Flashpoints – December 11, 2025
An award winning front-line investigative news magazine, that focuses on human, civil and workers right, issues of war and peace, Global Warming, racism and poverty, and other issues. Hosted by Dennis J. Bernstein.
Featured Episode
On Hard Knock Radio, I sat down with Jelani Cobb—dean of Columbia’s Journalism School, longtime staff writer at The New Yorker, and a thinker rooted in Hip Hop’s habit of connecting dots across time. We talked about his new book, Three or More Is a Riot: Notes on How We Got Here (2012–2025). I called it “a book … Continued
Background Briefing – December 11, 2025
Trump Targets Venezuela’s Oil, Intensifying Pressure on Maduro We begin with escalating pressure on Venezuela with a “shadow fleet” supertanker carrying oil to Cuba and Iran seized by the U.S. further driving up the cost of exporting Venezuelan oil that is discounted to compete with sanctioned Russian and Iranian oil. Joining us is David Smilde, … Continued
Bookwaves/Artwaves – December 11, 2025
Bookwaves/Artwaves presents in-depth interviews with authors of fiction and narrative non-fiction, delving deeply into political and social issues, literary technique, and the life of the author, along with interviews devoted to theatre and film, and archive interviews from Bookwaves and Probabilities. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
Fundraising special: Trump’s natsec strategy, the US gov as private equity firm
Anatol Lieven analyzes the Trump national security strategy • Susannah Glickman on the transformation of the US government into a private equity firm (NYRB interview here)
Special Fund Drive Programming
What life is like in the newsrooms and on the beat for LGBTQ+ reporters in a time when there’s too much news to and fewer jobs, according to Los Angeles chapter co-presidents Hansen Bursic and Katie Karl of NLGJA: the Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists (in a roundtable with This Way Out’s Lucia Chappelle, interviewed by Brian DeShazor).
Plus the reign of a lesbian queen, two music halls, human rights milestones, Southern Hemisphere civil unions and more in The Rainbow Rewind (produced by Brian DeShazor and Sheri Lunn).
Special Fund Drive Programming – Mitch Reads Animal Farm
Show your support and help KPFA end the year strong! kpfa.org | 1800-439-5732
UpFront (Replay) – December 11, 2025
UpFront delivers a mix of local, state, and international coverage through challenging interviews, civil debates, breaking updates, and in-depth discussions with authors.
Democracy Now! (Rebroadcast) – December 11, 2025
On today’s show: Is War Next? U.S. Seizes Venezuelan Oil Tanker as Anti-Maduro Campaign Escalates “Slow Poison”: Scholar Mahmood Mamdani on New Book About Uganda, Decolonization & More “My Advice to Parents Is Learn from Your Kids”: Mahmood Mamdani on Raising Zohran, NYC’s Next Mayor “Slower Form of Death”: Despite Ceasefire, Israel Keeps Killing in … Continued
Injustice for Steven Taylor with Addie Kitchen, Adante Pointer and Lee Merritt Esq. also Biko Eisen-Martin
On this episode, we speak with Addie Kitchen, the grandmother of Steven Taylor, the man fatally shot by a now-retired San Leandro police officer in a Walmart in April 2020, and she has since emerged as a leading advocate seeking justice and accountability in his case. We also speak with Adanté Pointer, an Oakland‑born civil‑rights attorney … Continued