I confront a 20th century war criminal who is offered an “endowed chair” at Columbia University.  Former Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger must endure the gauntlet of student protest to land the position. My roommates, sister and I launch a campaign of resistance. We win! This story was recorded live at...

Working as a lab assistant at the Columbia University Psychology Department, I’m called to work on a unique project: chimp-proofing a mansion at the Delafield Estate in Riverdale. Professor Terrace is experimenting with raising a chimp in as close to a human home as possible in an effort to see if a chimpanzee can be...

Trapped in KKK Maryland with no friends, I am completely miserable. My step-sister gets a horse from her father and the story takes a turn as two lonely animals sort out a way of connecting. Performed and recorded at the Marsh Theater SF on May 15, 2024. Want to support radical storytelling and journalism?   Become...

Every day after school I have to hitchhike across Howard County Maryland to get back to my father’s hippy haven mansion. As a femme-looking teenager who can be seen as a girl or a boy, this is no simple mission. Performed and recorded at our own Third Thursday storytelling series co-sponsered by Joyful Raven Studios...

At 13 years old, I head to Mendocino California to try and reconnect with  my mother. She used to be a straight, uptight, Catholic, Montessori teacher and is now an acid-dropping free love hippie shacking up with the boy-man next door. Our relationship takes a turn and I begin to explore who I will become....

My father dumps my mother for a beautiful woman. Then he makes a big mistake–he marries her. I’m ripped out of my androgynous hippie life in Washington DC and arrive at a decrepit southern mansion in KKK Maryland. Facing harassment at school for my feminine looks and harsh social isolation, I find solace with my...

I confront the challenge of choosing a new saint’s name in the confirmation ceremony of the Catholic Church. The saints I most admire are Joan of Arc and St. Bridget. The nuns at the school often choose male saints for their names, so I’m wishing I can choose a girl’s name. To get the right...

How are sheriffs undermining elections? Since 2022, the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA) has teamed up with True the Vote, a multi million-dollar “Stop the Steal” group, to position sheriffs as key players in election denial. This episode explores how these sheriffs’ actions have escalated voter intimidation and suppression, with plans to deputize...

Sheriffs wield immense power over U.S. county jails, controlling the lives of a third of the nation’s incarcerated population in addition to acting as enforcers of immigration law.

What happens when the Constitutional Sheriffs network finds an ally in the White House? In this episode, we uncover how far-right networks leveraged the power of local sheriffs to collaborate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in a nationwide crackdown on immigrants. In February 2019, ICE launched a series of raids across North Carolina, arresting...

Why do far-right activists in the West, from the Bundys to the militias that occupied Oregon’s federal land in 2016, harbor such deep resentment toward the federal government? And how did sheriffs become protectors of ranchers in their standoff with federal authorities? In this episode, we examine how key figures within the Constitutional Sheriffs and...

Why are sheriffs aligning with right-wing insurgents? We take you back to 2012, inside a conference room in Las Vegas, where a new far-right network of sheriffs—the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA)—held its first-ever gathering. Their mission? To combat what they saw as the “socialist” agenda under former President Obama. CSPOA openly fosters alliances...

How are far-right groups shaping the future of law enforcement and racial justice across America? After George Floyd's murder by police ignited global protests, a dark story unfolded in the small town of Minden, Nevada. Through firsthand accounts, this episode traces the chilling reality faced by racial justice protesters in 2020—who were violently run out of town by militias in coordination with their local sheriff. With echoes of the town's long history of vigilantes and law enforcement working hand in hand, this underreported story exposes the dangerous alliance between far-right militias and county sheriffs, fueled by the national network of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association.

On todays show our Host Preeti Shekar will interview three social and environmental justice activists on the topic from Bhopal to the Bay looking at connections between environmental justice struggles in India, San Francisco, and beyond. Host: Preeti Shekar Guests: Rachna Dhingra, International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal Arieann Harrison, Marie Harrison Community Foundation for Social...

Preeti Gamzeh interviews veteran radio journalist and author Sonali Kolhatkar on her new book Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice. Sonali Kolhatkar is the host of the show Rising Up with Sonali, the longest running morning, drive-time radio program hosted by a woman. In addition to hosting the daily show, she’s...

Kelly Curry’s amazing writing, performances and food justice direct action and advocacy are a part of our communities’ vitality. Kelly, facing a medical crisis in her own body needs our life-affirming support. If you can, please make a donation to her go-fund me page. Take a listen to Kelly reading from her book and an...

Donate at the Go Fund Me page. Kelly Curry and Jess Clarke chat after the show.

Julian V. Simeon, a first generation Filipino-American born and raised in San Francisco, is a memoirist and storyteller. Having come of age during the late ’60s, his spiritual journey informs him to action: to write, to perform and as the Buddha heralded, “…to remember who we really are.”

“Because of the white bias of the environmental movement, there was almost no talk about cities, even though 85 percent of the population of the United States lived in cities and metropolitan area.” Carl Anthony co-founded Race, Poverty and the Environment in 1990. In this interview with RP&E editor B. Jesse Clarke, Anthony shares his...

The latest wave in the Hindu right’s targeted attacks against Muslim communities in India is the forcible ban on the hijab, the headscarf worn by Muslim girls and women across South Asia. In the south Indian state of Karnataka, right wing Hindu zealots (called Sanghis), have targeted and attacked female Muslim students who choose to...