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AlternativeRadio

David Barsamian

Alternative Radio is an "unembedded" weekly one-hour public affairs program offered free to all public radio stations in the US, Canada, Europe, South Africa, Australia, and on short-wave on Radio for Peace International. AR provides information, analyses and views that are frequently ignored or distorted in other media. Visit alternativeradio.org for the complete catalog.

news & politics non-profit

All Episodes

57:00

[Richard Forer] Israel, the U.S. & Palestine

AlternativeRadio ·

2025/05/01

Noam Chomsky calls the Israel, U.S., and Palestine relationship a “Fateful Triangle.” He says,“ In no other region of the world are the problems so likely to lead to devastating regional conflict.” He adds, those problems “have only been aggravated by the irrationality and intolerance that has dominated discussion in the U.S. It will be unfortunate if this state of affairs persists,” he warns. Alas, Chomsky wrote those words more than 50 years ago. The U.S. has given Israel hundreds of billions in

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57:00

[Maria López-Nuñez] Environmental Justice

AlternativeRadio ·

2025/04/24

Parts of the U.S. are an eco-disaster, a sacrifice zone. Take Newark, NJ. If you travel down a one-mile stretch of Doremus Avenue in Newark you pass a natural gas plant next to a sewage treatment facility next to an animal fat rendering plant next to a series of ominous-looking chemical storage containers behind acres of fencing. Airplanes pass overhead every two minutes, their engines rattling windows, while a putrid smell wafts from the open pools at the sewage treatment plant. Nationally, where

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57:00

[Doris Bergen] Anti-Semitism, Anti-Black Racism &...

AlternativeRadio ·

2025/04/17

Bigotry and hatred, fear and loathing, are on the rise. Vulnerable groups are being targeted. It’s happened before. Decades ago, speaking to the National Jewish Congress, Dr Martin Luther King, Jr said, “My people were brought to America in chains. Your people were driven here to escape the chains fashioned for them in Europe. There are Hitlers loose in America today, both in high and low places. As the tensions and bewilderment of economic problems become more severe, history's scapegoats, the

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57:00

[Gabor Maté] History, Trauma & the Lack of Empathy

AlternativeRadio ·

2025/04/10

History, “The past” as Faulkner wrote, “is never dead. It's not even past." Trauma, a Greek word for wound, takes on myriad shapes and forms. It often remains and reverberates through generations. There is individual trauma and collective trauma. However, just because you suffered does not give you permission to inflict suffering on others. Angela Davis said, “Victimization cannot be permitted to function as a halo of innocence.” Empathy is the ability to take on another person's perspective, to

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57:01

[Kshama Sawant, Chris Hedges] Workers! Fight Back!

AlternativeRadio ·

2025/04/03

The so-called Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, is led by Elon Musk, the richest man in the world. It operates in virtual secrecy. Its slash and burn tactics have resulted in thousands of government workers losing their jobs, sometimes with little or no notice. Budgets are being hollowed out to pay for massive tax breaks for the oligarchs. Activist, organizer, politician Kshama Sawant warns, “We cannot understate the damage being done by Trump, Musk and company. It is austerity on steroids,

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57:01

[Tariq Ali] You Have to Fight Back

AlternativeRadio ·

2025/03/27

When faced with adversity one can look away and do nothing. But for our own dignity and self-respect we must fight back and resist the depredations of the state and corporate sector. Historically speaking this is one of those critical inflection points. A lot of people are deeply concerned about the Trump regime and Elon Musk. The social safety net is being shredded while the gazillionaires make out like bandits. Tariq Ali says, “What the United States needs today is an opposition, which fights back

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57:01

[Howard Zinn] A People’s History of the United States...

AlternativeRadio ·

2025/03/06

2 CDs “You wanna read a real history book?” Matt Damon asks Robin Williams in the movie Good Will Hunting. “Read Howard Zinn’s People’s History of the United States. That book’ll knock you on your ass.” It’ll do that and more. Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States has sold more than four million copies. And it keeps on selling. Zinn’s close friend Noam Chomsky said the book “changed the consciousness of a generation.” Zinn’s history from below approach was to foreground as he said,

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57:01

[Cornel West] The Legacy of Paul Robeson

AlternativeRadio ·

2025/02/27

Paul Robeson, an enduring and multitalented figure, broke color barriers in sports, music, film and theater. He was an internationally famous singer and actor yet in the U.S. he was persecuted and blacklisted for his political beliefs. He died impoverished and in obscurity. His singular life is a model of courage and steadfastness in the face of racial and political prejudice. He said, “The artist must fight for freedom or for slavery. I have made my choice. I had no alternative.” This program

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57:01

[Rami Khouri] War or Peace in the Middle East

AlternativeRadio ·

2025/02/20

The ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians is in its first phase. Some captives have been released with more to follow. Aid trucks are delivering desperately needed food, water and medicine to the besieged Palestinians. What the future will bring is uncertain. The situation is fragile. What is certain is the Palestinians have endured disproportionate death and destruction. Israel has a powerful military and the backing of the U.S. The BBC says, “After 15 months of war in Gaza, the conflict is

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57:01

[Sara Nelson] Union Power

AlternativeRadio ·

2025/02/13

There’s power in a union is not just an empty slogan or the title of a song it’s a shared reality for many working people. When labor organizes itself into a union it can exert power over bosses. It can demand higher wages and better working conditions and benefits. The CEO class offers workers crumbs while pocketing the big bucks in salaries, bonuses and stock options for themselves. The propaganda system is largely under the control of ruling elites and big business. Thus, unions are painted

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57:01

[Sheldon Wolin] The Inversion of Totalitarianism

AlternativeRadio ·

2025/02/06

Traditional totalitarianism conjures images of jack-booted stormtroopers, death camps and gulags. In recent years a new variety of totalitarianism has emerged. Noted political theorist Sheldon Wolin calls it “the inversion of totalitarianism” and that it “represents the coming of age of corporate power and political demobilization of the citizenry. Unlike classical totalitarian systems which openly boasted of their intentions to force their societies in a preconceived totality, inverted

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57:00

[Wendell Potter] Health Insurance: An Insane System

AlternativeRadio ·

2025/01/30

The murder of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO on a Midtown Manhattan street “unleashed,” the New York Times reported, “a torrent of morbid glee from patients and others who say they have had negative experiences with health insurance companies at some of the hardest times of their lives.” Some comments were, “Thoughts and deductibles to the family.” Another one said, “Unfortunately, my condolences are out of network.” The dark commentary highlighted deep anger over the state of health insurance. Millions

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57:01

[Ralph Nader] It’s in the Hands of the People

AlternativeRadio ·

2025/01/16

What’s going on in the United States? People are asking that question not only in this country but around the world. Ralph Nader says “The twin swelling heads of empire and oligarchy are driving our country into an ever-deepening corporate state, wholly incompatible with democracy and the rule of law. America was not designed for kings and their runaway military pursuits. The media rolls over and fails to hold officials accountable.” So, what is to be done? Historically it’s always been citizens,

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57:01

[Peter Beinart] Protest, Zionism & Gaza

AlternativeRadio ·

2025/01/09

On December 5th, 2024, Amnesty International determined that “Israel committed and is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.” In the landmark 296-page report entitled “You Feel Like You Are Subhuman,” Amnesty documents how, “during its military offensive launched in the wake of the deadly Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, Israeli forces have carried out acts prohibited under the Genocide Convention, with the specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza.” Amnesty

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57:00

[Justin Lewis] Consumer Capitalism

AlternativeRadio ·

2025/01/02

Rene Descartes, the 17th-century French philosopher once said, “I think, therefore I am.” In today’s context, it may be more like, I buy therefore I am. Orchestrated wants driven by sophisticated advertising techniques have created a culture of consumption. Appetites for the latest hot things are manufactured. Media campaigns sell cool and sexy. Data are collected. People are profiled, and then targeted. Take cell phones. You have to get the latest one with all the new features. We can’t be left

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57:01

[Noam Chomsky] Taking Control of Our Lives

AlternativeRadio ·

2024/12/26

On the occasion of Noam Chomsky’s 96th birthday on December 7, we are honored to broadcast for the first time this classic recording of a talk he gave in Albuquerque in the year 2000. Many of the issues he addressed then remain salient today. Chomsky says that the right of sovereignty is fundamental to the task of taking control of our lives. He describes what citizens are up against as “an array of mega-corporations often linked to one another.”

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57:01

[Koohan Paik-Mander] Algorithms, Digital Technologies...

AlternativeRadio ·

2024/12/19

Algorithms are processes or sets of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by computer. Sounds innocuous enough. But hang on. It has a dark side. Algorithms can make mistakes due to biases, poor design, coding errors, or flawed assumptions. They can collect and process large amounts of personal data which can put people’s privacy rights at risk. There are lethal dangers. Koohan Paik-Mander warns the algorithms that missiles have spawned “have been a

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57:01

[Francesca Albanese] Anatomy of a Genocide: Gaza

AlternativeRadio ·

2024/12/12

Francesca Albanese of the UN says, “Gaza is now a wasteland of rubble, garbage and human remains.” And it may be worse than that. In the litany of crimes genocide is the most heinous. Omer Bartov, Brown University genocide scholar and former Israeli military officer in November 2023, a month after the October 7 attack on Israel said, “There is no proof that genocide is taking place in Gaza.” By May 2024 he said, “I no longer believe that. It was no longer possible to deny that Israel was engaged in

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57:01

[Naomi Klein] What Are We Going to Do?

AlternativeRadio ·

2024/12/05

The day after the Trump election, the New York Times wrote: “America stands on the precipice of an authoritarian style of governance never before seen in its 248-year-old history.” For many, the results of November 5th confirmed the view that we are in dark times. So, the big question is: what are we going to do? We can wallow in self-pity and depression, or we can find kindred spirits and organize and form alliances to not just resist the repression to come but promote progressive causes. As writer

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57:01

[P. Sainath] Gagging Democracy India-Style

AlternativeRadio ·

2024/11/28

India, the world's most populous country, is ruled by Narendra Modi who is the head of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the BJP. He first became prime minister in 2014 and has been reelected twice since though in 2024 with much lower margins. Before coming to power in Delhi he was chief minister of the state of Gujarat where he presided over a major massacre of Muslims. Modi and the BJP promote Hindutva, Hindu majoritarianism. It is laced with Islamophobia. Modi is allied with India’s billionaire class

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68 results

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