This Week with David Rovics

The Progressive Embrace of the McCarthyite Left

Since when did we all become Nazis?

"Tolpuddle" REMIX

In 1834, organizing a union in England was legal on the books, but not in reality.  Farmworkers in Tolpuddle, on the south coast of England, tried to organize a union and were deported to Australia for it.  A massive movement across the country forced the government to pardon the Tolpuddle Martyrs, as the farmworkers became known, and transport them back to England.

This version of the song, from a live show in Crewe, England, was enhanced afterwards by multi-instrumentalist and audio engineer, Chet Gardiner, from his studio in Hawai'i.  It will be part of our next collaborative album, to be titled, I Heard A Rumor, to be released on July 4th, 2024.

New song: "Congestion Charge"

The governor of New York's U-turn on imposing a congestion charge on car traffic in lower Manhattan has been in the news today. Read certain news sources and you'll even find out what the U-turn was actually about. Here's the rhyming version of the story.

"Aotearoa" REMIX

I wrote a lot of songs during the pandemic that had a short shelf life, for one reason or another. This one still evokes, for me, the longing that I and so many others felt for the idea of being in a place that kept Covid out along with everything that generally accompanied it, like the isolation and misery.

Chet Gardiner has brought so much more to the song with the addition of multiple instruments. The song will be a fine addition to our next album, which we aim to put out on July 4th.

Mark Cronin sings "Behind These Prison Walls"

Australian musician Mark Cronin shared with me his rendition of my song about imprisoned Australian journalist, Julian Assange, "Behind These Prison Walls," and I had to share it with you, because it's gorgeous. Looking forward to being in Australia again myself very soon!

New song: "The Ballad of the USS Liberty"

57 years ago this week, the Israeli military tried to sink an American ship and kill all the crew -- knowing full well that's exactly what they were doing.

Mass Media, Social Media, and the New Civil War

How close are we to being in the movie?

"I Heard A Rumor" REMIX

A song for all those canceled or awaiting cancellation, I wrote it last year, and Chet Gardiner has just made it much more relevant with some brilliant instrumentation.

Blockout 2024 and the Star-Making Machinery

In light of the Blockout 2024 social media campaign, some thoughts on celebrity.

"Poor People's March on Washington" REMIX

There is a widespread belief that the FBI was not just running a character assassination campaign on Martin Luther King, Jr., but that they were also directly culpable for his murder. There is also a widespread belief that the reason why they escalated their campaign to the point of killing him was that the establishment was deeply worried about the unifying impact of MLK's active plans to lead a huge occupation of Washington, DC of a broad cross-section of poor Americans who were to stay until victory. A symbolic version of his vision was enacted, a month after his death, as it happened, but it was nothing like the campaign he had planned to lead.

This rendition of the song I wrote earlier this month was enhanced by Chet Gardiner's banjo, bass and other instruments from his studio in Hawai'i.