We don’t even know we’re being kept in the dark. America’s wars are everywhere. With the mainstream news focus on all Trump all the time, major stories affecting us all get virtually no attention. Did you know, for example, that

On the first part, we try to talk with author Dilip Hiro in London about his new article “Donald Trump Offers a Helping Hand to Russia and China,” but the connection most regrettable. If you can bear with the poor

The pervasive myth of kids just needing “grit” and lifting themselves up by their own bootstraps is false and is doing real harm.Our guest today Linda Nathan spent fourteen years as founder and co-headmaster of Boston Arts Academy, Boston’s only

The military brass sees new wars as a way to finally do what we should have done in Vietnam, and that is: Win. Guest on this show is Major Danny Sjursen, a U.S. Army strategist and former history instructor at

Since September 11, American citizens have yearned for safety and security from further attacks. But instead of reducing violence and terrorism, there’s no question our policy has been very effective at sowing chaos everywhere. Our policies actually serve to recruit

Resistance is great but it’s not enough. Since 1971, there has been a very effective anti-democracy movement aimed at replacing it with plutocracy. Trump is but a symptom of this problem so solutions have to be much more than merely

It used to be that everyone in the Midwest knew “FDR is for people like us” and they voted solid Democrat. Not any more. On Part One, conventional wisdom is that Democrats will most likely make gains in congress in

Americas founders intended us to enjoy real power. Yet powers that be have convinced many of us that we are powerless.  From many years of community organizing Gordon Whitman’s new book shares what he’s learned can work to empower average

Russia aims to weaken America. Putin was determined to stop Hillary Clinton who was exceptionally hawkish toward Russia. He found a perfect candidate in Trump. Incredibly enough, a similar story was written as as a political thriller novel by well

What actually works to make us safer? Much of recent military policy has actually worked to strengthen our 21st century enemies. Why is it that the defense industry is so effective at convincing members of both parties that we really

If you are a sixteen year old girl, standing up to the men of the Israeli military is highly risky. You may not have heard of Ahed Tamimi. She is being held in an Israeli jail for slapping an Israeli

Talk about great mysteries: what do you think of when you hear the name Cuba? Cigar chomping communist dictator? People yearning to breathe free and live like Americans? We get one small picture here while the rest of the world

“Just following orders” is no defense. In a democracy we assume that individuals in society will take personal responsibility and disobey immoral commands. But as many experiments have shown, people rarely question orders from authorities. Our guest on this show

Democrats have gone from a state of shock to one of denial. It’s time to face up to what needs to be done to win in 2018. On this show, former Congressman Paul Hodes discusses how we blew it and

While some argue Christmas is really an international religious Christian holiday, that is just not the case. On this show, Burt’s guest is the Reverend Selena Fox, a Wiccan priestess, interfaith minister, Pagan elder, author, and lecturer in the fields

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

Democracy in 18th century America worked fairly easily. Nearly 250 years later, we are the least democratic of all the world’s republics. Right, left, or independent: nearly all Americans feel frustrated that the ability for average citizens to have power

As of Trump’s unilateral declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel, the threat of a wider war is now much greater than with North Korea. So says Patrick Lawrence foreign affairs columnist for salon.com and The

Millennials may think of democracy as something we older people remember. The infamous Supreme Court “Citizens United” decision took legitimate power from the average American and shifted it to big concentrated money. Some Americans have not given up. On the

FDR’s fixes of the 1930s were great for the time: bolstering unions, unemployment insurance, social security, and creation of new jobs rebuilding our infrastructure. Eighty years later, it’s time to adapt the New Deal to the 21st century and create

The notion of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state is more of a myth now. According to our guest Rabbi Lev Baesh, who has a unique resume, it’s not so much of a Jewish state anymore and it has

They’ve been forgotten in the face of so much other news. The millions of Americans of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands are still largely without electricity three months after the hurricanes. They’ve been forgotten. But on November 28th,

The only reason for the Trump “tax reform” bill is that a handful of donors demand it; after all, they invested heavily in Trump and congress expecting a healthy return. But not all in the top five and one percent

You think being an American teenager was challenging, try being a good Muslim on top of it. It’s a tiny minority in our culture. Most Americans know very little about what life is like as a Muslim in our country.

The union was “pinned together with bayonets.” In his new book The Long Road to Antietam, How the Civil War Became a Revolution, Professor Richard Slotkin traces the battle of egos between President Lincoln and his General George McClellan and

What is a nation? Richard Spencer’s “alt-right” looks to Zionism as a model for an exclusionary Aryan homeland in America. The white supremacist says he “turns to Israel for guidance.” Jewish Americans have a long history of inclusiveness. What is

Few moments in history can be seen as pivotal. The anti-war movement took such a turn on October 21, 1967 when at least 100,00 Americans took their protests directly to the war making hub: the Pentagon. What did it mean,

Since when do the people who actually live in a region get to participate in deciding its future? The British always knew best. People in India and all their colonies were not ready yet to govern themselves. And besides England

When big easy money is involved, it’s hard to push back. But that’s exactly what Democrats must do to win future elections. Robert Borosage talks about his current article “Wall Street Has Some Advice for the Democratic party…And Democrats Need

What works to shore up America’s strength in the world: pure military domination or using a Roosevelt idea: The Four Freedoms, including freedom from want? In this 2012 discussion with Roosevelt Institute Senior Fellow David Woolner, then-candidates Obama and Romney