The Socialist Program

The Summit of the Americas being held next month in Los Angeles is shaping up to be a humiliation for the Biden administration. In response to the United States’ attempt to exclude Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua from the gathering, leaders in Bolivia, Mexico and Caribbean states plan to boycott. And activists in Los Angeles along with others throughout the country and the hemisphere are planning a People’s Summit for Democracy as a counter-event to demand an end to U.S. aggression against Latin America and highlight the people’s struggles against injustice inside the United States itself.

Brian is joined by Manolo De Los Santos, the co-executive director of The People’s Forum in New York, and a longtime popular educator.

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram.  We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you  consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more  are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

On today's episode Brian Becker and Prof. Richard  Wolff discuss the shortage of infant formula and how the capitalist  economy isn't structured to take into consideration the survival needs  even of babies.

Professor  Richard Wolff is an author & co-founder of the organization  Democracy at Work. You can find his work at rdwolff.com.

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram.  We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you  consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more  are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

On today's In the News roundtable, Brian Becker, Esther Iverem, and Nicole Roussell discuss the racist massacre in Buffalo, New York over the weekend, journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli forces and despite being an American the United States hasn’t responded,  Finland and Sweden are nearly set to join NATO, and more.

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

How does China view the war in Ukraine? Brian Becker and Tings Chak discuss China’s foreign policy and how Chinese leaders are grappling with the world situation as it is transformed by the war. They also deal with the state of China’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S.-instigated tensions over Taiwan, and more. 

Brian is joined by Tings Chak, a researcher at Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research and a member of the Dongsheng News collective. 

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

On today's episode Walter Smolarek and Prof. Richard Wolff discuss how the Federal Reserve raised interest rates at the highest rate in over 20 years, signaling a major shift in policy as it attempts to tackle the spiraling inflation crisis. But will this maneuver work? Or is it likely to instead spark a new recession?

Professor Richard Wolff is an author & co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work. You can find his work at rdwolff.com.

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram.  We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you  consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more  are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

On today's In the News roundtable, Esther Iverem, Nicole Roussell and  Walter Smolarek discuss how protesters took to the streets all  throughout the last week in cities and towns across the country in  outraged response to the Supreme Court’s draft ruling overturning  Roe v. Wade – which was heroically leaked to the public before it was  finalized. The panel also discusses the latest updates on the war in  Ukraine, elections in the Philippines and Northern Ireland, Amazon being  challenged in the halls of Congress, and more.

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram.  We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you  consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more  are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

As the United States escalates the war in Ukraine by sending another $33 billion, the possibility of nuclear war is coming into focus. Brian and Greg Mello discuss how the U.S. policy of waging proxy war on Russia via Ukraine raises the threat of a direct confrontation between the two nuclear-armed powers. What is the United States’ strategy in this nuclear game of chicken and what are the dangers of nuclear war?

Greg Mello is co-founder and Executive Director of the Los Alamos Study Group.

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram.  We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you  consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more  are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

On today's episode Brian Becker and Prof. Richard  Wolff discuss the global food crisis that is taking shape with major  price rises already being felt around the world – a grave situation that  is expected to deepen.  As the war in Ukraine drags on and as the western countries attempt to  cut Russia off from the global economy, disruptions to supply chains and  shortages are becoming even more severe. The global capitalist market  is yet again proving to be incapable of ensuring  something as basic as food to the world’s population.

Professor Richard Wolff is an author & co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work. You can find his work at rdwolff.com.

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram.  We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you  consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more  are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

On today's In the News roundtable, Brian Becker, Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek discuss how the Biden administration is preparing by far the biggest package of military aid yet for Ukraine. With hardly any debate, Congress is ready to approve sending $20 billion of weapons to Ukraine on top of $13 billion in additional financial support for the government – a point driven home by Nancy Pelosi’s surprise trip to Kiev. The panel also discusses the continuing rollback of pandemic relief programs, the fight to defend abortion rights, demands for student loan debt relief, and more.

The following articles are referenced in this episode:

The U.S. Should Show It Can Win a Nuclear War

The Means-Test Con

[This episode was recorded Monday (May 2nd 2022) late afternoon prior to the news that the Supreme Court majority had voted to overturn Roe V. Wade and extinguish women’s fundamental right to control their own body. Starting last night and throughout today, and in the coming days, there will be mass protests in the streets throughout the United States.]

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Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

In this April 2022 patrons-only seminar, Brian and Nicole focus on the new era in world politics taking shape as a  consequence of the Ukraine war & other global trends. Where are we coming from and where are we headed?

Check out the preview now and subscribe at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram to hear the rest!