Are High Tech Weapons The Answer to Low Budget Terrorism?
We all know what terrorism is. We’ve seen it on the ground in Israel. That’s terrorism on the cheap. Is the answer the most modern ultra high tech bombers to decimate the enemy? For centuries, a key measure of modernity
Gavin Newsom: Democrats Savior ’28?
The far right got a major boost with the martyrdom of Charlie Kirk. What used to be the Republican party is no more. The young man’s appeal to other young men is a major hurdle for traditional patriotic Americans. And
Public Theater: A Way to Measure Democracy
When America was indeed great, the federal government brought theater to all people. Free. In a mirror opposite of Trump 2.0, under FDR there was the Federal Theater project in which one quarter of the nation’s population saw free performances
Historian Michael Kazin on America’s Enduring Actual Greatness
There is in fact a lush garden of American greatness and it is not MAGA. Though less well known, there is a proud history of successful dissent which does make America great. Military power and straight white male domination is
Rising in the UK and the US: A Democratic Left
England’s Labour Party is a lot like America’s Democratic Party: all over the map. Both used to be the party of laboring people. The UK’s current PM Kier Starmer won claiming to be of the left. Now he’s pushing an
The Trump Era and the Psychology of Moral Courage
Researchers are beginning to understand why some of us demonstrate what is called “moral courage” and others do not. In fact, most of us actually have a warped sense of our own moral courage. We like to think nothing would
Why Mamdani May Revitalize the Democratic Party: 1911 CA Precedent
After 2024, the mainstream of the Democratic Party is in the wilderness, but Zohran Mamdani may lead a way out. This week’s guest Fred Glass, talks about what early 20th century California history can teach us about the 2025 New
A Blueprint for A Future Israel/Palestine
Innumerable people have tried over many years to stop the forever wars between Israel and Palestine. With the world now horrified by the use of starvation as a weapon, the urgency of a resolution has never been greater. Even if
Of All The Crises, the Food Crisis May Be the Toughest to Resolve
It’s not in the headlines like starvation in Gaza, but in focusing on the billions facing food insecurity or worse, our guest today points out that the world is enacting policies to reduce food production on agricultural lands diverting way
“Just Following Orders”?
American military service members certainly did not sign up to fight the American people. Yet with the massive deployment of national guard and marines to stop protests in Los Angeles, that was indeed their assignment. On this show, Jacobin and
How The Left Lost the Working Class and How to Win Them Back
What mainstream Democrats don’t understand is that anti-elites are economically progressive, while the elites are economically conservative. NYCs Mamdani won the primary by building an economic coalition. On this show, Joan C. Williams talks about her important new book, Outclassed.
The Power of Photographs and the Truth That Threatens Dictators
It’s called airbrushing history and all dictators do it to erase the truth. Sometimes it can be petty. One example is that Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon deleted photos that were on their website of the first black military pilots during WWII,
His Insatiable Appetite for Prisons
The appalling criminalization of ordinary people. No charges, no conviction, just sweep up people who, as he said: “look like illegals.” Blatantly circumventing constitutional law. And in the big, ugly bill, passed 7/3, spending for jail space and ICE skyrocketed.
Can One Have Meat and A Conscience Too?
The right wing is heavily invested in the meat industry. After all, it has the essential components: dominance, violence, destruction of the planet. In his new provocative book: The Omnivore’s Deception: What We Get Wrong About Meat, Animals, and Ourselves,
Democrats Can Win Again: If…
In the 90s, the party took a turn to the right, taking the working and middle class base for granted. Instead they went for Trump in 2024. Clinton hurt this former base with austerity, and poorly thought out welfare reform
Young Men Are Drawn to Fascism. Why? What Can We Do?
Why do they feel a need for violence to prove their manhood? What’s the connection between an angry Germany after the First World War and what many young men are feeling in 2025? Why do they see equality as deprivation?
Under Water Now, Democrats Have to Become the Party of Change
There’s a reason the same voters were undecided between Bernie and Trump in 2016. People wanted real change. And in 2024, Democrats walked into a trap. As bad as it looks today, writing in Newsweek, today’s guest Matt Robison argues
How Their Music Toppled Jim Crow
It’s not just politics but arts and a free culture that makes real change. Sure there are the leaders we all know, MLK and Malcolm X, but in his new paperback edition of The Jazz Men: How Duke Ellington, Louis
It’s Not the Kids, It’s the Foster Care System That’s Damaged
Society would rather not see them. Like people in prison, the foster care system makes hundreds of thousands of kids invisible. And the system is doing them great damage for life. On this show, author and foster care, juvenile justice,
Trade Peace Beats Trade War: Where Are the Democrats?
Starting a trade war is just stupid. But maybe Trump simply doesn’t really care about tanking the economy. On this show, Washington Monthly politics editor Bill Scher points out that the current president appears to be trying to steer America
We Know What NIMBY means. But Here’s a New Twist: YIMBYism!
There is in fact great abundance in America. The problem is not just the greed of the top percent but also the 21st century version of real estate redlining. Many are shut out. There is a huge demand for affordable
Mental Health Essential for National Security
May is Mental Health Month, and the Trump/Musk regime is pouring gasoline on our already widespread national crisis. The police-state ICE raids are indicative of a strategy to create fear. On this show Mattea Kramer and Dr. Sean Fogler share
Musk’s Chain Saw Does Not Think
If he really aims to cut waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal bureucracy, there’s a lot of low hanging fruit. But Elon Musk has prioritized eliminating one of the smallest yet most effective programs: USAID.Poverty stricken people of developing
Mindless Banality Spreads Quickly. And It’s Evil.
To normalize the horrific, it takes lots of people going along. From the history of leaders lying, the current regime has learned that spewing new lies many times a day works to make reality conform to the lies. On this
Addressing the Unique Stigma on Youth Impacted by Incarceration, Detention, and Deportation
Locking people up and deporting immigrants is on the rise. The adults face punishment (as if that works) and their children hide from the judgement and stigma of other kids and school administrators. They are of course totally innocent and
Washington Post Changes Bigly: Refuses $115,000 Ad
Remember when we could count on the Washington Post to boldly take the lead on political corruption? And can you imagine a newspaper turning down a really big ad buy? Welcome to Trumpworld 2.0. As Common Cause president and CEO
More Than Play: What’s Wrong With American Youth Sport
We think of it as pure fun but the reality is great pressure and there are overtraining injuries. Coaches often lack crucial training. Non-athlete kids feeling less-than. And since kids don’t have a voice in the matter, the only option
Europe Now Squeezed By Trump and Putin’s Pincer
There are two petrostate oligarchies linking up and gravely threatening what had been a rock solid alliance: Europe and the US. The traditionally shared moral universe of Europe and the rest of the “Free World” is suddenly gone. On this
School Suspension: More Often for Black Kids
Kicking out troublemakers. It backfires. It certainly increases the likelihood of negative outcomes. And it is not applied equally. In this discussion author and researcher Aaron Kupnik talks about his new book: Suspended Education. If we want equal opportunity for
Is Freedom of the Press Doomed?
In being careful to avoid a monarchy or dictatorship, America’s founders adamantly insisted on each government agency being independent. The Federal Communications Commission act of 1934 was created to ensure that the public would have access to news without threat