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

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

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

It used to be just the far right fighting against an income tax. Now that’s the Republican Party. On this show Matt Ford, staff writer for The New Republic explains a case the court soon may or may not take

We may accept today’s economic system as just part of the natural order; but in truth capitalism started with overt violence. Centuries later it has morphed into what our guest calls Mute Compulsion. And now here we are, faced with

The unchecked power of the Federal Reserve claims its current, never ending rate hike strategy is about curbing inflation. It is not, according to our guest today, economics professor Clara Mattei. That we have become so used to it we

How big do you think Pakistan is? Would you guess over 200 million people? It’s a  nuclear armed power, deeply in debt, with a few rich powers and the military in control. On this show Murtaza Hussain fills in what

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

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

It took a mere ten days before the UK’s new prime minister blew it big time. Liz Truss’s budget was instantly panned; pretending to be trickle down, it gushes money upwards to those who need it least. On this show

Elitists in Democratic Party bring avoidable disasters. From northern Iowa, Professor Wallace Hettle sees how the power of big money over the Democratic Party pushes away working people, farmers, and others in the hollowed-out heartland. Terry McAullife’s loss in Virginia

A crippling rail strike seems to have been averted. Barely. You and I may think of the railroads as ways to move freight, but as our guest today observes: “The railroad companies have been Wall Street’s plaything throughout their half-century

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.

Do you buy into American Exceptionalism? Politicians of both parties do. 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. Technical tweaks alone

The break in the supply chain feels sudden but it’s been building  for some 50 years. And our guest American Prospect Executive Editor David Dayen explains in an special edition of the magazine: “None of the private players involved have

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.

It’s easy to be all for cutting “waste” in the Pentagon budget but that enables continuing plans to spend 7.5 trillion over ten years. And on what? Could shoveling money to the military make us less secure? On this show

For decades the majority of Americans, Democrats and Republicans have supported taxing the rich but politicians in both parties have turned a deaf ear. But the grudging acceptance that everyone but the richest pays their taxes may be ending. On

The earth itself is today paying the price for the 20th century fossil fuel bonanza. Now instead of continuing to have all humanity in service to that powerful sector, it’s time to pay the climate and colonization debt. When George

It’s so easy for the national security state to just paint the same old picture for Americans: Russia and China are military threats. But in truth they are not. They are rising economically in large part because we have wasted

Philanthropies came into being to launder a plutocrat’s reputation. It’s become an industry today whose goal is preserving great wealth and maintaining dominance and control. According to our guest Edgar Villanueva, philanthropy has to be more than a wealth building

The dehumanized Amazon warehouse as pictured in the movie Nomadland is more benign than reality. There is an “existential bleakness” where every instant is being watched, humans serve robots, and one can be fired by algorithm. In his powerful new

You may not have heard of Rich Trumka who passed away suddenly August 5th. From working in the mines of Pennsylvania he served as president of the AFL-CIO from 2009 to 2021. Our guest today is once and future president

As our guest Chuck Collins explains, it’s like one person orders expensive wine for a dinner crowd and sneaks out without paying. His new book is titled The Wealth Hoarders; How Billionaires Pay Millions to Hide Trillions. What he calls

Despite the myths, there is less opportunity to climb the ladder out of poverty in America than in other modern nations. Did you know a majority of Americans will experience poverty in their lifetimes? And that childhood poverty costs us

When one thinks of people in poverty, what judgements come up? Did you know that the vast majority are working often two or three jobs? When you go to a bank or a mortgage, do they ask you how much

From its birth in one block in New York City to more than a thousand town squares, the conversation began ten years ago. It was the first social media driven movement and as Heather McKee Hurwitz writes in her new

Smeared and driven from leadership of the British Labour Party. Relentlessly attacked by the uniquely powerful British tabloid media, our guest today Matt Sarb-Cousin argues there’s never been a leader like Jeremy Corbyn. Except perhaps America’s own Bernie Sanders. Trump

Ousting Trump is not enough. Getting back to the normalcy of tremendous economic injustice is not enough. With unprecedented wealth owned by a very few, close to 50% of Americans are at the edge of real poverty. Guest is Reverend

With the pandemic throwing everything up in the air, there are new opportunities for us to shape the way it all lands. Going back to the old “normal” is not the only option. On this show Joe Ryle a leader