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) Doug Pagitt, Executive Director of the national organization Vote Common Good discusses your group's mission of "mobilizing people of faith to make the common good their voting criteria," with a focus on how progressive religious activists are now taking action to oppose the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda and frequently violent ICE raids targeting communities of color.

2) Steve Ellner is an associate managing editor of Latin American Perspectives and a retired professor at the Universidad de Oriente in Venezuela, where he lived for over forty years. Co-editor of, "Latin American Social Movements and Progressive Governments: Creative Tensions Between Resistance and Convergence," Ellner discusses the situation in Venezuela as the Trump regime appears to be preparing an attack or invasion of the country with the goal of removing President Nicolás Maduro from power.

3) John Tarleton, editor-in-chief of The Indypendent, New York City's free progressive monthly newspaper, reflects on Zohran Mamdani's election victory becoming New York City's first Muslim mayor, first immigrant mayor in 50 years, and youngest mayor in a century, as well as the city's first

democratic socialist mayor, the challenges ahead for governing America's largest city, and how his winning campaign could impact national politics.

4) Norman Solomon, director of RootsAction and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, is author of, "War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine." He talks about his recent commentary, "A year after Trump won, why won’t Democrats change their playbook?" a discussion that goes well beyond the mainstream's superficial analysis of the 2025 off-year election results.

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) Chad Marlow, Senior Policy Counsel with the ACLU discusses takes a critical look at President Trump's late September national security presidential memorandum (NSPM-7) authorizing government-wide investigations into non-profits, activists, and their donors and funders using vague and over-broad labels of “terrorism” and “conspiracy against rights.” He'll also explore what pro-democracy groups and state governments can do to protect groups and individuals' right to dissent and free speech.

2) Peggy Bailey, Executive Vice President for Policy and Program Development with the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, talks about to discuss her group's views on the major issues, and possible solutions to end the ongoing government shutdown, i.e.: extension of ACA subsidies, addressing the impending cut-off of SNAP benefits, and major budget cutbacks in other federal social safety net programs.

3) Andra Watkins, a New York Times best-selling author and Project 2025 dissector on her Substack online newsletter, "For Such a Time as This," discusses the current government shutdown, suspension of SNAP food and nutrition benefits that relate to her recent, timely discussion and article, "How Project 2025 Plans to Starve You into Faith" & "How to Starve Fascists And Cause Their Christian Nationalist Takeover of SNAP and Other Welfare Assistance to Backfire."

4) Maria J. Stephan, co-lead and chief organizer with the Horizons Project and author and editor of five books on authoritarianism and civil resistance, assesses the recent No Kings Day protests, Trump and the Republican Party's labeling anti-authoritarian protesters as "anti-American and terrorists," and what new strategies and tactics may be necessary to adopt in the face of Trump's deployment of heavily armed ICE agents and the US military to cities across the country.

5) Henry Burke Senior Researcher with the Revolving Door Project, examines Donald Trump's recent pardon of convicted money launderer Changpeng Zhao, that many observers link to Zhao's boost of the Trump family’s crypto business, and an “example of Trump’s Pay-to-Pardon scheme.” He'll also share his views of how Trump, unlike any other U.S. president, has exploited his office to accumulate what some estimate to be more than $3 billion added to his personal fortune during the first 9 months of his second term.

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) Robert Weiner, Director of the Voting Rights Project at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, discusses the critical issues being decided in the Louisiana v. Callais case now before the US Supreme Court, the expected ruling in this case will impose racial gerrymandered Congressional district maps eliminating the voices of Black and Latino legislators, and the battle ahead to restore and strengthen civil rights law, democracy, and equal access to the ballot box in the months and years ahead.

2) Connecticut Secretary of State Stephanie Thomas discusses the importance of local elections, highlighting typical low turnout and the need for more civic engagement. She'll also talk about steps her office is taking to ensure elections in Bridgeport are secure and open to all eligible voters, questions about early voting and absentee voting -- as well as concerns that the Trump regime is now laying the groundwork to manipulate the results or cancel the 2026 midterm election.

3) Hardy Merriman, former president of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, whose research and training focuses on support for nonviolent civil resistance movements fighting for rights, freedom, and justice, and how communities can organize to counter political violence. He'll discuss his views on the direction and strength of the US anti-authoritarian resistance movement, i.e. the recent No Kings Day mobilization -- and what new strategies and tactics may be necessary to rapidly adopt in the face of Donald Trump's deployment of heavily armed ICE agents and the US military to cities across the country.

4) David Paul, a member of the Task Force on the Americas, and Democratic Socialists of America, assesses the Trump regime's escalating military threats against Venezuela, Columbia, Latin America, the bombing of small boats and murder of 40+ alleged drug smugglers or fishermen in international waters, open discussion by the White of a regime change war targeting Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, as well as a summary of recent US-Venezuela relations.

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) Retired Army Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, who served as chief of staff to Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell from 2002 to 2005, who is now a senior fellow with the Eisenhower Media Network, discusses his views on the Gaza ceasefire agreement and Donald Trump's deployment of National Guard troops to cities across the U.S., the legality and dangers of this policy, and his thoughts on the president's ultimate goal and its impact on our democracy.

2) Wendell Potter, a former vice president for corporate communications at Cigna, is the president of the Center for Health and Democracy who writes the newsletter, “Health Care Un-Covered,” and author of "Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR Is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans," discuss his views on the current federal government shutdown triggered due to Congress' failure to renew ACA subsidies that will cause millions of policy holders' premiums to skyrocket. He'll also talk about the many failures of the U.S. healthcare system, and the reforms he advocates to reduce costs and achieve universal coverage. Potter will be speaking in Hartford, CT on 10/15/25.

3) John Feffer, Director of Foreign Policy in Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies, who discusses the four recent deadly strikes that the US military has carried out on boats in international waters off the coast of Venezuela, Donald Trump's designation of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro as a ‘narco-terrorist,’ and growing concern that the U.S. may be moving toward initiating action to overthrow Maduro's government.

4) Robert Jereski, a lawyer and activist who serves as coordinator of Codepink Women for Peace World Court Campaign, who discusses the release of 20 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, and some 2,000 Israeli held Palestinian prisoners under phase #1 of President Trump's 20-point Gaza Ceasefire plan, with the goal of ending Israel's war in Gaza that's killed more than 67,000 Palestinian civilians.

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 U.S. Labor Movement Must Organize its Members to Fight the Trump-MAGA Fascist Threat

Bill Fletcher Jr., former president of TransAfrica Forum, a Senior Scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies, and the author of “They’re Bankrupting Us!”: And 20 Other Myths about Unions” -- his latest novel is titled, "The Man Who Changed Colors." He'll discuss the critical issues examined in his recent In These Times magazine article, "The Labor Movement Is in a Fight for Its Existence Against a Neofascist Threat." A repeat broadcast from September 1, 2025.

2) Trump Expands Military Occupation of US Cities to Fight the "Enemy Within"

Mel Goodman, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, a professor of government at Johns Hopkins University and a former CIA analyst. Goodman, author of “American Carnage: The Wars of Donald Trump” and national security columnist for counterpunch.org, discusses his recent column "Setting the Stage for the Insurrection Act," which examines the possibility that the Trump regime could invoke the Insurrection Act and declare Marshall Law in certain cities or nationally, escalating the president's attack on American's civil liberties, the Constitution, rule of law and free speech.

3) Confronting and Reversing Rising US Economic Inequality

Chuck Collins, is a senior scholar and director of the Institute for Policy Studies' Program on Inequality and the Common Good, where he coedits the Inequality.org newsletter. Author of a dozen books on economics, inequality, and social change, Collins talks about his latest, titled, "Burned by Billionaires," where he chronicles how the actions of the top .01% have severe consequences for the rest of us, exposing how the rich rig the game in their favor, resulting in a concentration of wealth in the hands of a tiny class of billionaires—leading to both intense income and political polarization.

4) Portland: Trump's Next Target for National Guard Deployment

David Rovics, an internationally known songwriter, musician, writer, podcaster and Portland,Oregon based activist, talks about Trump's targeting of Portland with a National Guard troop deployment -- which he wrote about in a recent commentary, "Portland, Oregon: Myths and Realities in 2025," covering what is, and is not going down on the ground in that city -- while providing context for understanding Portland's unique activist history over recent decades. David will be touring northeast states in October, including a concert in New Haven on October 16th, that he'll talk more about during the interview.

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1) In Another Step Toward Establishing a Police State, Trump Labels Critics 'Domestic Terrorists'

John Whitehead, founder and president of The Rutherford Institute, is an attorney and author who has written, debated and practiced widely in the area of constitutional law, human rights and popular culture. He'll discuss his recent commentary, "Would Orwell Be Branded a Terrorist? The Government’s War on Thought Crimes," re: the Trump regime's daily violation of the constitution and rule of law, seen most recently in the selective and vindictive prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey -- and the criminalization of Trump critics as terrorists who must be prosecuted and imprisoned.

2) US Military Buildup in Caribbean May be a Prelude to Regime Change War in Venezuela

Alan McPherson, Professor of History at Temple University, examines recent U.S. military attacks on small boats off the coast of Venezuela, charges that this was a violation of the Congressional War Powers Act, and international law -- and concern that the current buildup of U.S. military forces in the region could be a prelude to a U.S. assault on Venezuela to remove the nation's President Nicolás Maduro from power.

3) Oxfam: Trump Closure of USAID humanitarian Aid Programs Has Cost Hundreds of Thousands of Lives

Abby Maxman, President & CEO of Oxfam America talks about the highlights and lowlights at this year's United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York City. She'll share her perspective on Donald Trump's UN speech, his closing down USAID worldwide and the cost in lives lost, the ongoing slaughter and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza -- and other priorities Oxfam is currently working on.

4) New book on Zohran Mamdani's NYC Mayoral Campaign That Shook Up City Politics

Theodore Hamm, associate professor and chair of journalism and new media studies at St. Joseph's University, talks about his new book, "Run Zohran Run! Inside Zohran Mamdani’s Sensational Campaign to Become New York City’s First Democratic Socialist Mayor," an inside look at how Mamdani’s bold, grassroots campaign toppled New York’s political establishment and delivered the city’s most progressive mayoral victory. The author will also assess the state of the election campaign after incumbent NYC Mayor Eric Adams ended his campaign on Sept. 28th.

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

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) Rachel Bitecofer, a national analyst, pollster, and strategist is author of "Hit Em' Where It Hurts: How to Save Democracy by Beating Republicans at Their Own Game," discusses her views on the state of our democracy in the face of Donald Trump's daily assaults on our constitution, the rule of law, and freedom of speech. She’ll also discuss her recent commentary, "From Goebbels to Google," which examines the links between radio during the Nazi era and today's social media where algorithms amplify hateful posts, sensationalism, and other forms of emotionally charged content.

2) Matt Wood, Vice President of Policy and General Counsel with the media democracy group Free Press, discusses ABC's decision to take Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show off-the-air indefinitely after the host made comments about the murder of Charlie Kirk. He'll focus on the continuing pattern of Trump regime threats, lawsuits and intimidation targeting media companies, and too many CEOs in the media industry surrendering to authoritarianism, turning their backs on their duty to protect free speech.

3) Elizabeth Jacobs, professor emeritus, epidemiology at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona, shares her views on actions taken by the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices which reversed recommendations for COVID vaccinations and a combined measles, mumps, rubella and chicken pox vaccine. Observers say Committee members, all of whom were appointed by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after he dismissed all 17 previous members, were unprepared, misunderstood or ignored key data, and highlighted flawed or inconclusive research often trumpeted by vaccine critics.

4) Tom Swan, Executive Director of the Connecticut Citizen Action Group talks about CCAG's and other group's demand that Gov. Lamont declare a fiscal emergency and call a special session of the CT legislature to take immediate action to protect the state's residents from the Trump- GOP's deep federal budget cuts to crucial social safety net programs, including Medicaid, SNAP and the Affordable Care Act.

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) Graylan Scott Hagler, an advisor with FOR-USA, the founder and president of Faith Strategies USA, and retired Senior Minister at Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ in Washington, D.C. Rev. Hagler will discuss his recent column, "The Killing of Charles James Kirk: Violent Speech Leads to Violence," and his views and experiences re: Trump's deployment of National Guard troops to Washington, D.C.

2) Madison Sheppard, youth climate activist and Lead Organizer with Fridays For Future Cape Cod, will discuss the upcoming "Make Billionaires Pay" international mobilization for climate justice happening 9/19–9/21/25 -- with a focus on the issues, demands, and information on how listeners can participate in this action.

3) Justin Glawe, an independent journalist and editor of the American Doom newsletter, discusses his latest column, "Martial Law is Already Here," rising polarization and US political violence in the aftermath of the murder of Charlie Kirk in Utah, and the blatant politicization and dysfunction of the Trump FBI and Dept. of Justice.

4) Kimberly Gill, Community Director with New Haven, CT's Brave Nature School, Carl Halberg and Hugo Crick-Furman of the Bread and Puppet Theater, talk about the B&P performance at New Haven's Edgerton Park 5:30 pm on September 18th titled, "Our Domestic Resurrection Revolution in Progress Circus." Dempsey will discuss the philosophy and mission of the Brave Nature School.