by Mansa Musa | Jan 20, 2026 | Economy, labor, Politics and Movements: US, Prison Industrial Complex, prison reform, Prisons and Policing, Rattling the Bars, video
Returning citizens are being funneled into exploitative temp jobs that pay poverty wages, deny them basic labor protections, and deepen the state’s control over their lives long after they’ve served their time. This week, Mansa Musa speaks with Katherine Passley and Maya Ragsdale, co-executive directors of Beyond the Bars, about how Florida’s temp industry traps the most vulnerable workers and operates as a profitable and punishing extension of the prison system.Guests:
Maya Ragsdale is the founder and co-executive director of Beyond the Bars, a worker center in South Florida building the social and economic power of workers with criminal records and their families.
Katherine Passley is co-executive director of Beyond the Bars. Passley was named the 2025 Labor Organizer of the Year by In These Times magazine.
Additional links/info:
Beyond the Bars website, Substack, and Instagram
Beyond the Bars, The Temp Trap Report
Credits:
Producer / Videographer / Post-Production: Cameron Granadino
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. It will be updated.
Mansa Musa:
Returning citizens are routinely pushed out of permanent jobs and instead pushed into temporary work often for the same role. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, 27% of formerly incarcerated individuals are unemployed, a rate higher than the Great Depression. Temp agencies often circumvent anti-discrimination laws and workforce protections, fueling exploitation and instability for vulnerable workers. A new report, The Temp Trap by Beyond the Bar’s co-director Maya Ragsdale and Katherine Passley argues that the state supervision and workforce discrimination keeps returning citizens trapped. The authors say it’s as if returning citizens are still doing time. Maya and Katherine joins us today to discuss their finding from two years of research. Welcome to
by Maximillian Alvarez | Jan 15, 2026 | Iran, Politics and Movements: International, video
People continue to take to the streets all across Iran, even as state forces massacre protestors and the US ramps up sanctions and threatens military intervention. While a total internet blackout remains in effect in the country, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with award-winning Iranian-Canadian journalist Samira Mohyeddin about what we do and don’t know about the crisis unfolding in Iran right now.
Credits:
Studio Production / Post-Production: David Hebden
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. It will be updated.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Samira Mohyeddin, can you please break down for us what we know about what’s happening in Iran right now, what we don’t know, and why specifically we don’t and can’t know more right now?
Samira Mohyeddin:
Iran has been under what is now past 130 hours of a nationwide internet blackout imposed by the state. What we are getting out are some reports from people who have Starlink and then also what we know leading up to the internet blackout. So protests against the dropping of Iran’s currency, which has dropped to its all time low, has really began on December 28th with the merchants in Tehhran’s grand bazaar. Those protests quickly escalated and spread to every single province in Iran. So it was not just confined to Tehran anymore. And it wasn’t just the merchant class, a wide demographic of people out on the streets. And they’re not just calling for economic reprieve or anything like that. This is now an existential problem for the Iranian government. They are calling for the downfall of the regime. They’re calling for the killing, the death of Khamenei, which is Iran’s supreme leader.
And you’re
by Belal Awad, Leo Erhadt, Ruwaida Amer and Mahmoud Al Mashharawi | Jan 14, 2026 | Gaza, Israel, October 7: One Year Later, Palestine, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, video
According to the United Nations, over 11,000 Palestinians have gone missing in Gaza since October 2023. Relatives don’t know if the missing are dead or alive, under the rubble, or in Israeli detention centers. In this on-the-ground report from Gaza, TRNN speaks with family members about their lost loved ones and the impossible struggle to find out if they’re dead, missing, or imprisoned.
Credits:
Producers: Belal Awad, Leo Erhardt
Videographers: Ruwaida Amer, Mahmoud Al Mashharawi
Video Editor: Leo Erhardt
Transcript
Safa Saber Sadi Jundiya:
He disappeared on Monday, September 29, 2024, at 5:53 p.m. We were in Deir al-Balah. That was the last time I saw him. and he told me he was going to Gaza.
Narrator:
Safa Jundiya is one of thousands. According to the UN, since October 2023 over 11,000 Palestinians have gone missing in Gaza. Relatives don’t know if the missing are dead or alive, under the rubble or in Israeli detention centers.
Safa Saber Sadi Jundiya:
I lost my husband about a year and four months ago. I lost him when he was trying to return to the Gaza Strip via the south. Now I live with my children without my husband.
Narrator:
This is Safa’s son, Tamer. 12 years of age now, he was 11 when his father disappeared.
Tamer Mohamed Nayef Jundiya:
When he left, we said goodbye. He kissed each of us and said: Don’t worry, I’ll be back in a few hours. We told him, “OK but don’t be long because we can’t go to sleep or wake up without you.” He said: “Don’t worry”.
Safa Saber Sadi Jundiya:
We had lunch together, we chatted, we talked, we laughed, and suddenly he told me that he wanted
by Maximillian Alvarez | Jan 13, 2026 | baltimore, Economy, Economy and Inequality, Politics and Movements: US, video
As the unaffordability crisis deepens across the US, poor and working-class residents are struggling to pay for rent and food along with exorbitant monthly utility bills charged by gas and electric monopolies that control local power grids. In Baltimore, MD, local residents’ inability to pay skyrocketing utility bills from energy giant Baltimore Gas & Electric (BGE) has sparked a grassroots “public power” campaign to establish a publicly owned energy alternative. In this on-the-ground report, TRNN takes you to the front lines of a Dec. 20 Public Power rally held in downtown Baltimore.
Additional links/info:
Baltimore Public Power campaign Instagram
Aaron Wright, Baltimore Beat, “BGE and DPW rate increases create financial woes for city residents”
Credits:
Production: Maximillian Alvarez
Post-Production: Maximillian Alvarez, David Hebden
Transparency disclaimer: Maximillian Alvarez’s spouse is a volunteer participant in the Baltimore Public Power campaign.
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. It will be updated.
Rev. Annie Chambers: Last week I went into a home and a lady had an infant that we had to get out of her house because her utilities was cut off and she had no way to keep that baby warm. Along with four other children.
Mark Conway: We had folks who were deciding between their rent and their energy bill. We had folks who were deciding between their medication and their energy bill. We had a senior roll her oxygen tank up and tell us that she was unable to refill her oxygen tank because of her energy bill.
Bobby LaPin: Last night, more than 250,000 Maryland children went to bed freezing and this morning they woke up freezing. But BG&E, but BG&E, they made $2.4 billion last year.
Taylor Smith-Hams:
by Maximillian Alvarez | Jan 12, 2026 | baltimore, ICE, Politics and Movements: US, Prisons and Policing, video
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Speaker 1:
Tonight we’re out marching against ICE injustice for Renee Goode and all those who have been unjustly killed and undustly detained. We stand with our neighbors and we stand with one another knowing that the people united will never be defeated. I stand for my friends in Minnesota who are out protesting there and knowing friends that are all around the country speaking out. We can do more than we are doing now. And this is just the bare minimum.
Speaker 2:
We are currently marching through downtown Baltimore. There’s hundreds of us and the police have barricaded the streets to prevent traffic from coming through because we are here to demand justice for Renee Goode and demand that ICE never do what they did to her to anyone else ever again.
Speaker 3:
Well, what happened yesterday in Minneneapolis was disgusting. The Trump administration has this goon squat ice that is out after our own citizens. That’s insane. We’re at war with the Trump administration. So I’m protesting the actions of Trump and the actions of ICE. And I’ll be out here until Trump’s gone. Thank you so much.
Speaker 4:
So we’re marching in Baltimore against the Nazi occupation of ICE in America, stealing our neighbors, taking away vital community members that we really need and love very much. Get your neighbors organized, get your friends organized. Teach even your non-political friends about how important this is and just ways to protect each other because we outnumber the fascist completely. And if we
by Michael Nigro | Jan 7, 2026 | ICE, New Orleans, Politics and Movements: US, Prisons and Policing, video
It is performative bullying at best. Domestic terrorism at its core.
“Operation Catahoula Crunch,” President Donald Trump’s bloated immigration enforcement action in New Orleans, is named after Louisiana hunting dogs that roam swamps. The operation, led by CBP commander Greg Bovino, began prowling through neighborhoods in New Orleans on Dec. 3, 2025.
Filming, Production, and Post-Production: Michael Nigro
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Speaker 1:
My name’s Jose Castillo. We’re here in New Orleans. In my family business, it’s a little Norma Sweets Bakery. Been here since 2011. And this is the first time that we’ve been affected from our government really so much. I mean, people are afraid to go out, people are afraid to spend money. I have a family member, I have friends, American citizens walking around with a passport, American passport, because they’re afraid. Afraid that they’re going to be profiled. They’re afraid if they can’t speak English, good enough to explain who they are.
Speaker 2:
Children are skipping school because they’re afraid of ice. Parents are unable to go to the grocery store because they’re afraid of ice. Workers are losing their jobs and risking their businesses because they’re afraid of ice. And our city counselors haven’t even put ice on the agenda for their meeting today. City council must stop ignoring immigrant rights groups who are asking to take a stand. We’re not going to wait for city council to say that they’re going to do something. We
Speaker 3:
Are here today to demand that city council takes action. These people are planning to stay here
