Contributing Writers

Twenty years ago today, on August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina roared ashore in southeastern Louisiana, tearing through the Gulf Coast with catastrophic force and gushing winds, driving a massive storm surge toward New Orleans. Thousands were abandoned by state and federal officials, left to fight for survival in the rising floodwaters — many stranded on the rooftops of their sinking homes without water, food or medical care.

A new documentary, Steal This Story, Please!, which tells the personal story of Amy Goodman and her decadeslong career as an independent journalist, is premiering this Sunday at the Telluride Film Festival in Telluride, Colorado. The film highlights some of the monumental stories Democracy Now! has covered throughout the years and the importance of independent journalism.

As Israel pushes deeper into Gaza City, President Donald Trump met Wednesday to discuss plans for a postwar Gaza with his son-in-law and former Middle East envoy, Jared Kushner, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. This comes as Israeli business leaders are reportedly involved in developing a postwar Gaza plan that includes the creation of a “Trump Riviera” and a manufacturing zone named after Elon Musk, using financial models developed by the U.S. firm Boston Consulting Group.

Independent journalist Jordan Flaherty was in New Orleans in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina first hit, and both supported and reported on relief efforts in the aftermath of the storm.

Independent journalist Jordan Flaherty was in New Orleans in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina first hit, and both supported and reported on relief efforts in the aftermath of the storm.

Twenty years ago today, on August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina roared ashore in southeastern Louisiana, tearing through the Gulf Coast with catastrophic force and gushing winds, driving a massive storm surge toward New Orleans. Thousands were abandoned by state and federal officials, left to fight for survival in the rising floodwaters — many stranded on the rooftops of their sinking homes without water, food or medical care.

A new documentary, Steal This Story, Please!, which tells the personal story of Amy Goodman and her decadeslong career as an independent journalist, is premiering this Sunday at the Telluride Film Festival in Telluride, Colorado. The film highlights some of the monumental stories Democracy Now! has covered throughout the years and the importance of independent journalism.

As Israel pushes deeper into Gaza City, President Donald Trump met Wednesday to discuss plans for a postwar Gaza with his son-in-law and former Middle East envoy, Jared Kushner, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. This comes as Israeli business leaders are reportedly involved in developing a postwar Gaza plan that includes the creation of a “Trump Riviera” and a manufacturing zone named after Elon Musk, using financial models developed by the U.S. firm Boston Consulting Group.

Independent journalist Jordan Flaherty was in New Orleans in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina first hit, and both supported and reported on relief efforts in the aftermath of the storm.

As part of our coverage of the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we speak with longtime New Orleans activist Malik Rahim, co-founder of the Common Ground Collective. In the weeks after the storm, we interviewed Rahim in his neighborhood of Algiers. He showed us how a corpse still remained on the street, and we asked soldiers and police why it hadn’t been picked up. Twenty years later, we get an update from Rahim, who continues to grapple with Katrina’s long-term devastation.

This week marks the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall in New Orleans and the U.S. Gulf Coast. We revisit Democracy Now!’s initial coverage of the disaster, which killed over 1,800 people, forced over a million to evacuate and stranded tens of thousands of others with limited resources and aid.

“Firearms are the number one killer of our kids in America. That’s a uniquely American problem.” Two children, aged 8 and 10, were killed Wednesday when a former student fired dozens of shots through the stained-glass church windows at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis. Seventeen other people were injured.

The Trump administration placed some staffers at the Federal Emergency Management Agency on leave Tuesday amid fallout over a letter to Congress signed by more than 180 current and former employees, who warn that budget cuts and mismanagement are putting the agency’s work at risk.

Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook is suing President Donald Trump to challenge his attempt to fire her from the board of the central bank. A president cannot get rid of Fed officials over policy disagreements, but he can dismiss someone “for cause.” In recent days, Trump’s allies have accused Cook of misrepresentation on her mortgage forms, which Trump cited Monday when demanding her removal.

The divide in the Democratic Party over Gaza came into full view at a meeting Tuesday of the Democratic National Committee, where party members debated rival resolutions on the U.S.-Israel relationship.
We speak with Allison Minnerly, a 26-year-old DNC member from Florida, who introduced a resolution for the party to support an arms embargo on Israel, cut off military aid to the country and recognize Palestinian statehood.

We speak with the head of pediatrics at Gaza’s Nasser Hospital, where Israel killed more than 20 people, including five journalists, Monday in a “double-tap” strike, drawing global condemnation. Dr. Ahmed Al-Farra says Israel’s justification of targeting a camera on the roof is “unbelievable,” and calls the attack “a calculated trap aimed at targeting rescue teams.

We speak with George Retes, a 25-year-old U.S. citizen and Army veteran who is taking on the federal government after he was detained by ICE for three days and three nights without explanation. Retes was arrested during a raid in July at a cannabis farm in Camarillo, California, where he worked as a security guard. Retes was driving to work when he encountered a checkpoint, where agents broke his car window, pepper-sprayed him and dragged him out of his vehicle for arrest.

Among the executive orders President Trump signed Monday are two that aim to eliminate so-called cashless bail. The move threatens to cut federal funding to Washington, D.C., as well as other cities and jurisdictions that continue to implement the economic and racial justice policy.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday that would establish “specialized” National Guard units to be quickly deployed in Washington, D.C., and all 50 states, and again threatened to send troops to Democrat-run cities like Chicago. Officials and grassroots organizers have vowed to fight back. “We are a strong labor city,” says Byron Sigcho-Lopez, a Democratic Socialist alderperson of the 25th Ward in Chicago.

Israel’s war on Gaza is the deadliest conflict for journalists in recorded history. In an attack on Nasser Hospital in Gaza Monday, Israel killed five more journalists in addition to over a dozen others. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed the hospital attack was a “tragic mishap,” but just hours later, Israeli forces killed a sixth journalist. “There is a pattern of targeting and killing journalists that lets us think that there is an intention,” says Francesca Albanese, U.N.

We speak with George Retes, a 25-year-old U.S. citizen and Army veteran who is taking on the federal government after he was detained by ICE for three days and three nights without explanation. Retes was arrested during a raid in July at a cannabis farm in Camarillo, California, where he worked as a security guard. Retes was driving to work when he encountered a checkpoint, where agents broke his car window, pepper-sprayed him and dragged him out of his vehicle for arrest.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who became a symbol of Trump’s anti-immigrant crackdown when the administration illegally sent him to El Salvador earlier this year, is at risk of being deported again — this time to Uganda, a country he has no ties to.
Abrego Garcia was one of hundreds of men sent to El Salvador in March to be jailed in that country’s brutal CECOT mega-prison, despite a court order specifically meant to prevent his deportation.

We speak with UNICEF spokesperson Tess Ingram in Gaza City, where the world’s top authority on hunger has formally declared a famine. The United Nations-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, says the “catastrophic” situation in Gaza’s largest urban center puts about half a million Palestinians at risk of starving to death. Many aid agencies have lifesaving supplies sitting in warehouses outside Gaza that they are unable to distribute due to Israeli restrictions.