Josh Hawley And The Republican Obsession with Manliness
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
“Skilled/Unskilled” New Political Categories
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
Now’s the Time to Make Democracy Better
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 Emerging Post-American Non-West Order
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
News Media: Commodity or Public Good?
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 1914 Christmas Truce: Powerful, Brave, and Not So Isolated
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 Christmas Truce of 1914: Powerful, Brave, Not So Isolated
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
What Are the Rights of Human Subjects of Science Experiments?
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
How To Win Working People Back from the Republicans
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
Don’t Fight Tribalism, Embrace It
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
Political Earthquake: Honduras Elects Leftist Woman
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
Why Privatization is the Wrong Tool for the Common Good
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
How TV, Movies, and Social Media Maintain Invisible Sexism
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
Simplistic Binary Genders is Cultural Fortification and Wrong
“‘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
Violent Authoritarianism: How Did This Become the GOP?
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
Why the Fear of Trans Troops in the Military?
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
Slice A Trillion From Defense: Bring Greater Security?
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
On Veterans Day: Suicide and the Moral Injury We Look Away From
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
Remembering the Dogs on Veterans Day
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
He Knows a Coup When He Sees One
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
What Was the Obama Presidency Really?
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
Tax The Rich to Boost the Economy
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
How Measuring Education Fails
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
Pervasive Yet Invisible White Christian Privilege
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
Making the World Safe for Plutocracy: The History of American Policing
It was called the Gilded Age. In the late 19th and early 20th century, there was extreme wealth and everybody else (remind you of another time?). Wall Street bankers back then were getting robbed, someone had to protect them. In
Republican Goal: End Public Education, End Democracy
It’s not about education reform; Republicans like Florida’s DeSantis and others are actually out to end public education. On this show, New Republic editor Kathryn Joyce looks behind such appealing phrases as Parents Bill of Rights to reveal a long
The Prescience And Vision of Rosa Luxemburg. Who?
Precapitalist 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
For Inspiration Today: Fannie Lou Hamer In the Early 60s
When she came onto the civil rights stage, the men assumed she’d sing, not speak. But Fannie Lou Hamer was a force. As author Kate Clifford Larson tells the amazing story in her new book Walk With Me, she stood
From Heroes to Targets: Medical Workers Under Attack
It’s not like displaying a large red cross protects doctors from attack anymore. Yesterday’s Covid heroes are today vilified by some. Across the globe, health care workers have become routinely targeted. For example in Myanmar, since it is not an
The Harmful Naivete of A Foreign Policy of Violence
With violence so deeply embedded into America’s foreign policy, it’s become invisible. But who does it harm more; us of them? On this show global religion teacher and author Kelly Denton-Borhaug says it is time to grow up and face