FEATURING NOLIWE ROOKS – Donald Trump’s Secretary of Education Betsy Devos is finding it hard to attend public events without being the target of protests. The virulently strong supporter of school privatization and charter schools has become a lynchpin for mass dismay of the state of our public school system. But privatization did not begin...

FEATURING LESLIE R. HINKSON – You’ve heard of the ‘subprime mortgage’ crisis where homebuyers of color were targeted by banks for high-interest loans. But what about expanding that framing to healthcare and medicine? A new book takes on racial disparities in the delivery and costs of healthcare to examine how medical debt disproportionately impacts people...

FEATURING MUMIA ABU JAMAL –  He recently filed this commentary on the current state of the world called ‘Cracks in the Walls of Empire’. Visit prisonradio.org for more commentaries. <iframe src=”https://player.vimeo.com/video/312166953″ width=”800″ height=”475″ frameborder=”0″ webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe> Mumia Abu Jamal is a political prisoner and award winning journalist. You can listen to this and all his...

FEATURING NOLIWE ROOKS – Donald Trump’s Secretary of Education Betsy Devos is finding it hard to attend public events without being the target of protests. The virulently strong supporter of school privatization and charter schools has become a lynchpin for mass dismay of the state of our public school system. But privatization did not begin...

The United States and allied nations in Latin America are ratcheting up pressure on Venezuela in what appears to be a coordinated effort to remove Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from office. Maduro was sworn in last week to a second 6-year term following his victory in last May's election, which was boycotted by the opposition. Days before Maduro was sworn in, opposition figure Juan Guaidó became head of the National Assembly, which soon voted to declare Maduro a "usurper" in an effort to remove him from office. The United States, Brazil and other nations have welcomed the effort. As the political crisis intensifies, Maduro has reached out to the United Nations to help establish a peace dialogue in Venezuela. We speak with Jorge Arreaza, Venezuelan foreign minister. He met with U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres this week.

In Syria, a suicide bomber struck a restaurant in the northern city of Manbij Wednesday, killing 19 people including four Americans. Two of them were U.S. soldiers. The bombing was claimed by ISIS and came just weeks after President Trump declared victory over the group and ordered U.S. troops to withdraw from Syria, prompting the resignation of Pentagon chief Jim Mattis. Just hours after the attack, Vice President Mike Pence reiterated that ISIS has been defeated. Wednesday's attack drew renewed calls from congressional hawks—both Republicans and Democrats—to reverse Trump's Syria withdrawal. The U.S. has an estimated 2,000 troops stationed in Syria, even though Congress has never declared war on the country. We speak with Ro Khanna, Democratic congressmember from California. He is a leading critic of U.S. military interventions abroad.

Watchdog: Trump Admin Vastly Underreported Migrant Family Separations, Trump Grounds Flight of Congressmembers to Visit NATO, Afghanistan, Government Shutdown Threatens Safety Net Programs for Millions, As Shutdown Grinds On, Senate Debates Anti-Abortion Bill, Trump Admin Recalls Workers to Assist in Offshore Oil Projects, BuzzFeed: Trump Ordered Michael Cohen to Lie to Congress, WSJ: Trump Paid Cohen to Rig Polls in Likely Campaign Finance Violation, Colombia: Suicide Car Bomber Kills 21 at Bogotá Police Academy, Sudan: Security Forces Fire on Anti-Government Protesters, U.S. Citizen and Iranian TV News Anchor Marzieh Hashemi Arrested, Brazil: Former Rio de Janeiro Cop Identified as Marielle Franco's Killer, Chicago Judge Acquits 3 Officers in Laquan McDonald Killing, L.A. Teachers' Strike Enters Fifth Day as Oakland Teachers Hold One-Day Strike

Senate confirmation hearings began Wednesday for former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler, whom President Trump has nominated to become administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Wheeler has been the acting head of the EPA since Scott Pruitt resigned in July amid an onslaught of financial and ethics scandals. We speak with Heather McTeer Toney, national field director for Moms Clean Air Force and former Southeast regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency during the Obama administration. We also speak with Mary Anne Hitt, director of the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign.

* * * Perry Dorrell blogs as PDiddie at Brains and Eggs, usually on topics concerning the strange brew of Texas politics. He's also on Twitter @PDiddie.

On today's BradCast, good news for voters in Wisconsin and Michigan, not nearly as good news for Donald Trump. [Audio link to show follows below.] First up today, the White House is desperately scrambling for new distractions from Trump's unpopular, nearly month-long federal government shutdown and, of more pressing import for the President on Friday, [...]

The federal government continue to spiral towards utter dysfunction under a President on the precipice of (take your pick). But one freshman Congresswoman provides a bit of a light at the end of the Trump tunnel. [Audio link to today's complete BradCast is posted below.] Among the stories covered on today's program... Donald Trump's former personal lawyer [...]

IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Senate Democrats grill Trump EPA chief nominee Andrew Wheeler in confirmation hearing; 'Code red' as historic heat wave grips Australia; EPA criminal actions against polluters hit 30-year low; Antarctica's ice sheets melting 6 times faster than in 1980s; PLUS: The business world is waking up to climate change impacts... All that [...]