Redacted Tonight

Four-day work week, abortion rights, Erik Prince’s spy venture

The US economy is struggling and everyone seems to have a different understanding of why. Lee Camp looks into the causes of the current labor struggles, some of the wackier symptoms of an economy in collapse, and a potential policy-based solution. Camp also reports on a new religious crusade against the LGBTQ community, Google’s admission that they’re still spying on us, and much more. Naomi Karavani reports on an abortion pill available since the 80s that could help address some of the US women’s rights movement’s issues if it were made more widely available. Finally, Jaffer Khan looks into the latest move from the mercenary capitalist Erik Prince.

The real Ukraine crisis w/ Ben Norton, nurses demand better treatment, the history of monopoly

Lee Camp is joined by journalist and host of Multipolarista, Ben Norton, to break down what is going on between Ukraine and Russia. They look to the real causes of Russia’s actions in Ukraine beyond the Western war propaganda. The story goes back to the ’90s and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, when the NATO powers guaranteed Moscow that they wouldn’t expand toward Russian borders. They broke that promise. Then the story moves to a US-backed coup in Ukraine in 2014 and the fallout after separatist movements tried to secede. Norton outlines the history and most important context for this moment of insecurity.

Naomi Karavani reports on a story about the US’ failing medical system. A Wisconsin hospital sued to stop some of their nurses from leaving for better-paying jobs. The decision to stop them from switching jobs only held for a short time until another judge overturned the decision. The story highlights the farce of income disparities between healthcare workers and executives. Finally, Anders Lee goes back into the history of the board game Monopoly. It was invented under the name The Landlord’s Game to explain the brutal reality of capitalism. Then, in true capitalist fashion, the idea was commodified by big business and turned into a celebration of our exploitative system.

$500mn for anti-China propaganda, Covid relief fails service workers, Musk’s gory experiments

A bill passed through Congress this week that proposes $500 million for anti-China propaganda. This comes on top of years of the US’ highest-paid propagandists spending most of their energy demonizing China with lies and purposefully misinterpreted information. Lee Camp also takes on a teachers’ strike in Puerto Rico, and the US’ long history of funding and arming fascist groups that continues today in Ukraine. Jaffer Khan reports on how restaurant owners have continued to abuse service workers throughout the pandemic. When the crisis began, the government was generous with business owners and a lot less generous with their employees. Anders Lee reports on Elon Musk’s latest controversy. His employees have been caught abusing monkeys while testing Neuralink technologies that allow subjects to control computers through microchips in their brains.

The fight for a better world with Roger Waters

You probably know Roger Waters best from his music career in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. But the rock star has also made a name for himself in left-wing activism. He has spent decades advocating for the rights of Palestinians living under Israeli apartheid and stands with Julian Assange as the Wikileaks founder faces the persecution of the most powerful governments on the planet. In this special episode of Redacted Tonight: VIP, Lee Camp has an extended conversation with Waters covering many important issues. Topics include the importance of Wikileaks, the current situation facing Assange, the truth about what is happening in Palestine, the special relationship between British and US oligarchs, the case of Steven Donziger, the state of the corporate media, and much more.

People are waking up, the chemical industry, justice for Prakash

The US’ two-party system is quickly losing support from voters as it becomes more obvious that neither party represent the interests of regular people. The impact of donor money on politics continues to grow, and it is becoming difficult for even the most loyal citizens to ignore. Lee Camp looks into the cause for falling support for the two parties and how this situation compares to the political landscapes of the UK and Germany. Camp also covers Amnesty International’s recent report acknowledging that Israel is an apartheid state, and the courts pushing back against Joe Biden’s climate-killing choice to grant a ton of oil and gas drilling permits to big oil.

Anders Lee reports on the chemical industry’s contribution to climate change. The chemical industry is one of the lesser-known factors driving climate change, but it has significant effects on human health, waste management, and greenhouse gas output. Naomi Karavani finishes off the show by taking on the prosecution of Prakash Churaman, who was convicted of a 2014 murder based on a forced confession and has been held in Rikers since. He now wants to overturn his conviction in a new trial that also brings into question the NYPD’s ability to lie to minors in an interrogation.

A class-traitor CEO, free college fail, Starbucks’ union busting

Michael Lastoria is the CEO of the chain &Pizza in Washington, DC. Lastoria has made a name for himself as a class traitor by advocating for the rights of workers and living up to his words by paying them the $15 an hour that chain restaurant workers have been demanding in the ‘Fight for $15’ campaign. They discuss the myth of low-skilled workers, the truth about the labor shortage, what solving this problem with justice in mind would really look like, and much more.

In the second half, Camp reports on Joe Biden’s amazing ability not to deliver on any of his campaign promises. This time he has given up pursuing free community college for all Americans, and he sent his wife Jill Biden out to the wolves to make the announcement. Camp explains how the president could’ve taken on these policies without Congress if he actually cared. Anders Lee finishes off the show by looking into the growing union fight at Starbucks and its roots.