Mickey Huff hosts this week’s program.This week on the program, we celebrate Independent Media and press freedom with Izzy Fest 2026 and the 18th annual Izzy Award named after the legendary muckraker, I.F. Stone. First up, we have documentary filmmaker Abby Martin of Empire Files who is sharing the Izzy Award this year for her documentary “Earth’s Greatest Enemy” about how the Pentagon is the world’s greatest polluter and why we must all act to reverse the global damage caused by US military. Next up Izzy judge and professor Victor Pickard discusses the state of our free press, the challenges journalists face from the current administration, and how independent media can light the way to a more informed and just world. 

Notes: 

Abby Martin is an independent journalist, filmmaker, and host of The Empire Files. She is the director of the 2019 documentary Gaza Fights for Freedom and the 2026 documentary Earths Greatest Enemy.Victor Pickard is the C. Edwin Baker Professor of Media Policy and Political Economy at the Annenberg School for Communication, where he co-directs the Media, Inequality & Change (MIC) Center.