Background Briefing

Background Briefing – June 24, 2024

Trump’s Open Declaration of War Against the Rule of Law We begin with Trump’s open declaration of war against the rule of law, as he attacks judges, district attorneys, juries, witnesses, the FBI, election workers, government whistleblowers, Republican lawmakers who have criticized him, and media figures and journalists who have reported the many damning facts … Continued


Against the Grain

Oil & Capital

What accounts for worker injuries and fatalities in the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota? Should they be viewed as localized phenomena, or are larger socioeconomic processes at work? In his effort to explain oil-boom representations and calamities, Bruce Braun considers and extends Lauren Berlant’s analysis of worker precarity, “crisis ordinariness,” and “slow death.” (Encore presentation.) … Continued


The Ralph Nader Radio Hour

Veterans for Peace / Freedom of Speech

Ralph welcomes Mike Ferner from Veterans for Peace to discuss their work pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza and mobilizing their members to obstruct the gears of our military-industrial complex. Then, Ralph speaks with criminal defense attorney Leonard Goodman about a major First Amendment case that he’s fighting in Florida and the Justice Department’s tradition … Continued


Guest: Benjamin Balthaser is associate professor of multi-ethnic US literature at Indiana University, South Bend.  He is the author of Anti-Imperialism Modernism: Race and Transnational Radical Culture from the Great Depression to the Cold War, and Dedication, a personal history of growing up in a Jewish “red diaper” family. His forthcoming book from Verso, Citizens … Continued


Law & Disorder

Palestine Post: Doctor Returns from Gaza; CAIR Demands Condemnation of Israeli Treatment of Palestinian Detainees

On this week’s Palestine Post, we speak with James Smith who recently returned to London following two months of performing emergency medical care in Gaza. We speak with him alongside Zahra Billoo, the Executive Director of the Bay Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). CAIR Press release calling on Biden Admin to condemn … Continued