The Project Censored Show

Today on the program, we celebrate Banned Books Week: Censorship Is So 1984, Read For Your Rights! Today we’ll speak with several people involved in Banned Books Week, starting with this year’s Youth Honorary Chair for the Banned Books Week Coalition, Iris Mogul. Later in the show we’ll be joined by the president of the American Library Association, Sam Helmick. And we’ll conclude the hour by speaking with the Executive Director of the National Coalition Against Censorship, Lee Rowland. Today on the Project Censored Show, we’ll spend the hour celebrating the right to read and the right to know. It’s Banned Books Week! The post Banned Books Week: Censorship Is So 1984, Read For Your Rights! appeared first on Project Censored.

In the first half of the program, cohost Mickey Huff welcomes back to the show journalist and author Kevin Gosztola to talk about several stories threatening free speech and a free press, from the local to the global. Kevin discusses the dearth of local independent media in this country and how his efforts to fill that gap in his community have resulted in escalated threats to his free press and free speech rights. Kevin also highlights a new policy at the Pentagon that essentially demands reporters not be reporters if they want to report from the Pentagon, and how one reporter in Atlanta is facing deportation for being a journalist. Next up, Eleanor Goldfield sits down with Kashmiri filmmaker Arfat Sheikh to talk about his film, Saffron Kingdom. Arfat discusses the myriad threats from the Indian government aimed at Kashmir’s storytellers. He talks about the framing of Bollywood to always portray Kashmiris as terrorists and why Kashmiris need to reclaim the narrative in telling their own stories, in his case tapping into the power of film to humanize the dehumanized. The post Journalism and Free Expression from the US to Kashmir appeared first on Project Censored.

In the first half of the show, co-host Eleanor Goldfield speaks with Professor Richard Wolff about the state of our economy as a record number of Americans polled cant pay for everyday necessities, speaking to a rising and chronic crisis-level economic anxiety. Professor Wolff outlines the extreme economic inequality, how ICE raids and anti-immigrant violence only fuel the economic downward spiral, and how a healthy dose of imagination and knowledge of history could cure what ails us. Next, cohosts Eleanor Goldfield and Mickey Huff dig into some of the weeks latest news with a critical media literacy lens, dissecting political violence, free speech, the co-opting of language and more. The post Economic Inequality, Immigration, and Media Spin appeared first on Project Censored.

This week we’re talking about getting comfortable with uncomfortable ideas. First up, Thea Abu al-Haj joins the program to discuss the unprecedented censorship she and other academic authors experienced when the Harvard Educational Review pulled the plug on an entire issue of their journal dedicated to Palestine. Thea discusses this new level of censorship as a deep and targeted blow to the very core mission of places of higher education: namely to be places of open debate, open minds and where we can all confront uncomfortable ideas with curiosity, reflection, and exploration. Next up, Dr. Robert Talisse joins the show to talk about what he calls civic solitude - the need, indeed the responsibility to remove ourselves from the ever widening divisions in US politics for the sake of our collective benefit. Robert and Eleanor tease out how this relates to a loneliness endemic to the United States, the need to engage with people and ideas that are unknown and even uncomfortable to us, and the problems of an overly mediated world that interrupts our ability to reflect even when we are physically alone. The post Palestine, Censorship, and the Responsibility to Reflect appeared first on Project Censored.

In the first part of the program, Mickey Huff sits down with author and professor Omar Zahzah to talk about his upcoming book: Terms of Servitude: Zionism, Silicon Valley, and Digital Settler Colonialism in the Palestinian Liberation Struggle. Omar discusses the impetus for the book which predates October 7th and how the book grew not only to encompass the current genocide but indeed to look at how Palestine and Palestinian resistance serves as a window into a broad system and practice of digital censorship globally. Omar outlines his struggles in refusing the language of silence, and talks about how corporate media enforces censorship, dehumanization and the overall actions of the military industrial complex despite public dissent. In the second half of the program, Eleanor Goldfield welcomes back to the show organizer, lawyer, and author Kamau Franklin to talk about the book he co-edited called No Cop City, No Cop World. Kamau discusses the diversity of tactics used by the diverse movement to stop cop city, the derision by local politicians and indeed media, highlighting the important fact that a local media isn’t enough - it’s got to be local AND independent media. Kamau talks about the importance of the people creating their own narrative for these fights for justice, as well as the importance of reframing the fight against cop city as one of global proportions that isn’t over, it’s just entered a new phase. The post Resisting Silence: From Palestine to Cop City appeared first on Project Censored.

In the first part of the program, we welcome back to the show Leonardo Flores, co-founder of the Venezuela Solidarity Network, to talk about the US’ dangerous and honestly stupid escalation against Venezuela. Leo debunks the US’ absurd claims of drug trafficking, contextualizing them in a longer history of using drugs as a cover for violent escalation against nations in Latin America. Leo also talks about the remarkable critical media literacy of the Venezuelan people - something that the government has nurtured for almost 30 years via a varied and healthy media landscape that promotes independent and local media rather than a centralized corporate system. Next up, Nolan Higdon comes back on the show to talk about AI through the lens of critical media literacy. Nolan highlights the importance of not leaning on AI for foundational skills such as reading comprehension and critical media literacy, that AI is not some superior intellect but rather a system built by vehemently anti-democratic and indeed anti-human minds. Nolan explains that while the point isn’t to be afraid of technology, we must understand what the technology really is, what it can do for us and perhaps more importantly what it can do to us. The post Venezuela, Propaganda, and the Promise (and Peril) of AI appeared first on Project Censored.

In the first part of the program, DC organizer Natacia Knapper joins Eleanor Goldfield to discuss Trump’s takeover of DC, what makes DC particularly vulnerable to such federal overreach, and what the situation is really like on the ground. Natacia highlights the problematic ways in which corporate media have framed the situation, and why people outside of DC need to be hyper-aware and vigilant because this overreach will not stop in DC. Next up, Mickey Huff sits down with one of Project Censored’s summer interns Jayden Henry to talk about his recent dispatch: Blood, Sweat, and Stitches: How Overconsumption Pushes Garment Workers to the Brink. Jayden discusses his research on this rarely covered topic and draws connections between the consumerist paradigm in the so-called imperial core and the extreme exploitation of workers in so-called periphery nations. The post Power & Exploitation: DC Overreach & Global Labor Injustice appeared first on Project Censored.

In the first part of the program, we’re joined by Dr. Ramzy Baroud, a journalist, author, and editor of the Palestine Chronicle. Dr. Baroud discusses cultural hegemony, the insidious tool of colonization that distorts an Indigenous people into submission. Dr. Baroud explains how the Palestinians have resisted this tactic which is why Israel has been forced to leverage ever more horrific violence, particularly in Gaza. Dr. Baroud also outlines the myriad problems in how corporate media portrays Palestinians, and how journalists in Gaza have changed the global understanding of where truth comes from - that truth isn’t shared unless those on the frontlines are also producers of the media. Next up, activist and educator Nikki Morse comes back on the show, this time to talk about their time in the West Bank with the International Solidarity Movement. Nikki describes the accelerated pace of ethnic cleansing, explaining the often intersecting web of oppression vis a vis settlers, police, the army, and Israel’s legal system. Nikki also talks about the importance of how we discuss and frame the West Bank, uplifting voices on the ground, and bringing more people to the frontlines to be in solidarity with Palestinians. The post From the Frontlines: Media, Colonization, and Resistance in Palestine appeared first on Project Censored.

In the first part of the show, Mickey welcomes back award-winning investigative reporter, Will Potter, author of Green is the New Red. They talk about his latest book, Little Red Barns: Hiding the Truth, From Farm to Fable. Behind the little red barns dotting the landscape and decorating the products we consume is a dangerous threat. In this groundbreaking investigation, Potter exposes the powerful forces at work to hide the harms of industrial agriculture, its outsize role in the climate crisis, and its links to the global rise of fascism. Later in the program, Project Censored managing editor Mischa Geracoulis guest hosts, speaking with Heidi Boghosian about her new book, Cyber Citizens: Saving Democracy With Digital Literacy. The electronic age compels us to confront the delicate balance between the convenience of constant connectivity and the protection of personal privacy, security, and democracy itself. The post From Factory Farms to Firewalls: Resisting Corporate Power appeared first on Project Censored.

In the first part of the program, Dr. Shir Hever joins us to discuss Israel’s disinformation economy, the zombie economy that is held together by nothing more than lies and deception, and how the ongoing genocide in Gaza has made clear that for most Israelis, the need to oppress is greater than the need to make ends meet. Dr. Hever also highlights the journalistic malpractice of Israel’s propaganda machine, the impressive and vital progress of the BDS movement and how politicians are now leveraging Palestine for personal political gain. Next up, Dr. Margaret Flowers comes back on the show to outline the difference between sanctions and unilateral coercive economic measures. We discuss the recent Lancet report showing that US unilateral measures are responsible for more than half a million deaths a year worldwide. Dr. Flowers outlines the shift to a multipolar world, how nations are side-stepping US hegemony and violence, and how we can engage with these interconnected issues. The post Oppression as Policy: Israel, Sanctions, and the Global Cost of Control appeared first on Project Censored.

In the first part of the program, Andrew Crespo, professor of law at Harvard University joins us to discuss the mass incarceration system, a system that’s upheld by lawyers and promoted in our institutions of higher learning. Andrew outlines plea bargaining as a bolster and boost to mass incarceration, prisons as sponges for people in poverty, the death of social programs that would legitimately counter crime, and the need to shift our thinking about how our justice system works and for whom, recognizing that our paradigms allow this remarkably harmful system to perpetuate. Later in the show, I’m joined by Dr. Roy Casagranda, a professor of government and the Middle East Affairs expert at Austin Community College. Dr. Casagranda outlines the bloodied red thread that connects the first crusades to the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the creation of Israel, and the war on terror. He also uplifts a purposefully obscured history of cultural vibrancy in the Muslim world where not only did Jews, Muslims, and Christians thrive but where the foundations of our modern world were forged centuries before the European mathematical, scientific, and philosophical advancements we learn about. The post Systems of Control, Histories of Resistance appeared first on Project Censored.

In the first part of the program, Mickey sits down with Jeff Cohen, founder of Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting, founding director of the Park Center for Independent Media and author to talk about the passing of independent media great Bill Moyers. Jeff shares stories of Moyers intrepid reporting and his behind-the-scenes organizing and fundraising that allowed truly independent media to flourish. His death is a loss for the alternative independent media world, and a sobering reminder of the need for outspoken voices such as Bill’s in times like these. In the second part of the show, co hosts Mickey Huff and Eleanor Goldfield dig into some of the news that didn’t make the news, and why, as well as asking, is this the best we can do? They kick off with what corporate media won’t tell you about the so-called Big Beautiful Bill, and then dig into some historical context of the insidious Project Esther, the latest in a long line of threats to our civil liberties, going back to COINTELPRO. Sprinkle in some investigative comedy, defense of metal heads, and more - coming up now on Project Censored. The post Bill Moyers’ Legacy, Censored News, and Civil Liberties at Risk appeared first on Project Censored.

In the first part of the program, we’re joined by board-certified psychiatrist and writer Dr. Samaiya Mushtaq who details how empathy as a skill requires attention, a commodity in short supply these days. Dr. Mushtaq outlines how the framework of social media allows us to not only dehumanize others but indeed ourselves, to avoid discomfort through a simple scroll, and to become ever more intolerant of those we perceive as insurmountably different than ourselves. She also discusses how this connects to the rise of anxiety, depression, and isolation in our society. Later in the program, journalist, researcher and policy director at Defending Rights and Dissent Chip Gibbons comes back on the show to help us wade through the morass of courts and legal proceedings that create a whiplash of headaches for those trying to negotiate access to supposed rights such as the first amendment. Chip gives historical context to today’s free speech battles and outlines nefarious tactics such as blacklists and their role in legal cases. The post Short Supply: Empathy, Attention, and America’s Legal Labyrinth appeared first on Project Censored.

Indeed, as our first amendment rights continue to be gravely threatened, real, independent frontline journalists are more than truth-tellers, they are the keepers of ideals we as Americans are taught to revere. so, this week, a special program: excerpts from the 17th annual Izzy Awards Show which took place at the Park Center for Independent Media at Ithaca College in Ithaca New York in early May of this year. The Izzy awards are named after the famous and indeed infamous and intrepid muckraker I.F. ‘Izzy’ Stone… So this week, we’re featuring remarks by presenters, journalists and media scholars as well as remarks by this year’s winners. Project Censored director and radio show host Mickey Huff was the host of the awards show. He is also the distinguished director of the Park Center for Independent Media. The post The Right to Criticize: Honoring Independent Journalism at the Izzy Awards appeared first on Project Censored.

Today on the program in the first segment: Marketing Mars. Zara Zimbardo deconstructs the mythologies of American Exceptionalism and Manifest Destiny as they apply to settler colonialism in space, and the billionaire tech bro infatuation with our closest planetary neighbor, Mars. Looking through several analytical frames, Zimbardo debunks any notion that there is a Planet B to escape to, remarking “we’re encouraged to believe that human ingenuity and industry can turn uninhabitable Mars into a habitable Earth. This fantasy is a distraction from the reality that Earth is being rapidly turned into Mars.” In the second segment today, we are rejoined by investigative journalist Peter Byrne. We look at his latest installments for Military AI Watch. We’ll look at the Stargate Fiasco, World War 3 will be fought inside data centers, and his most recent, AI Battle Space: Weaponizing the 5G Internet of Things. The post Marketing Mars and AI Battle Space appeared first on Project Censored.

In this episode of the Project Censored Show, guest host Mischa Geracoulis, Project Censored’s managing editor, speaks with legendary photographer, Glen E. Friedman, about his latest book of Bad Brains photographs, Fearless Vampire Killers (Akashic Books, 2025), Glen’s work in photography and music, punk rock’s place in history, and the parallels between independent media and independent music. One of the more enduring attributes of Friedman’s work is its unspoken message of championing freedom, especially apropos when civil liberties and human rights are under fire. Friedman’s iconic Burning Flags travelling exhibition that launched in Barcelona in 2022 will be making its US debut at the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma on September 18, 2025 through February 15, 2026. The post Glen E. Friedman on His Photography, Bad Brains, and Rebellious American Music appeared first on Project Censored.

In the first segment of this week's Project Censored Show, Mickey welcomes back media scholar Nolan Higdon. They discuss his new podcast Disinfo Detox and recurring special feature “The Gaslight Gazette" that analyzes current events and media coverage of them through a critical media literacy lens aiming to deconstruct deceptive media messaging. They also discuss legacy media's failure to adequately cover Joe Biden’s physical and cognitive decline in the last election, which a new book co-authored by CNN’s Jake Tapper addresses, though the authors shift blame from corporate media to the Democratic Party without noting their own role in lack of in-depth coverage even though there were stories published at the time in the independent press. Later in the show Eleanor Goldfield and Mickey present another installment in their "Is This the Best We Can Do" segment that analyzes the competency of current government appointees for the positions they fulfill. They provide examples regarding the current heads of FEMA, the Department of Homeland Security, the former spokesperson for Biden’s Secretary of State, and more. The post Disinfo, Decline, and Dysfunction appeared first on Project Censored.

This week, Eleanor Goldfield begins by doing what corporate media rarely do, and that is check in on people beyond the 24-hour news cycle and disaster reporting frenzy. Chelsea White-Hoglen, organizer and resident of Western North Carolina comes back on the program to tell us about the compounding crises that have… The post Out of the Frame: Hurricane Helene Aftermath and the Weaponization of Antisemitism appeared first on Project Censored.

Today in the first segment, Mickey welcomes back Lauren Harper and Seth Stern from the Freedom of the Press Foundation. They discuss several matters including their latest FOIA work on how the Trump administration has been treating immigrants, students and other vulnerable groups across the country. They provide an update… The post Press Freedoms and Civil Rights Under Attack; and Practicing Civic Self-respect appeared first on Project Censored.

Two places of extreme oppression and turmoil that you won’t hear about on corporate media: Kashmir and Armenia. Today on the program, we’re first joined by professor Ather Zia to talk about Kashmir as a psychic border between India and Pakistan, a stage on which these powers battle out their whims while Kashmir is doing the dying. Ather outlines the insidious great disappearance of Kashmiri writing due to Indian censorship laws and violent retaliation against journalists. She also dissects the nation-state system as one that necessarily requires such violence, the post-colonial myth, deep and disturbing connections to Israel, and more. Next up, Armenian human rights lawyer Karnig Kerkonian comes back on the show to discuss the situation in Armenia, and the Armenian quarter in East Jerusalem. Karnig outlines the absurd peace talks with Azerbaijan as comparable to trying to appease Hitler with Sudetenland, a lesson he feels we should’ve learned well enough 80 years ago. Karnig also discusses the settler violence in the Armenian quarter in East Jerusalem, a place that Armenian Christians have called home for more than a thousand years. The fight to remain goes well beyond East Jerusalem, Karnig says, and betrays the deeper settler colonial reality of what media often portrays as Muslims vs. Jews in the Promised Land. The post Kashmir and Armenia: Voices from the Margins appeared first on Project Censored.

In the first part of the program, Nikki Morse, Noam Brown and Prince Jooveh talk about the album Bending the Bars, a project created via makeshift jail phone setups in order to uplift and amplify the voices of incarcerated musicians. Our guests discuss the myriad powers of music, from therapy to frontline reporting to bridges between rival gangs and political perspectives. They dive into the barriers and indeed the freedom in creating an album without the support or collaboration of the carceral system, and how their work can be, and indeed should be repeated by others across the prison industrial complex. Next up, journalist and organizer Jen Deerinwater joins the show again, this time to talk about indigiqueer identities, how colonization violently imposed the binary, missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, two spirits and relatives, and how this violence is inextricably linked to ecocide. Jen also uplifts the upcoming decolonized beatz, Indigenous world pride, a global event celebrating the powerful creativity of 2SLGBTQIA+ Indigenous artists, performers, and storytellers coming up in late may in Washington DC. The post Behind Bars and Binaries: Music, Identity, and the Fight for Liberation appeared first on Project Censored.

In the first segment of today’s program Mickey talks with Laurel Krause, Emily Kunstler, and Kelley Lane 55 years after the Ohio National Guard killed four students and wounded nine others at Kent State University as they protested the illegal expansion of the disastrous Vietnam War. There are many lessons… The post Lessons from Kent State 55 Years Later, and the Power of Truth-telling and Resisting Censorship appeared first on Project Censored.

This week, campus life in the crosshairs. First up, Eleanor Goldfield speaks with Kei Pritsker, the co-director of “The Encampments” and journalist with Breakthrough News. Kei talks about colleges as extensions of the national security state where, at the request of a foreign nation committing genocide, students are brutalized. Kei also shares his experiences creating the film as press and as a part of the community that the encampments built. Next up, Professor Nick Wolfinger talks about his latest book, Professors Speak Out: The Truth About Campus Investigations. Nick and Eleanor discuss the problematic way in which universities are handling complaints about faculty while also debating the difficulty in umbrella guidelines regarding a faculty member’s ability to do their job based on their opinions and prejudices. It’s a slippery slope and when academic freedom is at stake, it’s easy to let our own political leanings push us to the bottom. Can we all embrace discomfort for the sake of academic freedom? The post Campus Life in the Crosshairs appeared first on Project Censored.

The Park Center for Independent Media at Ithaca College is honored to announce this year’s Izzy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Independent Media. The Izzy Award is named after legendary muckraking journalist I.F. “Izzy” Stone. It’s the 17th Annual Award from the Park Center that honors the best reporting from the independent press. Today on the program, we’ll talk to some of the Izzy winners and an Izzy judge. We’ll start with Professor Victor Pickard, a long time Izzy judge, speaking about the state of our free press. Then we’ll talk to Max Alvarez of the Real News Network and Chris Albright, a resident of East Palestine, Ohio. They’ll talk about Alvarez’s coverage of the great train derailment there from 2023. Later in the program, we’re also joined by Arielle Angel of Jewish Currents to talk about their important work. The post Independent and Unafraid: Inside the 17th Annual Izzy Awards appeared first on Project Censored.

This week we’re looking at the insidious and nefarious sides of tech - starting off, a conversation with Esra’a Al Shafei discussing her new site Surveillance Watch, an incredible trove of data formulated into an easily searchable and interactive site that exposes the vast interconnected web of global authoritarian surveillance systems. Esra’a discusses the impunity with which these corporations and financial institutions operate, with no care for borders, side-stepping sanctions, and using genocide as a marketing tool. She highlights the importance of bringing this information to light, of acting to protect ourselves and each other and never normalizing the Orwellian panopticon. Next up, cohost Mickey Huff sits down with investigative journalist Peter Byrne to unveil a new 10-part series titled Military AI Watch: the dangerous militarization of AI and the profiteering behind it. Peter and Mickey discuss the first piece in the series, One Ring to Rule them All where Peter names the cast of characters in this dark fantasy turned reality, their terrifying aims, the monopoly on murder, and more. The post Eyes Everywhere: Tech Tyranny and the Profiteers of Control appeared first on Project Censored.

In the first part of the program, author and Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund’s education director Ben Price joins the program to talk about his new book, Wouldn’t You Say, A Collection of Essays on Environment and Community. In the book and in our conversation, Ben explains that what we’re seeing today is not a perversion of the promise of America, it’s actually a proof of concept, a continuation of foundational ideologies never meant to protect we, the people, and certainly not to protect the ecosystems of which we are a part. Ben discusses rights of nature not as a legal north star but as a need to shift our thinking about relationships, between ourselves, the law, and empirical reality. Next up, Dr. Kim Wilson and Maya Schenwar join the show to discuss the book which they co-edited, We Grow the World Together: Parenting Toward Abolition. Maya and Kim discuss this multi-generational project which also combines voices from the inside and outside, highlighting the contrasts and connections between the carceral systems of literal and figurative cages, and how prisons are and have been the canaries in the coal mine for the restrictions on our basic rights. They discuss abolition as a tearing down but perhaps even more so of a building up, how kids are integral to the creative imagination necessary for building new worlds, and the emergent possibilities outside of our current death-making system. The post Conversations on Environmental Justice, Abolition, and the Future We Build appeared first on Project Censored.

In the first part of the program, journalist, researcher and policy director of Defending Rights and Dissent, Chip Gibbons comes back on the show to talk about attacks on journalists in Gaza, attacks on free press here at home, the links between them, and the long history of our shaky and fragile access to first amendment rights. Chip places the targeting of students like Mahmoud Khalil in a timeline of authoritarian moves to protect US political interests over basic freedoms, and how our ignorance of the past is wrecking our present and predetermining a dark future. In the second half of the show, labor activist and co-founder of the National Labor Network for Ceasefire Gene Bruskin joins the show to connect the dots on US foreign and domestic policy, on how chronic injustices here at home make us blind to the fact that we don’t have to live this way, not here, and not over there. Gene talks about the importance of bringing our demands together, of thinking globally, of tactics that work and tactics that don’t, and of reclaiming OUR radical labor history. The post Challenging Injustice and Reclaiming Radical Labor History appeared first on Project Censored.

In an era when algorithms are reshaping how news is gathered, produced, distributed, and consumed, every journalist, regardless of specialty, needs some degree of algorithmic literacy. We’re joined by 2024-25 RJI fellow Andy Lee Roth, who led a team to create a website about Algorithmic Literacy for Journalists. It provides a practical toolkit to help journalists and the general public better understand the functions, impacts, and ethics of algorithms, including shadowbanning and other forms of censorship. In the second half of the show, we present Frame Check, a new monthly series that will be available on social media and podcast platforms. This new segment on The Project Censored Show is hosted by Reagan Haynie, Kate Horgan, and Shealeigh Voitl. Frame Check explores pop culture, news, and feminism through a critical media literacy lens, helping audiences deconstruct dominant news frames. In the debut segment, the hosts examine how corporate media sensationalizes the manufactured spectacle of Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s relationship—amplifying their antics while failing to critically assess their influence—turning even significant political developments into junk food news. The post Algorithmic Literacy for Journalists & Frame Checking the News appeared first on Project Censored.

Coming up first on the program, we welcome back Dr. Khalil Khalidy, an orthopedic doctor in Deir al-Balah, Gaza to give us what you’ll never hear on corporate media: updates on the situation in Gaza from Gazans since the end of phase one of the so-called ceasefire. Dr. Khalidy also discusses the insidious Israeli propaganda machine, the psychological effects of colonialism, and some vital history many in the US likely don’t know, including the divide-and-conquer strategy to pull Palestinians from each other, geographically and culturally, from the West Bank to Gaza to the diaspora. Later in the program, cohosts Mickey Huff and Eleanor Goldfield dig into some of the most recent news that didn’t make the news, in particular the abduction of Columbia grad student Mahmoud Khalil, the history of who the US deems a terrorist, and the importance of critical media literacy and independent media in these - to put it mildly, turbulent times. The post The News That Didn’t Make the News: Gaza’s Reality, Propaganda, and the Fight for Justice appeared first on Project Censored.

This week, a special Project Censored episode: “What To Us Is International Women’s Day?,” a variation on the question asked by Frederick Douglass: What to the Slave is the 4th of July? March 8th is International Women’s Day, and while many will and do celebrate this day in revolutionary ways, the truth is that IWD like so many other holidays is often used to serve the vehemently anti-feminist goals of the architects of our oppression. So-called white feminism perpetuates the evils of white supremacy, colonialism, capitalism, patriarchy, and imperialism - but with a femme facade, pushing us to ask what to us is an international women’s day which doesn’t seek to dismantle the very systems that use, abuse & torment women across the US and the globe? Award-winning journalist Mnar Adley and organizer Afeni Evans will join Eleanor Goldfield for this special hour-long dive into the insidious machinations of white feminism, who gets violently othered and why, the internationalist demands of a revolutionary feminism, and what really to us, is - or could be - International Women’s Day? The post What To Us Is International Women’s Day? appeared first on Project Censored.

In the first part of the program, author and organizer Harsha Walia joins the show to talk about the convergence of racist nationalism and border imperialism, and how the attacks on migrants are inextricably linked to the attacks on Indigenous peoples. Harsha also discusses the globalization of border violence, and offers a class analysis that contextualizes the border as a spatial fix for capital accumulation. Later in the show, community organizer Kamau Franklin comes back on the show to talk about the very real fears taking hold of people in these times, how these are different from manufactured fears, and how real leftist media is needed to push through the cacophonous propaganda of empire. Kamau also discusses the importance of the build and fight, imagining and actually creating alternatives to our current system that can scale and provide in the here and now. The post Borders, Empire, and Resistance: Confronting Racism, Nationalism, and the Fight for Alternatives appeared first on Project Censored.

This week, Mickey speaks with filmmaker Allyson Rice and researcher Dorri C. Scott about the growing number of books challenged and banned in US schools and libraries, something the Trump administration has called a hoax. We hear about the soon-to-be-released documentary, Banned Together, that looks at efforts by local school boards and state-level politicians to restrict student access to books while highlighting the very students who are protesting and fighting back for the right to read. Then, Seth Stern, director of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, and Lauren Harper, the first Daniel Ellsberg Chair on Government Secrecy there, warn that the Trump Administration is engaged in unprecedented, and possibly illegal, efforts to reshuffle how federal agencies’ records are kept. They also survey Trump’s multiple attacks on journalists and press in his first month back in office and caution that more assaults on the First Amendment and the public’s right to know will be forthcoming, which, they argue, should be vigorously resisted. The post Debunking the Book Ban “Hoax” and Resisting Trump Administration Attacks on the First Amendment appeared first on Project Censored.

Up first on the program, associate editor and producer of the weekly livestream at Electronic Intifada, Tamara Nassar discusses the Gaza-like situation unfolding in the West Bank, violence that has been escalating since the start of, and indeed before, the genocide. Tamara outlines the myriad ways in which the occupation oppresses, dehumanizes and murders Palestinians including tricks the Israelis inherited from the British colonial government, and the twisted use of the Palestinian Authority to support Israeli aims behind a Palestinian name. Next, Eleanor Goldfield sits down with journalist and founder of Payday Report, Mike Elk, to talk about corporate media’s failure to cover Day Without Immigrant strike events that happened in more than a hundred cities across 40 states, and how this also speaks to the presence of news deserts and an anemic alternative independent press. Mike also speaks about the need for a multicultural media system, and how unions can protect against raids and other violence aimed at immigrants. The post Occupied Realities & Uncovered Strikes: The Struggle for Palestinian Rights and Immigrant Justice appeared first on Project Censored.

In the first part of the program this week, Palestinian legal expert Hassan Ben Imran comes back on the show to talk about the recent formation of the Hague Group, the ongoing cases against Israel and the limitations of, and hope in international law. Later in the show, cohosts Mickey Huff and Eleanor Goldfield banter about the sad state of the 4th estate vis a vis coverage of the genocide in Gaza, and how legacy media couldn’t even be bothered to truthfully report on the carnage meted out by US tax dollars. In a new segment that we’ll come back to in many arenas of life, Mickey and Eleanor ask if this is the best we can do — be it these so-called journalists, or the latest cabinet picks. The post Is This the Best We Can Do? Hope and Limitations in International Law appeared first on Project Censored.

In the first part of the program, Mohawk journalist Isaac White speaks to Eleanor Goldfield about being guilty of journalism. Isaac was arrested last year while covering a land claim demonstration despite clearly identifying himself as press and having credentials on his person. Isaac’s story also highlights the importance of and dangers to local and Indigenous media. As we’ve covered before on Project Censored, there’s already a dearth of local media, but add to that Indigenous local media, and this forced scarcity means that reporters like Isaac who would be connecting communities and holding local leaders to account have to find a living elsewhere, a move that affects the entire local area. In the second half of the show, my cohost Mickey Huff sits down with Dr. John Collins, a founder & editorial director at Weave News, author, and professor at St. Lawrence University to talk about the power and mandate of grassroots independent media in these times. John explains that journalism is too important to be left to the powers that be and what we need right now more than ever is news of, for and by the people. John also talks about his books and years of work on Palestine, and how Palestine is in fact not only an issue unto itself but also a lens for examining colonialism, capitalism, media, the politics of representation and more. The post Defending Local & Indigenous Media in an Age of Scarcity appeared first on Project Censored.

In the first part of the program, economist Dr. Richard Wolff joins co-host Eleanor Goldfield to set the record straight on what tariffs really are, and how bizarrely hypocritical it is that the famously anti-tax republican party is now the party that wants a lot of taxes - taxes aimed at you and me. Professor Wolff also explains the wrong-headed thinking about immigration - that in fact, steady immigration into the US is and has been a sign of a healthy economy, so the fact that the nation can’t and won’t embrace immigration today is actually a big red flag that our economy is weak - as further evidenced by how well the BRICS nations are doing compared to the G7. In the second half of the show, co-host Mickey Huff speaks with journalists Maya Schenwar and Negin Owliaei about how media must NOT back down to Trump’s threats against press freedom. Maya and Negin outline the multi pronged attacks that journalists and media organizations are facing, remarking that none of us alone can surmount these problems but that real active solidarity and community building is key - along with contextualizing our today in the struggles of yesterday, and NEVER complying in advance. The post Don’t Get Distracted: Bitter Economic Pills & Threats to Free Press Hit Everyone appeared first on Project Censored.

In the first half of the program, co-host Eleanor Goldfield speaks with Leyna Quinn-Davidson, the Fire Network Director for the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources about the confluence of issues that are quite literally fueling the fires in LA County. Leyna highlights how we have to shift our thinking about not only how fires burn but their historic and vital role in bolstering healthy ecosystems. She also pinpoints some simple actions people in the area can take to protect their homes and perhaps more importantly their communities, since what your neighbor does or doesn’t do in these situations will directly affect you. In the second half of the show, experienced conflict correspondent Theia Chatelle joins the program to talk about suing Yale PD, a frustrating but enlightening process that uncovered a vast and deep web of surveillance and repressive tactics aimed at students engaging in constitutionally protected speech and protest. Theia discusses the frightening levels of coordination between campus police, local and federal law enforcement, Zionist organizations and even counter-terrorism agencies. She connects this to a larger pattern of repression across US colleges, universities, and towns and cities beyond campus borders, where the panopticon-style surveillance follows anyone and everyone who could be deemed a threat to the status quo. The post Fires, Frontlines, and Surveillance: Looking into Environmental and Civil Rights Crises appeared first on Project Censored.

This week we swing into the new year, 2025, with Mickey engaging media scholar Nolan Higdon. They discuss the incoming administration, Trump 2.0, the failures of the punditocracy and what might mean for press freedom in his second term; social media and an end to so-called fact-checking; and why we will continue to need a truly independent press to keep us informed moving forward. Later in the program, media scholar Steve Macek joins the conversation, and it’s Deja Vu all over again as they revisit previously censored news stories around significant current events (including in Gaza) and how the ongoing lack of establishment media coverage around key issues contributes to low information voters and allows myriad injustices to persist at home and around the globe. The post Pressing Issues for 2025: Trump 2.0, Media Failures, and the Fight for Press Freedom appeared first on Project Censored.

In the first half of the program Eleanonr Goldfield speaks with Shrouq Aila, an investigative journalist, producer and researcher in Gaza. Shrouq describes the situation on the ground in Gaza, the target on her back as a journalist, what she asks of her fellow journalists in these times, and the layered struggles of being the story that you are covering. In the second half of the program, Marine corps veteran Matthew Hoh comes back on the show to talk about his recent trip to occupied Palestine / Israel. Matt describes the parallel phases of ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as Israeli culture that makes entertainment out of genocide while simultaneously denying that genocide The post Reporting Under Fire: Gaza, Genocide, and the Truth Behind the Headlines appeared first on Project Censored.

In the first half of the show, Mickey sits down with Omar Zahzah, a Lebanese/Palestinian organizer, writer, poet, freelance journalist and assistant professor of Arab/Muslim ethnicities and diaspora studies at San Francisco State University. Omar discusses his forthcoming book from the Censored and Seven Stories presses titled Terms of Servitude:… The post Digital Settler Colonialism, Gaza, and the Struggle for Palestinian Liberation appeared first on Project Censored.

What happens when wealthy investors buy up local news outlets? Well, in addition to gradually shutting them down and restricting what they report, ironically creating news deserts, they can also memory hole online news archives. For the first part of the program, Mickey Huff is joined by investigative reporter Peter Byrne. Byrne talks about unplugging the news and history in San Francisco, navigating the existential fragility of online news archives. Later in the program, you’ll hear excerpts from an event held at Ithaca College in November, cosponsored by the Park Center for Independent Media, Project Looksharp, and Project Censored. Mickey Huff hosted co-editor of State of the Free Press 2025 Shaeleigh Voitl, and contributors Robin Andersen, and Steve Macek. You’ll get an overview of Project Censored’s State of the Free Press 2025, hear some of the top underreported news stories of the year, and much more. The post Unplugging the News: The Fight for Local Journalism and the State of the Free Press appeared first on Project Censored.

Today in the first segment of the show, Mickey Huff speaks with associate director of Project Censored, Andy Lee Roth, and the Project’s digital and print editor, Shealeigh Voitl. They talk about Project Censored’s new book State of the Free Press 2025 that looks at the top underreported or censored news stories from the past year that corporate media censored, otherwise distorted or ignored altogether. Later in the conversation, Andy and Shealeigh talk about moving beyond fact-checking and their educator resource guide on the power of news frames, and how news framing helps shape public opinion. Later in the program, cohosts Mickey Huff and Eleanor Goldfield talk about a recent piece she wrote on news literacy for activists and organizers: Critical Media Literacy provides grassroots movements with practical tools for pursuing their goals. Eleanor and Mickey also discuss the troublesome bill, HR 9495 that passed through the House recently. It is a draconian bill that would allow the Treasury Secretary to unilaterally strip a nonprofit of their status if they’re deemed a terrorist-supporting organization. This is incredibly dangerous given the political motivations of a potential Treasury Secretary to silence particular nonprofits on the basis of the focus of their message. The post Censored News, Media Framing, and the Threat of HR 9495: A Conversation with Project Censored appeared first on Project Censored.

What does the genocide in Gaza have to do with the working class here at home? Well, quite a lot. Imperialism is a home game and the same corporations and international interests that make bank off of blood oppress the US workforce for that same bottom line. This week in a special hour interview episode, three guest experts join the Project Censored Radio show to discuss the US supply chain and war: labor educator Gifford Hartman, researcher and CGPU-UAW union member Abdullah Farooq, and 40 year rail and marine transportation veteran Fritz Edler. Together they outline not only the current actions and efforts of workers to connect the dots between oppression here at home and abroad, but also the silenced and buried history of workplace organizing against war, including direct action and strikes. Our guests also dive into the importance of public ownership of transportation such as rail, the nefarious ways in which automation fuels both the war machine and destitution here in the US, and what a just transition away from war could mean not only for workers here but indeed around the whole world. The post Connecting the Dots: The War on Workers Is The War Abroad appeared first on Project Censored.

In this episode of the Project Censored Show, guest host Mischa Geracoulis, Project Censored’s curriculum development coordinator, speaks with two of the contributors to the “Media Democracy in Action” chapter from Project Censored’s State of the Free Press 2024. In the first segment, Mischa talks with Maria Armoudian—senior lecturer at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, and co-director of the Center for Climate Biodiversity and Society—about the need to rethink traditional news values in the 21st century. Focusing on issues around the climate crisis, Armoudian argues that because the media too often report climate issues as news items, they fail to communicate the urgency of these issues while normalizing a perpetual economic growth-expansion model that exacerbates these challenges. In the second segment, media critic, award-winning documentary filmmaker, and author Jen Senko joins the program. Senko is best known for her film The Brainwashing of My Dad. Senko's work tracks the history of media in the United States, particularly the rise of hyper-partisan media, and its ongoing effects on society. Highlighting some of that history, she illuminates the calculated moves made by politicians and billionaires that have brought us to where we are today. The post Rethinking Media Values: Climate Crisis and Hyper-Partisan Influence in the 21st Century appeared first on Project Censored.

In the first half of the show, Eleanor sits down with an empty seat – a seat that could easily be filled by dozens if not hundreds of Kashmiri journalists and activists who cannot speak out due to the complex and constant threat of violence by the Indian government. Eleanor contextualizes the current situation in Kashmir while paralleling it to another settler colonialist struggle in Palestine, why we must connect these struggles, and how critical media literacy is vital in the case of silenced stories such as Kashmir. In the second half of the show, Ben Norton joins the program to discuss the recent BRICS summit, how our corporate media fell over itself to frame it as no big deal, the what, how and when of de-dollorization, and what the recent election means for our economy, or rather our economies – one for the rich and the one for the rest of us. The post Silenced Voices: Kashmir, Palestine, and BRICS Uncovered appeared first on Project Censored.

Iconic consumer and civil rights activist/author Ralph Nader returns to the program to discuss his latest two books with Mickey. They unpack Nader’s analysis from Out of Darkness and Let’s Start the Revolution, which includes commentary on the need to dismantle the corporate state, boost civic engagement from the grassroots level up, and demand that dark money and billionaires be driven of the political system. Next, Mickey talks with former Project Censored director, political sociologist Peter Phillips about his new book Titans of Capital: How Concentrated Wealth Threatens Humanity. The post Let’s Start a Revolution; Usurping the Titans of Capital appeared first on Project Censored.

Mickey's first guest this week is Project Censored's Associate Director, Andy Lee Roth. Roth is a 2024-25 Reynolds Journalism Institute Fellow where he is developing an "algorithmic literacy" toolkit for journalists. He explains why today's journalists need a basic understanding of the algorithms used by internet and social media tech giants to better serve the public. Issues around horse race poll coverage, shadow banning, and algorithmic gatekeeping are discussed. Then in the second half of the show, Maya Schenwar of Truthout and Lara Witt of Prism introduce the organization they co-founded, the Movement Media Alliance; they explain why social-justice-oriented media outlets should work together, both to enhance their impact and to better the working conditions for journalists in independent media. The post Algorithmic Literacy for Journalists; and a New Movement Media Alliance appeared first on Project Censored.

Now that the cameras have long since left Hurricane Helene’s trail of devastation, what is the situation on the ground? And what was it about Appalachia that made the devastation so great, and the mutualist response so powerful? In the first half of the show Eleanor Goldfield speaks with Mutual Aid Disaster Relief coordinator and street medic Jena about her work in Western North Carolina and elsewhere, how bad the destruction really is, the dearth of government support, and how communities are using their own cultural roots to get what they need. Jena outlines the vast and varied mutual aid web, current needs on the ground, and creative and beautiful ways in which we can all engage in solidarity rather than charity. In the second half of the program, Eleanor speaks with Chelsea White-Hoglen, a lifelong resident of Western North Carolina with a vast background in community organizing. Chelsea explains the scale of the impact on such a rural, poor and geologically complex area as Appalachia, how disaster relief blossomed out of existing community structures, how this next phase of the crisis is an economic one, and how this could be a turning point for a region historically misunderstood, cast aside and disenfranchised. The post Resilience Rising: Community, Care, and the Aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Appalachia appeared first on Project Censored.

With the 2024 US elections drawing near, host Mickey Huff moderates an expert panel discussion with three media scholars and educators about how critical-media-literacy education can enhance civic engagement. They outline the many challenges posed by social media, hyper-partisanship, and fake news, but also explore what educators can do to engage today's students and equip them with critical tools necessary to deconstruct media messaging and bridge communication barriers, both inside and outside the classroom. This program is also a special broadcast that is part of the Big Rhetorical Podcast Carnival. See here for more details. The post Crisis, Culture, and Civility: Critical Media Literacy Education and Election 2024 appeared first on Project Censored.

It’s the 10th annual US Media Literacy Week sponsored by NAMLE, the National Association for Media Literacy Education. We at Project Censored also celebrate Media Literacy Week, critically. On the program today, co-host Mickey Huff welcomes Dr. Nolan Higdon, media scholar and author of many books including The Anatomy of Fake News. Today we’ll talk to Nolan about a brief resource guide to fake news in the 2024 election with helpful hints for the voting public. We’ll talk about the history of fake news, mis- and disinformation and its impacts on the public, and what we can do about it that doesn’t involve censorship. In the second half of the show, co-host Eleanor Goldfield sits down with photojournalist Orin Langelle to talk about his new photography book release, Portraits of Struggle, a small but powerful selection of photographs and stories from a 50-year career. Orin talks about what he’s learned from the frontlines, how he was shunned by corporate media for telling the truth, the importance of documenting a history that is constantly stolen from us, and more. The post Media Literacy Week: Guide to Fake News and Voices from the Frontlines appeared first on Project Censored.