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Hitting Left

Mike gets together each week, often with special guests in studio and from around the country, to discuss current topics involving politics, education and social justice "from the Left side of the plate." The topics covered may be local, national or international but always with a Chicago sensibility and perspective.
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Now displaying: 2018
Jun 1, 2018

Brother Mike returns this week with our guest, polyglot Amara Enyia. Amara is a Chicago Renaissance Woman and Iron Woman. Enyia ran for Mayor last time around but hasn't found a candidate to support yet. She thinks Rahm is very beatable and we talk about a Progressive pathway to the Mayor's office.

May 25, 2018

With great friends in the studio, you hate for things to go wrong. Especially when your big brother is off for the week. The music didn't play. We almost lost the podcast version. Things turned out okay in the end. Brandon talks about his view of his role as a new Cook County Commissioner. Juanita Irizarry, Executive Director of Friends of the Parks talks about the Obama Presidential Center and the use of parks as a tool for democracy and as a weapon against poor folks and for gentrification.

May 18, 2018

Mike has just come back from a trip with Susan to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary with their friends in Arapaho territory. They visited friends who run a language immersion school. I expressed concerns over state funding to retired teacher health care. And the Grassroots Collaborative's Nathan Ryan talks about the community organizing and political work going on in Chicago and downstate.

May 11, 2018

Ra Joy ran as Lt. Governor with Christopher Kennedy, losing to JB Pritzker in the Democratic primary. Joy is backing Lori Lightfoot for Mayor against a large and growing field. What makes a progressive a progressive? What is the role of the press in the election process? What do Democratic progressives have to say to the most oppressed, the victims of gun and police violence and the lack of economic development in communities of color? 

May 4, 2018

The Chicago Public Schools has created an algorithm for families who are choosing a public school for their children. But this $250,000 no-bid deal is neither transparent no does it address the issues of race and segregation. Our guest is Dr. Charles Tocci of Chicago Loyola who recently wrote about this in the Washington Post. Can you include social justice in an algorithm?

Apr 27, 2018

Ralph Martire is the Executive Director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability. We discuss school funding, fair taxation and the use of data in dealing with funding adequacy equity. Can you have equity without adequacy?

Apr 20, 2018

The Trauma Show. Author and journalist Mark Miller and University of Chicago professor Dr. Dexter Voisin join us to talk about the personal and institutional impact of trauma: From a Philadelphia Starbucks to Parkland, Florida to the west side of Chicago, how do we respond to trauma? On a individual level some can turn it into positive action. Others become paralyzed. What about the trauma of slavery or of capitalism? This is our topic on today's show.

Apr 13, 2018

Progressive political strategist Joanna Klonsky and Cook County Commissioner elect Brandon Johnson join us to talk about union democracy and the Red State Teacher Revolt and progressive politics in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois and the nation.

Apr 6, 2018

Author Pat Thomas joins the Klonsky Brothers to talk about his new book on Jerry Rubin. Did it! Yippie to Yuppie. Jerry Rubin, American Revolutionary. Then the brothers talk about schools, strikes and stuff.

Mar 30, 2018

Dr. Jeffreen Hayes and Dr. Therese Quinn join us for a conversation about the lack of representation of women and people of color on boards, management and curatorial positions in art museums and museums in general. #MuseumsSoWhite.

Mar 24, 2018

We talk about the Tuesday Illinois primary.

Mar 21, 2018

Looking back at the 1968 Rainbow Coalition of the Black Panther Party, the Young Lords Organization and Students for a Democratic Society with Chicago leaders of all three organizations.

Mar 16, 2018

Jitu Brown is a long-time Chicago community, schools and social justice activist. Several years ago he led a successful hunger strike to prevent Rahm Emanuel's closing of Dyett High School on Chicago's south side. Now he is expanding his work nationally through his Journey for Justice. Kady McFadden, deputy director of Illinois' Sierra Club recently made headlines exposing the culture of sexual assault in Springfield.

Mar 9, 2018

The day after International Women's Day. Women led the wildcat strike in West Virginia. We are joined by Lorraine Forte, veteran Chicago African American woman journalist, newly hired to sit on the Chicago Sun-Times editorial board. 

Mar 2, 2018

We spend some time talking about the teachers' strike in West Virginia and then it's all Marie Newman. Marie is running against an old blue dog Democrat and current incumbent congressman from the Illinois 3rd District, Dan Lipinski. Dan has never seen a bill defending women's reproductive choice that he likes. He is a son of the old Chicago Democratic Machine, it is time for a change and national attention has focused on this race. And Marie Newman seems to be the new face of the Democratic Party on the south west side of Chicago.

Feb 23, 2018

This week we talk about the issue of gun violence and then we turn to movies. The Oscars are coming up and The Black Panther is heading for a billion dollars at the box office. Dr. Kerns teaches film at Chicago's Columbia College and is an organizer of the Chicago Feminist Film Festival. Floyd Webb returns to our podcast. Floyd is an accomplished film maker, producer and writer of all things film. On the show he joins us in discussing the impact and the reaction to The Black Panther in the African American community.

Feb 16, 2018

Niketa Brar and Elizabeth Greer are school and community activists fighting to prevent the closing of the National Teachers Academy. Scott Smith is from the south side 19th Ward and a member of the Southwest Chicago Diversity Collaborative. Our conversations centers on school closings. We start out with talk about the tragedy of school shootings. 

Feb 9, 2018

Marijka Stoll fills us in on the protests by students, faculty and alumni at the University of Chicago over their invite to Steve Bannon. Bill Ayers and Crystal Laura talk about teaching, learning and unions and their book with Rick Ayers, You Can't Fire the Bad Ones, 18 myths about teachers, teacher unions and public education.

Feb 7, 2018

We don't usually broadcast on Wednesdays. But we did today and had a great conversation with Anne Shaw, attorney and candidate for the 4th State Representative on Chicago's north west side. Her dad knew Martin Luther King in Atlanta as a wrestling coach. Her dad, that is. Not Martin Luther King.

Feb 2, 2018

After some conversation about the week's events - Trump, Rahm, Stormy Daniels, Fairfax high school basketball - we turn to the story of Eddie Balchowsky. Eddie was a pre-mature anti-fascist, volunteer of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. 3,0000 American volunteers went to Spain to support the Republic fight against insurgent fascist generals backed by Hitler. Half came home. Eddie came home without an arm.

Jan 26, 2018

We talk about Paul Vallas. Or brother Michael does. Vallas has left everything he touches in shatters and now he wants to be Mayor of Chicago. Oy vey. Most of the hour is spent talking with Aaron Goldstein, 33rd Ward Democratic Party Committeeman and candidate for Illinois Attorney General. A real progressive.

Jan 19, 2018

On this episode of Hitting Left on the eve of the second Women's March, we welcome disabilities advocate and activist, Amber Smock.

Jan 12, 2018

Delia Ramirez, community activist, is running for state rep from the 4th district in Chicago's Humboldt Park. We talk Trump, what is a Progressive and her vision for equity.

Jan 5, 2018

CTU political organizer, radio commentator and now candidate for the Cook County Board of Commissioners, Brandon Johnson, joins us for the third time on Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers. What does the County Board do? Why is it important who sits on it. And how do political radicals and progressives use political office to build a street movement while creating a progressive governing coalition providing results to constituents? We talk about this and more.

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