"Trump's Troubling Ties to Russia" (2.5 minutes)
Donald Trump’s dangerous infatuation with Russian President Vladimir Putin has been well documented. Less well known, however, are his vast ties to shady Russian businessmen and oligarchs who have helped to fund his real estate empire. Here’s what you need to know about Trump’s shady and long-running ties to Russia and how they are putting America at risk.
"The Laura Flanders Show" (26 minutes)
With the Trump administration embracing private prisons, and a crackdown on all crimes, how police departments operate will come under scrutiny. We treasure what we measure so why do police metrics count captures and kills but not conflicts resolved? Could a change in metrics change police practice? And is "progressive policing" an oxymoron with no place in a radical agenda?
Laura sits down with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman, and Professor Emerita Judi Komaki to discuss lowered crime rates, a decline in Stop and Frisk policing, and changing
practices around drug arrests. A model can exist where there are trusting relationships between the public and police, but it needs data, training, and a change in attitudes -- on both sides, say our guests.
After serving as an NYPD police officer and New York State Senator, Eric Adams became the first Africa-American man to be the Brooklyn Borough President in 2013.
Donna Lieberman has been the executive director of the NYCLU since December 2001, during which time the organization has been a vocal critic of Stop and Frisk.
Judi Komaki is a professor emerita of organizational behavior, whose work focuses on how good data can improve organizations' policies.
"Dirty Water, Dirty Money II" (6 minutes)
Ohio has seen a boom in the storing of fracking wastewater, much of it from neighboring states, and this wastewater includes a mix of toxic chemicals—many of which are harmful to human health. Some communities have
responded by trying to limit wastewater dumping, but the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that municipalities have no power to regulate or limit the disposal of fracking waste. Many of the Ohio Supreme Court justices who made this decision received large campaign contributions from fracking companies and other fossil fuel interests.
This is the story of the communities that will have a difficult time protecting their quality of life and drinking water from harm resulting from fracking wastewater.
"3 Ways to Fix a Broken News Industry" (8.5 minutes)
Something is very wrong with the news industry. Trust in the media has hit an all-time low; we're inundated with sensationalist stories, and consistent, high-quality reporting is scarce, says journalist and entrepreneur Lara Setrakian. She shares three ways we can fix the news and make the complex issues of our time easier to understand.
"War on Whistleblowers: Free Press and the National Security State" (70 minutes)
This film highlights four cases where whistleblowers noticed government wrong-doing and took to the media to expose the fraud and abuse. It exposes the surprisingly worsening and threatening reality for whistleblowers and the press. The film includes interviews with whistleblowers Michael DeKort, Thomas Drake, Franz Gayl and Thomas Tamm and award-winning journalists like David Carr, Lucy Dalglish, Glenn Greenwald, Seymour Hersh, Michael Isikoff, Bill Keller, Eric Lipton, Jane Mayer, Dana Priest, Tom Vanden Brook and Sharon Weinberger.