Listen to the full episode here:
Host Johanna Fernandez at WBAI, Pacifica Radio in New York, covered the recent strike of over 1400 produce delivery workers, members of Teamsters Local 202 in the Bronx. This strike could possibly be the prelude to a mass work stoppage by frontline workers who are barely making a living wage, even as they risk contracting COVID-19. Thanks to producer Marcos Maldonado.
California and particularly Los Angeles is ground zero for the COVID-19 pandemic. And yet, after a year, healthcare workers are still not getting enough gowns, masks and other PPE. We hear from Sandy Reding, president of the California Nurses’ Association and VP with the National Nurses Union, and from Sal Rosselli, president of the National Union of Healthcare Workers. They spoke to producer Steve Zeltzer about profiteering in the healthcare industry and the need for Medicare for All.
Yvette Cheeks, a registered nurse managing a busy vaccination clinic in the suburbs of Houston, TX, speaks to KPFT’s Akua Holt about her experience as a front-line essential worker administering the vaccine at the height of the Covid 19 pandemic.
One country—only 90 miles from the US southern coastline has been able to contain the coronavirus despite a massive US blockade. We are talking about Cuba, which despite suffering under unilateral coercive actions, aka sanctions imposed by the US and its NATO allies, has had better health outcomes amidst the pandemic than its not so friendly neighbor to the North. KPFK’s Polina Vasiliev spoke to University of Havana pediatric gastroenterologist, Dr Eduardo Sagaró.
Big Tech censorship is an increasing concern on both the left and right. Social media giants have suspended accounts, and Amazon has refused to distribute books, including the title “Capitalism on a Ventilator: The Impact of COVID-19 in China & the U.S. “Pacifica’s Ann Garrison reports.
The censorship by tech giants like Facebook, YouTube owned by Google and Zoom is expanding and now these companies are censoring education classes for those who are critical of Israel. Pacifica talked with San Francisco State Professors Rabab Abdulhadi with the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas (AMED) program and Professor Tomomi Kinukawa of the Women and Gender Studies about the censorship by Zoom, Facebook and Youtube of an international panel called “Whose Narratives? Gender, Justice, & Resistance: A conversation with Leila Khaled.”
Prisoners face the brunt of this pandemic. Malik Washington is a prisoner who is serving-part-of-his-time in a Federal halfway house run by the for-profit-prisons corporation—Geo Group. Malik is also editor of the SF Bayview, National Black Newspaper. After another newspaper reported on a COVID outbreak in the facility where Malik is housed, it was assumed that he tipped the reporter. In retaliation, the facility confiscated Malik’s cell phone and this has prevented him from doing his job as editor. Nube Brown, managing editor of the SF Bayview and host of Prison Radio, spoke about Malik’s case.
Produced by Steve Zeltzer and Polina Vasiliev. Hosted by Johanna Fernandez. Executive producers are Akua Holt, Polina Vasiliev, and Steve Zeltzer. Many thanks to everyone who contributed to the production of this show.
