by Ryan Johnson | Nov 9, 2026 | elections, Fascism, Israel, midterms, Palestine, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, video
On November 3, Democrats secured a historic landslide victory over the Republican Party, securing 54 Senate seats and over 250 House seats. Five governor’s seats were also flipped, including in historically red states like Texas, Kansas, Iowa, and Georgia.
According to a New York Times estimate, Americans aged 18-29 voted overwhelmingly Democrat during the Midterms. 70% of voters in the 18-29 age group voted for Democratic candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives, a 33-point increase from 2024.
Americans aged 18-29 also came out in droves to support Democratic Senate nominees in 2024, with over 30-point differences in every competitive Senate race, including 44-point increases in Mississippi and North Carolina and a whopping 49-point increase in Texas.
Social Reporter Ryan Johnson sat down with Jason Stanley, the Bissell-Heyd Chair in American Studies in the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto and author of Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future, to talk through the issues that swayed young people to vote for Democrats, the global anti-fascist wave, and a lasting change in American public opinion on Israel.
Related Links:
Jason Stanley at University of Toronto
Jason Stanley on Amazon
Credits:
Production: Ryan Johnson
Post-production: David Hebden
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. It will be updated.
Ryan Johnson:
On November 3rd, Democrats secured a historic landslide victory over the Republican Party, securing 54 Senate seats and over 250 House seats. Five governor seats were also flipped, including in historically red states like Texas, Kansas, Iowa, and Georgia. According to a New York Times estimate, Americans aged 18 to 29 voted overwhelmingly Democrat during the midterms. 70% of
by Ryan Johnson | Nov 5, 2026 | Fascism, Politics and Movements: US, Prisons and Policing, terrorism, Trump, video
In September 2025, President Donald Trump signed the National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, a classified document that directs powerful federal agencies to counter “Domestic Terrorism,”, a loosely defined term with no specific federal criminal charge. Still, the Trump Administration has taken steps to use it as a pretext for targeting and punishing people and organizations who are standing for marginalized communities.
This summer, nine protesters were convicted on terrorism charges with sentences ranging from 30 to 70 years for a noise demonstration occurring on July 4th, 2025, outside the Prairieland ICE facility in Texas that resulted in the shooting of a federal officer.
The charges include a 50-year sentence for protester Autumn Hill, who said she left before the officer was injured, and a 30-year sentence for Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada, who was not even present at the site of the shooting and was convicted of conspiracy to conceal documents for moving a box of magazines and pamphlets of “Anti-fascist literature.” Benjamin Song, the shooter, also received 100 years in prison.
Credits:
Reported and Produced by Ryan Johnson
Filmed by Vanessa Donovan
Edited by Evan Stice
Transcript
A transcript will provided when ready
by Mansa Musa | Nov 3, 2026 | California, ICE, Politics and Movements: US, Prison Industrial Complex, prison reform, Prisons and Policing, Rattling the Bars, video
In this episode of Rattling the Bars, Mansa Musa speaks with independent journalist Victoria Valenzuela, who reports for a wide range of news outlets on incarceration in California and Louisiana. Victoria’s recent articles shed light on the inhumane conditions at California City Detention Center—specifically its no-contact visitation policy, making it the only detention center in California to enact such a rule. CCDC is operated by the for-profit corporation CoreCivic (formerly Corrections Corporation of America), an organization with a history marred by systemic violence that is currently capitalizing on Trump’s mass deportation policies to expand its detention contracts.
In the second half of the conversation, Mansa and Victoria discuss the circumstances of incarcerated women domestic violence survivors in California and the potential for prison abolition. They note that the state’s incarcerated women population has decreased from roughly 11,000 to 3,700 over two decades.
Related link:
Families Are Fighting Draconian No-Contact-Visit Policy at California ICE Jail via Truthout
Victoria Valenzuela’s Substack
Credits:
Production/Post-production: Cameron Granadino
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. It will be updated.
Mansa Musa:
Welcome to this edition of Rattling the Bars. I’m your host, Mansa Musa. Today I’m speaking with reporter Victoria Valenzuela about a recent reporting on incarceration in California. Thank you for joining me, Victoria. Please introduce yourself to our audience.
Victoria Valenzuela:
Hi, I’m Victoria. Thank you so much for having me. I’m an independent journalist. I’ve been reporting on families and individuals impacted by incarceration for five years. I’ve been published in a variety of news outlets, about 30 now, and that includes The Guardian, Truth Out, Prism, The Real News Network, Buzzfeed News, USA Today, documented a bunch of different
by Taya Graham and Stephen Janis | Nov 3, 2026 | Economy and Inequality, Inequality Watch, Pennsylvania, Politics and Movements: US, US Elections, video
Pennsylvania’s 7th District, the Lehigh Valley region that includes Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton, is one of the most competitive House races in the country. Democrat Bob Brooks, a firefighters union president, is challenging Republican incumbent Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, and how voters here feel could help decide who controls the House. Taya Graham and Stephen Janis spent several days in the district talking to the people who will determine the outcome.
Voters say high prices, a lack of affordable housing, and a Washington disconnected from working people are driving their vote. Two more specific issues are also shaping the race: proposed data centers, which residents say are being imposed on their communities without adequate review, and the Epstein files, which arrived in Bethlehem aboard the “Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Bookmobile,” a traveling archive of the documents released to date. Underneath it all is a darker worry: that their votes won’t be counted.
Credits
Producers: Taya Graham and Stephen JanisWriter: Stephen JanisEditing/Post-Production: Stephen Janis
Transcript
Taya Graham: Pennsylvania’s 7th District is a diverse community stretching across the Lehigh Valley, but just before the midterm election, there is a common theme from residents that we spoke to.
Kathy: We are not liking what we see in our country.
Taya Graham: Anger and the desire for change.
Kathy: We’re not liking the effects of the things that are taking place in Washington, and therefore people are out trying to make a change.
Taya Graham: And how voters feel here could be critical to who controls the House. It is one of more than a dozen battleground districts, which is why we spent several days speaking to the people who will
by Lucia Iandolo and Ava Suffredini | Nov 3, 2026 | Ithaca, Politics and Movements: US, student protest, video
Students and Ithaca community members gathered in downtown Ithaca on Oct. 13 for the “I Am Jane Doe” rally to support students’ demands in light of the reopened criminal investigation into the alleged 2024 gang rape of a former Cornell University student by members of the school’s Chi Phi fraternity.
The lawsuit was filed on Sept. 16, two years after the plaintiff, identifying as Jane Doe, was allegedly sexually assaulted and gang raped by seven Chi Phi fraternity brothers.
Since the Cornell Daily Sun, Cornell University’s student-run newspaper, broke the story on Sept. 18, it has received widespread media attention and sparked nationwide anger. This has led to protests across the United States, including on Cornell University’s campus and in the greater Ithaca community.
TRNN student correspondents Lucia Iandolo and Ava Suffredini took to the streets to interview Ithaca students, organizers, and community members in the wake of an international reckoning with sexual assault and rape culture.
Additional Links
Community reporting from the Ithacan
Cornell Sun Student Editorial releasing the names of the Cornell 7
Credits
Reporting: Lucian IandoloVideography and Editing: Ava SuffrediniProduction and Post-Production: Ryan Johnson
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. It will be updated.
Lucia Iandolo: Students and Ithaca community members have gathered in downtown Ithaca October 13th for the I Am Jane Doe rally to support students’ demands in light of the reopened criminal investigation into the alleged 2024 gang rape of a former Cornell University student by members of the school’s Chi Phi fraternity. The lawsuit was filed on September 16th, two years after the plaintiff identifying as Jane Doe was allegedly sexually assaulted and gang raped by seven Chi Phi
by TRNN | Nov 3, 2026 | baltimore, elections, Maryland, midterms, Politics and Movements: US, video
With elections just week’s away, Maryland’s gubernatorial debate between Democratic incumbent Governor Wes Moore and Republican challenger Dan Cox took place on Oct. 6. In a special, post-debate Town Hall—hosted on Oct. 7 at the The Real News Network studio in Baltimore and co-organized by Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle—TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez moderates a panel discussion about the bankruptcy of politics-as-usual and the need for building “grassroots governing power” today. Panelists include: Charly Carter, political strategist and founder of Step Up Maryland and Step Up to Lead; Dayvon Love, LBS Director of Public Policy; and Andy Ellis, Green Party candidate for Governor of Maryland.
Credits:
Studio Production / Post-Production: Cameron Granadino, David Hebden
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. It will be updated.
Maximillian Alvarez:
So we’re here at the Real News Network Studio in Baltimore, and I am really grateful to be sitting here with an incredible panel of folks who are going to help us think through and respond to the Maryland gubernatorial debate that we watched yesterday, October 6th, between Democratic incumbent Governor Wes Moore and Republican candidate Dan Cox. So a lot of us watched that debate either live or afterwards. There was a lot to be furious about. There was a lot to think about in terms of like, okay, these are the candidates we have on offer, but also these are the things that our political parties think are important to us. And so I think a big way that we’re going to address tonight’s discussion is by talking about the issues and voices and perspectives that were not represented on that debate stage
