by Scott Harris, Between the Lines
Between The Lines Radio Newsmagazine will mark 35 years of independent, progressive journalism with a special public forum featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, best-selling author and activist Chris Hedges on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, from 2 to 4 p.m. at First and Summerfield United Methodist Church, 425 College St., New Haven.
Hedges will deliver a keynote address titled The Next Election May Be Our Last: Why a General Strike Is Democracy’s Last Line of Defense Against Fascism. Coming just weeks before the November midterm election, his talk will examine what he sees as escalating threats to U.S. democratic institutions and constitutional safeguards, as well as conflicts over voting rights and presidential power.
Hedges will explore strategies for confronting authoritarianism through mass nonviolent resistance, grassroots organizing and collective action, including his argument for a general strike as a means of defending democratic institutions. Following his talk, Hedges will sign copies of his new book, Requiem for Gaza, which will be available for purchase at the event.
At the Oct. 17 event, Between The Lines will award three groups the radio program’s Democracy in Action Award that recognizes the vital work of progressive activist groups in Connecticut. This year’s awards go to: Danbury Unites for Immigrants, for their courageous work organizing their community to monitor and defend neighbors against ICE mass deportation raids and arrests; Connecticut for All, the powerful statewide coalition of labor, community, faith and nonprofit organizations representing hundreds of thousands of Connecticut residents, mobilizing them to confront systemic racial and economic inequality; and New Haven’s Unhoused Activists Community Team (U-ACT), an advocacy organization composed of currently unhoused people and others who fight for the rights and dignity of the city’s unhoused population.
The Oct. 17 event celebrates a milestone for Between The Lines, which first went on the air in January 1991. For more than three decades, the weekly radio newsmagazine’s all-volunteer team of citizen journalists has interviewed journalists, scholars, activists and community leaders while providing progressive perspectives and in-depth analysis of political, economic, environmental and social justice issues.
Today, more than 70 radio stations across the United States broadcast Between The Lines each week at no charge, while the program continues to expand its audience online.
“For 35 years, our volunteer producers have worked to provide independent journalism and amplify perspectives too often ignored or marginalized by corporate media,” said Scott Harris, executive producer of Between The Lines and Squeaky Wheel Productions. “This anniversary is an opportunity not only to celebrate that work, but to examine the threats now confronting free speech, independent media and democracy itself.”
EVENT DETAILS: Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, 2 – 4 p.m.; First and Summerfield United Methodist Church, 425 College St., New Haven, CT 06511 (corner of Elm Street). Suggested contribution is $1 to $35 or more on a sliding scale; no one will be turned away. Reservations/Tickets and information can be found at http://BTLonline.org or call 203-268-8446.
