Democracy Now!
Pro-Palestine speech silenced at CUNY Law
- Title
- Pro-Palestine speech silenced at CUNY Law
- Runtime
- 1:03
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- As colleges hold graduation ceremonies across the country, many schools are attempting to silence pro-Palestine speech at the commemorations, including canceling speakers and eliminating live speeches by students altogether.
"This will be the third graduation and commencement ceremony in a row where we do not have a student speaker, we do not have a faculty speaker and we do not have a live-stream commencement," says Shivani Desai, a member of CUNY Law Students for Justice in Palestine. "They took all of that away from us, and they took that away specifically because of Palestine repression."
- Title
- Top U.S. & World Headlines — May 21, 2026
- Runtime
- 11:54
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.
Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe
- Title
- "They're Trying to Silence Us": Students, Faculty on Censoring Pro-Palestine Voices at Graduations
- Runtime
- 18:15
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
As colleges hold graduation ceremonies across the country, many schools are attempting to silence pro-Palestine speech at the commemorations, including canceling speakers and eliminating live speeches by students altogether. There will be no live student speakers at the City University of New York's School of Law or at New York University's school-specific ceremonies after former students gave speeches that included expressing support for Palestine and criticism of Israel. Rutgers University canceled biotech CEO Rami Elghandour's commencement speech at its School of Engineering's convocation, citing complaints about his social media posts on Israel and Palestine. And the University of Michigan's president issued a public apology after professor Derek Peterson praised pro-Palestine students during his commencement address.
"Our students are being told that your families, Palestinian families, are exp...
- Title
- Rising Conflict in DRC, Sudan, Other African Countries Linked to Trump's Gutting of USAID: Study
- Runtime
- 5:48
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
The decades-old U.S. humanitarian aid agency USAID was largely dismantled in the early days of President Trump's second term by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. The authors of a new study in the journal _Science_ conclude, "The abrupt withdrawal of USAID led to a significant and sustained increase in conflict across Africa's most USAID-dependent regions."
We are joined by Austin Wright, one of the study's authors and a professor of public policy at the University of Chicago. "What we found is that that shutdown had these large effects," says Wright. "These are often double-digit percentage increases in the incidence, severity and lethality of violence across Africa in the affected regions."
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 ...
- Title
- Trump Resettles White South Africans at "Record Pace" While Blocking Refugees from Everywhere Else
- Runtime
- 18:05
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
The Trump administration is advancing plans to resettle an additional 10,000 white South Africans in the United States as refugees. Under President Trump's proposal, which was submitted to Congress on Monday, the U.S. would lift its record-low refugee admissions figure from 7,500 to 17,500, with the additional openings reserved for Afrikaners. This comes as the administration continues to block the entry of refugees from other countries. The U.S. has resettled just over 6,000 refugees between October and April — all except three were from South Africa. Trump has said Afrikaners face racial persecution and genocide in South Africa, claims that have been rejected by the U.N. Human Rights Office, among others. Last year, he cut off aid to the country and boycotted the G20 summit in Johannesburg.
"Whiteness is being recast as endangered," says Lebohang Pheko, a professor of practice at the University ...
- Title
- Iran's death penalty
- Runtime
- 1:25
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Amnesty International’s 2025 report on the global use of the death penalty finds that executions have surged to their highest recorded number in over 40 years, driven largely by the expanded use of political executions in Iran to “create a climate of fear and intimidation in the society and deter dissent.”
- Title
- Trump's deal with DOJ could benefit his allies
- Runtime
- 2:17
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- “This is dictatorship in action,” reporter David Cay Johnston says of the Justice Department's settlement with Donald Trump.
- Title
- Executions Spike in Iran as Gov't Intensifies Domestic Repression Amid U.S.-Israeli Attacks
- Runtime
- 5:32
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Amnesty International's 2025 report on the global use of the death penalty finds that executions have surged to their highest recorded number in over 40 years, driven largely by the expanded use of political executions in Iran to "create a climate of fear and intimidation in the society and deter dissent."
Amnesty recorded 2,707 executions in 2025. But the data excludes China, believed to be the world's top executioner, because its government does not release any public data on executions. While the majority of countries around the world have banned the use of the death penalty, Raha Bahreini, who contributed to the report, says the 17 countries that carried out executions last year "keep insisting on the use of the death penalty as a tool of control and repression."
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- Title
- Rising U.S. Pressure on Cuba
- Runtime
- 19:26
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
In Havana, we speak to journalist Ed Augustin, who calls the Trump administration's strict fuel blockade of Cuba, in place since the beginning of 2026, "the collective punishment of a population, particularly targeting poor communities, pregnant women, children and the elderly." Augustin shares stories of hardship faced by everyday Cubans who are increasingly forced to go without electricity, drinking water and medical care.
And in the latest escalation of the decadeslong U.S. pressure campaign against Cuba's communist government, the Trump administration is expected to unseal an indictment against Raúl Castro, the 94-year-old former president of Cuba, later today. The charges stem from the 1996 shootdown of four pilots with Brothers to the Rescue, the U.S.-based anti-Castro organization formed by Cuban exiles and dissidents. Peter Kornbluh, a Cuba specialist at the National Security Archive, says ...
- Title
- "Dictatorship in Action": David Cay Johnston on $1.8B Slush Fund
- Runtime
- 15:56
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
In a shocking and unprecedented move, the Justice Department issued a memo Tuesday saying the IRS is "forever barred" from investigating past tax returns of President Trump, his family, company and "related companies." It came just a day after the department announced the creation of a $1.776 billion "anti-weaponization" fund to "compensate" people prosecuted for supposedly political reasons by the Biden and Obama administrations — a move expected to benefit January 6 insurrectionists, other Trump allies and even Trump himself. It's all part of an agreement between the Department of Justice and President Trump's personal attorneys in exchange for Trump dropping a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over leaked tax returns. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche — President Trump's former personal attorney — will appoint the commission overseeing the Justice Department's new fund.
"This is dictat...
- Title
- Top U.S. & World Headlines — May 20, 2026
- Runtime
- 14:31
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.
Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe
- Title
- Minnesota charges ICE agent over shooting
- Runtime
- 1:41
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- State prosecutors in Minnesota have filed criminal charges against an ICE officer who allegedly shot a Venezuelan immigrant in north Minneapolis in January, then lied about what happened.
Emilia González Avalos, executive director of the Minnesota-based social justice organization Unidos MN, welcomes the charges as a victory for civil society and the rule of law. “That is what democracy looks like. It looks like separation of powers and getting material consequences [for] wrongdoing,” she says.
- Title
- Linda Sarsour on San Diego mosque shooting, anti-Muslim hate
- Runtime
- 2:20
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Two teenage gunmen fatally shot three people at the Islamic Center of San Diego, the largest mosque in the city, before killing themselves. Activist Linda Sarsour knew one of the victims and says the shooting reflects rising bigotry against Muslim Americans.
- Title
- Minnesota Officials Charge ICE Agent Who Shot Venezuelan Immigrant & Falsely Reported What Happened
- Runtime
- 7:11
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
State prosecutors in Minnesota have filed criminal charges against an ICE officer who allegedly shot a Venezuelan immigrant in north Minneapolis in January, then lied about what happened. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced Monday that federal agent Christian Castro will face four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime when he allegedly shot Julio Sosa-Celis through a door. Federal authorities have refused to cooperate with the investigation, as well as separate probes into the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
Emilia González Avalos, executive director of the Minnesota-based social justice organization Unidos MN, welcomes the charges as a victory for civil society and the rule of law. "That is what democracy looks like. It looks like separation of powers and getting material consequences [for] wrongdoing," she says.
Democracy Now!...
- Title
- "Ask E. Jean" Film Profiles the Woman Who Twice Sued Trump & Won, for Sexual Assault & Defamation
- Runtime
- 18:38
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
President Donald Trump is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to toss two verdicts against him resulting from civil litigation brought by writer E. Jean Carroll. In 2019, the famous advice columnist published a memoir describing an encounter in the 1990s when she says Trump sexually assaulted her in a department store. When Trump denied the account, Carroll sued him and won $5 million in damages, with a unanimous New York jury finding Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation. After Trump made disparaging remarks about Carroll, she sued him again and won a second defamation judgment for $83.3 million. Federal courts have upheld both verdicts, but now Trump's attorneys are asking the Supreme Court to overturn them, asserting he has "absolute immunity" as president.
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream ...
- Title
- 3 Killed in Devastating San Diego Mosque Shooting: Linda Sarsour on Rising Anti-Muslim Hate & More
- Runtime
- 16:17
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
"This is a mosque that has opened its doors to the community," says Palestinian American activist Linda Sarsour, co-founder of the Muslim rights and advocacy group MPower Change. "This is the epitome of a mosque that shows our true values as Muslims, in community and in solidarity. So, it's just devastating, and no house of worship should have to ever experience this."
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.
Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe
- Title
- Top U.S. & World Headlines — May 19, 2026
- Runtime
- 12:53
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.
Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe
- Title
- Trump turning budget into a “collection of slush funds”
- Runtime
- 1:00
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- The Trump administration is “turning the entire budget of the United States that was authorized and appropriated by Congress into a collection of slush funds,” says Congressmember Jamie Raskin of Maryland.
- Title
- Taxpayer-funded evangelical rally
- Runtime
- 1:35
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Thousands of people gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Sunday for "Rededicate 250," a taxpayer-funded Christian evangelical service backed by President Trump.
- Title
- WHO declares Ebola outbreak a global health emergency
- Runtime
- 1:23
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- The World Health Organization declared a global health emergency on Saturday due to the rapid spread of Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. Public health professor and emergency room physician Dr. Craig Spencer, who is an Ebola survivor, says this Ebola outbreak could be the fourth largest in history.
- Title
- "Staggering Corruption": Rep. Raskin on Trump's $10B IRS Lawsuit, Stock Trades & Family Business
- Runtime
- 13:00
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Donald Trump on Monday dropped his $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over a leak of his personal and business tax records, a bizarre case of a sitting president suing his own government and essentially acting as both plaintiff and defendant. This comes amid reports that Trump's Department of Justice was considering settling the case in exchange for the creation of a $1.7 billion fund to compensate victims of so-called weaponization of the DOJ under the Biden and Obama administrations. Trump allies who participated in the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol could file claims and be compensated.
"They want a $1.7 billion slush fund, which comes to a million dollars a head in terms of Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, the insurrectionists, with $100 million left over of taxpayer money to spread around in different ways," says Congressmember Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democra...
- Title
- Trump's Christian Nationalist Agenda & Taxpayer-Funded DC Prayer Rally: Bishop Barber & Sarah Posner
- Runtime
- 19:10
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Thousands of people gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Sunday for "Rededicate 250," a taxpayer-funded Christian evangelical service backed by President Trump. The eight-hour lineup featured songs, prayers and remarks by top government officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The event included religious leaders like evangelist Franklin Graham and Cardinal Timothy Dolan.
"Nothing was Christian about what we saw yesterday," says Bishop William J. Barber II. "This is idolatry. This is heresy. This is a form of religious nationalism. This is Trump worship. This is trying to make someone a messiah figure." Barber, the president of Repairers of the Breach and founding director of the Yale Center for Public Theology and Public Policy, took part in a counter-event on Sunday called Redirect 250.
"This is...
- Title
- As WHO Declares Ebola Outbreak a Global Health Emergency, Did USAID Cuts Worsen the Crisis?
- Runtime
- 10:40
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
The World Health Organization declared a global health emergency on Saturday due to the rapid spread of Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. Ebola causes severe hemorrhagic fever and is often fatal. There's no approved vaccine for the strain of Ebola responsible for the current outbreak, known as the Bundibugyo variant. The WHO said in a statement that the outbreak is potentially much larger "than what is currently being detected and reported."
Public health professor and emergency room physician Dr. Craig Spencer, who is an Ebola survivor, says this Ebola outbreak could be the fourth largest in history. "This is going to be a really difficult outbreak to manage and respond to," says Spencer. The ability of healthcare workers to address the outbreak in eastern Congo, "given the violence and conflict, is anything but ideal."
Spencer adds that cuts to USAID and the ...
- Title
- Top U.S. & World Headlines — May 18, 2026
- Runtime
- 12:14
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.
Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe
- Title
- "The Nakba was not a single passing event"
- Runtime
- 1:35
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Palestinians around the world are marking Nakba Day, 78 years after their forced mass displacement led to the establishment of the Jewish-majority state of Israel.
Decades later, Palestinians still face widespread oppression and violence from the Israeli state as it continues its expansionary project.
“Israel tried, since 1948 until today, to destroy us as a people, as a group, and they failed at it. Our people are still there, resilient,” says Palestinian writer Muhammad Shehada, who was born in Gaza and now lives in Denmark.
- Title
- Israel threatens NYT with defamation suit
- Runtime
- 2:05
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- The Israeli government is threatening to file a defamation lawsuit against The New York Times for publishing a column by longtime opinion writer Nicholas Kristof about systemic sexual abuse against Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.
- Title
- End ICE Abuse: Tom Morello Joins Immigrant Rights Protest in NYC
- Runtime
- 12:31
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
On Tuesday, a coalition of groups held a rally to protest ICE’s abuses at 26 Federal Plaza in New York City, a 41-story federal building in lower Manhattan that houses immigration courts, ICE field offices, immigrant detention spaces, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The protest, organized by Hands Off NYC, included advocates from Make the Road New York, the New York Immigration coalition, and a surprise guest — musician Tom Morello, who performed “This Land Is Your Land.”
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.
Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe
- Title
- "Israel: What Went Wrong?": Holocaust Scholar Omer Bartov & Haaretz's Gideon Levy Debate Zionism
- Runtime
- 23:25
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
We speak to two prominent Israeli thinkers, historian Omer Bartov and journalist Gideon Levy, about the founding beliefs of Zionism. Bartov, a professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University, is the author of the new book "Israel: What Went Wrong?," while Gideon Levy's latest piece in Haaretz is titled "Zionism Didn't Go Wrong, It Was Always Built This Way."
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.
Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe
- Title
- Nakba Day: Muhammad Shehada on Israel's Ethnic Cleansing in Gaza & Ongoing Palestinian Resilience
- Runtime
- 18:47
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Palestinians around the world are marking Nakba Day, 78 years after their forced mass displacement led to the establishment of the Jewish-majority state of Israel. Decades later, Palestinians still face widespread oppression and violence from the Israeli state as it continues its expansionary project. "Israel tried, since 1948 until today, to destroy us as a people, as a group, and they failed at it. Our people are still there, resilient," says Palestinian writer Muhammad Shehada, who was born in Gaza and now lives in Denmark. Shehada discusses the ongoing process of the Nakba, including its latest intensification after October 7, 2023. "Now this veneer of civility has fallen off. The mask was taken off. And now it's a matter of national pride in Israel to brag about annihilating Palestinians."
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday thro...
- Title
- Top U.S. & World Headlines — May 15, 2026
- Runtime
- 13:07
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.
Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe
- Title
- Molly Crabapple on the Jewish Labor Bund, opposing antisemitism and Zionism
- Runtime
- 2:27
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Molly Crabapple discusses the largely forgotten history of the Jewish Labor Bund, the secular socialist revolutionary party that fought for Jews’ rights to live in freedom and dignity in Europe. As she details in her book, "Here where we live is our country," the Bund fought against both antisemitism and Zionism in the early 20th century, a legacy she says is more important than ever.
- Title
- "Here Where We Live Is Our Country”: Molly Crabapple on Resurfacing Jewish History of Anti-Zionism
- Runtime
- 23:05
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
We speak with the acclaimed artist and author Molly Crabapple about her new book, Here Where We Live Is Our Country: The Story of the Jewish Bund. Although largely forgotten today, the Jewish Labor Bund was once a powerful secular, socialist revolutionary party that fought for freedom and dignity for Jews in Europe. The movement formed in the waning days of the Russian Empire in an atmosphere of intense antisemitism, but it "rejected, from the very start, calls to create a Jewish ethnostate in Palestine," Crabapple says. "They felt that Zionism was a capitulation to the same bigots that wanted to kick Jews out of Europe."
Bund members — known as Bundists — navigated profound historical changes from the founding of the movement in 1897 until its ultimate destruction in the Holocaust. But Crabapple, who learned Yiddish for the book, says the Bund is not just Jewish history.
"This is ...
- Title
- Xi Warns Trump of Potential "Conflict" over Taiwan in Beijing Summit on Iran, Trade, Tech & More
- Runtime
- 19:04
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
U.S. President Donald Trump is in Beijing for a highly anticipated summit with his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping. It is the first U.S. state visit to China since 2017, during Trump's first administration. Trade, the Iran war, artificial intelligence and the fate of Taiwan are some of the issues being discussed, although it's not clear if any new agreements are likely. Trump traveled to China with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, along with a delegation of top U.S. executives including Apple CEO Tim Cook, Elon Musk of Tesla and Jensen Huang of Nvidia.
The summit comes after years of rising hostility between the two superpowers, but leaders recognize the importance of improving the bilateral relationship, says Zhao Hai, director of international political studies at the Institute of World Economics and Politics in Beijing. "...
- Title
- Top U.S. & World Headlines — May 14, 2026
- Runtime
- 13:03
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.
Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe
- Title
- Tech firms, once "climate champions," abandon commitments amid AI scramble
- Runtime
- 1:17
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Writer Astra Taylor says many tech companies that once "presented themselves as climate champions" have abandoned those commitments in a mad scramble to build out artificial intelligence infrastructure.
- Title
- Free Salah Sarsour: Milwaukee Community Demands ICE Release Palestinian American Mosque Leader
- Runtime
- 9:33
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.
Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe
- Title
- Astra Taylor on AI Data Center Resistance & Fighting "Billionaire Big Tech Agenda"
- Runtime
- 15:59
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
As the "supercharged" construction of new data centers to power artificial intelligence blankets the country, a growing resistance movement to these massive corporate projects amid a lack of public oversight is not far behind. As organizer Astra Taylor explains, local fights across the country are leveraging this "industry chokepoint" to force important questions, from the distribution of land, water and energy resources to democratic governance over an industry currently driven by a "billionaire Big Tech agenda." While AI boosters frame the technology as inevitable, Taylor says, "I think that many people are more skeptical than that. … That's part of what it means to have democratic governance over AI, to say, 'No, we don't need this technology to take over every facet of our existence.'"
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through...
- Title
- FDA Chief Pushed Out in Latest Sign of Public Health Chaos Under RFK Jr.
- Runtime
- 18:07
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Trump's commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Martin Makary, has resigned. During Makary's 13-month tenure, he attempted to split the difference between Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again agenda and a more traditional approach to regulation, ultimately angering both camps. Shortly before his resignation, Makary had drawn the ire of President Trump for attempting to block the approval of fruit-flavored vapes, and anti-abortion groups for not placing harsher restrictions on the abortion pill mifepristone. But even before Makary took the helm, mass layoffs and the loss of scientific expertise had already thrown the FDA, which has oversight powers extending to more than a fifth of the U.S. economy, in turmoil.
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our ...
- Title
- Top U.S. & World Headlines — May 13, 2026
- Runtime
- 11:11
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.
Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe
- Title
- 10 days in Israel: Gaza flotilla activist describes detention
- Runtime
- 2:46
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- "We were hearing, every day, the screams of other Palestinians who were being tortured inside this investigation center."
Activist Saif Abukeshek describes spending 10 days in Israeli detention after he was abducted in international waters as part of an aid flotilla seeking to reach Gaza.
- Title
- The assault on voting rights
- Runtime
- 2:24
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Republican lawmakers across the U.S. South are racing to redraw their congressional maps, expected to lead to a historic drop in the number of Black representatives in Congress.
- Title
- I Was Kidnapped by Israel in Int'l Waters, Jailed for 10 Days: Gaza Flotilla Activist Saif Abukeshek
- Runtime
- 9:22
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
"We were hearing, every day, the screams of other Palestinians who were being tortured inside this investigation center."
Spanish citizen Saif Abukeshek, an activist of Palestinian origin, speaks with Democracy Now! about spending 10 days in Israeli detention after he was abducted in international waters. He was among 175 international activists sailing to Gaza as part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which has for years tried to breach Israel's maritime blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians.
Abukeshek and Brazilian activist Thiago Ávila were the only flotilla members detained for "questioning" inside Israel, where they say they faced severe physical abuse in detention. Abukeshek, speaking from Turkey, says being dual nationals provided them some protection because of international attention. "Imagine how Palestinians are being treated. Imagine the violations that ...
- Title
- A Return to Jim Crow? Ex-DOJ Civil Rights Chief Kristen Clarke Slams Gutting of Voting Rights Act
- Runtime
- 31:17
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
We speak with Kristen Clarke, general counsel of the NAACP, about growing threats to democracy in the United States following the Supreme Court's gutting of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. Republican lawmakers across the South are responding to the ruling by racing to redraw their congressional maps, which is expected to lead to a historic drop in the number of Black representatives in Congress.
"The Supreme Court's devastating decision in the Louisiana v. Callais case has really turned our country upside down," says Clarke, who previously served as assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Justice Department in the Biden administration. She says that given the history of racial discrimination in the United States, particularly in the Deep South, "it is unsurprising" to see lawmakers "race at lightning speed to eradicate the gains that have been made over the decades."
...
- Title
- Top U.S. & World Headlines — May 12, 2026
- Runtime
- 13:36
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.
Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe
- Title
- Rutgers pulls graduation speaker over Palestine
- Runtime
- 1:51
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Rutgers University in New Jersey has abruptly withdrawn its invitation to a prominent biotech entrepreneur and alum to speak at its engineering school convocation.
Rami Elghandour, a 2001 alum of the engineering school, had been scheduled to deliver a graduation address at Rutgers’ New Brunswick campus May 15th, but his invitation was canceled over what the university said were complaints about his social media posts on Israel-Palestine.
Two unions of educators at Rutgers University issued a joint statement condemning the university’s decision to cancel the speech, calling it politically motivated suppression that, “reflects a broader pattern of universities applying a Palestine exception to their stated commitments to free speech."
Elghandour is also executive producer of the Gaza-set documentaries "The Voice of Hind Rajab" and "American Doctor."
- Title
- Why a former U.S. Marine spent 5 days protestingatop D.C. bridge
- Runtime
- 0:35
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Guido Reichstadter is a former U.S. Marine who left the service after refusing to deploy to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Here's why he scaled the 168-foot Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C. to protest the war on Iran.
- Title
- Rutgers Disinvites Biotech CEO Rami Elghandour as Graduation Speaker over Palestine Stance
- Runtime
- 11:23
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.
Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe
- Title
- Meet Guido Reichstadter, the Marine Veteran Who Scaled D.C. Bridge to Protest Iran War & AI
- Runtime
- 10:49
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.
Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe
- Title
- Starmer Out? Pressure Grows on U.K. PM to Resign as Far-Right Reform Party Surges in Local Elections
- Runtime
- 16:41
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.
Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe
- Title
- Top U.S. & World Headlines — May 11, 2026
- Runtime
- 15:36
- Date posted
- 5 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.
Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe
