by Taya Graham and Stephen Janis | Apr 24, 2026 | elections, ICE, Inequality, Inequality Watch, midterms, Politics and Movements: US, Prisons and Policing, video
Congress members of the Hispanic Caucus speak out on their concerns on ICE and Border Patrol, with their first question being: why is an additional $70 billion needed after the record breaking $140 billion allocated last year from the Big Beautiful Bill? The budget for ICE has already increased by 400% within the past year, so speculation as to how these new funds would be used now leans towards intimidation and interference at the upcoming midterm elections. Inequality Watch reporters Taya Graham and Stephen Janis break down their most recent interviews from these representatives at the nation’s Capitol in Washington, DC.
Credits:
Written by: Stephen Janis
Produced by: Taya Graham, Stephen Janis
Studio / Post-Production: Cameron Granadino
Trancript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Taya Graham:
Could new funding slated for ICE be used for a midterm election surprise? We’ll break down what might happen on this episode of our Capitol Hill Inequality Watch video React. Hello, my name is Taya Graham and welcome back to our Capitol Hill React show where we watch comment and analyze developments at the nation’s capital and beyond. It’s a show filtered through the prism of inequality and informed by the intellectual context of analyzing the imperative of raw power and exposing how it corrupts a political power that is supposed to serve we, the people. Now, to start the show, I want to introduce my reporting partner, Stephen Janis. Hello, Stephen. How are you?
Stephen Janis:
Hey, Taya, how are you doing? Good to be back here with you talking about power and politics.
Taya Graham:
Excellent. Well, we appreciate
by Mansa Musa and Ruwaida Amer | Apr 20, 2026 | Israel, Palestine, Political Prisoners, Politics and Movements: International, Prisons and Policing, Rattling the Bars, video
Former political prisoner Mahmoud al-Arda was first arrested by Israeli occupation forces in 1992 due to his involvement in the First Intifada and his membership in Islamic Jihad. Since then, for the past three decades, al-Arda has been incarcerated in different Israeli prisons, and he made international headlines in 2021 after leading a daring, successful, but short-lived escape from the maximum-security Gilboa Prison. In this blockbuster episode of Rattling the Bars, host Mansa Musa—a former Black Panther and political prisoner in the US—speaks with al-Arda after he and 2,000 other Palestinian prisoners were finally released from incarceration in Israel in 2025.
Additional links/info:
B’Tselem, Statistics on Palestinians in Israeli Custody
B’Tselem, “Welcome to Hell”: The Israeli Prison System as a Network of Torture Camps (Report)
Mansa Musa, TRNN, “Inside Israel’s Prison Regime”
Ruwaida Amer, Electronic Intifada, “Freedom is the eternal dream”
Aseel Mousa, Middle East Eye, “Jailbreak, freedom, exile: Life of Mahmoud al-Arda, architect of daring Israeli prison escape”
Credits:
Videography: Ruwaida Amer, Cameron Granadino
Producer / Editor: Cameron Granadino
Voiceover: Danny Bou-Maroun
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.Mansa Musa:
For the past two years, the four major US Sunday news shows have almost entirely excluded Palestinian voices from their coverage of Gaza. Airing just one brief interview in that time, according to journalist Adam Johnson. Corporate media’s propaganda war isn’t only about the stories it chooses to show, but even more about the voices and perspective it leaves out. In contrast, the real news is committed to amplifying those voices. In this spirit, we connected with Mahmoud al-Arda , a 50-year-old Palestinian who spent 32 years
by Taya Graham and Stephen Janis | Apr 17, 2026 | AI, Economy and Inequality, Inequality, Inequality Watch, Politics and Movements: US, video
Welcome to Inequality Watch React, where we don’t just talk about inequality, we go straight to the source.
This week, we take you inside the National Press Club, where we spoke with Congressman Ro Khanna about the future of the Democratic Party, economic patriotism, and the growing divide between the powerful and everyone else.
From why Democrats struggle to win, to the unanswered questions surrounding the Epstein files, to whether Silicon Valley is creating a new class of untouchable elites, we break it all down.
Because this isn’t just about politics. It’s about power, and who it protects.
And the big question: can we protect ourselves from its excess and its consequences? Independent journalists Taya Graham and Stephen Janis head down to Capitol Hill to ask these questions. And if you have a question you want us to ask, please leave it in the comments!
Credits:
Written by: Stephen Janis
Produced by: Taya Graham, Stephen Janis
Studio / Post-Production: Cameron Granadino
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Taya Graham:
Hello, my name is Taya Graham and welcome to our Inequality Watch React, the show where we discuss not just how this country is ruled by billionaires, but how and why. Reporting that seeks to hold the American aristocracy accountable for the destructive effect unimaginable wealth has had on our politics and on our lives. Now, unlike other YouTubers, we go right to the source to report back to you on America’s historic wealth imbalance, namely our nation’s capital, Washington DC. That’s where my reporting partner and I, hello, Steven.
Stephen Janis:
Hey, how you doing, Taya?
Taya Graham:
We often
by Magdy Abu Asr | Apr 16, 2026 | Gaza, Israel, Palestine, Politics and Movements: International, video
Israel’s daily bombing of Gaza may have slowed down since a ceasefire was implemented in October, but the destruction and violence have not stopped. In the bombed-out ruins of Gaza, Palestinian refugees who have managed to survive Israel’s genocidal onslaught are clinging to life in tattered tent cities overwhelmed by rats, rain, cold, and illness. In this on-the-ground report from Gaza, 15-year-old refugee Magdy Abu Asr takes you inside the tent city where she and her family are struggling to survive so you can see it for yourself.
Credits:
Filmed by: Magdy Abu Asr
Producer: Ruwaida Amer
Voiceover: Dana Ballout
Post-Production: David Hebden
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Hello, how are you? Today I’m going to introduce myself. My name is Magdy Abu Asr, I’m 15 years old. As you can see, today I’m going to show you the entrance to our tent. We live by the sea. As you can see, today I’m going to show you the entrance to our tent and how we live. We’re right next to the street. Come, let me show you. This is the entrance to our tent. This is our tent’s screen instead of the wall of our house. You can see how it’s torn apart by the wind and the air. Let me also show you the water container. Of course, we don’t carry water here, unlike at home. We used to open the water tank and water would come out. Now you have to carry water from a far place to find water to wash, perform ablution for prayer, or anything
by Mansa Musa | Apr 13, 2026 | Gaza, Israel, Palestine, Politics and Movements: International, Prison Industrial Complex, Prisons and Policing, Rattling the Bars, video
While international attention has decreased in recent months, the horrors Israel continues to systematically unleash on Palestinians in Gaza and the Occupied West Bank have not. In this episode of Rattling the Bars, host Mansa Musa—a former Black Panther and political prisoner—speaks with renowned scholar-activist Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi about Israel’s apartheid system of incarceration and the urgent fight to free Palestinian political prisoners detained by Israel.
Additional Links:
Stop the Torture of Palestinian and Lebanese Prisoners – Open the Prisons to the Red Cross petition
Credits:
Producer / Videographer / Editor: Cameron Granadino
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.Mansa Musa:
Welcome to this edition of Rattling the Bars. I’m your host, Mansa Musa. The number of Palestinian detainees in Israel custody has been on the rise. A population now marked by a revolving door where ceasefire releases are being eclipsed by new arrest campaign. Despite the release of nearly 2000 prisoners during the October 2025 ceasefire, or I must say so- called ceasefire, a massive wave of new detentions and occupied territories of Palestine has effectively reset the scales of incarceration. Join us today is Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi, the founding director and senior scholar of the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diaspora Studies Program at SFSU, a Yale educated sociologist. She is the principal investigator of Teaching Palestine. Welcome, doc. How you doing today?
Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi:
I’m okay. I’m okay. I’m as best as could be expected under the terrible conditions that we’re living under.
Mansa Musa:
Before we go into a more detailed thing what’s going on with our occupation, give update as
by Maximillian Alvarez | Apr 10, 2026 | ICE, immigration, Politics and Movements: US, Prisons and Policing, video
In the small town of Williamsport, Maryland, about an hour and a half from Baltimore, the Department of Homeland Security purchased a massive shipping warehouse for $102 million with plans to turn it into an ICE detention center. But local efforts to expose, delay, and shut down the Trump administration’s heinous plans for this makeshift concentration camp are growing. A broad coalition of local officials, faith leaders, and civil rights organizations have filed an amicus curiae brief in the State of Maryland v. Noem lawsuit, urging the US District Court for the District of Maryland to halt DHS’s rushed plan to convert the massive Williamsport warehouse into a large-scale immigration detention center. TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Sonia Kumar, a senior staff attorney at ACLU of Maryland, who is part of the team of legal representatives who filed the brief.
Additional links/info:
ACLU of Maryland website, Facebook page, X page, and Instagram
ACLU of Maryland, “Community leaders, elected officials, and civil rights organizations challenge DHS’s secret, rushed plan to convert Hagerstown warehouse into mass immigration detention center”
Maximillian Alvarez, TRNN, “‘A black site concentration camp’: Residents fight ICE detention warehouse in rural Maryland”
Maximillian Alvarez, TRNN, “The chilling truth behind ICE’s detention warehouses”
Maximillian Alvarez, TRNN, “Meet the data analysts exposing ICE’s plans“
Credits:
Studio Production / Post-Production: Cameron Granadino
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Welcome back to The Real News Network. I’m Maximillian Alvarez. In the small town of Williamsport on the western border of Maryland, which is about an hour and a half from where I’m sitting right now in
