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The ruling FOG (Forces of Greed) spin news stories in their favor and keep the masses distracted with celebrity gossip and reality shows. Each week on Clearing The Fog, host Margaret Flowers* features guests who are working to expose the truth and offer real solutions to the current crises faced by our nation and the world. Knowledge is power, and with this knowledge you will be empowered to act to shift power to the people and weaken the corporate stranglehold on our lives. This podcast is brought to you each week without advertising.

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*Clearing the FOG was founded by Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese in 2012 on We Act Radio. Kevin died in 2020.

The United States Is Sabotaging A Nuclear Agreement With Iran

The Trump administration, which unilaterally withdrew from the Iran Nuclear Agreement during Donald Trump’s first term, claims to be negotiating a new nuclear agreement with Iran. However, ‘negotiations’ are taking place under an escalation of economic coercive measures, a.k.a. sanctions, and military threats. Bahman Azad, president of the US Peace Council, delves into the hidden intentions of the Trump administration and the changes to Iran’s foreign policy under its new president. Azad also explains what is happening in the context of the rise of the multipolar world and the decline of US hegemony, and what we can do in the United States to promote security and peace, as Israel and the US prepare for war.

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Guest:

Bahman Azad is a retired professor of economics and sociology. His area of research includes the political economy of capitalism and socialism, with articles in Political Affairs and Nature, Society and Thought. He is the author of the book: Heroic Struggle, Bitter Defeat: Factors Contributing to the Dismantling of the Socialist State in the USSR (International Publishers).

Bahman is currently the president of the U.S. Peace Council, on the Secretariat of the World Peace Council (WPC), WPC representative at the United Nations, and on the Administrative Committee of the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC).

Bahman Azad was co-chair of Venezuelan Embassy Protectors Defense Committee (Washington DC) and is currently serving as the coordinator of the Coalition Against U.S. Foreign Military Bases, the Global Campaign Against US/NATO Military Bases, and co-Coordinator of the Hands Off Syria Coalition.

National Day Of Action To Demand Health Care, Not Profit

On May 31, a large coalition of labor and community groups is holding a nationwide day of action to demand a national single payer healthcare system. Clearing the FOG speaks with Kay Tillow, an organizer of the action and member of the leading organization, NationalSinglePayer.com. Tillow speaks about the current healthcare crisis in the United States and why it is imperative that people organize now for a solution, such as national improved Medicare for all. Tillow critiques the Medicare for All legislation that was recently introduced in both houses of Congress and what we need to do to move the bills forward.

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Guest:

Kay Tillow, chair of Kentuckians for Single Payer Healthcare and Coordinator of the All Unions Committee for Single Payer Health Care, worked in the Southern civil rights movements in the 60s, spent her early career organizing unions, and was responsible for organizing over 600 unions across the country to endorse H.R. 676, John Conyer’s Medicare for All Act.

Under Attack For Trying To Stop Genocide And Ethnic Cleansing

The displacement, genocide, and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians continue unabated with a total blockade of water, food, and supplies to Gaza, which is entering its third month. Yemen has now issued an aerial blockade of Israel in addition to its blockade of the Red Sea according to its obligation under the Genocide Convention. An international coalition attempted last week to bring aid to Gaza. Its ship was bombed on May 2 in European waters just off Malta. Clearing the FOG speaks with members of CODEPINK, Danaka Katovich, Tighe Barry, and Colonel Ann Wright (Ret) about the resistance to Israel’s genocide. Katovich is a national co-coordinator who works on the Yemen Campaign. Barry and Wright are currently in Malta with the Freedom Flotilla Coalition working to rescue the ship and its occupants who are stranded.

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Guests:

Danaka Katovich

Tighe Barry

Col. Ann Wright (Ret)

 

Following Unfair Presidential Election, Ecuador Faces A Grim Future

On April 13, a runoff presidential election between the incumbent Daniel Noboa and the progressive candidate Luisa Gonzalez was held in Ecuador. Leading up to the election, a very tight race was expected and conditions pointed to a likely victory by Gonzalez. However, on election day, Noboa was declared the winner with a lead of more than 11%. Clearing the FOG speaks with Pedro Labayen Herrera, who is a researcher at the Center for Economic and Policy Research where he focuses on Ecuador. Labayen was present for the elections. He reports on the scandals just before the election, violations of the Constitution by Noboa and what happened on election day. He also describes the deterioration of conditions within Ecuador and the challenges ahead.

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Guest:

Pedro Labayen Herrera is a researcher at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC. Pedro’s research at CEPR centers on the Latin American region (with a particular focus on Ecuador), foreign policy, and the impact of economic sanctions. Pedro holds a Master’s in International Governance and Diplomacy, with a concentration in human rights, from the Paris School of International Affairs, Sciences Po, and a BA in International and Global Studies from the University of Central Florida. Prior to working at CEPR, Pedro was an intern at the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Washington, DC, where he provided protection assistance to refugees and asylum seekers across the United States.

Trade War And Austerity: The Final Stages Of US Capitalism

The Trump administration is imposing tariffs on a growing list of countries in a desperate effort to find leverage for protecting US interests abroad and to ostensibly re-industrialize the United States. Clearing the FOG speaks with Jon Jeter, author of “Class War in America: How the elites divide the nation by asking are you a worker or are you white?”, about the motives behind the trade war and how this may impact both the global and domestic economies. Jeter explains that the United States is entering uncharted territory as it increasingly isolates itself from the rest of the world and hurtles toward another Great Depression. For the first time, the US may experience a situation in which the shelves are empty and families are unable to afford what is left.

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Guest:

Jon Jeter is a published book author and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist with more than 20 years of journalistic experience. He is a former Washington Post bureau chief and award-winning foreign correspondent on two continents, as well as a former radio and television producer for Chicago Public Media’s “THIS AMERICAN LIFE.”

Jeter is a Knight Fellowship recipient – Stanford University’s highest professional journalism award — as well as author of FLAT BROKE IN THE FREE MARKET (WW Norton, 2009) and co-author of A DAY LATE AND A DOLLAR SHORT (Wiley & Sons, 2010).

Jon works with both non-profit and for profit brands, utilizing his vast knowledge and experience in web, radio, and television content and production to drive communications strategies and develop stories that highlight the important work of these organizations. You will find his newest book at https://www.classwarinamerica.com/.

How Debt Is Being Weaponized As A Form Of Social Control

The Trump Administration is dismantling the Department of Education, placing tens of millions of student loan debtors in an uncertain situation. Clearing the FOG speaks with Braxton Brewington of the Debt Collective about the weaponization of debt as a form of social control and the ongoing efforts to erase federal student loan debt. Brewington explains the bipartisan effort to block debt relief and what student loan holders should be doing now to protect themselves. He also discusses the April 17 National Day of Action for Free College for All and the actions that need to be taken to create an educational system that empowers and protects all students, faculty and staff.

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Guest:

Braxton Brewington is press secretary for the Debt Collective. He is currently a graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill pursuing a Ph. D. in sociology. He holds degrees in both political science and journalism and mass communication from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.

The Urgency Of Fighting For Our Rights While We Can

The repression of people who show support for Palestinian liberation has escalated. The Trump administration is using an antiquated immigration law and executive orders to target student activists, threatening them with deportation, and has gone so far as to kidnap students and professors. Clearing the FOG speaks with a Cornell University PhD student, Sriram Parasurama, who was suspended for participating in pro-Palestine demonstrations and is currently a plaintiff in a case challenging two of President Trump’s executive orders and with Chip Gibbons, a lawyer with Defending Rights and Dissent and the author of an upcoming book on the FBI, surveillance and the national security state. Both explain the urgency of fighting violations of our Constitutional rights and how to do that, as well as the implications of not taking action.

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Guests:

Sriram Parasurama is a second-year PhD student in the graduate field of Horticulture, School of Integrative Plant Sciences currently on suspension for his pro-Palestine activism. He is a plaintiff in a case against the Trump administration with student Momodou Taal and Professor Mukoma Wa Ngugi with support from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC). They are seeking an injunction against Trump’s Executive Orders Numbers 14161 and 14188, which authorize deportation over protected speech. Read his OpEd in the Cornell Sun here.

Chip Gibbons is the policy director of Defending Rights & Dissent. A journalist and researcher focusing on the US national security state, Chip is currently working on The Imperial Bureau, forthcoming from Verso Books. Based heavily on archival research and documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, it tells the history of FBI political surveillance and explores the role of domestic surveillance in the making of the US national security state.

How To Avert The Imminent Collapse Of Social Security

The Social Security Administration (SSA), which has been understaffed for a long time, is now facing collapse within months if changes made by the Trump administration are not reversed. 73 million people in the United States rely on Social Security for part or all of their income. Clearing the FOG speaks with Alex Lawson of Social Security Works about the cuts to the SSA workforce, the closure of regional and local offices and other changes that are going to lead to beneficiaries not receiving their checks and possibly the end of this 89 year old institution. Lawson describes how people can join the struggle to save Social Security. Visit SocialSecurityWorks.org.

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Guest:

Alex Lawson is the Executive Director of Social Security Works, the convening member of the Strengthen Social Security Coalition— a coalition made up of over 340 national and state organizations representing over 50 million Americans.

Mr. Lawson has appeared on numerous TV and radio outlets and is a frequent guest covering Social Security and Medicare issues on The Thom Hartmann Program, one of the top progressive radio shows in the country. He has a BA from St. John’s College and an MPP from The George Washington University. He is on Twitter @alaw202. 

Organizing To Stop Stealth Privatization Of The US Postal Service

Beginning with the so-called Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006, which required the postal service to hold billions of dollars in reserve to fund retirement benefits for workers who have not yet been born, and then the sell-off of post offices, cuts to the workforce and price hikes, the ground for privatization of the US Postal Service, as was done in Canada and the United Kingdom, has been laid. Clearing the FOG speaks with Annie Norman, a leader of the Save the Post Office Coalition, about the current effort to begin privatizing the postal service in incremental steps. Norman also discusses the upcoming national days of action to protect our post offices and the People’s Postal Agenda, a program to strengthen the postal service and add more services for people.

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Guest:

Annie Norman is the Take On Wall Street Campaign Manager and leader of the Save Our Post Office campaign. Previously, she served as the Associate Field Director for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan, where she oversaw their statewide field organizing team. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, and a Master’s Degree in Public Health from the University of Oklahoma. In between obtaining her degrees, she served in the Peace Corps, where she spent two and a half years working on sustainable community economic development and sexual health education projects in the rural farming community of Tierra Blanca de Cartago, in Costa Rica’s central valley. Since then, she has worked nine electoral campaign cycles, and as a sexual health educator and then as an organizer for Planned Parenthood affiliates in Waco, TX, Tulsa, OK, and Detroit, MI.

Reasons To Welcome Peace In Ukraine And The Demise Of NATO

The Trump Administration seems to be taking steps to end the Ukrainian proxy war against Russia, in a significant shift of US foreign policy. This has led to renewed fervor by Democrats to keep the war going and talk of Europeans taking on greater weapons and other military support for Kiev. Clearing the FOG speaks with international human rights lawyer and author, Dan Kovalik, who has traveled to Ukraine and Russia many times since February 2022, about the genesis of the conflict, how it is viewed by Ukrainians in the Donbass Region and Crimea, the new approach by the US and the impact it will have on Ukraine, NATO and the European Union.

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Guest:

Dan Kovalik

The Time Has Come To Avenge Our Americas For Collective Liberation

The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) launched the next phase of the Zone of Peace campaign, the creation of the US/NATO Out of Our Americas Network. Clearing the FOG speaks with Austin Cole of the BAP Haiti/Americas Team about the network, which debuted on February 21, the anniversary of the assassinations of Malcolm X and Augusto Sandino. Cole explains the origin of the term “Our Americas (Nuestra Americas)” and why that framing is necessary for the decolonization of our continents. He also describes current US aggression in the Americas, how our struggles are connected, and what the network will do to build a stronger popular movement for our collective liberation.

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Guest:

Austin Cole

A Federal Worker Speaks Out: ‘Many Jobs And Services Will Disappear’

In the first month of the new Trump administration, there has been a widespread assault on federal workers led by billionaire Elon Musk and his new ‘agency’ called DOGE. Thousands of federal workers have lost their jobs, funding for government programs has been suspended and technocrats under Musk have entered agencies and demanded access to privileged data. Clearing the FOG speaks with a current federal worker, John, who is being kept anonymous for protection, about what is happening within federal agencies, the legality of the attacks and how workers are organizing and fighting back. John warns that most federal workers are going to be fired and services are going to be cut without a plan for protecting and serving the public.

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Attacks On Veterans Administration Federal Workers Hurt Everyone

The Trump administration is attempting an attack on federal workers at every agency and is allowing Elon Musk access to sensitive data. Federal workers are organizing and fighting back. In less than two months, one federal worker union, AFGE, has gained over 16,000 new members compared to 7,400 new members in all of 2024. Clearing the FOG speaks with Suzanne Gordon of the Veterans Healthcare Policy Institute about what is at stake and what workers are doing to resist efforts to force them out of their jobs. Gordon also explains why the Veterans Health Administration is a model of health care for the country and the work the VA does to benefit everyone.

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Guest:

Suzanne Gordon is the author of Wounds of War: How the VA Delivers Health, Healing, and Hope to the Nation’s Veterans. She is co-author of Our Veterans: Winners, Losers, Friends and Enemies on the New Terrain of Veterans Affairs. Gordon is a senior policy analyst for the Veterans Healthcare Policy Institute. Find her writing on Substack/@SuzanneGordon.

Resistance From Within: US Military Members Oppose War Crimes

The United States’ support for the genocide in Palestine, especially since the launch of Operation Al Aqsa Flood in October 2023, has led federal employees and active duty military members to take action in opposition to violations of domestic and international law. Clearing the FOG speaks with two members of the US Air Force, Juan Bettancourt and Joy Metzler, who have applied for conscientious objector status. Together with Larry Hebert, who conducted a hunger strike in front of the White House last year, they created Servicemembers for Ceasefire to provide a space for members of the military to question US foreign policy. Bettancourt and Metzler describe their journeys, the level of dissent within the military and the deployment of US troops domestically.

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Guests:

Senior Airman Juan Bettancourt is a current conscientious objector and dissident seeking discharge from the Air Force. He is active with Veterans for Peace and is a co-founder of Servicemembers for Ceasefire.

Joy Metzler is a Second lieutenant in the US air force who is seeking conscientious objector status. She completed a master’s in aerospatial engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is also a co-founder of Servicemembers for Ceasefire.

Poor white Trash Manifesto: A Step Toward Challenging Tactics Of Division

White America is divided. There are poor whites, many of whom have not gone to college and who support President Donald Trump, and liberal whites, many of whom have college degrees and who support the Democrats. This division, fostered by the corporate media, serves the interests of the wealthy class. Clearing the FOG speaks with Danny Shaw, author of the six-part series, “Despised: The Poor white Trash Manifesto“, who has walked in both worlds. Shaw traveled last year to “Trump Country”. He explains the crises that poor whites in the US experience and the way they are manipulated to believe that certain peoples, not the system, are to blame for their suffering. He also discusses the importance of organizing with poor whites and provides guidance on how to do this.

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Guest:

Danny Shaw is an activist, author, and professor. He taught Latin American and Caribbean Studies and Race, Ethnicity, Class and Gender at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice/ City University of New York. He holds a Masters in International Affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.

Shaw was born and raised by a single mother in Brockton, Massachusetts and has lived in the Bronx for the past 18 years. He is fluent in Spanish, Haitian Kreyol, Portuguese, Cape Verdean Kreolu and has a fair command of French. He has worked and organized in forty different countries, opening his spirit to countless testimonies about the inhumanity of the international economic system. He is a Golden Gloves boxer, fighting twice in Madison Square Garden for the NYC heavyweight championship. He teaches boxing, yoga and nutrition. He works in the national leadership of the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) to keep young people out of the military and prison industrial complex. He is a mentor to many guiding them through the nutritional, ideological, social and emotional landmines that surround us. He is the father of two young Life Warriors, Ernesto Rafael and Caũa Amaru. He is the author of five books: 365 Days of Resistance, Shedding that which is Not Us: A Working-Class Guide to Life Foods Training and Healing, ­The Saints of Santo Domingo: Dominican Resistance in the Age of Neocolonialism, My Son Blazes within Me: Reflections on a Poor “white” Family’s Survival, and Diving over Infinite Horizons: Journal Entries of an Internationalist. He has also authored blogs and articles on Latin American history, boxing and nutrition, among other topics. 

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Urgent End Of Year Fundraising Campaign

Online donations are back! 

Keep independent media alive. 

Due to the attacks on our fiscal sponsor, we were unable to raise funds online for nearly two years.  As the bills pile up, your help is needed now to cover the monthly costs of operating Popular Resistance.

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