Human rights

The fight for civil rights wasn’t just waged in the streets, it was built in classrooms led by unsung heroes. In this episode Rick speaks with author Elaine Weiss about her new book, Spell Freedom: The Underground Schools That Built the Civil Rights Movement. They discuss the little-known history of citizenship schools—grassroots educational programs in the 1950s and 60s that empowered Black Americans to pass literacy tests, register to vote, and fight systemic oppression. Weiss sheds light on the broader civil rights movement, the institutional barriers activists faced, and the enduring importance of civic education in today’s political landscape. Elaine's book, Spell Freedom: The Underground Schools That Built the Civil Rights Movement, available now.

This special series is a joint production by David Pepper and Resolute Square. Chapter Two of Trump’s Project 2025: Up Close and Personal depicts the personal story of Eve, a nurse struggling with infertility, whose treatment is threatened by the new president's executive order banning certain fertility treatments. The episode explores how the president's policies would impact everyday Americans, particularly women and families, by interfering with reproductive freedom and the right to self-determination. The author of the serialized novel “2025,” upon which this podcast series is based, David Pepper, highlights how the fictional story is directly based on the policies outlined in the Trump’s Project 2025 and the president's own words, underscoring the very real and devastating consequences a second Trump term and the implementation of Project 2025 could have. You can read Chapter Two of David Pepper’s “2025: A Novel” at davidpepper.substack.com/p/2025-a-novel-chapter-2 The book, “Trump’s Project 2025: Up Close And Personal” by David Pepper, is available for purchase at https://a.co/d/adWcJ4S. Trump’s Project 2025: Up Close and Personal is available on all the podcast apps and at 2025pod.com. We'd also like to thank all the artists who volunteered their time to make this episode. Heather Thomas, J. Smith Cameron, Omid Abtahi, Kirk Acevedo and Bayo Akinfemi. Audio finishing by Marilyn Ernst. This series is produced by David Pepper, Melissa Jo Peltier and Jay Feldman. Trump’s Project 2025: Up Close and Personal is a production of Ovington Avenue Productions.

The Founders left it to states to decide whether Black people should be free or enslaved, so Trump appears to advocate letting them decide whether Women should be free or enslaved.

The 14th A states: "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Seems clear enough - but Teri Kanefield explains that it wasn't enough to provide women and Black people equal protection or equal rights.

Trans children are the preferred target of the far right and Christo fascists today, but the othering of vulnerable groups in society – those with the least social, political, and financial power – is nothing new in America or around the globe, writes Lisa Senecal.

"A growing body of research has tracked the detrimental impacts of far-right, culture war-related stress on broad segments of the American population, from young adults to women, to racial and LGBT communities," but that's not stopping Zoomers from fighting.

On this episode of The Enemies List, comedian and activist Maya May sits in for Rick as he took a rare week off. Maya welcomes New York Times writer, Ted Talk speaker, author, and comedian, Wajahat Ali to the podcast. They discuss how the Republican party methodically makes different groups the villain trying to inject fear into the American people.

Amee Vanderpool writes that in the wake of the most recent 5th Circuit ruling, the time is now for women to make their voices heard in the battle for bodily autonomy. To the streets!

America has a President of the United States and a Pretender in the United States. When it comes to Trump, playing pretend is no game and this time, the media can't come to play.

In transmuting violence into patriotism, Donald Trump channels Nazi Germany and fans the flames of fascism in America.

Every day, we see examples around the country of why teaching and studying Black History in our schools is essential and efforts to prevent that from happening. Teri Kanefield shares some of what she learned while researching the biography of Thurgood Marshall, reminding all of us that our need to learn and better understand doesn't end.

Strongmen like Erdogan are at their worst when their people need them most.

Not only is the GOP an anti-democratic movement and the party of chaos, but they also show every day that they care nothing about representing the will of the American people.

The only factor Republicans did not account for in their decades-long diabolical plan to restrict women’s healthcare and endanger their lives was the modern backlash they would face from voters.