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."

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) US Israel War Hurts All Iranians, Including Regime Opponents

Naghmeh Sohrabi, Charles (Corky) Goodman Professor of Middle East History and Director for Research at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University discusses her the impact of the US, Israeli war on average Iranian people not generally discussed in our media, as explored in Professor Sohrabi's "These Are the True Things" blog focused on stories written by Iranians coping with life inside the Islamic Republic.

2) Trump Sets in Motion Multiple Strategies to Rig Midterm Election to Help GOP Maintain Control of Congress

David Daley, senior fellow in communications at Fair Vote, and author of "Antidemocratic: Inside the Far Right's 50-Year Plot to Control American Elections," discusses the ongoing efforts by Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans to implement voter suppression laws and policies, including Senate debate on the "Save America Act," and the president's most recent executive order that instructs the federal government to compile a list of eligible citizens who can vote in each state, and instructs the US Postal Service to only transmit mail-in ballots to people on that list.

3) Trump's Staggering Level of Corruption Requires Ethics Law Overhaul

Jeff Hauser, executive director of the Revolving Door Project, discusses the multiple and unprecedented instances Trump administration corruption that Revolving Door Project has been investigating during the president's 2nd term. He'll address the need for accountability, and what government reforms will be necessary to prevent such blatant executive branch abuses in the future, as what followed the Nixon era Watergate scandal.

4) Jewish Groups Organize Passover Seder Outside Hartford CT ICE Office Protesting Mass Deportation

Daniella Hobbs a member of the Hartford Jewish Organizing Collective, talks about her group organizing a Passover Seder on Tuesday, April 7th outside the ICE Regional Field Office in Hartford "to demand ICE out of Connecticut." The Seder will include music and ritual elements adapted to modern times, including a recitation of ten modern-day plagues and four cups dedicated to collective liberation. In observing this year's Passover the group is demanding freedom for our neighbors held by ICE.

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) Iran Maintains Upper Hand over US and Israel in Escalating and Costly War

Matthew Hoh, Associate Director of the Eisenhower Media Network, a former Marine captain, Iraq war combat veteran, and Afghanistan State Department officer who resigned in protest over U.S. war policy in 2009. Captain Hoh will assess the current state of the illegal US, Israeli war on Iran, charges that the US lacked a coherent strategy and made inadequate preparations for this conflict, and prospects that the Trump regime many soon deploy US troops to a ground war inside Iran.

2) Veterans Group Offers Counseling to US War Resistors and Conscientious Objectors

Gerry Condon, a Vietnam-era veteran and war resister, former president and current national board member of Veterans For Peace, president of the Golden Rule Committee, and a member of the crew that sailed the Golden Rule to Cuba. He'll assess the US/Israeli war on Iran from the perspective of veterans and active duty service members, some of whom are now seeking advice on how to follow the protocol to disobey illegal orders, and apply for conscientious objector status.

3) Assessing New Dept. of Homeland Security Sec. Markwayne Mullin and Future of ICE Mass Deportation Operations

Kica Matos, the president of the National Immigration Law Center and the Immigrant Justice Fund. A Distinguished Practitioner at Yale University’s Brady Johnson Program in Grand Strategy, Matos will discuss the recent Senate confirmation of Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, what if any changes may be made in DHS/ICE policies, her view of what Senate Democrats are doing to negotiate reforms in ICE operations -- and her critical work at NILC.

4) Tenured Texas Professor Fights his Termination for Exercising Free Speech

Tom Alter, a tenured professor of history at Texas State University, talks about his termination from the university without due process for remarks he made at a socialist conference in his capacity as a private citizen. Professor Alter will talk about his legal battle defending free speech and academic freedom important to all educators and citizens -- and his national speaking tour including events in Connecticut in April.

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) US-Israeli War on Iran Escalates, as Erratic Trump Appears to Look for Exit

Raed Jarrar, Advocacy Director with the group Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) founded by Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi before his assassination, discusses the current state of the U.S., Israeli war on Iran, escalation of the regional conflict destroying fossil fuel infrastructure and disrupting energy supplies, the prospect of the deployment of U.S. troops to Iran, and the consequences for international law.

2) Heritage Foundation, Trump Regime's 'Project 2026' Targets Women's Rights

Katherine Spillar, Executive Director of the Feminist Majority Foundation, and Executive Editor, Ms. Magazine to discuss your Ms. Magazine article, "Project 2026 Declares Open War on Women's Rights," with a focus on Trump administration policies' impact on women, and voter suppression legislation designed to disenfranchise millions of women across the country in the 2026 midterm election.

3) Another US Oil War in Iran Spikes Energy Prices, Disrupts Supply Chains; Aggravates the Climate Crisis

Lois Parshley, Climate Research Director with Public Citizen’s Climate Program.… will examine the spike in energy prices, and interruption in the delivery of energy supplies due to Trump's Iran war, creating hardship for vulnerable populations, and strategies for the world escaping this cycle of endless oil wars that has caused so much violence and destruction — and the catastrophic contribution to the climate crisis!

4) Nuestra América Convoy Arrives in Cuba, Challenging Trump's Oil Blockade

Andy Shallal owner of the Busboys and Poets bookstores and progressive political cultural hub in Washington, D.C., talks about the Trump regime's blockade of oil to Cuba, the impact on the Cuban people, and the Nuestra América Convoy to Cuba, the recently delivered a shipment of 6,300 pounds of critical humanitarian aid to the island nation by air and sea.

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) Steven Levitsky, David Rockefeller Professor of Latin American Studies at Harvard University and co-author with Daniel Ziblatt, of "How Democracies Die," and "Tyranny of the Minority," talks about his recent article, "The Price of American Authoritarianism," assessing Donald Trump's first 12 months back in the White House and the threat he now poses to the 2026 midterm election, U.S. democracy and our republic.

2) Craig Mokhiber, former director of the New York Office of the United Nation's High Commissioner for Human Rights until he resigned in protest due to the Gaza genocide, discusses the catastrophic war launched against Iran by Trump and Netanyahu, the further dismantling of international law, and the resulting death and economic chaos engulfing the region, addressed in his recent article, "Understanding the U.S. and Israel’s illegal war on Iran."

3) Justin Glawe, an independent journalist and editor of the American Doom newsletter, discusses his recent article, "Inside the FBI raid in Georgia — and what it really means," and his reports on the Trump regime plan to nationalize the 2026 midterm election, in a clear effort to employ voter suppression to prevent a Democratic Party takeover of the House and U.S. Senate.

4) Anna Gomez, the lone Democrat serving on the Federal Communications Commission, talks about her concerns regarding the concentration of media ownership, FCC censorship and interference in the exercise of First Amendment right to free speech, the future of public media and the expansion of broadband access.

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. Trump Has No Clear Objectives in his Lawless and Chaotic War with Iran

Mel Goodman, senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, a professor of government at Johns Hopkins University and a former CIA analyst, whose latest book is titled American Carnage: The Wars of Donald Trump, shares his views on the motivation and conduct of the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran, as well as the short and long term consequences for international law, the world economy and the American empire.

2. "It’s Time to Make Some Thunder:" Bishop William Barber Responds to Trump-GOP Midterm Election Gerrymandering Scheme!

Excerpt of speech by Bishop William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, president and senior lecturer at Repairers of the Breach, and founding director of the Center for Public Theology & Public Policy at Yale Divinity School. In this November 2, 2025 speech he talks about the Moral Mondays coalition response to President Trump’s effort to gerrymander the First Congressional district in North Carolina, and efforts to rig the 2026 midterm election nationwide.

3. Trump Follows Israel Into Catastrophic War on Iran, Netanyahu Calls the Shots

Branko Marcetic, a Jacobin staff writer and the author of "Yesterday’s Man: The Case Against Joe Biden" talks about his recent commentaries, "Trump Is in Way Over His Head in Iran," and "The US Is Fighting Israel’s War on Iran," and "US Military Aid to Israel Is a National Security Risk."

4. CT Working Families Party and Progressive Coalition Legislative Agenda Includes Immigrant Rights Bills and Increasing taxes on the Wealthy Sarah Ganong, State Director of the Connecticut Working Families Party, discusses WFP's CT legislative agenda, which includes standing up for immigrant rights, advocating for an equitable state budget with higher taxes on the wealthy, and demanding fair schedules for workers in hospitality, retail, and food service jobs. She'll also talk about statewide groups organizing for the March 28th anti-Trump, pro-democracy No Kings Day protests in CT and nationally.