YES! Presents: Rising Up with Sonali

YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali is a weekly broadcast program—an antidote to the doom and gloom of mainstream news, lifting up solutions that bring us closer to economic, racial, gender, and environmental justice. Hosted and produced by YES! Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar, YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali is available as a podcast, on independent radio stations nationwide, on Free Speech TV, and right here through YES! Media. Learn more about the show here.

Labor expert Cedric de Leon, a professor of sociology and labor studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, spoke with YES! Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali, putting UAW’s Volkswagen victory into context.

UAW Makes History at Tennessee Volkswagen Plant

The United Auto Workers’ union victory in Tennessee was the result of strategic decisions, and could herald a bright future for organized labor in the South.

| Apr 25, 2024

Shana L. Redmond, a professor of English and Comparative Literature at the Center for the Study of Ethnicity at Race at Columbia University, speaks with YES! Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali about campus repression and false accusations of antisemitism.

Inside the Campus Uprising for Palestine

Students and faculty at colleges nationwide are walking out, occupying their campus grounds, and demanding an end to the U.S.-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza.

| Apr 24, 2024

Video | Amnesty International | India | Bhopal Disaster | Dow Chemical

Bhopal Survivors Continue 40-Year Fight for Justice

Four decades after the deadly gas leak, Dow Chemical continues to avoid accountability for the world's worst industrial accident.

| Apr 19, 2024

Video | Ivy League | College Admissions | Education | University of California

Why Are Elite Schools So Attached to the SAT?

Research shows the SAT is racist, sexist, and classist. So why are some elite schools reinstating the test as an admission requirement?

| Apr 18, 2024

Making Arab American Heritage Month Meaningful

Justice for Gaza can be a perfect focus for this year’s Arab American Heritage Month, says Stephanie Abraham.

| Apr 17, 2024

Video | Haiti

Haitians Hope for a New Chapter

Understanding the roots of Haiti’s political crisis is critical to rebuilding the Caribbean nation’s democracy.

| Apr 11, 2024

Activists Organize Gaza “Freedom Flotilla”

In the face of global inaction on Israel’s genocide, activists will sail to Gaza to bring desperately needed aid directly to Palestinians.

| Apr 10, 2024

Iman Husain spoke with YES! Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali about the fascinating story behind Zeinab Shaath’s song "The Urgent Call of Palestine"

Video | Israel | Palestine | Gaza | Zeinab Shaath

The Resurgence of a Palestinian Protest Song

Zeinab Sheath‘s 1972 protest song, “An Urgent Call for Palestine,” finds new life as artists begin to speak out against the Gaza genocide.

| Apr 4, 2024

Grist’s climate fiction creative manager Tory Stephens discusses their annual short story project with YES! Senior Editor Breanna Draxler, guest-hosting YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali.

Video | Narrative | Climate Change | Climate Fiction

Imagining a More Just Climate Future

When we think about climate change, we often think in terms of statistics, studies, and measurements of melting glaciers, dwindling wildlife populations, and mass human migration. It’s a grim reality.

| Apr 3, 2024

EVs Could Meet Biden Climate Goals—Just Not Chinese Ones

Why can’t Americans buy Chinese electric vehicles that could help the Biden administration meet its climate goals?

| Mar 29, 2024

Sarah Anderson discusses solutions to unfair corporate tax rates with YES! Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali.

Video | YES | Tax Day | Taxes

Tax Day Injustice

Thanks to the GOP’s 2017 tax reform law, dozens of large corporations paid their CEOs more than they paid the federal government in taxes.

| Mar 28, 2024

Jess Braverman, legal director of Gender Justice, joins YES! Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali to discuss SCOTUS and medication abortion

Video | Supreme Court | Abortion | Abortion Access | Mifeprestone

Will SCOTUS Revoke Abortion Pill Access?

Justices appeared skeptical of anti-abortion arguments against Mifepristone. Still, the stakes for reproductive health are extremely high.

| Mar 27, 2024

In a discussion about the "complexity of connection," YES! Managing Editor Sunnivie Brydum previews the Spring 2024 issue of YES! Magazine.

Video | spring | YES! Magazine

“Connections,” From Digital Revolutions to Queer Church

In a discussion about the "complexity of connection," YES! Managing Editor Sunnivie Brydum previews the Spring 2024 issue of YES! Magazine.

| Mar 14, 2024

Will Washington’s Police Accountability Measure Work?

Frank Hopper shares the story of how Washington’s Puyallup Tribe helped pass Initiative 940, the nation’s first measure ending qualified immunity for police.

| Mar 13, 2024

Journalist Torsheta Jackson spoke with YES! Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali about her story, “Beyond 40 Acres and a Mule.”

How Towns and Cities Are Implementing Reparations

In the absence of federal action on reparations, Black activists are leading grassroots efforts at the local level to deliver compensation for generations of racial harm.

| Mar 8, 2024

Investigative Report Undermines Israel’s Mass Rape Claims

Investigative reporter Arun Gupta delves into his new, explosive story for YES! about Israeli claims of mass rape on Oct. 7, 2023.

| Mar 6, 2024

Social housing as a concept is gaining popularity. Now, the state of New York is considering a bill to make it a reality.

Video | New York | Housing | Genevieve Rand

New York Considers a Social Housing Bill

Social housing as a concept is gaining popularity. Now, the state of New York is considering a bill to make it a reality.

| Feb 23, 2024

Reparations for Black Americans are past due. Edgar Villanueva makes the case for reparations as an election issue.

Video | Reparations | Elections | Edgar Villanueva

Why Reparations Are a 2024 Election Issue

Reparations for Black Americans are past due. Edgar Villanueva makes the case for reparations as an election issue.

| Feb 22, 2024

Biden's unflinching support for Israel's genocide of Gaza threatens both Biden’s reelection and the United States amid fears that Donald Trump will win a second term.

Video | Donald Trump | Joe Biden | Palestine | Norman Solomon

Is Biden Determined to Lose the Election Over Israel?

Biden's unflinching support for Israel's genocide of Gaza threatens both Biden’s reelection and the United States amid fears that Donald Trump will win a second term.

| Feb 21, 2024

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