Michigan Kidnapping Trial; Desmond Tutu Remembered; COVID-19 Booster Controversy

Looking back on the legacy of Desmond Tutu. What we can learn from him in the fight against injustice.

Ted Rall, award-winning political cartoonist, columnist, co-host of the DMZ America podcast, and author whose latest book is "The Stringer," joins us to talk about the trial of the men accused of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, where five of the accused filed a 20-page motion this weekend asking for the indictment to be dismissed on the grounds that they were entrapped, and how this has been a common practice by the authorities that was constantly used in the Global War on Terror. We also talk about the case of 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley, who faces 24 counts of first-degree murder, along with manslaughter charges against his parents, and the ongoing chaos in the airline industry as the Omicron variant sweeps the country.

Bill Fletcher, Jr., longtime trade unionist, writer and a past president of TransAfrica Forum, talks to us about the legacy of Desmond Tutu, who passed away this weekend. We talk about his important work fighting against apartheid, the impression he made on those he met and how he inspired others to fight for justice. We also talk about how his work has informed activism in Palestine, where there are parallels with the South African experience, and in the United States in the fight against segregation, classism, and sexism.

Tina Desiree Berg, host of the podcast District 34 and reporter for Status Coup, joins us to talk about Joe Biden embracing “Let’s Go Brandon” in a White House phone call over the weekend, the divisions among conservatives after Trump looked to take credit for the development of the COVID-19 vaccines under the project name Operation Warp Speed and coming out pro-booster, which has anti-vaxxers seeing red. We also talk about the controversy over the efficacy of boosters and whether we should reassess our approach to controlling the pandemic to mitigation or outright eradication of the virus, which seems more difficult every day, as well as plans by Israel to double its settlements in the Golan Heights.

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