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

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;

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 unique immunity which no one else has. In this show

Progressive Americans have looked to Europe for successful building of a strong economy which addresses climate change effectively. But now there is a new rise of a far right throughout Europe, starting with Trump’s buddy Orban in Hungary. As with

India enjoys a 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 recently visited America and the bulldozer is the symbol

And what is the effect on democracy? Playing to the camera makes advertisers happy. Truth? How one would govern? Fall by the wayside are how one might govern. On this show associate professor of history Kathryn Cramer Brownell sheds light

Keeping one ethnicity in control: The Israeli state and Modi’s India. Palestinians and India’s Muslim minority. The chumminess of Bibi and Modi. And in both cases, the oppressors ask: who lit the fire? On this show, Stan Cox explains the

No one wants to be labeled “anti-Semitic.” But there’s a massive yet secret Israel-run spy network not only spying on American university protesters but intimidating them, affecting their lives and job prospects. On this show author James Bamford reveals the

The unquestioned backing by Jewish Americans for the State of Israel started to fade about ten years ago, well before the current war.  This keepingdemocracyalive is from 2016, in which Allan C. Brownfield  reveals the relatively short shelf life of

Violence in the West Bank has ramped up markedly in recent days. Jewish settlers there see the barbaric and evil acts of October 7th as a green light. They’re not just vigilantes, they are subsidized by the Israeli government and

The corporate powers in the late sixties were seriously freaked out by the powerful momentum of the left. So along came the 1971 Powell Memo, which was a battle plan to retake power. And it worked. On this show, economist

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,

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”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

“‘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