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Climate change is the most severe crisis of our time. The future of life on this planet is at risk. Despite the serious warnings of climate scientists, corporations around the world continue to be directed by their drive for profits. And the governments that represent their interests continue along the same path of environmental destruction. The future of our species cannot remain in their hands. The choice in front of us is clear – we have to organize our forces to save ourselves and life on our planet.

For organizational resources or to learn more, go to: https://speakoutsocialists.org/no-war-in-ukraine-2/ Russia’s horrific invasion of Ukraine is devastating the country — bombing hospitals, schools, apartment buildings, houses and more. Civilian death tolls are estimated to be in the thousands, and over two million Ukrainians have fled to neighboring countries. We must oppose Russia’s brutal and totally unjustified attack on Ukraine. We must also oppose the aggressive goal of the U.S and NATO to dominate the region, which helped to provoke Russia’s attack. The Ukrainian people are being used as pawns in the struggle between these major powers. In cities across Russia people are facing the brutality of the police as they say “NO!” to this war. And people around the world are beginning to show their opposition as well. We, in the U.S., have an obligation to join this opposition and declare our support for the right of the Ukrainian people to determine their own future. For organizational resources or to learn more, go to: https://speakoutsocialists.org/no-war-in-ukraine-2/

In 2016, amid an epidemic of police shootings of Black people, NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick began a series of protests on the field, refusing to stand during the U.S. national anthem. By taking a knee, Kaepernick’s simple act spread like wildfire throughout American society, becoming a powerful symbol of resistance to the systemic racism in this country. Listen in to hear author Dave Zirin speak about his latest book The Kaepernick Effect: Taking a Knee, Changing the World, as well as sports and resistance in the recent period. Dave Zirin is the sports editor of The Nation, a columnist for The Progressive, and the host of the Edge of Sports podcast. His many other books include A People’s History of Sports in the United States, Game Over, Bad Sports, and Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics, and Promise of Sports.

This episode is a conversation centered around the union organizing drive of Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama, the PRO Act, and workers' organizing in general.

In this episode, we comment on the aftermath of the organizing effort at the Amazon facility in Bessemer, Alabama, and the significance of Cecil Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers of America, endorsing Biden's latest infrastructure plan.

Kim Moody is a longtime activist, socialist, a founder of Labor Notes, and author of many books on rank and file unionism and politics.

Commentary and analysis by Speak Out Now from October 7-14. 00:45 Columbus Day or Indigenous People’s Day? Whose History?  10:41 Alameda Health System Strike: Showing What Workers are Capable of  13:41 Armenia and Azerbaijan at War  18:22 No Relief for Workers as Stimulus Delayed Until After Election  19:50 Trump’s Middle East Deals: Cynical Politics, Not Peace 25:27 The Pope and Politics: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?  27:19 The Economy’s Getting Better? Who Are They Kidding? 

Commentary and analysis by Speak Out Now from October 1-7. 00:45 Trump’s Campaign Goes Viral  05:22 Grand Jury Cover-Up in the Breonna Taylor Case  09:10 Forced Sterilization of Immigrant Women  11:01 Virtual Learning Part 2: The Parents  14:41 Plastic-Digesting Enzymes!  17:03 Trump Refuses to Denounce White Supremacists in the Debate  19:25 The Supreme Court: Judicial Servants of the Ruling Class  27:24 Anniversary of the Tlatelolco Massacre in Mexico City  31:19 Trump’s Tax Evasion: A Normal Part of the System!  33:30 The COVID-19 Response: Decreasing Restrictions and Increasing Deaths  36:41 The California Wildfires: Mismanagement and Climate Change 

Commentary and analysis by Speak Out Now from September 13-30. End Times? or Seize the Time! Microplastics: A Huge Problem  COVID-19: What’s the Vaccine Timeline? Virtual Learning is NOT the Same as Being in a Classroom Nurses Win Union Recognition for the First Time at a Major North Carolina Hospital! But the Struggle Continues. Indictment in Breonna Taylor Case is Another Racist Attack Bacon’s Rebellion and the Making of “Race” in the United States Shifting CDC Guidelines Expose an Unequal System RBG: Celebrate Her Life, But Be Prepared to Keep Fighting for What We Need Despite Black Lives Matter PR, NFL’s Actions Speak Louder than Words Wildlife Populations Have Decreased Two-Thirds Since 1970! Why are 12,000 Refugees Sleeping on the Side of the Road in Greece? Mines in Congo Eat Human Beings Alive Big Pharma: Cutting Corners, Risking Lives It’s Not Just Trump. The Whole System Insults and Exploits Veterans! 

Commentary and analysis by Speak Out Now from September 3-12. California Fires: The Climate Disruption We Were Warned About Rochester: Protesters Demand Justice Will Public Transportation Survive the Pandemic? Worst Year Ever? It’s not 2020 – It’s Capitalism Chadwick Boseman’s Untimely Death Highlights Racial Health Disparities The Battle of Blair Mountain: A Worker’s Uprising Worth Remembering on Labor Day Attica Prison Revolt – The Struggle Against Injustice Continues Herd Immunity: A Game of Chance New York City has big problems – and Wall Street and the Politicians Make Them Worse! The Real Violence Isn’t the Demonstrations

While viruses do occur naturally, there is very little that is natural about the COVID-19 pandemic. The global animal and agriculture industry has become one large virus producing system, increasing the likelihood of pandemics. Instead of working towards reducing the production of pandemic level viruses, for decades countries have been accelerating the conditions that produce them. This virus may not have been preventable but it did not have to become a pandemic. We were joined by Rob Wallace, an evolutionary epidemiologist at the Agroecology and Rural Economics Research Corps and author of Big Farms Make Big Flu and co-author of Neoliberal Ebola: Modeling Disease Emergence From Finance to Forest, and other books. Read some recent articles on this topic by Rob Wallace here:COVID-19 and Circuits of CapitalCapitalism is a Disease Hotspot

Raj Patel discusses the causes and enormous impact of the global food crisis, which has only been intensified by the Covid-19 pandemic. Please join us. All participants will have an opportunity to ask questions and share their experiences from their workplaces or community.  Raj Patel is an activist, journalist, film maker and professor, currently teaching at the University of Texas in Austin. He studies the global food system and is actively engaged in creating alternatives to what exists today.  His first book was Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System. His second, The Value of Nothing, was a New York Times and international best-seller. His latest, co-written with Jason W. Moore, is A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things.

Part Eight of our Socialism 101 series.

Commentary and analysis by Speak Out Now from the week of August 27 - September 2. Mr. Rogers vs. Darth Vader Belarus: The Power of Workers Lucky To Have A Job The NBA Walkouts and Obama Get Your Knee Off Our Necks: March on Washington Hurricane Laura: A Climate Change Disaster Assumed Innocence and Guilt – A Matter of Race Boycott Sends Shockwaves through Professional Sports as NBA Players Demand Justice for Jacob Blake Tip of the Iceberg: Voting Rights Attacked in Tennessee CDC: Ignoring Science, Appeasing the Trump Administration Breaking Deadly Records: The U.S. Healthcare System Coronavirus Cures Brought to You by…the MyPillow Guy? Convalescent Blood Plasma: FDA approves of another treatment for COVID Postal Workers Resist Attacks

Commentary and analysis by Speak Out Now from the weeks of August 13-26. An Awakening Decades in the Making Steve Bannon’s Border Wall – A Scam On Top of a Scam Schools Forced to Choose: Learn Remotely or Risk Lives Tech Companies Are in It for Themselves Politicians’ Attacks on the U.S. Postal Service are Not New Women’s Suffrage: 100 Year Anniversary Wisconsin Shooting: Another Racist Cop Attack Safety Net with Huge Holes – Alameda Health System Attacks Healthcare Workers Fire! Climate Catastrophe at Home The Height of Hypocrisy: Biden Quotes Civil Rights Leader Ella Baker Kodak and Trump Playing with Taxpayers’ Dollars Belarus: “Go! Do not come back!” Drilling in the Arctic: Capital Reigns Supreme Fear and Mistrust: Vaccine Production in the U.S. Baltimore: Deadly Explosion and Aging Infrastructure Arizona School Teachers and Staff Fight Back against COVID

Part Seven of our Socialism 101 series.

Commentary and analysis by Speak Out Now from the week of August 6-12. As Millions Lose Their Jobs, Politicians Disagree on the Crumbs to Give Workers New Jersey Public Transit: It Should be Free!  U.S. Shows Workers Can Return to Work Safely – If they are NBA Players! Capitalism: A Filthy System Beirut Explosion – Another Example of the Ruling Class’s Contempt for Human Life The NLRB Shows Which Side It’s On Pro-Big Business CDC Facilitates a More Swift Return to Work

Commentary and analysis by Speak Out Now from the weeks of July 23 - August 5. Whose Laws and Whose Order? Rising Evictions Show the Priorities of This System Iranian Activists Sentenced to Death Polar Bears Gone by 2100 Public Transit in Crisis Remembering the Legacy of John Lewis, Civil Rights Activist Biden’s Climate Plan Won’t Save Us

Part Six of our Socialism 101 series.

Part Five of our Socialism 101 series.