The Chris Hedges Report
Chris Hedges interviews writers, intellectuals, and dissidents, many banished from the mainstream, in his half-hour show The Chris Hedges Report. He gives voice to those, from Cornel West and Noam Chomsky to the leaders of groups such as Extinction Rebellion, who are on the front lines of the struggle against militarism, corporate capitalism, white supremacy, the looming ecocide, as well as the battle to wrest back our democracy from the clutches of the ruling global oligarchy.
Watch The Chris Hedges Report live YouTube premiere on The Real News Network every Friday at 12PM ET.
Listen to episode podcasts and find bonus content at The Chris Hedges Report Substack.
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Latest Episode
From layoffs to lawsuits, billionaires are striking back to crush worker power
A legal challenge to abolish the NLRB is just the most obvious attempt by the ruling class to squash the rise of working class militancy in the US.
Previous Episodes
Hamas: How Israel created its own nemesis
By shutting the door to any peaceful resolution and leaving no other option for Palestinians, Israel created its own nemesis in Hamas.
Norman Finkelstein on Israel’s ‘final solution’ in Gaza
The renegade historian speaks with Chris Hedges at Princeton.
Plaintiff in Biden Gaza genocide lawsuit states their case
The lawsuit, currently being appealed, was filed on behalf of Palestinian plaintiffs, and accuses President Biden of complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Hasbara: Oct. 7 and Israel’s propaganda war
Israeli claims of Hamas committing mass rape and beheading babies traveled far and wide through corporate media before being discredited. Why is our media so susceptible to Zionist propaganda?
‘Fire Weather’: Big Oil’s climate conflagration
The 2016 Fort McMurray Fire forced 88,000 people to evacuate in a single day and let off temperatures hotter than Venus. It’s just the beginning of the future Big Oil has in store for us.
How private equity conquered America
Blackstone, Apollo, and a handful of other firms are demolishing the US economy for short-term gain, and leaving workers and communities in the wreckage.
The death of liberal Zionism
Rabbi Shaul Magid on Israel’s descent into genocidal fanaticism.
Hearing to appeal Julian Assange’s extradition begins
The founder of WikiLeaks faces extradition from the UK to the US, where he could be sentenced to up to 175 years in prison.
The collapse of US media is accelerating our political crisis
A third of all US newspapers have permanently closed, the industry is hemorrhaging reporters, and private equity and Big Tech are to blame.
Israel destroyed my university. Where is the outrage?
Dr. Ahmed Alhussaina, Vice President of the now-destroyed al-Israa University, speaks out against Israel’s systematic targeting of Palestinian educational and cultural institutions.
Noura Erakat: Colonial law and the erasure of Palestine
For a century, international law derived from British colonial rule has been premised on the non-existence of Palestinians as a people.
US and UK also committing genocide crimes in Gaza: Former UN official
Former UN human rights official Craig Mokhiber says the support of powerful western countries for Israel could qualify for the crime of complicity in genocide.
Joe Sacco, author of ‘Footnotes in Gaza,’ on journalism and Palestine
Sacco, whose graphic novels marry illustration with cutting-edge journalism, speaks on his career reporting on Palestine and what it means to bear witness as a journalist committed to justice.
The IDF’s war crimes are a perfect reflection of Israeli society
Miko Peled, author and former member of IDF Special Forces, explains how Israel indoctrinates its citizens in anti-Palestinian racism from the cradle to the grave.
Israel cannot be a colonial power and a democracy
Israeli historian Ilan Pappé reframes ‘the only democracy in the Middle East’ as a colonizing force that is inherently undemocratic due to its necessary subjugation of Palestinians.
Charlie Chaplin’s philosophy of cinema
Award-winning director Martin Brest returns for the second of a two-part interview on the life and legacy of Charlie Chaplin.
Charlie Chaplin’s enduring legacy
Director Martin Brest shares his thoughts on the ingenuity and lasting impact of Charlie Chaplin’s transformative career in cinema.
50 years of mass incarceration has devastated American society and countless lives
“The social, moral, and fiscal costs associated with the large-scale, decades-long investment in mass imprisonment,” The Sentencing Project notes, “cannot be justified by any evidence of its effectiveness.”
The weapons Israel tests on Palestinians will be used against all of us
As Antony Loewenstein explains, Palestine has been a testing ground for repressive technologies exported around the world, from spy software to killer drones.
The war on Palestine has gone on for over 100 years
Historian Rashid Khalidi reframes the ‘Israel-Palestine Conflict’ in light of the 1917 Balfour Declaration and beyond, breaking down the myth of an ancient and eternal Jewish-Arab antagonism.
The dirty tactics of Zionist censorship against pro-Palestine voices
From doxxing to death threats, Zionists are turning to intimidation tactics to silence pro-Palestine voices on college campuses and in the media.
Did Israel’s military kill its own civilians on Oct. 7?
Testimony from survivors of Al Aqsa Flood, combined with the documented past actions of Israel’s armed forces against captured soldiers and civilians, raise questions about what really caused the high Israeli death toll.
Congress won’t demand a ceasefire in Gaza, so activists are fighting to force their hand
Medea Benjamin of Code Pink explains what the growing protest movement against Israel’s genocide in Gaza aims to achieve.
‘We’re a war machine as a nation’: The truth about American politics
“We prefer war over healthcare. We prefer war over housing. We prefer war over education. We prefer war over the economic welfare of our own citizens”
Is the US turning into a Christofascist state?
The reactionary movement behind Trump’s success is a mortal threat to our democracy, says author Jeff Sharlet. We ignore it at our own peril.
‘No sanctuary’: Israel’s long war on Gaza
Norman Finkelstein explains Israel’s 17-year blockade of Gaza and the context of the war currently underway.
She exposed one of the world’s biggest banks. They ruined her life.
Stephanie Gibaud pulled back the cover on the criminal activities of UBS, the world’s largest private bank. The French government has utterly failed to protect her from the harassment and retaliation that followed.
Remembering Vietnam: Poet Doug Rawlings on the war
Over 50 years since his deployment, anti-war poet Doug Rawlings returned to Vietnam.
Before his assassination, JFK sought peace with the Soviet Union
Jeffrey Sachs’s new book, ‘To Move the World,’ examines the final months of John F. Kennedy’s life, which were devoted to easing Cold War tensions.
‘Silent Coup’: How capitalism defeated decolonization
The crumbling of European empires after WWII didn’t usher in a new era of democracy—instead, we now live in a regime of international corporate rule.
Craig Murray on the ‘slow motion execution’ of Julian Assange
Former British Ambassador and whistleblower Craig Murray describes the torturous ordeal Julian Assange has been subjected to over more than a decade.
Stella Assange speaks out on the conditions of Julian Assange’s imprisonment
Julian Assange has languished in Belmarsh Prison in the UK since 2019 as he fights extradition to the US to face prosecution under the Espionage Act.
Julian Assange and the end of American democracy
The revival of the Espionage Act in the persecution of Assange is destroying the very foundation of democracy.
The ruse of identity politics
While the question is never as simple as identity versus class, the emphasis on identity without class politics only serves the ruling elite.
Everything you’ve been told about Shakespeare could be a lie
Why some scholars insist Shakespeare didn’t author all the works attributed to him.
70 years after Iranian coup, the British still won’t confess to their crimes
Iranian filmmaker Taghi Amirani joins Chris Hedges to discuss his documentary ‘Coup 53,’ which uses newly discovered archival material to expose how the CIA and British intelligence worked clandestinely to overthrow Mohammad Mosaddegh 70 years ago.
How liberal comedians became lap dogs for establishment power
Comedian and political commentator Lee Camp joins The Chris Hedges Report to discuss the transformation of comedy from an art form rooted in the counterculture to one that has largely become a megaphone for power.
Repairing America’s trauma epidemic by confronting sexual violence
Dr. Judith Herman returns for a discussion on why the truth about trauma requires rebuilding society.
America’s trauma epidemic and its broken politics
From the home to the halls of power, violence and trauma are a regular fact of life for countless Americans. Specialist Dr. Judith Herman joins The Chris Hedges Report to discuss how trauma distorts the mind and the body politic alike.
Remembering Staughton Lynd’s life of defiance
Alice Lynd and Luke Stewart recall the life of historian, lawyer, and activist Staughton Lynd, whose writings and speeches on the Vietnam War were recently published in a collection called ‘My Country Is the World’.
American poverty is a calamity by design
Sociologist Matthew Desmond explains the roots of poverty in America in exploitation, and the willful policies at all levels of government that keep people trapped in precarity.
The persecution of Jeremy Corbyn
The campaign to oust Jeremy Corbyn from the UK Labour Party was accompanied by a purge of his supporters—what does this say about the capacity to change the system from within?
He saw a US helicopter gun down fellow journalists in Iraq. He was never the same.
Former war correspondent Dean Yates’ new memoir imparts a journey of trauma and healing familiar to those in his profession.
‘Twitter Files’ journalist Matt Taibbi claims IRS and FBI retaliation
Ever since his ‘Twitter Files’ revelations exposed censorship collusion between social media giants and the FBI-led Foreign Influence Task Force, the journalist has found himself under IRS investigation.
Cornel West’s presidential candidacy is ‘for the least of these’
“I don’t want to chip at poverty. I want to eliminate, abolish poverty.”
The ‘Stop Cop City’ domestic terror charges echo past repression of environmental activists
The use of domestic terrorism charges against the environmental and animal liberation movements set important precedents for the repression Atlanta’s ‘Stop Cop City’ movement faces today.
American police are basically untouchable. How did it get this bad?
To understand where US law enforcement’s impunity comes from, we have to look at the historic role of police in maintaining a racial and class-based order.
Bidding farewell to the American century
It’s becoming clearer by the day that America is an empire in terminal decline, yet the myths of American exceptionalism persist.
Harriet Tubman and the battle for America’s symbols
What’s at stake in the fight over monuments and symbols isn’t just aesthetics, but the future of racial justice and democracy, says author and professor Clarence Lusane.
Americans were once promised affordable college for all. What happened?
Historian Ellen Schrecker explains how the privatization of universities began to stifle campus radicalism in the 1960s.
‘This Is Not a War Story’ explores the emotional wounds of war veterans
Talia Lugacy’s independent feature rips back the veil on the vast enterprise of death that war is and tells the unflinching and painful story of the veterans who return.
‘The system is not moving fast enough’
Roger Hallam, the co-founder of Extinction Rebellion argues the climate crisis calls for revolution.
A new documentary offers a different look at Haiti’s Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Chérizier
While the Haitian government and international media have condemned Chérizier as a gang leader, the former police officer claims instead to be the leader of a revolutionary movement.
No, COVID-19 isn’t ‘over’—but millions of Americans’ Medicaid coverage is about to be
When the national emergency for COVID-19 ends on May 11, between 5 to 14 million Americans will lose Medicaid coverage.
Photographer Lori Grinker’s portraits don’t just capture her subjects—they capture history
From Iraq War veterans to a young Mike Tyson and her own brother’s battle with AIDS, Grinker’s photographs open a window from the personal into the political.
How Mexico’s epidemic of murdered journalists is an ominous warning to the press everywhere
Over 150 journalists have been assassinated in Mexico since 2000. Behind the killings is a nexus of corruption and violence that links organized crime, police, and government.
Did the US Navy destroy the Nord Stream pipelines?
Seymour Hersh, the journalist who uncovered the Mỹ Lai Massacre and torture at Abu Ghraib says America detonated the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines. The response from corporate media has been stunning.
Kshama Sawant’s new ‘Workers Strike Back’ coalition will fight for $25 minimum wage and more
Socialist Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant is launching a national coalition called Workers Strike Back to fight for wages, universal healthcare, LGBTQ rights, a clean energy transition, and more.
COVID-19 proved workers make the world run, not the bosses
Maximillian Alvarez discusses his most recent book on so-called ‘essential workers’ at the start of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, ‘The Work of Living’, with Chris Hedges.
How the press misled the public on Russiagate
Veteran New York Times reporter Jeff Gertz dissects the role of the media in concocting a false narrative portraying Trump as a ‘Russian asset’ rather than a homegrown horror.
William Shakespeare and the politics of the 21st Century
Nearly five centuries later, the social and political considerations of the Bard’s oeuvre continue to offer insights pertinent to our times.
Hamilton 68: How former intelligence officials and Democratic operatives conspired to manufacture ‘Russiagate’
The panic over Russian disinformation that followed the election of Donald Trump often relied on a source now known to have been fraudulent, Hamilton 68.
WikiLeaks exposed the extent of US meddling abroad and corruption at home. Why have we forgotten it?
From backroom deals between Hillary Clinton and Goldman Sachs to US covert operations in Haiti, Tunisia, Italy and beyond, WikiLeaks revealed the dark underbelly of US power.
Will Julian Assange ever be freed?
Chris Hedges speaks with film producer and brother of Julian Assange, Gabriel Shipton, on his new film that follows his family’s journey to see Julian freed.
Julian Assange and the US government’s war on whistleblowers
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is expected to stand trial this year. His case is emblematic of how far the US government will go to hide the truth.
“America made me a Black man”
Boyah J. Farah came to the US as a refugee from Somalia at age 15. His new memoir recounts his introduction to American racism.
Polarizing and isolating Americans is good business for media monopolies
The decline in media literacy and public debate has real structural causes, and learning communication skills is key to fighting back.
A new book of migrant stories exposes Europe’s war on refugees
In their book, ‘Map of Hope and Sorrow,’ co-authors Helen Benedict and Eyad Awwadawnan trace the stories of five refugees trapped in Greece’s brutal refugee camps.
The Catholic Church expelled me for supporting women joining the priesthood
Father Roy Bourgeois discusses his life of religion and activism.
Dennis Kucinich: How the war machine took over the Democratic Party
Anti-war positions used to be possible within the Democratic Party. What happened?
How America used WWI to crush internal dissent
Adam Hochschild examines the untold history of WWI in his new book, “American Midnight.”
Richard Wolff: The Fed’s response to inflation is another upward transfer of wealth
Capitalist profiteering is the real driver of the inflation crisis, and raising interest rates only passes the costs onto workers already overwhelmed by personal debt and stagnant wages.
Marcel Proust’s ‘In Search of Lost Time,’ 100 years later
Journalist Chris Hedges and philosopher Justin E. H. Smith discuss Marcel Proust’s magnum opus, ‘In Search of Lost Time,’ on the centennial of the author’s death.
America’s leaders are a danger to the world
Retired Army Colonel Andrew Bacevich discusses his new book on the regressive and dangerous worldview of America’s political and military class.
Medea Benjamin: Making sense of the war in Ukraine
The simple narrative of a diabolical Putin vs the freedom-loving west distorts the multifaceted, complex history of the conflict.
Noam Chomsky: Neoliberalism and the roots of fascism
Noam Chomsky delves into how half a century of neoliberalism set the stage for contemporary fascist movements from Hungary to India and the US. This is the second part of a two-part interview.
Noam Chomsky: Ukraine, climate crisis, and declining empire
In the first of a two-part interview, Chris Hedges and Noam Chomsky explore the links between militarism, rising fascism, and climate catastrophe.
Dr. Gabor Maté on trauma, addiction, and illness under capitalism
The renowned physician and author explores the links between trauma and illness in his new book, “The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture.”
The Chris Hedges Report: Dystopia, octopus intelligence, and what makes us human
Ray Nayler’s new sci-fi novel ‘The Mountain in the Sea’ uses the premise of corporate exploitation of a hyperintelligent octopus species in a dystopian future to deliver a stinging critique of our present.
‘This Is Not A Drill’: The music and politics of Roger Waters
The rock legend and Pink Floyd co-founder shares everything from his musical origins to his opinions on the war in Ukraine, experiences of US government surveillance, and his ongoing ‘This Is Not A Drill’ tour.
The Chris Hedges Report: Julian Assange’s father, John Shipton, speaks out
On Oct. 8, Chris Hedges and others will gather in Washington, DC, to demand Julian Assange’s release and denounce the US government’s campaign against him.
The Chris Hedges Report: The monstrous myth of Custer
Over a century since his ignominious defeat, the story of Lt. Col. Custer still plays a part in our national mythology—one that covers up our heinous crimes against Indigenous peoples.
Why did Democrats give this pro-Trump GOP primary candidate $425,000?
John Gibbs, a former Trump administration official, has received over $425,000 from the Democratic Party.
The Chris Hedges Report: Ukraine and the crisis of media censorship
Throughout the Ukraine war, press in the US and most of Europe have mindlessly parroted the opinions of a ruling elite and overseen a public discourse that is often unhinged from the real world.
Dr. Gerald Horne on the life and legacy of W.E.B. Du Bois
The renowned historian and biographer of Du Bois joins Chris Hedges to discuss the prolific work and principled life of one of the 20th Century’s intellectual giants.
The Chris Hedges Report: Psychology of a Klansman
In a new book about the Ku Klux Klan’s 1966 murder of Black civil rights activist Vernon Dahmer, author Curtis Wilkie offers insights into the psychology of white supremacists relevant to our current era.
The Chris Hedges Report: We don’t need the CIA
The agency is a shadow military organization unaccountable to its own government, and responsible for heinous crimes around the world. It’s time to get rid of it.
The Chris Hedges Report: Soldiers speak out against America’s misguided wars
In their new book, veterans Andrew Bacevich and Danny Sjursen describe how the realities of war expose the lies told by generals and politicians about American goodness and virtue.
Moby Dick and the soul of American capitalism
The classic novel by Herman Melville still offers a prescient glimpse into the American character—and perhaps our ultimate fate as a species.
The Chris Hedges Report: Breaking the cycle of American violence
America’s deadliest epidemic is fueled by dangerous numbness and self-loathing, says Professor of Clinical Psychiatry Dr. James Gilligan, whose work analyzes the crisis of nihilistic violence through patient case studies, Greek myths, and Shakespeare.
The Chris Hedges Report: Eurydice Eve on America’s sexual crisis
Chris Hedges speaks with Eurydice Eve about her book “Satyricon USA” and the dark, often hidden side of the nation’s sexual habits.
The Chris Hedges Report: Splinterlands’ Climate Dystopia
Chris Hedges speaks with author John Feffer about his novels set in a not-so-distant future disrupted by climate chaos.
The Chris Hedges Report: Hemingway’s Shadow
Chris Hedges speaks with journalist and author Mark Kurlansky about living in the shadow of Ernest Hemingway and his new book, “The Importance of Not Being Ernest.”
The Chris Hedges Report: Journalism and Argentina’s ‘Dirty War’
In the late 1970s and 1980s, US-trained military death squads disappeared 30,000 Argentines in what became known as the ‘Dirty War.’ Former Buenos Aires Herald editor Robert Cox shares his experiences reporting on the disappeared.
The Chris Hedges Report: Struggle makes us human
Decades of neoliberal policy have created the conditions for a rising neofascist wave that looks very different from the fascism of the 20th century, explains Vijay Prashad.
The Chris Hedges Report: The Long Road Home – Part 2
In the second of the two-part series The Long Road Home, we learn how five former prisoners have reentered society after spending a collective 119 years locked up.
The Chris Hedges Report: The Long Road Home
In the first of a two-part series called The Long Road Home, we look at what happens to those in the United States who leave prison and struggle to reenter society through the eyes of five former prisoners.
The Chris Hedges Report: How to defeat the billionaire class
Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant describes how her party has mobilized ordinary people to win victories in the war being waged on the working class and the poor—despite opposition from Democrats.
The Chris Hedges Report: Disaster patriarchy and the global war on women
The expected overturning of Roe v. Wade and the attacks on LGBTQ+ rights are part of the patriarchy’s vicious, reactionary, theocratic war that has nothing to do with ‘tradition’ and everything to do with domination.
The Chris Hedges Report: Ukraine and the resurgence of American militarism
What will be the consequences of the United States’s commitment to long-term conflict, and where will we be when the war finally ends?
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