Contributing Writers

As the fall term gets underway for students across the United States, we speak with journalist and academic Natasha Lennard about how college administrators are attempting to quash Gaza solidarity actions following mass protests at campuses across the country in the spring. One example is New York University, which recently updated its student policy to make criticisms of Zionism potentially punishable under its anti-discrimination rules.

Democracy Now! is joined by the nephew of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has endorsed Trump’s Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. Fred Trump III’s new memoir, All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way, shares fresh insights into the Trump family and acts as a platform to advocate for individuals with developmental disabilities. Fred Trump’s own son William has a rare genetic disorder that causes severe developmental and intellectual disabilities.

The United Nations is warning the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains “beyond catastrophic” as more than 1 million Palestinians in Gaza did not receive any food rations in August amid Israel’s relentless assault. Israel’s 11-month campaign has killed more than 15,000 children and enabled the besieged territory’s first polio outbreak in a quarter-century.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has announced more U.S. aid for Ukraine just days after the country was hit by one of the deadliest airstrikes since Russia’s invasion in early 2022. On Tuesday, a pair of Russian missiles struck a military academy and hospital in the central Ukrainian city of Poltava, killing at least 51 people and injuring more than 270. “The sense … is that the U.S.

As the fall term gets underway for students across the United States, we speak with journalist and academic Natasha Lennard about how college administrators are attempting to quash Gaza solidarity actions following mass protests at campuses across the country in the spring. One example is New York University, which recently updated its student policy to make criticisms of Zionism potentially punishable under its anti-discrimination rules.

Columbia University law professor Katherine Franke last appeared on Democracy Now! in January to discuss an attack on Columbia’s campus targeting pro-Palestinian student activists with a foul-smelling liquid that led to multiple hospitalizations. Following her interview, Franke now faces termination after two Columbia professors filed a complaint against her claiming she had created a hostile environment for Israeli students; she also became a target for Republican lawmakers.

We speak with journalist, author and academic Steven Thrasher, the chair of social justice reporting at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. He was singled out by name during a congressional hearing about pro-Palestine protests on college campuses earlier this year, with one Republican lawmaker calling him a “goon” for protecting students in an encampment from violent arrest.

A 14-year-old student opened fire Wednesday at a high school in Winder, Georgia, just outside Atlanta, killing two fellow students — both also 14 years old — and two teachers, while injuring at least nine others. The teen shooter, who used an AR-platform-style weapon in his deadly rampage, surrendered to school resource officers and faces multiple murder charges as an adult. The violence in Georgia marks the deadliest U.S.

After nearly two decades of obstruction by the U.S. military, The New Yorker has obtained and published 10 photos of the aftermath of the 2005 Haditha massacre, when U.S. marines killed 24 Iraqi civilians in revenge for an IED bombing that killed a service member. The graphic images show dead Iraqi men, women and children, many of them shot in the head at close range. The victims ranged in age from 3 to 76.

Historian and journalist Betsy Phillips discusses her new book, Dynamite Nashville: Unmasking the FBI, the KKK, and the Bombers Beyond Their Control, which chronicles three bombings in 1957, 1958 and 1960 aimed at supporters of the civil rights movement in Nashville. The book has sparked a reopening of the formerly cold cases, the likely perpetrators of which Phillips names in her book.

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects growing domestic and international calls to accept a Gaza ceasefire deal, we go to Jerusalem to speak to Gershon Baskin of the human rights advocacy group International Communities Organization. Baskin has spent years as a back-channel Israeli negotiator with Hamas in ceasefire deals, including throughout Israel’s current war on Gaza.

The World Health Organization has completed the first phase of a critical polio vaccination campaign in central Gaza. After health officials confirmed Gaza’s first polio case in 25 years, the Israeli military agreed to calls for limited humanitarian pauses on its attacks in order for aid organizations to carry out vaccinations.

We end our Labor Day special with Shawn Fein, the president of the United Auto Workers. In August, he addressed the Democratic National Convention. Midway through his speech, Fain took off his jacket to show that he was wearing a T-shirt that read “Trump is a scab.

After nearly two decades of obstruction by the U.S. military, The New Yorker has obtained and published 10 photos of the aftermath of the 2005 Haditha massacre, when U.S. marines killed 24 Iraqi civilians in revenge for an IED bombing that killed a service member. The graphic images show dead Iraqi men, women and children, many of them shot in the head at close range. The victims ranged in age from 3 to 76.

About 10,000 hotel workers with the union UNITE HERE went on strike across the United States over the Labor Day long weekend to fight for raises, fair workloads and respect in the workplace. The multiday strike affects Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott hotels in several major cities, including Boston, San Francisco and Seattle.

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis protested this weekend to demand a ceasefire following the deaths of six more hostages in Gaza, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to reject the terms of a deal that would remove Israeli troops from southern Gaza. This comes after nearly 11 months of Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed over 40,000 Palestinians in the territory, according to local health authorities.

Investigative journalist David Sirota, founder and editor-in-chief of The Lever, is the host of a new podcast series exploring how extremist ideologues and wealthy oligarchs have developed a system of legalized corruption in the U.S. Master Plan traces the decadeslong conservative-led plan to increase the role of money in politics. “This was a plan, a specific plan, to deregulate the campaign finance laws,” says Sirota.

In her first major interview since replacing Joe Biden on the ballot, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris was questioned about her shifting statements on fracking, which has been linked to a surge in methane gas emissions over the past decade. Harris, who has previously made comments opposing fracking, vowed not to ban it if elected.

We end our Labor Day special with Shawn Fein, the president of the United Auto Workers. In August, he addressed the Democratic National Convention. Midway through his speech, Fain took off his jacket to show that he was wearing a T-shirt that read “Trump is a scab.

As part of our Labor Day special, we remember the longtime labor organizer and scholar Jane McAlevey, who died in July at the age of 59. She dedicated her life to empowering rank-and-file workers, training tens of thousands around the world to effectively strengthen their unions. She gave one of her last interviews to Democracy Now! in April after she announced she was entering hospice. “We like to win,” says McAlevey, “and we like to teach workers how to win.

In 1980, historian Howard Zinn published his classic work, A People’s History of the United States. The book would go on to sell over a million copies and change the way many look at history in America. We begin today’s special with highlights from a production of Howard Zinn’s Voices of a People’s History of the United States, where Zinn introduced dramatic readings from history.

Investigative journalist David Sirota, founder and editor-in-chief of The Lever, is the host of a new podcast series exploring how extremist ideologues and wealthy oligarchs have developed a system of legalized corruption in the U.S. Master Plan traces the decadeslong conservative-led plan to increase the role of money in politics. “This was a plan, a specific plan, to deregulate the campaign finance laws,” says Sirota.

In her first major interview since replacing Joe Biden on the ballot, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris was questioned about her shifting statements on fracking, which has been linked to a surge in methane gas emissions over the past decade. Harris, who has previously made comments opposing fracking, vowed not to ban it if elected.

Vice President Kamala Harris gave her first major interview Thursday since becoming the Democratic nominee, laying out her plans for “an opportunity economy” if she becomes president. Sociologist Nikhil Goyal, author of Live to See the Day: Coming of Age in American Poverty, says Harris’s support for policies like an expanded child tax credit shows a clear contrast between herself and Republican nominee Donald Trump.

We turn to Kamala Harris’s position on Israel’s war on Gaza, which many are calling a genocide. After she was asked about calls to condition U.S. arms shipments to Israel by CNN reporter Dana Bash, Harris refused to consider halting the flow of weapons and instead affirmed her support of Israel.

In her first major interview since ascending to the top of the Democratic ticket, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris was questioned by CNN’s Dana Bash about her policy positions and campaign platform. We begin with a look at Harris’s increasingly rightward stance on immigration and border policy with immigration activist Erika Andiola. As she touted her support for hard-line border security and asylum policies, Harris positioned herself as tougher on immigration than Trump.

Investigative journalist David Sirota, founder and editor-in-chief of The Lever, is the host of a new podcast series exploring how extremist ideologues and wealthy oligarchs have developed a system of legalized corruption in the U.S. Master Plan traces the decadeslong conservative-led plan to increase the role of money in politics. “This was a plan, a specific plan, to deregulate the campaign finance laws,” says Sirota.

In her first major interview since replacing Joe Biden on the ballot, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris was questioned about her shifting statements on fracking, which has been linked to a surge in methane gas emissions over the past decade. Harris, who has previously made comments opposing fracking, vowed not to ban it if elected.

Vice President Kamala Harris gave her first major interview Thursday since becoming the Democratic nominee, laying out her plans for “an opportunity economy” if she becomes president. Sociologist Nikhil Goyal, author of Live to See the Day: Coming of Age in American Poverty, says Harris’s support for policies like an expanded child tax credit shows a clear contrast between herself and Republican nominee Donald Trump.