Keeping Democracy Alive with Burt Cohen: Recent Episodes
Burt Cohen
Keeping democracy alive Democracy is not a spectator sport, it requires informed participating citizens. On Keeping Democracy Alive, we delve into dynamics that both inhibit democracy and reinvigorate it. looking into issues from: domestic economic issues to foreign, labor, trade, and education policy, NSA spying, the drug war, prison, police, and judicial issues, electoral and protest politics, middle east realities, right and left wing populism, environmental and energy issues, the wealth gap, and internet issues. Including such issues and movements as the Occupy Movement, Citizens United, safe energy, Jewish Voice for Peace, Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Spiritual Progressives, Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, Foreign Policy In Focus, Institute for Policy Studies, Wealth for the Common Good, Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives, BDS, Campaign for America’s Future, TransPacific Partnership, NORML and MPP, the OffNow Coalition, The World Bank and IMF, The Birch Society, and many more. We talk with authors of important new history books for insight into current dilemmas. The idea is to empower listeners with facts behind current problems and with specific opportunities for them to make positive change to revitalize democracy
Guests of note Gore Vidal, George McGovern, Claire Conner, Medea Benjamin, Adam Hochschild, Ben Cohen, Bernie Sanders, Anna Gyorgy, Marjorie Cohn, Elias Isquith, Zaid Jilani, Merle Ratner, Peter Van Buren, Brian Kahn, Allen Brownfeld, Michael Hill, Joyce Horman, Debra Sweet, Ken Gloss, Zephyr Teachout, Rev. Bruce Shipman, Rabbi Michael Lerner, Steven Jonas, Alex Pareene, Michael Kazin, Richard Eskow, Patrick Smith, Jules Feffer, Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss, Eric Zuesse, Guy Saperstein, Richard Rothstein, Chuck Collins, Astra Taylor, Bryan Stephenson, Margaret Flowqers, Kevin Zeese, Roger Hickey, Bob Borosage, Bruce Dancis, Philip Smith, Sean McElwee, Amanda Marcotte, Shane Trejo, Noam Chomsky, MJ Rosenberg, Hedrick Smith, Ellen Brown
The status quo is not getting the job done. People want populism and Trump ain’t it. Then again the Democratic establishment isn’t it either. The Trumpists want us to hate and fear those on the FDR left. Is it working?
The post Which Party Do Voters Hate More? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Think fascism is a European import? Guess again: Hitler and Mussolini copied American fascism. Before and after the Civil War, some Americans counted while many did not. Like the European models which followed, the South was such a system: Hierarchy
The post Fascism Is All-American appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Some of the bravest, most courageous, and loyal friends aren’t even people. They deserve recognition and they’re about to get it. Our guest, the founder of the National Service Animals Monument Susan Bahary says in this 250th year anniversary, you
The post Service Animals to Get Their Own Monument: It’s About Time appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Tanks don’t just show up on our streets. A rolling coup is what’s happening, so say Former House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt and former Senator Tim Wirth, who are are not exactly firebrands; they represent the moderate center of the
The post We’re In a Rolling Coup: Gephardt and Wirth appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
The oil companies had no less supply and sold the same volume but reaped greater profits. The input price: the cost of refinement of crude oil, remained the same. But the Iran War oil shock did not affect everyone the
The post How the Iran War Made the Very Rich Even Richer appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Four out of five voters today live in flyover states, their votes don’t really count, they are mere spectators. But it’s no longer a question of if, but when: whoever wins the popular vote will become president. National Popular Vote
The post Make Every Voter a Battleground Voter appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
The Democratic establishment doesn’t get that people vote their morals. So says our guest David Fenton, successful public relations veteran of fifty years. Civil rights, wars, climate change: he says these are moral issues and people vote with their hearts
The post PR Professional of the Left: Win by Touching People’s Morals appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
What do you know about Bolivia? If you’re like me, you knew about Evo Morales, the first indigenous president, known as the Nelson Mandela of the Andes. Well the former landholding elite is back in power. And the IMF dictated
The post From Indigenous Power to Fury in the Streets appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
The Constitution itself is divisive. There wasn’t much America’s Founders agreed on, but one thing they did agree on was no kings; legislative over any executive power. On this, the 250th birthday of the Declaration of Independence, historian Thomas Richards
The post The Unfinished Business of 1776: It Goes On. appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
If you don’t think people vote on foreign policy, consider that Kamala Harris lost because of Gaza. And that Obama beat Hillary because of her support for the war in Iraq. On this show, historian Van Gosse describes how effective
The post To Build the Anti-War Movement, We Must Learn from the Past appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
What is the rules based order anyway? According to our guest, Bob Borosage of the Campaign for America’s Future argues it’s a lie; the truth is it’s about the rule of American capital over productivity, never mind our European allies.
The post Trump Broke the Rules Based Order. Why We Shouldn’t Bring It Back appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
What is the rules based order anyway? According to our guest, Bob Borosage of the Campaign for America’s Future argues it’s a lie; the truth is it’s about the rule of American capital over productivity, never mind our European allies.
The post Trump Broke the Rules Based Order. Why We Shouldn’t Bring it Back appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
I may have multiple myeloma but I am not multiple myeloma. Same is true for people with Alzheimer’s. On this slightly shortened show our guests are Dr. Anthony Goodman and his wife Meredith who helps him out. Tony is a
The post June is Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month; Time to Destigmatize appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
They feel betrayed. What used to be a dependable advocate for working families has, over the last two decades, morphed into being a second party of the interests of the wealthy. From his own experience, our guest author Les Leopold
The post Why the Working Class Has Given Up on the Liberal Establishment appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
The real purpose of Trump’s big beautiful wall is to show power. Our guest says it’s a visceral metaphor for what the MAGAs hate; showing dominance. In his article in The Nation talking about what he calls “The Never Ending
The post Nearly Forgotten But Not Gone: Trump’s Wall appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
It started in hippie garages with people like the Whole Earth Catalog’s Stewart Brand: the promise of more freedom for more voices. Today the tech billionaires see democracy as the anti-Christ. Now ask yourself: has Apple computers liberated you? Irresponsible
The post From a Benign Beginning, How the Tech World Turned Evil appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
The national media was accused of hiding Biden’s age related slippage, but they’ve been positively sheepish on what the world sees as an autocrat gone mad. Not just Republicans have been made to fear Trump’s power. His decline has thus
The post Is The Trump Madness Media Dam Starting to Break? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
On this show Professor James K. Galbraith argues it has. The role of the military diplomatically is at least in question. Iran has clearly made out best in this temporary truce. No world power is likely to be intimidated by
The post Has the US Military Proven Itself Obsolete? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Thanks in large measure to Donald Trump, there’s space opening up on the left. Far from becoming a 51st state, the Canadian New Democratic Party has chosen a new leader, and support for Avi Lewis is growing fast. If you
The post There’s a New Left Rising In Canada appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
They make billions despite their actual performance. While their workers are forced to live on subsistence wages, if that, taxpayers are also subsidizing the outrageous CEO pay as they subsidize workers who are forced to go on public relief. On
The post It’s Time to Adjust the Unprecedented Pay Gap appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
It’s a long term necessity, but tragically, short term policy-makers put off a solution essential to a strong economy and restoration of our republican form of government. As of today, both the economy and democracy are in a downward spiral.
The post A Wealth Tax: Boost the Economy and Democracy appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Did we give up on our president when 9/11 happened? Of course not, we rallied round the flag. Same thing is happening in Iran. Both Democrats and Republicans have forever bent over backwards for Israel, and today as a result
The post The Iran War A Catastrophe for the US-Israel Alliance? That’s a Good Thing. appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
In a world of smart homes and cities, data is the coin of the realm. Everyone is vulnerable, nothing is too private. We consumers are unintentionally paying for our own surveillance. The fourth amendment is taking a beating in the
The post With Smart Everything, Your Data Will be Used Against You appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
What we’re seeing today is a far cry from justice. Today’s policy of cruelty toward immigrants is an abject failure, yet it’s impractical to have a totally open border with Mexico. As with most solutions, the answer has to involve
The post Immigration Justice: Is it Even Possible? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Even Fox News is openly admitting that Donald Trump’s policies are destroying the American farm industry. The agricultural heartland has been solidly ruby red for Trump but, as farmer and advocate Anthony Flaccavento writes in The Nation, there’s a Farmer’s
The post Trump’s “Farms First” Now Beginning to Revolt appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
While the hard right has had significant success in rallying young people (mostly males), the anger at ICE and a desire for a sense of belonging is moving more and more kids to the populist left. Look how many high
The post The Kids Are Alright appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Why would an American president stab Americas signature industry in the back? Our guest today, Ryan Cooper senior editor of The American Prospect argues that it makes no actual economic sense but that Trump is dragging his obsessive anti-green agenda
The post Why Did Trump Try to Kill the American Auto Industry? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
After an assassination attempt, Ngo Dinh Diem saw proof that he was God’s agent. In some ways he did try to do well for his people, but in others he and his family were ruthless against the majority Buddhist population
The post Think You Knew The Story of Vietnam? Give a Listen. appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
They were not victims of fascism, but characters who survived and eventually thrived. In this new book, The Secret Buttons, for young adults, author Ellen M. Shapiro spins the tale of kids coming to solutions their parents in 1938 did
The post Illustrated Lessons of Kids Cleverly Fighting Fascism appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
From tinny AM pop to stereo underground rock, WBCN was right at the vanguard. According to our guest, the legendary Charles Laquidara, it was part of an exciting wonderfully freeing time. A commercial station, it still managed to be the
The post Laquidara On the Legacy of WBCN appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
More and more people are coming to the conclusion that keeping power utilities in corporate hands no longer makes sense. Legislators in conservative places like Hudson Valley and Massena NY are passing laws to put ownership of power companies in
The post Democratic Socialist Solutions Embraced By Republicans in Upstate NY appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
There is in fact a lush garden of American greatness and it is not MAGA. Though less well known, there is a proud history of successful dissent which does make America great. Military power and straight white male domination is
The post Historian Michael Kazin on America’s Enduring Actual Greatness appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
You’ve seen the ads on network TV:Huge data centers bringing life to hollowed out communities. But the reality is these huge projects suck electricity and water and provide virtually no lasting jobs. Not just people on the left but people
The post Risings All Over The Country Against Data Centers appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
He’s only president of the United States, not the European Union, right? Unlike the US, there’s a longstanding bipartisan commitment to social democracy on the continent. Yet Trumpism is having a serious mark on this tradition, with Trump making civilizational
The post Europe Fighting Back Against President Trump appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
It’s a historical fact that Democrats win when there is a movement beneath the electoral process. Karishma Manzur is running for US Senate having risen from the leading base of such a movement. On this show she speaks about what
The post Yet Another Courageous New Democrat: Now From NH appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
We’re in Monroe Doctrine 2.0. Our guest on today’s show Terie Matson is in Mexico City, the other side of Rubio’s multipolar scheme for division of the world. Trumps random attack on Venezuelan vessels is but a symptom or a
The post What’s Happening in “Our Backyard?” Sovereignty Is Happening. appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
After decades of having to look “Tough on Crime”by jailing teenagers, notably people of color, at last we’re seeing the end of adult prisons housing kids. Forty four states have dialed back the sequestering of kids in medieval fortresses where
The post Freer Kids and Safer Streets appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
At the nearly two hundred fifty year mark, we’ve already lasted longer than most great nations. As with others which declined and fell, a loss of confidence led to anxiety and the impulse for a strong man to protect us
The post Is America on an Irreversible Path to Decline and Fall? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
This book actually changed my view of US History. The author says the Confederates and the January 6th assault are the inheritors of the original intent! He argues that the standard story is not the truth. The surprising reality of
The post Do We Really Want to Get Back to America’s Founding Ideals? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Why do they feel a need for violence to prove their manhood? What’s the connection between an angry Germany after the First World War and what many young men are feeling in 2025? Why do they see equality as deprivation?
The post Why are Young Men Drawn to Fascism? What Can We Do? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Fear of the other. Fear of woke, of LGBTQ+, of Black liberation, and of course the old big fear: Communism. In the age of the Cold War, right after WWII, Americans believed the Soviet Union was bankrolling worldwide liberation movements,
The post Why is There So Much Fear in the Strongest Country in the World? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Think billionaires have no impact on your life? Think again. We never blame billionaires for our day to day problems even though they deserve it. For example billionaires buy up housing projects then up the rent. And as business owners
The post People and the Planet: Burned By Billionaires appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Under Trump 2.0, we adults are taught to fear The Other, we must become a monolinguistic culture: English over all. But during this week of Jewish high holy days, we ask what is this ancient language of Yiddish? It is
The post Justice and Peace: What Teaching Yiddish Literature to Kids Offers appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
We all know what terrorism is. We’ve seen it on the ground in Israel. That’s terrorism on the cheap. Is the answer the most modern ultra high tech bombers to decimate the enemy? For centuries, a key measure of modernity
The post Are High Tech Weapons The Answer to Low Budget Terrorism? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
The far right got a major boost with the martyrdom of Charlie Kirk. What used to be the Republican party is no more. The young man’s appeal to other young men is a major hurdle for traditional patriotic Americans. And
The post Gavin Newsom: Democrats Savior ’28? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
When America was indeed great, the federal government brought theater to all people. Free. In a mirror opposite of Trump 2.0, under FDR there was the Federal Theater project in which one quarter of the nation’s population saw free performances
The post Public Theater: A Way to Measure Democracy appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
There is in fact a lush garden of American greatness and it is not MAGA. Though less well known, there is a proud history of successful dissent which does make America great. Military power and straight white male domination is
The post Historian Michael Kazin on America’s Enduring Actual Greatness appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
England’s Labour Party is a lot like America’s Democratic Party: all over the map. Both used to be the party of laboring people. The UK’s current PM Kier Starmer won claiming to be of the left. Now he’s pushing an
The post Rising in the UK and the US: A Democratic Left appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Researchers are beginning to understand why some of us demonstrate what is called “moral courage” and others do not. In fact, most of us actually have a warped sense of our own moral courage. We like to think nothing would
The post The Trump Era and the Psychology of Moral Courage appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
After 2024, the mainstream of the Democratic Party is in the wilderness, but Zohran Mamdani may lead a way out. This week’s guest Fred Glass, talks about what early 20th century California history can teach us about the 2025 New
The post Why Mamdani May Revitalize the Democratic Party: 1911 CA Precedent appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Innumerable people have tried over many years to stop the forever wars between Israel and Palestine. With the world now horrified by the use of starvation as a weapon, the urgency of a resolution has never been greater. Even if
The post A Blueprint for A Future Israel/Palestine appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
It’s not in the headlines like starvation in Gaza, but in focusing on the billions facing food insecurity or worse, our guest today points out that the world is enacting policies to reduce food production on agricultural lands diverting way
The post Of All The Crises, the Food Crisis May Be the Toughest to Resolve appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
American military service members certainly did not sign up to fight the American people. Yet with the massive deployment of national guard and marines to stop protests in Los Angeles, that was indeed their assignment. On this show, Jacobin and
The post “Just Following Orders”? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
What mainstream Democrats don’t understand is that anti-elites are economically progressive, while the elites are economically conservative. NYCs Mamdani won the primary by building an economic coalition. On this show, Joan C. Williams talks about her important new book, Outclassed.
The post How The Left Lost the Working Class and How to Win Them Back appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
It’s called airbrushing history and all dictators do it to erase the truth. Sometimes it can be petty. One example is that Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon deleted photos that were on their website of the first black military pilots during WWII,
The post The Power of Photographs and the Truth That Threatens Dictators appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
The appalling criminalization of ordinary people. No charges, no conviction, just sweep up people who, as he said: “look like illegals.” Blatantly circumventing constitutional law. And in the big, ugly bill, passed 7/3, spending for jail space and ICE skyrocketed.
The post His Insatiable Appetite for Prisons appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
The right wing is heavily invested in the meat industry. After all, it has the essential components: dominance, violence, destruction of the planet. In his new provocative book: The Omnivore’s Deception: What We Get Wrong About Meat, Animals, and Ourselves,
The post Can One Have Meat and A Conscience Too? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
In the 90s, the party took a turn to the right, taking the working and middle class base for granted. Instead they went for Trump in 2024. Clinton hurt this former base with austerity, and poorly thought out welfare reform
The post Democrats Can Win Again: If… appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Why do they feel a need for violence to prove their manhood? What’s the connection between an angry Germany after the First World War and what many young men are feeling in 2025? Why do they see equality as deprivation?
The post Young Men Are Drawn to Fascism. Why? What Can We Do? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
There’s a reason the same voters were undecided between Bernie and Trump in 2016. People wanted real change. And in 2024, Democrats walked into a trap. As bad as it looks today, writing in Newsweek, today’s guest Matt Robison argues
The post Under Water Now, Democrats Have to Become the Party of Change appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
It’s not just politics but arts and a free culture that makes real change. Sure there are the leaders we all know, MLK and Malcolm X, but in his new paperback edition of The Jazz Men: How Duke Ellington, Louis
The post How Their Music Toppled Jim Crow appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Society would rather not see them. Like people in prison, the foster care system makes hundreds of thousands of kids invisible. And the system is doing them great damage for life. On this show, author and foster care, juvenile justice,
The post It’s Not the Kids, It’s the Foster Care System That’s Damaged appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Starting a trade war is just stupid. But maybe Trump simply doesn’t really care about tanking the economy. On this show, Washington Monthly politics editor Bill Scher points out that the current president appears to be trying to steer America
The post Trade Peace Beats Trade War: Where Are the Democrats? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
There is in fact great abundance in America. The problem is not just the greed of the top percent but also the 21st century version of real estate redlining. Many are shut out. There is a huge demand for affordable
The post We Know What NIMBY means. But Here’s a New Twist: YIMBYism! appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
May is Mental Health Month, and the Trump/Musk regime is pouring gasoline on our already widespread national crisis. The police-state ICE raids are indicative of a strategy to create fear. On this show Mattea Kramer and Dr. Sean Fogler share
The post Mental Health Essential for National Security appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
If he really aims to cut waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal bureucracy, there’s a lot of low hanging fruit. But Elon Musk has prioritized eliminating one of the smallest yet most effective programs: USAID.Poverty stricken people of developing
The post Musk’s Chain Saw Does Not Think appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
To normalize the horrific, it takes lots of people going along. From the history of leaders lying, the current regime has learned that spewing new lies many times a day works to make reality conform to the lies. On this
The post Mindless Banality Spreads Quickly. And It’s Evil. appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Locking people up and deporting immigrants is on the rise. The adults face punishment (as if that works) and their children hide from the judgement and stigma of other kids and school administrators. They are of course totally innocent and
The post Addressing the Unique Stigma on Youth Impacted by Incarceration, Detention, and Deportation appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Remember when we could count on the Washington Post to boldly take the lead on political corruption? And can you imagine a newspaper turning down a really big ad buy? Welcome to Trumpworld 2.0. As Common Cause president and CEO
The post Washington Post Changes Bigly: Refuses $115,000 Ad appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
We think of it as pure fun but the reality is great pressure and there are overtraining injuries. Coaches often lack crucial training. Non-athlete kids feeling less-than. And since kids don’t have a voice in the matter, the only option
The post More Than Play: What’s Wrong With American Youth Sport appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
There are two petrostate oligarchies linking up and gravely threatening what had been a rock solid alliance: Europe and the US. The traditionally shared moral universe of Europe and the rest of the “Free World” is suddenly gone. On this
The post Europe Now Squeezed By Trump and Putin’s Pincer appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Kicking out troublemakers. It backfires. It certainly increases the likelihood of negative outcomes. And it is not applied equally. In this discussion author and researcher Aaron Kupnik talks about his new book: Suspended Education. If we want equal opportunity for
The post School Suspension: More Often for Black Kids appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
In being careful to avoid a monarchy or dictatorship, America’s founders adamantly insisted on each government agency being independent. The Federal Communications Commission act of 1934 was created to ensure that the public would have access to news without threat
The post Is Freedom of the Press Doomed? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
You may have noticed a continuing trend of Democratic candidates sheepishly rushing to some imaginary center, and how well that hasn’t worked! On this show, Richard Eskow, former head writer for the Bernie 2016 campaign explains how it seems candidates
The post The Time is Now. Left-Populists: Unshackle Your Imaginations appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
There are reasons all autocrats need to erase history. Among the flood of executive orders is something called “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling.” In other words: erasing history he doesn’t like. To people like him, history must fit a
The post Trump Wants to Abolish the Past. Historians Won’t Let Him. appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
The politicization of the FBI and police is hardly new. The foundation of the law is protecting property not people. Enforcing a racial caste system. Himself a former FBI agent, our guest Mike German in his new book Policing White
The post The Origin of American Police Was As Enforcers of Slave Laws appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
With freedom comes responsibility. And not just the driver, but America’s roads have been littered with bodies of passengers who failed to speak up. Guest today is Candace Lightner was one of the founders of Mothers Against Drink Driving and
The post They’re Not Accidents; They’re Deadly Crashes Which Passengers Can Prevent. appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
No question, it’s all about re-connecting with the working class: People without a college degree, lowering the cost of health care, championing the self-employed, addressing the transportation problems of the heartland. Our guest today Paul Glastris Washington Monthly editor in
The post Time for Democrats to Post a Clear Agenda for America appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
More and more women are steering great philanthropies. In the current Chronicle of Philanthropy, Christine Ahn is co-author of this article: To Fight Growing Militarism, Philanthpy Should Embrace a Feminist Playbook. The subtitle is Around the world, feminist activists have
The post Feminism and Philanthropy: Powerful Combination appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
In her new book titled Is It Racist? Is It Sexist? Why Red and Blue White People Disagree, and How to Decide in the Gray Areas co-author Betsy Leondar-Wright, through remarkable research, found Trumpists are not all racist and sexist
The post We Thought We Knew Racism and Sexism appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
When did politics and trash TV become one in the same? According to author Ross Benes, no question: it was the 1990s. As one reviewer said: “this book helps to explain the election of Donald Trump in ways that most
The post The Trashing of Tastes: When Did It Begin? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
The reason we have minimum wage laws is to ensure a basic standard of living. But in America, the federal minimum wage is still what it was in 2009: $7.25. And in developing nations to which big corporations outsource jobs,
The post A Global Minimum Wage = a Stronger Worldwide Economy appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Democrats seem to always pay attention to the top, the federal races. But what worked for the right wing in 2010 can work for us: Our guest Eric Schmeltzer writes, in The New Republic, that to take power away from
The post Republicans Got It: Bottom Up Works. Wake Up, Democrats! appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
You’ve probably heard of the famous Christmas Truce of 1914 between the trenches of the British and German soldiers. These were indeed brave men. But that was not the only such event: there were desertions, mutinies, and fraternizations.
The post Christmas Truce of WWI: Not So Isolated, Really appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
It may not be as it looks. For decades, millions of Americans have urgently sought to bring sanity to the defense budget. They propose a new nongovernmental “Dept of Government Efficiency.” And military waste is the low hanging fruit. On
The post Could These Guys Actually Cut Military Waste? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Just the threat of prosecution can be a violation of our First Amendment rights. Look for the fascistic right under Trump to try to impose by force what they failed to win in the culture war. On this show, investigative
The post Will There Be A Way to Stop Him? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Populism is the common language of America. Author and Georgetown University historian Michael Kazin notes people were not inspired by Harris’s “opportunity economy” talk. People feel disconnected and want a sense of membership, a sense of power, which unions used
The post Toward a Revival of Left Populism: What It Takes To WIn appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Just as it is with inflation, some immigration is good for the economy. It strengthens the economy and helps rural America. But as with inflation, immigration has to be kept under control. On this show Washington Monthly politics editor Bill
The post Immigration Was Played Dishonestly. The Truth is It’s Like Inflation appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Storytelling is a venerable and often the most accurate way to teach history. Our guest co-author of the new A Line In the Sand, Miles Spencer, traveled with his partner along the 1100 mile trail of clues left by TE
The post One Eternally Explosive Line in the Sand appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
Playing defense defines the playing field. Shall we just accept a world run by international mega-billionaires? On this show, Sam Pizzigati of Inequality.org argues now is the time to get ready to go on offense against what Trump Musk and
The post To Win, Go on Offense appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
From the proposed Department of Government Efficiency to possible invocation of the Insurrection Act of 1807 to the Espionage Act of 1917 to the proposal to take away the non-profit status of organizations alleged to have ties to terrorists, there
The post The Many All-American Tools Trump Can Use To Chill Freedom appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.
In the wake of the shocking presidential election, we Democrats now have an opportunity and an obligation. Once again, the heartland of America saw the Democratic Party as two-coast elitists. Our guest today, veteran political organizer Bob Creamer says despite
The post “Defending Democracy” is Fighting for You, Not the Status Quo appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Can we ever learn from history? November 11 is celebrated as the end of “the war to end all wars.” But in reality it was a peace that ended peace. Listen in as eminent historian Adam Hochschild cuts through the
The post 11/11 Armistice: The Germans Were Ambushed, A Peace That Ended Peace appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
You remember: “that’s not who we are,” related to January 6, 2021? Turns out, maybe it is who we are. Was this too an outlier: Greensboro North Carolina November 1979 when the KKK shot and killed five people demonstrating for
The post Greensboro ’79: “White Supremacy Done Correctly” appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
You know the saying “hurt people hurt people.” Well, our guest argues “healed people heal people.” Most of us look away from the terribly failed system of justice, but Notre Dame Professor Jason Springs offers us a new path that
The post Restorative Justice Works Where Retribution Fails appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
There’s a mountain of electoral gold which, for the first time, is being mined: graduates of regional public universities. Many of them men. Colleges with “state” in their name. Our guest Washington Monthly editor in chief Paul Glastris talks about
The post Tim Walz’s Unique Appeal to Young Men’s Masculinity appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Oppression and mass murder did not defeat a culture; the Nazis tried but did not erase peoplehood. They certainly destroyed millions of Jews and others, but they did not destroy Yiddish. On this Keeping Democracy Alive, talking about her new
The post Under the Noses of the Nazis, Yiddish Thrived appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Reagan, Clinton, and Obama all boosted neoliberalism. But Biden is showing that he’s on a different track. Democrats in the 90s moved away from FDRs liberalism only to solidify Wall St’s hold on our economic life and political power. In
The post The Demise if Neoliberalism. At Last appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
In a democracy, we expect to have our own say over how we are governed. There’s a great grumbling throughout America because many don’t feel listened to. That’s the impetus behind today’s Trumpist populism. This populism is the voice of
The post Heather Cox Richardson: Yes Democracy IS Awakening appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Wisconsin is a key swing state in the upcoming election, with traditions of both real right and real left. On today’s show on-the-ground journalist Christina Lieffring tells us about realities in that 90% rural state. She says to win voters,
The post Wisconsin Rural Voters: Challenge and Opportunity for Democrats appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Many Americans were appalled at the violent January 6th assault on the capitol. The thought was: “That’s not who we are.” But in truth, throughout our history, a great number of Americans have supported hierarchies and authoritarianism; freedom for us
The post The Deep Roots of American Illiberalism,Yes Illiberalism appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
In light of the Israeli state’s massive assault on Gaza, and now Lebanon, the question comes up: What does it mean to be a Jew? Our guest veteran New York Times sportswriter Robert Lipsyte says being a Jew entails certain
The post On Rosh Hashanah: Netanyahu, The Israeli Right, and Jewish Identity appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Corporations have their own interests at heart. From post-Civil War America through to Germany in 1933 to America today. And knowing public image counts, many try to have it both ways: bragging that they support reproductive and LGBTQ rights as
The post Is Corporatocracy Unstoppable? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
“People think of Nelson Rockefeller as the epitome of moderate Republicanism.” But what appears to be a clean break from this tradition is really an evolution. Author Professor Marsha E. Barrett explains how the shift to the right was something
The post From Rockefeller Republicanism to Trumpism: How Did We Get Here? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It was only discovered in an architectural trade journal: Netanyahu’s “Gaza 2035.” Architects were hired to provide models of a new Gaza , the old one having been flattened. Steel and glass high risers being erected where once a people
The post Architecture as the Ultimate Expression of Power: Gaza 2035 appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
As Americans, we want what we want right now. But it doesn’t work that way to make real political change. As with any mechanism, there are certain things that must be learned to make it work and achieve our goals.
The post Nuts and Bolts: What Needs to be Learned to Make Our Agenda Reality appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Some might call it “cruel and unusual punishment,” arresting, sweeping the parks, bulldozing homeless encampments. Others believe if people are poor it’s their own fault. On this show, the Reverend Dr. Liz Theoharis of The Kairos Center discusses an essay
The post Criminalizing The Unhoused Gets Us Nowhere appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
They love to say America has the strongest military of any nation ever. But boasting usually leads to disaster. On this show, we hear from William J. Astore, a retired lieutenant colonel of the US Air Force and professor of
The post A Military Security State and the Erosion of Freedom appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
History professor Matt Warshauer argues in his new book that the 9/11 generation is the most unique in American history, and he explains how. The title is Creating and Failing the 9/11 Generation. This generation has seen a nonfunctional government,
The post What is the 9/11 Generation? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
He got 81% of the evangelical vote in key swing states in 2016. Our guest today the Reverend Doug Pagitt is exceptionally familiar with what goes on with evangelical Christians, and he says he expects Trump to get less than
The post Evangelicals Souring on Trump: Why It Took So Long. appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
They weren’t there for Biden. A large chunk of young men are for Trump, but with a new presidential candidate, the Democratic Party is connecting with young people. One millennial voice is Josh Lafasan, on today’s show he says the
The post Gen Z, Millennials and The 2024 Presidential Election appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It may have the word “liberal” in it but it’s anything but. Until the Biden/Harris years, the corporate wing of the Democratic Party had its deserved image of serving the richest among us. Trump understood raw populist anger to win
The post Waving Goodbye to Neoliberalism? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Now with the nomination of not just a woman, but a woman of color, they feel even more threatened. Today’s right encourages and seeks to use men’s anger in the culture war, even though those very policies actually harm working
The post Hawley And the Right: Terrified About Their Manhood appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Since at least 2016, the Democratic policy has been driven by big contributors, yielding rural voters to Trump who at least pretended to hear them. With Minnesota Governor Tim Walz nominated as VP for Harris, middle America people who had
The post With Walz, Can Democrats Win Back Rural America? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Colonialism: Now it’s called corporate globalization. As the energy appetite of the west continues to accelerate, so does extractivism, without the consent of the people directly affected. In this revealing discussion, Professor Avi Chomsky explodes the many myths we white
The post Avi Chomsky: 21st Century Colonialism and Extractivism appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The ideal breeding ground for the Covid virus: A place where people were forced to have constant close contact with each other and with the wider community. In other words: prisons. You know how awful it was for us on
The post Jails and Prisons Were a Hotbed of Covid. Needlessly. appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
We were taught in elementary school that every vote counts in America. But as we all know the 2016 winner of the popular vote did not become president. The truth is the presidential candidates will spend a billion dollars this
The post Make the Winner of the Popular Vote President appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Make America great “again?” What does that phrase assume? Our guest today, retired Lt Col. William Astore served 20 years in the military. No, he’s not a stereotypical macho militarist, far from it. He says our “full spectrum global empire”
The post The Term “MAGA” Acknowledges US Empire is Over appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
We assume our picture of romance and marriage has always been there, but according to our guest author and professor Sabrina Strings, it was invented in the 12th century as a myth about Sir Lancelot. Marriage was about power, domination,
The post White Male Supremacists Fear and Hate it But “Romance” and Nuclear Families Aren’t the Only Option appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
There is a palpable movement under Kamala Harris; so why is party leadership still so out of touch with working people as they were in 2016? Our returning guest, veteran party insider Norman Solomon, says the DNC is still top-down
The post Dems Need the Middle Class: Why is the DNC Still So Corporatized? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
As Trump heads into the 2024 campaign, you might wonder who is behind it, who benefits from destroying our republic. Here is the story. The religious nationalists see him as a fierce leader. They believe God sends such kings to
The post What’s Behind Trumpism: The Open Attack on Democracy appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It’s not high on people’s reason to choose a president, but the power of pardons today is often corrupt and the promise of a pardon has been known to encourage crimes. In this discussion of her forthcoming book, Law Professor
The post The Power of Pardons and Democracy appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Unions have achieved some historic victories recently. But though many workers are curious, there’s still reluctance to joining a union. As co-author of a new report called “Union Curious,” UC San Diego’s political economy professor John Ahlquist explains on this
The post Union Curious in the Mid-2020s appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Today, more than ever, politics is theater. On today’s big stage we see Biden as an old weakened man, and then we have Trump with blood on his face, standing strong, defiant, fist in the air. National columnist Jill Lawrence
The post After The Shooting of July 13, Is it Over? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
In 21st Century Western Culture, there’s a variety of impressions average white people get when you say the word Muslim. Most of them wrong. On this edition of Keeping Democracy Alive, Toronto author Saqib Qureshi brings some needed clarity to
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Today’s guest is Dr. Rachelle Winkle-Wagner, author of the new book The Chosen We. She’s a professor of Educational Leadership and Policy a U.Wisconsin-Madison. Over a period of ten years she interviewed 105 Black women from five selected cities about
The post How Liberation is Only Found In Community appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Many still think “We don’t have to deal with it now,” but a new report from the Union of Concern Scientists is titled “Looming Deadlines for Coastal Resilience” for a reason. As co-author Dr. Rachel Cleetus explains on this show,
The post In Our Climate Threat, There Are Opportunities appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
So much history of over-reliance on military solutions when governments don’t have the support of the people, yet we’re doing it again in Africa. Our guest who has major experience in the White House and Defense Department is Dr. Gordon
The post US Africa Policy: “Willful Disregard of Reality” appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
So much history of over-reliance on military solutions when governments don’t have the support of the people, yet we’re doing it again in Africa. Our guest who has major experience in the White House and Defense Department is Dr. Gordon
The post US Africa Policy: Willful Disregard of Reality appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
So much history of over-reliance on military solutions when governments don’t have the support of the people, yet we’re doing it again in Africa. Our guest who has major experience in the White House and Defense Department is Dr. Gordon
The post US Africa Policy: “Willful Disregard of Reality” appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
In phase one of French elections, the far right of Marine LePen did very well, winning about a third of the total. The next and crucial vote is July 7. According to on-the-ground reporter, Oliver Haynes, President Macron is likely
The post On the French Election: First Far Right Regime Since WWII? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
In phase one of French elections, the far right of Marine LePen did very well, winning about a third of the total. The next and crucial vote is July 7. According to on-the-ground reporter, Oliver Haynes, President Macron is likely
The post On the French Election: First Far Right Regime Since WWII? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Many Americans say they are people of faith. But how many of us integrate our faith into our daily lives? Philip Berrigan was one of America’s most faith-driven people. Our guest is Brad Wolf, author of the new book on
The post Ministry of Risk is it’s Own Reward appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
This book actually changed my view of US History. The author says the Confederates and the January 6th assault are the inheritors of the original intent! He argues that the standard story is not the truth. The surprising reality of
The post Do We Really Want to Get Back to America’s Founding Ideals? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
What do we mean by the word “hero?” Is it not a person of extraordinary courage, putting the good of the country above his or her own safety? That’s Daniel Ellsberg, most famous for the Pentagon Papers which he released
The post Dan Ellsberg Died One Year Ago. Long May He Live. appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Though it is finally a federal holiday, a lot of people still don’t really know about Juneteenth. It was the day in 1865 when formerly enslaved people learned of the Emancipation Proclamation. But what kind of freedom was it then
The post Juneteenth and the Persistent Economic Racial Divide appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Across the United States there is tremendous support for a taxing the wealthiest among us. So why doesn’t it happen? Well, in Massachusetts, it has. As Inequality.org’s Sam Pizzigati explains in this segment, there was powerful resistance to the new
The post Inspiration from Massachusetts: A New Wealth Tax Works appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
In his new book The Jazzmen: How Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie Transformed America, prolific author Larry Tye shares what he learned about the lives of the three men, now recognized as great Americans. The racism they faced
The post It Wasn’t Just Politics; The Art of Jazz Integrated America appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Used to be Labour was left, Tories were conservative. Now it seems each party is trying to be just like the other. This right before PM Rishi Sunak shocked everyone by scheduling a new election for July fourth. And stirring
The post Snap UK Elections: A Fight for Mediocrity appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The final chapter in our guest’s new book, Liberalism as a Way of Life asks the question: Requiem for a Liberal Way of Life? Well, is it really over? Reached in Sydney Australia where he’s professor of politics and philosophy
The post Under Attack the World Over, What Is Liberalism? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Many Americans were appalled at the violent January 6th assault on the capitol. The thought was: That’s not who we are. But in truth throughout our history, a great number of Americans have supported hierarchies and authoritarianism; freedoim for us
The post The Deep Roots of American Illiberalism,Yes Illiberalism appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
They wanted to stop abortions, instead there were more after the Dobbs decision than before. One the first segment, Mother Jones magazine writer Julianne McShane tells how women are maintaining their reproductive rights despite the attacks. And on the second
The post AntiChoice: In A Hole, Keeps Digging appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Imagine a Supreme Court whose only agenda was “equal justice under law.” It was real. Unlike today’s court, which is openly an arm of the MAGA movement, when that court ended legal segregation 70 years ago, the Chief Justice was
The post When the Supreme Court Was About Fairness to All appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Wisconsin is a key swing state in the upcoming election, with traditions of both real right and real left. On today’s show on-the-ground journalist Christina Lieffring tells us about realities in that 90% rural state. She says to win voters,
The post Wisconsin Rural Voters: Challenge and Opportunity for Democrats appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
America is an outlier: here it’s commonly accepted that if you succeed or fail you deserve it. We believe we make our own luck. And we blame ourselves for what’s really random bad luck. But that’s counterproductive, according to the
The post Rugged Individualism And The Role of Luck appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
CEOs cry that shorter work weeks will bankrupt their companies. The reality is a 4 day work week around the world has already brought results that are “off the charts.” A shorter work week means more jobs. And people lose
The post A 32 Hour Work Week: The Time is Now appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The environmental movement is often derided as elitist. But as our guest Liza Featherstone of the New Republic and Jacobin magazines tells it, by planting wild miniforests there’s no such polarization. The ultra-rich may have their gated sanctuaries whereas miniforests
The post Miniforests as a Joyous Part of Class War appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Laws intended to fight mafia crime are being used to crush legitimate protest. We’ve all seen excessive police force on campuses, and many legislators are also doing their part to chill our treasured freedom of speech and assembly. In These
The post The War on Protest Escalates appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
For many decades the Supreme Court was reliably on the side of voting rights. Incrementally, quite steadily, the justices have chipped away at our constitutional rights. On this show Professor Josh Douglas and I discuss his new book: The Court
The post The Court Versus the Voters: Who’da Thunk it?! appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Another Earth Day has come and gone, and how are we doing? The 19th and 20th century systems of control of the earth have failed; there’s a connection between famines, global warming and empire. Especially in the face of climate
The post The Earth for Humanity: A How-To appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Listening to working people’s concerns is key. Democrats have almost always won this constituency. That is until recently. Biden’s shift to the economic left is connecting and can yield electoral success. The New Republic’s Timothy Noah says tangible gains like
The post Yes, Biden Can WIn the Working Class appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Democracy is itself largely improvisation. Pushing back against the powers that be; the mainstream. Our guest Randy Fertel, author of the new book Winging It; Improv’s Power and Peril in the Age of Trump, says rationality alone is not enough;
The post The Power of What Appears to be Improvisation appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Truman was down and nearly out. Then he did a campaign whistle stop tour of America and beat the odds. TV eye candy is one thing but seeing a president in the flesh connects far better, and connection is needed
The post Should Biden Whistle Stop Campaign Across America? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Republicans determined to replace democracy with authoritarian tyranny. No it’s not 2023, it’s 1973 when they succeeded. Duly elected democratic socialist Salvador Allende is overthrown and replaced with dictator Augusto Pinochet. It’s not well known today, but listen in as,
The post The First September 11th: 50 Years Ago appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
They used to be prosperous Black neighborhoods: less than 2 percent unemployment. But through connected processes over the last 75 years, government and banks worked together to create gentrification. Black people were intentionally left out of the capitalist system, frozen
The post What Is Racial Capitalism? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
We value the right to control our bodies. But is there really reproductive fairness and justice if those who want to be a parent face unchosen infertility and are denied access and face social stigma? The new book is called
The post Real Democracy and Infertility appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Phoenix may not last another 25 years. Whole countries will collapse. The issue is elite control, and that was why earlier civilizations: Chaco canyon, the Mayan culture, and Viking Greenland collapsed; average people had no say. On this show Professor
The post More Democracy Can Prevent Climate Collapse of Civilization appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
One hundred years old and what’s Henry Kissinger got to show for it? Well, he’s a free man because the US never joined the International Criminal Court. Though he wouldn’t want to travel to the many nations that can prosecute
The post Happy Birthday Henry? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It’s been an exceptionally long and bloody stalemate. And with the far right anti-democracy government of Netanyahu turning its wrath on Jewish Israelis, and opinion in the US and the world showing real shift, our guest Mitchell Plitnick of ReThinking
The post 2023: A Turning Point for Israel/Palestine? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Is command and control from the top down bureaucrats the best method for teaching kids? How about critical thinking skills? Much of the best results of public education come from democratizing schools, welcoming input from those who best know what
The post Is Education Quantifiable? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The Republicans in power are set against themselves: on one hand there’s the revved up old Cold Warriors targeting China. On the other hand there’s the strength of the big business powers who see their futures tied to China. On
The post US Powers Split on China Policy appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Overwork, uniquely stressful conditions, patients suffering. Blaming individual caregivers with personal failures results in fewer and fewer professionals when the need by boomers is growing exponentially. On this show, David Schenck author of two previous books on ethics and healing
The post Blaming Caregivers When It’s the System appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
If it was only about achieving national security! But our foreign policy is like driving while self-blinded and that undermines both stability and democracy. Our decades old War on Terror only damages America; real national security is weakened. The damage
The post War Policy: Keeping the Fog on Our Windshield appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Imagine being a judge and having a mandate to break up families! Today’s guest, noted children and family lawyer Jane Spinak talks about her new book The End of Family Court: How Abolishing the Court Brings Justice to Children and
The post Time to End Family Court? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Many of those of us who have homes wish the homeless were invisible. Unknown, clearly on hard times, why isn’t it done, why is it in all of our interest to prevent homelessness? Noted psychiatrist Dr. Robert Okin lived for
The post Finding Unexpected Bravery and Tenacity Among the Homeless appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Biden’s problem is he’s not a TV star, just a good president. What is the draw of royalty? It’s much less effort than tedious democracy to just accept legitimacy being handed down from above. On this show, from the Brooklyn
The post Biden is Not Royalty. Neither is Democracy appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It used to be just the far right fighting against an income tax. Now that’s the Republican Party. On this show Matt Ford, staff writer for The New Republic explains a case the court soon may or may not take
The post This Supreme Court May Preemptively Ban Wealth Tax appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It took a lot of persistent steady heavy lifting but New York State now has a new democratically run power authority. Instead of the traditional for-profit monopolies, the public good will determine a greener, less expensive supply of electricity.
The post A Revolution in Public Power appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Our infrastructure is overloaded. It already can’t handle extreme weather and climate change is making it more frequent. We can’t keep sweeping it under the rug. On this show Steve Ellis, president of the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense,
The post It’s Costing Taxpayers Billions. “Prespond” To Effects of Climate Change. appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Their language is illegal where they live. They can not give their kids Kurdish names. A continuing legacy of European imperialism. Americans owe Kurds gratitude for beating ISIS in 2014. Our guest Kani Xulam, director of the American Kurdish Information
The post Righting a Century Old Wrong: Free Kurdistan From Middle East Prison appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It’s not just blue vs red, North vs South. There’s us here in Yankeedom, Then there’s New Netherlands, The Midlands, Tidewater, Greater Appalachia, The Deep South (of course), New France, The Far West, El Norte, The Left Coast, and First
The post One Nation Indivisible: Oh Really? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
What passes today for populism is anything but! It’s astounding that the far right calls itself that when they are the total opposite. Labor historian and author Steve Babson on this show clarifies the meaning of the word “populism:” and
The post Trumpism: Opposite of Populism appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
He served 20 years in the military. No, he’s not the macho militarists; our guest today retired Lt Col. William Astore says empire is killing the America he served to protect. Our insane war budget, our “full spectrum global dominance”
The post The Term “MAGA” Admits Empire is Over appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The standard story is not the truth: The surprising reality of America’s founding shows we were created for insider rule, a stable hierarchy but not justice. On this show UPenn Law School professor Kermit Roosevelt III discusses his eye opening
The post Get Back to America’s Founding Ideals? No; Leave the Standard Story Behind appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It’s a tale of fiction but in his new book Altar to an Erupting Sun well known activist and author Chuck Collins tells the story of the main character Rae Kelliher who, facing her own death, makes a bold, shocking,
The post Seriously Radical Action To Defend the Earth appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Today’s right encourages and seeks to use men’s anger in the culture war, though their policies actually damage working class men. In their fear and rage at the gains for equality, as Washington Monthly editor William Norris notes, Sen. Josh
The post Hawley And the Right: Wrong About Manhood appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
They claim loudly they’re protecting freedom and innocent children, but the truth is the right is oppressing both. On this show psychoanalyst Avgi Saketopoulou, co-author of Gender Without Identity, argues there is not one true immutable authentic identity with which
The post How Do We Form Our Gender Identity & Can It Change Over Time? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The 19th and 20th century systems of control of the earth have failed; there’s a connection between famines and empire. Especially in the face of climate change, we have a lot to learn from indigenous and peasant systems; the idea
The post The Earth for Humanity: A How-To appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
In short, it was not about individual rights but about protecting the institution of slavery. It created militias as slave patrols. And despite conventional wisdom, militias were useless in the war for independence. Historian Carl Bogus’s new book Madison’s Militia,
The post Madison’s Intent for the Second Amendment appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The thousands of islands in the global south have been treated as toys by the western “civilizers.” Though they are responsible for less than 1% of greenhouse gas emissions, today their voices are not part of the conversation on dealing
The post Sea Change: As Islands Sink, Will Communities Rise? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
We finally get that can’t have infinite growth on our finite planet. The dominant western approach of treating the earth as our playground isn’t working anymore. It’s late but there are still real opportunities for a partnership between humans and
The post I Want a Better Catastrophe! appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Is it heresy to support a cease fire; can we both support Ukraine and diplomacy? Our guest on this informative show wonders if the Biden Administration is “trapped in its own stifling, peace-averse domestic political climate.” Jacobin Magazine staff writer
The post Pressure Starting for Cease Fire in Ukraine? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It’s a puzzling mystery why so many working class people in the midwest go for Trumpism. Some answers are in Imagining the Heartland; White Supremacy and the American Midwest by anthropologist authors Britt Halvorson and Joshua Renoit. It examines the
The post The Roots of Anti-Woke appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It was a crime to even be a member of the “One Big Union.” But even Helen Keller was a member of the IWW, the Industrial Workers of the World. On this show, Ahmed White talks about his new book
The post “Courage Unexcelled in US History” appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
“Nothing in this story makes sense,” but it’s all too real. So says today’s guest Jordan S Rubin whose new book is titled Bizarro: The Surreal Saga of America’s Secret War on Synthetic Drugs and the Florida Kingpins It Captured.
The post The Real War On Fake Drugs appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
From a vaunted Latin American “pink wave,” Colombia’s new president Gustavo Petro and vice president Francia Marquez realized that even with socialised profits, more extraction does not equal more wealth. In fact as the Insitute for Policy Studies’ John Feffer
The post You’ll Never Guess Which Country is Leading the Green Wave appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
India enjoys a greatly romanticized image; you may think of Gandhi or the Beatles visit there. The reality is open repression and violence against the large Muslim minority. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will soon visit America and his Hindu
The post It’s Not Just in America: India’s Harsh Religious Nationalism appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Bush’s lies gave Trump moral scaffolding; today Americans believe big lies. On this show Thanassis Cambanis, a reporter who was in Iraq at the invasion, details the harm Bush and Cheney did to America. Even Russia gained power from our
The post In Breaking Iraq, America Broke Itself appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
We may accept today’s economic system as just part of the natural order; but in truth capitalism started with overt violence. Centuries later it has morphed into what our guest calls Mute Compulsion. And now here we are, faced with
The post How Does an Economic System So Hostile to Life Endure for Centuries? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Fun attracts people but let’s face it: environmentalists tend to be a dour bunch. Saving the planet is after all serious stuff. Average working people can get turned off. But what about dark comedy? We’ve seen where it works. On
The post Comedy To Fight Climate Change? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
When Republicans win power, they use it. Obama tried bipartisanship. There was little, if any, perceptible change. In the following campaign in 2016, Trump said “I made a promise to the forgotten men and women of this country that I
The post Michigan Moves Forward, Arkansas Clamps Down on Rights appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Shock and Awe was launched on this date by then President George W Bush. Over a hundred thousand Iraqis died along with 4,000 Americans. But what about the veterans today? On this rebroadcast, author Kelly Denton-Borhaug talks about her book
The post Twenty Years Ago Today 3/20/03: The Price Veterans Still Pay appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It’s a systemic problem: what is “reasonable,” what is acting “in good faith” when America’s police violate citizens rights or even kill them? As of now, police are protected, enjoying expanded immunity which no one else has. In this show
The post Shielded: How The Police Became Untouchable appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Authoritarians that they are, it’s not a huge surprise today’s Trump/DeSantis Republicans are pro-Putin. But as noted historian Michael Kazin points out, some alleged leftists are linking up with the far right on the war in Ukraine. Though there’s a
The post A Left-Right Pro-Putin Alliance? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
On the first half Wellesley Professor of American Studies and author Michael P. Jeffries talks about his new book Black and Queer on Campus, the unexpected possibilities and challenges which remain. And on part two, noted feminist Amanda Marcotte talks
The post Black and Queer on Campus//Still A Ways to Go on Women’s Day appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The unchecked power of the Federal Reserve claims its current, never ending rate hike strategy is about curbing inflation. It is not, according to our guest today, economics professor Clara Mattei. That we have become so used to it we
The post The Real Purpose of The Fed’s Rate Hikes and Austerity appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
There’s a science to the demise of democracy. On this show, Vanderbilt University political historian Eli Merritt talks about the new book he edited: How to Save Democracy; Inspiration and Advice from 95 World Leaders. It’s about the knowledge and
The post Time to Get Serious: How to Save Democracy appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
So many mass shootings; how did the gun culture become so powerful? Look to the Civil War. Militarily devastated, the Confederate culture transformed guns into a totem. In this revealing discussion, U of Wisconsin-Madison professor Nick Buttrick reveals the roots
The post Slave States and Today’s Gun Culture appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Despite current assumptions, “protests can win even as they appear to lose.” So says Notre Dame professor emeritus David Cortright in his new essay in The Nation. On this show, we show how there are two superpowers on the planet:
The post 20 Years After Iraq Protests: They Actually Worked appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
There used to be some 50 military contractors, now it’s more like five. Merger mania. And we’re playing right into what China wants. And we’re still pouring money into one of the most costly weapons ever, the F 35, which
The post More Weapons Spending = Weaker National Security appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
How big do you think Pakistan is? Would you guess over 200 million people? It’s a nuclear armed power, deeply in debt, with a few rich powers and the military in control. On this show Murtaza Hussain fills in what
The post Why Pakistan Matters. A Lot. appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The Trumpist right today has had no small success erasing the productive history of liberalism. Today’s guest is author, lecturer, and journalist for The Washington Monthly David Masciotra who in this show talks about the renewed interest in Ted Kennedy,
The post How Ted Kennedy’s Liberalism Strengthened America, And Still Can appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Though most of us never see it, instead of doing ethical justice, there’s a whole factory system routinely, intentionally turning injustice into revenue. On this show law professor, lawyer, and advocate for impoverished children and adults author Daniel Hatcher describes
The post How Our Justice System Commodifies Children and the Poor appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Children have fewer filters: when they see and experience injustice they’re not scared to draw pictures of the truth. In her new book Drawing Deportation Art and Resistance among Immigrant Children author Silvia Rodriguez Vega tells of the human creativity
The post The Power of Kids Drawing Deportation appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Is the US is merely a procedural, but not a substantive democracy? On part one, Franklin and Marshall history professor Van Gosse asks: what are the factors why we lack more actual democracy? And on part two, The Nation’s national
The post Two Topics: 1) How Real Our Democracy? 2) Who is This Ruben Gallego appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Private Security Firms; just part of doing business, right? Blackwater was America’s version in Iraq; The Wagner Group is Russia’s today in Ukraine and Africa. Atrocities in the Donbass region of Ukraine? Russia cynically said, that’s not us, it’s “little
The post Outsourcing War: Making Atrocities Invisible By The Wagner Group appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
All refugees lives are threatened equally, so why are Ukrainians handed the welcome mat as it is denied to most others? On this show, Columbia University Professor and co-author Helen Benedict shares what she’s found in the new book Map
The post Only Refugees Who Look Like Us Are Welcomed. appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Despite the obvious divides, both sides in today’s fierce split may actually share a lot in common and can be pulled together for a better America by something traditional called Civic Republicanism. On this show, Washington Monthly Editor in Chief
The post America’s Old Tradition of “Civic Republicanism” Is New Again appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Suddenly in 2023, the aspiration of being the only democracy in the middle east is unraveling itself from within. With its turn to the far right, antidemocratic political Zionism is overpowering traditional spiritual and cultural Zionism. On this show, The
The post The Israeli Far Right 2023: The Mask is Off appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
In her CounterPunch essay, Medea Benjamin co-founder of CodePink writes of surprisingly good things that happened in 2022. On this show, she cites many genuinely positive developments and some hopeful wake-up calls. Give a listen!
The post Perspectives on 2022: Some Impressively Positive appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
How did so many blue collar regions go from Obama 2012 to Trump 2016? Our guest today Robin Johnson, himself of the mid-west, says Thomas Franks was wrong judging and dismissing this demographic; Democrats can win them back if we
The post Yes: Democrats Can Win Back the White Working Class appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
From mere crisis to real emergency, one big political change in Brazil offers realistic hope for saving the planet. No exaggeration. On this show global south veteran journalist James North explains that implementation of new priorities, with a new president
The post Lula: New Hope for a Habitable Earth? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Bradley Onishi is himself a “deconverted” Christian nationalist. His new book is titled Preparing for War; The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism–And What Comes Next. On this show, he answers the puzzling question of why so many who consider
The post Christian Nationalism 2023: Power Not Piety appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
You’ve heard of the famous Christmas Truce of 1914 between the trenches of the British and German soldiers. These were indeed brave men. But that was not the only such event: there were desertions, mutinies, and fraternizations. Today it seems
The post The Christmas Truce of 1914: Not So Isolated appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
No one likes to be ignored. We saw what happened when the 2016 Democratic nominee skipped those states. The truth is it was a liberal heartland: McGovern, Wellstone, Mondale, etc. Our guest is historian and author of the new book
The post The High Price Paid for Ignoring the Midwest appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Of all the motivations for war, nostalgia is at the top. Restoring lost glory. We see it not only in Putin’s Russia but in many former empires. Nostalgia is a factor in racist nationalist bloodletting everywhere. On this show History
The post The Danger of Nostalgia appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
So many mass shootings; how did the gun culture become so powerful? Look to the Civil War. Militarily devastated, the Confederate culture transformed guns into a totem. In this revealing discussion, U of Wisconsin-Madison professor Nick Buttrick reveals the roots
The post Slave States and Today’s Gun Culture appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
At this time of year, we all think about giving. But what are philanthropists all about? To launder a plutocrat’s reputation, preserving great wealth and maintaining dominance and control. Our guest Edgar Villanueva has a new book, a second edition
The post The Self-Serving Purpose of Philanthropy appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Democracy and oligarchy: since our founding it’s been a long balancing act. In his new book Realigners: Partisan Hacks, Political Visionaries, and the Struggle to Rule American Democracy, author historian Timothy Shenk tells of how very diverse people like Mark
The post The Struggle to Rule American Democracy appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
At the World Cup and other global sporting events, all kinds of workers are exploited. And under the guise of rescue and saving souls involved in the sex trade, evangelical, business interests, politicians, and police make out quite well. Harm
The post Profitable Panic: Busting Sex Workers at Qatar World Cup appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Though the angry white supremacist right grabs today’s news, the truth is the Christian Left has much deeper roots in American history. According to the Reverend Quardricos Bernard Driskell, the religious left has always been part of the fabric of
The post An American Tradition of Christian Left appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
With renewed interest in the first world war, November 11 is celebrated as the end of “the war to end all wars.” But in reality it was a peace that ended peace. The German negotiators at that famous train car
The post 11/11 Armistice? Germans Ambushed, A Peace That Ended Peace appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It’s echoing everywhere: Trump was the biggest loser of the 2022 elections. Recorded two days after the votes, our guest today, veteran political news person John Kosinski sees what so unexpectedly happened as a wake up call. Could it be
The post Instead of a Red Wave, One of Common Sense? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It’s echoing everywhere: Trump was the biggest loser of the 2022 elections. Recorded two days after the votes, our guest today, veteran political news person John Kosinski sees what so unexpectedly happened as a wake up call. Could it be
The post Instead of a Red Wave, One of Common Sense? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It’s echoing everywhere: Trump was the biggest loser of the 2022 elections. Recorded two days after the votes, our guest today, veteran political news person John Kosinski sees what so unexpectedly happened as a wake up call. Could it be
The post Instead of a Red Wave, One of Common Sense? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It’s echoing everywhere: Trump was the biggest loser of the 2022 elections. Recorded two days after the votes, our guest today, veteran political news person John Kosinski sees what so unexpectedly happened as a wake up call. Could it be
The post Instead of a Red Wave, One of Common Sense? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Why do Americans love royalty so much? For one thing, it’s much less effort than tedious democracy to just accept legitimacy being handed down. On this show, from the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research, Suzanne Schneider explains how today’s fascination
The post Legitimacy From Above: Easier than Democracy appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Why do Americans love royalty so much? For one thing, it’s much less effort than tedious democracy to just accept legitimacy being handed down. On this show, from the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research, Suzanne Schneider explains how today’s fascination
The post Legitimacy From Above: Easier than Democracy appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Thinking with history; on this show political broadcast veteran John Kosinski demonstrates how so many people running just want to be showmen on TeeVee. He explains why so many are drawn to Trumpism: a desire to be heard and respected.
The post This is the Best Analysis of the Coming Election appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Thinking with history; on this show political broadcast veteran John Kosinski demonstrates how so many people running just want to be showmen on TeeVee. He explains why so many are drawn to Trumpism: a desire to be heard and respected.
The post This is the Best Analysis of the Coming Election appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The pressure to prevent active curiosity is a curious thing in a democracy. Our guests today are authors Perry Zurin and Dani Bassett whose new book is Curious Minds, The Power of Connection. As they say, acquiring information is insufficient,
The post Why Do They Fear Curiosity? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The pressure to prevent active curiosity is a curious thing in a democracy. Our guests today are authors Perry Zurin and Dani Bassett whose new book is Curious Minds, The Power of Connection. As they say, acquiring information is insufficient,
The post Why Do They Fear Curiosity? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
America today is not the America of the past. But in his new book What it Took to Win, author and history professor Michael Kazin, it’s clear what has and still works. Today’s right plays on a sense that it
The post Wake Up Now Democrats! Do What History Shows Works! appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Like all bad habits, war is a tough one to break. On this show, Professor Emeritus Lawrence Wittner explains that respecting, listening, and helping people in other countries is a lot more economically conservative and accomplishes security much more effectively.
The post Are Alternatives to War Really Realistic? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Like all bad habits, war is a tough one to break. On this show, Professor Emeritus Lawrence Wittner explains that respecting, listening, and helping people in other countries is a lot more economically conservative and accomplishes security much more effectively.
The post Are Alternatives to War Really Realistic? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
We’ve won the abortion debate, and had the vote been a few weeks ago… But it’s not until November 8th. Neil Oxman is co-founder of The Campaign Group and on this show he shares his uniquely valuable vantage point. Oxman
The post Should Democrats Be Worried? View from a Pro appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
We’ve won the abortion debate, and had the vote been a few weeks ago… But it’s not until November 8th. Neil Oxman is co-founder of The Campaign Group and on this show he shares his uniquely valuable vantage point. Oxman
The post Should Democrats Be Worried? View from a Pro appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Authoritarianism. Anti-Immigrant. White men fearful of losing control. Books banned, free press shut down. Widespread domestic spying. Dissent criminalized and many jailed tortured and killed. In his new book, American Midnight: The Great War, A Violent Peace, and Democracy’s
The post American Midnight: Trumpism Before Trump appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Authoritarianism. Anti-Immigrant. White men fearful of losing control. Books banned, free press shut down. Widespread domestic spying. Dissent criminalized and many jailed tortured and killed. In his new book, American Midnight: The Great War, A Violent Peace, and Democracy’s
The post American Midnight: Trumpism Before Trump appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
We can’t do it by talking down to middle Americans. If Democrats don’t get that rural Americans have fear that what little they have may be taken away, we stand to lose yet again. Victory comes when we listen, respect
The post Do Democrats Want to Win? Ignoring Voiceless Rural People Is a Sure Way to Lose. appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The right wing depends on fear and hatred of others. As we approach elections, their TV ads seek to scare us about a surge at the border. Why don’t they stay home? What if they were white? Today’s guest Avi
The post Border Crisis? How About A Right to Stay Home appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It took a mere ten days before the UK’s new prime minister blew it big time. Liz Truss’s budget was instantly panned; pretending to be trickle down, it gushes money upwards to those who need it least. On this show
The post The Beloved Queen is Gone, Now the Class War Resumes appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Elitists in Democratic Party bring avoidable disasters. From northern Iowa, Professor Wallace Hettle sees how the power of big money over the Democratic Party pushes away working people, farmers, and others in the hollowed-out heartland. Terry McAullife’s loss in Virginia
The post How Democrats Can Win Back Working People from the GOP appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Author Kathryn Bond Stockton argues in her new book Gender(s) that obvious genital distinctions are in reality incomplete. When children are born, it’s like parents “lower a cone over the baby,” imposing an identity without consent and even ignoring other
The post The Right Fears and Hates the Reality of Non-Binary Gender ID appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
A crippling rail strike seems to have been averted. Barely. You and I may think of the railroads as ways to move freight, but as our guest today observes: “The railroad companies have been Wall Street’s plaything throughout their half-century
The post Nationalize Railroads While There are Still Assets appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
A crippling rail strike seems to have been averted. Barely. You and I may think of the railroads as ways to move freight, but as our guest today observes: “The railroad companies have been Wall Street’s plaything throughout their half-century
The post Nationalize Railroads While There are Still Assets appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
In our 300 year old system of an adversarial combative system of justice, there is no mechanism to prove and protect the innocent. In his soon to be published book, The Plea of Innocence, author Tim Bakken argues that prosecution
The post Restoring Truth to the American Justice System appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Reporters used to report, now there’s virtually no line between media and the national security state. Veteran international journalist Patrick Lawrence on this show notes the big change occurred 9/11; since then we have been subject to an information monoculture.
The post The Collapse of Journalism and the Threat to Democracy appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Reporters used to report, now there’s virtually no line between media and the national security state. Veteran international journalist Patrick Lawrence on this show notes the big change occurred 9/11; since then we have been subject to an information monoculture.
The post The Collapse of Journalism and the Threat to Democracy appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
We all know there are powers determined to destroy democracy. The ubiquity of hand held video cameras has the unique power to disrupt the narrative of power. On this show author Phil Allen talks about his new book The Prophetic
The post The Cellphone Camera: The Power of Truth That Can’t Be Stopped appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
We all know there are powers determined to destroy democracy. The ubiquity of hand held video cameras has the unique power to disrupt the narrative of power. On this show author Phil Allen talks about his new book The Prophetic
The post The Cellphone Camera: The Power of Truth That Can’t Be Stopped appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It may appear to be a rogue court today but the truth is the Supreme Court has long led the fight against democracy. Our guest today historian Steve Fraser points out that the liberal Warren Court was the real aberration.
The post The Tyranny of the Supreme Court is Nothing New, It’s Tradition appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It may appear to be a rogue court today but the truth is the Supreme Court has long led the fight against democracy. Our guest today historian Steve Fraser points out that the liberal Warren Court was the real aberration.
The post The Tyranny of the Supreme Court is Nothing New, It’s Tradition appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The new book is Imagining the Heartland; White Supremacy and the American Midwest and it’s about the powerful roots of today’s angry violence against The Others. On this show anthropologist authors Britt Halvorson and Joshua Reno look at the use
The post White Supremacy And A Place You’ve Never Been appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The new book is Imagining the Heartland; White Supremacy and the American Midwest and it’s about the powerful roots of today’s angry violence against The Others. On this show anthropologist authors Britt Halvorson and Joshua Reno look at the use
The post White Supremacy And A Place You’ve Never Been appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Politicians of both parties buy into American Exceptionalism. But what does it mean to the planet? On this show professor Aviva Chomsky sheds light on the aspects of exceptionalism we don’t want to see. Instead of a good life just
The post The High Price of American Exceptionalism on the Earth appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
As another school year kicks off, skepticism about quantifying is appropriate. That measure is command and control from the top down bureaucrats. But much of the best results of public education can’t be seen but come from democratizing schools, welcoming
The post The Folly of Quantifying Education appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
As another school year kicks off, skepticism about quantifying is appropriate. That measure is command and control from the top down bureaucrats. But much of the best results of public education can’t be seen but come from democratizing schools, welcoming
The post The Folly of Quantifying Education appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Even in safe spaces for gay men, there is subtle racism and stratification if one is not white. On this show, Professor Anthony Ocampo talks about his new book Brown and Gay in LA, including pressures from Mexican and Filipino
The post Being Gay, Brown, and Immigrant appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Even in safe spaces for gay men, there is subtle racism and stratification if one is not white. On this show, Professor Anthony Ocampo talks about his new book Brown and Gay in LA, including pressures from Mexican and Filipino
The post Being Gay, Brown, and Immigrant appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
A consumers republic was born at the end of the second world war. And though it was genuinely intended to be a tide lifting all boats, it has increased economic inequality and created isolation where public space once was central.
The post Why Do Americans Buy So Much Stuff? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
A consumers republic was born at the end of the second world war. And though it was genuinely intended to be a tide lifting all boats, it has increased economic inequality and created isolation where public space once was central.
The post Why Do Americans Buy So Much Stuff? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It’s almost time for the start of schools. Of course all parents want to protect their children from inappropriate material. But when “parental rights” mean teachers are forbidden from mentioning homosexuality or racism because that means teachers are “grooming” kids
The post As Schools Open Again: The Moms for Liberty Nightmare appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Why do America’s veterans have to beg for help on TV ads? How is it that our government refuses to pay the true costs of war? On this show, senior veterans policy analyst Suzanne Gordon talks about the new book
The post Veterans are Poorly Treated Pentagon Employees appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The same old same old foreign policy of military first does not enhance our national security. On this show historian Leon Fink, author of Undoing the Liberal World Order, sees that the causes of terrorism are untouched by our reliance
The post Militaristic Foreign Policy Fails; There are Other Options appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
You may have thought it began after 9/11. But it really all started in 1947, as National Security Archive Scoville Fellow Rachel Santasiero explains. The focus of our huge arsenal then quickly shifted from Germany and Japan to the perceived
The post 75 Years of National Security State: America? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
You may have thought it began after 9/11. But it really all started in 1947, as National Security Archive Scoville Fellow Rachel Santasiero explains. The focus of our huge arsenal then quickly shifted from Germany and Japan to the perceived
The post 75 Years of National Security State: America? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
America today is not the America of the past. The Republican Party is unrecognizable. But in his new book What it Took to Win, author and history professor Michael Kazin, discerns a theme that still works as we head into
The post What It Took–and Still Does–For Democrats to Win appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The comfort of colonial powers relied on them not seeing the damage to exploited nations. So it is with mining and milling the uranium for nuclear power. Victims then as now are people without power, indigenous populations which are health
The post Nuclear Power is Racist, Sexist, and Ageist: You Gotta Listen appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The Missouri Senator voted against one thing that can actually address what he says is the problem. Where once men felt pride in what they contributed to family and community as sole breadwinners, that is gone. The anxiety is real.
The post Josh Hawley and the Republican Push for Toxic Masculinity appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Do liberal women feel that their culture is superior? Among women who feel liberated, what is it about the sight of Muslim women in traditional hijabs that so bothers many? In her new book Unruly Women; Race, Neocolonialism, and the
The post Feminist Prejudice Against Women in Hijabs? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Private Security Firms; just part of doing business, right? Blackwater was America’s version in Iraq; The Wagner Group is Russia’s today in Ukraine and Africa. Atrocities in the Donbass region of Ukraine? Russia cynically said, that’s not us, it’s “little
The post Outsourcing War: Making Atrocities Invisible appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The opposite of conservatism is a police state. Yet public figures who call themselves conservative are crushing many of our traditional civil liberties and our legal rights. This according to Jacob Hornberger founder and president of the Future of Freedom
The post “Conservatives” Are Disastrous to Civil Liberties appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The intent is humiliation, eating away at one’s humanity. How can that make one a better person? Former figure skater Keri Blakinger’s new book Corrections In Ink tells the story from the inside and asks: does locking up groups of
The post “As If We Were Trash.” A Woman’s Memoir of Prison appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Justice Scalia claimed to be an Originalist: did he mean only propertied white Christian men have rights? Perhaps the actual intent is still consent of all the governed. In the 21st century, are we not all entitled to participate in
The post Today’s Supreme Court: Not All May Participate in Democracy appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
In theory, the state in a republic serves its citizens. Traditional conservatives insist they want government out of such things as sex. Our guest today Professor Paisley Currah in his new book Sex is as Sex Does, Governing Transgender Identity
The post Sex Classifications Are There to Serve The State appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
America’s suburbs came into being as a way to keep white school kids at the top. But what’s happening with Asian-Americans in upscale places like the sample “Woodcrest” High School? Asian American kids are catapulting to the top. Should teachers
The post Suburban High Schools Race At the Top; Between White and Asian Kids appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Though the angry white supremacist right grabs today’s news, the truth is the Christian Left has much deeper roots in American history. According to the Reverend Quadricos Bernard Driskell, the religious left has always been part of the fabric of
The post We Know the Religious Right: Where is the Christian Left? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Pre-capitalist indigenous cultures have a lot to offer us today for a better, greener future. And socialism is not how its pictured. Neglected by the Great Men study of history, Rosa Luxemburg, a 4′ 11″ disabled young woman from what’s
The post The Prescience and Vision of Rosa Luxemburg. Who? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
A glorious celebration of a great state symbol: the Queen, who’s been through so much in her 70 year reign. Nostalgia for an imperial glorious past only goes so far. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was booed by his own party
The post The Queen and BoJo: The UK From Here appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Of course all parents want to protect their children from inappropriate material. But when “parental rights” mean teachers are forbidden from mentioning homosexuality or racism because that means teachers are “grooming” kids for pedophilia or Chinese communism, liberty is under
The post The “Moms For Liberty” Nightmare for American Schools appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Rather than just keeping one’s head down and staying safe, addressing that which is uncomfortable can bring new insight and a more complete sense of being. The often rigid structure of colleges is not enough, mentoring: listening, respecting is a
The post Sister Resisters appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
When national Democrats acted as if “we” need to educate “them,” someone who at least pretends to listen and respect wins. They have fear that what little they have may be taken away. The real change comes not from mere
The post To Win: Listen to and Respect Voiceless Rural People appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Here we are well into the 21st century and we’re stuck on imperialism, a 19th century western idea. Meanwhile a new non-western, non-American, nonaligned world is emerging. And perhaps it’s a very good thing. On this show international journalist Patrick
The post Like it or Not:The Emerging Post-American, Non-West Order appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Saving the planet is not just for hippies anymore. It’s good to remember that when the business community came out against the war in Vietnam, that was the tipping point. In his new book Climatenomics, Washington, Wall Street, and the
The post Capitalism: Powerful Environmental Ally? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Divide and rule. It’s worked quite well for many decades. When sectors of America are made invisible, behind walls, it takes away the power of democracy. In their new book Standing Up, Tales of Struggle, authors Ellen Bravo and Larry
The post The Unique Success From Undoing Intentional Invisibility appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Of all the motivations for war, nostalgia is at the top. Longing for an imagined glorious past. We see it not only in Ukraine but in many former empires, like France. And this nostalgia plays itself out in racist nationalist
The post The Murderous Power of Imperial Nostalgia appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The attack on traditional rights is at the vanguard of the culture war, reproductive rights are the floor not the ceiling. Religious nationalists cherry pick what they mean by liberty. We can wish Samuel Alito was an outlier but he’s
The post The Real Intent of Alito’s Assault on Privacy appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
There are concentric circles: innermost being the destruction of Ukraine. But the increased insecurity of so many essential factors as a result of the war is starting to disrupt and bring increased misery to the poor of the world. On
The post The Worldwide Effects of the Ukraine War appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Why does it have to be us or them? Bush II tried to use Iraq to force nonaligned nations to choose; it failed. And it’s not working today on Ukraine. Why do so many nations still insist on not choosing
The post Ukraine War: Trying to Bifurcate a Non-Aligned World appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
“‘Opposite sex’ is a phantom concept—nobody lives it.” So says our guest author Kathryn Bond Stockton. Her new book Gender(s) argues that what seem like obvious genital distinctions are in reality incomplete. When children are born, it’s like parents “lower
The post Simplistic Binary Genders is Oppressive Cultural Fortification appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
One generation held the book and the author in reverence. And with Tom Roston’s new book The Writer’s Crusade and the Many Lives of Slaughterhouse Five a new generation is discovering the unique importance of Vonnegut’s vision or war and
The post Horror and Absurdity: Revisiting Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
They decided the remedies of the 30s no longer fit the 90s. They talked about expanding opportunities not government. The economy was strong that decade and so they did not worry about inequality. In her new book: Left Behind, The
The post The Price Democrats Pay for the Clinton/DLC Years appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It’s the bedrock of who we are today. But to believe there was agreement among the “Founding Fathers” to replace plutocracy with democracy is just wrong. A lot of the answers as to where we find ourselves today, good and
The post Behind the Neat Myth of the American Revolution appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
They hide under the cover of academia. They claim to be local grassroots. But behind the faces we see on the news, there is an interconnected network of fossil fuel and evangelical interests in a very efficient soup-to-nuts approach to
The post Organized to Destroy Democracy appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Since Plato’s allegory of the cave, tyrants have successfully manipulated the projected images the public sees. On January 6th, Trump told the insurrectionists they were being patriots. And they believe him. On this show, philosophy professor Andrew Fiala talks about
The post How We Passively Enable Tyranny appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
What had been a strong established left in France has seen much of its support move to the right. People who feel left out and looked down on see a kindred spirit in the far right candidacy of Marine LePen.
The post Will the French Republic (and the EU) Survive? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Shock Therapy. That was the US policy toward Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union. That brought economic anarchy, a real depression, and the clamoring for a strongman government. And today we see the results. According to our guest
The post We Missed it: An Opportunity For a Stable Russia appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Yes, it’s that time of year again. Taxes. Working people have been subsidizing the rich for far too long. All polls show that support for finally taxing the richest is hugely popular. Of course the Republicans openly serve that top
The post Biden’s Billionaire Tax: The Image and the Reality appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Do you buy into American Exceptionalism? Politicians of both parties do. But what does it mean to the planet? On this show professor Aviva Chomsky sheds light on the aspects of exceptionalism we don’t want to see. Technical tweaks alone
The post The High Price of American Exceptionalism on the Earth appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It was not intended to be this supreme. But since Brown v Board of Education desegregating schools, even Democrats have been complacent and yielded too much authority to the court. America’s founders focused on freeing our government from oligarchs. But
The post Supreme Court Too Supreme appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Clearly not his intention, but with his assault on Ukraine might Putin actually be decapitating his worldwide far right? Guest John Feffer director of Foreign Policy in Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies in an article titled “Will Ukraine
The post Is Putin Writing the Far Right’s Epitaph? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
America today is not the America of the past. But in his new book What it Took to Win, author and history professor Michael Kazin, there is a thread that still works. Among the varied demographics, people want the government
The post What it Took For Democrats to Win; Maybe it Still Does appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The break in the supply chain feels sudden but it’s been building for some 50 years. And our guest American Prospect Executive Editor David Dayen explains in an special edition of the magazine: “None of the private players involved have
The post The Supply Chain Debacle Explained appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
As with many success stories, an impoverished, unknown yet powerful woman made it happen. In his new book, The First Kennedys, The Humble Roots of an American Dynasty author Neal Thompson tells us about the Ireland they fled and the
The post How The Kennedys Came to Be Dynasty appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Breaking the mold of powerlessness happens, in the US Senate and in our neighborhoods. On the first segment Political Science professor and author Ron Feinman points to six little known US Senators who courageously stood up against war and injustice.
The post Courageous Movement for Change That Works appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
When Iraq invaded Kuwait, we went to war. With Russia massing at the Ukraine border, we threaten war. But when the repressive kingdom of Morocco claims possession of another distinct nation, silence from the US. The rest of the world
The post The Last Colony: Western Sahara appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
One might think it was purely an honor, but it can be brutal. Especially for women. Sexism may generally be more subtle now, but not always. In this discussion of her new book, Shortlisted: Women in the Shadows of the
The post Shortlisted for Supreme Court: Like Police Interrogation appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Both establishment parties are competing to be toughest on the Ukraine crisis. But the fact is America’s founders were solidly non-interventionist. Our constant search for new monsters to destroy; where has that gotten us? More peace and justice? Our republic
The post Ukraine: A Conservative Take appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
A dangerous addiction to war is a result of what our guest retired Lt Col. William Astore calls victory disease. He actually served at the nuclear trigger under 2000 feet of granite. Reagan fired up the desire for conquest, but
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In walling out Palestinians, the State of Israel has walled in themselves. Former Zionist Israeli Defense Forces paratrooper Sylvain Cypel speaks to us from Paris about his evolution. As a Jewish Frenchman, he says how that country’s experience with Algeria
The post The State of Israel vs The Jews appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
There used to be a long held American tradition of opposition to colonialism and that government served the common good. FDR’s vice president Henry A Wallace was an outstanding visionary. Then a corrupt political machine performed a bloodless coup at
The post A Successful Coup in 1944 America appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
A consumers republic was born at the end of the second world war. And though it was genuinely intended to be a tide lifting all boats, it has increased economic inequality and created isolation where public space once was central.
The post Why Americans Buy So Much Stuff. appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
He voted against one thing that can actually address what he says is the problem. Where once men felt pride in what they contributed to family and community as sole breadwinners, that is gone. The anxiety is real. In her
The post Josh Hawley And The Republican Obsession with Manliness appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The words seem so obviously neutral and just technical. In her new book “Does Skill Make US Human?” author Natasha Iskander reveals that the language of skill versus unskilled is being used to justify dehumanizing workers in Qatar, much the
The post “Skilled/Unskilled” New Political Categories appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
We barely pulled democracy back from the ledge. Now there’s work to be done to make democracy work even better. On this show Kristen Eberhard talks about steps described in her new book “Becoming a Democracy: How We Can Fix
The post Now’s the Time to Make Democracy Better appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Here we are well into the 21st century and we’re stuck on imperialism, a 19th century western idea. Meanwhile a new non-western, non-American, nonaligned world is emerging. And perhaps it’s a very good thing. On this show international journalist Patrick
The post The Emerging Post-American Non-West Order appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Distrust of the press is hardly a new phenomenon. In the 1920s two American literary luminaries shared a concern about bias in the press. But they offered widely divergent reasons and ways to correct the unfairness. Upton Sinclair insisted the
The post News Media: Commodity or Public Good? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
You’ve heard of the famous Christmas Truce of 1914 between the trenches of the British and German soldiers. These were indeed brave men. But that was not the only such event: there were desertions, mutinies, and fraternizations. Today it seems
The post The 1914 Christmas Truce: Powerful, Brave, and Not So Isolated appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
You’ve heard of the famous Christmas Truce of 1914 between the trenches of the British and German soldiers. These were indeed brave men. But that was not the only such event: there were desertions, mutinies, and fraternizations. Today it seems
The post The Christmas Truce of 1914: Powerful, Brave, Not So Isolated appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
In the name of advancing the public good, protecting Americans from dangerous diseases, in the mid twentieth century, certain humans became guinea pigs. It used largely marginalized groups like people in mental institutions, often times children, who became subjects of
The post What Are the Rights of Human Subjects of Science Experiments? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It was “the best and the brightest” who brought us the disaster of Vietnam. And such elitists in Democratic Party still bring avoidable disaster. From northern Iowa, Professor Wallace Hettle sees how the power of big money over the Democratic
The post How To Win Working People Back from the Republicans appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
One hears a cry for “unity” today, but though America is one country, we have always been actually many nations. On this show, author Louis Salome talks about places like Afghanistan, the other “stans,” Iraq, and other countries whose borders
The post Don’t Fight Tribalism, Embrace It appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
The original “banana republic,” Honduras is the second poorest country in the Caribbean region. A few wealthy and many poor. You know the story. It’s had a right wing government since a US supported coup in 2009, but on November
The post Political Earthquake: Honduras Elects Leftist Woman appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
In his new book, The Privatization of Everything, author Donald Cohen directly takes on the myths which have led to intense concentration of power a an wealth and offers ways to reassert what America’s founders had in mind. Despite the
The post Why Privatization is the Wrong Tool for the Common Good appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Unless it’s a spectacle, we don’t see it on screens. But as our guest author Andrea Press spells out in her new co-authored book Media-Ready Feminism and Everyday Sexism, everyday sexism is just accepted. The Me Too movement originated in
The post How TV, Movies, and Social Media Maintain Invisible Sexism appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
“‘Opposite sex’ is a phantom concept—nobody lives it.” So says our guest author Kathryn Bond Stockton. Her new book Gender(s) argues that what seem like obvious genital distinctions are in reality incomplete. When children are born, it’s like parents “lower
The post Simplistic Binary Genders is Cultural Fortification and Wrong appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Pat Buchanan was ahead of his time. He used the KKK’s David Duke to breed a new nativist religious nationalism, based on fear of liberalization. On this show political science professor Joseph Lowndes sheds light on how the Republican Party
The post Violent Authoritarianism: How Did This Become the GOP? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
How can one have optimum performance at your job when you have to hide your identity? There was fear of disruption by having openly trans troops in our military. But the truth is the only disruption was from people in
The post Why the Fear of Trans Troops in the Military? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It’s easy to be all for cutting “waste” in the Pentagon budget but that enables continuing plans to spend 7.5 trillion over ten years. And on what? Could shoveling money to the military make us less secure? On this show
The post Slice A Trillion From Defense: Bring Greater Security? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Great stone monuments to the glory of war serve to silence the pain. Currently four times as many troops and veterans die by suicide as in combat. Our guest on today’s show is religion professor Kelly Denton-Borhaug whose new book is
The post On Veterans Day: Suicide and the Moral Injury We Look Away From appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
They’ve save countless human lives in many wars. Military working dogs have a new monument at the Navy Memorial in Washington DC and it’s about time. Dogs are an essential asset deserving recognition. On this show first up is 20
The post Remembering the Dogs on Veterans Day appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Claiming the election was stolen, “angry loyalists storming the building while overwhelmed security guards gave way. The slavishly loyal vice-president who would, the president hoped, restore him to power.” Sound familiar? This was 1986 in Manila. Author and history professor
The post He Knows a Coup When He Sees One appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
Everyone who supported him projected what they wanted to see on him in 2008. In his new book He Was Our Man In Washington, A History of the Obama Years, author Owen Symes reveals such little known facts as Obama’s
The post What Was the Obama Presidency Really? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
For decades the majority of Americans, Democrats and Republicans have supported taxing the rich but politicians in both parties have turned a deaf ear. But the grudging acceptance that everyone but the richest pays their taxes may be ending. On
The post Tax The Rich to Boost the Economy appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
If it can’t be seen, it can’t be measured, and it doesn’t count. But a lot of the best results of public education can’t be seen. Quantifying was put there to assure command and control from the top down bureaucrats
The post How Measuring Education Fails appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.
It’s been normalized. Americans who are neither Christian nor white may not necessarily feel open discrimination, but privilege underlies everyday life. The starting point is not neutral, as we’d prefer to believe. On this show Dr. Kyati Y Joshi talks
The post Pervasive Yet Invisible White Christian Privilege appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.