BT Live: Democrats’ Left Insurgency | Cuba in the Crosshairs | Khamenei Funeral

BT Live! Join hosts Rania Khalek and Zoe Alexandra and special guests twice weekly for the breaking news that matters and the sharp left, anti-imperialist analysis you need to keep fighting. 

Trump’s spiraling about the “communist menace” as the Mamdani effect triggers tectonic shifts to the left – and away from the Democratic establishment – in New York, where State Assemblywoman and proud DSA member Claire Valdez just took the highly competitive primary for New York’s 7th Congressional District and is widely expected to win the general election. Valdez joins the show to discuss the Palestine litmus test for Democratic candidates, the rise in anti-war working class consciousness, and voters’ growing demand to be represented by politicians with the courage to embargo Israel. What are her demands for the Democratic primary field looking at 2028, and how will she stand up to establishment pressure and attempts to co-opt the people power behind her, as she (very likely) heads to the US Capitol come November? 

Meanwhile in Iran, millions of people are mourning Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at a six-day public funeral procession across Iran and Shia holy sites in Iraq. Negar Mortazavi, senior fellow at the Center for International Policy and host of the Iran Podcast, joins to discuss what officials say is the biggest state funeral in Iran’s history. 

Plus, Empire Files journalist and filmmaker Abby Martin joins to discuss the new BreakThrough News film she co-directed, Cuba After Castro, featuring the first American interview with President Miguel Díaz-Canel, and the latest news from Havana.

Thursday, July 7 | 12 PM ET / 9 AM PT