Wednesday’s weekly series, In the News, is where the hosts look at the most important ongoing developments of the week and put them into perspective. Today’s In the News is about Sanders dropping out of the race, the movement that propelled him continuing onward, and the racialized health disparities in the United States becoming even clearer in the coronavirus pandemic.
Unfounded accusations against the Chinese abound--that Beijing has stolen medical supplies destined for the United States, that the coronavirus was created in a Chinese military intelligence lab, and that the pandemic is part of a Chinese plan for world domination. Is this anti-Chinese bias new or has the pandemic just given media outlets an opportunity to promote it? KJ Noh, a peace activist and scholar on the geopolitics of Asia, and a frequent contributor to Counterpunch and Dissident Voice joins the show.
Joe Biden apparently won a resounding victory in yesterday’s Wisconsin primary, an election made controversial by a federal judge’s refusal at the behest of the state Republican Party to postpone it until July because of the coronavirus. At least, that’s if exit polls are to be believed. Voters waited in lines for as long as three hours before making it into a polling station. We don’t yet know what happened in the state’s most controversial race, the hotly-contested Supreme Court race, Trump-endorsed Judge Daniel Kelly, and the state’s electoral commissioner said he won’t release results until April 13. Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders ended his campaign for president today. Brian and John speak with Dave Lindorff, an investigative reporter, a columnist for CounterPunch, and a contributor to The Nation, Extra! and Salon.com, whose writings are at ThisCantBeHappening.net.
Every country around the world has a plan to bring its economy out of the coronavirus recession, but will it be enough to avert the biggest economic catastrophe since the Great Depression. In the United States, Congress already has passed a multi-trillion-dollar bailout package, mostly for big companies, and the Federal Reserve has cut its interest rate to zero. In the European Union, many countries are fully covering unemployed workers’ salaries, but there are fierce debates between wealthier Northern European economies and the harder-hit south. And in Japan, the parliament has allocated $4 billion to be distributed mostly among small and medium-sized businesses. Steve Keen, the author of “Debunking Economics” and the world’s first crowdfunded economist, whose work is at patreon.com/ProfSteveKeen, joins the show.
Wednesday’s regular segment, Beyond Nuclear, is about nuclear issues, including weapons, energy, waste, and the future of nuclear technology in the United States. Kevin Kamps, the Radioactive Waste Watchdog at the organization Beyond Nuclear, and Sputnik news analyst and producer Nicole Roussell, join the show.
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