Reality Asserts Itself - With Paul Jay
33 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 5 years ago - ★★★★★ - 9 ratingsOn Reality Asserts Itself I talk to leading thinkers and activists, and find out what were the formative experiences that shaped their political worldview. It's also a place to explore the major issues of our times with a sense of history, and a consciousness of class and race. Most importantly, it's a place for people who want change to discuss and debate what should be done next.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Rana Foroohar - The Rise of Finance and the Fall of American Business
May 02, 2019 00:26 - 1 hour - 101 MBOn Reality Asserts Itself, Ms. Foroohar says financialization delivers stagnant wages, inequality and economic crisis; the Financial Times columnist and author of “Makers and Takers” says the financial sector represents only 7 percent of the U.S. economy, but takes around 25 percent of all corporate profit while creating only 4 percent of all jobs - with host Paul Jay
Gabriel Byrne - From Priesthood to Actor to Activist
May 02, 2019 00:26 - 1 hour - 121 MBOn Reality Asserts Itself, actor and climate activist Gabriel Byrne speaks of growing up in a working class family that was religious, Irish nationalist and where joining a seminary made parents proud. He came to understand the injustice of the life working men like his father faced; with host Paul Jay
Nina Turner - “The Democratic Party Can’t Just Whisper Sweet Nothings Anymore”
May 02, 2019 00:26 - 59 minutes - 81.7 MBOn Reality Asserts Itself, Nina Turner, former Ohio State Senator and leading Bernie Sanders surrogate during the primary, tells host Paul Jay that she grew up poor, believing in the Democratic Party and the Clintons but she came to understand the failure of the Party to serve the needs of the African-American community and poor white workers
Roger Waters - The Occupation of the American Mind
May 02, 2019 00:26 - 59 minutes - 81.5 MBLegendary musician Roger Waters and Sut Jhally discuss their new film about the Israeli public relations campaign to influence U.S. public opinion
Thomas Drake - From 9/11 to Mass Surveillance, The Man Who Knew Too Much - Pt. 2
May 02, 2019 00:26 - 58 minutes - 80.3 MBOn Reality Asserts Itself, Mr. Drake, a former Senior Executive at the National Security Agency, says he was targeted by the NSA because he exposed that the agency had intel that could have prevented the 9/11 attacks and because he blew the whistle on a massive secret surveillance program aimed at Americans
Thomas Drake - From 9/11 to Mass Surveillance, The Man Who Knew Too Much - Pt. 1
May 02, 2019 00:25 - 58 minutes - 80.3 MBOn Reality Asserts Itself, Mr. Drake, a former Senior Executive at the National Security Agency, says he was targeted by the NSA because he exposed that the agency had intel that could have prevented the 9/11 attacks and because he blew the whistle on a massive secret surveillance program aimed at Americans
Sen. Bob Graham - Investigating the Saudi Government’s 9/11 Connection and the Path to Disillusionment
May 02, 2019 00:25 - 58 minutes - 81 MBOn RAI with Paul Jay, Senator Bob Graham explains why he persists in making the case that facts directly connect the Saudi government with 9/11 conspirators – a REPLAY of a 2013 interview by Paul Jay
John Kiriakou - I Believed America Could Do No Wrong - Pt. 4
May 02, 2019 00:25 - 40 minutes - 55.3 MBMr. Kiriakou was the first U.S. government official to confirm that waterboarding was official policy. He spent 23 months in prison after being convicted of passing classified information to a reporter. He speaks to Paul Jay while still under house arrest
John Kiriakou - I Believed America Could Do No Wrong - Pt. 3
May 02, 2019 00:25 - 56 minutes - 78.1 MBMr. Kiriakou was the first U.S. government official to confirm that waterboarding was official policy. He spent 23 months in prison after being convicted of passing classified information to a reporter. He speaks to Paul Jay while still under house arrest
John Kiriakou - I Believed America Could Do No Wrong - Pt. 2
May 02, 2019 00:25 - 49 minutes - 67.4 MBMr. Kiriakou was the first U.S. government official to confirm that waterboarding was official policy. He spent 23 months in prison after being convicted of passing classified information to a reporter. He speaks to Paul Jay while still under house arrest
John Kiriakou - I Believed America Could Do No Wrong - Pt. 1
May 02, 2019 00:25 - 48 minutes - 66 MBMr. Kiriakou was the first U.S. government official to confirm that waterboarding was official policy. He spent 23 months in prison after being convicted of passing classified information to a reporter. He speaks to Paul Jay while still under house arrest
Thomas Frank - Corporate Democrats Have a Vested Interest in Not Listening to Workers
May 02, 2019 00:25 - 54 minutes - 75.2 MBOn Reality Asserts Itself, Thomas Frank, author of "What's the Matter with Kansas" and "Listen, Liberal", tells host Paul Jay that the Democratic Party serves the professional class and the top 10% and no longer cares about the poor or working class
David Swanson - Lies and War
May 02, 2019 00:25 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBOn RAI with Paul Jay, David Swanson, author of "War is a Lie", talks about becoming a full time activist for peace
Catarina Principe - Revolutionary Expectations and the Fight Against Austerity - Pt. 2
May 02, 2019 00:24 - 48 minutes - 66.7 MBOn Reality Asserts Itself, Ms. Principe talks about growing up in Portugal expecting the promise of the social state to be fulfilled, and becoming an activist in the fight against forces dismantling the achievements of the Portuguese revolution
Catarina Principe - Revolutionary Expectations and the Fight Against Austerity - Pt. 1
May 02, 2019 00:24 - 52 minutes - 72.6 MBOn Reality Asserts Itself, Ms. Principe talks about growing up in Portugal expecting the promise of the social state to be fulfilled, and becoming an activist in the fight against forces dismantling the achievements of the Portuguese revolution
Eddie Conway - 44 Years in Prison, Still a Revolutionary - Pt. 3
May 02, 2019 00:24 - 59 minutes - 81.1 MBMr. Conway, a former member of the Baltimore Black Panther chapter, says as a child he didn't understand politics, but he did understand oppression
Eddie Conway - 44 Years in Prison, Still a Revolutionary - Pt. 2
May 02, 2019 00:24 - 59 minutes - 81.7 MBMr. Conway, a former member of the Baltimore Black Panther chapter, says as a child he didn't understand politics, but he did understand oppression
Eddie Conway - 44 Years in Prison, Still a Revolutionary - Pt. 1
May 02, 2019 00:24 - 59 minutes - 81.7 MBMr. Conway, a former member of the Baltimore Black Panther chapter, says as a child he didn't understand politics, but he did understand oppression
Glen Ford - Growing Up Black in American Apartheid
May 02, 2019 00:24 - 57 minutes - 78.4 MBOn Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay: Glen Ford, Executive Editor of Black Agenda Report, tells his story as a red-diaper baby, growing up facing racism in the North living with his white activist mother, and living in the Deep South with his black deejay father
David Cay Johnston - Taking from the Many to Give to the Few
May 02, 2019 00:23 - 59 minutes - 81.4 MBMr. Johnston, a renowned investigative journalist, says he used to believe if you worked hard you would prosper, but now, there is a completely different environment
Gareth Porter - I Grew Up Believing in Time Magazine’s Version of America
May 02, 2019 00:23 - 53 minutes - 73.6 MBOn Reality Asserts Itself, Mr. Porter tells Paul Jay that by the end of the Vietnam War, he understood the US government and military could do terrible things
Marisela Gomez - Hopkins Trained Doctor Fights Hopkins Expansion Plans in Baltimore
May 02, 2019 00:23 - 58 minutes - 79.8 MBOn Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay, Marisela Gomez, a doctor and community activist, says one can't arrive in the Hopkins community and not see the huge disparity between this institution, and surrounding it a community that's been completely disinvested and abandoned
Phil Donahue - The Radicalization of Phil Donahue
May 02, 2019 00:23 - 59 minutes - 81.2 MBMr. Donahue says he believed he was blessed, living in the greatest country on earth - but through hosting his show, speaking to people like Chomsky and the Black Panthers, he came to question what he had thought was true
Michael Ratner - The Vietnam War was a Seminal Event for Me - Pt. 2
May 02, 2019 00:23 - 59 minutes - 81.6 MBMr. Ratner, President Emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights, tells Paul Jay that the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War transformed him from a "good liberal kid" into an activist questioning the role of America in the world
Michael Ratner - The Vietnam War was a Seminal Event for Me - Pt. 1
May 02, 2019 00:23 - 59 minutes - 81.4 MBMr. Ratner, President Emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights, tells Paul Jay that the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War transformed him from a "good liberal kid" into an activist questioning the role of America in the world
Christian Appy - “America Does Bad Things for Good Reasons” - Pt. 2
May 02, 2019 00:22 - 57 minutes - 78.2 MBOn Reality Asserts Itself, Mr. Appy, author of "American Reckoning: The Vietnam War and Our National Identity", discusses how before direct American military involvement in Vietnam, the US financed almost 80 percent of the cost, so, in effect, France was serving almost as an American mercenary
Christian Appy - “America Does Bad Things for Good Reasons” - Pt. 1
May 02, 2019 00:22 - 40 minutes - 56.1 MBOn Reality Asserts Itself, Mr. Appy, author of "American Reckoning: The Vietnam War and Our National Identity", discusses how before direct American military involvement in Vietnam, the US financed almost 80 percent of the cost, so, in effect, France was serving almost as an American mercenary
Trita Parsi - US Refuses to Accept Iran as a Regional Power
May 02, 2019 00:22 - 59 minutes - 82 MBFrom Afghanistan to Iraq, the Trump administration, leading Democrats and much of the foreign policy and military establishment believe the U.S. should be more aggressive towards Iran. That's a very dangerous situation that can lead to war, noted Iran expert Trita Parsi tells Paul Jay on Reality Asserts Itself
James Early - “Liberty and Justice for Some People”
May 02, 2019 00:22 - 59 minutes - 81.5 MBJames Early talks about American identity and growing up African-American facing the deep racism of the South
Sabah Alnasseri - A Personal Take on The Modern History of Iraq – Pt. 2
May 02, 2019 00:22 - 57 minutes - 78.4 MBOn Reality Asserts Itself, Prof. Alnasseri tells the story of his militant working class family, class struggle in Iraq and the sectarian conflict created by the U.S. invasion
Sabah Alnasseri - A Personal Take on The Modern History of Iraq – Pt. 1
May 02, 2019 00:21 - 57 minutes - 79.6 MBOn Reality Asserts Itself, Prof. Alnasseri tells the story of his militant working class family, class struggle in Iraq and the sectarian conflict created by the U.S. invasion
Alan Robock - Global Warming Theory Based on Evidence, Not Belief
May 02, 2019 00:21 - 59 minutes - 81.6 MBOn Reality Asserts Itself, climatologist and IPCC lead author Alan Robock tells Paul Jay that he's a skeptic who tries to be critical and make conclusions based on the evidence
Danny Schechter - Activism In My DNA
May 02, 2019 00:21 - 45 minutes - 62.1 MBIn this RAI he tells Paul Jay about the fight against apartheid and meeting and chronicling Mandela in South Africa.