America today is not the America of the past. But in his new book What it Took to Win, author and history professor  Michael Kazin, it’s clear what has and still works. This fear of popular movements  has fed the

So many mass shootings; how did the gun culture become so powerful? Look to the Civil War: Militarily devastated, the angry determined Confederate culture transformed guns into a totem. In this revealing discussion, U of Wisconsin-Madison professor Nick Buttrick sheds

They’re not supposed to be an arm of either political party. The word “supreme” means above it all but that’s not what we’ve got in 2024. The majority often contrives constitutional reasons to impose a right wing agenda. How can

The big fish love the UN Security Council. It keeps them able to make wars. But the UN was not always toothless nor must it always remain so. Two badly behaved little boys really can’t be the only option for

History moves in many different directions at the same time. On this show author and independent journalist Patrick Lawrence explains how as we begin a new year there is optimism beneath the pessimism. The failure of our many imperial policies

It’s so much easier to break things than to build them. The right wing group Moms for Liberty claimed that “Parental rights do not stop at the classroom door,” but their real goal was to destroy public education. On this

We all know there are powers determined to destroy democracy. The ubiquity of hand held video cameras has the unique power to disrupt the narrative of power. On this show author Phil Allen talks about his new book The Prophetic

In the pivotal yer of 1916, Jewish leaders like Jacob Schiff opposed creation of a Jewish state. That was the majority opinion, unlike now. The financier who was instrumental in creating the Wall St we know today, made sure to

In the pivotal yer of 1916, Jewish leaders like Jacob Schiff opposed creation of a Jewish state. That was the majority opinion, unlike now. The financier who was instrumental in creating the Wall St we know today, made sure to

And what is the effect on democracy? Playing to the camera makes advertisers happy. Truth? How one would govern? Fall by the wayside are how one might govern. On this show associate professor of history Kathryn Cramer Brownell sheds light

At this Christmas time of year, we all think about giving. But what are philanthropists all about? To launder a plutocrat’s reputation, preserving great wealth and maintaining dominance and control. Our guest Edgar Villanueva has a new book, a second

If the plaintiffs get their way, Moore vs United States could be the wedge that prevents a wealth tax. Guests on this show are law professors and authors Joseph Fishkin and William Forbath whose op-ed in the New York Times

The Republican led Congress declared antiZionism to be one in the same as antiSemitism. But is that accurate? Judaism has been around for thousands of years, Zionism only 150 or so. Does the Israeli state get to define my Jewishness?

Keeping one ethnicity in control: The Israeli state and Modi’s India. Palestinians and India’s Muslim minority. The chumminess of Bibi and Modi. And in both cases, the oppressors ask: who lit the fire? On this show, Stan Cox explains the

No one wants to be labeled “anti-Semitic.” But there’s a massive yet secret Israel-run spy network not only spying on American university protesters but intimidating them, affecting their lives and job prospects. On this show author James Bamford reveals the

The unquestioned backing by Jewish Americans for the State of Israel started to fade about ten years ago, well before the current war.  This keepingdemocracyalive is from 2016, in which Allan C. Brownfield  reveals the relatively short shelf life of

Their language is illegal where they live. They can not give their kids Kurdish names. A continuing legacy of European imperialism. Americans owe Kurds gratitude for beating ISIS in 2014. Our guest Kani Xulam, director of the American Kurdish Information

In the Scopes Trial of 1925, William Jennings Bryan spoke against teaching evolution, saying “I have all the information I need to live and die by.” Today’s intense fight against teaching Critical Race Theory is more of the same. To

Violence in the West Bank has ramped up markedly in recent days. Jewish settlers there see the barbaric and evil acts of October 7th as a green light. They’re not just vigilantes, they are subsidized by the Israeli government and

The corporate powers in the late sixties were seriously freaked out by the powerful momentum of the left. So along came the 1971 Powell Memo, which was a battle plan to retake power. And it worked. On this show, economist

Used to be labor unions were seen as being limited to white working class men and as such lacked power to make real change. With the wins by the UAW and writers union, writing in the New Republic author Raina

In a democracy, we have a right to our own say over how we are governed: that’s what history shows is the impetus behind populism, both right and left. It says: we are experiencing economic injustice; how do we get

One entire generation held the book and the author in reverence. And with Tom Roston’s new book The Writer’s Crusade and the Many Lives of Slaughterhouse Five a new generation is discovering the unique importance of Kurt Vonnegut’s vision of

 You may have heard the story: King Cnut sat on the seashore and tried to command the tide not to touch his feet, yet the sea ignored him. Such may be the case with the right wing’s war against unmarried

For over 60 years, North Americans have been kept in the dark about our neighbor Cuba. On this show Professor author Lisandro Perez talks about what his new book reveals. In The House on G Street traces generations of a

In the current American version of capitalism, all of us are “thingified:” our only value being as digits on the way to corporate profits. This reflects a core bias in the system toward serving the very richest. But it doesn’t

Democracy and oligarchy: since our founding it’s been a long balancing act. In his new book Realigners: Partisan Hacks, Political Visionaries, and the Struggle to Rule American Democracy, author historian Timothy Shenk tells of how such incredibly diverse people as

In his new book The Bodies Keep Coming, author Dr. Brian Williams offers Dispatches from a Black Trauma Surgeon on Racism, Violence, and How We Heal. As doctors know, treating the underlying causes of disease require addressing the whole body’s

It’s not the way it’s supposed to work. Our founders fought for self-government to replace the distant authoritarian system. As Justice Brandeis said; states are the laboratories of democracy. But they are withering from lack of public awareness of their