News Beat

More than 6 million Americans are barred from voting due to Jim Crow-era laws that strip citizens' voting rights following a felony conviction. Nearly all states have mechanisms in place amounting to civil death sentences for those who served their time and were released back into society, but remain oppressed by a system that refuses to abolish Civil War-era policies. Florida is home to a quarter of the voting-revoked population, with nearly 1.7 million former offenders stripped of their...

All around the United States, peaceful protesters are being met with armed resistance from local authorities, and restrictive anti-protest laws criminalizing dissent. Across the United States, more than 60 anti-protest bills have been proposed in the last two years. While the far majority haven't been passed, there's a clear attempt by local governments to suppress dissent amid massive waves of discontent since President Trump took office. Not only that, peaceful demonstrators are being...

In 1968, an 11-member panel appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson was instructed to examine the causes of the multiple uprisings in African-American communities in 1967, and recommend solutions. The "Kerner Commission" did just that, in a 426-page report released in early 1968. Much of the problem, the report stated, was African-American frustration over a lack of economic opportunity, due to white racism. It then detailed multiple potential solutions to help avoid its ominous...

The News Beat crew expands on the information presented in the full Youth Prisons: Juvenile Detention’s Racial Disparity, Rampant Violence & Lasting Damage episode. Join News Beat's producer and host, Manny Faces, editor in chief Chris Twarowski in this BackBeat episode.

There are tens of thousands of kids incarcerated across the United States within youth prisons, which are often outdated, antiquated, and dilapidated former military prisons dating back to the Civil War. Conditions inside mirror those of adult prisons. There’s rampant violence and abuse, both physical and psychological. Kids are placed in solitary confinement and even hog-tied by guards. And just as with the United States’ adult prison population, it’s African American children and kids of...

The News Beat crew expands on the information presented in the full MS-13: Made in the USA episode, which explores the origins of the murderous gang which is being used as something of a scapegoat for the immigration policies of the Trump administration. This episode's featured musical guests were revolutionary hip-hop duo Rebel Diaz, with a special appearance from El Savadorian rap artist, Cruz Kontrol. Rebel Diaz are no stranger to social justice and immigrant issues. These children of...

The United States under President Donald Trump is fully committed to an all-out assault on immigrants. Much of Trump's ire is directed at MS-13, the transnational gang known primarily for its brutal slayings. But what's often lost in the discussion is the fact that the United States inadvertently helped create MS-13 after providing millions to El Savador's oppressive right-wing regime during its civil war in the '80s. A refugee crisis ensued, causing thousands of young Salvadorans to flee...

This BackBeat episode provides additional background and insight regarding our episode, "Land of the Rich, Home of the Poor: America's Poverty Crisis." Listen to the full episode first, then join us here for an in-depth discussion about the issue. You'll hear from News Beat host/producer Manny Faces, editor-in-chief Christopher Twarowski and managing editor Rashed Mian.

The United States is one of the wealthiest nations in the world, and by certain fiscal parameters, the wealthiest. It's richest citizens own roughly 40 percent of the world's wealth. Yet, about 40 million Americans are living in poverty, and about 20 million are mired in extreme poverty, scraping by on less than $2 a day. At the same time that the top 1 percent are increasing their vast fortunes, the income inequality gap is ever-widening, and the middle class is dissolving. For tens of...

A News Beat BONUS EPISODE Just as soon as Trump selected Gina Haspel to lead the CIA, pending a Senate confirmation hearing, her critics condemned the president’s decision, saying Haspel’s role in the CIA’s brutal torture and rendition program disqualifies her for the position. Of course, Mike Pompeo, her predecessor at the agency if she is indeed confirmed, had endorsed torture in the past, just as Trump did on the campaign trail. We talk to two former government insiders who warn about...

This BackBeat episode provides additional background and insight regarding our episode, "Enemy of the American People: The U.S. Government's War on Journalism and Press Freedom." Listen to the full episode first, then join us here for an in-depth discussion about the issue. You'll hear from News Beat producer and host Michael Conforti, AKA Manny Faces, editor-in-chief Christopher Twarowski and managing editor Rashed Mian.

Obama had his "War on Whistleblowers." Trump unflinchingly attacks the media. There's also been arrests of reporters. How "free" is the free press? News Beat is a Morey Creative Studios production: www.MoreyCreative.com News Beat is produced, engineered and hosted by Michael “Manny Faces” Conforti: www.MannyFaces.com News Beat Executive Producer is Jed Morey Editor in Chief: Christopher Twarowski Managing Editor: Rashed Mian Cover Art Design: Jeff Main

This BackBeat episode provides additional background and insight regarding our episode, "America's Black Hole: Indefinite Detention, Torture at Terror at Guantanamo Bay." Listen to the full episode first, then join us here for an in-depth discussion about the issue. You'll hear from News Beat producer Michael Conforti, AKA Manny Faces, editor-in-chief Christopher Twarowski and managing editor Rashed Mian.

Obama and Bush said Guantanamo Bay needs to close. Trump wants to keep it open. This is the story of a prison that has become known as a legal "Black Hole." News Beat is a Morey Creative Studios production: www.MoreyCreative.com News Beat is produced, engineered and hosted by Michael “Manny Faces” Conforti: www.MannyFaces.com News Beat Executive Producer is Jed Morey Editor in Chief: Christopher Twarowski Managing Editor: Rashed Mian Cover Art Design: Jeff Main

This BackBeat provides background, insight and added information regarding our episode, "Freedom For Sale: How Money Bail Crushes America's Poor and Inflates The World's Largest Prison State." Listen to the full episode first, then join us here for an in-depth discussion about the issue. You'll hear from News Beat producer Michael Conforti, AKA Manny Faces, editor-in-chief Christopher Twarowski and managing editor Rashed Mian.

More than 400,000 people toil in U.S. jails annually because they can't pay bail. So why in the "Land of the Free" does freedom come at a debilitating cost? Learn how the money bail system in the United States has crushed the poor and forced potentially innocent people to confess to crimes they did not commit, transforming the so-called "Land of the Free" into the world's biggest prison state, and deceivingly inflating conviction rates to grease the campaign coffers of political parties...

This special BackBeat episode introduces our second season opener, our acclaimed episode, MLK: What They Won't Teach You In School, giving a bit of behind the scenes context as to how that episode came about and why it's so important. We also touch on our epic season one finale, Why We Riot, and tease some upcoming episodes. You'll hear from News Beat producer Michael Conforti, AKA Manny Faces, editor-in-chief Christopher Twarowski and managing editor Rashed Mian. This BackBeat was...

In this episode, we take an alternative look at Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy, examining how the civil rights icon was so much more than simply the “I Have a Dream” soundbite, which has become known as the cornerstone of his public perception. Along with Pastor Roger C. Williams of the First Baptist Church of Glen Cove, NY, Larry Hamm, of the People's Organization for Progress, hip-hop artist Silent Knight, and King’s own words, listeners learn of MLK’s Poor People’s Campaign, which he...

Dr. King once said: “A riot is the language of the unheard.” Indeed, nowadays, a riot is often the language of the continually oppressed, unheard citizens who are still not afforded the same general rights as their white counterparts, and when protesting these injustices—all too often with the backdrop of a member of their community unjustifiably slain by a police officer—they are met with over-militarized force as an ever-presiding reminder of why they are having to protest in the first...

On this episode of BackBeat, the team elaborates how the threat of right-wing radical extremism is often overshadowed by the fear of radical Islamist extremism, even though the statistics show that radical caucasian extremism is more likely to affect the average American. You'll hear from News Beat producer Michael Conforti, AKA Manny Faces, and editors Christopher Twarowski and Rashed Mian as they provide additional insight into the making of the episode "Misunderstanding Terrorism:...