People's Republic

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a comedian who played the president on a popular Ukrainian TV show, overwhelmingly defeated the incumbent Poroshenko in the Ukrainian elections. American media have situated Ukraine entirely in terms of its opposition to Russia, but what are some of the social divisions and political realities within the country that led to such a historic ouster of a sitting president? We talk with Walter Smolarek, an analyst for Radio Sputnik and a producer of Loud & Clear with Brian Becker, about the current political moment and historical divisions within Ukraine.Later, we talk about the ICE raids at a worksite in Allen, Texas, near Dallas. ICE rounded up and arrested nearly 300 people in the largest raids in a decade. We are joined by Marissa Rodriguez, an organizer in Dallas, about what the community is doing to push back.