Millionaire pundits are celebrating cuts to Social Security benefits; we'll ask the Center for Economic & Policy Research’s Nicole Woo what the real world effects of that ‘tweak’ are likely to be. And the trial of Dr. Kermit Gosnell, wo ran an illegal abortion clinic in Philadelphia, has been covered in gruesome detail since Gosnell's arrest in 2011> But what's been missing from that reporting? We’ll hear from Erin Grant, a Philadelphia abortion provider, and contributor to RH Reality Check, about that.

Download MP3 This week on CounterSpin: Internet activists are trying to rein in abusive aspects of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, or CFAA, with a law dubbed "Aaron's Law"--named in honor of activist Aaron Swartz. But new developments in the House threaten to make the law even more abusive. We'll talk with David Moon from the group Swartz founded, Demand Progress.   Also on the show: With millions of Americans in prison, and seemingly more each day, one might imagine that what goes on in prison would be a topic for sustained journalistic inquiry. Yet there are only a [...]

This week on CounterSpin: When it comes to the Iraq War, elite media are willing to say 'mistakes were made' around evidence of weapons, but virtually none appear interested to revisit the other justifications they endorsed, including that toppling Saddam Hussein would advance human rights in Iraq and especially the rights of women. Surely media that truly regretted their role in the war would show more interest in tracking those aspects of its ongoing impact? We’ll speak with Diana Duarte of the group MADRE, about what they’d find if they did.
Also on the show: Veteran journalist Barbara Miner's new book takes a look at decades of history in Milwaukee—including fights over school integration, welfare reform and the birth of the school voucher movement. And she argues that journalists and policymakers can't have a sensible conversation about the state of public schools if they're ignoring the big issues, like racism and poverty. She'll be here to talk about 'Lessons from the Heartland: A Turbulent Half-Century of Public Education in an Iconic American City.'

This week on CounterSpin: The Washington Post is again suggesting that Iran is expanding its nuclear program. This time, they say Iran is attempting to import magnets for use in uranium centrifuges. But is the story credible? And how does it play alongside the US’s latest National Intelligence Estimate? We'll talk with Yousaf Butt, physicist and scientist-in-residence at the Monterey Institute for International Studies.

Also on CounterSpin today: Remember Fix the Debt? Last year a group of CEOs, along with Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, were on a crusade to save the country from its crushing debt load—mostly by cutting Social Security and Medicare. That moment of crisis passed, but the group's still as active as ever. PR Watch and the Nation reported on the things we should know about Fix the Debt; we'll talk to PR Watch deputy director Mary Bottari.