Building on a recent interview with climate scientist Dr. Michael Mann where he talked about the severity of the climate crisis and the urgent necessity of action, Clearing the FOG speaks with David Bollier of the Schumacher Center for a New Economy about the paradigm-shifting concept of The Commons. Bollier travels around the world, particularly to European and Global South countries where The Commons is part of everyday public discourse and activities to learn about ways that people are creating structures to meet their needs outside of the market and the demand for growth. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

On October 7, Hamas fighters broke out of Gaza, the world's largest open air prison, and directly attacked the Israeli State, including military facilities, illegal settlements and airports. Israeli Occupying Forces responded with sophisticated weaponry targeting civilian housing in Gaza and schools and hospitals where people sought refuge. Israel has now stopped all water, power and aid to Gaza. To understand what is happening and Palestinian rights under international law, Clearing the FOG speaks with Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh, who resides in Bethlehem. In support of Palestinians' right to resist, massive rallies and marches are taking place around the world. Clearing the FOG also speaks with Priscilla Lynch and Clara Wagner about their direct action last week targeting L3 Harris, which provides military equipment to Israel, as part of a campaign by Demilitarize Western Mass. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

As the impacts of the climate crisis become more evident, people are understandably struggling with how to respond. Clearing the FOG speaks with climate scientist Dr. Michael Mann, author of "Our Fragile Moment: How lessons from Earth's past can help us survive the climate crisis," about the reality of our current situation and how major climate changes in the past have shaped the world and human societies. Mann urges people to avoid a doomsday mindset and explains that the actions we take now to stop fossil fuels and to develop resilient systems, no matter how bad it gets, matter for the future of humanity. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

Julian Assange may be extradited to the United States as soon as this month. His last avenues to appeal the United Kingdom's extradition order are being exhausted. Clearing the FOG speaks with Kevin Gosztola, an investigative journalist and author of "Guilty of Journalism: The political case against Julian Assange," about why the power structure is targeting Julian Assange, the charges against him and how his trial in the United States will be constrained to prevent him from defending himself. Gosztola also discusses the bigger picture of the impacts of Assange's case, especially how it will embolden more attacks on journalists who expose wrongdoing. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

Information control in the United States is growing stronger as journalists face more restrictions on their ability to speak with people who work for the public good in agencies and institutions from the local to federal levels and are being targeted through illegal raids and confiscation of their equipment. Clearing the FOG speaks with Kathryn Foxhall, a journalist who works on freedom of information, about another journalist, Brittany Hailer, who is suing over restrictions on her ability to interview employees at a local jail where an unprecedented number of deaths are occurring. Foxhall explains why these restrictions are human rights abuses. Clearing the FOG also speaks with Seth Stern of the Freedom of Information Foundation and Bobby Block of the Florida First Amendment Foundation about journalists' legal rights and their new Know Your Rights Guild for journalists. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

One year after the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which Big Green groups hailed as a 'climate justice bill,' the truth is surfacing that this legislation is lining the pockets of the fossil fuel industry to the detriment of frontline, especially Black and Indigenous, communities. Clearing the FOG speaks to Anthony Rogers-Wright, a national racial and climate justice advocate, about the ways Joe Biden and the Democrats are failing to address the climate crisis and Big Green groups are turning away from climate justice to embrace Green Capitalism. Rogers-Wright also describes better alternatives to the Big Greens and where people can focus their efforts effectively to struggle for a just and livable future. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

Around the world, a major organizing effort is underway, led by civil society and unions with the International People's Assembly, to build a working class movement for alternative systems that address the many crises we face. A series of regional conferences called the Dilemmas of Humanity are taking place in preparation for an international conference in South Africa in mid October. Clearing the FOG speaks with Eugene Puryear of BreakThrough News about the recent meeting in Atlanta, which is part of this process. Puryear speaks about the significance of the Stop Cop City movement and the necessity of leadership coming from frontline communities in the South. He also talks about the threat of nuclear war and the growing state repression of activists and journalists who dare to challenge the wealthy class.For more information, visit PopularResistance.org. 

People in the United States pay the highest prices for pharmaceuticals, and Big Pharma spends hundreds of millions of dollars every year for lobbying to keep it that way. The United States is also experiencing a growing shortage of medications from antibiotics to cancer treatments and more despite being a wealthy country. Clearing the FOG speaks with Dana Brown of the Democracy Collaborative to understand what is behind the high prices and shortages. She also describes solutions to these crises and how states across the country are taking action to directly confront the stranglehold the pharmaceutical industry has over our lives. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

Award-winning producer, activist and artist Eleanor Goldfield has a new documentary out, To The Trees, about forest defense in the Redwood Forests of Northern California. Beautifully filmed and composed, Goldfield shows the decimation of our old-growth forests and efforts to stop this crime while placing the struggle in the broader context of colonialism and capitalism. Clearing the FOG speaks with Goldfield about how she connected with forest defenders, the experience of making the film and what we can all do to protect our last remaining Redwoods, the giants of carbon sequestration. Aptly named, To The Trees will inspire you to embrace and protect our forests. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

At the end of July, the Presidential Guard of Niger, backed by the military, unseated the current president, Mohamed Bazoum, in a coup supported by the people. In response, the United States and France, with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), began planning a military intervention to return Bazoum to power. West African nations, including Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea, quickly declared solidarity with the new government, a move that could turn a military intervention into a greater regional conflict. To understand what is happening in Niger and how it fits into the bigger picture of the rejection of neo-colonialism and US hegemony, Clearing the FOG speaks with Abayomi Azikiwe, the editor of the Pan-African News Wire. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.