Award-winning journalist and author Karim Zidan joins CounterPunch to discuss his work at SportsPolitika, where he covers the intersection of politics and sports, money and power. Host Eric Draitser chats with Zidan about the dark side of the World Cup, from its fascist roots to its decades-long support for right-wing dictatorships. They also cover Zidan’s early work covering the rise of MMA and the far-right fascist culture that has grown up around it. From UFC at the White House to Saudi money buying off Egyptian football clubs, Zidan helps shine a light on the real stories behind the sports and entertainment.

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On this episode of CounterPunch Radio, Tori Tsui talks with Karim Ali, co-founder of the Gaza Sunbirds. Karim Ali is a Palestinian award-winning community organiser and co-founder of the Gaza Sunbirds – a para-cycling team of Palestinian amputee athletes.

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Award-winning journalist and author Barrett Brown returns to CounterPunch Radio to discuss the critical period before 2016 when online activism emerged, fusing with political movements and bringing down regimes. During that time, Brown became the public face of Anonymous and the burgeoning transparency movement, which led to the US Government targeting him and his eventual imprisonment. Learn the inside story of the hacking efforts, which powerful individuals and entities were exposed, how Brown and his colleagues began to unravel the complex web of relationships at the heart of the modern private military-industrial-intelligence complex, and how the State fought back. Listen and learn about the manufactured identities, the formation of the alt-right on 4chan, what was confirmed in the Epstein Files, and more.

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CounterPunch explores the upcoming UFC White House spectacle and the Hollywood, DC, and Gulf power brokers at the nexus of US politics, sports and entertainment. Host Eric Draitser welcomes veteran combat sports journalist Nate Wilcox, Editor-in-Chief of The MMA Draw, to the show to discuss the White House event, the mythology around Trump’s relationship with the UFC and Dana White, the role of Ari Emanuel and TKO Group in monopolizing combat sports and playing all sides of the power structure, the Gulf monarchies and their projection of soft power, the overlap between entertainment, finance, and geopolitics, and so much more.

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In this episode of CounterPunch Radio, Rebecca Maria Goldschmidt speaks with Dr. Nadine Ortega, co-founder of Tagnawa Hawai’i, about grassroots mutual aid disaster recovery. Dr. Ortega breaks down the socio-economic and historical conditions that have led to the recent Kona Low flooding on O’ahu and the 2023 Lahaina, Maui fires, which have disproportionately affected Native Hawaiian, Filipino, and other immigrant communities. She shares stories about the importance of cross-class and interethnic organizing when state-run disaster response fails.

Visit Tagnawa.org for more information.

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Journalist Arun Gupta returns to CounterPunch Radio to discuss the state of the left, antiwar politics, and much more. Arun talks to host Eric Draitser and provides his analysis of the No Kings movement and how leftists should understand it, as well as a retrospective of the antiwar movements around Iraq and Vietnam. He explores the importance of physical community and organization using the example of New York’s Lower East Side, where he resides. The conversation also touches on the Left’s historic role in countering the hegemonic view of global affairs. A devoted leftist, Marxist, investigative journalist, chef, and food tour guide, Arun Gupta always brings incisive analysis and thoughtful critique to CounterPunch.

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On this episode of CounterPunch Radio, Erik Wallenberg and Joshua Frank sit down with Gilbert Achcar to discuss Israel, Palestine, Iran, Lebanon, and the most botched US war ever.

Gilbert Achcar is Emeritus Professor at SOAS, University of London. He is the author of many books, most recently, The Gaza Catastrophe: The Genocide in World-Historical Perspective.

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On this episode of CounterPunch Radio, host Tori Tsui talks to Sean Adams, founder of Drowned in Sound. Tori and Sean talk about Spotify, AI, militarism, capitalism, independent music, how we can harness music’s power for social change, and much more.

Founded in 2000 by Sean Adams, the UK-based Drowned in Sound has evolved from a music website into a podcast and newsletter-focused platform covering indie, electronic, and alternative music, featuring news, reviews, interviews, and community forums.

Tori Tsui is an environmental activist, author, and climate advisor originally from Hong Kong. She is a senior advisor for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty and a campaigner for the Stop Rosebank coalition. Her work has been featured in British Vogue, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, and Elle. She lives in Bristol, UK.

Be sure to check out Tori’s new book, It’s Not Just You: How to Navigate Eco-Anxiety and the Climate Crisis, just out from The New Press.

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On this episode of CounterPunch Radio, Joshua Frank and Erik Wallenberg are joined by Thomas Zeitzoff to talk about his new book, No Option But Sabotage: The Radical Environmental Movement and the Climate Crisis. 

No Option But Sabotage explores how far activists are willing to go to defend the planet in the face of repression and the escalating climate crisis.

Thomas Zeitzoff is a professor in the School of Public Affairs at American University. His research focuses on political violence, social media, and political psychology. He is also the author of Nasty Politics: The Logic of Insults, Threats, and Incitement.

You can find the debate between Murray Bookchin and Dave Foreman discussed in this episode here.

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On this episode of Counterpunch Radio, Rebecca Maria Goldschmidt speaks with Dr. Shahd Abusalama, Palestinian academic, writer, and artist, born and raised in Jabalia Refugee Camp, in northern Gaza. Shahd discusses her book, Between Reality and Documentary: A Historical Representation of Gaza Refugees in Colonial, Humanitarian and Palestinian Documentary Film, published in 2025 by Bloomsbury and SOAS Palestine Studies, and reflects on her recent book and film tour in Japan. Recorded during the opening days of the recent War on Iran, Shahd reflects on the ramifications of the war for Gaza, historical lessons from her time in Hiroshima, and her image of what true liberation could look like for the Palestinian people.

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