Mr. Conway says police are asked by society to control the poor as if they are fighting a war, so anything goes. This is an episode of Reality Asserts Itself produced on November 26, 2014.
Mr. Conway says after 44 years in prison, he considered people to be of value and to be respected and refused to be dehumanized himself. This is an episode of Reality Asserts Itself produced on September 16, 2014.
Mr. Conway says prisoners were treated like animals; and because he resisted and organized, he was in lockup twenty-three and a half hours a day for six years. This is an episode of Reality Asserts Itself produced on September 25, 2014.
Mr. Conway tells the story of his arrest and trial and being “represented” by a lawyer who spent 45 minutes with him before going to trial. This is an episode of Reality Asserts Itself produced on September 24, 2014.
Mr. Conway says, by targeting the Panthers, the FBI and other state and local agencies were functioning as national secret police. That was COINTELPRO; it carries on under The Patriot Act. This is an episode of Reality Asserts Itself produced on September 16, 2014.
Mr. Conway says the Panthers were also a threat because they recognized the humanity of and worked with all ethnic groups. This is an episode of Reality Asserts Itself produced on September 14, 2014.
Mr. Conway describes the campaign by police agencies to destroy the Black Panthers, and how he joined the Baltimore chapter which he later found out was founded by an agent of the NSA. This is an episode of Reality Asserts Itself produced on September 10, 2014.
This is an episode of Reality Asserts Itself, produced September 9, 2014. Former Black Panther Eddie Conway says, while serving in the military, it dawned on him that the same army that was aiming its guns at the black community was doing the same thing in Vietnam.
Mr. Abunimah says there’s conspicuous consumption in Palestine but the reality for the vast majority in the West Bank and Gaza is increasing poverty. This is an episode of Reality Asserts Itself, produced May 18, 2014.
On Reality Asserts Itself, Ali Abunimah, founder of Electronic Intifada, says that Palestinians need to know that even in a country with formal legal equality, the reality can mean mass incarceration, economic inequality and racism. This is an episode of Reality Asserts Itself, produced May 14, 2014.
Mr. Abunimah, founder of Electronic Intifada, says after the Israeli 2006 invasion of Lebanon and the 2008 attack on Gaza, he knew what he had to do. This is an episode of Reality Asserts Itself, produced May 13, 2014.
Mr. Robock says coal burning must end now and fracking is not a good transitional form of energy production. This is an episode of Reality Asserts Itself, produced May 6, 2014.
Mr. Robock says a nuclear war between the United States and Russia would produce so much smoke that temperatures would get below freezing even in the summertime, crops would die and there would be no food for the entire planet. This is an episode of Reality Asserts Itself, produced May 5, 2014.
Mr. Robock takes on many of the arguments against the thesis that CO2 produced by industrial society is the main contributor to global warming. This is an episode of Reality Asserts Itself, produced May 4, 2014.
On Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay, Mr. Robock says his initial work led him to investigate the role of volcanoes in global warming, but years of reports convinced him that CO2 is the most likely cause. This is an episode of Reality Asserts Itself, produced April 30, 2014.
On Reality Asserts Itself, climatologist and IPCC lead author Alan Robock tells Paul Jay that he’s a skeptic who tries to be critical and make conclusions based on the evidence.
Mr. Shallal says at the local level is where you can make a change. It’s very hard to expect change on the national level. This is an episode of Reality Asserts Itself, produced March 28, 2014.
On Reality Asserts Itself, Mr. Shallal says we went from No Child Left Behind under the Bush era to no kid left untested, then to no teacher left unstressed, and our schools are still doing very poorly. This is an episode of Reality Asserts Itself, produced March 27, 2014.
On Reality Asserts Itself, Mr. Shallal tells Paul Jay how speaking out against war led to his passion about schools. This is an episode of Reality Asserts Itself, produced March 26, 2014.
Mr. Shallal, owner of Busboys and Poets restaurants and candidate for DC mayor, tells Paul Jay that after coming to America as a child, the shocking death of MLK led him to discover how much race permeates everything. This is an episode of Reality Asserts Itself, produced March 25, 2014.
On Reality Asserts Itself, Mr. Abunimah says that justice in Palestine does not require Israeli Jews giving up any legitimate rights, but they must give up the “right” to supremacy. This is an episode of Reality Asserts Itself, produced May 19, 2014.
Toby Jones, a Prof. at Rutgers University specializing in Middle East history, tells Paul Jay the Saudis are committed to victory in their rivalry with Iran and use money and sectarian ideology to achieve their geo-political interests. This is an episode of Reality Asserts Itself, produced January 15, 2015.
Toby Jones tells Paul Jay that the Saudis’ use of terrorism is driven by a fear of democracy and a desire to be the regional and oil hegemon. This is an episode of Reality Asserts Itself, produced January 15, 2014.
On RAI with Paul Jay, Chris Hedges says that while people are disgusted with the centers of power, unless there is a constructive alternative, any eruption will be nihilistic and could be fascist. This episode was produced on December 6, 2013.
This interview was originally published on October 11, 2013. In the final segment of this Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay, Frank Hammer says all workers should face up to the dangers of climate change and insist that we move toward a green economy.
This interview was originally published on October 8, 2013. In this episode of Reality Asserts Itself, Frank Hammer discusses the pressures on Detroit auto workers’ wages that came from the American and global south.
This interview was originally published on October 7, 2013. In this episode, Frank Hammer tells Paul Jay about being inspired by the national liberation movements and the struggle against concessions as a response to the outsourcing of jobs.
This interview was originally published on October 7, 2013. On Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay, retired UAW Local President Frank Hammer tells the story of his radicalization in the movement against the Vietnam War and turning his back on a professional career to take up working class activism.
On the final episode of Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay, Chris Hedges answers questions like: “Do you believe the US or Israel will attack Iran?” and “Is there any hope for Bradley Manning?” This episode was produced on July 25, 2013.
On Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay, Chris Hedges says an effective movement that defies power will have to be disciplined and articulate what a vision of socialism might look like. This episode was produced on July 24, 2013.
On Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay, Chris Hedges says the Democratic Party used to watch out for the interests of labor and even for the poor. But that all changed under Bill Clinton. Although Clinton, like Obama, continues to speak in that feel-your-pain language of traditional liberalism, they’ve completely betrayed the very people that they purport to represent and defend. This episode was produced on July 22, 2013.
On Reality Asserts Itself, Paul Jay asks Chris Hedges if the American Left bears responsibility for the weakness of the mass movement; Hedges says the gravest mistake of the left is not articulating a viable vision of socialism. This episode was produced on July 19, 2013.
On Reality Asserts Itself, Chris Hedges tells Paul Jay about his criticism of the Iraq War and the events that led to him leaving the New York Times – “great reporters care about truth more than they do about news”. This episode was produced on July 17, 2013.
Paul Jay interviews author, journalist and activist Chris Hedges about the formative experiences that shaped his worldview. This is an episode of Reality Asserts Itself produced on July 16, 2013.