Democracy Now! Audio

We are continuing our conversation with Agnès Callamard, the secretary general of Amnesty International. On Sunday, tens of thousands of women around the world marked International Women’s Day by demonstrating against gender-based violence and calling for an end to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. And today marks the opening of a major United Nations summit: the 70th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women. This all comes a week after Iraqi human rights defender and feminist advocate Yanar Mohammed was assassinated in Baghdad. She was killed in an attack on her home.

Headlines for March 09, 2026; Iran Picks New Supreme Leader; Toxic Black Rain Falls After Israeli Strikes on Iranian Oil Depots; “Racist Regime”: Iranian Israeli Editor Orly Noy on Israel Denying Bomb Shelter Access to Palestinians; “Trump Has Been Anointed by Jesus” to Wage War on Iran: U.S. Commanders Accused of Promoting Holy War

Headlines for March 06, 2026; Another Land Grab? Israel Intensifies Bombardment of Lebanon & Orders Mass Displacement in the South; Lies, Corruption & Scandal: Trump Ousts Kristi Noem, Nominates Sen. Markwayne Mullin to Head DHS; “Donroe Doctrine” Summit: Trump Seeks to Build Right-Wing Power Bloc in Latin America

Headlines for March 05, 2026; “Why Are We Going to War?”: Former U.S. Middle East Officials Say Trump Has “No Clear Plan” on Iran; Geeta Gandbhir on Her Double Oscar Noms for “The Perfect Neighbor” & “The Devil Is Busy”; “Armed Only with a Camera”: Oscar-Nominated Doc Honors Brent Renaud and Other “Fallen Journalists”

Mr Nobody Against Putin is an Oscar-nominated documentary that tells the story of Pavel “Pasha” Talankin, a primary school teacher and videographer who becomes an international whistleblower. After being reluctantly drawn into Putin’s propaganda machine, he starts documenting how ordinary Russians are indoctrinated with pro-war messages and recruited for the war.

Geeta Gandbhir has made history as the first woman to receive Academy Award nominations for both Best Documentary Feature (for The Perfect Neighbor) and Best Documentary Short (The Devil Is Busy) in the same year. The Perfect Neighbor looks at the case of a 35-year-old Black mother of four who was fatally shot in 2023 by her white neighbor. The Devil Is Busy chronicles a day on the frontlines in the battle for reproductive rights at a women’s healthcare clinic in Atlanta, Georgia.

Part 2 of interview with economist Michael Hudson about the global impacts of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. Hudson’s latest article is “The US/Israeli Attack Was to Prevent Peace Not Advance It.”

Headlines for March 04, 2026; Who Bombed Girls’ School in Iran? Reporter Nilo Tabrizy on What We Know About Massacre, 175 Killed; “Iran Is Not Going to Surrender”: Johns Hopkins Prof. Says U.S. and Israel Underestimate Iran; “Utter Disaster for All Involved”: Is Trump’s War on Iran Repeating Bush’s “Forever War” in Iraq?; “The Secret Agent”: Kleber Mendonça Filho on His Oscar-Nominated Film & Brazil’s Military Dictatorship

The Secret Agent is one of the most celebrated international films of the year. It has been nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor. The film stars Wagner Moura and is set in Brazil in 1977, during the final years of the military dictatorship. We speak with the film’s director and screenwriter, Kleber Mendonça Filho.

Headlines for March 03, 2026; “Horror and Anxiety”: Death Toll in Iran Tops 780 as Trump Says U.S. Can Fight “Forever”; By Attacking Iran, U.S. & Israel Seek Unchallenged Supremacy in Middle East: Rami Khouri; “Stop This Bloodshed”: Israeli Lawmaker Ofer Cassif Slams Netanyahu’s “Fascist Government” over Iran; A War for Oil: Economist Michael Hudson on U.S. Quest to Control the World’s Oil Trade

Headlines for March 02, 2026; Iranian American Scholars Denounce U.S.-Israeli Attack, Warn Regime Change Efforts Will Backfire; Israel Wants Ability to Attack Anyone at Any Time: Israeli Analyst Ori Goldberg; Trump’s War on Iran Violates International Law & U.S. Constitution: War Crimes Prosecutor Reed Brody

The U.S. and Israel have launched an unprovoked attack on Iran, striking sites across the country, including the compound of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state media reports one Israeli strike hit an elementary girls’ school in Minab, killing at least 85 people, including scores of children. Iran responded by launching attacks across the Middle East targeting Israel and U.S. military installations in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.

Headlines for February 27, 2026; Missing DOJ Files: As Clintons Testify About Epstein, Where Are FBI Interviews with Trump Accuser?; ICE Abducts Then Releases Columbia Student After Mamdani Intervenes & Calls to Dismiss More Cases; “Abandoned By Border Patrol”: Blind Refugee in Buffalo Dies in the Cold; Family Demands Answers; Former St. Louis Congressmember Cori Bush Runs for Seat Again After AIPAC Targeted Her in 2024

Headlines for February 26, 2026; Cuba Kills 4 Exiles Trying to “Infiltrate” Island by Boat as U.S. “Medieval Siege” of Cuba Continues; “Flagrant War Crime”: Investigation Recreates 2025 Israeli Massacre, Cover-Up of 15 Gaza Aid Workers; Beaten, Starved, Tortured: New CPJ Report on Abuse of Palestinian Journalists in Israeli Prisons; A Record 129 Journalists Killed in 2025, Israel Responsible for 2/3 of the Deaths: CPJ

Headlines for February 25, 2026; “You Have Killed Americans,” “Black People Aren’t Apes”: Democrats Protest Trump’s State of the Union; Nobel Prize-Winning Economist Joseph Stiglitz Slams Trump’s Myths About Tariffs, Affordability; Rep. Summer Lee on Boycotting Trump Speech, Jesse Jackson, Voting Rights, “Endless Wars” & More; Jailed for “Standing Up”: DHS Assault Victim Aliya Rahman Arrested at State of the Union Address; “Lies, Gaslighting and Maligning”: Rep. Adelita Grijalva Boycotts Trump’s Speech

Headlines for February 24, 2026; A Warming Planet Makes Nor’easters & Other Storms More Intense: Climate Scientist Michael Mann; Aided by U.S. Intelligence, Mexican Army Kills Top Cartel Leader After Threat of Trump Intervention; War Crimes Prosecutor Reed Brody on Epstein Files, Duterte’s ICC Case & Ukraine War Anniversary

Headlines for February 23, 2026; Trump Lashes Out & Attacks Justices After Supreme Court Limits His Power to Impose Tariffs; “It’s Still a Genocide”: Poet Mosab Abu Toha on Reality of “Ceasefire” in Gaza; As U.S. Olympians Take on the Trump Administration, Trump Attacks Them While Kash Patel Parties