Contributing Writers

Pressure is mounting for Israel to release many more detainees as part of the U.S.-backed Gaza ceasefire deal, including Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, who has been held under harsh conditions without charge since December, when Israeli troops stormed the hospital — claiming without evidence it was a Hamas command center. Soldiers forced Dr. Abu Safiya out at gunpoint along with patients he had refused to abandon.

As President Trump addressed the Israeli Knesset on Monday, he was briefly interrupted by two lawmakers who waved signs reading “Recognize Palestine.” The two Knesset members, Ayman Odeh and Ofer Cassif with the Hadash-Ta’al alliance, were expelled from the chamber. “Yesterday, there was a disgusting display of flattery and personality cult by two megalomaniacs who are hungry for power and blood,” says Cassif.

Writer Cory Doctorow returns to Democracy Now! to discuss his new book Enshittification, which explores the term he coined in 2022 to describe how online platforms like Facebook degrade over time as companies seek to maximize profit at the expense of their users, and it has since become shorthand for describing a pervasive sense of dropping standards across various aspects of modern life.
Enshittification is “the collapse of discipline,” says Doctorow.

To mark Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we sit down with the award-winning Indigenous writer, journalist and filmmaker Julian Brave NoiseCat, member of the Canim Lake Band Tsq’escen and a descendant of the Lil’Wat Nation of Mount Currie. His debut book, We Survived the Night, is part-memoir, part-investigative journalism, telling both his family story and the story of Indigenous erasure and resistance in what is now called North America.

Renowned Israeli historian, author and professor Ilan Pappé discusses the postwar prospects of Palestinian statehood and of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is under investigation for corruption in Israel and subject to an international arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court. Despite the newly implemented Gaza ceasefire, says Pappé, Israeli political leaders have not changed their policy aim to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from their remaining territory.

“War is over,” declared Donald Trump Sunday night, as the first phase of the U.S.-backed 20-point Gaza peace plan got underway. Hamas has returned the remaining 20 living hostages back to Israel, while Israel has released around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. We get a reaction to the ceasefire from the Palestinian writer and human rights activist Ahmed Abu Artema.

Writer Cory Doctorow returns to Democracy Now! to discuss his new book Enshittification, which explores the term he coined in 2022 to describe how online platforms like Facebook degrade over time as companies seek to maximize profit at the expense of their users, and it has since become shorthand for describing a pervasive sense of dropping standards across various aspects of modern life.
Enshittification is “the collapse of discipline,” says Doctorow.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to María Corina Machado, a leading Venezuelan opposition figure. Machado was set to run for president last year, but she was disqualified by the government of President Nicolás Maduro, with fellow opposition leader Edmundo González standing in for her. Venezuela’s National Electoral Council ultimately declared Maduro the winner of the contested election, and he was sworn in for his third term in January.

A ceasefire came into effect in Gaza on Friday after the Israeli government approved the first phase of the U.S.-backed plan to end two years of war in the Palestinian territory. The deal calls for a pause in Israeli attacks, the release of the remaining Israeli captives held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons, as well as an influx of badly needed humanitarian aid for the starving population of Gaza.

Israeli forces have abducted over 500 peace activists over the past week who were sailing to Gaza in an effort to deliver humanitarian aid to the besieged territory. Organizers of the Global Sumud Flotilla say most of the participants were sent to Ktzi’ot Prison, notorious for harsh and abusive conditions. Some have reported physical abuse, humiliation and inhumane treatment by Israeli soldiers.

Writer Cory Doctorow returns to Democracy Now! to discuss his new book Enshittification, which explores the term he coined in 2022 to describe how online platforms like Facebook degrade over time as companies seek to maximize profit at the expense of their users, and it has since become shorthand for describing a pervasive sense of dropping standards across various aspects of modern life.
Enshittification is “the collapse of discipline,” says Doctorow.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to María Corina Machado, a leading Venezuelan opposition figure. Machado was set to run for president last year, but she was disqualified by the government of President Nicolás Maduro, with fellow opposition leader Edmundo González standing in for her. Venezuela’s National Electoral Council ultimately declared Maduro the winner of the contested election, and he was sworn in for his third term in January.

A ceasefire came into effect in Gaza on Friday after the Israeli government approved the first phase of the U.S.-backed plan to end two years of war in the Palestinian territory. The deal calls for a pause in Israeli attacks, the release of the remaining Israeli captives held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons, as well as an influx of badly needed humanitarian aid for the starving population of Gaza.

Israeli forces have abducted over 500 peace activists over the past week who were sailing to Gaza in an effort to deliver humanitarian aid to the besieged territory. Organizers of the Global Sumud Flotilla say most of the participants were sent to Ktzi’ot Prison, notorious for harsh and abusive conditions. Some have reported physical abuse, humiliation and inhumane treatment by Israeli soldiers.

Israeli forces have abducted over 500 peace activists over the past week who were sailing to Gaza in an effort to deliver humanitarian aid to the besieged territory. Organizers of the Global Sumud Flotilla say most of the participants were sent to Ktzi’ot Prison, notorious for harsh and abusive conditions. Some have reported physical abuse, humiliation and inhumane treatment by Israeli soldiers.

Writer Cory Doctorow returns to Democracy Now! to discuss his new book Enshittification, which explores the term he coined in 2022 to describe how online platforms like Facebook degrade over time as companies seek to maximize profit at the expense of their users, and it has since become shorthand for describing a pervasive sense of dropping standards across various aspects of modern life.
Enshittification is “the collapse of discipline,” says Doctorow.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to María Corina Machado, a leading Venezuelan opposition figure. Machado was set to run for president last year, but she was disqualified by the government of President Nicolás Maduro, with fellow opposition leader Edmundo González standing in for her. Venezuela’s National Electoral Council ultimately declared Maduro the winner of the contested election, and he was sworn in for his third term in January.

A ceasefire came into effect in Gaza on Friday after the Israeli government approved the first phase of the U.S.-backed plan to end two years of war in the Palestinian territory. The deal calls for a pause in Israeli attacks, the release of the remaining Israeli captives held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons, as well as an influx of badly needed humanitarian aid for the starving population of Gaza.

The new documentary Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink looks at how hedge funds have gutted newsrooms across the country. The hedge fund strategy of “distressed asset investing” involves buying up industries that are struggling to turn a profit, and then selling off their assets and laying off workers. “You have people who are interested solely in making money off of the newspapers and not in serving the community and doing good journalism,” says director Rick Goldsmith.

Israeli forces have abducted over 500 peace activists over the past week who were sailing to Gaza in an effort to deliver humanitarian aid to the besieged territory. Organizers of the Global Sumud Flotilla say most of the participants were sent to Ktzi’ot Prison, notorious for harsh and abusive conditions. Some have reported physical abuse, humiliation and inhumane treatment by Israeli soldiers.

President Donald Trump says Israel and Hamas have agreed to the “first phase” of a U.S.-backed ceasefire deal for Gaza. The 20-point roadmap includes a swap of captives and a phased Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, though details on many of the planks remain sketchy. Democracy Now! spoke with Palestinian and Israeli analysts on how to interpret the peace plan.
“We’re now at a fork in the road,” says Mouin Rabbani, a Palestinian Middle East analyst.