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FEATURING DEAN BAKER - On October 28, a month into the federal government shutdown, the United States Senate voted for the 13th time on a funding bill to reopen the government. Senate Republicans needed five more Democrats Senators to join them in order to pass the resolution but the opposition party has held firm–for now. 

Republican lawmakers and President Donald Trump want to strip government subsidies from health insurance premiums for plans obtained through the Affordable Care Act but Democrats are refusing. Meanwhile, in response to the deadlock, Americans enrolled under the ACA are already being notified of huge increases to their premiums, a real-time demonstration of the GOP’s desires. 

Trump and the Republican Party currently have no plan to control rising healthcare costs and early on, pivoted to making wild and false claims about Democrats holding out to preserve insurance coverage for undocumented people.

Dean Baker is a senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research and author of Rigged: How Globalization and the Rules of the Modern Economy Were Structured to Make the Rich Richer. He recently wrote a clear explanation of the shutdown and spoke with Sonali Kolhatkar about it.

ROUGH TRANSCRIPT:

Sonali Kolhatkar: I think it's so important for people to really be clear because they're getting such false information from the government. For example, if you go to the USDA's own website right now, at the very top is a banner that says “Senate Democrats have now voted 12 times to not fund the food stamp program, also known as SNAP. Bottom line: The well has run dry.” I mean, that's just the USDA. 

And of course, Republicans in the Senate are also making wild claims. They claim that health insurance premiums would rise no matter what. 

So, let's talk about what's really going on. What is it that Republicans want to do? What are they holding out for? 

Dean Baker: Well, there are two things going on here. One is that they do, as you had mentioned earlier, they wanted to basically gut the subsidies in the Affordable Care Act. They aren't gonna eliminate them altogether 'cause there were subsidies that were put into the act when was first passed back in 2010. 

The immediate issue are the expanded subsidies that were put in place under President Biden during the COVID period, which made it much more affordable, both for people at the low ends. You have a lot of people that, in states where they didn't expand Medicaid, where this allowed them to get coverage for free. And these are low-income people, say 130% of the poverty level. So even paying a hundred, $200 a month for insurance was a really big deal. That's what they faced before that. Those were part of the expanded subsidies, which the Republicans wanna eliminate. 

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FEATURING AHMAD ABUZNAID - Our nation and our world is overrun with billionaires and bigots, but they are few and we are many. On this series, exclusive to subscribers of Rising Up With Sonali and viewers of Free Speech TV, we’ll hear from organizers in the movements for social justice, and dig into the nuts and bolts of values, strategies, tactics, narratives, and building power. 

This week, our guest is Ahmad Abuznaid, the Executive Director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights and USCPR Action. Prior to joining USCPR, Ahmad co-founded the Florida-based Dream Defenders and went on to lead the National Network for Arab American Communities as the Executive Director from 2017 to 2019. He spoke with Sonali Kolhatkar about USCPR's work.

ROUGH TRANSCRIPT:

Sonali Kolhatkar: How do you summarize the work that USCPR does, including the main issue you work on, which of course is Palestine, but how do you summarize the, the, the entirety, if you will, of this issue and what you see as your organizational goals? 

Ahmad Abuznaid: Yeah, that's a great question. We are the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, and so the title gives you a bit of a sense of what we're about. But in reality, it's deeper than that because since we are in the middle of the United States of America, the biggest backer, the biggest arms provider, and the biggest diplomatic defender of the state of Israel, we actually as tax paying citizens here, have a burden. We have a duty, we have a responsibility, and we should be ending all military aid to the state of Israel. That is our stated mission. That is our stated goal. 

And we believe that that accomplishes two things. That ending of military support to the state of Israel would empower the Palestinian people to be in a greater position to determine our self-determination, our liberation, without the United States of America supporting and supplementing and financing Israel's occupation. 

But on the other hand, that also would put US taxpayers in a greater position to demand where we would like our taxpayer dollars going towards. You know, I think we often hear time and time again how social security benefits need to be cut because they're too expensive. Healthcare costs cannot be supplemented by the government because it's too expensive. We have infrastructure falling apart in this country. We have teacher salaries that we can't afford and schools that are closing down. 

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FEATURING AISHA COFFEY - Federal workers are in the midst of a second crisis. After being devastated by mass firings and furloughs from President Trump and Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the on-going government shutdown is now jeopardizing pay for those remaining on the payroll. 

The federal government employs millions of workers whose jobs entail upholding government services, public safety, enforcing regulations, distributing benefits and more. Now, a new series of shorts called I Do Solemnly Swear, features the voices of government workers pushing back. The series airs on Free Speech TV on Tuesday October 28 at 5 pm Pacific, 8 pm Eastern.

Aisha Coffey is a strategic communications consultant with over 15 years of experience at federal agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She is the spokesperson and Communications Director for Federal Workers Against DOGE, a grassroots organization representing more than 1,500 federal employees across over 50 agencies who are advocating for labor protections, effective government and the preservation of democracy. 

Aisha Coffey spoke with Sonali Kolhatkar about the dire situation facing federal workers and how they are speaking out and rising up.

ROUGH TRANSCRIPT:

Sonali Kolhatkar: Before we get to the series of shorts that is gonna air on Free Speech TV called, “I Do Solemnly Swear,” let's talk about what workers have been going through, broadly speaking. As I said, millions of workers are employed, and of those, give us a sense of how many have either been fired or furloughed? What are the numbers we're talking about here of people who work for us, who are impacted negatively by the current administration? 

Aisha Coffey: I gotta say that's a question we all would like to know the answer to. As you know, the administration came in with a bit of chaos, so we don't exactly have the real solid numbers. We've been unable to get those numbers from any agency even up until now. 

We've had to piece together the numbers from what we hear from federal workers from different agencies and, and outside entities that may be trying to keep a tally. By count, right now, the estimate that is that we've lost close to 50,000.

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FEATURING LEONARDO MARTINEZ - On October 16, just before 8 am, Leonardo Martinez, a volunteer with the immigrant rights group VC Defensa, was observing ICE agents in Oxnard, California. It’s something he’d been doing for a while. But this time, ICE agents, who were driving in an unmarked SUV, decided to take a violent turn and rammed Martinez’s pickup truck. 

Not only was Martinez injured during the incident and had to receive medical treatment, but taken into ICE custody and detained for a while at Metropolitan Detention Center in LA. Martinez is a US citizen. Now, he’s speaking out about his experience. 

Leonardo Martinez, volunteer and lead organizer with VC Defensa, an immigrant liberation organization and rapid response network based in Ventura County, California, spoke with Sonali Kolhatkar about his experience and how his group engages in community defense.

ROUGH TRANSCRIPT:

Sonali Kolhatkar: Welcome to the program, Leo.

Leonardo Martinez: Thank you very much. It's an honor to be on the show. I've been a fan for a very long time. I Appreciate it. 

Kolhatkar: Thank you for joining us. Tell me what it is you do before we get into what happened on October 16th. In fact, I'm speaking to you right now as you're sitting in what looks like a, a minivan and you're imagining in Oxnard, what is it that you have been doing in your capacity as a volunteer with VC Defensa? 

Martinez: Well, one of the, one of the things out of the many things that we do is what everybody saw. The video is where we go patrolling it to keep our community safe. 

But the truth is that the bulk of our time goes into what I'm doing right now, accompanying people to meetings, appointments that they have with immigration. We do a ton of family support. When somebody's detained, we put money on their books. We get our lawyers to support them and focus on getting them out on bail. We have taken kids to the border to reconnect with their family members. We have had to do a whole host of things, because rarely when somebody gets detained, is that the only problem that the family has to face? Right? 

So, we have to deal with everything from car mechanical issues all the way over to taking kids to school and transporting people. There's older folks that we gotta take care of sometimes. So, we really try to do as much as we can to support the families, while at the same time, another huge portion of our responsibilities as an organization is doing a ton of… they're called “know your rights” meetings, I guess, in jest. But the reality of it is that we go so much deeper than that. 

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FEATURING NO KINGS ATTENDEES, LOS ANGELES - Organizers of the October 18 No Kings rally expected five million people to attend about 2,600 gatherings across the United States in a show of opposition to President Donald Trump’s regime.

In Southern California, where this program is based, numerous local gatherings took place, and today as part of our on-going series, Rising Up in the Streets, I bring you a report from Hollywood and downtown LA where a cross section of attendees grappled with the state of the government and their vision for the future of the nation.

ROUGH TRANSCRIPT:

Sonali Kolhatkar: I'm Sonali Kolhatkar, reporting from the No Kings Rally in downtown Los Angeles. It's actually the tail end of the rally. And I was here among thousands of people at Gloria Molina Park right in front of Los Angeles City Hall, where a very, very diverse crowd of people was gathered, reflecting Los Angeles's demographics, but also an interesting political spectrum ranging from people who are aligned with a Democratic party all the way to folks who want a democratic socialist revolution, folks that were wearing kuffiyahs to express their solidarity with Palestine, as well as people who were expressing solidarity with protestors in Portland through large animal costumes, inflatable animal costumes. 

And generally, there was an air of joy and also rage. And so here are some of the interviews that I gathered. I also went to Hollywood on the corner of Vermont and Hollywood where there was a gathering on a street corner, a very, very large gathering on a street corner with signs encouraging people to honk their horns. And there are, are some of the conversations that I had with people on the October 18th, No Kings Day. 

Kim: My name is Kim. I am from Hollywood. And the reason I'm here today is so many reasons. Where to start? The fact that, you know, we have a person in the White House who is a narcissist, a sexual predator, and he just wants power for himself. 

He doesn't care about the American people. He talks about this being a “Hate the America” rally when he's the one that actually hates this country and he's trying to tear us all apart, tear down our infrastructure, our democracy, and everything that makes this country great. 

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FEATURING CHAUMTOLI HUQ - Our nation and our world is overrun with billionaires and bigots, but they are few and we are many. On this series, exclusive to subscribers of Rising Up With Sonali and viewers of Free Speech TV, we’ll hear from organizers in the movements for social justice, and dig into the nuts and bolts of values, strategies, tactics, narratives, and building power. 

This week, we’re joined by Chaumtoli Huq, founder and editor of Law@theMargins, a law and media nonprofit that amplifies the perspectives of those marginalized by our legal and broader political and economic systems. 

ROUGH TRANSCRIPT:

Sonali Kolhatkar: So, we talk to people who are involved in organizations that are very big and very small, and although I understand that your organization has been around for nearly a decade, it is a nimble and small organization. How do you summarize the work that it does, to a national audience, and the main issues that you work on, your organizational goals, if you will?

Chaumtoli Huq: Yes, absolutely. So, you're absolutely right. We've been a nonprofit organization at the intersection of law and media and policy for about a decade. We are primarily a volunteer-driven organization, membership-based, working closely with organizations and individuals who are at the front lines of justice. 

And so, through our work over the years, we've conducted trainings, webinars. We've done, sort of, original reporting on social justice issues such as immigration, housing, national security around global issues, such as around Palestinian liberation, Rohingya genocide. And we have done this through a number of formats, through curated conversations, through original reporting.

And primarily, the role is to provide a counter narrative to some of the established sort of ideas around laws and the legal system and politics. And the goal is, by shifting the narratives, we're able to actually have an impact on the policies. And that's primarily has been our work for the last decade. 

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FEATURING GLO SAHAY - In June 2025, hundreds of thousands of people mobilized in cities around the United States rejecting the idea of modern-day monarchy under the Trump administration. Now, on October 18th, in an event that will be televised on Free Speech TV, a second so-called “No Kings” mobilization promises to be even more wide ranging than the first. 

Glo Sahay is an experienced organizer and IT Professional who ten years ago campaigned for Bernie Sanders and also organized around the Flint water crisis. She founded Political Revolution when the Sanders’ campaign ended and helps to support progressive grassroots candidates nationwide. Her organization helps provide infrastructure support to 50501. Sahay spoke with Sonali Kolhatkar about the October 18th mobilization.

ROUGH TRANSCRIPT:

Sonali Kolhatkar: So, I covered the No Kings Rally here in Southern California where I'm based on Los Angeles. And out of curiosity, I went to the No Kings website to see where the LA event would be happening on Saturday. And what I found was overwhelming, literally every city, every town in Southern California, no matter how big or small is having a No Kings mobilization. Some have multiple mobilizations. This definitely seems, at least here where I'm based, much bigger. Give me a sense of the scope of the second No Kings rally and how it compares to what we saw in June of this year. 

Glo Sahay: Absolutely. So right now, we have over 2,500 events which is very nearly close to double of how many events we had on June 14th. In addition to that we have events in almost every single congressional county. There's only 15 in which we do not have events. So, and in terms of RSVPs we are receiving close to 40,000 RSVPs daily. So, this is going to be an extremely momentous event. 

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FEATURING OMAR ZAHZAH - After two long and horrific years, a relentless Israeli bombing campaign centered on a genocidal project of erasing Palestinians in Gaza, has been put on hold. A ceasefire agreement enabled the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian hostages, in exchange for about 20 Israeli hostages–a mathematical ratio that starkly symbolizes the dehumanization of Palestinians. 

It’s not just physical attacks and erasure that Palestinians have been subject to, but, as Omar Zahzah suggests in a new book, “digital settler colonialism.” 

Zahzah is a writer, poet, organizer of Lebanese Palestinian descent, and Assistant Professor of Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas (AMED) Studies at San Francisco State University. He is the author of Terms of Servitude: Zionism, Silicon Valley, and Digital Settler Colonialism in the Palestine Liberation Struggle. He spoke with Sonali Kolhatkar about the ceasefire agreement and his new book.

ROUGH TRANSCRIPT:

Sonali Kolhatkar: Before we talk about what's happening in your and what you write about, rather in your book, let's discuss the big news since late last week in what seems to have been a desperate bid to win the Nobel Peace Prize, President Donald Trump basically pushed Benjamin Netanyahu into doing what he and Joe Biden could have pushed him to do for two long years, which is to basically have a ceasefire. 

And I'm wondering if you have any opinions on the way in which the ceasefire is being talked about in the media. It's being seen as this big diplomatic coup for Trump, and it is also being seen as the end of something really, really terrible and the beginning of something bright and beautiful and wonderful. How do you view it? 

Omar Zahzah: That's… it's an important question and I think we need to sort of remind ourselves that what we've witnessed for the past two years is the problem of an unchecked colonial expansionist project being allowed to inflict its violence and devastation with total impunity. 

And so, that essential formulation, I don't think is gonna drastically change. Now, I hope that a ceasefire would result in a paradigm shift, but you really cannot have a substantive paradigm shift unless you actually have international pressure being applied to the Israeli state, which, although we've seen, you know, Trump, and there's been a lot of reporting of his dissatisfaction, you know, his anger at Netanyahu, the kinds of international pressure that needed to be applied against Israel in light of what it has done, which is a genocide and only the most recent genocide in terms of the Palestinian context, is strikingly low. 

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FEATURING RANJANI PRABHAKAR - Our nation and our world is overrun with billionaires and bigots, but they are few and we are many. On this series, exclusive to subscribers of Rising Up With Sonali and viewers of Free Speech TV, we’ll hear from organizers in the movements for social justice, and dig into the nuts and bolts of values, strategies, tactics, narratives, and building power. 

This week, Ranjani Prabhakar, Legislative Director of Earthjustice's Healthy Communities program, joins us. She is an environmental policy leader, musician, and educator, based in Washington, DC. In her work with Earthjustice, Ranjani leads a team of lobbyists dedicated to advancing legislative and advocacy strategies at the nexus of public health and the environment, ensuring peoples' rights to clean air, clean water, and toxic-free communities. She is also the founder of the Mycelia Arts Lab, an incubator for climate storytelling and creative expression as a means to drive change. 

ROUGH TRANSCRIPT:

Sonali Kolhatkar: So first, tell us specifically what Earthjustice does. It is clearly a climate justice organization, and it has something to do with legal victories, legal battles, but for those among us who don't know much more than that, how do you explain it? 

Ranjani Prabhakar: So, Earthjustice is the country's largest nonprofit environmental law organization. We go to court on behalf of communities, tribes, organizations, at no cost to them, to fight for clean air, safe water, healthy ecosystems and a thriving climate. 

Many folks might hear our slogan become very popular, “The earth needs a good lawyer,” and that is sort of the bread and butter of what we do, sort of wielding the power of the law, on behalf of our clients pro bono. 

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FEATURING S. A. BACHMAN AND BASMAN ALDIRAWI - On this second anniversary of the Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, we’ll take a look at the cultural resistance, Palestinian and American. In a new book, Art of Defiance: Protest Graphics and Poetry for Palestine, editor S. A. Bachman brings together verse in English and Arabic from the likes of Susan Abulhawa, Refaat Alareer, and Saul Williams.

The book, whose proceeds benefit the families of those poets who have been killed, as well as Palestinian aid and justice organizations, is a physical work and also an e-book. Its art is designed to be printed up as protest posters.

Sonali Kolhatkar spoke with S.A. Bachman, editor of Art of Defiance, and an artist, activist, and educator, and Basman Aldirawi, speaking from Cairo, Egypt. Aldirawi is a Palestinian physiotherapist, writer and poet from Gaza whose work is featured in Art of Defiance. He has contributed dozens of stories and poems to the online platform We Are Not Numbers and other outlets including ArabLit, Mondoweiss and Vivamost. He is also co-author of the book, Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire, and the Arabic poetry anthology; Gaza, the land of poetry.

ROUGH TRANSCRIPT:

Sonali Kolhatkar: Let me start with you, S. A. This very, very grim two-year anniversary is an opportunity for us to talk about not only what's happening in Gaza, but about the cultural resistance, artistic resistance to it. S. A., start with the description of your book, the Art of Resistance, how did you put this together? Who is involved? You have a collection of basically poetry and visuals, right? 

S. A. Bachman: Correct. And the book was initially inspired by two directors from the Freedom Theater, which is in the West Bank. And they once said that the third Intifada would be fought not just in the streets, but through theater, through music, through visual art and through poetry. 

So, I felt like I had to use the skills that I have to do something, to push back, and I didn't feel that dissent was optional, it was compulsory. So, I began to reach out and start to talk to some poets, and one thing led to another, and each poet led me to another poet. 

And I ended up with an incredible collection of both young poets from Gaza and then a handful of very well-known poets. And then that poetry is juxtaposed with protest posters that I've done since October 2023, as well as other kinds of documentation that are specific to this genocide. 

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