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On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Dave Lindorff, an investigative reporter, a columnist for CounterPunch, and a contributor to The Nation, Extra! and Salon.com, whose writings are at ThisCantBeHappening.net.

Voters will go to the polls tomorrow in New Hampshire to make their choice for the Democratic nominee for president as the Iowa Democratic Party remains mired in controversy after announcing official results that are sure to be challenged. And as Democrats attack each other on the campaign trail, polls are showing a more clearly defined race with Bernie Sanders in the lead, followed by Pete Buttigieg. Amy Klobuchar is third, with Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden tied for fourth. No other candidates are in double digits.

President Trump today proposed a $4.8 trillion dollar federal budget that includes massive cuts to social safety net programs, including huge cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. The budget also calls for a 26.5 percent cut to the Environmental Protection Agency, a nine percent cut to the Department of Health and Human Services, and large reductions to the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control. Democrats in the House will surely reject the proposals, setting up a fight over priorities, both on Capitol Hill and on the campaign trail. Julie Hurwitz, a civil rights attorney and partner at the law firm Goodman, Hurwitz and James, joins the show.

The South Korean film Parasite last night became the first foreign language film ever to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Besides best picture, the film also won Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Film. The comedy-thriller about class struggle in South Korea won at a time that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has struggled against accusations that it is biased in favor of white men. So while writer-director Bong Joon Ho did well for himself last night, none of the actors in the film were even nominated for anything. Brian and John speak with Sputnik News Analysts, Producers, and Film Critics Walter Smolarek and Nicole Roussell.

Ireland is in the midst of an historic election. With more than half of the 160 contested seats filled in the Doyle Eric, or Parliament, Sinn Fein, the political arm of the former Irish Republican Army, had won 24.5 percent, followed by 22 percent for opposition party Fianna Fail (Fina Foil), and 21 percent for the ruling Fine (Finna Gail) Gael. Prime Minister Leo Varadkar called the vote “a revolution at the ballot box” and said that forming a government would be “challenging.” Journalist Andy Brennan joins the show.

Monday’s segment “Education for Liberation with Bill Ayers” is where Bill helps us look at the state of education across the country. What’s happening in our schools, colleges, and universities, and what impact does it have on the world around us? Bill Ayers, an activist, educator and the author of the book “Demand the Impossible: A Radical Manifesto,” joins Brian and John.

In this segment, The Week Ahead, the hosts take a look at the most newsworthy stories of the coming week and what it means for the country and the world, including the New Hampshire primary, continued controversy over the result of the Iowa caucus, fighting in Syria, a political crisis in Germany, and more. Sputnik News analysts and producers of this show Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek join the show.

Monday’s regular segment Technology Rules is a weekly guide on how monopoly corporations and the national surveillance state are threatening cherished freedoms, civil rights and civil liberties. Web developer and technologist Chris Garaffa and software engineer and technology and security analyst Patricia Gorky join the show.