Prisons are a very old concept and it’s time to ask: Do they still work? Do they accomplish the goals for which they were created? What can we do with dangerous people if we do away with prisons, how can we protect society? Maya Schenwar is guest on th…

 After any defeat, it’s an important opportunity to listen and learn any lessons. Most of the Democratic losses in the 2014 election were among Blue Dog, “centrist” Democrats. On part one of today’s show, Elias Isquith of Salon argues that it is E…

Peter Van Buren spent 24 years at the State Department and a year in Iraq. He has great knowledge of the players in the region, and on this show we focus on what’s possible in the new war against ISIS. There are not a lot of options at this point, and …

No doubt you’ve seen the current near-worship of all things military. All men and women in the military are called heroes. But what does that really do? On this show, Will Hopkins, who was decorated for valor in Fallujah 2004 and now serves as executiv…

What happened? With the Republicans now in the driver’s seat, does this actually improve chances for Democrats in 2016? Or might that just be sour grapes talk? Guest on this discussion of New Hampshire and the nation is Republican political consultant …

On election day 2014 The Burt Cohen Show examinest the intent of America’s founders. The far right has too often gotten away with claiming the mantle of the values of America’s founders. Even Glenn Beck has stolen the title of Thomas Paine’s 1776 pamph…

Remember the boisterous chants of “We’re Number 1!” and “USA! USA” when Osama binLaden was taken out? Exceptionalism is beyond mere national pride, it is an insistence that we are above the normal rules and that we are God’s gift to the world. Of cours…

But will congress give it to them? FBI Director James Comey recently went to congress asking to change the law to enable them to get a back-door access to our cell phone and computer communications data. But according to guest Jake Laperruque, Fellow o…

There have been many clampdowns on free speech in America lately, a sudden radical and highly disturbing new trend has emerged. If you dare to criticize Israeli policies, watch out for your job. Today’s guest Allan Brownfeld of the American Council for…

You’ve probably had the gut feeling there’s more than meets the eye regarding the ISIS story. Guest today is Nicolas J. S. Davies who has done significant research and written about the subject in his book, Blood on Our Hands: The American Invasion an …

Do you oppose the concentration and centralization of power and authority? Prefer natural, locally grown foods. Want top end American imperialism and militarism? Sounds like typical left stuff, right? Today there are petitions from more than 30 states …

As he embarked on a book tour in 2011, Henry Kissinger was met with protests. And you know the tour did not include  Spain or France, where there are warrants out for his arrest. Guests on this show are Joyce Horman, who blames the murder of her h…

Thomas Jefferson said: “An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people.” Maybe that’s exactly why some authoritarian political interests try to ban many books. The last week of September is the annual Banned Books Week an…

Freedom is very appealing. Especially in the case of over zealous and ill focused police work. On the first part of this show, Benjamin Domenech of The Federalist talks about the mood of the so-called millennials, people born from 1980 to 2000. They de…

Ink on paper, books, have always been subversive. They lead to critical thinking. On the first part of this show, Ken Gloss,  proprietor of the internationally renowned Brattle Book Shop talks about the role of books in the 21st century. And he is…

Freedom of speech; we take it for granted. But after the Reverend Bruce Shipman wrote short, a fairly mild letter to the NYTimes, recognizing that Israels devastation of Gaza probably fanned flames of anti-Semitism, he was forced to resign from his pos…

Talk about making history! On Thursday September 18, Scotland votes on whether or not to declare independence from the United Kingdom. My guest is Bob Campbell, a Scot who is in the north of England. He doesn’t want a Yes vote because Campbell figures …

The State of Israel and it’s defenders have been very adept at intimindating Jewish Americans from speaking out against their brutality in Gaza by labeling critics as “self hating Jews.” On this show, “self respecting Jew” Eric Mann takes this charge h…

So much of what we love about American culture has roots in Africa. Today some Americans fear the unknown Islamic world of the region. But there really is nothing to fear and a lot to gain. There is a West African music and culture festival coming up o…

Brushed aside for decades, a recent conference of scientists focused on the potential uses of LSD and other psychedelics. On this show, guest Randolph Hencken of Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies talks about Psychedelic Science for …

As this show was being recorded, word came that another American journalist was beheaded. War hawks McCain, Graham, and Hillary Clinton are calling for massive intervention, but that has so often backfired. On this show, veteran foreign policy journali…

The presidency of Bill Clinton was, on the domestic side, “just as damaging to the nation as George W Bush’s was on the foreign policy side.” This according to today’s guest Dr. Steven Jonas author and co-author of many books and former insider on the …

He seems to be picking up steam: Tennessee Senator Rand Paul separates himself from the pack by his libertarian and conservative credentials. But can this mix actually happen? On this show, political researcher and writer Sean McElwee discusses his con…

Public support for legalizing and regulating marijuana/cannabis is growing quickly. But most politicians remain wary of such a change. Why? Who is behind the various efforts to keep it illegal? On this show, guest is Sarah Bryner, data analyst for the …

Is this America? With heavy arms and tanks, police in Ferguson attacking journalists? Police are there to serve and protect, while the military makes war on enemies. On this reprise show, guest is Alex Pareene, a columnist for Salon.com who has researc…

Rabbi Michael Lerner says “Real friends don’t let friends pursue a self-destructive path.” Despite intense pressure, he refuses to be silent in the face of the destruction of Judaism. As the State of Israel moves away from traditional Jewish values and…

While the left has very few electoral victories, author Michael Kazin argues it has very effectively changed the nation. The author of “A Godly Hero: William Jennings Bryan,” talks about what’s gone right and wrong with America’s left, and ideas for wh…

It was October 25. 2002 that a freak accident took the lives of Senator Paul Wellstone and five others. Wellstone, of course, was the biggest thorn in the side of the White House’s planned war on Iraq. The guest on this show is Jim Fetzer who has thoro…

We know it started 100 years ago, and we all thought it ended with the armistice and the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. But author and columnist Michael Moran argues the conflicts responsible for the horrific bloodletting remain as alive as ever. In the…

In the 30s, Communism meant an idealized hope for many destitute Americans. Then in the 50s, it became the Red Scare, led by the murderous Stalin. And the word Capitalism brings forth images of freedom and individuality. But there’s a great deal of mis…