Author Archive

Burt Cohen

PodcastPopulismSocialism

As Americans were dancing in the streets with the ousting of Trump, so the people of Bolivia  celebrated the return of Evo Morales, first indigenous president after a coup forced him to flee. The new president is Luis Arce, former

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CultureMilitary and Defence PolicyPodcastPopulismWomen

Former presidential candidate best selling author Marianne Williamson talks about why Trumpism arose, and what opportunities the Democratic Party now has. Will Biden be yet another neoliberal or will he listen to the very real causes of chronic despair which

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CultureFascism on the RisePodcast

Why the need for dominance and control? Why the huge draw of white working class men to Donald Trump? Does the appeal of violent police somehow make up for a sense of loss of male control over everybody else? On

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PodcastWomen

Reagan kicked it off: the emotional manipulation of the word “freedom” obscures political realities. On this show, recorded the day after the vote, guest Ken Nanus analyses the data and concludes that, unlike actual conservatives, anything standing in the way

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Fascism on the RiseInternational NewsJusticePodcastRacism

They went from a tiny group at the fringe to the third largest political party in Greece. In the birthplace of democracy, after a five year trial, the most significant anti-fascist trial since Nuremberg, the Golden Dawn has been convicted.

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Fascism on the RisePodcastPopulismWar

Even in a minority, fighting back carries a number of positives. On issues that matter to average Americans, Democrats have been pushed off course. Some thought the way to attract independents was timidity. As our guest Eleanor Eagan of the

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Civil LibertiesJusticePodcast

The framers of our Constitution intended the judicial system to be the “least dangerous branch” of government. They did not foresee today’s powerful national parties having the ability to short circuit democracy. As we see in action now, on this

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Middle East NewsMilitary and Defence PolicyPodcastTrumpWarWomen

It’s all about bragging. Trump said his “deal” between the UAE and Israel would create a half million new jobs. The true number is less than a tenth of that. On this show Pentagon arms expert William Hartung explains how

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EconomyMilitary and Defence PolicyPodcastTrump

The European nations don’t need enemies like the US does. Since geography is destiny, they see a bizarre American President and have their own economic interests beyond dependence on weapons systems. On this show international journalist Patrick Lawrence describes what

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CultureJusticePodcastRacism

We know about voter suppression against African Americans but what about Indigenous Americans, Indians? The effort to disenfranchise the 2% of the national population is not a secret, yet nearly unknown. On this show author Jean Schroedel shares disturbing findings

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Fascism on the RiseJusticePodcastPopulism

The often successful tactics and techniques of America’s crime syndicate have not gone unnoticed by Trump and his gangs. In his new article: “The Mobster in Chief: Will the November Election be Decided in the Streets?” returning guest John Feffer

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JusticePodcastTake Action

The right wing Republicans outsmarted Democrats. Starting in 2008, they understood the path to grabbing and holding power goes through state legislatures. They could see that their white older male base is eroding and that they don’t need to compete

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Civil LibertiesEducationFascism on the RiseHistory That Matters NowPodcast

He called our current history education in our schools “a form of child abuse.” Teaching critical thinking and the real history of America would be shut down in Trump’s “Patriotic Education.” The popular 1619 Project and Zinn’s Education Project which

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CultureFascism on the RisePodcastPopulismTrump

Populism is a legitimate form of anger at perceived elites dismissing everyday people. There are indeed real reasons for today’s populist anger. On this show Rutgers Law School professor Dennis M.Patterson explains why we need to take populism seriously. It

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Fascism on the RiseMilitary and Defence PolicyPodcastTrumpWar

In normal times, it’s the the military making war elsewhere in the world, allegedly to protect our peace at home. But with armed white gangs afraid their dominance of America may be slipping away, and with a president egging them

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CultureEconomyEnvironmentPodcastRacismWomen

How did we get in this mess in the first place? Will little tweaks allow America to effectively address climate change, racism, and the deadly pandemic? Author Northeastern University professor Jennie C. Stephens argues that there is a “polluter elite”

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National PolicyPodcastRacismWomen

Significant historic change it seems is often led by women. The movement for universal health care is not exception. Women telling their stories, leading from where they are is the key ingredient. In her new book Marching Toward Coverage, author

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Israel & PalestineMiddle East NewsMilitary and Defence PolicyPodcastWar

The president calls it a “previously unthinkable regional transformation.” But perhaps it both solidifies the power of medieval monarchies masquerading as modern states, as it ramps up sales of US weapons systems to them. Retired US Army Major Danny Sjursen

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CultureEnvironmentNational PolicyPodcast

FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps achieved remarkable success in so many areas: Creating meaningful work for young men in a time of mass unemployment, planting forests, conserving our natural resources. It ended with the start of World War II. Perhaps now

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Civil LibertiesFascism on the RisePodcastProtests & Resistance

We’ve seen it on the nightly news: the police, the tear gas, the fires, and the wall of moms. Our guest today, David Rovics is there in Portland Oregon and he explains that the city’s police protected the far right

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CulturePodcastPopulismReligion

The standard picture we northerners have of The South may no longer be accurate. Average working people are starting to see that the anti-union governments there are really just serving the rich. The long-thought-dormant left populist tradition of people like

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CulturePodcastRacismWomen

There’s a brand new Central Park monument of feminist leaders Stanton, Anthony, and Sojourner Truth. It was a hundred years ago that the 19th Amendment became law: women won the right to vote. But what kind of compromises did the

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CultureFreedomJusticePodcastReligionSexuality

The nuclear family, white hetero male dominance and control is not the only way it can be. Why can we can have firearms freedom but not sexual freedom? On this show, Janet Jakobsen professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

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Civil LibertiesCultureFascism on the RisePodcastPopulismReligion

As Trump kicks off his fall campaign, and we 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

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Fascism on the RisePodcastRacismTrump

Blurring the lines between law enforcement and vigilantism, why are off duty police at the polling stations mainly in black and brown neighborhoods? New Jersey in 1981 is a case study in what has happened and most likely will happen

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CulturePodcastRacismSexualityWomen

She is exactly what Trumpists hate: a strong woman who is both black and Indian. Both groups were the subjects of white male dominance and control. American slavery and British rule over India both had their peak at the same

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CultureJusticePodcast

Many of us were taught to be wary of “mob psychology.” But according to history professor Peter Stearns who has studied the effects of crowds on political change, emotion is not necessarily in conflict with rationality. The protests of the

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Civil LibertiesFascism on the RiseJusticeMilitary and Defence PolicyPodcastProtests & ResistanceTrump

Other countries, like those we defeated, use the paramilitary domestically, not America. Or so it was before the Department of Homeland Security was transformed into the ideal authoritarian tool. Former CIA analyst and professor of government at Johns Hopkins University

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CultureFascism on the RisePodcastPopulismTrump

Donald Trump IS the Republican Party of 2020. So what of the future of the party; is there one? According to David Smith, Washington Bureau chief for The Guardian, some party members quietly hope for a Democratic landslide so they

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CultureIsrael & PalestineJusticePodcastSocialism

How is it that Jewish liberals felt the State of Israel was exempt from criticism applied elsewhere? Our guest today Benjamin Balthaser, who teaches multi-ethnic literature at Indiana University, talks about a little known history: Most liberal and left Jewish

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