Today marks the 38th anniversary of the Gwangju Uprising, also known as the May 18 Democratic Uprising. It was on May 18, 1980 that the people of Gwangju, South Korea rose up against authoritarianism and dictatorship. Today, peace and reunification hangs in the balance as U.S. military drills has prompted doubt over high-profile diplomacy.
On today's regular Friday segment covering the upcoming midterm elections, Brian and John talk about races in Pennsylvania, Florida, and elsewhere, and about why Democrats voted for Gina Haspel for CIA Director. Jacqueline Luqman and Abdus Luqman, the co-editors-in-chief of Luqman Nation, and they host the livestream "Coffee, Current Events & Politics" Thursdays at 9 a.m., join the show.
Trump will announce today that organizations with Title X funding will not be able to say "abortion" any longer. Title X funding is for family planning and health care, and Planned Parenthood is one organization that relies on this funding to provide care to women and men, including abortions. The hosts speak with Danielle Norwood, a reproductive rights activist and a therapist specializing in treating adult and adolescent survivors of trauma.
After a week of intense wrangling, two populist Euro-skeptic parties have agreed to form a government in Italy. One of the parties, the Five Star Movement, is an eclectic mix of left and right wing policy proposals, and the other, Lega Nord, is virulently anti-immigrant. Both parties ran on platforms that threaten conflict with the eurozone and the EU. Legendary anti-war activist and former British parliamentarian George Galloway joins the show.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is poised to win reelection on Sunday, despite the country's economic woes due to western sanctions. He has incredible popular support. Meanwhile, opposition groups have incited violence in the country. Lucas Koerner, an activist and writer for VenezuelAnalysis.com, joins Brian and John.
Republican Congressman Mo Brooks of Alabama said yesterday that rising sea levels are a result of soil erosion or rocks falling into the ocean, not of climate change. Believe it or not, Brooks is a member of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Fred Magdoff, professor emeritus of plant and soil science at the University of Vermont and the co-author of "What Every Environmentalist Needs to Know About Capitalism" and "Creating an Ecological Society: Toward a Revolutionary Transformation", joins the show.
The hosts continue the regular segment of the worst and most misleading headlines. Brian and John, speak with Steve Patt, an independent journalist whose critiques of the mainstream media have been a feature of his blog Left I on the News, which you can find at lefti.blogspot.com, and Loud & Clear producer Nicole Roussell.
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