The Socialist Program

Is war with Russia just around the corner? If you listen to corporate U.S. media and politicians it is. Brian Becker and Eugene Puryear break down what’s really going on in Ukraine and Russia, what the context of the tension is, and what the chances are of war.

Brian is joined by Eugene Puryear, author and activist, host of the BreakThrough News podcast The Punch Out, and co-host of the BT live video show The Freedom Side.

Watch the video edition of “The Real Story” on BreakThrough News!

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 recently turbulent stock market. What does this mean for the economy and for us? Is this volatility a sign of something to come?

Professor Richard Wolff is an author & co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work. You can check out 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 U.S. evacuation of the U.S. embassy in Kiev while stating that war with Russia may be soon, the win for Julian Assange giving him his right to appeal to the U.K. Supreme Court to stop his extradition to the United States, the Senate's  maneuvers against protecting voting rights, and the newly exposed U.S. war crimes against the people in Syria.

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.

Brian Becker and Dr. Ken Hammond discuss U.S. aggression against China, which often uses Taiwan as a pretext. But next month is the 50th anniversary of the Shanghai Communiqué – a document the U.S. and China jointly signed, after Nixon visited the country, which recognized that Taiwan is in fact part of China.

Brian is joined by Dr. Ken Hammond, professor of East Asian and Global History at New Mexico State University, founding director of the Confucius Institute at New Mexico State University, and activist with Pivot to Peace.

Watch the video edition of “The Real Story” on BreakThrough News!

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 cascading crises that rocked Wall Street and the stock market, which crashed yesterday, as inflation spikes and the economy slows. Things are about to get much worse as the Federal Reserve plans to raise interest rates

Professor Richard Wolff is an author & co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work. You can check out 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 how the right-wing U.S. Supreme Court has decided to help spread Covid, how Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema are joining with the Supreme Court and the Republican Party to destroy voting rights, especially for Black Americans, how people nationwide remembered Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the streets yesterday and how the U.S. war machine continues its escalation of  threats against Russia at the Ukrainian-Russian border.  

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.

Brian Becker, Claudia De La Cruz and Gabriel Rockhill continue The Socialist Program’s analysis of the deeper meaning of the January 6 assault that temporarily dispersed Congress. One year after the attack attempted to overturn the election, the architects of that plan have yet to face prosecution and a movement of the far-right consolidates. There is a liberal response to fascism that prioritizes an alliance with one section of the ruling class and there is a working-class strategy based on building a united front from below.

Brian is joined by Claudia De La Cruz, co-Executive Director of The People’s Forum, popular educator, community organizer and theologian, and Dr. Gabriel Rockhill, Founding Director of the Critical Theory Workshop and Professor of Philosophy at Villanova University.

Watch the NEW video edition of “The Real Story” on BreakThrough News!

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 the devastating residential fire over the weekend in New York City that  claimed 17 lives, including 8 children. Coming on the heels of a similar deadly blaze in Philadelphia public housing that killed 4 adults and 8 children, this tragedy highlights the complete inability of the capitalist system to provide safe, dignified housing for workers.

Professor Richard Wolff is an author & co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work. You can check out 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, Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek discuss how the Biden administration is sending stronger and stronger signals that it is effectively surrendering to the COVID pandemic – urging the public to “learn to live with” the deadly disease that has killed well over 800,000 people in the United States alone. They also discuss high profile talks taking place between US and Russian officials, the sentencing of the killers of Ahmaud Arbery, and devastating residential fires that took place in New York City and Philadelphia; and speak with Toronto-based organizer Aminah Sheikh about recent successes in the labor movement.

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.

Brian Becker and Dr. Gerald Horne discuss the one-year anniversary of the January 6th assault on the U.S. Capitol, encouraged and organized by Donald Trump. It was the first time since 1812 that the U.S. government was under attack on its home soil, yet the leaders of the attack have still not been prosecuted – just the soldiers. What’s happened in the year since the assault? What does it tell us about what’s coming? And how can we fight back?

Brian is joined by Dr. Gerald Horne. He holds the Moores Professorship of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston and is the author of many books, including “The Color of Fascism: Lawrence Dennis, Racial Passing, and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism in the United States,” and “The Counter-Revolution of 1776: Slave Resistance and the Origins of the United States of America.”

Watch the NEW video edition of “The Real Story” on BreakThrough News!

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.