News Beat

Symbols of pride for Italian Americans, painful reminders of historical injustices and brutal atrocities for indigenous peoples—statues of controversial 15th century explorer Christopher Columbus have been decapitated, toppled or taken down in cities and towns across the United States amid the ongoing protests against racial injustice and police brutality sparked by the killing of unarmed African American George Floyd by a white Minneapolis police officer in May. Mohawk activist John Kane of...

Human Rights Watch, an international nongovernmental organization, released a report accusing the NYPD of serious international human rights violations and has called into question some of the justifications made by the top brass of the department after a June crackdown in the South Bronx. Ida Sawyer, co-author of the report and acting crisis and conflict director at Human Rights Watch, joins us for this special episode. News Beat is an award-winning Morey Creative Studios podcast....

A federal appeals court earlier this month affirmed a controversial Florida law requiring people with felony convictions to pay court fees in order to have their voting rights restored. With less than 50 days until the November election and with the state’s voter registration deadline nearing, the 6-4 ruling all but ensures hundreds of thousands of Floridians won't be able to participate. This is an update to our 2018 episode “Real Voter Fraud: Felony Disenfranchisement’s Civil Death...

The warnings were clear: COVID-19 would spread like wildfire in jails and prisons. It has. The top COVID-19 clusters across America are overwhelmingly jails and prisons, and efforts to reduce jail populations have stalled amid a surge in infections. Among the hardest-hit is San Quentin State Prison in California, which is responsible for about a quarter of the state prison system’s COVID-19 infections and almost half its deaths. Guests: Danielle Harris, managing attorney for the San...

Black Americans have long relied on the Postal Service as a source of stable employment, with our guest tracing this history back to the legal end of slavery. Amid the uproar over recent efforts to undermine the USPS, we examine this history and the role Black postal workers played in the union and civil rights struggle. News Beat is an award-winning Morey Creative Studios podcast. Producer: Michael "Manny Faces" Conforti Editor-In-Chief: Chris Twarowski Managing Editor: Rashed Mian Episode...

The 2020 rebellions have sparked renewed discussions surrounding a host of racial issues, including police brutality toward black men. Advocates argue that black women are similarly exposed to excessive police violence yet routinely forgotten or ignored. Among their demands: Say Her Name. News Beat is an award-winning Morey Creative Studios podcast. Producer: Michael "Manny Faces" Conforti Editor-In-Chief: Chris Twarowski Managing Editor: Rashed Mian Episode Art: Jeff Main Executive...

In commemoration of this year’s Juneteenth, as countless people flood the streets all across this country calling for justice, equality, and an end to police brutality, among other demands—testament that the struggle is far, far from over—we’re re-releasing an episode that documents proof of this modern-day, state-sponsored slavery, highlighting a sinister and covert FBI initiative codenamed COINTEPRO, short for Counter Intelligence Program. The episode features interviews with Steven...

In the wake of the police slaying of George Floyd in Minneapolis, protesters have not only flooded the streets, but they're actively pushing reforms that go well beyond traditional solutions. The defund police movement would represent a seismic shift in policing in America. News Beat is an award-winning Morey Creative Studios podcast. Producer: Michael "Manny Faces" Conforti Editor-In-Chief: Chris Twarowski Managing Editor: Rashed Mian Episode Art: Jeff Main Executive Producer: Jed Morey...

Anti-racism protesters nationwide have been met with chemical agents and aggressive force by police at demonstrations sparked by the modern-day lynching of George Floyd. This episode explores how our right to protest is being criminalized, through laws, harsh tactics, and other measures. This episode was originally published June, 2018. News Beat is an award-winning Morey Creative Studios podcast. Producer: Michael "Manny Faces" Conforti Editor-In-Chief: Chris Twarowski Managing Editor:...

In recent days, commentators have compared the mass demonstrations taking place in cities and neighborhoods across the country to the waves of protests that engulfed America in the 1960s. A veteran of the 1967 Newark Rebellion discusses George Floyd’s death, the culture of police brutality, and whether today's movement can produce change. Support the show: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?token=EYkdQRkbZ6vNTGfNSGWZjx7_15orqqDl8vkmrAg3TkxLprft1OguFwxlheC3tAkNd-KVPG&country.x=US&locale.x=US See...

Our compelling, award-winning examination of the factors that exist when overly-oppressed and tormented communities have finally had enough, and, much like the incidents that lay at the foundation of our democracy, are forced to rise up in rebellion. Featuring Dr. Cornel West, Rosa Clemente, and Lawrence Hamm. Music by The Band Called FUSE, lyrics by Silent Knight. News Beat is an award-winning Morey Creative Studios podcast. Producer: Michael "Manny Faces" Conforti Editor-In-Chief: Chris...

A career public defender is now on the other side of the law. We speak to San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin about embracing reforms as district attorney of a prominent U.S. city, and combating COVID-19. News Beat is an award-winning Morey Creative Studios podcast. Producer: Michael "Manny Faces" Conforti Editor-In-Chief: Chris Twarowski Managing Editor: Rashed Mian Episode Art: Jeff Main Executive Producer: Jed Morey Support the show:...

The areas victimized by racist federal housing policies in the 1930s are now among the most vulnerable to the severe impacts of climate change, according to a landmark study. And although the Fair Housing Act of 1968 banned redlining and housing discrimination in general, three out of four redlined communities rated "hazardous" 80 years ago are struggling economically today. It's a recipe for disastrous outcomes. News Beat is an award-winning Morey Creative Studios podcast. Producer: Michael...

While the coronavirus has indiscriminately ravaged communities across the nation, African Americans are dying at disproportionately higher rates, according to preliminary data. Those who study racial health disparities aren’t surprised, considering that African Americans suffer inordinately from chronic conditions, symptoms linked to systemic racism, and a deleterious physiological process dubbed “weathering” three decades ago. Features interviews with Dr. Uché Blackstock, a board-certified...

As part of our continuing coronavirus coverage, we examine the threat the virus poses to correctional facilities in Florida, which acted much later than other states to enact bans on nonessential workers. In the second part of the episode, we explore how the suspension of family visitation impacts inmates and their families. News Beat is an award-winning Morey Creative Studios podcast. Producer/Host: Michael "Manny Faces" Conforti Editor-In-Chief: Chris Twarowski Managing Editor: Rashed Mian...

On March 13, the foremost expert on healthcare in correctional settings appeared on this podcast and warned of a “perilous and looming threat” inside these facilities. Rikers Island now has more than 200 coronavirus cases and recorded its first COVID-19-related death last weekend. Advocates warn that anyone held in the jail is in mortal danger. For more on this issue, visit www.usnewsbeat.com. Support the show:...

As the coronavirus pandemic exposes long-standing inequities in the United States, advocates say marginalized communities are going to suffer the worst from the consequences of a broken economy, neglect, and a decaying social safety net. Featuring Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis (Poor People's Campaign), Maria Morris (ACLU), and Alieza Durana (Eviction Lab). News Beat is an award-winning Morey Creative Studios podcast. Producer: Michael "Manny Faces" Conforti Editor-In-Chief: Chris Twarowski Managing...

One of the foremost experts on correctional health services warned of a “very perilous and looming threat” inside American correctional facilities amid the coronavirus pandemic outbreak. [BONUS EPISODE] Support the show: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?token=EYkdQRkbZ6vNTGfNSGWZjx7_15orqqDl8vkmrAg3TkxLprft1OguFwxlheC3tAkNd-KVPG&country.x=US&locale.x=US See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Intended to prosecute actual spies during wartime, the Espionage Act has been the U.S. government’s weapon of choice against antiwar critics and whistleblowers—and is now being deployed against a publisher, setting a sinister precedent for all journalists and news organizations. News Beat is a Morey Creative Studios production: www.MoreyCreative.com News Beat is produced and engineered by Michael “Manny Faces” Conforti: www.MannyFaces.com News Beat Executive Producer is Jed Morey Editor in...

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...