A wave of bills introduced this year in state legislatures across the country sought to censor Palestine-related education in public schools. Several passed with the support of pro-Israel Democratic lawmakers, a trend that educators and First Amendment advocates told Truthout reflects the alignment of pro-Israel groups with MAGA forces. As these efforts continue, many said they fear public…
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I looked at the slave shackles in the exhibit. My ancestors wore chains like this one. A bone-deep sorrow hit. When I researched my family history, names began to vanish as I traced it to Indigenous and African slavery. Here, right in front of me was material proof of the horror they survived. What is my responsibility to them? The Slavery and Freedom exhibit at the National Museum of African…
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Fascism thrives in societies that grow desensitized to violence. Once cruelty is normalized, political life collapses into a spectacle of force, lies, and corruption. Under such conditions, the humanity of selected populations becomes disposable. Bodies disappear, injustice parades as lawful, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security reveal themselves as…
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On September 3, Illinois prison officials moved — by emergency rule — to replace most physical mail with scanned copies, though a key legislative panel has already pushed back. At the same time, New York is installing mail scanners in prisons, raising alarms about privacy and attorney-client privilege. Texas has already shifted to “digital mail,” where letters are scanned and delivered on tablets…
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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has reportedly restricted Pentagon officials’ interactions with Congress or other legislators in a seeming attempt to further limit information on the U.S.’s military operations after he dumped the department’s press corps last week. On October 15, Hegseth and deputy Steve Feinberg sent a memo to Pentagon officials announcing a new policy mandating that any…
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“In Texas, a socialist professor is now in the fight of his life against MAGA’s New McCarthyism,” scholar and author Bill V. Mullen writes in Jacobin. “Tom Alter, a labor historian and tenured professor of history at Texas State University, was fired from his job on September 10 after a far-right troll doctored a videotape of Alter speaking at a virtual Revolutionary Socialism conference. After viewing the video, university president Kelly Damphousse fired Alter on September 10 with what Alter and his supporters say was no due process.” While Alter was provisionally reinstated on Sept. 26, he and his family remain in limbo as they wait for a final decision from Texas State University regarding his firing. In this urgent episode of Working People, we speak with Professor Alter himself about the sequence of events that have made his case a flashpoint in the MAGA right’s all-out assault on free speech, higher education, and the people who live, work, and study there.
Additional links/info:
Texas State Employees Union – CWA Local 6186: “Reinstate Dr. Tom Alter | Defend Free Speech”
Bill V. Mullen, Jacobin, “MAGA McCarthyism comes to Texas State”
Russell Payne, Salon, “Fox News “expert” says Hitler went to heaven”
Full video of Professor Alter’s Revolutionary Socialism conference speech.
Edward Helmore, The Guardian, “US anti-fascism expert leaves country day after being blocked from flying to Spain”
Featured Music:
Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song
Credits:
Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Alright. Welcome everyone to Working People, a podcast about the lives, jobs, dreams, and struggles of the working class today.