This Week with David Rovics

Discussion with Peter Phillips, author of Titans of Capital

In a special episode of This Week with David Rovics, I had a discussion earlier today with Peter Phillips about his new book, Titans of Capital: How Concentrated Wealth Threatens Humanity. 

Immigration: Myths and Realities, "The Economy," and What Happened in 2006

With Trump's new round of immigration raids, detention centers, and protests against them, I'm remembering two decades ago.

New song: "The Richest Man in the World Says So"

Finally, Elon gets his own song.

"He's Copying Me": Making Sense of the Moment

Will the real populist please stand up?

"When the People United" REMIX

A dreamy rendition of a song which is itself a dream.

New song: "When the People United"

After the worldwide revolution, when the people united, we looked back at our accomplishments.

A History of the World EPISODE 16

Listen to episode 16 first, or start at the beginning with episode 1 at davidrovics.com/ahistoryoftheworld.

2020-2022

• The Centers for Disease Control suspend evictions nationwide (“Don’t Pay the Rent”)

• New Zealand/Aotearoa becomes one of the very few places on Earth free of Covid-19 (“Aotearoa”)

• George Floyd is executed on camera, and protests and riots explode across the US (“As I Watch Minneapolis Burn”)

• Sustained protests take place across the US for months and millions of people say that Black lives matter (“Say Their Names”)

• The Trump administration declares Portland and Seattle to be “anarchist jurisdictions” (“Anarchist Jurisdiction”)

• Israel bombs Gaza again, with even bigger bombs than the last time (“Watch the Buildings Crumble”)

• Palestine Action forms in the UK and starts destroying Elbit Systems factories (“Smashing Elbit Systems”)

• There is a Heat Dome over Portland, Oregon and the temperature hits 116F/47C (“116 Degrees”)

• Russian invades Ukraine, and the US imposes sanctions on Russia (“This is Not a Trade War”)

• Georgia state police kill an activist named Tortuguita in a hail of bullets for trespassing (“Tortuguita’s Playlist”)

More episodes

This series basically ends here with 2022.  But for a lot of vitally important history on late 2023 and 2024, I have a three-part podcast series very much like this one which you can listen to at davidrovics.com/palestine.

"Deport the Billionaires" REMIX

Another brilliant remix from Chet Gardiner's studio in Hawai'i, of my most recent composition, "Deport the Billionaires."

A History of the World EPISODE 15

You can just listen to episode 15, or start at the beginning of the podcast series at davidrovics.com/ahistoryoftheworld.

2016-2020

• Thousands of people travel from all over to protest against the pipeline being put through the Standing Rock reservation in North Dakota (“Standing Rock”)

• Grenfell Tower burns in London, killing 72 (“Names and Addresses”)

• White supremacists rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing Heather Heyer and injuring dozens (“Today in Charlottesville”)

• The state of Arizona cracks down further on those trying to keep refugees from dying on the border (“I Was a Stranger”)

• The Trump administration institutes the child separation policy on the US-Mexico border (“ICE”)

• Willem van Spronsen dies in an effort to prevent refugees from being deported in Tacoma, Washington (“The Time to Act”)

• The Great March of Return begins in Palestine on Land Day in 2018 (“Land Day”)

• Two-year-old refugee, Mawda Shawri, is killed by police in Belgium (“Mawda Was Her Name”)

• Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange, is forcibly removed from the Ecuadorian Embassy and imprisoned at Belmarsh (“Behind These Prison Walls”)

• Stella Moris announces to the world that she and Julian have two children (“When Julian Met Stella”)

• Annual numbers of people dying on the streets of Los Angeles County exceeds 1,000 for the first time (“Living on the Streets of LA”)

• Bernie Sanders runs for president again and has his campaign sabotaged by the Democratic National Committee (“Bernie 2020”)

• Jason Hargrove becomes one of the first “essential workers” to die from Covid-19 in the US (“Essentially Expandable”)

• The Oregon Employment Department demonstrates itself to be completely unprepared for the Covid-19 emergency (“Ballad of the Oregon Employment Department”)

A History of the World EPISODE 14

Just listen to this episode, or start at the beginning with episode 1 at davidrovics.com/ahistoryoftheworld.

2013-2016

• Edward Snowden reveals the NSA's Prism Program to the world ("Prism")

• I am prevented from entering New Zealand on a mysterious basis ("Spies are Reading my Blog")

• Folks who smashed helicopter gunships with sledgehammers in Australia go on trial ("If I had a Hammer")

• There is a coup in Ukraine, and the Biden family gives the appearance of involvement ("A Biden Ballad")

• The police killings of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, Jr. elicit marches across the US ("I Can't Breathe")

• A white supremacist commits a massacre at the oldest Black church in South Carolina ("The State House Lawn")

• A massacre on the Kenya-Somalia border is prevented ("One Day in Kenya")

• Hundreds of thousands of refugees flood into Europe from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere ("Upon Our Shores")

• The autonomous region of Rojava is established in northern Syria ("Rojava")

• Omid Masoumali immolates himself on the island of Nauru in an Australian internment camp ("Leila and Majnun")

• Jeremy Corbyn is elected leader of the British Labor Party ("I Agree with Jeremy")

• Donald Trump launches a campaign for the US presidency, and wins ("Make the Planet Earth Great Again")