On this Portside, Burt dicusses the roots of the health insurance reform debate with UMass economics professor Richard Wolff, who argues the trend has been our govenrment answering to big money interests more and more. Yet he believes the Blue Dogs mig…

Standing in the way of Obama’s health insurance reform are the Blue Dogs, a group of conservative Democrats in Congress. On this edition of portside, Burt talks with Donna Smith, legislative advocate for the California Nurses Association about who the …

Here  he comes to save the day!  Not Mighty Mouse, Dennis Kucinich. On the first part of this Portside, columnist Joshua Holland explains the Ohio congressman’s plan (with bipartisan support) to save single payer health care by enabling…

Is the American Clean Energy and Security Act a good first step or does it effectively lock pollution in place? On the first half of this edition of Portside, Burt Cohen talks with Jesse Jenkins of the Breakthrough Institute about the questionable good…

The House-passed Waxman-Markey Bill may do little to cut emmissions and create green jobs in America, but wall St stands to gain a lot. Burt Cohen talks with Teryn Norris of the Breaktrough Institute on the first half. In part two, Burt talks with Auth…

At last gay couples are gaining the right to marry. But given how often marriage is sexless and oppressive to the individuals involved, others are wondering: Is it time to rethink the whole institution?  On this edition of Portside Burt Cohen talk…

Have you had it with creeping centralization? Bugged that your tax dollars are being used to prop up bigness? Well there may be an answer. On this edition of Portside, Burt Cohen talks with author Paul Starobin, whose article “Divided We Stand” appeare…

With the political and cultural demise of America’s right wing evangelicals, what next for the Christian church? On this edition of  Portside, Burt Cohen speaks with Rev. Scot McKnight, internationally known speaker and professor of religious stud…

In the 1990s, the president and Democrats in Congress rubber stamped billions in aid for Israel, not matter what. On this Portside, Burt Cohen talks with Stephen Zunes, chair of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of San Francisco and senior polic…

Candidate Barack Obama made closing the prison camp at Guantanamo one of his first priorities. Now he and the Democrats seem to be dithering. On this edition of Portside, Burt Cohen talks with Rolling Stone columnist Mat Taibbi about Obama and the Demo…

Afraid to be called flip-floppers, many politicans act on beliefs instead of new realities. On today’s Portside, Burt Cohen talks with philosophy and logic professor John Kozy about the friction between old mindsets and new challenges, and how this end…

It looks like the US senate is about to make the global economic downturn worse…with your tax dollars. On this edition of Portside, Burt Cohen first talks with economist Mark Weisbrot about the plan to slip over a hundred billion of our dollars to th…

Ann Jones, author of Kabul in Winter, is Burt’s guest. She spent years in Afghanistan and reveals much about realities on the ground and what’s in store for what’s become Obama’s war.

Will Obama End the War on Drugs? On this edition of Portside, Burt’s guest is Peter Christ,  a twenty year police veteran of the drug war and now a spokesperson for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. What are the changes we can expect? Could the…

Finally there seems to be agreement we need to reduce carbon emissions. On the next Portside, Burt Cohen looks at the prospect of a carbon tax. Polluting industries oppose a tax on carbon emissions and mainstream environmental groups seek to compromise…

Has the tide turned? Equal marriage rights seem to be sweeping the country, and New Hampshire is close, very close. On this edition of  Portside, Burt Cohen talks with Mo Baxley, head of the Freedom to Marry Coalition. Why isn’t civil union good e…

On this Portside, Burt Cohen and Huffington Post analyst Adele Stan look at what’s behind the populist anger in the recent Tea Parties. And how well is President Obama navigating the terrain? Join Burt Cohen and Adele Stan as they figure it all out.

For the last 75 years or so, when you say the word “Socialism” nearly everyone recoils.  But now, according to sports historian David Zirin “Socialism’s all the rage.”  Oddly enough, it’s the right wing which is creating a new interest in wha…

A new report says Israel deliberately targeted civilians–including
people holding white flags of surrender– during its war on Gaza.
On this edition of Portside, Burt Cohen’s guest is Huwaida Arraf, one of the
primary authors of the just-released repo…

President Obama just announced a new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
On this edition of Portside, Burt Cohen talks with PJ O’Brien, of Votevets.org about why American veterans of the Afghanistan war are so strongly supportive of the president’s …

Proponents of nuclear power always point to France, where about 80% of electricity comes from atomic fission. But not all is well in the land of wine and cheese. Onthis edition of  Portside, Burt Cohen talks with  Linda Gunter, co-founder of …

The new depression is shaking everything up. Some on the left say they’ve been right all along. And that Adam Smith is now officially dead and that Marx is resurrected. On this edition of Portside, Burt Cohen talks with socialist author Ashley Smith wh…

In the face of an ever-deepening and widening recession, the debate about spreading the wealth, which began in the 2008 campaign, promises to escalate. The disparity in wealth has never been greater and there’s a new push to actually address this long-…

It was an all out war in Gaza. Not all Jews, in America or in Israel, support Israel’s hawkishness. On this edition of Portside, Burt Cohen talks with Rabbi Hersh Lowenthal, spokesperson for Jews Against Zionism, who argues the State of Israel has no c…

Might there actually be some benefits to come from America’s new depression?  On this edition of Portside, Burt Cohen talks with Benjamin Barber, whose lead story in a recent issue of The Nation suggests now may be a moment in history when we star…

It’s here in America! Be very very afraid. It’s called European SOCIALISM!! Are you scared yet? On this edition of Portside, Burt Cohen looks at what it is the Republicans are trying to make you so afraid of. Burt’s guest is John Feffer, co-director of…

Who was the greatest American president? Everyone knows it was Abraham Lincoln whose 200th birthday we celebrated in February 2009. But in this edition of  Portside, Burt Cohen talks with Thomas DiLorenzo, author of The Real Lincoln about the more…

It used to be only the most extreme in Israel advocated expulsion of its Arab citizens from their homes. On this edition of Portside, Burt Cohen talks with University of California foreign policy analyst Conn Hallinan about the new, more widely accepte…

Should Americans expect real change in military and foreign policy under Obama?
George McGovern thinks there are reasons to be hopeful.

Far from being ended by the war against the South, slavery became more widespread and brutal after the Civil War. And it continued until World War II. (You can also listen to the full hour interview with Douglas Blackmon.)