COUNTERPOINT RADIO, hosted by Scott Harris, is heard every Monday night on WPKN 89.5 FM, Bridgeport, CT between 8:00 – 9:30 pm ET. Webstreaming and audio archive at http://wpkn.org

1) Melvin Goodman is a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, a professor of government at Johns Hopkins University and a former CIA analyst. Goodman, whose latest book is titled, “American Carnage: The Wars of Donald Trump,” talks about his recent Counterpunch.org commentary, "The Sordid Politics of Defense Spending," re: Trump's requested increase of $1.5 trillion in defense spending justified by a massive exaggeration of national security challenges.

2) Matthew Hoh, a Iraq War combat veteran and Afghanistan State Department officer who resigned in protest over U.S. war policy in 2009, who now serves as a senior fellow with the Eisenhower Media Network. He'll discuss his views on the now reignited U.S. war on Iran, assessing the recent round of attacks resulting in the recent deaths of 4 more U.S. service members, Trump and Pete Hegseth's leadership of this failed war and rising public opposition. Hoh will also consider Trump's muddled handling of a nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia with no restrictions on the Kingdom to develop a nuclear bomb, setting off fears of a new Middle East nuclear arms race.

3) Amanda Hollowell, chief of campaigns with Color of Change, discusses her group's campaign opposing congressional approval for $10 billion to implement key sections of President Trump's "Save America Act," designed to make it harder for millions of Americans to vote, primarily targeting communities of color. Although the House approved the $10 billion which is part of a $95 billion reconciliation package, to be implemented the measure must first be approved by the U.S. Senate.

4) Khury Petersen-Smith, the Michael Ratner Middle East Fellow and the Co-Director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, talks about the new IPS report, "Forging a Democracy that Works for All: Countering the Power of Billionaires, Corporations, and the Pentagon," which proposes a detailed progressive blueprint to expand democracy by targeting the outsized influence of billionaires, corporations, and the military.

Some segments featured on Counterpoint are edited for re-broadcast on the syndicated Between The Lines radio news magazine. Visit their web site at http://www.btlonline.org for free subscriptions to mp3 - podcast audio files, program summaries and interview transcripts. An archive of current and past Counterpoint interviews are accessible for free at our Counterpoint Radio web site: http://counterpointradio.org The full 1.5 hour unedited program can be accessed for a 2 week period after the show, at the WPKN Radio archives: http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/search/counterpoint