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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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Hitting Left
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Now displaying: Page 1
Jun 16, 2025
Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is Ken Cloke.
Ken is a renowned mediator, arbitrator, and expert in conflict resolution. As the Director of the Center for Dispute Resolution, Ken has spent decades navigating complex disputes, fostering dialogue, and advocating for transformative mediation practices.
His work spans labor disputes, political conflicts, and community reconciliation, and he’s the founder of Mediators Beyond Borders, dedicated to global peacebuilding. With a rich history in activism, dating back to his time at UC Berkeley, Ken brings a deep understanding of both movement politics and conflict resolution.
We will  be discussing mediation, neutrality, tyranny, and resistance—themes at the heart of his recent writings and ongoing work. How can mediation serve as a tool for social change in an era of heightened polarization?
May 24, 2025

Joining Mike on this episde of Hitting Left are Texas 60's activists and authors Thorne Dreyer and Alice Embree.

Apr 26, 2025

Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is Bill Ayers, teacher, activist, and author. They discuss the current assault on academic freedom.

Apr 20, 2025

Joining Mike on this editon of Hitting Left is former Congresswomen Marie Newman who returns to the studio to talk about her new book, A Life Made from Scratch. We used to call her the “machine buster.”

Apr 14, 2025

Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is educator, author, and Chicago Board of Ed member, Elizabeth Todd-Breland. She's written a biography of the late, great, former CTU President, Karen Lewis.

Apr 5, 2025

Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left are Jason Rieger from Indivisible Chicago, Tom Grace, historian, author, and veteran of the Kent State shootings of 1970, and Jerry Harris, author and prominent figure in the study of globalization and its impact on society.

Mar 29, 2025

Brother Fred joins Mike in this edition of Hitting Left to discuss New York mayoral politics, the spineless national Democrats and Signalgate.

Mar 14, 2025

Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is former Chicago Mayor Lori LIghtfoot to discuss Trump's attack on the cities.

Mar 1, 2025

Joining Mike this edition of Hitting Left is Chicago Tribune reporter Ray Long and Democratic Party consultant Alaina Hampton to disucuss convicted former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan and Illinois' culture of corruption

Feb 10, 2025
Joining Mike and Susan on this edition of Hitting left is author ands poet Hilton Obenzinger. They discuss the Judaism v. Zionism debate, Trump's plan for a Gaza Riviera, and other madman MAGA tactics.
Jan 25, 2025
Joining MIke as cohost this editon of Hitting Left is Susan Klonsky.
The guests are the author and cartoon artist Ryan Alexander-Tanner and immigrant rights activist Rev. Sandra Castillo.
Ryan Alexander-Tanner has written and illustrated a book about Muhammad Ali. 
Susan and Mike will get the latest update on President Trump’s threatened assault on our city’s migrants with Rev. Sandra Castillo, who serves the Episcopal Church in Chicago as the chair of the Diocese of Chicago’s Sanctuary Task Force.
Jan 11, 2025

Former death row inmates, now Chicago anti-death-penalty activists Renaldo Hudson and Stanley Howard joined by Liz Futrell, author of "Lessons from Death Row."

Dec 8, 2024

Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is basketball coach turned novelist Rus Bradburd and filmmaker Floyd Webb. Floyd and Mike will be talking about the Black Panthers on the 55th anniversary of the murder of Illinois Black Panther Chairman, Fred Hampton.

Dec 1, 2024

Joining Mike and co-host Susan Klonsky on this edition of Hitting Left is Rabbi Brant Rosen from Chicago's anti-Zionist Tzedek Congregation. Gaza, Lebanon, and resistance to war and genocide in the Trump era are the topics for discussion.

Nov 22, 2024

Joining Hitting Left host Mike Klonsky onthis edition is Rashid Khalidi, a Palestinian-American historian of the Middle East and the Edward Said Professor Emeritus of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University.

Nov 9, 2024

In the wake of the election of Donald Trump Mike is joined by former co-host Fred Klonsky and political strategist Joanna Klonsky to discuss the results and where we go now.

Oct 11, 2024
Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is Juan Gonzalez, co-Host of Democracy Now!, Senior Fellow at Great Cities Institute of UIC, founding member of the Young Lords and leader of the '68 protest at Columbia University. Juan Gonzalez is author of a new study of the "Brown Belt" in Chicago. 

 

Oct 7, 2024

Joining Mike on this edition of Hitting Left is author, educator, activist and long-time friend, Bill Ayers. His latest book is called, When Freedom is the Question, Abolition is the Answer: Reflections on Collective Liberation.

Sep 15, 2024

Another edition of Hitting Left Music feathering Nina Simone, Bob Dylan, Paul Robeson, 10,000 Maniacs, Tom Morello, Mavis Staples, and more.

Aug 27, 2024

Joining Mike on day three of the DNC shows are Arielle Rebekah and Beth Miller Jewsih Voice for Peace.

Aug 27, 2024

On day two of the Democratic National Convention Mike is joined by long-time activists Peter Kuttner, Susan Klonsky, Mike James and Bill Ayers. All five were student and community activists at the time of the 1968 Democratic Convention. On this edition of Hitting Left Mike, Peter, Susan, Mike James and Bill recall the historic protests.

Aug 22, 2024

This edition of Hitting Left with Miike Klonsky and Friends, the Democratic National Convention shows, include Pushkar Sharma, co-founder and president of the South-Asian American Coalition to Renew Democracy Acts, or SACRED, and Dr. Dilara Sayeed, president of the Muslim Civic Coalition.

Aug 22, 2024

This special Democratic National Convention edition of Hitting Left with Mike Klonsky and Friends has former Democratic congresswoman from the 3rd CD in Chicago, Marie Newman, film maker and community activist Floyd Webb and community activist Katy Hogan.

Aug 10, 2024

On this week's episode of Hitting Left the brothers discuss the current state of the election, the choice of Tim Walz at VP, the upcoming DNC in Chicago. They also look back at the 68 Democratic Convention in Chicago, planned protests at the upcoming Chicago convention, the impact of the war on Gaza and more.

Jul 19, 2024

Former member of Congress Marie Newman joins Mike and Fred (Fred zooming in from Brooklyn) on this edition of Hitting Left. On the day after the Republican National Convention and as Democratic Party leaders try to foce Joe Biden out of the race, we discuss all things politics.

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