The current system clearly tends to worsen already bad situations. Forcing people to see who they are as “bad,” not just they they did bad things. Did you ever think about how we came up with the prison system in

With the killing of George Floyd and the resulting rage in the streets, this is a year like none other. Old reassuring myths are falling away. Statues are being ripped down. What is still worth preserving?  Can we use today’s

By intentionally eroding the traditional wall of separation between church and state, the current Supreme Court is essentially overturning anti-discrimination laws. Under new rulings in the name of “religious liberty,” the right wing dominated court allows institutions receiving public money

Militarized police against African Americans and Africans as well. There’s a sharp rise in consciousness from the murder of George Floyd witnessed by millions. The many resources in Africa have been a curse for that continent, according to our guest

Is this possibly a time of reckoning? As with all significant change, those in most pain today are once again leading. With Covid 19 further squeezing already low income people, many are in desperation just to survive. America has been

What would make you leave your home and family and friends? And head to a country whose president hates you? Especially in a time of Covid 19, what would possibly motivate you to take this extreme step? In her new

Suffering in silence is no way to manage the crisis in democracy. Union membership may be down but this moment is an opportunity to create new ways for workers to assert the constitutional rights. In his new book, Tell The

Though President Trump openly tests the legal system and seems to flaunt the law, he may still have to answer and be held accountable. Yes, even though he’s made so many judicial appointments. Law professor and former general counsel to

Ever since slave traders insisted the kidnapped people were enthusiastic about coming to America, many big businesses have thrived on lies. Remember doctors saying cigarettes were OK? Industrial Strength Denial is the name of a new book by former environmental

You never heard of the Elaine Race Massacre, right? In Arkansas, in the times after World War One, black people wanted to form a union. That did not sit well with the racist culture. In 1919, a massacre of over

On May 4, 1970, Laurel Krause was just 15 years old. That night in a hospital with her parents she identified her 19-year-old sister Allison’s lifeless body. The bullets that killed Kent State University students Allison, Jeff, Sandy and Bill,

The novel coronavirus is forcing us to see that the very economic structure of America itself is in ill health. We know more poor Americans are dying, they can’t work from home and stay safe. All of us depend on

We’re all fascinated by Cinderella stories. This one happens to be true, with many twists. Extremely rich WASP man marries very poor Jewish immigrant in 1905. But she turns out to be the strong one. The new book by Adam

Pure individualism is not conservatism, much as though people who call themselves conservatives like to think it is. They’ll tell you the American Dream is individuals becoming super rich. But the more traditional definition is one of equal opportunity and

From the Covid stay-at-home greatest hits:  Patriotic Americans were shocked by the outcome of the 2016 election. As they were in 1920 when Republicans put up Warren Harding, a big business Republican who campaigned and won on an America First

When some say African Americans can also be racist, that is not accurate. So says noted sociologist and author Margaret L. Andersen. Individuals can be prejudiced, sure, but racism is linked to a system of power. Since there is no

It’s an amazing story that started well before the Civil War. Conventional wisdom was that African Americans could only progress so far. Their race was believed to hold limits. But through education and some incredible bravery, the two boys James

There’s been no coverage in America of the extended turmoil engulfing France since early December. But it is huge, and it is a major intensification of a worldwide struggle against neoliberal globalism. As Macron’s government and so many others aim

According to our guest historian James Banner, “The first instance of executive branch malfeasance occurred in 1792, during Washington’s first term in office.”  So since instituting a new government designed to be of, by, and for all the citizens, it

It’s more than the similar time of year. According to guest Rabbi Michael Lerner, of Tikkun Magazine and chair of the Network of Spiritual Progressives, both holidays mark times in which people without power successfully took on the powers of

A new executive order by President Trump stamps a radical new definition on the meaning of anti-semitism. Its purpose is to clamp down on freedom of speech. A Chicago area rabbi says her congregants have said “this feels like the

Chinese leadership in Beijing is very insecure. They control many distinct regions of the vast country and what’s going on right now in Hong Kong makes them worry about leakage. Former Hong Kong and China correspondent for BusinessWeek Dave Lindorff

Bolivia’s first indigenous president Evo Morales brought better lives to many of the dispossessed, yet he was recently overthrown. What of the role of the US and Brazil’s right wing leader Bolsonaro? On part one Bolivia scholar Nicole Fabricant explains

We were all startled by Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant frenzy launched in 2015. But there is solid precedent. In an article in The New Yorker, acclaimed author of many history books, Adam Hochschild tells the tale: When America Tried to Deport

It’s not only Trump who is pushing cruelty. Since right wing Republicans have very successfully gained control over the third branch of government, the judicial branch, we should expect to see many examples of cruelty dictating decisions by the Supreme

No question: today’s biggest unsolved problems came at the hands of the so-called centrists of both parties. Historian and author Professor Andrew Bacevich argues that while of course Trump must be removed, the constant focus of impeachment is a way

It’s become “a nearly despotic branch of government.” But wasn’t the Supreme Court created to be a check on the powers of the executive and legislative, making certain they adhere to the Constitution? Author Thom Hartmann is a progressive national

If America’s founders saw where we are today,thy might have thought King George won the war. Instead of democratic control over the common good, a government of by and for the people, today it’s an 18th century style oligarchy. In

President Reagan’s former solicitor general and Harvard law professor Charles Fried calls it a “Day of Sorrow for American Democracy:” the day the US Supreme Court issued its 5 to 4 decision abandoning protection of one person one vote. In

With much of state and federal government in their pockets, the interface between the tech trusts and the infrastructure enables concentration and nearly unimaginable control by the tech giants. As a result they are able to over-charge customers between $40