interview with Faith Kasor-Bright, founder and president of Girl Uplift Inc., a non-profit organization based in Connecticut, conducted by Scott Harris.

Faith Kasor-Bright talks about her group’s work in Liberia, West Africa to educate, inspire, and empower young women and girls through scholarships, leadership programs, and health and wellness workshops. Girl Uplift’s annual Gala Dinner Ball will take place on Saturday, Nov. 7.

Interview with Jawanza James Williams, lead fightback campaigner with Popular Democracy, conducted by Scott Harris.

Jawanza Williams discusses a coalition of groups that organized a recent protest action at JPMorgan Chase calling on the company to sign the Business for Democracy Pledge. The Pledge commits companies to publicly support free and fair elections, and oppose efforts by Donald Trump and his administration to interfere with, and manipulate the outcome of the midterm election.

Interview with Tzeporah Berman, founder and chair of the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative, conducted by Melinda Tuhus.

Earlier this year, the first-ever conference on transitioning away from fossil fuels took place in Santa Marta, Colombia, co-hosted by then-Colombian President Gustavo Petro and the Netherlands. No fossil fuel lobbyists were allowed and only countries that made a commitment to drawing down their emissions were in attendance. One of the key issues discussed at the conference was the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative, a global campaign advocating for a new binding international legal agreement to halt the expansion of fossil...

Interview with Nick Licata, author of Becoming A Citizen Activist, conducted by Scott Harris.

Nick Licata talks about his recent Counterpunch article, “Trump’s Restrictions on Mail-In Voting Will Reduce the Republican Vote,” and shares his views on Trump’s other plans to subvert the outcome of the Nov. 3 election. Licata has served five terms on the Seattle City Council, has been named the progressive municipal official of the year by The Nation and is the founding board chair of Local Progress, a national network of 1,000 progressive municipal officials.

Interview with Bill Blum, a Los Angeles lawyer and a former state of California administrative law judge, conducted by Scott Harris.

Bill Blum talks about his recent commentaries regarding the midterm election, “Will Jan. 3 Be the New Jan. 6?”Blum notes, When it comes to election subversion, expect the worst when Congress reconvenes in 2027, and “Trump’s Voter Purge Machine Just Got a Boost From the Supreme Court,” as well as other threats looming over the midterm election.

Interview with Paul Heideman, author of Rogue Elephant: How Republicans Went from the Party of Business to the Party of Chaos, conducted by Scott Harris.

Paul Heideman discusses his recent Jacobin magazine article, “Where are the Democratic Socialists of America Going?” which examines how the group is successfully navigating the U.S. electoral system but continues to face considerable challenges in rooting itself in the U.S. working class.

Interview with Frida Berrigan, a long-time activist and author of “It Runs In The Family: On Being Raised by Radicals and Growing Into Rebellious Motherhood”, conducted by Scott Harris.

Frida Berrigan, an activist who lives in southeastern Connecticut and opposes the ever-stretching shadow of militarism, talks about her recent commentary, “Where Are the Iran War Protests?” She notes that despite a wildly unpopular war with Iran, a mass protest movement for peace hasn’t materialized — at least in the ways we’ve been taught to recognize.

Interview with Wanda Bertram, communications strategist with the Prison Policy Initiative, conducted by Melinda Tuhus.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, has been ramping up raids, detentions and deportations across the country throughout the summer and now into the fall.  The White House border czar Tom Homan said late last winter that if communities cooperated by allowing ICE access to individuals being held in local and county jails, he would pull back on community raids by armed and masked ICE agents that sowed chaos and death in Minneapolis and other cities.

But new a...

Interview with Heather Digby Parton, Salon columnist and writes Digby’s Hullabaloo blog, conducted by Scott Harris.

Heather Parton talks about her recent article, “The Dark Reasons Behind All the Richard Nixon Worship: MAGA needs to maintain its grip on the GOP after Donald Trump — and the 37th president is key.” The column outlines Trump supporters’ current effort to rehabilitate Nixon, along with unsupported charges that he was unjustly forced to resign in 1973 by the “deep state.”

Interview with Michael Zweig, emeritus professor of economics, founding director of the Center for Study of Working Class Life at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and author, conducted by Scott Harris.

Professor Zweig talks about the 2026 midterm election debate about “socialism,” recent primary victories by Democratic Socialists of America candidates, and a growing number of Americans’ declining confidence in attaining the “American Dream.” Zweig is the author of Class, Race, and Gender: Challenging the Injuries and Divisions of Capitalism.

Interview with Ari Paul, New York City-based journalist and lecturer at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, conducted by Scott Harris.

Ari Paul discusses his recent FAIR.org column, “CNN Cleared to Join CBS Under Trumpian Paramount Ownership,” and issues related to the growing concentration of U.S. media ownership in the hands of Trump-friendly oligarchs.

Interview with Alexander Main, director of International Policy at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C., conducted by Scott Harris.

Alexander Main assesses Brazil’s recent first-round presidential election where right-wing candidate Flávio Bolsonaro received 2.25 million more votes than incumbent president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Main described the major issues debated, prospects for the final election round, and the Trump regime’s attempt to influence the outcome.

The 3rd episode of "Live Boldly with host Rev Sara Smith," features a conversation with John F. Stafstrom Jr., a prominent attorney and long-time partner at the law firm Pullman & Comley, LLC. and Julie Walsh Deputy Director with the Triangle Community Center in Norwalk, CT, centered on National Coming Out Day 2026 and the gay experience.

Rev. Sara Smith is Senior Minister of the United Congregational Church of Bridgeport, President/CEO and Founder nOURish BRIDGEPORT, Inc., and Sacred Heart University’s Protestant chaplain.

"Live Boldly" is broadcast on the 2nd Saturday of each month at 7:00 am on...

Interview with Kimberly Scott, executive director of the Georgia Women's Action for New Directions Education Fund, conducted by Melinda Tuhus.

A rally outside New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Manhattan office opposed her support for building new nuclear power plants in the state to address surging demand from AI data centers and other energy-hungry projects. One of the rally speakers was Kimberly Scott, executive director of Georgia Women’s Action for New Directions Education Fund.  Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus was there and spoke with Scott, who describes Georgia as ground zero for recent nuclear power development with al...

Interview with Tom Smith, New Haven Advocate co-editor, conducted by Scott Harris.

Tom Smith, who served as an associate writer and columnist with the Advocate from 1987, talks about the recent relaunch of the New Haven Advocate as a quarterly alternative newspaper more than 50 years after the publication’s first printing, featuring news, commentary and humor. Smith, along with Colleen Van Tassell, and writer and illustrator John Guillemette, serve as the revived newspaper’s editors.

Interview with Cas Mudde, Stanley Wade Shelton UGAF Professor of International Affairs and distinguished research professor, School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia.

Cas Mudde discusses his recent Guardian column, “Look again—there’s more to Europe’s election trends than far-right success,” and shares his views on the outcome of recent elections in Germany and the rise of the far right across Europe.

Interview with Dan Schwartz, legal affairs lead with National Security Leaders for America (NSL4A), conducted by Scott Harris.

Dan Schwartz, legal affairs lead with National Security Leaders for America (NSL4A), discusses his group’s recent call on state attorneys general to prepare to block armed federal interference in the midterm election and other issues related to President Trump’s threat to interfere with and manipulate the outcome of the midterm congressional election that the Republican party is predicted to lose.

Interview with Alex Lawson, executive director of Social Security Works, conducted by Scott Harris.

Alex Lawson discusses a U.S. House Budget Committee field hearing held on Sept. 21 at a Dallas property owned by billionaire Harlan Crow, that focused on establishing a fast-track commission which senior advocates view as a GOP strategy to cut Social Security benefits behind closed doors.

Interview with Thomas Drake, a former NSA senior executive and whistleblower, conducted by Melinda Tuhus.

Thomas Drake talks about this latest development at his former agency. Twenty years ago, Drake revealed the George W. Bush administration’s post 9/11 warrantless mass surveillance program, 9/11 intelligence failures and multibillion-dollar fraud and waste. To tell his story, Drake first went through all the proper government procedures, but finally talked to a newspaper reporter after he believed all established whistleblower channels had failed. He was indicted by the Obama administration in 2010 under the Espionage Act and faced up to 35 years in prison if...

Interview with Paul Street, independent radical-democratic policy researcher, journalist, historian and author of This Happened Here: Amerikaners, Neoliberals, and the Trumping of America, conducted by Scott Harris.

Paul Street discusses his column, “It’s Only Wednesday, For Fascist’s Sakes!” a compendium of Donald Trump’s crimes against democracy from less than one recent week.

Interview with Kim Ives, a journalist and editor at the weekly newspaper Haïti Liberté, conducted by Scott Harris.

Kim Ives talks about the issues he’s covering in Haiti, news of ongoing violence, the role of Erik Prince, founder of the private military contractor Blackwater, the UN adjacent Gang Suppression Force, and the Trump regime’s decision to revoke TPS status for some 350,000 Haitians in the U.S., with the threat of mass deportation.

Interview with Nicolas J.S. Davies, an independent journalist, a researcher with CODEPINK, and the author of Blood On Our Hands: the American Invasion and Destruction of Iraq, conducted by Scott Harris.

Nicholas Davies discusses his recent column co-written with Medea Benjamin, “The Urgency of Recognizing the Ansar Allah Government in Yemen,” and issues related to the current situation in Yemen, Trump’s war on Iran, and the conflict’s impact on the flow of Middle East oil.

Interview with Victor Pickard, the C. Edwin Baker professor of media policy and political economy at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.

Professor Pickard discusses Donald Trump’s decision to ban journalists from CNN, MSNOW, and Politico from the White House grounds, revoking their press credentials and triggering a major constitutional showdown over press freedom. He focuses on this recent issue in the context of the many other instances of Trump regime attacks on journalists, media outlets and the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of the press.

Interview with Dr. Lynn Goldman, professor of Environmental & Occupational Health at George Washington University, conducted by Melinda Tuhus.

Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Dr. Lynn Goldman, professor of environmental and occupational health at George Washington University, a pediatrician, and former assistant administrator for toxic substances at the Environmental Protection Agency. Here she talks about the dangers of the Trump regime’s elimination of power plant emission regulations and what’s being done to oppose it.

Interview with Shayna, a critical care nurse, anti-imperialist organizer and spokesperson for organizers of this past Saturday’s Ed Sheeran demonstration, conducted by Scott Harris. 

Shayna, a critical care nurse, anti-imperialist organizer and spokesperson for organizers of this past Saturday’s pro-Palestinian demonstration, discusses how hundreds gathered outside of Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field ahead of Ed Sheeran’s first concert after rapper Macklemore was dropped as an opening act because of several stadium owners’ objections to his earlier pro-Palestinian remarks. Following Macklemore’s exit, all of Sheeran’s opening acts and his own Beoga band members, protested by wi...

Interview with Miranda Bogen, director and chief technologist, of the Center for Democracy & Technology’s AI Governance Lab, conducted by Scott Harris.

Miranda Bogen talks about the important work her group has been doing to educate the public on the dangers of unregulated artificial intelligence, while calling for new AI regulatory legislation at both the U.S. federal level and internationally. This conversation follows a week when news coverage of AI erupted after high-profile researchers warned that increasingly powerful AI systems may be advancing faster than scientists can reliably control them, and reports of six cases of un...

Excerpt of interview with Dr. Bandy Lee, a forensic and social psychiatrist, co-founder and president of the World Mental Health Coalition, and editor of the best-selling book, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, conducted by Scott Harris, Richard Hill and Ruth Anne Baumgartner on WPKN Radio's Resistance Roundtable program - originally aired on September 17, 2026.

Dr. Bandy X. Lee, whose latest book is titled, The Psychology of Trump Contagion: An Existential Danger to American Democracy and All Humankind, explains why she believes that Trump’s mental instability and unfettered presidential powers create an extreme, unprecedented risk of global ca...

Interview with Sarah Kendzior, a journalist, anthropologist, researcher, and former co-host of the popular podcast Gaslit Nation, conducted by Scott Harris.

Here Sarah Kendzior discusses her views on the Trump regime’s looming threat to subvert the outcome of the midterm election by a multi-pronged set of seditious tactics. She also comments on the enormous challenge of reconstructing our broken nation’s democratic institutions. Kendzior is the best-selling author of several books including her latest, They Knew and The Last American Road Trip.

The Resistance Roundtable features:

Panel: Ruthanne Baumgartner, Scott Harris and Richard Hill

The Organic Farm Stand lineup:

Hosts: Richard Hill and Diane Lauricella

Interview with Wanda Culp, an activist with Tongass Women for Forests and Tongass regional coordinator for Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), conducted by Melinda Tuhus.

Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Wanda Culp, a Tlinglit woman from the Tongass forest in southeast Alaska, who has fought against corporate clearcutting near her home, since the 1980s with a group called Tongass Women for Forests. Here she explains what difference the Roadless Rule made and how indigenous people are fighting to save it.

 Interview with Dulce Guzmán, executive director at Alianza Americas, conducted by Scott Harris.

Dulce Guzmán discusses her group’s work focusing public attention on the plight of hundreds of thousands of refugees from more than a dozen countries who have had their TPS status revoked by the Trump administration—and the uncertainty that nationals from El Salvador who reside in the U.S. are now living with because Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin has not announced any decision on their future status.

Interview with Katya Schwenk, an investigative journalist covering private interests and corporate power at The Lever, conducted by Scott Harris.

Katya Schwenk talks about her article co-written with Luke Goldstein, titled, “How A Hedge Fund Billionaire Became The Democrats’ New Kingmaker,” about Stephen Mandel, who’s bankrolling a new political apparatus built to “redefine” the Democratic party.

Interview with Lori Wallach, director of the Rethink Trade program at American Economic Liberties Project, and senior advisor to the Citizens Trade Campaign, conducted by Scott Harris.

Lori Wallach discusses the causes and consequences of the trade war initiated by Donald Trump after bilateral trade negotiations collapsed, leading the U.S. to impose 50 percent tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods in August 2026, which Canada matched with dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs on $20 billion of U.S. exports earlier this month. Wallach is senior advisor at Citizens Trade Campaign, the U.S. national trade justice coalition of unions and...