In 1980, candidate Ronald Reagan had the advisors and discipline to be subtle enough about racist messages. Southern white fundamentalists and the NAACP’s Ralph Abernathy all endorsed him for president. As our guest author Rick Perlstein says, Trump turned a

Sure the super rich and powerful want us to accept our powerlessness. But we are not! Since the rule of white male aristocrats, the struggle to tamp down voting has been consistent and largely successful. The are determined to hold

Pure individualism is not conservatism, much as though people who call themselves conservatives like to think it is. They’ll tell you the American Dream is individuals becoming super rich. But the more traditional definition is one of equal opportunity and

From the Covid stay-at-home greatest hits:  Patriotic Americans were shocked by the outcome of the 2016 election. As they were in 1920 when Republicans put up Warren Harding, a big business Republican who campaigned and won on an America First

Iowa and New Hampshire’s results are in. What’s the best way for Democrats to beat Trump? On this show former Oklahoma Senator DNC chair and presidential candidate Fred Harris, who embraced populism in the 1970s, talks about different approaches: going

As our guest author Rebecca Gordon explains the term “deep state” is from Turkey, where they have government by a criminal gang. And though Trump clearly enjoys accusing others of what he displays, the legitimate government, the one filled with

Hard to imagine but the mainstream media has it wrong. What has been pictured as a crushing blow was actually a victory for progressive politics in the UK. Across Europe and Britain, working people are standing up against what our

Why did so many Obama voters go for Trump in 2016? What happens when party elites don’t know how to react to changes of popular opinion at the ground level? While they may try to do both: keep the elite

The New Deal aspect of the Green New Deal often gets forgotten. The goal now as in the 1930s is to make the state the instrument of the popular will. Democratizing the economy, making it work for the common good,

Conventional Democratic Party wisdom is that McGovern lost to Nixon because he was too liberal, and as a result of that belief, ever since that loss party insiders have trended steadily to the right. But if today’s measuring tools had

No question: today’s biggest unsolved problems came at the hands of the so-called centrists of both parties. Historian and author Professor Andrew Bacevich argues that while of course Trump must be removed, the constant focus of impeachment is a way

Did Trump mean to be anti-Semitic with his insistence that Jewish Americans who vote Democratic are disloyal? According to our first guest, civil justice advocate and attorney Mark Bello, without question yes, Trump is anti-Semitic. And he says Trump is

What keeps Trump was his false version of “Roses.” An uplift from everyday dullness. Looking at the upcoming election, our guest today Professor Ed Simon argues that “those that will be the most successful will be those that speak of

When Nixon lied, it was an earthquake. Now Trump lies many times a day. Does it matter? Why is it that evangelicals remain solid with Trump? How is it that evangelicals no longer care about his personal immorality? Do Christian

It’s not perfect. Much as we’d prefer to see the 1787 Constitution as a rock solid always-dependable foundation, our guests argue there are fault lines that we can not see but are always there. In their new book Fault Lines

We’ve all seen it in recent years: the leadership of the DNC and the DCCC dictating policy and acceptable “centrist” positions for their chosen candidates. And how well has that worked out? Toward correcting that hierarchy’s grip on the party

With much of state and federal government in their pockets, the interface between the tech trusts and the infrastructure enables concentration and nearly unimaginable control by the tech giants. As a result they are able to over-charge customers between $40

(Please note: this is a corrected audio version) The force behind Trump, the real power in the Republican led senate is Mitch McConnell, who calls himself the grim reaper for killing good bills. Our guest in this discussion, Michael Winship,

What do the new anti-choice laws and the old Fugitive Slave Laws have in common? They both strengthen the power of the state and white male rule over people deemed less-than. In the 1850s, northerners who thought slavery was not

America is known in the rest of the world as much more faith oriented than other countries. In the late sixties, the left let the right own the flag. Now the mistake is letting the right own the “values voter.”

Trying to get all people to like you is a guaranteed way for a politician to lose. But don’t Democrats really need a non-threatening, middle-of-the-roader to beat Trump in 2020? On this show we look at the concept of “the

You would think the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee would be all about electing Democrats to congress. They are supposed to be neutral but instead the more conservative, 1990s wing is circling their wagons to keep out progressives. Even though it

We’re in a different moment. The idea of Medicare for All has been around a long time. But as the 2020 campaigns kick in, there is clear momentum. Disappointed by the insurance industry role in the ACA, more and more

Under Trump, only white Christian people should be considered citizens. Karen J. Greenberg, Director of National Security at Fordham Law School, argues in this discussion that expanding the definition of enemies moves us toward unraveling society. By taking away citizenship

Unions are making a comeback. The Flight Attendants scared the heck out of the Trumpists, teachers’ strikes enjoy broad public support. Historian Colin Gordon examines the trends and find that, after years of attacks, the direction of labor unions is

Two minutes every four years, just going into the voting booth to choose a president, is hardly a sufficient tool to leverage the changes which we both need and are possible. As author Paul Street points out, idling capital is

Had Obama announced pull back of troops from Syria and Afghanistan, our guest Major Danny Sjursen says there’d probably be a ticker tape parade. But because of our reactive hatred for all things Trump, a bizarre thing happened: Democrats opposed

Liberal-initiated efforts to eliminate poverty have been top down for about 50 years. But to be successful, development can’t be done to them from on high; it has to be done by the people most affected. We shouldn’t have low

What is “populism?” It sure is not Donald Trump. Our guest today former Oklahoma Senator and chair of the DNC, Fred Harris, who ran for president in 1976, says of the media “to call Trump populist is complicity in a

Conventional Democratic Party wisdom is that McGovern lost to Nixon because he was too liberal, and as a result of that belief, ever since that loss party insiders have trended steadily to the right. But if today’s measuring tools had