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.

Emily Peterson-Cassin, director of corporate power at Demand Progress, spoke with YES! Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali about the DOJ and Ticketmaster.

Video | Department of Justice | Live Nation

Can the DOJ Break Up Live Nation’s Monopoly?

A new DOJ lawsuit is challenging Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s monopoly power over artist performances, venues, and concert-goers.

| May 30, 2024

Zahra Billoo, a prominent civil rights lawyer and executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, San Francisco Bay Area, spoke with YES! Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali about the Rafah strike and House hearings.

Israel Attacks Rafah Refugee Camp, Killing Dozens

CAIR’s Zahra Billoo analyzes Israel’s latest actions in Gaza, including the bombing of displaced Palestinians living in tents in a refugee camp.

| May 29, 2024

Evette Dionne, executive editor of Yes!, joines Sonali Kolhatkar to discuss the summer 2024 issue of Yes! Magazine, which is themed around Access.

Video | Accessibility | Access

What “Access” Means for YES! Magazine

The summer 2024 issue of YES! Magazine explores myriad issues, from electoral power and abortion to disability justice and recreation.

| May 24, 2024

Christine Ahn and Marie Berry report back from the powerful Feminist Peace Summit, held in Denver recently.

Feminism Is About Justice, Not War

Christine Ahn and Marie Berry report back from the powerful Feminist Peace Summit, held in Denver recently.

| May 23, 2024

Campus Protests Continue as ICC Issues Arrest Warrants

Investigative reporter Arun Gupta analyzes the latest news on Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

| May 22, 2024

Video | Protests | Free Gaza

Understanding Gen Z Voters

A Gen Z journalist explores the motivations of politically engaged young voters to flex their voting power—or not.

| May 16, 2024

Jennifer Wells, director of economic justice at Community Change Action spoke with YES! Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali about her organization’s campaign to make childcare financially sustainable.

Video | Childcare | Jennifer Wells

Making Childcare Sustainable for Parents and Providers

To highlight the unsustainable costs of child care for parents and providers, Community Change Action marked "Day Without Child Care" for the third year in a row.

| May 15, 2024

UCLA Faculty Defend Student Activists

UCLA professor Robin D. G. Kelley offers insight on how faculty are supporting pro-Palestine students who are facing violence from Zionists and the LAPD.

| May 9, 2024

Inside a Free Gaza Campus Hub

In a special report from Cal State LA’s newly established Free Gaza encampment, a student and a community activist speak out.

| May 8, 2024

Dortell Williams, serving a life sentence without parole in California, shares his experience on Rising Up With Sonali.

Facing Life Without Parole Inside a California Prison

Recent reforms in prison communications have allowed Dortell Williams, serving a life sentence without parole in California, to share his experience face-to-face for the first time.

| May 3, 2024

A Jewish American student takes us inside the Free Gaza encampment at Bryn Mawr College, part of the student uprising demanding an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

Jewish Students Central to Free Gaza Campus Protests

A Jewish American student takes us inside the Free Gaza encampment at Bryn Mawr College, part of the student uprising demanding an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

| May 2, 2024

Two students from San Francisco State University's Free Gaza encampment spoke with YES! Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali about why they are protesting and give a visual tour of the encampment.

Students Speak Out From Free Gaza Encampment

Students at San Francisco State University’s Free Gaza encampment share why they are demanding divestment from Israel.

| May 1, 2024

Amy Fitch-Heacock, executive board member and spokesperson for Arizonans for Reproductive Freedom spoke with YES! Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali about the impact of the abortion ban and prospects for overturning it.

Video | Arizona | reproductive rights | Abortion

Can Arizona Win Back the Right to an Abortion?

The Arizona Supreme Court reinstated an 1864 abortion ban—which is now fueling voter enthusiasm for a November ballot measure seeking to permanently restore abortion rights.

| Apr 26, 2024

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 | India | Bhopal Disaster | Dow Chemical | Amnesty International

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

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 | Climate Change | Climate Fiction | Narrative

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