Train Crashes Destroyed Their Towns. Will Yours Be Next?

Train Crashes Destroyed Their Towns. Will Yours Be Next?

10 years before the catastrophic train derailment and chemical disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, one of the deadliest rail disasters in North American history took place in the Canadian town of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec. On July 6, 2013, an unattended freight train that had been parked on the tracks overnight began to roll downhill and gather alarming speed as it careened towards the city center of Lac-Mégantic. The train, which was operated by Montreal, Maine, and Atlantic Railway and carrying over 2 million gallons of crude oil, derailed around 1:15 AM. The resulting explosions and fire killed 47 people and destroyed over 40 buildings, obliterating a large portion of the downtown area and prompting mass evacuations. In this special episode of Working People, we speak with a panel of survivors of the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster in Canada and the East Palestine rail disaster in the USA. Panelists include: Robert Bellefleur, a resident of Lac-Mégantic and spokesperson for the Lac-Mégantic Citizens' Coalition for Railroad Safety; Gilbert Carette, a resident of Lac-Mégantic and a member of the Lac-Mégantic Citizens' Coalition for Railroad Safety; Gilles Fluet, a resident of Lac-Mégantic who narrowly escaped the 2013 train crash and witnessed the derailment firsthand; Anne-Marie Saint-Cerny, award-winning writer, videographer, social and environmental justice activist, and author of Mégantic: A Deadly Mix of Oil, Rail, and Avarice; Jami Wallace, a displaced resident of East Palestine, Ohio, and founder of the Chemically Impacted Communities Coalition; Christina Siceloff, a Creek Ranger and resident of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, affected by the 2023 Norfolk Southern train derailment and chemical disaster. If you or members of your community are interested in attending or participating in TRNN’s 2026 No More Sacrifice Zones conference, please contact us by emailing contact[at]therealnews[dot]com.   Additional links/info: * Lac-Mégantic Citizens' Coalition for Railroad Safety website [https://fondferlm.com/] and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/Fondferlm/] page * Chemically Impacted Communities Coalition (CICC) Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/groups/1076305207484310] page * Railroad Workers United website [https://www.railroadworkersunited.org/], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/railroadworkers] page, and X page [https://twitter.com/railroadworkers] * Anne-Marie Saint-Cerny, Talonbooks, Mégantic: A Deadly Mix of Oil, Rail, and Avarice [https://www.amazon.com/Megantic-Anne-Marie-Saint-Cerny/dp/1772012599] * Dimitri Lascaris, TRNN, “‘Bomb Train': Oil Execs Try to Blame Workers for Tragic Accident [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56vM4194QOU&t=65s]” * Maximillian Alvarez, TRNN, “America’s toxic future looks like East Palestine, Ohio, today [https://therealnews.com/americas-toxic-future-looks-like-east-palestine-oh-today]” * Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, “Toxic Avengers: America’s poisoned and abandoned communities must stand together or die [https://therealnews.com/toxic-avengers-americas-poisoned-and-abandoned-communities-must-stand-together-or-die]” Credits: * Pre-Production: Maximillian Alvarez, Dr. Nicole Fabricant, Fritz Edler * Studio Production: Maximillian Alvarez * French-English Interpretation: Anne Lagacé Dowson * Voice Acting: Ethan Cox, Daniel Lemieux * Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor, Alina Nehlich * Music: Jules Taylor  Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss]. Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer. [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support] Follow us on: Bluesky: @therealnews.com [https://bsky.app/profile/therealnews.com] Facebook: The Real News Network [https://facebook.com/therealnews] Twitter: @TheRealNews [https://twitter.com/therealnews] YouTube: @therealnews [https://www.youtube.com/therealnews] Instagram: @therealnewsnetwork [https://www.instagram.com/therealnewsnetwork/] https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support Become a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today! [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support]

Rebels with a Cause: The Black Panther Party and Socialism in Practice

On this episode of Rattling the Bars, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Black Panther Party in 1966, host and former political prisoner Mansa Musa speaks with Dr. Joy James and Dr. K. Kim Holder about the history of the Panthers and their unique approach to, and practice of, communal socialism. This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation. Watch Part 1 here [https://youtu.be/IWwcga8W3ps]. Guests: * Dr. Joy James is Ebenezer Fitch Professor of Humanities at Williams College. She is the author of numerous books, including: In Pursuit of Revolutionary Love [https://divided.online/all-books/in-pursuit-of-revolutionary-love]; Resisting State Violence [https://www.upress.umn.edu/9780816628131/resisting-state-violence/]; and Shadowboxing: Representations of Black Feminist Politics [https://www.amazon.com/Shadowboxing-Representations-Black-Feminist-Politics/dp/0312294492]. Creator of the digital Harriet Tubman Literary Circle at UT Austin [https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/7828], James is also editor of The New Abolitionists: (Neo)Slave Narratives and Contemporary Prison Writings; Imprisoned Intellectuals; Warfare in the American Homeland; The Angela Y. Davis Reader; and co-editor of the Black Feminist Reader. * Dr. K. Kim Holder is an assistant professor of educational foundations and Africana studies at Rowan University. Dr. Holder earned his doctorate from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Multicultural Education and African American Studies, his masters in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street College of Education, and B.A. in History from Hampshire College. Credits: * Producer / Videographer / Editor: Cameron Granadino Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss]. Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer. [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support] Follow us on: Bluesky: @therealnews.com [https://bsky.app/profile/therealnews.com] Facebook: The Real News Network [https://facebook.com/therealnews] Twitter: @TheRealNews [https://twitter.com/therealnews] YouTube: @therealnews [https://www.youtube.com/therealnews] Instagram: @therealnewsnetwork [https://www.instagram.com/therealnewsnetwork/] https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support Become a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today! [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support]

What Is Free Speech? America at 250

On the eve of the United States' 250th birthday, Michael Fox sits down with Mansa Musa [https://therealnews.com/author/charles-hopkins] — longtime activist, former Black Panther, host of TRNN’s Rattling the Bars [https://therealnews.com/rattling-the-bars], and a man who spent nearly 49 years in prison — to ask a deceptively simple question: what does free speech actually mean? From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to Quito, Ecuador, to Frederick Douglass's 1852 address "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July," this episode unravels the gap between the promise of the First Amendment and the reality of who gets to speak in America — and who pays a price for it. "There's a kind of narcotic effect of those words — free speech," says legal scholar Mary Anne Franks (Fearless Speech). "It's because we think we know it so well that we don't know anything about it." Historian Fara Dabhoiwala traces how the US broke from the rest of the world's balanced approach to free expression during the Cold War, and a forgotten 1986 Ursula K. Le Guin speech offers a radically different vision: speech as dialogue, not domination. Follow The Battle For Free Speech on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/033olXvh3dLzQFJc1HSd6O?si=3bf7552736124ef3] or Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-battle-for-free-speech/id1896829044] Support Michael Fox's reporting at patreon.com/mfox [http://patreon.com/mfox]. Never miss an episode — sign up for The Real News newsletter at therealnews.com [https://therealnews.com/sign-up]. The Battle for Free Speech is a production of The Real News Network.  Hosted by Michael Fox and Marc Steiner. Theme music by Michael Fox [https://foxviolin.com/], Jordan Klein, and Daniel Nuñez. Additional music from Blue Dot Sessions and Epidemic Sound. Production and sound design: Michael Fox and Stephen Frank. Editorial support: Kayla Rivara. Research: Ben Schweiger [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-schweiger]. Many thanks to Sylvia Gross [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sylvia-maria-gross] for providing her incredible voice acting skills in this episode. Guests * Mary Anne Franks [https://www.law.gwu.edu/mary-anne-franks], author of Fearless Speech: Breaking Free from the First Amendment [https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/mary-anne-franks/fearless-speech/9781645030539/] * Katherine Jacobsen [https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherine-jacobsen1], Committee to Protect Journalists * Fara Dabhoiwala [https://dabhoiwala.com/], author of What Is Free Speech? The History of a Dangerous Idea [https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674987319] Resources * Ursula K. Le Guin, "We Are Volcanoes" — Bryn Mawr commencement, 1986 [https://speakola.com/grad/ursula-le-guin-we-are-volcanoes-bryn-mawr-1986] * Danny Glover reads Frederick Douglass — Voices of a People's History [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mb_sqh577Zw] Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss]. Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer. [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support] Follow us on: Bluesky: @therealnews.com [https://bsky.app/profile/therealnews.com] Facebook: The Real News Network [https://facebook.com/therealnews] Twitter: @TheRealNews [https://twitter.com/therealnews] YouTube: @therealnews [https://www.youtube.com/therealnews] Instagram: @therealnewsnetwork [https://www.instagram.com/therealnewsnetwork/] https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support Become a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today! [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support]

Toxic Avengers: America’s Poisoned and Abandoned Communities Must Stand Together or Die

From the explosion of AI data centers to the increasing number of toxic spills, explosions, and industrial disasters happening across the country, corporations and the government are turning the USA into one giant “sacrifice zone.” In “red” states and “blue” states, in rural areas and urban areas, poor and working people are suffering the toxic effects of a crisis that has resulted from decades of deregulation, corporate-capture of government, and the protection of private profits over the lives and health of the public. No one is coming to save us, and nothing is going to change unless residents of different sacrifice zones and poisoned communities, workers and unions on the frontlines of the industries poisoning us, environmental justice groups, community and faith organizations, scientists, journalists, and all others who have a stake in this fight start coming together, working together, and fighting back together. In this special panel discussion, recorded at the 2026 Railroad Workers United convention in Chicago, Illinois, we speak with a panel of guests who are part of a new coalition that is doing just that. Panelists include: Jeff Kurtz, a retired locomotive engineer, union officer, and Railroad Workers United member who also served as a state representative in the Iowa House of Representatives; Jami Wallace, a displaced resident of East Palestine, Ohio, and founder of the Chemically Impacted Communities Coalition (CICC); Dr. Nicole Fabricant, a professor of anthropology at Towson University and scholar-activist who has been working with chemically impacted communities in South Baltimore, Maryland, for 15 years; Scott Smith, independent testing expert and founder of the Blue Shirt Justice League; and Lesley Pacey, Senior Environmental Officer at the Government Accountability Project. Additional links/info: * Railroad Workers United website [https://www.railroadworkersunited.org/], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/railroadworkers] page, and X page [https://twitter.com/railroadworkers] * Chemically Impacted Communities Coalition (CICC) Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/groups/1076305207484310] page * Blue Shirt Justice League website [https://goblueshirtjustice.org/] and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/groups/541396761947002/] page * Government Accountability Project website [https://whistleblower.org/], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/GovernmentAccountabilityProject] page, X page [https://twitter.com/GovAcctProj], Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/govacctproj.bsky.social] page, and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/govacctproj/] * Coal-Free Curtis Bay Facebook [https://m.facebook.com/CoalFreeCurtisBay] page and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/coalfree_curtisbay/] * South Baltimore Community Land Trust website [https://www.sbclt.org/], X page [https://twitter.com/BaltimoreSouth], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/southbaltimoreCLT] page, and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/southbaltimoreclt/] * Nicole Fabricant, University of California Press, Fighting to Breathe: Race, Toxicity, and the Rise of Youth Activism in Baltimore [https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520379329/fighting-to-breathe] * Maximillian Alvarez, TRNN, “America’s toxic future looks like East Palestine, Ohio, today [https://therealnews.com/americas-toxic-future-looks-like-east-palestine-oh-today]” * Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, “‘Let’s unite!’: Poisoned residents of America’s sacrifice zones are banding together [https://therealnews.com/lets-unite-poisoned-residents-of-americas-sacrifice-zones-are-banding-together]” * Maximilian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, “Corporations and the government are turning the USA into one giant ‘sacrifice zone’ [https://therealnews.com/corporations-and-the-government-are-turning-the-usa-into-one-giant-sacrifice-zone]” Featured Music: * Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: * Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss]. Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer. [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support] Follow us on: Bluesky: @therealnews.com [https://bsky.app/profile/therealnews.com] Facebook: The Real News Network [https://facebook.com/therealnews] Twitter: @TheRealNews [https://twitter.com/therealnews] YouTube: @therealnews [https://www.youtube.com/therealnews] Instagram: @therealnewsnetwork [https://www.instagram.com/therealnewsnetwork/] https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support Become a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today! [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support]

What Would the Black Panthers Say About DSA Today?

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Black Panther Party, founded in Oakland, California, in 1966. On this episode of Rattling the Bars, host Mansa Musa speaks with Dr. Joy James and Dr. K. Kim Holder about the legacy of the Panthers today, and about the important differences and intersections between democratic socialism and the Black Panther model of communalism. This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation. Subscribe to TRNN [https://www.youtube.com/@therealnews] and stay tuned for Part 2 next week… Guests: * Dr. Joy James is Ebenezer Fitch Professor of Humanities at Williams College. She is the author of numerous books, including: In Pursuit of Revolutionary Love [https://divided.online/all-books/in-pursuit-of-revolutionary-love]; Resisting State Violence [https://www.upress.umn.edu/9780816628131/resisting-state-violence/]; and Shadowboxing: Representations of Black Feminist Politics [https://www.amazon.com/Shadowboxing-Representations-Black-Feminist-Politics/dp/0312294492]. Creator of the digital Harriet Tubman Literary Circle at UT Austin [https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/7828], James is also editor of The New Abolitionists: (Neo)Slave Narratives and Contemporary Prison Writings; Imprisoned Intellectuals; Warfare in the American Homeland; The Angela Y. Davis Reader; and co-editor of the Black Feminist Reader. * Dr. K. Kim Holder is an assistant professor of educational foundations and Africana studies at Rowan University. Dr. Holder earned his doctorate from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Multicultural Education and African American Studies, his masters in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street College of Education, and B.A. in History from Hampshire College. Credits: * Producer / Videographer / Editor: Cameron Granadino Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss]. Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer. [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support] Follow us on: Bluesky: @therealnews.com [https://bsky.app/profile/therealnews.com] Facebook: The Real News Network [https://facebook.com/therealnews] Twitter: @TheRealNews [https://twitter.com/therealnews] YouTube: @therealnews [https://www.youtube.com/therealnews] Instagram: @therealnewsnetwork [https://www.instagram.com/therealnewsnetwork/] https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support Become a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today! [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support]