From tinny AM pop to stereo underground rock, WBCN was right at the vanguard. According to our guest, the legendary Charles Laquidara, it was part of an exciting wonderfully freeing time. A commercial station, it still managed to be the

More and more people are coming to the conclusion that keeping power utilities in corporate hands no longer makes sense. Legislators in conservative places like Hudson Valley and Massena NY are passing laws to put ownership of power companies in

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

You’ve seen the ads on network TV:Huge data centers bringing life to hollowed out communities. But the reality is these huge projects suck electricity and water and provide virtually no lasting jobs. Not just people on the left but people

He’s only president of the United States, not the European Union, right? Unlike the US, there’s a longstanding bipartisan commitment to social democracy on the continent. Yet Trumpism is having a serious mark on this tradition, with Trump making civilizational

It’s a historical fact that Democrats win when there is a movement beneath the electoral process. Karishma Manzur is running for US Senate having risen from the leading base of such a movement. On this show she speaks about what

It’s a long term necessity, but tragically, short term policy-makers put off a solution essential to a strong economy and restoration of our republican form of government. As of today, both the economy and democracy are in a downward spiral.

We’re in Monroe Doctrine 2.0. Our guest on today’s show Terie Matson is in Mexico City, the other side of Rubio’s multipolar scheme for division of the world. Trumps random attack on Venezuelan vessels is but a symptom or a

After decades of having to look “Tough on Crime”by jailing teenagers, notably people of color, at last we’re seeing the end of  adult prisons housing kids. Forty four states have dialed back the sequestering of kids in medieval fortresses where

At the nearly two hundred fifty year mark, we’ve already lasted longer than most great nations. As with others which declined and fell, a loss of confidence led to anxiety and the impulse for a strong man to protect us

What we’re seeing today is a far cry from justice. Today’s policy of cruelty toward immigrants is an abject failure, yet it’s impractical to have a totally open border with Mexico. As with most solutions, the answer has to involve

This book actually changed my view of US History. The author says the Confederates and the January 6th assault are the inheritors of the original intent! He argues that the standard story is not the truth. The surprising reality of

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?

Fear of the other. Fear of woke, of LGBTQ+, of Black liberation, and of course the old big fear: Communism. In the age of the Cold War, right after WWII, Americans believed the Soviet Union was bankrolling worldwide liberation movements,

Think billionaires have no impact on your life? Think again. We never blame billionaires for our day to day problems even though they deserve it. For example billionaires buy up housing projects then up the rent. And as business owners

Under Trump 2.0, we adults are taught to fear The Other, we must become a monolinguistic culture: English over all. But during this week of Jewish high holy days, we ask what is this ancient language of Yiddish? It is

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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,

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.

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,