COUNTERPOINT RADIO, hosted by Scott Harris, is heard every Monday night on WPKN 89.5 FM, Bridgeport, CT between 8:00 – 9:30 pm ET. Webstreaming and audio archive at http://wpkn.org

Some segments featured on Counterpoint are edited for re-broadcast on the syndicated Between The Lines radio news magazine. Visit their web site at http://www.btlonline.org for free subscriptions to mp3 - podcast audio files, program summaries and interview transcripts. An archive of current and past Counterpoint interviews are accessible for free at our Counterpoint Radio web site: http://counterpointradio.org The full 1.5 hour unedited program can be accessed for a 2 week period after the show, at the WPKN Radio archives: http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/search/counterpoint

1) Taxpayers Hit for $4,000 Spent on War, Amid Tax Cuts for the Rich, Historic Defunding of Social Safety Net Programs

Lindsay Koshgarian, Program director with the National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, talks about her group's recent report, "Tax Day 2026: Taxpayers Are Paying More than $4,000 for War." The report notes that while more than half of Americans are struggling to afford basic necessities, Donald Trump and the GOP passed the "Big Ugly Bill" that cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans, cut health insurance and food assistance for millions of Americans, and added billions in new spending for war and mass deportations. More recently amid the U.S. war on Iran, the president has asked Congress for a record $1.5 trillion for the Pentagon in 2027, representing a 40%-44% increase over previous spending.

2) Trump's Wars on Iran, Venezuela and Cuba: a New Stage of US Imperialism

Steve Ellner, a retired professor of Venezuela's Universidad de Oriente where he lived for over 40 years, author of more than a dozen books and currently Associate Managing Editor of Latin American Perspectives. talks about his recent commentary, "U.S. Imperialism Enters a New Stage," which examines Donald Trump’s rhetoric and actions against Iran, Venezuela and Cuba which have few parallels in modern history.

3) Young Democrats Challenge the Party's Old 'Out-of-Touch' Leaders

Cameron Landin, Executive Vice President of College Democrats of America, and a student at the University of Chicago, discusses his views on some of the Democratic Party's positions on issues including the Trump, Netanyahu war on Iran, U.S. aid to Israel and proposed progressive legislation such as Medicare for All. He'll also talk about some of the Democrat's internal issues including the role of AIPAC in campaigns, and RootsAction and other progressive activists' call for the release of the Democrat's 2024 Election Autopsy Report.

4) Trump's FEMA Administrator a GOP Voter Suppression Operative

Filmmaker and journalist Greg Palast, author of several New York Times bestsellers including "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy," talks about his recent article, "Mr. Colbert, I’m not laughing anymore." Palast investigates far right activist Gregg Phillips, recently appointed as Associate Administrator of FEMA's Office of Response and Recovery, who claims he was tele-transported to a Waffle House. Phillips is the discredited conspiracy theorist behind the group True the Vote, whose film, 2,000 Mules claims that Jewish billionaires paid Black men to stuff ballot boxes in Atlanta, Philadelphia and Detroit causing Trump to lose the 2020 presidential election. True the Vote, challenged over 300,000 voters in the 2024 election, and is preparing to do the same in the 2026 midterm election this November.

COUNTERPOINT RADIO, hosted by Scott Harris, is heard every Monday night on WPKN 89.5 FM, Bridgeport, CT between 8:00 – 9:30 pm ET. Webstreaming and audio archive at http://wpkn.org

Some segments featured on Counterpoint are edited for re-broadcast on the syndicated Between The Lines radio news magazine. Visit their web site at http://www.btlonline.org for free subscriptions to mp3 - podcast audio files, program summaries and interview transcripts. An archive of current and past Counterpoint interviews are accessible for free at our Counterpoint Radio web site: http://counterpointradio.org The full 1.5 hour unedited program can be accessed for a 2 week period after the show, at the WPKN Radio archives: http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/search/counterpoint

1) As Americans Increasingly Oppose Trump's Iran War, Congress Inches Closer to Invoking War Powers Act

Kevin Martin, President of Peace Action and the Peace Action Education Fund, the nation’s largest grassroots peace network with chapters and affiliates in states across the U.S., talks about what his and other anti-war groups are doing to oppose Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu's illegal war in Iran and Lebanon, action being taken to pressure Congress to invoke the War Powers Act, and how listeners can get involved.

2) Amid Iran War Large Number of US Service Members Now Seeking Advice on Applying for Conscientious Objector Status

Rebecca Roberts, a member and current Organizing Manager of the group About Face: Veterans Against the War, discusses the work she and others do at About Face providing guidance and advice to active-duty U.S. military servicemen and women navigating their rights of conscience, and seeking conscientious objector status during the current illegal U.S. war on Iran.

3) #Next250 Reshaping US 250th Anniversary Celebration Centered on a 'Declaration of Interdependence' to Guide us into the Next 250 Years
Saru Jayaraman is co-founder and President of One Fair Wage; Director of the Food Labor Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley, and author – her latest book is titled, “One Fair Wage: Ending Subminimum Pay in America.” She’ll talk about the Next 250 national mobilization coinciding with the U.S. 250th anniversary, where a massive gathering is planned in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, June 27th, grounded in a Declaration of Interdependence to elevate historically excluded voices and build a forward looking civic agenda rooted in shared responsibility and democratic participation.

4) New Book, “Are White Men Smarter Than Everybody Else?” Calls for Proactive Measures to Achieve a Truly Multiracial Democracy.

Steve Phillips is host of the Democracy in Color podcast and best-selling author of “Brown Is the New White” and “How We Win the Civil War.” He’ll talk about his new book, “Are White Men Smarter Than Everybody Else?” observing that just six years after the racial reckoning that followed the murder of George Floyd, America is witnessing a full-scale assault on equality unparalleled since the overthrow of Reconstruction, while offering a powerful offensive strategy to combat resurgent white supremacy.

COUNTERPOINT RADIO, hosted by Scott Harris, is heard every Monday night on WPKN 89.5 FM, Bridgeport, CT between 8:00 – 9:30 pm ET. Webstreaming and audio archive at http://wpkn.org

Some segments featured on Counterpoint are edited for re-broadcast on the syndicated Between The Lines radio news magazine. Visit their web site at http://www.btlonline.org for free subscriptions to mp3 - podcast audio files, program summaries and interview transcripts. An archive of current and past Counterpoint interviews are accessible for free at our Counterpoint Radio web site: http://counterpointradio.org The full 1.5 hour unedited program can be accessed for a 2 week period after the show, at the WPKN Radio archives: http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/search/counterpoint

1) The Collapse of Iran War Talks Followed by Trump Blockading Strait of Hormuz
Brandon Carr, Studies Associate at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, and Kevan Harris, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of California, LA, discuss their views on the 5-week US, Israeli bombing campaign against Iran that many call a strategic disaster, the future of negotiations to end the war, Israel's continued destabilizing attack on Lebanon, and the dangerous erosion of international law.

2) US Corporate Media's Failure to Call Out GOP Voter Suppression Campaign

Julie Hollar, Senior Analyst with the group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), discusses her recent commentary, "Who Will SAVE America From Misleading Coverage of Voter Suppression?" and the importance of calling out the disinformation in Trump and GOP talking points re: their false claim that millions of non-citizens are voting and discrediting U.S. election outcomes.

3) Assessing the US Movement Resisting Trump's Fascist Agenda

Michael Albert, co-founder of South End Press, Z Magazine, the Z Media Institute, and host of the podcast Revolution Z. Author of 21 books on economics, politics and socialism, Michael will assess Trump's murderous war on Iran, fascist repression at home, and a growing pro-democracy resistance movement -- while envisioning a transformative "long march" progressive agenda that discards major elements of the decaying status quo system.

4) Possible GOP Scheme to Retain Control of House if They Lose Midterm Election

Steve Posner, an adjunct assistant professor of writing at the University of Southern California, talks about his recent San Francisco Chronicle, commentary, "How Trump Can Keep the House Without Winning the Midterms," describing a possible anti-democratic scheme where "Trump’s election deniers in GOP-led states slow walk recounts and stall certification of Democratic wins, creating a situation where Republicans retain their House of Representatives majority."