On Tuesday, Democracy Now! spoke with Ashley Joppa-Hagemann, the widow of a U.S. Army Ranger who confronted former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld about her husband’s suicide on Saturday ahead of his eighth deployment overseas.
While on tour in the United States, legendary British rocker and activist, Billy Bragg, joined Democracy Now! for an extended interview. One of the many topics he discussed was the tragic death of the British singer-songwriter, Amy Winehouse. "I’m very, very sorry that someone as clearly as talented as Amy should have succumbed in that way. And in some ways, we, all of us, could see it was a likely outcome, and perhaps a little bit more might have been done to help her out.
As Congress considers spending cuts to reduce the deficit, critics warn that reduced education, healthcare and other social services will disproportionally impact low-income communities of color. This is the case in New York City, where a high school that provides drug treatment to former gang members is being closed as part of an effort to trim the state budget — all because of a simple data entry error that made it appear the school served 39 students instead of more than 140 troubled youth. Democracy Now!’s Jaisal Noor filed this report.
The London-based journalist Richard Gizbert, host of the Al Jazeera program "The Listening Post," chronicles how the Murdoch phone hacking scandal has shaken the British government, media system and public. A must-watch interview on how the scandal has unfolded and what it means for people in the United States.
Former News International executive Rebekah Brooks testified before the British Parliament July 19 as the phone hacking scandal engulfing the Murdoch media empire continues to grow. Media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his son James Murdoch also testified at the same hearing. Click here to watch their testimony.
Prior to assault, assailant tweets, “It is a far better thing that I do now than I have ever done before #splat.” Unharmed, the Murdochs continued hearing.
In the last months of his life Dr. Manning Marable recorded a series of videos to accompany his book "Malcolm X: A Life Of Reinvention." Marable died on April 1, 2011, just days before the book’s publication. His family has shared with Democracy Now! the last two installments of the six-part "Malcomology" video project, a collaboration between Truth2power Films and Marable.
Watch the sixth installment of the "Malcolmology" video project, a unique collaboration between truth2power films and the late Dr. Manning Marable, author of the new Malcolm X biography, "Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention".
In this episode, "A Hero For Our Times", Dr. Marable talks about the circumstances and consequences of Malcolm X’s assassination.
In part two of our conversation with journalist Christian Parenti he discusses his recent article, Nuclear Hubris: Could Japan’s Disaster Happen Here?, about what the meltdown of three nuclear reactors in Japan means for the expansion of the nuclear power industry United States. "I think its important to problematize atomic power because some in the Green Movement look to it as a solution," says Parenti.
The British peace activist Brian Haw has died at the age of 62. For the past decade Haw lived and slept outside the Houses of Parliament in London to protest against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He began his public demonstration in June 2001 to protest the Western sanctions against Iraq. Parliament Square became his home. His mail was delivered there. It was his registered address when he ran for Parliament in 2004, receiving 298 votes. Haw was also a vocal critic of former British prime minister Tony Blair.
