Mark Green has some critical advice for the Democratic Party in 2026 and 2028—get better policies. See his latest Substack post:

THE NEXT 250TH: A New Patriotism based on Democracy not Piracy

Ralph speaks to economist Dean Baker about the hypocrisies behind the supposed Social Security shortfall and Republicans' "waste, fraud, and abuse" panic. Then, Ralph talks to journalist and ocean activist David Helvarg about his new book: Forest of the Sea: The Remarkable Life and Imperiled Future of Kelp.

Ralph Nader Radio Hour Episode 643 Transcript

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Offer for Ralph Nader Radio Hour Listeners— Armistice Day and the Empire by Matthew Hoh

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Dean Baker is a Senior Economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, where he authors “Beat the Press,” his regular commentary on economic reporting. He has written several books, including Getting Back to Full Employment: A Better Bargain for Working People, The End of Loser Liberalism: Making Markets Progressive, False Profits: Recovering from the Bubble Economy, and The Conservative Nanny State: How the Wealthy Use the Government to Stay Rich and Get Richer.

David Helvarg is a journalist and ocean activist. He is the founder and executive director of Blue Frontier, an ocean policy and media group, and producer of Rising Tide: The Ocean Podcast. He has produced more than 40 documentaries for media outlets, including PBS and the Discovery Channel. And he has written several books, including Blue Frontier, The War Against the Greens, and Forest of the Sea: The Remarkable Life and Imperiled Future of Kelp.

News 6/26/26

1. Our top story this week comes to us from New York City, where democratic socialist mayor Zohran Mamdani has pulled off a stunning hat trick, with all three candidates for Congress endorsed by the Mayor winning their primaries on Tuesday. The most surprising victory is that of Darializa Avila Chevalier, who ousted the powerful incumbent Congressman Adriano Espaillat, head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, in New York’s 13th congressional district. This primary had turned ugly, with Espaillat’s campaign seeking to weaponize anti-Haitian racism in the Dominican community against Avila Chevalier, per the Haitian Times, despite the fact that she is not in fact Haitian. Impressive in another way is the victory of UAW organizer and New York State Assemblywoman Claire Valdez in New York’s 7th district. Much has been made of this race being a proxy battle between Mamdani and his onetime supporter, retiring Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, who backed her protégé, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso to succeed her in this seat. Reynoso enjoyed the support of a broad range of New York elected officials – including Velazquez along with New York Attorney General Letitia James, Congressman Jerrold Nadler, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and a broad range of unions and civil society groups, most notably the Working Families Party – but was absolutely trounced by Valdez, who won by over 20 points with the support of Mamdani and NYC-DSA. Meanwhile, in the 10th district, Brad Lander won by an even greater margin, outrunning incumbent Congressman Dan Goldman by over 30 points while running on a pro-Palestine platform in the most Jewish congressional district in America. These victories send a clear signal to the sclerotic, ossified leadership of the Democratic Party. The only question now is will they listen.

2. Beyond the congressional races, DSA won a remarkable number of races at the state level. According to Democratic Left, DSA will send as many as seven new legislators to Albany this cycle, for a total of “four state senators and 11 or 12 members of the state assembly.” As the magazine notes, this means that the “2027-2028 socialist bloc in Albany will be the second largest in a state legislature in U.S. history…behind 20 members in Wisconsin in 1919 and ahead of 14 members in Wisconsin in 1911.” Within New York City, DSA endorsed candidates won seven out of eight races for seats in the state legislature, per NYC-DSA. All told, it was a thunderous victory for the left in New York and raises the clout of Zohran and his compatriots to dizzying heights.

3. Meanwhile, in Washington DC, NOTUS reports the local DSA has exploded in membership, adding nearly 1,000 new members since this time last year. This growing bloc flexed its political muscle in the recent Democratic primaries, electing DSA members Janeese Lewis George for Mayor and Aparna Raj for the Ward 1 seat on the DC Council, as well as Oye Owolewa for an at-large seat. Axios notes that they are already eying, “two more openings — to fill Lewis George’s Ward 4 seat and the at-large seat of Congress-bound Robert White.” If these votes go in DSA’s favor, Lewis George could assume the mayoralty with a progressive majority of seven out of 13 members on the Council. Since her victory last Tuesday, Lewis George has emphasized her plan to lower utility costs through “expanding government solar,” and “balcony solar” for apartment tenants, optimizing efficiency at local government agencies and maximizing federal housing grants.

4. In Maryland, the results for DSA and progressives more generally were not quite so decisive but the left notched key victories nonetheless. DSA endorsed candidate McKayla Wilkes won her primary for the Charles County Commission and incumbent State Delegate Gabriel Acevero won reelection to his seat. Senators Dalya Attar and Nancy King, both centrist incumbents, lost to progressive challengers, per Maryland Matters. Will Jawando in Montgomery County won the County Executive position with broad support from the Maryland political establishment and progressives, while Maryland Senate Majority Leader Bill Ferguson fended off his first real challenge in years only after a last minute pledge to reverse his position on Maryland congressional redistricting. However, in the 5th congressional district, Steny Hoyer protégé and “AIPAC-backed” Adrian Boafo won the primary to succeed his mentor in Congress. According to the Jerusalem Post, “AIPAC poured $5.7 million into his campaign through its super PAC.” Former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn came in a distant third place, despite scoring the endorsement of Nancy Pelosi. In short, the left has more work to do in order to build a political machine in Maryland as they have in New York and DC.

5. The next major contest between the factions of the party will occur next week in Colorado, where Melat Kiros, a DSA-backed progressive challenger born in 1997, is taking on Congresswoman Diana DeGette, who first took office that same year, per Zeteo. According to a poll conducted on behalf of the Kiros-aligned Justice Democrats, she leads DeGette by five points and she has now won the endorsement of Senator Bernie Sanders. Senator and former Governor John Hickenlooper is also facing a progressive primary challenge from State Senator Julie Gonzales and, according to the polls, he holds but a single digit lead, the Coloradan reports. We will be watching both of these races closely.

6. Meanwhile in Congress, the Senate has passed a new resolution on Iran, this time directing Trump to “remove U.S. armed forces from hostilities against Iran unless explicitly authorized by Congress, other than to defend America, an ally or partner from ‘imminent attack,’” according to the Wall Street Journal. The Journal notes that while the resolution is nonbinding, it was previously passed by the House, marking “the first time both chambers of Congress have passed the same measure to curb” presidential power to wage war on the Islamic Republic. The resolution passed 50-48, with the support of Republican Senators Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Rand Paul. Senators Mitch McConnell and Dave McCormick were absent, and Senator John Fetterman again broke ranks with the Democrats to vote no.

7. Turning from the Senate floor to the shop floor, the United Auto Workers (UAW) concluded their 39th Constitutional Convention last week, with a momentous vote to divest the union’s investments from Israel bonds. UAW’s divestment decision is the latest victory in the campaign to disentangle the finances of American organized labor from the state of Israel, following the United Electrical Workers (UE) in 2015 and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) in 2023. UAW members also heard from Abdul El-Sayed, the candidate the union has endorsed in the Michigan Senate race. This contentious campaign will not be over until August, but El-Sayed, occupying the progressive lane, has moved into the lead and appears to be consolidating his lead, winning the endorsement of Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen just this week, per the Traverse City Record-Eagle. Van Hollen himself has recently begun hinting that he may seek higher office, recently telling NOTUS that he is “kicking the tires” on a 2028 presidential bid.

8. Turning to foreign affairs, this week saw the fall of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Starmer, a centrist who was elected Labour Party leader in 2020 following the ouster of leftist Jeremy Corbyn, has held the post of Prime Minister since 2024 when Labour won an historic landslide. Since then however, his personal approval rating and that of the party has cratered, creating space for the rise of the far-right Reform UK party. The BBC reports Starmer will remain in his post until a new leader is chosen from within the party, with the presumptive successor being MP Andy Burnham who recently beat back a challenge in his own seat by a Reform candidate by a large margin. Starmer is now set to be the shortest serving Labour PM in British history, while Burnham is set to become the UK’s seventh Prime Minister in the last ten years, both indications of the precariousness of the post-Brexit British political order.

9. Our final two stories come to us from Latin America. First, in Bolivia, the country’s union confederation has maintained a general strike against the right-wing government of Rodrigo Paz for nearly two months over his administration’s initiatives to privatize government services and rescind the land reform program instituted over the last several decades of rule by the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS). On June 19th, journalist Ollie Vargas reported that the government had blinked and signed an agreement to withdraw these plans in exchange for the unions ending the general strike. However, Vargas notes that “most affiliated unions state that they want to maintain strike until [the Paz government] resigns.”

10. Finally, in Colombia, the right-wing candidate Abelardo de la Espriella emerged victorious from Sunday’s runoff presidential election, defeating leftist Ivan Cepeda, the handpicked successor of sitting President Gustavo Petro, by less than one percentage point. In the immediate wake of the election, President Petro “alleged that Israel interfered” in the election, citing “irregularities in the country’s vote counting process and calling for a full audit and recount,” per Drop Site News. However, by Wednesday, Cepeda himself formally conceded, framing his decision to do so as “an act of democratic responsibility, to contribute to harmony, peace and dialogue among Colombians,” Al Jazeera reports. As one of his first acts, Abelardo de la Espriella has committed to reestablishing diplomatic relations with Israel, which had been severed under President Petro.

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

Ralph welcomes political consultant and pollster, Celinda Lake, to outline a ten-point Progressive Contract for America that she and Ralph believe – if adopted by Democratic candidates— will ensure they landslide the Republicans in the midterms. Then, Ben Cohen stops by to fill us in on his “Free Ben & Jerry!” campaign to take back the brand from the conglomerate that no longer retains the social justice values of their original company. Plus, Marine Corp veteran, Matthew Hoh, tells us about the provocative speech he made on Veterans Day entitled “Armistice Day and the Empire.”

Ralph Nader Radio Hour Episode 642 Transcript

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Celinda Lake is a political strategist and president of Lake Research Partners. She and her firm are known for cutting-edge research on issues including the economy, health care, the environment and education, and have worked for a number of institutions including the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Governor’s Association, AFL-CIO, SEIU, CWA, Sierra Club, NARAL, Human Rights Campaign, Planned Parenthood, VoteVets Action Fund, and the Kaiser Family Foundation. Her international work has included work in Liberia, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus Ukraine, South Africa, and Central America.

Ben Cohen is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and longtime anti-war activist. He is a co-founder of the ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s and a prominent supporter of progressive causes. He is co-founder of Up In Arms, a public education and advocacy campaign pushing for a common-sense approach to military budgeting.

Matthew Hoh is a disabled Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq War and former Afghan War State Department Officer. In 2009, after being appointed to the Foreign Service, Hoh resigned his post in Afghanistan over the Obama administration’s escalation of the Afghan War. He is now an analyst and commentator on foreign and military policy issues as a senior fellow with the Eisenhower Media Network. He serves on the advisory boards of many peace organizations, including Veterans for Peace and World Beyond War, and is an associate member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity.

Click here to sign up to get a copy of Matthew Hoh's "Armistice Day and the Empire”

Armistice Day and the Empire

News 6/19/26

1. Our top stories this week are about major local progressive victories. Here in Washington, DC Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George – endorsed by a broad coalition of groups including the Metro DC DSA, the AFL-CIO, the Sierra Club and many more – has triumphed in the Mayoral primary. Lewis George trounced her centrist opponent, Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, who was backed both by major local corporate interests, such as the realtor lobby and even the Washington Parking Association, but also Democratic Party power brokers, including two former DNC Chairs. Lewis George, hailed as DC’s answer to Zohran Mamdani, won over 50% of the vote in the first round, meaning that while this is DC’s first mayoral election under ranked-choice voting, this race will not trigger this mechanism. McDuffie, for his part, won around 36% of the vote, coming ahead of Lewis George only in Ward 3, the wealthiest in the District. While votes remain to be counted, McDuffie has conceded.

2. Another DSA-backed candidate is poised to win a seat on the DC council. In Ward 1, Aparna Raj appears to have come up just short of 50% but while this means the race will go to a second round of ranked-choice reallocation, given that Raj is more than 25 points ahead of her nearest opponent, her victory is all but guaranteed. This is based upon data from the DC Board of Elections. Raj’s impending victory, paired with that of Janeese Lewis George and others like Oye Owolewa demonstrates that the DC DSA is an electoral force to be reckoned with.

3. In more progressive electoral news, Semafor reports Bernie Sanders has endorsed former Congresswoman Cori Bush in her “comeback” bid for her old seat. Bush, a nurse and Black Lives Matter activist, was a member of the “Squad” in the House before she was defeated by a primary challenge from the right, backed in large part by AIPAC money. With the Republican redistricting in her home state of Missouri, this seat is now the sole remaining safe Democratic seat in the Show-Me State. In a statement, Bush said she was “honored to be endorsed” by Sanders, whom she called a “true leader in our movement to guarantee healthcare, housing, and childcare for all.”

4. Another much-publicized Bernie endorsement was announced this week: that of Tennessee state Rep. Justin J. Pearson. Pearson was originally running as a primary challenger against longtime incumbent Congressman Steve Cohen in Tennessee’s 9th congressional district, but since the state Republicans redrew the districts Cohen has decided to retire, leaving the Democratic nomination to Pearson for the taking. While this district has been drawn in such a way to make it difficult for a Democrat to win, Pearson argues that “You’ve got a number of disaffected Republican voters, you’ve got a number of distraught MAGA voters, and you’ve got fired-up Democrats, which is a perfect recipe for success for us…Because our tent is big enough for everybody who is feeling that this status quo was rigged and broken against working-class folk, and want to see a future that is more just,” per the Intercept.

5. Elsewhere in the South, the race in Florida’s 20th congressional district is descending into chaos. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the powerful centrist Democratic congresswoman who was drawn out of her traditional seat by the recent Republican-led redistricting is now officially running in this district, a move that “disappointed” Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried, according to the Miami Herald. Fried further stated that Wasserman Schultz “[refused] to engage in meaningful dialogue about her decision.” Elijah Manley, the progressive candidate in this race, had harsher words for DWS. In a quote reported by Florida Politics, Manley stated “I’m not surprised that Debbie Wasserman Schultz is carpetbagging to FL-20, a black opportunity district, abandoning her own district and constituents…She is no different than the Republicans that are eviscerating black representation across the South. She is everything that’s wrong with the broken unpopular Democratic establishment…I look forward to retiring her from public office permanently.”

6. Facing down the barrel of this decision, several of the Black candidates running in the 20th convened to discuss a plan to consolidate in order to ensure the district would continue to be represented by a Black member of Congress, as it has been for the past 34 years. However, CBS reports that plan has “fallen apart” as the filing deadline passed with none of the major Black candidates bowing out. This report includes statements from Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who, the piece notes, resigned from this very seat in disgrace earlier this year amid a congressional ethics investigation, saying she is “excited to campaign in the district I have represented for the last 5 years.” Dale Holness, the former Mayor of Broward County, said, “It has to be about policies that produce prosperity for the people.” Elijah Manley, said “I think it’s going to come down to who works the hardest, and I think I’m going to work the hardest.” To this end, Manley has recently racked up major progressive endorsements in Florida, including Armando Grundy-Gomes, President of the Democratic Black Caucus of Florida, the Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida, through President Matthew Grocholske, and Black Voters Matter lead Florida organizer Jamil Davis. According to the most recent polling, Manley lags behind Wasserman Schultz 21% to 39% in initial ballot testing, but blitzes into the lead 36% to 27% after voters receive candidate biographical information, per Florida Politics.

7. Another major political story from Florida is the comeback bid of former Congressman Alan Grayson. Grayson, who won a House seat in 2008, lost it in the Tea Party wave of 2010, won another seat, ran unsuccessfully for Senate, and then sought a comeback in 2018 is running in Florida’s 7th congressional district, AOL reports. Grayson, known during his time in Congress for his “combative style and frequent clashes with Republicans,” is seeking to unseat scandal-plagued incumbent Republican Congressman Cory Mills. As this piece notes, Mills has “faced allegations ranging from sextortion claims made by a former girlfriend to accusations that he embellished aspects of his military record,” as well as what appears to be clear instances of corruption, such as driving government contracts to entities he owned. However, before these two have any chance of facing off against one another, both will have to get through his own party’s primary.

8. Looking to Latin America, the outgoing President of Colombia Gustavo Petro, has published a fascinating op-ed in the Washington Post. In this piece, President Petro emphasizes how his government – considered one of the most opposed to American intervention in the region – has cooperated with the United States on shared objectives including stopping the “deadly flow of drug trafficking and transnational criminal violence.” Throughout the op-ed, Petro goes to great lengths to talk up Trump and how they have collaborated on mutual goals, even ending the piece by writing that “with continued U.S.-Colombia partnership, we can truly make the Americas great again.” This apparent about face from Petro, culminating in an obsequious appeal to Trump’s favor, has led many to speculate about Petro’s motivations here, including fear for his own safety, possible persecution within the American legal system or intervention in Colombia if his designated successor Ivan Cepeda ultimately wins the Colombian runoff presidential election this month. Whether or not this stratagem will work remains to be seen, but with Trump, flattery can get you everywhere.

9. In neighboring Peru, votes continue to be counted in the razor’s edge race between Keiko Fujimori and Roberto Sánchez. The votes for the election, held on June 7th, are almost completely counted now – the tally stands at 99.38% – and at the moment Fujimori leads by around 39,000 votes. However, around 140,000 votes have been formally challenged, with 60% of those coming from Fujimori strongholds like Lima as well as Peruvians abroad. This from Reuters. Peru’s political system has been wracked by instability, with the country going through nine presidents in the last ten years. Another painstakingly close election is unlikely to restore stability no matter who comes out on top.

10. Finally, we turn to the Middle East, where it seems the numerous parties involved in the latest round of peace talks may have finally reached a deal. According to Al Jazeera, in addition to the US-Iran agreement, rooted in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which includes financial concessions to the Islamic Republic, Israel and Hezbollah are pursuing a ceasefire in Lebanon. However, Israel’s notoriously loose interpretation of ceasefire agreements jeopardizes both this deal and MOU. Journalist and expert Rania Khalek states simply that “From Iran’s perspective, continued Israeli strikes would be a violation of that understanding.” Vice President JD Vance, who has been intimately involved in these negotiations, expressed a sharp warning to Israel not to jeopardize the deal and risk alienating Trump, their “only ally” left. Trump for his part is already hedging, saying “If it works out, I’m going to take the credit…If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD,” per CNN. A report in the Hill indicates that Republican Senators would largely oppose the deal if it were submitted for their approval, but given the increasing concentration of foreign policy powers in the executive branch, it is unlikely the Senate will even be consulted.

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

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Ralph talks to journalist and M.Div. Chris Hedges about Pope Leo XIV's encyclical on artificial intelligence. Then, Ralph speaks with Rick Engler (former member of the US Chemical Safety and Hazards Investigation Board) about Trump's proposed closing of that agency. Finally, Ralph pays tribute to some recently departed friends.

Ralph Nader Radio Hour Episode 641 Transcript

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Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, who spent nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent in Central America, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. He is the host of The Chris Hedges Report, and he is a prolific author— his latest book is A Genocide Foretold: Reporting on Survival and Resistance in Occupied Palestine.

Rick Engler is a former U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board member and labor advocate who founded the New Jersey Work Environment Council. He has advocated for successful landmark state and national public policies that ensure workers and the public’s “right to know” about potential chemical dangers, and that promote safer processes, chemical incident prevention, and whistleblower protection.

News 6/12/26

1. Our top stories this week come to us from California, where, after an excruciatingly protracted wait, authorities have finally called some of the most high-profile races. In Los Angeles, Democratic Socialist City Councilwoman Nithya Raman has secured the second slot in the mayoral race, beating out reactionary former reality television star Spencer Pratt, PBS reports. Pratt garnered significant attention from conservative media for his slick AI-generated ads and his false claims about living in an airstream trailer after his LA home burned down in the recent fires. In actuality, he was living in the posh Bel Air hotel, billed as a campaign expense, per TMZ. Now the question becomes whether or not Raman will be able to expand her coalition to unseat incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in November.

2. If Raman’s victory is the good news however, the bad news is that Trump-endorsed Republican Steve Hilton will advance in the gubernatorial race. He will face off against former California Attorney General and Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, who has accepted large campaign contributions from the California Association of Realtors, the California Medical Association and even Chevron, per CalMatters. This outcome means progressive billionaire Tom Steyer will not advance. Many are placing the blame for this on former Congresswoman Katie Porter, who remained in the race despite clearly failing to achieve any real viability throughout the race. This has drawn comparisons to Elizabeth Warren’s perceived role as a spoiler candidate vis-a-vis Bernie Sanders in the 2020 Democratic Primary, particularly since Porter is a highly visible protégé of Senator Warren. In his concession speech, Steyer closed by telling his supporters “Pay attention. Know what you deserve, and know who is on your side. Understand who the villains are, and say their names out loud. Continue to demand more from your leaders and your government, until they give you the California – and the country – you know you deserve. I will be with you all the way.”

3. Elsewhere in California however, progressives scored major victories. In California’s 22nd congressional district, Bernie Sanders-backed Randy Villegas secured a spot in the top two, beating out his opponent Jasmine Bains, who enjoyed the backing of AIPAC and 53 corporate donors, according to the American Prospect. He will face Republican incumbent Congressman David Valadao in November. Even more impressive is the victory of progressive challenger Mai Vang in California’s 7th district primary, where she actually emerged as the top vote getter, beating out longtime incumbent Congresswoman Doris Matsui. However, because Matsui, who is 81 years old, won the second-most votes, she will still advance to the general election.

4. Another much-anticipated primary was held this week on the exact other end of the country. In Maine, Graham Platner trounced his opponents in the Democratic Senate race, winning over 70% of the vote despite a concerted campaign against him in the national press. In his victory speech, CNN reports Platner wrote off the smears, saying “They don’t know Maine.” Furthermore, he said “If you believe, as I do, that we can change our politics, and change our country, then you must also believe that people can change…To all those who feel let down, disappointed, or disillusioned. It is my job to earn your trust, your faith, and your support. And I will spend every day of this campaign, and if I have the privilege, every day in the United States Senate, doing exactly that.” Platner will face off against five-term incumbent Senator Susan Collins in a race that will be decisive if Democrats are to have any chance of retaking the Senate in the 2026 midterms.

5. Turning towards the plains, two candidates are starting to show a surprising level of viability in heavily Republican, rural states. First, in Idaho, Todd Achilles is running as an independent against Republican incumbent Senator Jim Risch. Achilles served as a tank commander and armor officer in the Army before a varied career in the corporate world, education and now politics, according to Independent Voter News. The most striking development in this race is a new poll showing that while “Achilles starts out…behind by 14 points at 48-34…once voters hear biographical information about him and negative messaging about Senator Risch, he gains a full 17 points…[leading] Risch, 41% to 38%.” If accurate, this would be a stunningly close race in a state where registered Republicans outnumber registered Democrats by a margin greater than 5-to-1.

6. In South Dakota, Brian Bengs, another veteran turned educator – turned, in this case, National Park Ranger – is running shockingly close to incumbent Republican Senator Mike Rounds in a head-to-head matchup. According to the South Dakota Standard, the latest polling shows Rounds leading Bengs 44% to 40%, with 16% undecided. Moreover, like the Achilles poll, when voters are given biographical information about Bengs and negative messaging about Senator Rounds, that margin flips to 44% in favor of Bengs, compared to just 42% for Rounds. If these polls are accurate and independent candidates – not just Achilles and Bengs but also Dan Osborn in Nebraska and Seth Bodnar in Montana – prove viable, perhaps even victorious, in states long seen as out of reach for non-Republicans, there will have to be a serious reckoning with the toxicity of the Democratic Party brand in the American heartland.

7. In Michigan, progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed has picked up perhaps the most critical possible endorsement in the state: that of the United Auto Workers. In a statement, the union wrote that “UAW members in Michigan want a fighter in Washington, D.C. who isn’t afraid to push forward a strong working-class agenda with moral clarity…From Medicare for All to banning stock buybacks, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is ready, eager, and well-equipped to move our core issues in the U.S. Senate.” Whether because of this endorsement or not, El-Sayed now seems to be in the driver’s seat in this primary. This endorsement dovetails with UAW President Shawn Fain’s rumored frustration with the mainstream labor movement for not doing more to back labor candidates, such as Clare Valdez in New York, who was a UAW organizer before entering the State Assembly.

8. On the House floor meanwhile, lame-duck dissident Republican Congressman Thomas Massie delivered a barn-burner of a speech this week, demanding that the government reopen the investigation into the 1967 Israeli attack on the USS Liberty, Al Jazeera reports. The attack on the Liberty, a US Navy vessel, killed 34 service members and injured 171 others. For decades, Israel has claimed that this was nothing more than an accidental incident of friendly fire, but the surviving veterans have long disputed this explanation, contending that it was a deliberate attack, either as a “false flag operation or because they simply didn’t want anybody observing what they were doing that day.” Massie called on the House to “give them closure…It’s long overdue. And then they can have their justice.”

9. Looking to Latin America, the presidential election in Peru is, predictably, coming down to a razor thin margin, WLRN reports. This race, between left-wing Senator Roberto Sánchez and Keiko Fujimori, perennial presidential candidate and daughter of former dictator Alberto Fujimori, currently stands at 50.004% for Fujimori and 49.996% for Sánchez, with 98.258% of the votes tabulated. Sánchez was favored to win after the in-country votes were counted, then Fujimori pulled ahead when the votes from Miami came in, other absentee votes eroded that margin and gave Sánchez the edge once again but Fujimori has yet again pulled ahead by a hair. This is Fujimori’s fourth presidential campaign, making it to the runoff each time but ultimately losing by the narrowest of margins.

10. Finally, in Colombia, Progressive International reports that while Colombian President Gustavo Petro presides at the United Nations Security Council, “conservative forces in the country’s legislature have conspired against the constitution to ‘SUSPEND’ his presidency — just 11 days from the run-off presidential election.” While Reuters adds that the proposal must be “debated and approved by all ‌16 ⁠members of the [legislative Commission of Investigation and ​Accusation] and subsequently by the Senate before it can take effect,” it is hard to see this as anything besides an opportunistic grab for power while the proverbial cat is away. Petro’s four-year term ends in August; the runoff in the presidential election, between leftist Ivan Cepeda and right-wing lawyer Abelardo ​De La Espriella, will be held on ​June 21st.

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

In a program devoted to the topic of AI, Ralph welcomes first, Tyson Slocum, director of the energy group at Public Citizen, who tells us about the local backlash against the construction of data centers. Then New York Times climate writer, David Wallace-Wells, explains how the Big Tech CEOs did not count on human beings possibly rising up against them and their machines.

Ralph Nader Radio Hour Episode 640 Transcript

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Tyson Slocum is director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program, covering the regulation of petroleum, natural gas and power markets. He serves on the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s “Energy & Environmental Markets Advisory Committee,” and frequently intervenes before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) representing the interests of household consumers.

David Wallace-Wells is a columnist and staff writer at the New York Times, where he writes a weekly newsletter on climate change, technology, and the future of the planet. He is the author of the book, The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming. His recent feature in the New York Times Magazine is “AI Populism is Here. And No One is Ready.”

News 6/5/26

1. Our top story this week comes from Congress, where the House has, at long last, successfully pushed through a War Powers Resolution on Iran. As NPR notes “The resolution had originally been set for a vote two weeks ago, but Republican leaders sent House members home early for a May recess when it appeared the largely Democratic-backed measure had enough Republican votes for passage.” However, this did not substantially erode Republican support and the resolution passed by a margin of 215 to 208, with four Republicans, led by Thomas Massie, voting for a cessation of hostilities. The measure now heads to the Senate, where Democrats have been pressing the matter as well but face an uphill battle, and even if it passes through the upper chamber, President Trump is likely to veto the measure if it arrives on his desk. Moreover, House progressives are now pushing a new War Powers Resolution, this one focusing on Lebanon. POLITICO reports Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib forced a vote this Thursday on a resolution calling for the removal of U.S. troops from Lebanon in seven days, despite opposition from the leadership of her own party. The resolution failed by a wide margin, but still garnered a respectable 92 votes, including support from Congressman Massie. Symbolic though they may be, these votes show a growing backlash to Trump’s military adventurism abroad, particularly in the Middle East. With oil prices continuing to rise, this discontent shows no sign of abating.

2. The main news this week however were the primaires. Tuesday saw a wave of major Democratic primaries across the country. Faiz Shakir, longtime advisor to Bernie Sanders and Executive Director of More Perfect Union, reports that election night was a “clean sweep for Bernie’s endorsements” with five out of five of these candidates set to win the Democratic nomination in their respective races. One race Shakir highlighted was Sam Forstag’s bid for Congress in Montana’s 1st congressional district. Forstag, a firefighter – technically a “smokejumper,” who parachutes into remote areas to extinguish wildfires – earned the endorsements of AOC, Jamie Raskin, Pramila Jayapal and others, as well as many unions, in addition to that of Senator Sanders. Meanwhile in the Montana Senate race, Alani Bankhead has triumphed in the Democratic primary. According to Semafor, “Republicans suspect Bankhead will essentially cede the race to [independent candidate Seth] Bodnar (despite her denials), which would make the general election more competitive.” Bodnar is the former president of the University of Montana and his campaign is backed by former Democratic Senator Jon Tester. One recent poll of a head-to-head match up of Bodnar against Republican nominee Kurt Alme shows the candidates in a dead heat.

3. In New Jersey, two more Sanders-endorsed candidates have emerged victorious: Analilia Mejia and Dr. Adam Hamawy. Mejia won the special election to replace now-Governor Mikie Sherill in April, beating out former Congressman Tom Malinowksi, the heavy favorite in that race. Mejia is very likely to win this seat again in November, as she already defeated the Republican nominee, Joe Hathaway, in the special election. This from MorristownGreen. Perhaps more surprisingly is the victory of Dr. Adam Hamawy. Now a plastic surgeon, he has distinguished himself for his heroism: saving the life of now-Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth when her Blackhawk helicopter was shot down in Iraq, serving as a first responder to the 9/11 attacks, and most recently, for his work in Gaza. As the Intercept puts it, “In 2024, [Hamawy]...went to Gaza to provide medical aid to Palestinians wounded by Israeli forces and was temporarily trapped there after Israel closed the Rafah border crossing. When the crossing was reopened, Hamawy was among a small group who refused to leave on demands that more medical workers be let in.” Hamawy’s progressive policy platform includes support for Medicare for All, abolishing ICE, and opposing military aid to Israel. He is almost guaranteed to win this D+13 seat, succeeding Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman.

4. The candidates Bernie endorsed in California also prevailed, with Randy Villegas poised to win his primary in the state’s 22nd congressional district and Jane Kim winning her race for California Insurance Commissioner, but the results from the state overall are more mixed. As of now, Republican Gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton leads in the count, with centrist Democrat and former Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra in a close second and progressive billionaire Tom Steyer in third. However, as the count continues, Steyer’s margin continues to improve while Hilton’s ebbs away – meaning the runoff could end up being Becerra vs. Steyer, though it is still too early to say. A similar dynamic is unfolding in Los Angeles, where incumbent Mayor Karen Bass is ensured a slot in the general election while her opponents – Councilwoman Nithya Raman to her left and former reality TV star Spencer Pratt to her right – continue to duke it out for the second slot. With California’s notoriously glacial counting pace and the LA Times reporting that millions of ballots remain to be counted, all we can do is watch and wait.

5. However, up in Minnesota, another Bernie-backed candidate is on the road to victory. On Tuesday, Peggy Flanagan, the Lieutenant Governor seeking the Senate seat being vacated by Amy Klobuchar, overwhelmingly won the endorsement of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. Her closest rival, Congresswoman Angie Craig, did not even bother to attend the party convention. While Craig decried the supposed anti-democratic nature of a party convention endorsement, Flanagan posted a video telling Craig “If you can’t show up and face your own party, then you’re not ready to face Republicans,” per the Nation. Flanagan can boast the endorsement of many high-profile progressives in addition to Sanders, such as Senators Elizabeth Warren, Ed Markey, and Minnesota’s own Tina Smith, among many others. If elected, she would be the first ever Native American woman to serve as Governor of an American state.

6. More much-publicized endorsements came this week from AOC and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who both endorsed DSA-aligned legislative candidates, but as City and State NY notes, not the same ones. Mamdani gave his blessing to Darializa Avila Chevalier, a DSA-backed candidate running to unseat powerful Rep. Adriano Espaillat who is seeking his sixth term in Congress. Polling shows Avila Chevalier runs ahead of Espaillat when voters learn about her platform, but lags behind due to low name recognition – something the Zohran endorsement is sure to help remedy. Meanwhile AOC issued her endorsement of four DSA candidates for the state legislature. This all suggests that the two titans of the New York City Democratic Socialist movement are coordinating – with Zohran seeking to boost DSA’s prospects without alienating the New York state establishment and vice versa for AOC – but that is nothing more than a hunch.

7. Looking southward, lame duck Republican Senator John Cornyn this week posted an article on his official Twitter page titled “Libertarian Ted Brown courts disaffected conservative voters in Texas’ U.S. Senate race,” from Houston Public Media. Senator Cornyn’s comment – “Ruh roh” – set off a firestorm of speculation that this was a subtle endorsement of the Libertarian’s campaign and intended to undermine the campaign of his erstwhile opponent and victor of the Republican Senate primary, Ken Paxton. While Cornyn has furiously denied that this is in any way an endorsement of Brown, calling even the “characterization” that he is “promoting” this candidate “fake news,” there is little doubt that posting about Brown from his official account constitutes a promotion of the campaign, albeit not an endorsement. It will be interesting to see whether Cornyn takes other subtle, or not so subtle, digs at Paxton over the course of the campaign, given that he seems to hold a substantial degree of antipathy towards the Texas Attorney General.

8. Our next two stories come to us from Florida. First, in Florida’s 24th congressional district, the National Journal reports longtime Congresswoman Frederica Wilson will not seek reelection. We recently discussed Congresswoman Wilson on this segment when it was revealed that she had been MIA from the House for weeks following an undisclosed eye surgery. Wilson is 82 years old. The National Journal couches this story in the context of aged members of Congress accepting, or more often refusing, to pass the torch. In its gerontocracy tracker, it highlights members like Doris Matsui, John Garamendi, Jim Clyburn and Maxine Waters, all of whom are 80 years old or older, who are actively seeking reelection this cycle.

9. Meanwhile, in Florida’s 20th district, the Sunshine State’s redistricting initiative has put the historically Black district in jeopardy. Under the newly drawn lines, the frontrunner in this seat is Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and though she claims the Congressional Black Caucus and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told her that “they know I know our community” the CBC has not endorsed her and Rep. Yvette Clarke, the CBC’s chairwoman, said the caucus did not encourage Wasserman Schultz to run in the district. However, there are currently four Black candidates vying for the seat previously held by Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, including Cherfilus-McCormick herself as well as progressive challenger Elijah Manley, former Mayor of Broward County Dale Holness and Luther Campbell the former rapper more famously known as Uncle Luke. Now, according to the Miami Herald, all four of these candidates are meeting to “discuss coalescing behind one candidate.” Manley is quoted in this piece saying that while they have not reached an agreement, they “did agree that we needed to consolidate,” and he said the “conversations are going on. They have been very constructive and fruitful.” It is encouraging that in the wake of Callais decision we are beginning to see a more strategic approach to Black political representation, which has been too long monopolized by powerful longtime incumbents intent on nothing so much as preserving their own fiefdoms.

10. Finally, in a story shocking to exactly no one, Axios is out with a new report showing that the National Guard occupation of Washington D.C. has done little to reduce crime in the District. Per a new study by the centrist Niskansen Center, while the security theater of the deployment seems to have deterred “opportunistic” property crime, violent crime remained on the same downward trajectory it had been on since before the deployment. Moreover, the promised co-benefit – that the presence of the Guard would free up the Metropolitan Police Department to focus on high-crime areas – did not materialize at all. Despite these lackluster results, President Trump plans to double the National Guard presence in Washington – which already costs $1.5 million a day – ahead of the 250th anniversary events this summer. This is an outrageous waste of taxpayer money especially now that we know for sure how little impact this hostile occupation is actually having on driving down violent crime.

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

Ralph speaks to independent investigative journalist Lylla Younes to discuss her reporting on Israel's assault on southern Lebanon. Then, Ralph and media studies professor Robin Andersen discuss her new book "The Complicit Lens: US Media Coverage of the Genocide in Gaza."

Ralph Nader Radio Hour Episode 639 Transcript

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Lylla Younes is a Beirut-based journalist. She is an editor at The Public Source, and a frequent contributor to Drop Site News.

Robin Andersen is professor emerita of media studies at Fordham University and an award-winning author of a dozen single- and co-authored books. She serves as a Project Censored Judge, and contributes to the annual State of the Free Press. She is on the Board of Directors of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), where she also writes regularly, and is an Izzy Award Judge for the Park Center for Independent Media. Her latest book is The Complicit Lens: US Media Coverage of Israel’s Genocide in Gaza.

News 5/29/26

1. This week, Democratic Socialist Mayor of New York City Zohran Mamdani unveiled his plan to construct 200,000 new rent-stabilized homes in the city over the next decade, PIX 11 reports, making good on a campaign promise that many supposedly savvy political observers doubted. In addition to the new construction, Mamdani vowed to “preserve and stabilize” an additional 200,000 via New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) repairs, increased housing code enforcement, and a special focus on development in the Bronx. In his announcement, Mamdani said “We are the largest city in the nation. We have the resources, the talent, and the will to achieve this.”

2. In the federal government, one of the most controversial members of the Trump administration – former Democratic Congresswoman and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard – has resigned her position as Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The BBC reports Gabbard is citing her husband’s recent bone cancer diagnosis as the reason for her departure, but also notes that Gabbard “has largely been out of public view even as the US took military action against Iran, put pressure on Cuba, and…removed Venezuela’s president.” In theory, these would all require a substantial degree of participation from and coordination with the DNI, but Gabbard seemed pointedly out of the loop. The actions of the administration have also been diametrically opposed to Gabbard’s past foreign policy positions, defined by her 2020 slogan “no more regime change wars.” Others have noted that Gabbard now joins former Attorney General Pam Bondi, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem as high-profile women ousted from the Trump administration while glaringly incompetent men like Pete Hegseth remain in their posts.

3. Turning to Texas, this week saw a political bloodbath in the runoffs for the primaries held back in March. The topline of course is that scandal-plagued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, backed by Trump, triumphed over powerful longtime incumbent Senator John Cornyn. With the backing of the president, Paxton wiped the floor with Cornyn, winning around two-thirds of the vote. Yet Paxton goes into the general election against James Talarico very weak. 35% of those polled “Disapprove Strongly” of Paxton with only 15% saying they “Strongly Approve” according to the Texas Politics Project and even the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) condemned Paxton’s “lies” “incompetence” personal scandals and corruption in now-deleted press releases. Further down the ballot, incumbent Democratic Members of Congress Al Green and Julie Johnson have been defeated in their primary run-offs, after being forced into Member-on-Member races by the Texas redistricting scheme.

4. Meanwhile in Michigan, NOTUS reports the Working Families Party (WFP) has endorsed progressive Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed. This primary campaign, with El-Sayed running against moderate Congresswoman Haley Stevens and liberal state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, has become a bruising tripartite affair pitting the three major factions within the Democratic Party against one another. Recently, El-Sayed has taken the lead in this race, which WFP hopes to help consolidate, saying it is prepared to go “all in” on this race. WFP is feeling confident following their role in helping to ensure victory for Chris Rabb in Pennsylvania and Analilia Mejia in New Jersey.

5. In the Garden State, Senator Andy Kim was caught in a cloud of pepper spray this week as he joined protestors outside of a privately-run ICE detention facility, NJ.com reports. The protests began as a result of an ongoing hunger strike inside of the facility, which has led many high-profile New Jersey Democrats – including Governor Mikie Sherill and Congressman Robert Menendez Jr. in addition to Senator Kim – to call for the facility’s closure. Following the confrontation, Kim stated that “What we saw here is unfortunately just what we see all over the country…It’s sad…sad day.” At another point, Kim said “The cruelty that you see behind me, this is the point…Right now, I’m trying to have them not point guns at us.”

6. In another case of outrageous overreach by the Trump administration, Fox reports the Treasury Department has served subpoenas to CodePink activist Medea Benjamin and political streamer and influencer Hasan Piker seeking “financial, logistical and communications information” regarding their recent humanitarian voyage to Cuba. According to this story, the Treasury probe – handled through their Office of Foreign Assets Control – is primarily concerned with whether the convoy “violated U.S. sanctions laws through the financing, coordination or delivery of goods to Cuba, including potential contacts with Cuban government personnel or entities on the island.” The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has condemned the probe, writing that “Weaponizing the Treasury Department to target Americans for exercising their constitutional right to support human rights is unacceptable.” CAIR went on to call the investigation “performative and politically-motivated,” contending that “Every American who believes in the rule of law and human rights should stand in solidarity with Medea and demand that the Treasury Department drop its McCarthyite witch hunt.”

7. The Democrats meanwhile are once again conspiring against one another. The Bulwark reports the campaign to unseat Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin is back on – and now includes viable alternatives. Previously, discontent was mounting but there did not appear to be any other options. Presently though, the list circulating in Democratic circles consists of New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, former EMILY’s List president Stephanie Schriock, former president of the Service Employees International Union Mary Kay Henry, former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro, former chair of the Michigan Democratic Party Lavora Barnes, and former Wisconsin party chair Ben Wikler. Wikler, who revitalized the Beaver State party and placed second against Martin in the DNC Chair election, has “rebuffed discussions about leading the DNC, saying he wants nothing to do with effort to remove Martin and isn’t interested in replacing him.” Yet even with no obvious alternative, calls are mounting for Martin to step aside. This piece cites statements by progressive Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan, as well as a new initiative by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee on one side, alongside statements by more moderate Reps. Marc Veasey and Seth Moulton to the same effect. Still, many state parties and an equally ideologically diverse coalition is standing by Martin, so he will likely remain in place, at least for the time being.

8. Looking southward, this week Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced that her country will host the Iranian team ahead of the FIFA World Cup. Per Al Jazeera, the United States, which is hosting many of the matches, including all three the Iranian team was scheduled to play in, expressed that they did not think it “appropriate” for Iranian team members to be in the country, “for their own life and safety.” FIFA approached Mexico as an alternative. In her daily press conference, Sheinbaum stated that “We have no reason to deny them the possibility of staying in Mexico.” The Iranian team has also announced they will be moving their training base from Tucson to Tijuana, but still plan to enter the United States to play their games – with Trump saying they will be “welcome,” despite the fact American authorities have yet to issue the necessary visas.

9. Our final two stories involve the Pope. First, AP reports that this week Pope Leo XIV made an historic apology not only for the Catholic Church’s role in legitimizing slavery, but its failure to condemn the practice for centuries afterwards. Pope Leo called this a “wound in Christian memory.” Leo, the first American Pope, can point to both enslaved people and slave owners in his familial lineage, a remarkable vantage point from which to issue this statement in his first ever encyclical ”Magnifica Humanitas.”

10. Yet, for how historic this section of the encyclical is, it is not the portion of it that drew the most attention. That would be the section on Artificial Intelligence. Pope Leo writes “Humanity, created by God in all its grandeur, is today facing a pivotal choice: either to construct a new Tower of Babel or to build the city in which God and humanity dwell together.” Leo goes on to make the critical point that “technology is never neutral, because it takes on the characteristics of those who devise, finance, regulate, and use it.” He further goes on to state that “the pressure of new ideologies or certain highly powerful interests” can reduce the human person to “a resource to be used and exploited” or evaluated “on what they achieve or produce,” whereas God creates each individual person in His image and imbues them with inherent dignity. It is impossible to say whether the Pontiff’s words will move the titans of the tech industry to change their ways, but his moving rhetoric is sure to significantly influence the world’s view of AI, both today and for students of history.

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

Ralph welcomes back union organizer, Chris Townsend, to discuss the reasons why the AFL-CIO shrinks from effectively fighting for its members and expanding the power of workers. Then, political scientist Lee Drutman lays out a system of proportional representation that would take away the incentive to gerrymander congressional districts. Plus, Ralph gives some quick takes on Thomas Massie’s primary loss, fish hopped up on cocaine, and the situations in Lebanon and Ukraine.

Ralph Nader Radio Hour Episode 638 Transcript

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Chris Townsend has been a union member and labor leader for more than 45 years. He was most recently the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) International Union Organizing Director. Previously, he was an International Representative and Political Action Director for the United Electrical Workers Union (UE), and he has held local positions in both the SEIU and UFCW.

Lee Drutman is a senior fellow in the Political Reform program at New America, where he focuses on electoral reform, Congress, and democratic health. He writes the newsletter Undercurrent Events and co-hosts the podcast Politics in Question. And he is the author of The Business of America is Lobbying and Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop: The Case for Multiparty Democracy in America.

Katy O’Donnell is the editorial director at Haymarket Books, a radical, independent, nonprofit book publisher based in Chicago.

News 5/22/26

1. Our first story this week has to do with what appears to be the impending downfall of ultrazionist media personality, Bari Weiss. Weiss, who resigned from the New York Times to found the Free Press and then sold that venture to become “Editor-in-Chief” for CBS News under the Ellison regime, is reportedly facing down the barrel of her role being scaled back substantially. Puck reports “As Paramount closes in on its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery…members of the senior leadership team have had informal discussions about changing Bari’s mandate at CBS News—and, eventually, CNN—in ways that would give her less control over the linear product.” This piece cites her missteps stewarding CBS News, including her inability to improve the ratings for Evening News, even failing to secure new anchor Tony Dokoupil a travel visa to China in time for President Trump’s recent visit to the People’s Republic. While a total dismissal of Weiss seems unlikely in the near future, such a dramatic reduction in her clout would constitute a tremendous, humbling blow.

2. Moving to state-level news, last week, Colorado Democratic Governor Jared Polis announced he would be commuting the sentence of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who was sentenced to nine years in prison for tampering with voting systems to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the Centennial State. Peters will now be eligible for parole June 1st. This move has been widely condemned, most notably by the Colorado Democratic Party which voted by a margin of over 90% to officially censure Polis. In a statement, the CDP wrote, “Reducing [Peters’] sentence now, under pressure from Donald Trump, is not justice…It sends a message to future bad actors that election tampering has consequences, unless you’re friends with the president.” According to NBC, the CDP also banned Polis from being able to “participate as an honored guest, speaker or officially recognized representative of the Colorado Democratic Party at party-sponsored functions.”

3. In more positive state-level news, NPR reports Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has signed a bill banning prediction market sites like Polymarket and Kalshi – which allow consumers to “place…wager[s] on…future outcome[s], like sports, elections, live entertainment” – from operating in the North Star State. This makes Minnesota the first state in the nation to ban the prediction betting platforms. As this story notes, the Trump administration is pursuing legal action on behalf of the platforms, ensuring a legal battle over whether states can act to protect their own consumers from these predatory betting services. Minnesota Rep. Emma Greenman, who introduced the measure, is quoted as saying, “We as a state should decide how best and what regulations we think should attach to gambling, to protect public safety, to protect our kids.” The administration, meanwhile, specifically the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is arguing in court that prediction market industry regulation should be the sole preserve of the federal government.

4. Looking toward Congress, this week saw a number of high-profile primaries, including in the state of Pennsylvania. Leading up to that primary, the Pennsylvania machine went all out against the congressional campaign of State Representative Chris Rabb. Rabb, who had won the endorsements of everyone from AOC and Rashida Tlaib to Jamie Raskin and Philly DSA to the Philadelphia Inquirer, was targeted by a barrage of anonymous text messages to Philadelphia voters accusing him of “spreading conspiracy theories and holding extremist views,” per the Inquirer. What is remarkable about this smear campaign, however, is that it was organized by Philadelphia’s Democratic City Committee and that it violated federal election law by failing to disclose that fact. In another troubling portend of things to come, one of the texts featured an “AI-generated image of Rabb acknowledging his supposed lack of legislative accomplishments in Harrisburg.” Rumors have long circulated that Governor Josh Shapiro wanted Rabb to lose, and worked the backrooms to this end while avoiding public statements.

5. Yet, despite all of that, Rabb prevailed – winning over his two establishment-backed opponents with around 45% of the vote compared to his opponents, who each won approximately 30% and 24% respectively. The Pennsylvania primaries turned out to be a good night for progressives more generally, with Bob Brooks – a firefighter’s union chief and former state rep. who successfully united the Democratic Party behind him, winning the endorsements of both Governor Josh Shapiro and Senator Bernie Sanders. Brooks will face off against freshman Republican Congressman Ryan Mackenzie in November in the R+1 seventh district of Pennsylvania, while Rabb’s general election campaign is seen as little more than a formality in the D+40 PA-03.

6. Yet, if it was a good streak for Democratic progressives, it was a very bad one for Trump critics within the GOP. This week, Thomas Massie lost his primary in Kentucky’s fourth congressional district, buckling under the war chest deployed against him in what amounted to the most expensive House primary on record. Massie joked that “My vote was never for sale, so they bought a congressional seat. They found out what it cost.” Massie, perhaps Trump’s most formidable intra-party opponent in the House during his second term, worked with Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna on bills ranging from the Epstein Files Transparency Act to War Powers Resolutions related to the administration’s actions in Venezuela and Iran. In retaliation, Trump made it clear that he would go to any lengths to ensure Massie would not be reelected. That said, Massie will remain in the House until January and has indicated that he will make that time as painful for Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson as he possibly can. Moreover, during his concession speech, Massie’s supporters chanted for him to run for president in 2028, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. Whether he is even entertaining that thought is unclear, but if he did run as a right-wing independent candidate, one could easily imagine him capturing a large enough share of the vote to deny certain states to the Republican nominee. Meanwhile, his ally across the aisle, Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, said in a statement that Massie “lost because he had the guts to stand up to the Epstein class and against the war…He won voters under 45 by 30 points…Tonight, I say to [his] voters who feel rejected by Trump. We welcome you. Join our coalition to take on a rotten system and stand for the working class over the Epstein class.”

7. Massie isn’t the only Republican targeted in the latest round of Trump purges. Downballot, Trump loyalists have ousted the Indiana Republicans who resisted Trump’s pressure to implement mid-decade redistricting, but the real scalps he is claiming are in the Senate. Last weekend, Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana lost his primary runoff. Fox reports this makes Cassidy the “first elected Republican senator to lose renomination since Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana in 2012.” Trump wasted no time in dancing on Cassidy’s political grave, writing on Truth Social, “His disloyalty to the man who got him elected is now a part of a legend, and it’s nice to see that his political career is OVER!” His supposed disloyalty, of course, refers to Cassidy’s vote to convict Trump in the Senate trial for his second impeachment following January 6th. Former Senator Mitt Romney, who also voted to convict, is quoted in this article saying that Cassidy is a “person of character,” and that his “departure is a loss for the country.” Cassidy, however, is likely soon to be joined by longtime Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn. Cornyn is currently making his last stand against scandal-ridden Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in that runoff election. Trump has long prevaricated regarding whether and whom he would endorse in this race, at times leaning towards either candidate but remaining neutral up until this week, when he formally gave the nod to Paxton, per the Texas Tribune. This move has caused great consternation amongst Senate Republicans and cautious optimism among Democrats, who see Paxton as the weaker opponent to go up against Democratic nominee James Talarico in November – giving Democrats their best chance in years to flip a Senate seat in Texas.

8. What Cornyn’s next move will be is a mystery, especially as he has not yet officially lost the Texas primary. Cassidy, however, appears to have chosen the Massie route of going down fighting. This week, Cassidy flipped his position to become the deciding vote in favor of the Senate War Powers Resolution on Iran – successfully pushing it through along with support from fellow Republican Senators Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Rand Paul, despite disloyal opposition from Democratic Senator John Fetterman. The measure was then sent back to the House, but fearful it might actually pass – Democratic holdout Jared Golden had vowed to vote yes, and war-weary House Republicans Thomas Massie, Warren Davidson, Brian Fitzpatrick and Tom Barrett were all signaling their support – leadership abruptly canceled the vote, per MSN.

9. One factor cited in the Republicans’ calculus around this latest War Powers push was the absences of Members of Congress. In their view, the absences would have given Democrats the votes they needed to win. Two of these absences have garnered substantial attention in the media: those of Republican Congressman Tom Kean Jr. of New Jersey and Democratic Congresswoman Frederica Wilson of Florida. The 83-year-old Wilson, who was missing for a month with little public acknowledgment or explanation, has finally resurfaced, saying that she was undergoing a major eye surgery but still plans to seek reelection. In a remarkably tone-deaf comment, a source close to the Congresswoman was quoted in Axios saying “missing votes is not a sign she’s sick or retiring…She shows up when she wants to.” Still, at least her absence has been explained and she has now returned to her duties in the House. Congressman Kean’s disappearance is more mysterious. As of May 21st, Kean has not “been seen in Washington for more than 75 days,” NOTUS reports. When his absence first began to gain media traction, his Chief of Staff added fuel to the fire with the cryptic remark “there are no cameras where Tom is.” Now it is being reported that his neighbors back in New Jersey haven’t seen hide nor hair either. There has been some indication that Kean is dealing with a personal or medical issue, but Speaker Mike Johnson claims to have no knowledge of the particulars. It is not controversial to say that being an American Member of Congress is too important to simply be AWOL for long periods of time, especially without deigning to explain why to one’s constituents. Something must be done.

10. Finally, we turn to Latin America, where former president Evo Morales has leveled claims that the government of his native Bolivia, in coordination with the DEA and the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) is plotting to “detain or kill” him, TeleSUR reports. According to this report, “Morales detailed specific military units allegedly involved, including the Army’s Ninth Division in the tropical region under Colonel Franz Andrade Loza, whom he said the government promised to promote to general and appoint as armed forces commander ‘if he finishes off Evo.’” Morales also “cited an F-10 unit under Lieutenant Colonel Carlos Giménez Ortuño,” a former aide to the defense minister in the government of the unelected U.S.-backed regime of Jeanine Áñez. These allegations sound somewhat outlandish, but in a moment when the U.S. has recently kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, worked to undermine the governments of Mexico and Colombia via the Hondurasgate scheme, and just recently moved to indict 94 year old Raúl Castro for his role in an incident three decades ago when the Cuban government downed a civilian aircraft that entered their sovereign airspace, it does not seem so far fetched.

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

Key documents:

1. Rep. John Larson: Dear Colleague Letter

2. Larson H. RES. 1155: Impeaching Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors.

3. The American Conservative: Is It Time to Impeach Trump? by Bruce Fein

4. Bruce Fein: Congress Can End Trump’s Unconstitutional War in Iran—April 7, 2026

5. Senator Markey Calls For Trump Removal Over Threat to Eradicate “Civilization” in Iran

6. Statement by Ben Cohen

7. Statement by John Koskinen

8. NYC Bar: THE ABUSE OF PRESIDENTIAL POWER AND BREACH OF PUBLIC TRUST—RULE OF LAW TASK FORCE—DECEMBER 2025

9. NYC Bar: The Crisis Deepens: Congress Must Act Now to Address Escalating Abuses of Executive Power—Rule of Law Task Force—March 2026

Representative Larson's impeachment resolution PFD:

Larson H Res 1155ih

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Ralph speaks to Dr. Marina Nord of the V-Dem Institute about this year's V-Dem Democracy Report and how the Trump Administration is dismantling democracy in the US. Then, Ralph welcomes Dr. Ralph Estes to discuss corporations' shady accounting practices.

Ralph Nader Radio Hour Episode 637 Transcript

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Dr. Marina Nord is a postdoctoral research fellow at the V-Dem Institute. She is co-author of V-Dem’s Democracy Report 2026: “Unraveling The Democratic Era?”.

Dr. Ralph Estes is Emeritus professor of business and accounting at American University in Washington, D.C., co-founder and vice president of The Center for Advancement of Public Policy, and Emeritus Trustee at the Institute for Policy Studies. He is the author of several books, including Tyranny of the Bottom Line: Why Corporations Make Good People Do Bad Things and Fight the Corpocracy, Take Back Democracy: A Mad As Hell Guide for the 99%.

News 5/15/26

1. We begin this week with a bombshell story from Latin America. This week, El País broke what they are calling “Hondurasgate,” an expose centering on leaked audio recordings of conversations between President Donald Trump, Argentinian President Javier Milei and former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández – who was convicted and sentenced to 45 years in prison on drug trafficking charges in the U.S. but pardoned by Trump last year. In these leaked recordings, the three current and former heads of state discuss the creation of a “channel of spreading fake news with the intention of misinforming and destabilizing” Leftist governments in the region, including those of Gustavo Petro in Colombia and Claudia Sheinbaum in Mexico. According to this report, the leaks reveal the involvement of another world leader – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – in the decision to pardon Hernández. El País writes the leaks prove the pardoning of Hernández was “not a gesture of clemency, but the down payment of a broader agreement.” Expect more damning information to come out as more recordings are unearthed, even if so far the American media has largely blacked out this stunning story.

2. At the same time the Trump administration is seeking to subtly undermine governments like Mexico’s, they are executing considerably less subtle covert operations there as well. On March 28th, an explosion blew up the car of alleged narco Francisco Beltran just outside Mexico City. CNN now reports that, while “Mexican authorities have maintained extreme secrecy around the explosion,” multiple sources confirm that this was “a targeted assassination,” carried out by the CIA. Not only that, this operation is reportedly just one of several assassinations carried out by the CIA against rank-and-file cartel members on foreign soil which began last year. Troublingly, CNN notes these operations could be illegal under Mexican law, which prohibits foreign agents from participating in law enforcement operations without the express permission of the federal government. Omar Garcia Harfuch, Mexico’s Secretary of Security released a statement indicating that the Mexican government has not granted any such permission, writing “The Government of Mexico categorically rejects any version that seeks to normalize, justify, or suggest the existence of lethal, covert, or unilateral operations by foreign agencies on national territory.”

3. One ironic aspect of the joint right-wing destabilization effort and CIA covert operations campaign both currently underway in Mexico is the fact that the Sheinbaum government has affected a stunning reduction in murders throughout the country. According to Mexico Solidarity Media, the daily average of intentional homicides has been reduced by 40% between the beginning of the Sheinbaum administration in October 2024 and April 30, 2026, with that last month hitting the lowest level in over a decade – comparable in fact to the United States. We can only hope that Sheinbaum is able to stay the course and continue to drive down the murder rate while simultaneously avoiding the destabilization campaigns being waged against her government.

4. In Colombia, another state targeted in the Hondurasgate plot, Ivan Cepeda continues to consolidate progressive forces in that country ahead of the presidential election, aiming for a first round victory. This week, Luis Gilberto Murillo, a center-left presidential candidate, dropped out and endorsed Cepeda. While Murillo never rose very high in the polls, he has held high positions in the Colombian government – including Minister of Environment and governor of the department of Choco as well as Colombia’s ambassador to the United States and later foreign minister under Gustavo Petro.

Colombia One notes that this is the second such withdrawal in recent weeks, with Senator Clara López doing the same, indicating a serious intention among the progressive forces in Colombia to stave off a second round of the presidential election, which could see the right-wing consolidate against Cepeda in a way they have thus far been unable to do ahead of the first round.

5. Meanwhile, El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele, a standard bearer for the Latin American Right and a close ally of President Trump, is mired in a new scandal involving his dealings with the MS-13 gang and his ensuing attempts to silence the press. According to PBS, last month the Salvadoran outlet El Faro, in conjunction with PBS FRONTLINE released a documentary titled The Deal: Trump, Bukele & the Gangs of El Salvador, which “uncovered evidence that Bukele’s administration had offered privileges to gang leaders in prison in exchange for a reduction in homicides and voter support in territories the gangs controlled.” Now, in retaliation for publishing this story, Bukele has reportedly “frozen the personal assets of two of [El Faro’s] shareholders,” including editor-in-chief Carlos Dada who said in a press conference that “These are not fiscal measures…They are political measures trying to silence us.” This article notes that the facts presented in The Deal are particularly damning to Bukele, because of his public claims that he “would never negotiate with gangs” because it would grant them legitimacy. Just as it is ironic that the Trump administration is seeking to destabilize the Mexican government while it dramatically reduces murders, so too is it ironic that it is seeking to bolster the Bukele regime even as it carries out secretive deals with the very gangs the U.S. claims to be fighting.

6. In a wholly different part of the world, the centrist Labour Party government of Keir Starmer in the UK is teetering on the brink of collapse. Starmer’s popularity has been declining precipitously ever since he entered office, but the crisis of confidence from within his own party accelerated after the disastrous results of the May 7th local elections. Now, according to CNN, over 100 members of his party in Parliament are calling for him to resign, but the only way to trigger a leadership challenge is for at least 81 Labour MPs to coalesce around a single challenger – and as yet, none have crossed that threshold. Starmer himself has refused to stand down, challenging any other claimants to come forward. Health Secretary Wes Streeting has come the closest to openly challenging Starmer, even resigning his post in the government but stopping short of formally announcing a leadership challenge, the BBC reports. For now, Starmer continues to cling to power but each day could be his last at No. 10.

7. Turning to American foreign policy news, this week the Senate voted down yet another War Powers Resolution on Iran – the seventh such attempt since the war began in late February. What is notable about this resolution is that it won the support of the most GOP Senators yet – Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska – yet still failed by a margin of 50-49 because Democratic Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania crossed party lines to vote against the resolution. This from CBS. Even with Fetterman’s disloyalty, this vote is significant for the number of Republicans who broke ranks, perhaps indicating a growing unease with the war and particularly its impact on the price of consumer goods, beginning with gasoline and cascading from there.

8. In more congressional news, Southern states are scrambling to act in the wake of the Callais decision. In South Carolina and Mississippi, state officials have rejected attempts to call special sessions to redraw congressional maps before this year’s midterms. But, NPR reports Alabama is moving towards a new map that, like Louisiana, will likely include just one single largely Black, Democratic-leaning congressional district. However, even though some of these states are holding off on redrawing these districts today, it does not mean those districts will be safe tomorrow. And in Tennessee, where the legislature is moving ahead with a plan to do away with the state’s majority Black 9th congressional district in a special session – resulting in a revolt by Democrats in the legislature – the Republicans are retaliating by stripping all Democrats from their standing committee seats for “creating disorder,” per StateAffairs.com. Expect this process to get more contentious, and plain uglier, as it grinds ahead.

9. Next, a story in Fortune highlights the cost of data center construction. According to this story, the nearly 50,000 permanent residents of the California ski resort town of Lake Tahoe – which regularly attracts 25 to 28 million visitors annually – will soon be disconnected from their traditional power source, NV Energy. NV supplies the power to Liberty Utilities, which services the area directly, and NV has informed Liberty that it will stop providing power after May 2027. That power will instead be redirected to data centers, leaving Liberty Utilities less than a year to find another power source. This story notes that “Northern Nevada has become one of the fastest-growing data-center corridors in the country,” with Google, Apple, and Microsoft all having built or planning to build facilities in the area. Gallingly, just last fall NV Energy’s director of business development said the company was “eager to serve the new industrial load” but that it would not “impact [their] existing customer base.” This is a troubling preview of what may come as data center expansion continues unchecked.

10. Finally, in a story that proves once again that corporate greed knows no limits, the Lever is out with a new report on a class-action lawsuit by consumers against “private equity-backed bowling giant Bowlero.” According to the Lever, the suit accuses Bowlero of executing a “‘multi-year anticompetitive scheme to consolidate bowling centers,’ which has led to skyrocketing bowling prices, deteriorating lanes, and ‘the veritable destruction of the decades-old pastime of bowling in America.’” The numbers back up this narrative. Bowlero, which had just six locations in 2012, has exploded to 350 today. The company is said to control roughly 35 percent of U.S. bowling revenue – and 95% of all lanes in some markets – as well as acquiring the Professional Bowling Association itself. As with any monopoly, once it had cornered the market Bowlero proceeded to jack up prices, even using AI to do so algorithmically. In a sense, this is a story we have all heard too many times to be surprised, but we can still be shocked by the base greed of corporate executives, even in something as seemingly anodyne as the bowling industry.

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

Ralph welcomes back Adolph Reed, Professor Emeritus of political science at the University of Pennsylvania and Distinguished Visiting Professor at Mount Holyoke College to discuss the latest Supreme Court decision gutting the Voting Rights Act. Then, Ralph and our resident constitutional scholar, Bruce Fein, talk about what ordinary citizens can do to pressure their reps to impeach Donald Trump.

Ralph Nader Radio Hour Episode 636 Transcript

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Adolph Reed is Professor Emeritus of political science at the University of Pennsylvania and Distinguished Visiting Professor at Mount Holyoke College. His most recent books are The South: Jim Crow and Its Afterlives, No Politics but Class Politics (co-authored with Walter Benn Michaels), and Black Studies, Cultural Politics, and the Evasion of Inequality: The Farce this Time (co-authored with Kenneth W. Warren).

Bruce Fein is a Constitutional scholar and an expert on international law. Mr. Fein was Associate Deputy Attorney General under Ronald Reagan and he is the author of Constitutional Peril: The Life and Death Struggle for Our Constitution and Democracy, and American Empire: Before the Fall.

News 5/8/26

1. Our top story this week comes to us from the Bulwark, which reports that dissatisfaction with Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin is reaching a fever pitch. Martin has faced criticism over the course of his tenure for reneging on his promise to release an autopsy on the 2024 presidential campaign and for his decidedly lackluster fundraising efforts. The DNC has reportedly “spent more money than it has raised” and “has more debt than cash on hand,” while the Republican National Committee enjoys a “roughly seven-to-one money advantage.” According to this report, high-level DNC members are now privately discussing ousting Martin, only tabling these discussions “after members failed to identify an alternative candidate willing to step into the role.” Martin’s failures have even led Democrats to openly wonder “whether the 178-year-old committee should even exist anymore.” Martin was elected DNC Chair last year, beating out Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Ben Wikler, who helped rebuild the party and raise tremendous amounts of money in that critical swing state.

2. Speaking of money in politics, this week POLITICO released a damning report on End Citizens United, the good-government focused 501(c)(4) that has in past years been a “fundraising behemoth” but has now faded nearly into complete irrelevancy. The issues highlighted in this piece will be familiar to many who have worked in this world. Despite raising $14.8 million, the group’s PAC arm is burning through the money more quickly than it can raise it, having just $324,000 on hand at the end of March. What are they spending the money on? According to POLITICO, about $650,000 has gone to candidates and party groups and about the same amount has been bundled. Meanwhile, payments to fundraising firms have eaten up an astonishing $5.3 million. This is just another case of Democratic Party aligned consulting firms run amok and growing fat off of small dollar donations.

3. Another disappointing story comes to us from the Teamsters. According to Bloomberg, the union has forfeited a hard-won union foothold – the first ever unionized Chipotle – following three years of battling the company and failing to secure a contract. A Teamsters local president said in an email to the National Labor Relations Board that the union “officially withdraws and disclaims interest” at the Lansing, Michigan location. Legally speaking, this means the company will no longer be “required to recognize or negotiate with the union.” The employees of this location voted to unionize in 2022 by a margin of 11-to-3. Chipotle corporate has been decried for seeking to bust this union, with Biden NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo accusing them of employing illegal anti-union tactics like “withholding raises from the store’s staff and telling workers that the union was keeping their pay frozen…[and punishing] a pro-union employee to discourage activism.” However, it was the Teamsters themselves who ultimately gave up, paving the way for the demise of the workers’ heroic stand against corporate power. As the saying goes, with friends like these.

4. In more positive political news, during the Washington DC mayoral debate last week, the Washington Post reports democratic socialist mayoral hopeful Janeese Lewis George seemed to endorse the idea of opening municipal grocery stores in DC food deserts, including the impoverished and majority Black Wards 7 and 8. Asked about this topic, Councilmember Lewis George committed to bringing at least one more grocery store to Ward 7 and at least two more to Ward 8, noting that she would seek to shore up investor confidence with public dollars. If private options do not materialize however, she vowed that “we will work towards” a publicly-owned store. Municipally-owned grocery stores were a much publicized part of the Zohran Mamdani campaign platform and, if Lewis George is elected, his success or failure in carrying out that pledge is sure to impact her decision making on this issue.

5. Meanwhile, in media news, the New York Times reports Lupa Systems – the private holding company representing the interests of James Murdoch, son of conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch – is “in talks to acquire major parts of Vox Media.” Vox, founded in the 2010s by journalists Ezra Klein, Matt Yglesias, and Melissa Bell, now owns major media properties including New York magazine, the Verge, Eater and a podcast network featuring Kara Swisher and others. Murdoch, through Lupa, owns a “majority stake in Tribeca Enterprises, the parent company of the Tribeca Film Festival.” Additionally, the Times notes that Quadrivium, the foundation founded by Mr. Murdoch and his wife, Kathryn, has financial interests in “The 19th, a nonprofit newsroom focused on gender and politics, and The Bulwark, a so-called ‘Never Trump’ digital media company.” James Murdoch, along with his sister Elisabeth, are seen as far more liberal than the Murdoch patriarch and his other son, Lachlan, who together successfully ousted the other family members from control of the family trust in a recent legal battle.

6. Turning to international news, yet another deadlocked presidential election in Peru is looming. A new Ipsos poll, taken near the end of April, shows an exact 50-50 split between the two candidates in the runoff: the left-wing member of Congress Roberto Sánchez and Keiko Fujimori, daughter of former Peruvian dictator Alberto Fujimori. This election was always going to be close – Peruvian politics have been deadlocked for years, resulting in ultra-narrow presidential victories frequently followed by impeachments. Fujimori has been a runoff candidate in every presidential election going back to 2011, losing each by extremely narrow margins. Most recently, she lost to Pedro Castillo by a margin of 50.13% to 49.87% in 2021. Castillo however was thwarted by, and ultimately ousted by, the Congress. The runoff will be held on June 7th.

7. In India, the Left suffered catastrophic defeats in this week’s state elections, Al Jazeera reports. The state of Kerala – “the first in the world to have a democratically elected communist government” and “the last state in India where communists were in power” – will now be led by the United Democratic Front, a coalition headed by the Congress party, which won over 100 out of 140 seats. The Left bloc will likely capture around 35 seats. Beyond Kerala however, the Left has seen setbacks throughout the country, with no state now being ruled by the Left for the first time since 1977 and the national parliamentary Left bloc declining from 62 in the 2004 election to just eight seats today. Different factors are cited for the general decline of the Left in India, including an inability to adapt Marxist analysis to non class-related issues in the country, such as caste and gender, as well as the decline of industrial trade unions and a general trend towards Right-wing Hindu nationalism. Hopefully, the Left will take this electoral rout as an opportunity to rebuild itself into a viable force for 21st century Indian politics.

8. Turning to East Asia, the Financial Times reports North Korea has subtly revised its constitution to drop references to reunification of the two Koreas. Specifically, the new text reads “the territory of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea includes the territory bordering the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation to the north and the Republic of Korea to the south, and the territorial sea and airspace established on it”. In acknowledging the existence of the Republic of Korea, more commonly known as South Korea, experts see a move away from the long-held North Korean contention that the peninsula is a single country illegally partitioned. The revision was “disclosed by an academic at a press conference hosted by the South Korean Ministry of Unification on Wednesday.” Though this article notes that “North Korea has not made any comment on the revised constitution and the source of the text revealed by the unification ministry was not disclosed,” it highlights that Kim Jong-un has increasingly moved in this direction in recent years, renaming Tongil (“reunification”) metro station in Pyongyang and dismantling an Arch of Reunification monument.

9. Our last two stories have to do with the People’s Republic of China. First, Reuters reports China’s Commerce Ministry has issued an injunction to “block U.S. ​sanctions imposed on five Chinese refiners accused ‌of buying Iranian oil.” Hengli Petrochemical, one of the five small “teapot” refineries primarily located in China’s Shandong province, was slapped with sanctions last month, when the Trump administration accused the company of purchasing billions ​of dollars in Iranian oil. The other four have been sanctioned since last year. However, the Ministry now argues that the sanctions violate “international law and ‌the ⁠basic norms of international relations,” and with the injunction in place, “the United States cannot recognize, ​implement, or comply ​with the ⁠sanctions imposed on the aforementioned five Chinese companies.” This is perhaps the most significant challenge to the American-led international sanctions regime in decades and whatever reaction issues from the U.S. will surely inform other states on just how far they can go in flouting such sanctions.

10. Finally, in a stunning legal decision, Fortune reports Chinese courts have ruled that “companies cannot terminate employees just to replace them with artificial intelligence systems.” The case in question hinged on whether a tech firm in eastern China had acted illegally when firing one of its workers, a “quality assurance professional…identified only as Zhou” after he “refused to take a demotion” and a 40% pay cut, when his job was automated by AI. The court found that the termination did not meet established standards, such as business downsizing or operational difficulties, and the court separately stated that “Companies cannot unilaterally lay off employees or cut salaries due to technological progress.” This stunning legal victory for workers in the face of challenges by technology is bittersweet – heartening in that it’s happening at all, yet at the same time depressing because it is almost impossible to imagine an equivalent worker protection regime being implemented in the United States.

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

Ralph welcomes six authors to discuss their books: “Beyond Nuclear” founder Linda Gunter; trial lawyer Sean Simpson; law professor Elizabeth Burch; naturalist David Schmidt; industrial hygienist Marc Axelrod; and educator and advocate Jonathan Kozol.

Ralph Nader Radio Hour Episode 635 Transcript

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Linda Gunter is the founder of the US-based non-profit Beyond Nuclear and serves as its international specialist. Previously, she was a journalist at USA Network, Reuters, and The Times. She launched, and writes for Beyond Nuclear’s online magazine, Beyond Nuclear International. And she is the author of No To Nuclear: Why Nuclear Power Destroys Lives, Derails Climate Progress and Provokes War.

Sean Simpson is an attorney specializing in civil jury trials, representing individuals who have been harmed by someone else’s carelessness or intentional wrongdoing. He is the author of Punitive Damages: The Lawyer’s Tool for Shaping Society.

Elizabeth Burch is a professor at the University of Georgia School of Law, and co-author of Perceptions of Justice in Multidistrict Litigation: Voices from the Crowd. She is the author of The Pain Brokers: How Con Men, Call Centers, and Rogue Doctors Fuel America’s Lawsuit Factory.

David Schmidt is lifelong San Francisco Bay Area resident, naturalist, and environmental historian. He worked as a writer in the public affairs office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in San Francisco from 1991 to 2021, led dozens of hikes for the Greenbelt Alliance in the region’s extensive public parklands, and volunteered on habitat restoration projects for the Golden Gate National Parks and the California Native Plant Society. He is the author of San Francisco Bay Area: An Environmental History.

Marc Axelrod is an award-winning front line industrial hygienist and workplace safety professional. He has developed and implemented programs to protect people from industry’s most hazardous technologies. He has worked for employers including Boeing, Kaiser Permanente, UCLA and the City of Beverly Hills. He is the author of The Flame Bucket: Adventures in Workplace Safety.

Jonathan Kozol is a leading advocate for child-centered learning, equality, and racial justice in our nation’s schools, and he travels and lectures about educational inequality and racial injustice. Mr. Kozol is the author of nearly a dozen books about young children and their public schools, including Death at an Early Age, An End to Inequality: Breaking Down the Walls of Apartheid Education in America, and We Shall Not Bow Down: Children of Color Under Siege: An Invocation to Resistance.

News 5/1/26

1. Perhaps the biggest news of the week is the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision in Louisiana v. Callais to gut Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which preserved majority-minority congressional districts. In practice, this ruling gives conservative Southern states license to draw these districts out of existence. Jonathan Cervas, a political scientist at Carnegie-Mellon University who has served as a special master in multiple Voting Rights Act cases, is quoted in AP saying “The Voting Rights Act as a means to protect minority voters from vote dilution is essentially dead.” In the Washington Post, NAACP President Derrick Johnson called the decision “a devastating blow to what remains of the Voting Rights Act, and a license for corrupt politicians who want to rig the system by silencing entire communities,” and “a major setback for our nation and…the hard-won victories we’ve fought, bled, and died for.” In practice, this ruling is sure to set off a new round of redrawing congressional districts, likely resulting in a net gain of 12 seats – half of the Southern Section 2 districts – for the GOP. In Louisiana itself, CNN reports Governor Jeff Landry has halted House primaries, where “Early voting was scheduled to begin Saturday and overseas ballots had already gone out.” Moreover, “Democratic Rep. Cleo Fields, whose district is at the center of the Supreme Court’s redistricting decision, said…Landry had told him he anticipated issuing an executive order to suspend the House election and call a new one.”

2. Speaking of Southern congressional districts, in Florida’s 20th district, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick has “defiantly” filed to run again in the special election for her former district, per NOTUS. Cherfilus-McCormick resigned her seat in Congress last week just minutes before the House Ethics Committee was scheduled to “recommend punishment on an array of charges.” She had previously been found guilty of “25 ethics violations, including allegedly stealing $5 million dollars in federal disaster-aid funds used to bolster her 2021 campaign,” following an extensive investigation running for two years and including “issuing 58 subpoenas, interviewing 28 witnesses and reviewing over 33,000 documents.” Elijah Manley, the young progressive running for the seat, is quoted saying “Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick resigned in disgrace moments before her colleagues were set to expel her from Congress…The last thing our community needs is a second round of chaos and instability. She should focus on her legal troubles.”

3. In more positive news from Congress, Rep. Greg Casar announced this week that the Congressional Progressive Caucus he chairs is issuing a new Affordability Agenda, bringing together a slew of bills sponsored by progressives – on topics ranging from housing to groceries to prescription drugs and more – into a unified package. In an introduction, the Caucus emphasizes that “Americans are facing a cost-of-living crisis and…At the same time, Democrats are searching for a vision that wins back the trust of working families and provides a mandate to deliver the big changes our country needs in 2026.” The question now is whether the Democratic Party will take up this banner and run with it or once again spurn their progressive base.

4. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is occupied with their continuing efforts to persecute comedians for anodyne jokes. The latest on this front is the Federal Communications Commission ordering the Walt Disney Company’s ABC to seek early broadcast license renewals for the eight TV stations it owns, following a joke about Melania Trump on Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show, NPR reports. The joke, a “mock speech for an alternative White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” which went “Our first lady Melania is here. So beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow,” aired three days before the actual White House Correspondents’ Dinner and the corresponding security threat. Kimmel has stressed that the joke was about the age difference between the President and First Lady “not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination. And they know that.” FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gomez, sole Democrat still on the commission, issued a statement calling this “the most egregious action this FCC has taken in violation of the First Amendment to date…As part of its ongoing campaign of censorship and control, the White House called publicly for the silencing of a vocal critic, and this FCC has now answered that call.”

5. Another scandalous act of corruption from inside the federal government came to light this week with Gannon Ken Van Dyke, a special operations soldier stationed at Fort Bragg being charged with insider trading. Specifically, Van Dyke is charged with three counts of violating the Commodity Exchange Account, one count of wire fraud and one count of an unlawful money transaction for using classified government information to win over $400,000 via prediction betting site Polymarket vis-a-vis the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, per the Hill. U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton, also heading up the prosecution of President Maduro, is quoted saying “Prediction markets are not a haven for using misappropriated confidential or classified information for personal gain.” For their part, Polymarket has announced tightened insider trading rules, but continues to insist that “When we identified a user trading on classified government information, we referred the matter to the DOJ & cooperated with their investigation,” and that Van Dyke’s arrest is “proof the system works.”

6. In more news related to Latin America, a new poll shows leftist Senator and presidential candidate Iván Cepeda with a substantial lead, according to the City Paper Bogotá. In polls of the first round, Cepeda drew 44.3%, while his rivals, Abelardo de la Espriella and Paloma Valencia drew 21.5% and 19.8% respectively, an impressive showing for Valencia who has nearly doubled her support since the last poll was taken. In the second round, polling shows Cepeda besting both rivals, 54.6% to 42.6% against de la Espriella and a narrower 51.2% versus 46.6% against Valencia. A Cepeda victory would continue the leftward trend in Colombian politics begun with the election of Gustavo Petro in 2022, a remarkable turnaround for one of the most stalwart conservative countries in the region.

7. Elsewhere on the globe, a new poll shows Jeremy Corbyn – the British left icon, former Labour Party leader and founder of Your Party – in danger of losing his long-held seat in the riding of Islington North. Corbyn, who was first elected to the seat in 1983, was able to keep his seat as an independent MP even after his expulsion from the Labour Party following the hostile takeover of the party by the centrist Keir Starmer regime. Yet now, with Your Party coming apart at the seams, the Greens look poised to capture the seat. However, the Canary notes that this poll only asked voters about their partisan voting intentions, with no mention of individual candidates. This means even if voters in Islington North are more sympathetic to the Greens overall, they could still return Corbyn himself to Parliament. Nevertheless, this poll gives some indication of how successfully the Greens have outmaneuvered Your Party, even in what should be their most solid riding.

8. Another iconic British public figure – King Charles III – is in America this week for a royal visit in which he addressed a joint session of Congress, met with President Trump and enjoyed a White House dinner. On Wednesday, the King attended a wreath-laying ceremony at Ground Zero in New York City, along with New York Governor Kathy Hochul, New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill and, most strikingly, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. This unlikely pairing has clearly piqued the interest of the press, who asked Mayor Mamdani what he would talk about with the King if they were to have a private moment together. While the duo did not ultimately have a private meeting, Mamdani responded that he would “probably encourage [the King] to return the Kohinoor diamond,” which POLITICO identifies as “an enormous bauble set into a royal crown on display in the Tower of London,” noting that the diamond has “become a point of contention between England and India.”

9. In more local news, with the protracted California gubernatorial primary on the horizon at last, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees or IATSE, has thrown their weight behind progressive billionaire Tom Steyer, Variety reports. This piece notes Steyer’s pledge to keep film and television production in Los Angeles along with his outspoken criticism of the merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. as well as his proposal to levy a tax on AI computations and use the proceeds to “fund training for displaced workers.” IATSE represents around 50,000 workers in California and 130,000 workers nationwide. Steyer has amassed considerable union support in his bid for perhaps the second most powerful political executive position in the country after the presidency, including the California Teachers Association, the California Federation of Teachers, and the California Nurses Association. Steyer’s closest Democratic rival in the open primary, former Congressman, state Attorney General and HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra is racking up endorsements as well, including from Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California and powerful California politicianss such as Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas. With a close race between the top four leading Democrats and Republicans, the June 2nd primary is sure to conclude with a photo finish.

10. Finally, in Washington DC, the Democratic Mayoral primary continues to grow more acrimonious. This week, former Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, the candidate backed by corporate donors and the DC political establishment, criticized progressive Councilmember Janeese Lewis-George in a fundraising email for supposedly accepting “dark money from outside interest groups.” Which groups you may ask? Local unions, representing tens of thousands of DC workers, including local branches of the AFL-CIO, UFCW, transit workers, teachers, the building trades and more. In a stinging rebuke, the unions excoriated McDuffie for his “disturbing pattern of anti-union talking points and votes” including opposition to wage increases for DC restaurant and child-care workers – while simultaneously accepting donations from “MAGA developers…[and] utility and energy executives.” Moreover, Axios reports Safe & Affordable DC, a labor-aligned super PAC, is launching a half-million dollar ad blitz attacking McDuffie on his record of favoritism towards the utilities at a moment when bills are higher than ever. Tensions mounted even higher this week, when the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance opened an investigation to determine whether Lewis George’s campaign is collaborating too closely with her union allies – an allegation she has dismissed as “baseless.” It is worth noting that DC progressives have had this accusation leveled at them in the past, only for it to indeed prove baseless. Expect this race to get more heated, and more expensive, the closer we get to the June 16th primary.

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

Ralph welcomes Professor Nicholas Chater, co-author of “It's on You: How Corporations and Behavioral Scientists Have Convinced Us That We’re to Blame for Society's Deepest Problems.” Then, as most of the media turns its attention to Iran, we return to the ongoing genocide in Gaza and welcome back Dr. Feroze Sidhwa to break down his three-part series published in Zeteo called “The Truth About Gaza's Dead.”

Ralph Nader Radio Hour Episode 634 Transcript

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Nick Chater is Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick Business School. He has written and co-written more than two hundred research papers and six books, including It’s on You: How Corporations and Behavioral Scientists Have Convinced Us That We’re to Blame for Society’s Deepest Problems (co-written with George Loewenstein).

Dr. Feroze Sidhwa is a general, trauma, and critical care surgeon in California. He is also a humanitarian surgeon who has worked in Palestine, Ukraine, Haiti, Zimbabwe, and Burkina Faso. He most recently volunteered at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, Gaza. He was blocked from entering Gaza by Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence service in November 2025.

News 4/24/26

1. Our top stories this week have to do with people losing their jobs. First up, Apple CEO Tim Cook – the handpicked successor of Steve Jobs who has led the tech giant for the past 15 years – announced this week that he would transition away from the CEO role. While he will remain on as Executive Chairman, John Ternus, the company’s head of hardware engineering, will take over at the helm, PBS reports. Cook’s tenure at Apple has received mixed evaluations, with many applauding the steady handed executive for adding an estimated $3.6 trillion in market value to the company, while others have critiqued his supposed lack of innovation compared to his predecessor. Some hope his more technical-minded successor will put more emphasis on product development moving forward. Like many tech CEOs, Cook went to great lengths to ingratiate himself with President Trump in his second term, donating $1 million to his inaugural committee and gifting Trump a glass plaque set in 24-karat gold last August.

2. Meanwhile, Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned this week amid “an internal investigation into her conduct,” which included “instructing staff to buy her bottles of sauvignon blanc on work trips… [stashing] liquor in her office, [encouraging] young female staffers to ‘pay attention’ to her father and husband, [having] an affair with a member of her security detail, and [arranging] work travel to visit family and friends,” per Vox. For the time being, the Labor Department will be headed by Keith Sonderling, whom POLITICO calls a “quintessential Washington insider who is well-connected in the capital’s Republican circles and his home state of Florida.” Sources quoted in this piece identify Sonderling as a key behind-the-scenes player in the administration whose accumulated influence “extends well beyond DOL.” The choice of Chavez-DeRemer, a former Congresswoman who was seen as perhaps the most labor-friendly Republican in the House, was supported at the time by Trump-aligned Teamster boss Sean O’Brien; her ouster therefore, represents the latest humiliating setback for his strategy of cozying up to Trump to win favorable treatment for his membership. In the words of a recent Current Affairs piece published before the downfall of Chavez-DeRemer, “Sean O’Brien Sold Labor to Trump, and Got Nothing.”

3. In the House, Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick resigned her seat this week, just minutes before the House Ethics Committee was set to weigh punishment for the Congresswoman, whom the panel had previously found guilty of “a slew of ethics violations, including accusations that she stole millions in pandemic relief funds and used it to bolster her 2021 campaign,” according to CNN. Cherfilus-McCormick was one of the four Members of Congress included in the proposed bipartisan expulsion deal some weeks ago, along with Representatives Swalwell, Gonzales, and Mills. With the first two gone, a tremendous amount of pressure is sure to be exerted on Congressman Mills to resign as well. Prior to resigning, Cherfilus-McCormick was already facing a stiff primary challenge from young progressive Elijah Manley. Now, it seems her seat – representing hundreds of thousands in Broward and Palm Beach counties – could remain vacant until a new member is sworn in next January, with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis unlikely to call a special election before then.

4. Also in Congress, Axios reports Representative David Scott of Georgia, a powerful Black Georgia Democrat who served in the lower house for over 20 years, passed away this week at age 80. Scott, who rose to become the first Black chair of the key House Committee on Agriculture, had filed to run again in 2026 despite rumored resistance from his colleagues. His death leaves Georgia’s 13th district without representation in the House and amounts to a stunning fourth death-based Democratic House vacancy in the past year. Like the ones that preceded it, this must be seen as a bright red warning signal to Democratic leadership.

5. In DC more broadly, the employment picture looks even worse. According to a new report in the Guardian, the combined purging of 300,000 jobs from the federal government – the piece notes this is the “region’s largest employer” – by Elon Musk’s absurd Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative, with another 13,000 job cuts in the private sector, has left DC with the highest unemployment rate in the nation at 6.7%. With little sign of increased hiring in the public or private sectors, there is no indication this trend will reverse itself any time soon.

6. Elsewhere in the DMV, this week Virginia voters approved a referendum to amend the state constitution allowing Democrats to redraw the state’s congressional districts in their favor. Currently, Virginia Democrats hold six districts to the Republicans’ five; under the new map, Democrats are poised to hold 10 districts and the Republicans just one. This is the latest episode in the mid-decade redistricting fight begun last year, when Texas Republicans sought to redraw the Lone Star state’s maps to be more favorable to the GOP. This set off a stampede of states seeking to redraw their district lines. Now, in light of the Virginia referendum passing, Florida is threatening to redraw their maps to the detriment of Democrats there. The Hill reports House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, taking a sharper tone than usual, responded to news of the Florida redistricting attempt with a statement reading “If Florida Republicans proceed with this illegal scheme, they will only create more prime pick-up opportunities for Democrats, just as they did with Trump’s dummymander in Texas…[he vowed] maximum warfare, everywhere, all the time.”

7. In California, the downfall of Eric Swalwell has resulted in the unexpected rise of another candidate – former Congressman, California Attorney General, and Biden-era Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. Between April 10th and April 22nd, Becerra surged from a polling average of under 4% to an average of 13% – and in some polls, even moved into first place. While Becerra seeks to consolidate this spike in support, progressives are airing long-held grievances. David Sirota, former Bernie Sanders campaign advisor and founder of the Lever, cited that publication’s 2021 report on how “As California AG, [Becerra] demanded the HHS secretary use existing law to lower medicine prices - and then he became HHS secretary & literally refused to do that.” Others have pointed out that, according to Transparency USA, Becerra’s campaign has received massive donations from the likes of Chevron. Progressive billionaire Tom Steyer on the other hand this week received the endorsement of Our Revolution, closely aligned with Bernie Sanders, which noted that “Yes, Tom Steyer is a billionaire. But it matters what he is doing with that power: pushing for taxes on the wealthy, expanding universal programs, and dismantling corporate influence in our politics.”

8. In another case of politics making strange bedfellows, the Chicago Tribune reports the political arm of Planned Parenthood is making an endorsement in the race to succeed retiring Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García in Illinois 4th congressional district. Except, in this case, the reproductive rights group is not endorsing the Democrat in the race. Listeners may recall that Congressman García was sharply criticized for his maneuvering to ensure his chief of staff Patty García would be the Democratic nominee. This has forced other potential aspirants to run as independents. These include DSA-aligned Chicago Alderman Byron Sigcho-López and activist Mayra Macías – the latter of whom won the Planned Parenthood Action endorsement this week. The Tribune notes that Macías served on the board of Planned Parenthood Action until the beginning of this year. In a statement, Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson called Macías “a proven leader,” who “will be unrelenting in the fight to protect access to sexual and reproductive health care.”

9. Turning to international news, in South Africa, leftist politician and leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party Julius Malema was sentenced to five years in prison this week for “firing a rifle in ⁠the air at a party rally,” Al Jazeera reports. Unsurprisingly, given that the EFF is the fourth largest political party in South Africa, this case has become a rallying cry for Malema’s supporters, with those same supporters accusing the prosecution of being politically motivated. Presiding Magistrate Twanet Olivier disputes this, contending that it “is not a political party who has been convicted here … it is a person, an individual.” Malema’s lawyers immediately applied for – and were granted – leave to appeal, but if these appeals fail Malema could be barred from serving as a Member of Parliament.

10. Finally, in more positive news from abroad, Reuters reports that the much-trumpeted summit of the global Left held in Barcelona this week – designed to help progressives rally their forces to defeat modern reactionary Right-wing nationalism characterized by figures like Trump – drew over 6,000 attendees from over 40 countries. Headline speakers included Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Brazilian President Lula, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Colombian President Gustavo Petro and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. From the United States, an ecclectic group addressed the summit, ranging from video messages of support from Hilary Clinton to Bernie Sanders to Zohran Mamdani, with an in-person address by Minnesota Governor and former Vice-Presidential candidate Tim Walz. A recurrent theme, hammered home by Isabel Allende, former Senate president ​of Chile and daughter of Salvador Allende, Chile’s leftist president ousted in a U.S.-backed coup and replaced with the dictator Augusto Pinochet, was that the left has become too distant from the daily concerns of workers, stating in no uncertain terms that “It’s unimaginable to fight against the right ‌if we can’t ⁠get closer to ordinary people.”

This has been Francesco DeSantis with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

Ralph welcomes journalist and author Megan Greenwell to discuss her book "Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream." Then, Ralph speaks to James Zogby (co-founder and president of the Arab American Institute) about the recent Israeli attacks on Lebanon.

Ralph Nader Radio Hour Episode 633 Transcript

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Megan Greenwell is a journalist who has written or edited for publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, New York Magazine, WIRED, and ESPN. She is also the deputy director of the Princeton Summer Journalism Program, a workshop and college-access initiative for students from low-income backgrounds. She is the author of Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream.

James Zogby is co-founder and president of the Arab American Institute, and he is featured frequently on national and international media as an expert on Middle East affairs. Since 1992, he has written a weekly column— “Washington Watch” —that is published in 12 countries. He is the author of several books, including Looking at Iran: The Rise and Fall of Iran in Arab Public Opinion, The Tumultuous Decade: Arab, Turkish, and Iranian Public Opinion - 2010-2019, Arab Voices: What They Are Saying to Us, and Why it Matters, and Palestinians: The Invisible Victims.

News 4/17/26

1. Our top story this week comes to us from New York City, where Mayor Zohran Mamdani is delivering on yet another campaign promise thought impossible by mainstream pundits and beltway insiders: the creation of municipal grocery stores. Capping off his first 100 days in office, Mayor Mamdani delivered remarks in front of La Marqueta in East Harlem, the site of one of the original city-run grocery stores created under Fiorello LaGuardia. Mamdani laid out how the stores will operate, noting that while “A private operator will run the store,” they will “answer to the standards the city will set…[including] requirements that at our stores bread will be cheaper. Eggs will be cheaper. Grocery shopping will no longer be an unsolvable equation. And workers will be treated with dignity.” Mamdani plans to have the first of these stores open in 2027 and stores in all five boroughs open by the end of his term in 2029. This from NBC4 New York.

2. Meanwhile, in New York’s 10th congressional district, former NYC Comptroller and Mamdani ally Brad Lander is aligning himself with AOC and calling for an end to U.S. aid to Israel. In a meeting with a group of local journalists, Lander said “We need to follow the Leahy Law and condition all of our foreign policy aid on human rights and international law compliance…At the moment, Israel is very far from complying with human rights and international law. So I would not vote for any more aid,” adding that he “hopes” Israel will “[get] there.” The Forward notes that this is an evolution from the position he took during his mayoral candidacy last year. At that time Lander opposed sending offensive weapons to Israel, but believed that the US should keep funding Israel’s Iron Dome, per the New York Post. Through a representative, Lander’s opponent in this race, incumbent Congressman Dan Goldman, told the Forward he “will always support defensive systems,” like Iron Dome.

3. The liberal Zionist organization J Street is also shifting its position. The Middle East Eye reports the group is calling for an end to “direct” US military support to Israel, according to a new policy paper. To be clear however, while this does mark a shift from J Street’s previous position that the U.S. should provide defensive weapons systems – like resupply for Iron Dome, at no cost to Israelis – J Street now argues that Israel should simply purchase these weapons instead. In short, J Street is arguing that Israel is rich enough to provide for its own defense and that the American financial subsidies are “unnecessary and politically counterproductive, creating avoidable tensions in US domestic politics and in the bilateral relationship.” This is in line with statements by Netanyahu himself, who has made it clear that Israel wants to reduce its reliance on U.S. military aid “all the way down to zero.”

4. In other news, Reuters reports Apple is closing several of its brick-and-mortar stores, including the first ever unionized Apple store. Over 100 workers at the store, located in Towson Town Center mall in Maryland, voted to join the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAM) in 2022; Reuters notes that “a similar union drive in Atlanta [around that same time] was withdrawn, ‌with ⁠Apple workers alleging intimidation.”At the other stores being shuttered, employees were offered the option to continue their jobs at other nearby Apple stores. At the Towson store however, Apple is claiming that the collective bargaining agreement prevents relocation. The union says this is “false” and is reportedly exploring all legal options. IAM also expressed “serious concerns that ​this closure is a cynical attempt to ​bust ⁠the union.”

5. Elsewhere in Maryland, the state legislature has passed the Protection from Predatory Pricing Act. This bill, which Gov. Wes Moore has vowed to sign into law, is designed to prohibit surveillance pricing, the practice of retailers charging different shoppers different prices for the same item at the same time based on information the store knows about them as an individual. While crucial and innovative legislation, Consumer Reports – which “engaged on the bill…throughout the legislative process,” argues that it has been watered down to the point of inadequacy via lobbying by the Maryland Retail Alliance. Some of the added exceptions include failing to establish any baseline or standard price – given that “with no set standard price, everything can be marketed as a discount” — and exempting any pricing associated with loyalty or membership programs or subscriptions. The bill also does not contain strong enforcement provisions, such as a private right of action. So, while this bill is a start – and you have to start somewhere – we echo Consumer Reports’ urging that “other state legislatures considering personalized pricing legislation to build in stronger consumer protections and avoid loopholes that weakened this bill.”

6. In more consumer news, the scourge of sports betting continues to metastasize. A new report from Siena Research Institute has produced staggering findings: “27% of Americans and [52%] of men ages 18-49…[say] they have an active account with an online sportsbook such as DraftKings, Caesars, FanDuel, or BetMGM.” And, while most respondents maintain that they bet because it is “exciting” and “fun”, “31% of bettors report having had someone express concern about their usage of online sportsbooks, [42%] of bettors...say they have felt that they bet more than they should…Fifteen percent of bettors…say they have called a problem gambling Helpline or sought other help with problem gambling, and 22% of respondents overall say they know someone that has or has had a problem with online sports betting.” Taken together, this represents a deeply troubling gambling wave cresting in this country. And, while legislators are beginning to take notice, the sports betting interests are beginning to fight back, with Bloomberg reporting that these companies – FanDuel, DraftKings and Fanatics Sportsbook – are beginning to dump money by the truckload into new Super PACs. Just this year, they have contributed $41 million to Win for America, according to new FEC filings, and show no sign of stopping there.

7. In our final domestic story, this week saw the implosion of leading California gubernatorial candidate, Rep. Eric Swalwell. Swalwell ultimately opted to resign his seat in Congress after it became clear that the Democratic and Republican House leadership was mulling a deal to expel him and flagrantly corrupt Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick along with two scandal-ridden GOP Reps., Tony Gonzales and Cory Mills. The fact that Swalwell’s resignation was paired with that of Gonzales lends credence to the idea that some deal was worked out behind closed doors. Yet, deal or no, this leaves Cherfilus-McCormick and Mills in their seats despite general acknowledgment that they should be expelled, per the Hill. This constitutes congressional horsetrading at its most base.

8. Turning to international news, this week Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has for months governed the country with a plurality in the House of Commons, has successfully secured a majority for his ruling Liberal Party. This majority was secured via three byelection victories, but more significantly, by five recent “floor crossings” – elected MPs switching parties to join the Liberals. Having secured a majority, Carney is now confident in his ability to stave off a no-confidence vote and will likely remain in power at least until the 2029 general election. Unfortunately, the New Democratic Party (NDP) saw improvement in their share of the vote in only one “riding” despite their new leadership. This just proves the party has a long, difficult climb back to relevance in Canadian politics. This from the CBC.

9. Looking Southward, this week, Peru held the first round of their presidential election. The top two vote getters will advance to a runoff, but who those candidates would be remained unclear for an agonizingly protracted period of time. Keiko Fujimori, daughter of the former Japanese-Peruvian dictator and a perennial far-right candidate herself, came in first with 17% of the vote. And at first, it seemed like the second slot would be taken by ultraconservative Rafael Lopez Aliaga. However, following days of vote counting, Aliaga moved down to third place, with the second place finisher proving to be Roberto Sanchez, a figure of the Peruvian Left and ally of ousted former President Pedro Castillo. Sanchez however is also allegedly allied with the Andean supremacist movement led by Antauro Humala in Peru. The Peruvian political system has been rocked by instability, churning through “eight presidents in the past 10 years, including four who were impeached,” per France 24. Castillo, the last democratically elected president, was sentenced to over 11 years in prison in 2025; if elected, Sanchez would likely pardon the former president as other left-wing Latin American leaders including Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum have urged. How long Sanchez, or for that matter Fujimori, might last in office is another question.

10. Finally, we turn to the United Kingdom where the dream of a new Leftist party – Your Party – is foundering. After a promising start, Your Party ultimately descended into infighting between the Grassroots Left faction, led by Zarah Sultana, and another faction, the Many, led by former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. Your Party also chose to bar from participation any avowedly leftist organizations. These moves, alienating to the very constituencies most interested in backing the YP, paired with the meteoric rise of the Green Party under Zack Polanski and a threatened exodus by the Scottish YP segment, have rendered what could have been a substantial power in Parliament, pressing for concessions on issues if not achieving a majority itself, utterly toothless. An inside account of the internal battles is available at Counterfire.

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

Ralph welcomes Haley Hinkle, policy counsel at Fairplay to tell us about how a New Mexico jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million for harming children’s mental health and safety, violating state law. Then when present highlights from last week’s symposium on impeachment, featuring Dennis Kucinich, CIA whistleblower, Jeffrey Sterling, Public Citizen co-president, Rob Weissman, GW law dean Alan Morrison and many more.

Ralph Nader Radio Hour Episode 632 Transcript

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Haley Hinkle is policy counsel at Fairplay, where she advocates for laws and regulations that protect children and teens’ autonomy and safety online. Ms. Hinkle has also worked on issues at the intersection of government surveillance technology and civil liberties.

News 4/10/26

1. This week, many felt that the U.S. came as close to a nuclear conflagration as it has since the Cuban Missile Crisis, as President Trump whipsawed between vowing that Iran’s “’whole civilization will die” and striking peace deals with the Islamic Republic. Ultimately, the U.S., Iran and Israel all signed a two-week cease-fire agreement, mediated by Pakistan, including a provision that Iran will “allow oil, gas and other vessels to proceed unmolested” through the Strait of Hormuz, per the New York Times. However, this is just a cease-fire – not a peace treaty – and is being immediately pushed to the brink as Israel continues their ongoing, devastating assault on Lebanon. The Guardian reports that both Iran and Pakistan view Lebanon as included within the deal, while Israel maintains that it is a separate matter. In retaliation, Iran is now demanding tolls as high as $2 million per ship to pass through the Strait. With Israel showing little interest in acceding to a ceasefire in Lebanon, it seems unlikely this crisis will be resolved swiftly.

2. In the lead up to Trump’s address Tuesday night, a large number of Democrats came out publicly in favor of Trump’s removal via the 25th amendment, or failing that, a new congressional impeachment effort. According to Axios, this group includes both progressives like AOC, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, as well as more moderate members, including even Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi. Some Democratic Senators, including Senators Ed Markey and Ron Wyden also signaled their support. Perhaps most strikingly, former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene called for Trump to be removed through an invocation of the 25th amendment, though she stopped short of calling for impeachment. This all coincided with Congressman John Larson introducing a new set of 13 articles of impeachment – that he may soon force a vote on under House Rule IX – and the legal symposium on impeachment organized by our own Ralph Nader and friend of the show Bruce Fein, available on C-SPAN.

3. Leading the moral opposition to the Iran war meanwhile, Pope Leo XIV – the first American Pope – has come out in opposition, telling journalists that “all people of goodwill” should “always search for peace and not violence… [and] reject war,” emphasizing that many have called this war “unjust” and that it is ”continuing to escalate and…not resolving anything.” Pope Leo stressed that “the innocent: children, the elderly, the sick…will become victims of this continued warfare.” The pontiff even went so far as to conclude with a call for political action, urging the people of the world “to contact the authorities—political leaders, congressmen—to ask them, to tell them, to work for peace and to reject war and violence.” This from Vatican News.

4. However, this is just the latest flashpoint between Pope Leo and the Trump administration. Administration officials were already irate with the Vatican earlier this week, following Pope Leo’s statements on Easter Sunday, when he called for world leaders to give up their “desire to dominate others” and “the imperialist occupation of the world.” In response, Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby – grandson of former CIA Director William Colby – reportedly told Vatican officials that “America has the military power to do whatever it wants in the world,””and “The Catholic Church had better take its side.” They also reportedly invoked the Avignon Papacy, implying that the United States could sponsor an heretical anti-pope as an alternative for rightwing Catholics. This exchange was apparently so shocking that Vatican officials canceled a planned American visit by the first American Pope. This from Newsweek.

5. Another deeply immoral story comes to us from Michigan, where the Detroit News reports Danhao Wang – a Chinese electrical and computer engineering research assistant at the University of Michigan – has died after falling from an upper level of the George G. Brown Building. According to this report, the university’s police department is investigating this incident as a “possible act of self harm,” but Chinese authorities are demanding an investigation into his death, noting that it came on the heels of Wang enduring “hostile questioning” by federal law enforcement. This tragedy has occurred within the context of a Trump administration-led “crackdown” on foreign influence at U.S. universities. The Chinese Consulate in Chicago meanwhile put out a public statement decrying that “For some time now, the U.S. has overstretched the concept of national security for political manipulation and groundlessly interrogated and harassed Chinese students and scholars,” like Wang, implying some role in his death, while simultaneously “infring[ing] on Chinese citizens’ legitimate and lawful rights and interests, poison[ing] the atmosphere of people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and the U.S., and creat[ing] a serious chilling effect.” The Consulate is also demanding that law enforcement “carry out a full investigation, give the family of the victim and the Chinese side a responsible explanation, stop any discriminatory law enforcement targeting Chinese students and scholars in the U.S., and stop imposing wrongful convictions.”

6. Elsewhere in the midwest, Republican lawmakers in Ohio are taking first steps to do something about the out of control sports gambling epidemic. These legislators have introduced two bills, one designed to ban in-game gambling, parlay and prop bets and wagers on all college athletics and a second bill which would prohibit the “use of credit cards to make bets…[limit] bets to $100 and only [allow] up to eight wagers per 24 hour [period].” It would also ban ads during events broadcast live. However, the number one biggest rule these laws would impose would be banning online sports gambling period. Republican State Rep. Gary Click is quoted saying “[We’re] going to put some common sense consumer protections in place to protect Ohio citizens.” Yet, this report also notes a huge loophole in these bills: they would not apply to prediction markets like Polymarket or Kalshi, just pure sportsbooks. This from ABC News 5 Cleveland.

7. Turning back to foreign affairs, French authorities have arrested Rima Hassan, a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and Jean-luc Mélenchon left-wing La France Insoumise (LFI) party. The charge? According to Al Jazeera, suspicion of “apology for terrorism” for a post that referenced Kozo Okamoto, a participant in the deadly attack at Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport in 1972. However, Hassan’s allies in the LFI see this as a thinly veiled attempt to silence pro-Palestine voices. Sophia Chikirou, an LFI MP said “The French police and justice system are being used to intimidate those who support the Palestinian people,” while Mélenchon himself wrote “So there is no longer parliamentary immunity in France. Intolerable.” Mathilde Panot, an MP and head of the LFI delegation in the National Assembly, said “the criminalisation of political opponents has reached a new level,” under President Emmanuel Macron and demanded that “This relentless attack, trampling on the most fundamental rights, must end immediately.”

8. Our final stories this week cover Latin America. First, a delegation of American members of Congress, including Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal and Congressman Jonathan Jackson, visited Cuba in an attempt to see “firsthand the devastation and suffering caused by the U.S. blockade of fuel,” according to Jayapal. In their joint statement, Jayapal and Jackson wrote that they met with “families, religious leaders, entrepreneurs, civil society organizations, the Cuban government, Latin American and African ambassadors, humanitarian aid organizations, and Cubans across the political spectrum, including dissidents,” all of whom demanded an end to the blockade. Further, they wrote that they witnessed “premature babies in incubators, weighing just two pounds, who are at tremendous risk because their ventilators and incubators cannot function without electricity. Children cannot attend school because there is no fuel for them or their teachers to travel. Cancer patients cannot receive lifesaving treatments because of lack of medications. There is a water shortage because there is little electricity to pump water. Businesses have closed. Families cannot keep food refrigerated, and food production on the island has dropped to just 10 percent of the people’s needs.” They concluded by calling for “real negotiations” between both countries. Sadly, it is unlikely that those will come after such a long, acrimonious relationship since the 1959 revolution.

9. Next, in Venezuela, NPR reports that the Office of Foreign Assets Control – a division of the Treasury Department – has lifted sanctions on acting President Delcy Rodríguez. NPR notes that this sanctions relief “allows Rodríguez to more freely work with U.S. companies and investors.” In a statement on the platform Telegram, Rodríguez wrote “We value President Donald Trump’s decision as a step toward normalizing and strengthening relations between our countries...We trust that this progress will allow for the lifting of current sanctions against our country, enabling us to build and guarantee an effective bilateral cooperation agenda for the benefit of our people.” Yet, her presidency rests on shaky legal grounds. While the Trump administration recognizes her as the “sole Head of State” the Venezuelan political system still recognizes Nicolás Maduro as the rightful president and Rodríguez as acting president for just 90 days – a window that is ending as we record this segment – though the National Assembly, presided over by her brother, can extend her acting term by six months. After that point however, the future of Venezuela looks far murkier, particularly if Maduro remains in U.S. custody.

10. Finally, in Mexico, President Claudia Sheinbaum has announced that her government will consolidate the various branches of the Mexican public health apparatus – including the Mexican Social Security Institute, the Social Security Institute and Social Services of Workers of the State, and the IMSS Bienestar program – into a single Universal Health Service. According to TeleSUR English, President Sheinbaum stated that the “objective is that any citizen can attend any health institution and be guaranteed full and free coverage throughout the national system.” President Sheinbaum emphasized that “universal breast cancer care will also be incorporated, including mammograms, biopsies, and treatments at the nearest facility, expanding preventive and therapeutic coverage for women nationwide,” and that the plan would “ensure continuity of complex treatments for conditions such as cancer, HIV, kidney disease, and hemophilia, even if the patient loses or changes their health insurance coverage, preventing interruptions in critical therapies.” She hopes to have this system in place by next year. While Mexico has a much more robust public health infrastructure than the U.S. to begin with, it is remarkable how, with the right combination of administrative competence, popular government and political will, Sheinbaum is poised to achieve yet another social safety net expansion considered a complete political impossibility in this country in such a short window of time. Never let yourself be beaten down. A better world is possible.

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

Ralph welcomes international security expert Paul Rogers to discuss the US-Israeli war on Iran. Then, Ralph speaks to constitutional law experts Bruce Fein and John Bonifaz about their upcoming impeachment symposium.

Ralph Nader Radio Hour Episode 631 Transcript

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Paul Rogers is Emeritus Professor of Peace Studies in the Department of Peace Studies and International Relations at Bradford University, and an Honorary Fellow at the Joint Service Command and Staff College. He is open Democracy’s international security correspondent.

John Bonifaz is a constitutional attorney and the co-founder and president of Free Speech For People. Mr. Bonifaz previously served as the executive director and general counsel of the National Voting Rights Institute, and as the legal director of Voter Action. He is the author of Warrior-King: The Case For Impeaching George W. Bush and the co-author (with Ron Fein and Ben Clements) of The Constitution Demands It: The Case For The Impeachment of Donald Trump.

Bruce Fein is a Constitutional scholar and an expert on international law. Mr. Fein was Associate Deputy Attorney General under Ronald Reagan and he is the author of Constitutional Peril: The Life and Death Struggle for Our Constitution and Democracy, and American Empire: Before the Fall.

News 4/3/26

1. This week, the Trump administration backed down and allowed the Russian oil tanker Anatoly Kolodkin to pass through the American blockade and deliver a shipment of 730,000 barrels of oil to Cuba. The AP writes, the shipment could produce about 180,000 barrels of diesel, enough to feed Cuba’s daily energy demand for nine or 10 days. Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío commented on the situation, “The arrival of an oil tanker to a country has likely never generated so much news as the Russian one to Cuba…It’s a sign of the brutal siege Cubans endure with heroism and stoicism. It’s a demonstration of the criminal cruelty of imperialism against a nation that refuses to be dominated.” Trump’s public statements on the matter however loom ominously over the island nation. On Sunday night, Trump told reporters “Cuba’s finished…whether or not they get a boat of oil, it’s not going to matter.”

2. In more news of Trump backing down, or “chickening out” as the saying goes, the Wall Street Journal reports that Trump is telling his inner circle that he is willing to end the military operation in Iran without reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Instead, he wants the U.S. to stick to its original 4-6 week timeline and focus on “hobbling Iran’s navy and its missile stocks…while pressuring Tehran diplomatically.” This report adds that if this fails, Trump plans to “press allies in Europe and the Gulf to take the lead on reopening the strait.” This aligns with Trump’s recent statements on Truth Social, telling allies like the UK to “Go get your own oil!” With all of this said, Trump has sent the USS Tripoli and the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit to the region, is weighing the deployment of another 10,000 ground troops, and is considering a “complex and risky mission to seize the regime’s uranium,” all while calling the war an “excursion” and “a lovely stay.”

3. Meanwhile, 25 Senate Democrats have signed a letter by Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia requesting that Senator Roger Wicker, the Republican Chairman of the Armed Services Committee launch a bipartisan probe – complete with hearings and a report – into the strike on Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School for girls in Minab, Iran at the beginning of the war. This letter notes that the majority of those killed were girls between ages seven and 12. Moreover, this letter implies that the Pentagon chose this target based on wildly outdated intelligence, raising grave questions about the competence of the military apparatus. While several high-ranking Democrats signed this letter, including Dick Durbin and Cory Booker, along with progressives like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s name is nowhere to be found.

4. Elsewhere in the region, the Israeli Knesset has passed a new law effectively proscribing the death penalty exclusively to Palestinians. Human Rights Watch states “the bill imposes the death penalty for the deliberate killing of a person with the intention of negating the existence of the State of Israel.’” HRW adds that the new law “mandates execution by hanging, restricts access to legal counsel and visits from family members, limits external oversight, and grants immunity to those involved in carrying out executions.” In a piece calling for the immediate repeal of this law, Erika Guevara-Rosas of Amnesty International writes “By authorizing military courts, which have a conviction rate of over 99% for Palestinian defendants and which are notorious for disregarding due process and fair trial safeguards, to impose effectively mandatory death sentences and ordering the execution within just 90 days of the final ruling, Israel is brazenly granting itself carte blanche to execute Palestinians while stripping away the most basic fair-trial safeguards.” In an interview with CNN, Mustafa Barghouti said this law “confirms very serious fascist tendencies in Israel” and “consolidates further the system of apartheid.”

5. Anti-Palestinian extremism continues to grow within the United States as well. Al Jazeera reports that last week, domestic law enforcement “foiled a plot against prominent Palestinian activist Nerdeen Kiswani in New York City.” Kiswani is the founder of Within Our Lifetime, a pro-Palestine and anti-Zionist group active in the City. The suspect, apprehended by the FBI in an undercover operation, has been identified as a New Jersey man named Andrew Heifler, a young man affiliated with an offshoot of the far-right Jewish Defense League (JDL), described as an extremist group with a history of violent attacks targeting Arab American activists during the 1970s and 1980s. Heifler was reportedly planning to target Kiswani’s home with Molotov cocktails. Mayor Zohran Mamdani condemned the plot, saying “We will not tolerate violent extremism in our city. No one should face violence for their political beliefs or their advocacy…Our city must meet hate with solidarity, and meet fear with an unshakable commitment to justice and to one another.” Kiswani vowed that she “will not stop speaking up for the people of Palestine.”

6. Also in New York, Congresswoman and possible 2028 presidential candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez held a private meeting with the powerful local branch of the Democratic Socialists of America. During this meeting AOC was asked whether she would support the imposition of an arms embargo on Israel. According to City and State NY, AOC affirmed that she would and stated that “The Israeli government should be able to finance their own weapons if they seek to arm themselves.” Pressed on whether she would vote against so-called defensive capabilities – namely the Iron Dome – Rep. Ocasio-Cortez definitively answered “yes.” This marks an evolution of her position; AOC previously voted “present” on a bill to provide $1 billion in funding for the Iron Dome in 2021. Many read this as an acknowledgment from AOC that the politics of this issue have shifted, particularly on the Left, and in order to shore up her progressive support she needs to stake out a bold position now.

7. Turning to the international progressive movement, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who has led Spain in a Leftward direction since 2018 despite the rise of the European Right is convening a summit of progressive forces in Barcelona slated for April 17th and 18th. Sánchez, who has chaired the Socialist International since 2022, emphasized that the Right has “for years woven a network of alliances to propagate their national populist discourses adapted to each country,” and stressed that the Left must do the same to remain politically viable, per El País. Notable attendees include Brazilian President Lula, outgoing Colombian President Gustavo Petro and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. There have been many attempts to unite the international Left, with mixed results, but it is never too late to try.

8. In our final story on the international Left, the New Democratic Party of Canada – the country’s third largest and most progressive major party – has selected former journalist and activist Avi Lewis as their new leader, the BBC reports. This story notes that Lewis’ elevation comes in the context of the NDP suffering a steep decline in recent years, going from the main opposition party in 2011, to holding just six seats in Canada’s House of Commons today. Lewis – grandson of one of the party’s founding members and son of Stephen Lewis, who led the Ontario NDP and served as the Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations – ran on a platform designed to revive the struggling party by “prioritising worker rights in the age of artificial intelligence, ending new oil and gas pipelines and projects, and exploring state-owned, non-profit grocery stores.” Despite his illustrious lineage, Lewis holds no seat in parliament and therefore cannot participate in official debates. The NDP faces an uphill climb not only back to power but even to relevance. According to this story, “a quarter of past voters…see the party as ‘irrelevant’...and 40% say its best days are behind it.”

9. In Los Angeles, a shocking new poll shows City Councilmember Nithya Raman, who entered the race at the last possible moment, in a commanding lead. In this poll, Raman drew 33% support, with incumbent Mayor Karen Bass trailing at 17%, statistically tied with another insurgent progressive candidate, Rae Huang. Other candidates – tech executive Adam Miller and former reality television personality and registered Republican Spencer Pratt – round out the field with 13% and 12% respectively. This poll appears to be an outlier. Other recent polls have shown Bass at 20% to Raman’s 9%, and Bass at 25% with Raman at 17%. But, if this poll is accurate, it would be a stunning testament to the success of Raman’s campaign thus far and a massive warning signal to Bass. If the Mayor slips any further, she could find herself locked out of the general election by Los Angeles’ top-two “jungle primary” structure. This from the LA Times.

10. Finally, we turn to the world of professional sports. This week, Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Greg Casar introduced the Home Team Act, which, if passed, would require the owners of major league sports teams to allow local communities the option to buy a team before unilaterally relocating across state lines or to a different metro area. This announcement sent ripples through the sports world, with many fans excited by the prospect of keeping their home teams at home. ABC7 Chicago notes that “Sanders specifically mentioned the Bears’ threat to leave Chicago,” while the San Diego Union-Tribune believes this bill could keep the Padres in San Diego despite multiple offers to sell. San Diego has been particularly sensitive to this threat since the Chargers left for LA in 2017. In the press conference announcing this bill, Bernie unsubtly displayed the jerseys of the Brooklyn Dodgers, his hometown team, which famously relocated to Los Angeles ahead of the 1958 baseball season.

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

Ralph welcomes Wes Bryant, a retired Air Force special operations master sergeant and former analyst at the Civilian Protection Center who talks to us about how civilians, either through incompetence or negligence, are not being protected during American missile strikes. Then our resident constitutional scholar, Bruce Fein, joins us to break down his latest op-ed “The Power to Declare War Belongs to Congress Alone.”

Ralph Nader Radio Hour Episode 630 Transcript

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Wes Bryant is a defense and national security analyst with focus on foreign policy and global conflict, counterterrorism and extremism, strike and joint targeting operations, and civilian harm. He retired from the U.S. Air Force in 2018 at the rank of Master Sergeant after twenty years of active duty service. He was formerly a senior policy analyst and advisor on precision warfare and civilian harm mitigation at the Pentagon’s Civilian Protection Center of Excellence, where he led as the first-ever Branch Chief of Civilian Harm Assessments.

Bruce Fein is a Constitutional scholar and an expert on international law. Mr. Fein was Associate Deputy Attorney General under Ronald Reagan and he is the author of Constitutional Peril: The Life and Death Struggle for Our Constitution and Democracy, and American Empire: Before the Fall.

News 3/27/26

1. Our top stories this week have to do with the tiny, blockaded island nation of Cuba. Cuba, famous for its medical innovations including a lung cancer vaccine, has long maintained medical missions abroad. In recent days, the United States has pressured foreign governments to end these partnerships, including passing a law that opens up the possibility of sanctions on countries that accept these medical missions. This week, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced Mexico will retain the Cuban doctors in defiance of American threats. Since 2022, thousands of Cuban medical workers have been deployed in poor, rural areas of the country. Sheinbaum emphasized that “It’s hard to get Mexican doctors and specialists to go out to many rural areas where we need medical specialists, and the Cubans are willing to work there,” per Al Jazeera. However, Mexico is the exception. Within the past month, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Guyana and the Bahamas have all announced that the Cuban doctors will leave their countries under American pressure. It is tragic to think of the number of poor people in the rural areas of these countries who will needlessly suffer and die simply because they are caught in the crossfire of American imperialism.

2. In more Cuba news, Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio told Drop Site that the Cuban government is preparing to submit a proposal to the United States offering lump sum payments to Americans and American firms that lost property during the 1959 revolution. As this piece notes, Cuba negotiated lump sum compensation agreements with Canada, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Spain, and France in the wake of the revolution, but the United States refused this offer and instead sought to destabilize the Castro government for decades. The Cuban officials admit that they lack the reserves to make good on this offer right away, but argue that if the Americans eased the sanctions regime they could use the new capital flow to finance this agreement. With all of that said, Cossio also contends that “the Cuban people and the Cuban nation…deserves…to be compensated for the damage done by the economic blockade, by the invasion, by terrorism, by assassinations…[and by] violent actions against the [Cuban] economy.”

3. In more news from Latin America, CBS reports Neiyerver Adrián Leon Rengel, a 28-year old Venezuelan man deported from the U.S. and detained in the notorious CECOT prison in El Salvador last year has filed a tort suit alleging false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress and demanding $1.3 million in damages from the United States. According to Rengel, he and fellow detainees were constantly beaten by prison guards, forced to drink the same water he and other inmates bathed in, and was told by guards that he would be there for 90 years. Rengel was eventually freed in a prisoner exchange with Venezuela in July of 2025. Rengel, who entered the country legally, was deported on the basis of alleged ties to the Tren de Aragua gang. He denies having any connection with that criminal organization.

4. Turning to the Middle East, while the American war on Iran rages, the new Israeli offensive in Lebanon has largely slipped under the radar. But as this campaign grows larger and larger, it cannot be ignored. According to Reuters, Israel is planning to seize a “chunk” of southern Lebanon south of the Litani River to create a “buffer zone” against Hezbollah militants. Approximately 8% of Lebanese territory lies south of this line of demarcation. On March 24th, Israeli Defence Minister Katz said Israel had “destroyed five bridges over the river and that the military would ‘control the remaining bridges and the security zone up to the Litani,’ adding that Israeli troops would remain as long as there is “terrorism and missiles.” As part of this offensive, Israel has ordered the evacuation of all Lebanese south of the Litani. In practice, this means over 1.16 million people – 25% of the population of Lebanon – has been displaced, per Social Affairs Minister Haneen Sayyed. This from Drop Site.

5. Meanwhile, the Hill reports that the Progressive Caucus – Chaired by Texas progressive congressman Greg Casar – will uniformly vote against any proposed supplemental funding for the Pentagon to prosecute the war in Iran. Casar told the publication, “Democrats should unite against funding this illegal war and force Republicans to answer to the American people for it.” The Progressive Caucus argues that the eye-popping $200 billion price tag of the supplement could be better used to fund programs to expand health care subsidies, cover pre-K education costs, build more affordable housing, cover school lunches and eradicate medical debt. Congresswoman Sara Jacobs added that the supplement request is “not a one-time cost to wrap things up” but rather “a down payment on a long war.”

6. Even as Congress debates the supplementary funding bill, Democrats are eyeing a new War Powers Resolution. Axios reports that while the previous War Powers Resolution on Iran failed by a margin of 219 to 212, the four Democrats who crossed party lines to vote down the resolution last time are “poised to flip” the next time party leadership forces a war powers vote and Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace is hinting that she would support a new resolution as well. If all Democrats vote for the measure, along with the two Republicans – Reps. Thomas Massie and Warren Davidson – who supported the resolution last time maintain their support, Mace’s support wouldn’t even be necessary for a majority vote. Unfortunately, Axios notes that even if both the House and Senate pass the resolution, President Trump can veto the measure and it would be nearly impossible to get the necessary two-thirds vote in both chambers to override his veto.

7. Turning to tech news, Wired reports that Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced a bill in the Senate designed to institute a national moratorium on construction of AI datacenters “until legislation is enacted that safeguards the public from the dangers of artificial intelligence.” Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez plans to introduce a companion bill in the House in the coming days. In a speech, Sanders contended that “A moratorium will give us the chance to figure out how to make sure that AI benefits the working families of this country, not just a handful of billionaires…A moratorium will give us the time to figure out how to ensure that AI is safe and effective and prevent the worst outcomes. A moratorium will give us the time to figure out how to make sure AI does not harm our environment or jack up the electric bills that we pay.” Concerns about AI Data Centers have demonstrated an appeal on both the Right and Left; beyond Sanders and AOC, Republican Senator Josh Hawley and Rep. Thomas Massie, along with Governor Ron DeSantis and conservative pundit Steve Bannon, have all expressed some level of concern. Even President Trump, who forged an alliance with the tech industry in his second term, has been forced to admit that “Data centers…need some PR help.”

8. On the open market, OpenAI is reportedly shutting down Sora, the video generation app it launched just last year intended to be a harbinger for expansion into creative tools and social media, per CNN. While Sora started off with a significant degree of public enthusiasm, and a billion-dollar deal with Disney, copyright holders “quickly raised concerns over the use of their intellectual property and people’s likenesses on the platform.” Others derided Sora for its contributions to misinformation and for helping to proliferate so-called “AI slop.” For their part, Disney issued a statement maintaining that they “respect OpenAI’s decision to exit the video generation business,” but that the deal would not be moving forward.

9. In more local news, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is initiating a massive round of cuts to wasteful spending in the municipal budget. In a video, the mayor acknowledged how past spending has left the city with a $5.4 billion budget gap over the next two years and how he plans to cut $1.7 billion to help drive that down in the near term, without compromising essential services. One way Mamdani plans to cut costs is by minimizing the use of outside contractors and crucially, consultants. Mamdani said the city’s Department of Social Services is canceling its contract with McKinsey worth a staggering $9 million. In addition to these cuts, Mamdani stressed that in order to fight this budget gap, the city also needs to “tax the rich and end the drain that’s been our relationship with the state for far too long.” Staying true to his promise of transparency with the people of New York, he said his administration will “keep [them] posted every step of the way. Because to deliver public goods, you have to first deliver public excellence.” This from Newsweek.

10. Finally, ever since his 2020 election loss, President Trump has ceaselessly attacked mail-in voting as fraudulent – calling the method “mail-in cheating” – and his government is currently arguing a case before the Supreme Court seeking to ban the practice of states accepting mail-in ballots postmarked by election day but received afterwards. This week however, in the midst of this campaign against mail-in voting, Trump himself cast a mail-in vote in his adopted home state of Florida, NPR reports. Democracy Docket adds that when asked about his mail-in vote, Trump responded “because of the fact I’m president of the United States, I did a mail-in ballot for elections that took place in Florida because I felt like I should be here instead of being in the beautiful sun.” While a minute example of Trump’s rampant hypocrisy, this is indicative of his philosophy that rules exist for thee and not for me.

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

Ralph welcomes international human rights lawyer Craig Mokhiber to discuss the U.S. and Israel’s illegal war on Iran. Then, Ralph speaks to investigative reporter David Cay Johnston about the finances of Donald Trump.

Ralph Nader Radio Hour Episode 629 Transcript

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Craig Mokhiber is an international human rights lawyer and activist, and a former senior United Nations human rights official. A human rights activist in the 1980s, he would go on to serve for more than three decades at the United Nations, with postings in Switzerland, Palestine, Afghanistan, and UN Headquarters in New York. In October of 2023, he left the United Nations, penning a widely read letter criticizing the UN’s human rights failures in the Middle East, warning of unfolding genocide in Gaza, and calling for a new approach to Palestine and Israel based on international law, human rights, and equality.

David Cay Johnston is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter, specialist in economics and tax issues, and a professor of practice teaching law, public policy, and journalism at Rochester Institute of Technology. He is the author of several books, including The Making of Donald Trump and It’s Even Worse Than You Think: What The Trump Administration Is Doing To America. He is also the co-founder of DCReport, a nonprofit news service that reports what the President and Congress DO, not what they SAY.

News 3/20/26

1. Our top story this week concerns a new study titled “Inequality, not regulation, drives America’s housing affordability crisis.” As summarized in Hell Gate, this study demonstrates that the precipitous rise in rent prices are not primarily the result of insufficient housing supply or of vacancy rates. Moreover, contrary to the claims of the so-called Abundance movement, reducing regulations to spur new construction is unlikely to create significantly more housing. Even if it did, that would probably fail to bring down rents, because the real cause of the rental spike is “Steep national inequality.” So, what can be done to bring down rents? Maximilian Buchholz, the lead author of the study, puts it bluntly in this interview: “rent control, tenant protection policies like just cause eviction, and income supports for people toward the bottom.” Simply put, the best policies to lower rents are policies that lower rents. This has been demonstrated time and time again in different policy areas, yet on the whole, Democrats still seem to prefer byzantine policy formulae instead of straightforward policy solutions to the glaring issues facing the American people.
   
   

2. Speaking of rising costs, Washingtonian magazine is out with a new story on the Washington Post hiking prices for subscribers. Yet apparently not all subscribers are created equal. According to this story, these increases are accompanied by a simple yet insidious message: “This price was set by an algorithm using your personal data.” This is the latest deployment of what has become known as algorithmic – or “surveillance” – pricing. This piece notes other examples of surveillance pricing, ranging from the Princeton Review charging more for the same SAT tutoring package in areas with higher Asian populations (they called it the “tiger mom tax”) to Amazon charging local school districts vastly different prices for the same supplies. However, this new policy from the Post is especially brazen given the straits the paper has recently found itself in, declining by a million subscribers between 2021 and 2026 and hemorrhaging key reporters to a new rival paper sponsored by Robert Albritton, including Dana Milbank, Jeff Stein, Paul Kane and Paige Cunningham, among others, per the Hill.

3. In more media news, Variety reports that ratings for CBS Evening News are cratering, falling back to where executives at the news division behind the show “hoped never to return.” The nightly news program, anchored by Tony Dokoupil, has fallen below 4 million viewers; when the previous iteration of the program anchored by Maurice DuBois and John Dickerson fell to this nadir, Paramount Skydance pulled the plug. While this is perhaps just a symptom of the collapse of cable news, Variety notes that ABC’s “World News Tonight,” averaged nearly 8 and a half million viewers and “NBC Nightly News” scored just over 6 and half million. Dokoupil did score a slight uptick in viewership when he took over the Evening News, but that seems to have been nothing more than a flash in the pan. This pathetic showing seems to confirm what seemed obvious all along: there is simply little audience for the editorial viewpoint espoused by CBS’s new editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss.

4. The bad news for Bari doesn’t end there, either. According to the Wrap, the new chief is locked in contentious negotiations with the unionized staff of CBS, specifically the 60-person unit behind the network’s streaming service, “CBS News 24/7.” These workers staged a 24 hour walkout earlier this week. Their grievances include everything from new grueling 12-hour weekend shifts – despite no weekend-specific live programming – as well as CBS News’ reported plans to lay off 15% of staff. CBS News already laid off roughly 100 people in October after Paramount merged with Skydance and many believe more layoffs will come if the merger with CNN, which is not unionized, goes through as part of the Paramount Warner Bros. deal.

5. In other news, a recent study reveals a fascinating disconnect between the self-description of Democrats and their policy preferences. The study, conducted on behalf of the New Republic by Embold Research, gave respondents five choices to describe their ideology: conservative, moderate, moderate-to-liberal, liberal, and progressive. Only 12% identified as moderate, but another 21% called themselves moderate-to-liberal. Yet, among this combined group, approximately 70% said Democrats are “too timid” on taxing the rich and corporations, and cracking down on corporate criminals. Fewer than 5% of moderates said Democrats are “too aggressive” on these issues. In a word, even the moderates among the Democratic base think the party should take a more strident economic populist line. This tracks with polling conducted during the Texas Democratic Senate primary which found that 47% of voters who identified as socialists also identified as moderates.

6. Our next several stories this week have to do with the intersection of foreign policy and energy. The AP reports that on Tuesday, Cuba reconnected its energy grid following a 29-hour long nationwide blackout. This story notes that this reconnection will only provide scant and temporary relief, because not enough power is being generated. The energy crisis in Cuba has gotten progressively worse since the beginning of the year, as the new government in Venezuela and the newly reinforced sanctions regime have both served to cut off the island from energy imports. That said, cracks in this blockade are beginning to form. Bloomberg reports that a “tanker carrying more than 700,000 barrels of Russian crude is expected to arrive in Cuba by the end of the month,” and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has announced that her administration is “looking into different possibilities” to resume fuel shipments to Cuba as well. Sheinbaum stressed that Mexico is “sovereign” and able to “have trade agreements with any country in the world,” per the Latin Times. The U.S. government has already eased sanctions on Russian oil sales to India, but has now announced that they will not allow the Russians to send oil to Cuba, per Bloomberg. As the ship is already on its way, it is an open question of how far the U.S. will go to prevent Russia from sending lifesaving resources to the country that has held out against American pressure for so long.

7. Next, a stunning story in the Wall Street Journal documents how the Trump administration settled on their final course of action in Venezuela. According to this piece, the Central Intelligence Agency consulted former Chevron executive Ali Moshiri, described as the oil company’s man in “Man in Venezuela—and a CIA Informant.” Apparently, Moshiri warned that if the U.S. government tried to oust the Chavista government of Nicolás Maduro and install María Corina Machado and her exile comrades in its place, the country would turn into “another quagmire like Iraq.” Moshiri specifically warned that Machado did not have the support of the country’s security services or control of its oil infrastructure. For their part, Chevron issued a statement claiming that “between spring of 2025 and the removal of Maduro, Chevron did not authorize anyone working for, or on behalf of, the company to engage with the CIA related to Venezuela’s leadership, including assessments of government officials or opposition leaders.” Moshiri, formally left Chevron in 2017 and ended his consulting relationship with the company in 2024. Unlike many other oil companies, Chevron maintained a presence in Venezuela over the years, positioning the company to benefit most from the new extraction political environment under the leadership of upjumped Vice President Delcy Rodríguez.

8. Meanwhile, a story from NOTUS highlights why this kind of outside advice is likely more heeded than ever in the halls of power: the publication reports that six months ago, the State Department under the leadership of Secretary Marco Rubio, fired its in-house oil and gas experts, including laying off staff who “would have been responsible for gaming out possible scenarios if the Strait of Hormuz was closed” and “staffers with close professional relationships at oil and gas companies in the Middle East and experts tasked with maintaining diplomatic contacts at foreign energy bureaus.” This is a final nail in the coffin for the misguided logic of Elon Musk’s DOGE initiative and serves as a crystal clear example of why it is so dangerous to purge experts with significant institutional knowledge from the federal bureaucracy.

9. Another consequence of this lack of diplomatic expertise is the ultimate cost to the taxpayer – $200 billion in additional Pentagon funding, to be exact, per CNBC. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, defending the request in typically childish terms, said “It takes money to kill bad guys.” In similarly childish terms, President Trump, asked why the Pentagon is seeking so much money, said, “We’re asking for a lot of reasons,” and while he told a reporter he would not send U.S. troops to the region, he added, “If I were, I certainly wouldn’t tell you.” Beyond the flippant attitude towards the immense sums of taxpayer money they are requesting from Congress, to say nothing of the cost in American and Iranian lives, the American people would do well to remember how casually the political class treats $200 billion when it is to be spent on war instead of social programs. All this as gas prices spike, with price increases rippling out to all other consumer goods.

10. Finally, the BBC reports a Belgian court has ruled that a former diplomat, Etienne Davignon, can stand trial in connection with the 1961 killing of Congo’s first prime minister, Patrice Lumumba. Davignon, 93, is the “only surviving member of the 10 Belgians accused in a criminal case brought by Lumumba’s family in 2011.” At the time, Davignon was a diplomat in training. He would go on to become a vice-president of the European Commission. Lumumba meanwhile was ousted in a Belgian and U.S.-backed coup led by Mobutu Sese Seko, who would rule Congo (renamed Zaire) until 1997. In 1961, Lumumba was executed by a Belgian-backed Congolese firing squad and his body was dissolved in acid. Lumumba’s grandson, Mehdi Lumumba, is quoted saying “We are all relieved…Belgium is finally confronting its history.” Many have remarked that while this has taken over 50 years, it sets a powerful precedent that justice can be found even after so many decades. Many of the war criminals that walk the Earth today are far younger than Mr. Davignon.

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

Ralph spends the whole hour with progressive activist, Corbin Trent, former communications director for Alexandria Ocasio Cortez to discuss the lack of vision and the spineless leadership in the corporate Democratic Party.

Ralph Nader Radio Hour Episode 628 Transcript

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News 3/13/26

1. This week, the New York City Council held a hearing on proposed legislation to carry out Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s pledge to repossess property from “landlords who have racked up housing code violations and debt from unpaid taxes and fines.” This bill would empower the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development to turn these buildings over to owners they deem “more responsible.” This would be an update of a program the city has tried to implement before, called “third-party transfer.” However, the council is hesitant to take this step, worrying that it could disproportionately affect small landlords that simply lack the resources to fix code violations or pay fees, as opposed to venture capital backed corporate landlords. Rosa Kelly, chief of staff to the housing commissioner, said the department “views the program as a key part of [their] broader enforcement and preservation toolkit to ensure that housing remains safe and livable for New Yorkers.” This from Gothamist.

2. In more local news, this week Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser released a long-awaited report on congestion traffic pricing in the District of Columbia. According to the Washington Examiner, the study was conducted in 2021 and the Mayor has delayed the release until now. Along with the release of the study, Mayor Bowser sent a letter to D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, wherein the Mayor described the “congestion pricing tax scheme,” which includes a proposed $10 charge for people entering the city, as a “bad idea,” and argued that D.C. could not be compared to Midtown Manhattan, which recently implemented a successful congestion pricing system. Democratic Socialist Councilwoman and leading Mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis-George refused to dismiss the study out of hand, writing “Now that the report is public, the Council has an opportunity to dig into the findings & explore what they could mean for the District—including opportunities to reduce congestion, improve air quality & public health, & strengthen public transit for residents across the city.”

3. Meanwhile, on the West Coast, a new poll shows incumbent Mayor Karen Bass drawing under 20% of the vote in the upcoming primary for her reelection campaign. While this still puts Bass in the lead, it is clearly a weak showing and would be far below the 50% threshold she would need to win to avoid a November runoff. This poll also finds former reality television star Spencer Pratt in second place with around 10% support, and councilmember Nithya Raman – who has been both endorsed and censured by DSA LA in the past – in third with just over 9%, per KTLA. The LA Mayoral race mirrors the California gubernatorial race, which features ten candidates, none of whom draws over 20% in the polls. At some point, the party will have to step in to pressure underperforming candidates to drop out and endorse more viable alternatives, but June is quickly approaching with little sign of party unity.

4. Speaking of the Democrats, POLITICO is out with a new story on how red state Democratic parties are undermining their best chances of toppling incumbent Republican Senators – independent populist left candidates. In Montana, former University of Montana President Seth Bodnar has launched an independent bid for Senate, with the backing of former longtime Montana Democratic Senator Jon Tester. Bodnar filed on the final day candidates could get on the ballot in the state, and on that same day, three-term incumbent Republican Senator Steve Daines announced he would not run for reelection. POLITICO describes this as “an explicit effort to keep Democrats from fielding a strong candidate of their own.” The state party however shows no interest in stepping aside to clear a path for Bodnar. A similar dynamic is unfolding in South Dakota, with the state party feuding with independent candidate Brian Bengs – who has “raised more than five times his Democratic opponent and more than any non-Republican candidate in the state in 16 years” – while in Idaho, former Democratic state lawmaker Todd Achilles is running as an independent and the state party has played their strategy close to the vest. Only in Nebraska has the state party fully thrown their weight behind the popular independent candidate Dan Osborn, who came within approximately 60,000 votes of longtime incumbent Deb Fischer in 2024 and is polling within a single point of Senator Pete Ricketts this cycle.

5. In Congress, Republicans have independent problems of their own. Last week, Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley announced he would register as “no party preference,” instead of as a Republican, as he seeks reelection to Congress in his newly redrawn California congressional district. Axios quotes a Kiley spokesperson who said it is “not official yet” whether he will leave the party or the conference, adding: “For now, he’s just filing as an independent for his reelection campaign.” If Kiley did leave the Republican conference, it would further imperil the Republicans’ razor-thin House majority, which has been continuously whittled down over the course of the 119th Congress.

6. Turning to foreign affairs, Reuters reports that on Sunday, Colombia held congressional elections which saw the leftist Historic Pact win the most seats in the Senate, but with only 25 out of 102 seats, the Pact will have to compete against the right-wing Democratic Center in order to form a coalition government. Democratic Center, led by ⁠former President Alvaro Uribe, won 17 seats. Ivan Cepeda, the presidential candidate of Historic Pact, called the election results a “categorical ​victory.” In the House, Democratic Center won 32 out of 182 seats, followed by the ‌Liberal ⁠Party with 31, and the Historic Pact with 29. Colombia will choose a new president in May, but according to Ariel Avila, a re-elected senator from the Green Alliance, whether that president is left or right they will likely face a “vetocracy” where “lawmakers block parties ​simply because they come from the opposing side.”

7. In more news from Latin America, the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) reports the right-wing government of Daniel Noboa in Ecuador has suspended the largest opposition party – the leftist Citizens’ Revolution or RC – for nine months. If carried out, RC, led by former leftist president Rafael Correa, will effectively be barred from registering candidates for the 2027 local elections. CEPR Co-Director Mark Weisbrot is quoted saying “The government of President Daniel Noboa, who is strongly backed by President Trump, is trying to accelerate the destruction of what is left of democracy in Ecuador.” CEPR Director of International Policy Alex Main added “Democracy has been under attack since the presidency of Lenín Moreno (2017–2021), with not only the exclusion of political parties, but with persecution by lawfare, the imprisonment or forced exile of political opponents, and Noboa’s repeated assumption of ‘emergency’ powers and other abuses that have gutted civil liberties.” Recently, President Noboa has been closely collaborating with Trump and the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) to carry out joint “lethal kinetic operations” in Ecuador.

8. Turning to the Middle East, NBC reports Iran is launching its ‘most intense’ strikes of the war, firing some of its most advanced ballistic missiles toward Tel Aviv and Haifa and attacking multiple ships attempting passage through the blockaded Straits of Hormuz. Additionally, reports are trickling out through the Israeli press, which operates under military censorship, about high-profile targets being hit inside the country. The Jewish Chronicle confirms Binyah Hevron, son of Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich was wounded by a Hezbollah rocket, with shrapnel penetrating his back and abdomen, while Yahoo News has debunked rumors that an Iranian missile strike killed Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Officially, over 1,200 have been killed by Israeli and American strikes in Iran, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society, while 570 have been killed in Lebanon. Retlatiatory strikes by Iran have killed 13 in Israel.

9. Meanwhile, a new wrinkle has emerged in the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery deal. Last week, Variety reported that Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal have been raising the alarm about financing for this deal coming from Gulf states, including the Qatar Investment Authority, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. This duo have called for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States – an interagency body that reviews foreign investments in American businesses for potential national security risks – to review the deal. Warren told the industry trade publication, “Given the cloud of corruption surrounding the Trump administration’s review of this deal from Day One, it’s no surprise that Trump’s Treasury Department is sticking its head in the sand instead of investigating the national security risks of $24 billion from Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds apparently flooding this deal. It’s American consumers who will pay the price. Thanks to Donald Trump, a Paramount-Warner Bros. merger could mean higher prices and fewer choices, and might allow foreign actors to control what’s on our screens or access our private viewing information.” Ironically, the Trump administration’s warlike actions in Iran may have inadvertently solved this problem. Gizmodo reports that the Gulf states are now “reviewing current and future investment commitments in order to alleviate some of the anticipated economic strain from the current war.” It is unclear what would happen if the Gulf states rescinded their financing of this deal, seeing as Paramount is the buyer preferred by the Trump administration and has already paid the $2.8 billion “break-up” fee to Netflix stipulated by their previous agreement with WBD.

10. Finally, a new Pew poll reveals a troubling reality of contemporary American life.
    According to the poll, which asked people around the world to rate the morality and ethics of others in their country, 53% of U.S. adults say their fellow Americans have bad morals and ethics. While that may not sound so stark, Pew notes that the United States is the only country they surveyed where more adults described the morality and ethics of others living in the country as bad rather than good, with only 47% saying the latter. Turkey came up second, with 51% saying good and 49% saying bad. Pew is careful to state that they have never conducted a poll on this question before, meaning they cannot say whether this is a reflection of long-held beliefs among Americans or a new phenomenon, but it could be the result of long-term trends related to political polarization and the decline in interpersonal trust over the past several decades. Whatever the reasons behind this fact, it presents a formidable problem for political leaders. How can one unify a country wherein the people do not trust one another or even believe that their neighbors are morally and ethically upstanding individuals? Surely there must be a way forward, but what that is I cannot say.

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

Ralph welcomes sociologist and historian Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi to discuss the United States' war of aggression on Iran.

Ralph Nader Radio Hour Episode 627 Transcript

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Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi is an Iranian-born American historian and sociologist. He is a Research Fellow at the Center for Place, Culture, and Politics at the CUNY Graduate Center. He was the Chair of the Department of Near Eastern Studies and Director of the Sharmin and Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies at Princeton University. He is the author of four books on different aspects and historical context of the Iranian revolution of 1979 and its aftermath.

News 3/6/26

1. Last week, Bill and Hillary Clinton testified before the House Oversight Committee on their respective relationships with financier and sexual predator, Jeffrey Epstein. Hillary Clinton, in a deposition described as contentious, maintained that she had virtually zero connections with Epstein, stating at one point “I am so tired of answering that question,” per PBS. Former President Bill Clinton meanwhile, tried to downplay his relationship with Epstein, describing it as “cordial,” and claiming that he had come to an arrangement with Epstein where the financier provided his private jet for humanitarian trips in exchange for Clinton discussing politics and economics with him. The committee pressed Clinton on this point, noting that Epstein visited the White House numerous times during Clinton’s presidency and that there are photos of the two men shaking hands. Clinton told lawmakers he “did not recall those interactions.” These answers leave much to be desired.

2. Meanwhile, another Epstein associate occupies the Oval Office today – Donald Trump – and on February 26th the Wall Street Journal reported that the Department of Justice, under the stewardship of Attorney General Pam Bondi, has been withholding interviews with a woman who accused President Donald Trump of sexual assault back in the 1980s. As the Journal writes, the suppression of this interview “raises new questions about the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein files release and the pages that have been kept private.” The Journal adds that “Trump officials initially opposed the release of the files and then fumbled their response, including inconsistent redactions that exposed dozens of Epstein victims and initially kept some prominent men’s names hidden.” However, on March 5th, POLITICO reported that the FBI has now published a trio of FBI interviews with the woman who accused the president of sexually assaulting her in collusion with Jeffrey Epstein. Trump and his allies categorically deny any wrongdoing on the part of the president, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt calling the allegations “completely baseless…backed by zero credible evidence, from a sadly disturbed woman who has an extensive criminal history.” This story also highlights what is sure to be the next flashpoint in this saga: on Wednesday, a House committee voted to subpoena Attorney General Pam Bondi to testify about her handling of the Epstein files.

3. Turning to media news, last week we covered how Paramount-Skydance, led by the Ellison family and backed by the Trump administration, outmaneuvered Netflix to close a deal acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery – including CNN. Throughout this process, many have raised the alarm that if the Ellisons were to get their hands on CNN, they would turn it over to their ideological attack dog, Bari Weiss, as they did with CBS News. Variety is now echoing those concerns, reporting that “It’s expected that Weiss will have a big role in steering CNN.” Just what exactly this role will be remains to be seen, but given her tenure as editor-in-chief of CBS News, there is much cause for concern.

4. In related news, Variety reports Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has filed to sell 4,004,149 shares – over $114 million worth of stock – in the company following the announcement of the sale to Paramount, including Paramount’s eye-popping offer of $31 per share. Zaslav retains additional stock and options which he could cash out as the deal moves forward. Curiously, even as the Trump administration backed the Paramount buyout over the Netflix deal, the president himself continues to bank on the fiscal stability of the streaming giant, with the Hollywood Reporter documenting that Trump bought between $600,000 and $1.25 million worth of Netflix debt in January, adding to the $500,000 to $1 million in Netflix bonds that he purchased in December. This story notes that while the Netflix-Warner deal fell through, Netflix walked away with a $2.8 billion “break-up fee,” and an investment grade credit rating, unlike both WBD and Paramount.

5. Looking at domestic politics, this week primaries were held in Texas and North Carolina which yielded the nomination of James Talarico in Texas, beating out Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett for the Democratic nod, and the razor thin victory of incumbent Valerie Foushee over her progressive challenger Nida Allam in the Durham-Chapel Hill region. But many more primary battles lay ahead, perhaps the most interesting of which is unfolding in Maine, where the Bernie Sanders-backed veteran-turned-oysterman Graham Platner is duking it out with Chuck Schumer’s preferred candidate, outgoing Governor Janet Mills. Platner, despite damaging stories, has continued to draw massive crowds and enjoys a huge polling advantage. Last week, Platner’s allies, led by United Autoworkers President Shawn Fain, staged a sort of intervention with Schumer, with Fain lambasting the “shortcomings” in Democratic leaders’ approach to the 2026 midterms, “particularly their failure to adequately listen to working-class voters.” Michael Monahan, a high-level official in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, also sent a letter to the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee strongly urging the DSCC to “refrain from intervening further in [the Maine] primary.” A mid-February independent poll found Platner with a 38-point lead over Mills among likely Democratic primary voters, yet the party continues to back Mills to the hilt. This from NBC.

6. Our remaining stories this week concern foreign affairs. First, in South Africa, it seems the forces of the Left are looking to pool their support by entering into a political alliance. According to TimesLIVE, a prominent South African online newspaper, the country’s largest standalone Left party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has convened with the South African Communist Party (SACP) to discuss such an electoral pact. The SACP has long participated in a tripartite alliance with the African National Congress party (ANC), which has ruled South Africa since the end of Apartheid, but recently announced they would contest elections independently. The EFF and SACP emphasized that their priorities align on the “deep crises confronting South Africa: de-industrialisation, austerity-driven fiscal consolidation, collapsing energy security, mass unemployment, and extreme poverty.”

7. In another major political realignment, the Green Party of England and Wales is surging as the Labour Party, under the centrist leadership of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, continues to lose ground to the Nigel Farage-led far right party, Reform UK. The rise of the Green Party has been bubbling for some time, as progressive voters feel betrayed by Labour and the momentum behind Jeremy Corbyn’s “Your Party” has fizzled, but the first major test occurred recently in the Labour stronghold riding of Groton and Denton in Greater Manchester. According to the BBC, this marks the first ever win for the Greens in a by-election, with 34-year-old plumber Hannah Spencer becoming the party’s first ever MP in northern England. Reform ran second, with Labour dropping by 25% into third place. Moreover, Zeteo reports the Greens have leapfrogged ahead of Labour in national polling, second only to Reform and has become the single most popular party among voters under 50. For the past five months, the Greens have been led by self-described “eco-populist” Zack Polanski, and have espoused policies including giving councils the power to control rents, extending free school meals to all children, and imposing a new ‘wealth tax’ on assets above £10m.

8. In Congress, Representative Ro Khanna has introduced the West Bank Human Rights Resolution to Condemn Israeli Settlement Expansion. This resolution is described as utilizing far more specific language to condemn “Israeli settler violence and referencing potential sanctions tools while also calling for a review of US policies that may indirectly subsidise settlement activity,” per the Middle East Eye. In part, this resolution is a response to the Israeli government’s February 8th approval of “sweeping changes to land registration and civil control in Areas A and B of the West Bank, which Palestinians say breach the Oslo Accords and advance de facto annexation.” This resolution was drafted in conjunction with Cameron Kasky, the survivor of the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting who has become a leading activist on rights for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. In a statement upon the introduction of this resolution, Kasky wrote “this is a necessary measure for Democrats and Republicans to unite behind the upholding of international law. Democrats and Republicans can agree that U.S. taxpayer money being used to subsidize the violation of international law is an outrage.”

9. Our final two stories concern the U.S. attacks on Iran. First, a bizarre sequence of conflicting claims between the U.S. and Spain have left many observers puzzled. First, on March 3rd, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez addressed the Iberian nation, saying “Very often great wars start with a chain of events spiralling out of control due to miscalculations, technical failures, and unforeseen circumstances. Therefore, we must learn from history and cannot play Russian roulette with the fate of millions.” Sánchez warned of “repeating the mistakes of the past,” and drew a comparison with the invasion of Iraq, concluding his government’s position is “No to war,” per CNBC. More pointedly, the Spanish government prevented two jointly operated bases in its territory from being used in the strikes on Iran. Trump responded on the 4th by vowing to cut off all trade with Madrid, saying “Spain has been terrible…We don’t want anything to do with Spain.” Then, on March 5th, Karoline Leavitt told the press that “With respect to Spain, I think they heard the president’s message yesterday loud and clear, and it’s my understanding, over the past several hours, they’ve agreed to cooperate with the U.S. military.” Yet, the Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares immediately responded that “The Spanish government’s position on the war in the Middle East ... and the use of our bases has not changed at all.” This also from CNBC. Trump’s threat to cut off trade with Spain would be difficult to follow through on, given that the 27 nations in the European Union negotiate trade agreements collectively,

10. Finally, far from assuaging concerns about the attacks on Iran leading to blowback, the Hill reports that, when asked during a phone call with Time magazine about whether Americans should be worried about a potential strike on the homeland, Trump replied, “I guess.” Trump went on to say “We think about it all the time. We plan for it. But yeah…we expect some things…some people will die. When you go to war, some people will die.” Stunningly, despite Trump openly declaring that we are at war with Iran sans congressional authorization and even casually admitting Americans could be killed on home soil, the feckless Congress has voted down War Powers resolutions in the House and Senate. In the upper house, the bill introduced by Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, failed 47-53, with Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky crossing party lines to support it while Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania crossed party lines to vote nay, per the AP. A similar measure in the House, introduced by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie – the duo behind the Epstein Files Transparency Act and other war powers resolutions including on Venezuela – failed by a vote of 212-219. In addition to Massie, Republican Rep. Warren Davison of Ohio voted in favor of the resolution, while four House Democrats voted nay, per Axios. Again the question is presented to us, if this won’t shock Congress to action, what will?

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.