1) Israel's Attack on Hezbollah in Lebanon Threatens to Ignite Long Feared Wider War

John Feffer, director of Foreign Policy In Focus and Global Just Transition at the Institute for Policy Studies, discusses his recent article, "A Ceasefire Is Not Enough in Gaza," focusing on Netanyahu's successive actions that appear designed to provoke a wider Middle East war, and the Biden administration's failure to use its powerful leverage to pressure Israel to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza. With Israel's war now expanding into Lebanon, and the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Feffer believes it's critical that Biden use his remaining months in the White House to initiate serious regional negotiations to address the Palestinian people's right to self determination, and deescalate tensions with both Iran and Hezbollah.

2) Georgia GOP Election Deniers Working to Sabotage 2024 Election

Julie Houk, managing counsel for Election Protection at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law talks about her group's work in Georgia, including the filing of a lawsuit "to bar enforcement of provisions in a new Georgia law that would permit baseless mass challenges to large swaths of eligible voters," and concern about new rules issued by Georgia's election board requiring a hand-count of election day ballots that could cause a consequential delay in certifying the state's presidential election winner, endangering the democratic process.

3) Trump Has Made Immigration a Toxic Issue in Election 2024

Dulce Guzmán, executive director of Alianza Americas, discusses how the issue of immigration is being debated by the candidates and covered by the news media in the 2024 presidential election, with a focus on Donald Trump's demonization of immigrants stoking hate and fear, and an assessment of Vice President Kamala Harris' stated policies on immigration, with a review of her recent trip to the U.S. Mexico border on September 27th.

4) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's Reckless Action in Ukraine

Joe Lauria, editor-in-chief of Consortium News talks about his recent article, "The Madness of Antony Blinken," focusing on Sec. of State Blinken's advocacy for allowing Ukraine to launch conventional British long-range missiles against Russia, and western news reports that the Kremlin responded by saying it would consider any assault on its territory supported by a nuclear power to be a joint NATO attack, and threatened the use of nuclear weapons.

1) Escalating Conflict Between Israel and Hezbollah Could Erupt into Regional War

Jennifer Loewenstein, former associate director of Middle Eastern Studies and senior lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, provides analysis of Israel's two waves of attacks targeting Hezbollah via pagers and walkie-talkie explosions that killed at least 14 and injured 2,800, the escalation of missile and airstrikes across the Israeli and Lebanese border, that could lead to all-out war, as well as the ongoing slaughter in Gaza, and stalled progress on cease fire talks there.

2) Trump's Abortion Ban is Now Literally Killing Women

Amy Littlefield, the abortion access correspondent with The Nation magazine and a freelance investigative reporter who focuses on the intersection of religion and health care, discusses her new Nation article, "An Abortion Ban Killed Amber Thurman—and Likely Many More," with a focus on how women at the local level are fighting back, and the ways in which these deaths may impact the outcome of the 2024 election.

3) US Poverty Rose When Federal Pandemic Safety Net Programs Expired

Karen Dolan, director of the Criminalization of Race and Poverty Project at the Institute for Policy Studies discusses recent U.S. Census Bureau data which finds that U.S. poverty rates have increased, leading advocates to urge lawmakers to enact and expand the anti-poverty solutions that have been proven to work during the pandemic, so the nation can decrease rather than increase the number of American families experiencing poverty.

4) Singer Songwriter Billy Bragg on Politics, Hope and the Power of Music

Part #2 of Scott's interview with rebel singer/songwriter Billy Bragg, who, in 2023 celebrated 40 years of making music and political activism with the release of a 14-CD box set titled, The Roaring Forty, 1983 – 2023. He talks about political activism, his optimism about the future and getting older. Billy Bragg will be playing a show at Norwalk, CT's District Music Hall on Tuesday, Oct. 15.

1) Donald Trump's Repeated Stochastic Terrorism Now Targets Haitian Immigrants
Wajahat Ali, creator of Left Hook substack, co-host of The Democracy-ish podcast, and author of "Go Back to Where You Came From: And Other Helpful Recommendations on How to Become American," discusses the presidential debate and election campaign, with a focus on Trump's threat to democracy, his demonization of immigrants and white supremacist rhetoric and action, as well as corporate media's skewed election coverage.

2) Common Cause Protecting 2024 Election Against Multiple GOP Threats

Jay Young, executive director of Common Cause Illinois and Cheri Quikmeyer, executive director of Common Cause Connecticut, discuss the work Common Cause is doing on election protection, i.e. addressing voter suppression, mass purges of the voting rolls, intimidation of poll workers, GOP election deniers' threats to delay certification of vote totals and sow chaos — and the group's recruitment of volunteers to be poll watchers.

3) Rebel Singer/Songwriter Billy Bragg on His 40-Year Career, Political Activism and Getting Older

Rebel Singer/songwriter Billy Bragg, who, in 2023 celebrated 40 years of making music and political activism with the release of a 14-CD box set titled, The Roaring Forty, 1983–2023, talks about highlights of his career, working on three albums of songs written by legendary American folk singer Woody Guthrie, political activism and getting older. Billy Bragg will be playing a show at Norwalk, CT's District Music Hall on Tuesday, Oct. 15.

4) El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele Provokes Growing Repression and Violence

John Guiliano, executive director of the Tamarindo Foundation in El Salvador talks about growing repression and violence across the impoverished Central American country under authoritarian President Nayib Bukele, who has targeted critics, sent troops into the legislature, and violated the country’s constitution to maintain his hold on power.