Counterpoint, hosted by Scott Harris, is heard every Monday night on WPKN 89.5 FM, Bridgeport, CT between 8:00 - 10:00 pm ET. Webstreaming and audio archive at http://wpkn.org

1) Noah Bonsey, Senior Analyst on Syria with the International Crisis Group based in Beirut, Lebanon, discusses the humanitarian crisis for 400,000 civilians in eastern Ghouta under siege by Syrian government forces, the current U.S. role in Syria and prospects for future international negotiations and a peaceful settlement of the 7-year conflict.

2) Jonathan Marshall, an independent journalist and scholar is author or co-author of five books related to national security or international relations, discusses his recent Consortium News article titled, "Time to Admit the Afghan War is 'Nonsense,'" and the current Trump administration policy on the 17-year long U.S. war in Afghanistan.

3) Kevin Martin, President of Peace Action and the Peace Action Education Fund, examines the recent speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin where he announced several new nuclear weapons systems -- and assesses the speech in the context of the Trump administration's recent nuclear posture review which signaled a greater willingness to use nuclear weapons first, the development of new "low-yield" nuclear warheads and the deployment of the U.S./NATO Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense system in Poland and Romania.

4) Ari Paul, an independent journalist who covers politics and labor, and has written for The Nation, The Guardian, Dissent, The American Prospect, Boston Review and many other outlets, discusses the Janus vs. AFSCME case heard by the Supreme Court last week, where the primary issue is the ability of public sector unions to collect fees for service from employees who don’t join the union that represents them. I'd like to focus on what's at stake for the U.S. labor movement, and the likely consequences for American politics, if as expected the ruling goes against AFSCME.

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 2-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