On this show: 0:08 – The district attorney in Kenosha County, Wisconsin has announced he’ll decline to press charges against Rusten Sheskey, the officer who shot Black father Jacob Blake seven times in his back on August 23, 2020. We hear from Ruth Conniff (@rconniff), editor in chief of the Wisconsin Examiner, a nonprofit newsroom; … Continued


0:08 – On the ground in Georgia on election day LaTosha Brown (@MsLaToshaBrown) is co-founder of Black Voters Matter Fund. 0:16 – How the Georgia Senate elections could determine the US economy for a decade Mark Weisbrot (@MarkWeisbrot) is co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. 0:34 – California’s looming eviction crisis, what … Continued


On this show: 0:08 – Mondays with Mitch – Mitch Jeserich and Brian Edwards-Tiekert talk about national news that broke over the new year. Mitch hosts Letters and Politics weekdays at 10AM on KPFA. 0:34 – How did the B.1.1.7 Covid-19 variant come into existence? We take your Covid-19 questions with Dr. John Swartzberg, clinical professor emeritus of infectious … Continued


0:08 – Ahead of the historic Senate run-off election in Georgia, we dive into grassroots community organizing, voter mobilization, and community building. Mondale Robinson (@mondalerobinson) is the Founding Principal of the Black Male Voter Project and National Political Director for Democracy For America. 0:34 – Kamau Franklin is Founder of Community Movement Builders (@CommunityMvt) a community … Continued


0:08 – The largest, least-regulated drug trade in the United States – one that you are probably participating in this morning – the caffeine industry. Murray Carpenter has devoted an entire book to a substance that also provided much of the stamina needed to write it: it’s called Caffeinated: How Our Daily Habit Helps, Hurts, … Continued



Pandemic in ICE Detention: Jonny and Eduardo, Yuba County Jail

Advocates are calling the COVID-19 outbreak at the Yuba County Jail in Marysville, CA a “humanitarian catastrophe.” As of December 28, 2020, 86 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the county jail, including five people in ICE custody and 15 staff. Our reporter Lucy Kang spoke to two men incarcerated in the ICE detention … Continued



Pandemic in Prison: Elsie Lee, San Quentin

Earlier this summer, San Quentin State Prison was the site of one of the country’s largest COVID-19 outbreaks. Elsie Lee is a co-founder of Sistas’ with Voices, an advocacy group formed to speak against inhumane conditions in California prisons during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her husband, Wilbert Lee is currently incarcerated in San Quentin. Elsie spoke … Continued


Pandemic in Prison: What it’s like inside California’s prisons and ICE detention facilities as told by people incarcerated and family members

As COVID-19 surged inside California’s prisons, jails and ICE detention facilities, we hear from people incarcerated inside and their family members. Michelle Hoyt’s partner Lyle Crook, 54, is incarcerated at the Substance Abuse Treatment Facility in Corcoran, CA. She’s been regularly communicating with him and others inside throughout the outbreak. In mid-December, Lyle contracted COVID-19. … Continued