by Maximillian Alvarez | Jun 1, 2026 | Climate Change, Climate Crisis, Military Industrial Complex, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, The Empire Files, video, War
We sit down for an hour-long discussion with legendary independent journalist and filmmaker Abby Martin to discuss her new blockbuster documentary, Earth’s Greatest Enemy, and the existential threat that US empire in general—and the US military specifically—poses to humanity and to our planet.
Editor’s Note: This conversation was recorded on Jan. 29, 2026, before the beginning of the illegal US-Israeli War in Iran.
Guests:
Abby Martin is an Izzy-Award-winning independent journalist, filmmaker, and host of The Empire Files. She is the director of the 2019 documentary Gaza Fights for Freedom and the 2026 documentary Earth’s Greatest Enemy.
Additional links/info:
Watch Earth’s Greatest Enemy on The Empire Files YouTube channel.
Credits:
Studio Production / 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.
Maximillian Alvarez:
We’re here in the Real News Network studio in downtown Baltimore and I could not be more excited to have legendary independent journalist and filmmaker, the one and only Abby Martin here with me in person. Now, some of you may not know this, but Abby is actually a Real News alumnus. And Sister Abby, I know it’s been a minute since you’ve been back here in your old stomping grounds, but I just wanted to start by saying on behalf of the entire team here, welcome back to Baltimore. Congratulations on all the incredible essential work that you’ve done and we are all just so proud of you and so honored to be in this struggle for truth with you.
Abby Martin:
Oh my gosh. Well, the feeling’s more than mutual, Max. I mean, just being here back in the studio just
by Mansa Musa | May 27, 2026 | Democratic Party, Fascism, Politics and Movements: US, Rattling the Bars, video
In 2026, fascism in the US is rising while “the left” descends further into powerlessness, goofiness, and irrelevance—but, author William C. Anderson argues, it doesn’t have to stay that way. In this episode of Rattling the Bars, Anderson returns to the show for an unflinching conversation with former political prisoner and host Mansa Musa about the state of the political left today and the lessons organizers and everyday people can learn from the Black Liberation Movement and figures like the late Russell Maroon Shoatz.
Editor’s Note: This conversation was recorded on May 1, 2026.
Guests:
William C. Anderson is a writer and activist from Birmingham, AL. His work has appeared in outlets ranging from The Guardian, MTV, Truthout, British Journal of Photography, to Pitchfork. He is the author of The Nation on No Map: Black Anarchism and Abolition, and co-author of As Black as Resistance: Finding the Conditions for Liberation. He’s also the co-founder of Offshoot Journal and provides creative direction as a producer of the Black Autonomy Podcast.
Additional links/info:
William C. Anderson, Prism / TRNN, “Another Way Out: We need a mosaic movement, not fragmented ‘leftism’”
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:
Joining us today again is William C. Anderson, author and columnist of Prism. If you missed our first conversation where we explore how Black citizenship has historically been called into question, you can find it on our YouTube channel. The history feels especially urgent this week following the United States Supreme Court’s ruling gutting the Voting Rights Act. This is clearly
by Mansa Musa | May 13, 2026 | elections, midterms, Politics and Movements: US, Racial Justice, Rattling the Bars, video, Voting Rights
Alabama US Senate candidate Dakarai Larriett joins Mansa Musa on Rattling the Bars to expose the rising tide of voter suppression and the battle for the Democratic ticket. Ahead of the May 19, 2026, primary, Larriett takes aim at opponent Kyle Sweetser—a former three-time Trump voter—calling his sudden party shift disingenuous while vowing to ‘fight like hell’ against racist redistricting in the South.
Credits:
Producer / Videographer / Editor: Cameron Granadino
Editor’s Note: This interview was recorded on May 11, 2026. Following the recording, a US Supreme Court ruling cleared the way for Alabama to implement a new congressional map that effectively dismantles one of the state’s two majority-Black districts.
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. Since the Supreme Court decision in Louisiana versus Cowan, significantly weakening protection under the Voting Rights Act. Several Southern states have redrawn district lines leading to concerns over the delusion of Black political representation. From the Supreme Court decision in Virginia, striking down Democrat drawing maps to Texas Governor Greg Abbott redistricting plans, receiving formal approval, the national landscape is shifting. Today we are following up with the Dakarai Larriett, a candidate for the United States Senate of Alabama to discuss these nationwide shifts and their impact on the midterm and the balance of power in Congress. Dakarai, welcome to Rattling the Bar.
Dakarai Larriett:
Oh, good to be back, man, sir.
Mansa Musa:
So let’s dive into how you see this latest decision coming out of the Supreme Court and how you assessing
by Mansa Musa | May 11, 2026 | Israel, Palestine, Politics and Movements: International, Rattling the Bars, video
Israel’s genocidal destruction of Gaza is the culmination of a violent settler-colonial project that goes all the way back to the Nakba (“Catastrophe”) of 1948. In this episode of Rattling the Bars, former political prisoner and Black Panther Mansa Musa speaks with award-winning Palestinian author and former political prisoner Basem Khandakji about the decades-long destruction of Palestinian society and mass displacement of Palestinians from their homeland, as well as the perseverance of Palestinian prisoners under the totalitarian conditions of Israeli prisons.
Guests:
Basem Khandakji, born in 1983 in Nablus, is a Palestinian novelist, poet, and journalist. Arrested in 2004 at the age of twenty-one for his political activities, he continued to write from prison, producing a body of work that has earned wide recognition across the Arab world. Khandakji was released from Israeli prison in 2025, one year after his novel A Mask the Color of the Sky won the prestigious International Prize for Arabic Fiction.
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. Today we are joined by Basem Khandakji, an award-winning author and former political prisoner who was held in Israel’s prisons for 21 years. Baising was released this past October and joins us today from Cairo. Let me say before I welcome you, he was released under the terms that Israelis concocted to release hundreds of Palestinians under the pretense that if Hamas released so- called hostages, he was released along with other people, but in being released
by Erica Woodland, Mansa Musa and Maximillian Alvarez | May 4, 2026 | Politics and Movements: US, Racial Justice, Rattling the Bars, video
From the dawn of the digital age to the current era of “artificial intelligence,” the future of literacy, reading, and book publishing is facing an existential threat. But Paul Coates—legendary activist, publisher, former Baltimore Black Panther Party member, and founder of Black Classic Press—has some critical wisdom to share in these perilous times about the revolutionary necessity of books. At a live event organized by Tubman House and Eddie’s Front Porch and recorded at the TRNN studio in Baltimore, MD, on March 6, 2026, community organizer and creator of Healing Justices Erica Woodland sits down with Coates for a wide-ranging discussion about propaganda, publishing, Black literary production, and the past and present of revolutionary politics.
Guests:
W. Paul Coates is the founder of Black Classic Press and BCP Digital Printing. Black Classic Press, established in 1978, specializes in republishing obscure and significant works by and about people of African descent. A former member of the Black Panther Party, Coates led the effort to establish the Black Panther Archives at Howard University.
Credits:
Producer / Editor: Cameron Granadino
Videographer: Phil Glaser
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Thank you all so much for being here. I am Maximillian Alvarez. I’m the editor in chief and co-executive director of the Real News Network and on behalf of our whole team, many of which are here over there in the back room or the back table. We just wanted to welcome you all here to the Real News Network Studio. Thank you so much for being here. Nuestra Casa Esu Casa. And we are
by Taya Graham and Stephen Janis | May 4, 2026 | Police Accountability Report, Politics and Movements: US, Prisons and Policing, video
In this episode of the Police Accountability Report we speak with Ismael Rincon, aka Corners News, of Texas, who often encounters Customs and Border Patrol while driving to pick up clients for ride share. Federal agents have now taken to stopping cars and engaging in traffic enforcement, and in his case prolonging a stop to introduce K-9 even though it was established that the driver was an American citizen. Federal agents stopping American citizens shouldn’t be a problem if they have nothing to hide, right? Unfortunately, history has taught us that allowing governmental agents more and more access to your private property, your person, and your time leads to the erosion of civil rights and often more disastrous consequences for the individual. Join us for the conversation, live chat, and discussion in the comment section on where Americans should draw the line between privacy and constitutional rights and the current imperative of law enforcement.
Credits:
Written by: Stephen Janis Produced by: Stephen Janis, Taya Graham
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 the Police Accountability Report. As I always make clear, this show has a single purpose holding the politically powerful institution of policing accountable. And to do so, we don’t just focus on the bad behavior of individual cops. Instead, we examine the system that makes bad policing possible. And today, we will achieve that goal by showing you this video of Border Patrol agents illegally detaining popular Cop Watcher Coroners News. A questionable example of law enforcement overreach
