A Public Affair Douglas Haynes, Ali Muldrow, Carousel Bayrd, Allen Ruff, & Esty Dinur

Project 2025 is a sweeping policy blueprint for the first 180 days of next Republican president, written by the Heritage Foundation and supported by more than 80 conservative organizations. The goal of the plan is to “rescue the country from the grip of the radical Left.”

The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) calls the plan a threat to our democracy. President and cofounder Wendy Via joins host Nate Carlin to talk about the more than nine hundred page agenda. She argues that we have not recovered from the 2016 to 2020 presidency. “The idea that Americans can take for granted that our institutions will hold, that our democracy is so solid that nothing can happen to it. I think that is a mistake,” she tells listeners. “I do not want people to be afraid–I just want people to exercise their rights within our democratic process. Is it possible for a right wing president to get into office and destroy a lot of our democratic foundations? I think the answer is yes”



Wendy Via is an expert in the intersection of technology and far-right extremism and the effect on democracy as well as in achieving change and influencing narratives and actions around some of the most pressing civil and human rights issues of our time, including far-right extremism, systemic racism, economic inequality, immigration, criminal justice reform, and LGBTQ+ rights.

Image by David Peterson from Pixabay

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A 2017 Pew Research survey found that a quarter of Black Americans had faced online harassment due to their race or ethnicity. As our society moves more and more online, how do we cope with this reality?

In his new book, When the Hood Comes Off: Racism and Resistance in the Digital Age, Dr. Rob Eschmann analyzes a wealth of data, interviews with students of color, and millions of social media posts to unpack the influence of online communication on face-to-face interactions. He joins host Ali Muldrow to discuss online racism and the way people choose to respond to it. 



Dr. Rob Eschmann is a writer, educator, filmmaker, and scholar from Chicago. He is an Associate Professor at the Columbia University School of Social Work and a Faculty Associate at at Harvard’s Berkman-Klein Center for Internet & Society. Rob wrote and directed “Choose Your Own Resistance”, an immersive, multi-perspective film about choosing to challenge racism. Additionally he writes on educational inequality, community violence, racism, social media, and youth wellbeing.

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Last week, President Biden unveiled his latest student loan forgiveness proposal while speaking at Madison College. He described a plan that would cancel debt for anyone who began repaying undergraduate loans more than 20 years ago and would cancel accrued interest for some borrowers.

Carole Trone and Benjamin Lee from the Wisconsin Coalition on Student Debt join host Douglas Haynes to talk about the proposed plan and the broader issues around student debt. The coalition is a nonprofit that aims to clarify student debt, college affordability, and loan repayment.

For confidential assistance, the Wisconsin Coalition on Student Debt help line can be reached at 833-589-0750. You can ask questions by email at studentloanquestions@debtsmarts.org

Additional support for student loan debt can be found at studentaid.gov



Carole Trone is the Interim Executive Director of the Coalition and Executive Director of Fair Opportunity Project, a nationally focused and student-led nonprofit organization with a mission to empower students to access and afford college. Prior to this role, she served as Senior Vice President for Educational Services at the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. She earned a Ph.D. in Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has taught and served in various roles there. Carole earned her undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University and is originally from Washington, D.C.

Benjamin Lee is a board member of the Wisconsin Coalition on Student Debt. He is also Associate Counsel at Ascendium Education Group, a nonprofit organization making education and training beyond high school a reality for more people. Benjamin’s focus includes compliance, bankruptcy, incident response, and risk management, and he is a frequent trainer and presenter on student loans. Benjamin received his law degree from the University of Minnesota, where he studied nonprofit, corporate, and consumer law, and took on student loans of his own.

 

Photo by Dylan Gillis on Unsplash

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“We do not believe that we can sit by and watch as people are being slaughtered, as children are being starved to death, and as our governments refuse to do anything about it–except, you know, maybe some strong words here and there. We have a responsibility as global civil society to take actions when our governments fail, and we are going to do everything that we can to make sure that we are protected as much as possible.”

That is human rights attorney and social justice activist Huwaida Arraf talking about the upcoming Gaza Freedom Flotilla. She will be on traveling into Gaza on the flotilla which depart later this month. Cassandra Dixon, Madison-based activist, will also be on the flotilla.Their aim is to deliver 5,500 tons of humanitarian aid. Huwaida and Cassandra join host Esty Dinur to talk about logistics, risks, and motivations behind the trip.

Huwaida joined us in June 2010 after a flotilla led by Mavi Marmara that was attacked by Israeli forces. We played a short clip during the show, and the full episode can be heard here:



Then, we turn our attention to war tax resistance as the proposed federal budget for fiscal year 2025 allots nearly $850 billion for the Department of Defense.  The National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee (NWTRCC) says they oppose militarism and war and refuse to be complicit in paying taxes for such violence Esty talks with Paula Rogge who has been practicing war tax resistance for 39 years and organizes with NWTRCC. 

Event mentioned during the show: The Madison-Rafah Sister City Project hosting Commemorating the Life of Rachel Corrie, on April 14th at 944 E. Gorham St from 1:30pm to 3:30 pm.



About our guests:

Huwaida Arraf is a Palestinian-American civil/human rights attorney and social justice activist. She has been involved in numerous legal and grassroots initiatives for Palestinian rights for the last two decades, including co-founding the Nobel Peace Prize-nominated International Solidarity Movement (ISM), and leading the Free Gaza Movement, which organized sea voyages to Gaza to confront and challenge Israel’s illegal blockade on the two million Palestinians living there. Huwaida currently practices civil rights law in Detroit and was a 2022 candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives for Michigan’s 10th Congressional District. 

Cassandra Dixon is 65 and lives in Wisconsin, US, at a small catholic worker house providing overnight hospitality to women and children visiting a nearby federal prison.at Oxford, Wisconsin. She works as a residential carpenter in Madison and has volunteered regularly in the West Bank since 2006, helping to accompany schoolchildren and farming families whose lives have been impacted by the construction and expansion between their villages. She is a member of Madison Rafah Sister City Project, and has been involved in many events to raise funds for humanitarian aid, as well as congressional visits and other efforts to call for a ceasefire.

Dr. Paula Rogge is a board-certified family physician and former clinical assistant professor in the UW Department of Family Medicine. Since medical school,

Following the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel, stories of horrifying atrocities against civilians spread through the media. Many of the most horrendous stories came from Zaka, an Israeli search-and-rescue organization. Some of these accounts have since been refuted by respected Israeli sources, but their reach has gone beyond a simple news correction.

Investigative journalist Arun Gupta joins Allen Ruff to talk about fabrications, rape claims, and the dehumanization cause by propaganda. They talk at depth about Gupta’s Intercept piece “American Media Keep Citing Zaka — Though its October 7 Atrocity Stories are Discredited in Israel”  and his YES! piece “Claims of Mass Rape by Hamas Unravel Upon Investigation.”

Note to listeners: this interview involves discussion of very violent and disturbing allegations.



Arun Gupta is a journalist who has written for the Washington Post, The Nation, YES!, Raw Story, The Guardian, and Jacobin. He is a graduate of the French Culinary Institute in New York and author of the upcoming “Bacon as a Weapon of Mass Destruction: A Junk Food-Loving Chef’s Inquiry Into Taste” (The New Press).

Image by 01x07x2022000 on Wikimedia used under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

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After more than 10 years on A Public Affair, host Carousel Bayrd is stepping away from the show. To celebrate, we have a round table of colleagues and friends who work in different realms of local government. Analiese Eicher, Jenni Dye, and Ali Muldrow join Carousel to talk about the unique challenges they have each faced and why they keep showing up day after day.

Please email any parting messages for Carousel to talk@wortfm.org

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