Culture

Is Water Not a Human Right?
The right says let the market be in charge. Privatizing and commodifying our essential human needs is OK with them. Should we just accept the normalization of hundreds of millions of plastic bottles, for corproate controlled water that is no

Today’s Gun Culture: The South Won
So many mass shootings; how did the gun culture become so powerful? Look to the Civil War: Militarily devastated, the angry Confederate culture transformed guns into a totem. In this revealing discussion, U of Wisconsin-Madison professor Nick Buttrick reveals the

How About A Rural New Deal?
Liberals usually fail to connect and inspire people of the rural mid-west. And we lose elections. But if we’re true to tradition, we should take the lead in solving rural alienation. Our guest today Jessica Corbett explains a new report

Wither American Arts?
The writers and screen actors strike is an example of what’s happening to working people: the rents are too damn high. Housing is at the root of so many issues of the 2020s, including a stagnation in the arts. On

Blaming Caregivers When It’s the System
Overwork, uniquely stressful conditions, patients suffering. Blaming individual caregivers with personal failures results in fewer and fewer professionals when the need by boomers is growing exponentially. On this show, David Schenck author of two previous books on ethics and healing

Time to End Family Court?
Imagine being a judge and having a mandate to break up families! Today’s guest, noted children and family lawyer Jane Spinak talks about her new book The End of Family Court: How Abolishing the Court Brings Justice to Children and

Finding Unexpected Bravery and Tenacity Among the Homeless
Many of those of us who have homes wish the homeless were invisible. Unknown, clearly on hard times, why isn’t it done, why is it in all of our interest to prevent homelessness? Noted psychiatrist Dr. Robert Okin lived for

Biden is Not Royalty. Neither is Democracy
Biden’s problem is he’s not a TV star, just a good president. What is the draw of royalty? It’s much less effort than tedious democracy to just accept legitimacy being handed down from above. On this show, from the Brooklyn

One Nation Indivisible: Oh Really?
It’s not just blue vs red, North vs South. There’s us here in Yankeedom, Then there’s New Netherlands, The Midlands, Tidewater, Greater Appalachia, The Deep South (of course), New France, The Far West, El Norte, The Left Coast, and First

How Do We Form Our Gender Identity & Can It Change Over Time?
They claim loudly they’re protecting freedom and innocent children, but the truth is the right is oppressing both. On this show psychoanalyst Avgi Saketopoulou, co-author of Gender Without Identity, argues there is not one true immutable authentic identity with which

I Want a Better Catastrophe!
We finally get that can’t have infinite growth on our finite planet. The dominant western approach of treating the earth as our playground isn’t working anymore. It’s late but there are still real opportunities for a partnership between humans and

The Roots of Anti-Woke
It’s a puzzling mystery why so many working class people in the midwest go for Trumpism. Some answers are in Imagining the Heartland; White Supremacy and the American Midwest by anthropologist authors Britt Halvorson and Joshua Renoit. It examines the

Black and Queer on Campus//Still A Ways to Go on Women’s Day
On the first half Wellesley Professor of American Studies and author Michael P. Jeffries talks about his new book Black and Queer on Campus, the unexpected possibilities and challenges which remain. And on part two, noted feminist Amanda Marcotte talks

Slave States and Today’s Gun Culture
So many mass shootings; how did the gun culture become so powerful? Look to the Civil War. Militarily devastated, the Confederate culture transformed guns into a totem. In this revealing discussion, U of Wisconsin-Madison professor Nick Buttrick reveals the roots

Christian Nationalism 2023: Power Not Piety
Bradley Onishi is himself a “deconverted” Christian nationalist. His new book is titled Preparing for War; The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism–And What Comes Next. On this show, he answers the puzzling question of why so many who consider

The High Price Paid for Ignoring the Midwest
No one likes to be ignored. We saw what happened when the 2016 Democratic nominee skipped those states. The truth is it was a liberal heartland: McGovern, Wellstone, Mondale, etc. Our guest is historian and author of the new book

The Self-Serving Purpose of Philanthropy
At this 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 edition

Profitable Panic: Busting Sex Workers at Qatar World Cup
At the World Cup and other global sporting events, all kinds of workers are exploited. And under the guise of rescue and saving souls involved in the sex trade, evangelical, business interests, politicians, and police make out quite well. Harm

An American Tradition of Christian Left
Though the angry white supremacist right grabs today’s news, the truth is the Christian Left has much deeper roots in American history. According to the Reverend Quardricos Bernard Driskell, the religious left has always been part of the fabric of

Why Do They Fear Curiosity?
The pressure to prevent active curiosity is a curious thing in a democracy. Our guests today are authors Perry Zurin and Dani Bassett whose new book is Curious Minds, The Power of Connection. As they say, acquiring information is insufficient,

Do Democrats Want to Win? Ignoring Voiceless Rural People Is a Sure Way to Lose.
We can’t do it by talking down to middle Americans. If Democrats don’t get that rural Americans have fear that what little they have may be taken away, we stand to lose yet again. Victory comes when we listen, respect

The Right Fears and Hates the Reality of Non-Binary Gender ID
Author Kathryn Bond Stockton argues in her new book Gender(s) that obvious genital distinctions are in reality incomplete. When children are born, it’s like parents “lower a cone over the baby,” imposing an identity without consent and even ignoring other

The Collapse of Journalism and the Threat to Democracy
Reporters used to report, now there’s virtually no line between media and the national security state. Veteran international journalist Patrick Lawrence on this show notes the big change occurred 9/11; since then we have been subject to an information monoculture.

White Supremacy And A Place You’ve Never Been
The new book is Imagining the Heartland; White Supremacy and the American Midwest and it’s about the powerful roots of today’s angry violence against The Others. On this show anthropologist authors Britt Halvorson and Joshua Reno look at the use

The High Price of American Exceptionalism on the Earth
Politicians of both parties buy into American Exceptionalism. But what does it mean to the planet? On this show professor Aviva Chomsky sheds light on the aspects of exceptionalism we don’t want to see. Instead of a good life just

Being Gay, Brown, and Immigrant
Even in safe spaces for gay men, there is subtle racism and stratification if one is not white. On this show, Professor Anthony Ocampo talks about his new book Brown and Gay in LA, including pressures from Mexican and Filipino

Why Do Americans Buy So Much Stuff?
A consumers republic was born at the end of the second world war. And though it was genuinely intended to be a tide lifting all boats, it has increased economic inequality and created isolation where public space once was central.

As Schools Open Again: The Moms for Liberty Nightmare
It’s almost time for the start of schools. Of course all parents want to protect their children from inappropriate material. But when “parental rights” mean teachers are forbidden from mentioning homosexuality or racism because that means teachers are “grooming” kids

Nuclear Power is Racist, Sexist, and Ageist: You Gotta Listen
The comfort of colonial powers relied on them not seeing the damage to exploited nations. So it is with mining and milling the uranium for nuclear power. Victims then as now are people without power, indigenous populations which are health

Feminist Prejudice Against Women in Hijabs?
Do liberal women feel that their culture is superior? Among women who feel liberated, what is it about the sight of Muslim women in traditional hijabs that so bothers many? In her new book Unruly Women; Race, Neocolonialism, and the