The Laura Flanders Show

The January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, intended to stop the certification of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States of America, “was as close to fascism as I ever want to see our country come,” says Jamie Raskin, Democratic Congressman from Maryland. Raskin talks with Laura about the strengths and weaknesses in US democracy and how best to address them now.

The American Right is embracing a dangerous extremism, challenging elections, packing courts and aligning with Hungarian prime minister and Putin-ally Victor Orbán. In the midst of a climate catastrophe, with the Supreme Court poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, and the House preparing to hear from the select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection, what is at stake and how did we get here?

Can education be the driver of local economic and social development in one of the poorest places in the US? What if the best anti-poverty program is investing in teachers and children? Take a look at Reconnecting McDowell and speak to some of the beneficiaries. Could this partnership between local drive and national commitment provide a model for the future?

The fight over what can be taught in schools is a controversial issue. White voters are being mobilized to ban books, censor honest discussions of US history and current day racism, and organize against a fake spectre of “critical race theory” being taught. Laura and co-hosts Sara Lomax-Reese and Mitra Kalita interview Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, a vocal proponent of anti-racist education.

In this special feature for Earth Day, we focus on Greenpeace, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The climate crisis is more urgent than ever and the most vulnerable are paying the heaviest price. We spend time with the leadership of Greenpeace, including co-executive Directors, Annie Leonard and Ebony Twilley Martin, the first African American woman to head a "Big Green" group.

Red, Republican, anti-abortion, anti-trans — Texas has certainly been a testing ground for backlash policies and politicians, and that could be what’s happening now, but could it also be a bellwether of a different sort? Our guests today say that their state could be a predictor of how 21st-century change happens when people organize differently.

The latest peace talks in the Russia-Ukraine war may lead to an eventual ceasefire but not before displacing millions and damaging the air, water and land of what was known as the bread basket for the world. We’ve assembled a roundtable of human rights advocates from Ukraine, Russia & the United States to discuss the ongoing conflict and who highlight models of local resistance and support.