Links to today’s show transcripts:

Winona LaDuke Calls for Indigenous-Led “Green New Deal” as She Fights Minnesota Pipeline Expansion
While world leaders converge in Poland for the U.N. climate change summit, we look at the indigenous-led fight against destructive oil pipelines and the revolutionary potential of the Green New Deal with Winona LaDuke, Ojibwe environmental leader and executive director of the group Honor the Earth. She lives and works on the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota.

The Deadly Cost of Pipelines in Native Land: Winona LaDuke on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
As the oil and gas pipeline boom crosses the United States and Canada, indigenous activists say the influx of male workers in Native communities has corresponded with a spike in the kidnapping and murder of indigenous women. Winona LaDuke, Ojibwe environmental leader and executive director of the group Honor the Earth is interviewed. She lives and works on the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota.

Progressive International: Yanis Varoufakis & Bernie Sanders Launch New Global Mvt Against Far Right
The far right is rising in Europe, most recently in Spain, where the anti-immigrant, anti-abortion Vox party won multiple seats in a regional parliamentary election in Andalusia on Sunday. It was the first successful election for the far right in Spain since the country returned to democracy in the 1970s after the death of fascist military dictator Francisco Franco. Economist and former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis is interviewed. He is launching a movement with Senator Bernie Sanders and others to fight right-wing forces around the globe.

As we go deeper into this most unusual and challenging phase of history, intelligence is the thing we need the most. That is the theme of the 2019-2020 annual edition of Planet Waves, now available for pre-order. See more information here.

Links to today’s show transcripts:

Re-education Camps, Infiltration, Surveillance: China Criticized over Persecution of Uyghur Muslims
The United Nations and human rights groups have accused China’s government of setting up massive anti-Muslim “re-education” camps in the northwest Xinjiang province to disappear, jail and brainwash Uyghur Muslims. Some estimates put the population in the camps at up to 2 million. After months of denials, China acknowledged their existence in October, saying they are part of efforts to counter extremism. But Uyghurs say it’s a form of collective punishment—and that they live under a high-tech surveillance state designed to eradicate Islam. Rushan Abbas, a Uyghur-American activist based in Washington, D.C. is interviewed. After she spoke out against China’s repression of the Uyghurs earlier this year, her aunt and sister disappeared and have not been heard from since.

“The Silence of Others”: New Film Warns Against Spain’s Fascist History Repeating Itself
A far-right, anti-immigrant, anti-abortion political party in Spain has made gains in regional elections, prompting protests in the streets. Members of Spain’s younger generation are too young to remember the brutal 40-year military dictatorship under General Francisco Franco. But a remarkable new documentary titled “The Silence of Others,” or “El Silencio de Otros,” hopes to remind Spaniards of the country’s fascist past, lest history repeat itself. The film follows several survivors of the Franco regime in their pursuit of justice. Spanish filmmaker Almudena Carracedo is interviewed, who, along with Robert Bahar, wrote, produced and directed “The Silence of Others.”

As we go deeper into this most unusual and challenging phase of history, intelligence is the thing we need the most. That is the theme of the 2019-2020 annual edition of Planet Waves, now available for pre-order. See more information here.

Links to today’s show transcripts:

A Lame-Duck “Legislative Coup”: Wisconsin GOP Stages Last-Minute Power Grab Before Dems Take Office
Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin are orchestrating an unprecedented power grab to weaken incoming Democratic Governor Tony Evers before he takes office. In an extraordinary move that some are calling a “legislative coup,” Republican legislators worked throughout Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning to pass a sweeping package of lame-duck bills to give power to the Republican-controlled Legislature before Republican Governor Scott Walker leaves office in January. The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Senate passed a measure to limit the power of the Democratic governor and attorney general-elect and restrict early voting periods. Earlier Wednesday morning, the Wisconsin Senate and Assembly passed a bill enacting a Medicaid work requirement and limiting the incoming governor’s ability to change state laws requiring able-bodied adults without children to work in order to receive public benefits. Ruth Conniff, editor-at-large of the Wisconsin-based magazine The Progressive is interviewed.

How False Testimony and a Massive U.S. Propaganda Machine Bolstered George H.W. Bush’s War on Iraq
As the media memorializes George H.W. Bush, we look at the lasting impact of his 1991 invasion of Iraq and the propaganda campaign that encouraged it. Although the Gulf War technically ended in February of 1991, the U.S. war on Iraq would continue for decades, first in the form of devastating sanctions and then in the 2003 invasion launched by George W. Bush. Thousands of U.S. troops and contractors remain in Iraq. A largely forgotten aspect of Bush Sr.’s war on Iraq is the vast domestic propaganda effort before the invasion began. DN looks at the way U.S. media facilitated the war on Iraq with journalist John “Rick” MacArthur, president and publisher of Harper’s Magazine and the author of the book “Second Front: Censorship and Propaganda in the 1991 Gulf War.”

As we go deeper into this most unusual and challenging phase of history, intelligence is the thing we need the most. That is the theme of the 2019-2020 annual edition of Planet Waves, now available for pre-order. See more information here.

Links to today’s show transcripts:

Greg Grandin: George H.W. Bush’s 1989 Invasion of Panama Set the Stage for U.S. Wars to Come
The death of George H.W. Bush has dominated the U.S. news for days, but little attention has been paid to the defining event of Bush’s first year in office: the invasion of Panama. On December 19, 1989, Bush Sr. sent tens of thousands of troops into Panama, ostensibly to execute an arrest warrant against its leader, Manuel Noriega, on charges of drug trafficking. General Noriega was once a close ally to Washington and on the CIA payroll. In a nationally televised address, Bush claimed the invasion was needed to defend democracy in Panama. During the attack, the U.S. unleashed a force of 24,000 troops equipped with highly sophisticated weaponry and aircraft against a country with an army smaller than the New York City Police Department. An estimated 3,000 Panamanians died in the attack. Historian Greg Grandin is a prize-winning author and professor of Latin American history at New York University, and is interviewed on the lasting impact of the Panama invasion.

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights: U.S. Owes Reparations to Panama over Bush’s Invasion
Last month, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights called on Washington to pay reparations to Panama over George H.W. Bush’s illegal invasion there in 1989. International human rights attorney José Luis Morín, who has been working since 1990 to secure reparations for Panama is interviewed. He is a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and chairperson of the Latin American and Latina/o Studies Department.

How George H.W. Bush’s Pardons for Iran-Contra Conspirators Set the Stage for Trump’s Impunity
As the media lauds George H.W. Bush’s legacy, we look at his role in the Iran-Contra scandal. Bush Sr. was vice president when the Reagan administration conspired to deceive and defy Congress with its illegal arms sale to Iran in exchange for securing the release of American hostages in Lebanon. The proceeds from the sale were used to illegally fund the Nicaraguan Contras. In 1992, when Bush Sr. was president, he pardoned several Iran-Contra defendants, including Caspar Weinberger, Robert McFarlane and Elliott Abrams. Greg Grandin is a prize-winning author and professor of Latin American history at New York University.

As we go deeper into this most unusual and challenging phase of history, intelligence is the thing we need the most. That is the theme of the 2019-2020 annual edition of Planet Waves, now available for pre-order. See more information here.