A Public Affair

Madison was in the national limelight after the shooting at Abundant Life Christian School last December, in which a student and teacher were killed. Then, earlier this month, President Trump pardoned around 1500 insurrectionists, some of whom face illegal gun charges. Today’s guest, Will Van Sant, is an investigative reporter covering gun violence and gun laws, and he puts these events in context with each other. 

Van Sant says that though Trump has yet to take any particular action on gun regulation, it is expected that he will follow the gun lobby in deregulating guns or weakening the federal agencies that uphold or enforce existing gun laws and regulations, like the Department of Defense or the ATF.

Van Sant’s latest article for Mother Jones, he traces the influence of one evangelical church leader, Dale Sutherland, who founded the Constitutional Defense Fund which works to strike down firearms laws. From 2020 to 2022, the CDF funneled almost $10 million to gun rights groups and a DC Law firm, Cooper and Kirk, a prestige advocate for a number of conservative causes. That firm has filed at least 21 lawsuits since then that challenge gun restrictions, reports Van Sant.

Will Van Sant is a staff writer at The Trace. His reporting focuses on the gun lobby and related topics. Previously, he spent seven years on the investigative reporting team at Newsday, chronicling the cronyism, self-enrichment, and abuses of power endemic to government and law enforcement in New York. 

Featured image of firearms seized by law enforcement via Wikimedia Commons.

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We’re two weeks into a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which so far has allowed half a million displaced people to return to what’s left of their homes in the northern Gaza Strip. The first phase of the ceasefire involves an exchange of hostages and prisoners, hundreds of humanitarian aid trucks a day, and the retreat of Israeli forces from populated areas.

Negotiations on stages two and three of the ceasefire still have yet to come. Phase two would  bring discussions on a more durable ceasefire, more hostage exchanges, and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces. Phase three would bring the return of all remaining bodies of dead hostages, and a reconstruction of Gaza. The details, though, have yet to be ironed out. And that’s why this agreement, says analyst Mouin Rabbani, has been described as fragile.

But despite the deal, Israel has engaged in an almost daily violation of the ceasefire — from bombings to air raids to systemic demolition, and a refusal to withdraw from Lebanese territory daily. “That situation, I think, is a lot more combustible than the Gaza Strip,” says Rabbani, a frequent guest on this program who returns today.  As Dropsite News reports, Israel has continued its scorched earth campaign during the ceasefire, killing over 80 Palestinians in a 24-hour period.

Rabbani and Ruff spend the hour dissecting the ceasefire — its unique timing on the day before Trump took office, what could change now that Biden is out of the picture, and how the agreement could be derailed.

About the guest:

 Mouin Rabbani is an expert on Palestinian affairs, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the contemporary Middle East. He’s currently a Non-Resident Fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies.

Rabbani is co-editor of the e-magazine Jadaliyya and a Contributing Editor to the Middle East Report. He’s written widely and provided expert analysis to a variety of international and US national press, including Al-Jazeera, The Nation, and Democracy Now!.

He’s host of the Connections podcast and his forthcoming book, from OR Books, is titled Gaza Apocalypse: Causes and Consequences. You can follow him on X @MouinRabbani.

Remixed image courtesy rajatonvimma /// VJ Group Random Doctors, licensed under CC 2.0 

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Our two guests today take a holistic view of Black men’s health, from physical to mental health.  After being diagnosed with diabetes, Aaron Peery took up the challenge of competing in an Ironman competition as a way to prioritize his own physical health. But this activity transformed his life beyond his physical health; it taught him to trust other people to help him achieve what he didn’t trust himself to achieve. 

Dr. Alvin Thomas shares his professional knowledge about mental and behavioral health. He challenges his patients to take small steps like going outside for a walk around the block. Perry and Dr. Thomas both say that it’s important for men to find other men to share their struggles with. Host Ali Muldrow, Perry, and Dr. Thomas trade tips for how to get outside even when the weather makes people retreat inside or when other factors make it unsafe for folks to be outside.

They also discuss the stereotype of Black athleticism and masculinity, the vulnerability it takes to do something new and challenging, and being open about being in therapy. The conversation happens in the context of racism and inequities in healthcare for Black people. When Perry competed in the Ironman, the average lifespan of a Black man in Dane County in 2008 was 51 years. The national average is 67, still half a decade less than white people nationally, and these numbers are driven by medical negligence, infant mortality, and more. 

Aaron Perry is the CEO and Founder of Rebalanced-Life Wellness Association. In his work as a community health advocate for Black men he draws on his own experience of building trust with the medical community. He is also an avid runner and was the first African American diabetic man to complete the Ironman competition in 16 hours, 35 minutes and 37 seconds.

Dr. Alvin Thomas is a clinical psychologist and Associate Professor of Human Development & Family Studies at UW-Madison. He researches ethnic identity, father-son engagement and relationships, and mental health in men and boys. He shares his insight on the Black Fathers’ Pulse Podcast.

Featured image of Aaron Perry and Dr. Alvin Thomas.

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On today’s show we hear from personal finance author and journalist, Dana Miranda, on how to live a “budget-free” life. Guest host Richelle Wilson speaks to Miranda about her new book, You Don’t Need a Budget.

For those of us who aren’t billionaires, wealthy, or even middle class, the standard advice on money management is irrelevant. The prevailing advice is to get more money and keep it. And to do this you must be restrictive, disciplined, and always feel guilty for having “wants.” This is how the logic of capitalism shows up in personal money management discussions, and it tends to focus on individual blame, shame, and greed.

But as Mirnada’s reporting has shown, the approaches to personal budgets and “budgeting culture” are ineffective and create more financial stress than alleviate it. The dominance of Dave Ramsey still teaches people there’s no room for enjoying or even finding ease in the present, every money move we make must be “optimized” for our future self.

Miranda advises how to unlearn these ideas about money and become empowered to redefine “financial responsibility.” The two discuss how to develop a “yes” fund as a “joyful” approach to money management, how banks and credit card companies profit off our need, and the challenges of repaying student loans.  For those of us who are “money misfits,” (people left out of the majority of personal finance conversations–women, queer, disabled, Black folks, etc.)  Miranda has reassurance and advice that includes turning to lending circles and mutual aid.

Dana Miranda is a personal finance author and journalist, and a Certified Educator in Personal Finance (CEPF). She’s been writing about personal finance as a staffer, freelancer, author, and creator since 2015, sharing her innovative budget-free approach, which recognizes the ways financial education fails to meet the needs of marginalized folks and shifts the conversation toward a better relationship with money for everyone Miranda is the creator of Healthy Rich, a newsletter about how capitalism impacts the ways we think, teach, and talk about money; she’s the expert behind the nationally-syndicated “Dear Penny” financial advice column; and she’s a contributor to Business Insider, Fortune, Salon, and more.

Featured image via Dana Miranda.

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From the closing of the 157-year-old Leinenkugel’s flagship taproom in Chippewa Falls to the closure of small taprooms like Herbiery in Madison, our guest today, Chris Drosner, takes stock of the state of the craft beer industry in Wisconsin. In his recent “Year in Review” for the Wisconsin State Journal, he says that closures are outpacing openings. The craft beer industry bubble was bound to burst, and this, says Drosner, places it more in line with standards in other industries. Some people feel very connected to specific beers and this can drive sales, but at the same time, cultural shifts away from craft beer mean that more people are drinking less these days.

Drosner gives us a peek behind the curtain of the big beer industry and shines light on the local breweries where you may actually be able to meet the person who makes your Czech pilsner. Drosner and host Douglas Haynes also talk about the history of brewing in Wisconsin, the difficulty of sourcing local ingredients, and labor issues in brewing today, including the lack of traction around unionizing. Meanwhile, earlier this month the US Surgeon General issued a new advisory on the link between alcohol and cancer risk. 

Chris Drosner, aka, the Beer Baron is Executive Editor at Milwaukee Magazine, beer writer for the Wisconsin State Journal, and Editorial Director of the Badger Beer Report.

Featured image via Wikimedia Commons.

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On today’s show, guest host Sara Gabler speaks with two Washington Post journalists about their investigation into deaths at Indian boarding schools from 1828-1970. In 2021 the US Interior Departments released a report initiated by Secretary Deb Haaland that documented that more than 400 schools existed, and it was the first report ever to do this. 11 boarding schools operated in Wisconsin.

Dana Hedgpeth and Sari Horwitz, along with a team of reporters, scholars, and photographers, built on the federal report and set out to document how many children died or were sexually abused in these schools. They found that 3,104 students died of diseases, malnutrition, hard labor, and accidents. The history professor, Margaret Jacobs, called the schools “death traps.” Another scholar, Preston McBride, said the large number of deaths “were tolerated as acceptable collateral damage in the government’s larger push to eradicate Indians and confiscate their lands.”

Hedgpeth and Horwitz also discuss the communication of Leonard Peltier this week and describe the exhumation and homecoming of three children–Almeda Heavy Hari, John Bull, and Bishop Shield–who died and were buried at the Carlisle Indian School. 

Dana Hedgpeth is a Native American journalist who has been at The Washington Post for 25 years. She is an enrolled member of the Haliwa-Saponi Tribe of North Carolina. At The Post, she has covered topics including Native Americans and their history, along with stories of Indian boarding school survivors, plus Pentagon spending, the U.S. defense industry, the D.C. Metro’s rail and bus systems, local governments, and courts. 

Sari Horwitz is an investigative reporter who covers criminal justice issues for The Washington Post. Horwitz has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize four times. In 2002, she shared the Pulitzer for investigative reporting for a series exposing the District of Columbia’s role in the neglect and deaths of 229 children placed in protective care. The series prompted an overhaul of the child welfare system and a new wing of D.C. Superior Court for children and families. 

Featured image of a group of students in front of the school buildings of Washakada Indian Residential School, Elkhorn, Manitoba, circa 1900 via Wikimedia Commons.

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On today’s show, host Allen Ruff speaks with Jennifer Loewenstein about the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and the details of the agreement. Loewenstein discusses the phases of the agreement and what has yet to be agreed upon as well as how the Trump administration and the President’s foreign policy picks will affect the ceasefire’s efficacy. President Trump’s nominees for various foreign policy positions are what Loewenstein describes as “Christian Zionists” who will apply “biblical mythology to our foreign policy.” 

Loewenstein describes the history of destruction in Palestine,  colonialism in the region, and her own personal experiences of trying to report in the Gaza Strip and her sense of safety in Gaza compared to Israel. 

Beyond the ability of people in Gaza to once again access food, clean water, and electricity, Loewenstein does not have much hope for the durability of the ceasefire agreement, though she is pleased to see that the movement for Palestine is growing in the United States.

Jennifer Loewenstein is a former Senior Lecturer & Assistant Director of Middle East Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the 2010 recipient of the Rachel Corrie Award. She is currently the Special Correspondent on Middle East affairs at KPFT Radio/San Francisco.

Photo courtesy of khalid kwaik on Unsplash

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On today’s show guest host David Aherns speaks with Stephanie Luce about her new book, co-written with Deepak Bhargava, Practical Radicals: Seven Strategies to Change the World. Luce describes organizing as an ecosystem of strategies instead of a zero sum game of winners and losers. She follows the example of past campaigns like the abolitionist movement and the Occupy movement. The book came out a class Luce and Bhargava teach to labor organizers across the country, and Luce says that protests need organization and that practicing collective care is a key part of good organizing strategy. 

Ahrens asks Luce about the language she and Bhargava use in the book of overdogs and underdogs. Luce says that overdogs are hard to define but commonly those who have the power to maintain the status quo. The work of organizers is to understand who is the overdo, how to break apart their coalitions, and identifying who might be collaborators.  

Stephanie Luce is Professor of Labor Studies at the School of Labor and Urban Studies, and Professor of Sociology at the Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY). She received her BA in economics at the University of California, Davis and both her PhD in sociology and her MA in industrial relations from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Best known for her research on living wage campaigns and movements, she is the author of Fighting for a Living Wage, and co-author of The Living Wage: Building a Fair Economy, and The Measure of Fairness. She is also author of Labor Movements: Global Perspectives. Her latest book, co-authored with Deepak Bhargava, is Practical Radicals: Seven Strategies to Change the World.

Featured image via The New Press.

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The relationship between Mexico and the United States is one of the most dynamic and multidimensional relationships of our time, says guest host Carlos Dávalos. He is in conversation with Dr. Lucía Melgar about the history of this relationship and key issues in the present like security and the economy as well as stories that the US media doesn’t focus on.

Throughout the conversation, Dávalos and Melgar insist that migrants have a net positive impact on the US economy and culture. Migrants pay taxes and contribute to Social Security and other benefits programs that they cannot access. “We need to change the view of what migration means, it’s not a threat,” says Dr. Melgar. 

However, as President Donald Trump takes office, migrants are already being targeted, and programs like the CBP One program were abruptly canceled, leaving thousands of migrants in limbo.

Dávalos and Melgar discuss the bilateral history of both countries beginning with the Mexican-American War in the nineteenth century and up to the 1994 trade agreement, NAFTA, which further remade the economic ties between the two countries. In 2018, that treaty was revised into the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. It will be renegotiated next year. 

Dr. Lucía Melgar is an activist for women’s rights and a distinguished cultural critic and professor of Literature and Gender Studies, whose extensive research on feminicide and violence against women in Mexico has shaped discussions on gender-based violence both nationally and internationally. With a PhD in Hispanic Literature and an MA in History from the University of Chicago, she co founded the informal organization Académicas en Acción Crítica (Academics for Critical Action) which has aimed to establish dialogues between academia and NGOs and to promote women’s rights, especially sexual and reproductive rights, and to stop machista violence, especially femicide.

Featured image by Brian Auer/Flickr.

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Host Esty Dinur has been speaking with Project Censored editors since 1997. Our guests today, Mickey Huff and Shealeigh Voitl, talk about how the media landscape has changed and how Project Censored has adapted to the digital world, news deserts, conglomeration and more. They say critical media literacy is essential to democracy and a pillar of the work they do at Project Censored, including in their new book, State of the Free Press 2025. 

The cover of the State of the Free Press 2025 is a revisioning of the famed painting of “Washington Crossing the Delaware.” It depicts a belief in American exceptionalism and how independent media focus on what the corporate media fails to address. Specifically, Huff and Voitl discuss the way that the mainstream press distorts coverage of the genocide in Gaza through what Project Censored calls “news abuse,” which is reporting on important issues but distorting or misframing that issue. Huff says that when this happens, “today’s fake news becomes tomorrow’s fake history.” 

They also talk about LA wildfires and climate change reporting, Secretary Blinken’s press conference yesterday, and the proposed TikTok ban, and stories of hope and resistance in Project Censored’s top 25 list. 

Mickey Huff is the director of Project Censored and president of the nonprofit Media Freedom Foundation. Since fall of 2024, he is also the Distinguished Director of the Park Center for Independent Media and Professor of Journalism at the Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College. To date, Huff has co-edited sixteen annual Project Censored books and has co-authored several other books on critical media literacy, media studies, and news censorship. He is the founding executive producer and co-host of the syndicated weekly public affairs program, The Project Censored Show, on Pacifica Radio and sits on the editorial board of The Censored Press.

Shealeigh Voitl is Project Censored’s digital and print editor. In addition to her editorial contributions to the yearbook series and work with the Campus Affiliates Program, Shealeigh helped develop the State of the Free Press 2024 teaching guide and the Project’s “Critical Media Literacy in Action” social media series. Her writing has also been featured in Truthout, The Progressive, and Ms. Magazine. She lives in Chicago.

Featured image via Project Censored.

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