Excerpt of talks by Fredi Guevara and Liam Henrie, crew members of the Global Sumud Flotilla, recorded and produced by Melinda Tuhus.

The Global Sumud Flotilla, the largest effort so far to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians there, consisted of 52 boats and more than 400 volunteers from 41 countries. The boats were intercepted and boarded by the Israeli military in two waves in May, with flotilla crew members aboard the boats arrested and detained. Upon their release, most of the volunteers reported being subjected to torture and abuse, including some who said they were sexually assaulted and physically attacked, resulting in broken bones.

Two American flotilla crew members, Fredi Guevara and Liam Henrie, recently spoke about their experiences at the Palestine Museum in Woodbridge, Connecticut, reminding their audience that Palestinians suffer much worse treatment at the hands of Israel on a daily basis.

Interview with Sean Strub, an AIDS activist, founder of POZ Magazine, author, and politician, conducted by Scott Harris.

Sean Strub, an AIDS activist, founder of POZ Magazine, author, and politician talks about the nationwide Seven Days in June campaign, June 1–7, organized to raise awareness about the $1.2 trillion in federal cuts to healthcare programs, the fight to restore funding impacting millions of Americans, and calling on local, state, and federal leaders to protect health as a governing priority.

Interview with Alex Lawson, executive director of the group Social Security Works, conducted by Scott Harris.

Alex Lawson, executive director of Social Security Works, talks about the increasing number of Social Security offices that are “temporarily closed” while others are chronically understaffed “ghost offices” that only have a skeleton crew left and can’t meaningfully serve the local community. All this while there are reports that the Trump administration is planning to use AI to spy on employees and use low staffing as an excuse to close more offices.

Interview with Christina Harvey, Stand Up America's executive director, conducted by Scott Harris.

Stand Up America’s Executive Director Christina Harvey discusses her group’s national “Kick Out Corruption” Tour, being organized with End Citizens United, to expose how corruption in Washington is driving up costs for everyday Americans. Harvey offers solutions to cleaning up the waste, fraud and abuse that results from unchecked government corruption.

Interview with Sophia Tesfaye, a senior writer at Salon.com, conducted by Scott Harris.

Sophia Tesfaye talks about her recent commentary, “Bari Weiss brings Trumpism to ’60 Minutes,’” regarding the Ellison family’s CBS “murder” of America’s highest rated and most watched news program; issues related to MAGA friendly billionaires’ takeover of media outlets and Donald Trump’s weaponization of the FCC and other federal agencies to destroy the nation’s free press.

Interview with Martha Guzman Aceves, former Region 9 EPA administrator, conducted by Melinda Tuhus.

On May 21, an overheating chemical tank holding 6,500 gallons of methyl methacrylate at an aerospace facility in Garden Grove, California, triggered mandatory evacuations affecting 50,000 residents across Orange County. The tank was later safely cracked and depressurized, ending the immediate threat, where no one was injured. But five days later, on May 26, another chemical disaster struck when a tank holding 600,000 gallons of a caustic chemical known as “white liquor” exploded at a paper mill in Longview, Washington. Eleven workers were killed at the site.

Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Martha Guzman Aceves, the former Region 9 administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under President Biden, which covers California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, three U.S. territories and 148 tribal nations.

She’s currently a volunteer expert with the Environmental Protection Network, made up of hundreds of former EPA staffers from all levels of the agency. Here she talks about the importance of protecting workers and communities from toxic emissions, spills and explosions and her concern that under the Trump administration, safety regulations and inspections are being rolled back.

Interview with Sam Rosenthal, political director of Roots Action, conducted by Scott Harris.

Sam Rosenthal talks about his recent commentary, “Establishment Democrats Still Don’t Get Why They Lost in 2024,” and the critical importance—in this moment of Donald Trump’s multi-front violent attack on U.S. democracy—of having a viable political party to stand as an alternative to Trump and the Republican party’s authoritarian project.

Interview with Connecticut state Rep. Josh Elliott, deputy House speaker, conducted by Scott Harris.

Josh Elliott talks about his candidacy, the policies he’s advocating and his strategy to win the Aug. 11th primary. Elliott represents the 88th District, which comprises residents of Hamden’s Spring Glen, Whitneyville, parts of Centerville and Shepherd Hill neighborhoods. As deputy House speaker and Majority Caucus co-chair, Elliott won 25 percent of the delegates at the state’s Democratic Convention last month, clearing the 15 percent threshold to force an August primary election against incumbent Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont. Lamont won the party’s official endorsement with about 75 percent of the delegate vote.