On the one hand, somebody had to do something. Using Sarin gas to kill babies must not go unchallenged. On the other hand, what did the Tomahawk missile attack accomplish? What about the thousands of innocents already killed by all

Asleep in her home the night of March 2, 2016, Berta Caceres was murdered. The military police of Honduras are suspected. But the government failed to stop her work: there are many more Berta Carcereses today. A government getting much

Telling the truth to power shouldn’t take courage, but it certainly does. On part one, Peter VanBuren, whistle-blower and author of We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People, describes

Imagine being a proud part of the military for decades, serving as strategist and then it lands on you: our policy is a failure. Major Danny Sjursen in his inaugural Tom Dispatch post writes from a unique perspective on what

http://media.blubrry.com/keeping_democracy_alive/www.dropbox.com/s/f79eihtv7eu5zse/NeoSlaveryEverGreen1.mp3?dl=0Most of us believe what we were taught in elementary school: that enslaved blacks were freed by the Civil War. The truth is far grimmer. In this gripping discussion (recorded during Obama’s term) Douglas Blackmon, author of Slavery by Another

Aside from the blatant racism, the shocking authoritarianism, and the disregard for the Constitution and laws, President Trump is unwittingly causing the end of a long period of unquestioned world dominance by the USA. According to our guest The Nation

With the mainstream finally focusing on reducing carbon emissions, the highly capitalized nuclear industry is once again trying for a rebirth. This time as a carbon-free answer to help reduce climate change. But according to guest veteran investigative reporter Karl

Is America merely a conduit for corporate wealth? Is the earth merely for exploiting without care? Trump’s designate to be secretary of state, Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson is all that an more. Though the job of SoS is about

75 years ago on December 8th, war came. What no one expected was the transformation of America from a nation which craved peace to one which thrived on militarism. On this show, military historian Christopher Kelly, author of “America Invades:

Indigenous Americans for over 300 years have been treated as invisible; treaties and promises routinely ignored. Mainstream media ignored it as long as they could for fear of upsetting advertisers but pressure kept building and, surprise: the water protectors put

The Vikings were brave explorers and they found wondrous new things. Today Scandinavia holds promise of how America can become happier and more free. George Lakey, author of the new book Viking Economics, talks about struggling toward something rather than

Generally American cites are dumped on: Budgets cut, services eliminated, schools ignored. But 80% of us live in cities and despite the pressure from uncaring financial interests and their politicians, we are close to a tipping point where an urban

Instead of a foreign policy directed by civilian authority, we now have simply military policy. It’s like General MacArthur won against President Truman today. Foreign policy columnist at The Nation Patrick Lawrence describes our State Department bureaucracy as “sclerotic.” In

Is there a worse crime than child abuse? Is the complicity by knowing adults just as bad? Is there something about the very nature of authoritarianism in schools? Guest on this show is  Amos Kamil, author of Great is the

In addition to the three thousand lives, what else did we lose on 9/11? America’s founders wisdom carries well across a quarter millennium but the mission creep of the National Security State threatens that balance. Some see it as a

It just sounds so bad: wars for domination. The new and improved justification is “humanitarian intervention” or Responsibility to Protect (R2P). It’s prime advocate is US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power, likely to get a prime spot in a

Oscar Meyer was Chuck Collins’ great grandfather. At age 26, he turned aside his inherited fortune. Why would anybody do that? His new book is called Born on Third Base; A One Percenter Makes the Case for Tackling Inequality, Bringing

Far from the fears right wingers had that same sex marriage would be a threat to the institution, lawyer Elizabeth Schwartz who specializes in the field, argues same sex marriage may actually strengthen the institution. Too many people go into

We’ve all heard of ISIS, we know Iraqi forces flee from them. But have you heard of the Kurdish women warriors of Rojava? ISIS is scared of them. And nation/state powers like Turkey also fear them. Who are these new

It’s starting to fade. The unquestioned backing by Jewish Americans for the State of Israel is slipping.  As author Allan C Browfield discusses, Zionism actually has a short shelf life among Jewish Americans. Before 1948, it was condemned by most

They mostly came from big cities on the coasts. But why did fourteen young men came from rural New Hampshire in the Fall of 1936 to risk their lives in a foreign war? It was illegal for them to go

Populism has been part of our country’s identity since before the Constitution. It looked like there was a great populist uprising this year. Now, with the scare of Bernie Sanders behind them the corporate-serving Democrats are back to their “happy

The right to organize is a basic human right. So says MIT professor and co-director of the Institute for Work and Employment Tom Kochan. In the face of decades of assaults against workers rights, this election year holds realistic hope

Through twelve administrations, the US has been tight with the Saudi government. On part one, Medea Benjamin talks about her new book: Kingdom of the Unjust: behind the US-Saudi Connections. She argues it’s time to cut the cord, they are

Is the dream over? The socialist democratic Israel our parents generation dreamed of is not the right wing Israel we see today.What’s happening with Jewish Americans who are under 70? Why does the right wing Israel lobby still have so

Washington Post Politics – Inside the exclusive events helping to fund Clinton and the Democratic Party Washington Post quotes KDA’s Burt Cohen on money in politics See Article: https://www.washingtonpost.com

http://media.blubrry.com/keeping_democracy_alive/dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/48358971/YoungWarComplete.mp3They call it “youth development programs.” Seven hundred million of our tax dollars are being used to lure kids into the schools-to-soldier pipeline. The mainly poor students are presented the image of exciting video games, which millions of kids love.

We couldn’t get the simple Equal Rights Amendment passed, but with the support of Hillary Clinton and Republicans across America, Jeff Clements, president of American Promise, believes we can erase Citizens United and restore democracy to American politics. And on

It’s been called the most progressive Democratic Party platform ever, but in terms of foreign policy, it’s pretty much as militaristic as ever. On this show, Phyllis Bennis, of the Institute for Policy Studies dissects the foreign policy aspects of

With Trump as president, it would be a major effort to just move back to the center. With Hillary Clinton, and sustained  pressure from progressives, forward motion is possible, if difficult. This is for progressives thinking about the election. Michael