Episodes
Thursday Jul 12, 2018
Leid Stories—Dr. Gerald Horne Makes History Clear—07.12.18
Thursday Jul 12, 2018
Thursday Jul 12, 2018
Radical historian and political scientist Dr. Gerald Horne brings his unique perspective to several contemporary issues around the world.
Horne holds the John J. and Rebecca Moores Chair of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston. A prolific author, he has written more than 30 books and 100 scholarly papers on struggles against imperialism, colonialism, fascism and racism.
His most recent works include: Paul Robeson: The Artist as Revolutionary; The Rise and Fall of the Associated Negro Press: Claude Barnett's Pan-African News and the Jim Crow Paradox; Storming the Heavens: African Americans and the Early Struggle for the Right to Fly; Facing the Rising Sun: African Americans, Japan the Rise of Afro-Asian Solidarity; and The Apocalypse of Settler Colonialism: The Roots of Slavery, White Supremacy and Capitalism in Seventeenth Century North America and the Caribbean.
Wednesday Jul 11, 2018
Wednesday Jul 11, 2018
We update the situation in Haiti, where President Jovenel Moise’s steep hike in the cost of fuel—to comply with International Monetary Fund austerity measures—set off a violent rebellion, now in its second week. Although Moise backed off the fuel hikes, the people’s discontent with a corrupt and incompetent government continues to fuel their rage. They want Moise out.
Kim Ives, veteran journalist, prizewinning documentarian and editor of the English edition of the news weekly Haïti Liberté, gives us an update on the fluid situation in Haiti.
This Sunday, June 15, brings an end to one of the world’s greatest sporting events—the FIFA World Cup. Hosted by Russia at a cost of $14.2 billion, it is the most expensive World Cup ever, and the most successful and most popular. It also has been quite political, tinged by the impact of immigration.
Soccer/football /World Cup fan Gilbert Mercier, filmmaker, cofounder and editor-in-chief of News Junkie Post and author of The Orwellian Empire, touched on the subject in a conversation Leid Stories had with him yesterday. We add to the discussion--on this and related issues--today.
Tuesday Jul 10, 2018
Tuesday Jul 10, 2018
And so, with his nomination yesterday of Brett Kavanaugh, an appellate court judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit, to succeed Justice Anthony Kennedy on the U.S. Supreme Court, President Donald J. Trump has revved up his campaign to swing the court to the right. If confirmed, Kavanaugh will join Justice Neil Gorsuch on the court. They both were law clerks to Kennedy early in their legal careers.
The Democrats have vowed to block Kavanaugh’s confirmation, but that will depend on whether they can muster up the votes.
Meanwhile, showman Trump is in his element, using the brewing Supreme Court battle as a main event to draw the people’s attention while he dims the lights on other battles that haven’t gone so well. But the people shouldn’t be fooled, says Leid Stories. This is not our fight. Our fight is in the lower courts.
Also, we look at the Democrats’ “Maxine Waters dilemma,” with the party leadership being accused of failing to “protect” the California congresswoman against charges that she advocated violence against Trump administration officials who approved of the “zero tolerance” immigration policy that separated thousands of families seeking legal entry into the United States and kept them in internment camps without due process.
Friday Jul 06, 2018
Friday Jul 06, 2018
It’s “Free Your Mind Friday” on Leid Stories, the best open forum on the planet. Bring your insights, thoughts and opinions about the issues of the day, or any interesting subject, and share them with our growing community of thinkers.
Choose your own topic, then call in (888-874-4888) and tell us what we ought to know. You might get challenged, but we’re well-mannered, friendly folk.
Thursday Jul 05, 2018
Leid Stories—Frederick Douglass and the Meaning of the Fourth of July—07.05.18
Thursday Jul 05, 2018
Thursday Jul 05, 2018
On July 5, 1852, the day after white America commemorated the 76th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence (although historians say the final document was actually signed on August 2, 1776) noted anti-slavery crusader Frederick Douglass, then a prominent resident of Rochester, New York, was invited to speak at the prestigious Corinthian Hall. Among the 600 people who packed the hall to hear the 34-year-old orator was President Millard Fillmore.
Douglass was in no mood for jubilation or celebration. The national celebration, he said, was a sharp contrast to the horrors and injustices the new “Americans” were inflicting on millions of others through slavery.
Leid Stories asks: Do the arguments Douglass made in his ‘What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” speech still relevant today?
Tuesday Jul 03, 2018
Tuesday Jul 03, 2018
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, an avowed democratic socialist, pulled off one of the greatest political upsets last month, when the 28-year-old trounced 10-term congressman and party powerhouse Joe Crowley in his bid for re-election to his “safe” 14th District seat in New York.
Bernie Sanders, the U.S. senator from Vermont said to be thinking of another run for president in 2020, still identifies himself as an Independent, although he caucuses with congressional Democrats and closely identifies with democratic socialism.
Ocasio-Cortez, a new-generation leader, faces a not-so-friendly welcome from establishment Democrats, especially since Crowley, 56, was in line for leadership of the party. Sanders, still blamed by party bigs for “stealing” votes from then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, has not endeared himself to them with rumors of another run. Could Ocasio-Cortez’s stunning victory and Sanders’s appeal to disaffected Democrats create new political possibilities?
Monday Jul 02, 2018
Monday Jul 02, 2018
Leid Stories discusses these seemingly unrelated topics. But, of course, they involve the policies of President Donald Trump and his administration.