Podcast
The Real, Pre-Christian, Meaning of Christmas
While some argue Christmas is really a religious Christian holiday, that’s just not the case. On this show, Burt’s guest is the Reverend Selena Fox, a Wiccan priestess, interfaith minister, environmentalist, Pagan elder, author, and lecturer in…
The Cliff is Bogus: Let’s Focus on Full Employment
Most economists recognize the “fiscal cliff” as an invented crisis. High unemployment is the real problem, yet where is the political pressure on this? Today’s guest is Robert Pollin, professor of economics at UMAss Amherst and founding co-director of its hgily regarded Political Economy Research Institute (PERI). In his new book Back to Full Employment, Pollin argues our current preoccupation with the fiscal cliff is all wrong, and that our real national security requres a new focus on federal stimulation of job growth. Let’s do what works!
Newtown Monologue/Six Prong Solution for Economy
My intended guest unintendingly created a surprise opportunity for a monologue on the Newtown massacre and what might be done now. Guest Bill Shireman, CEO of Future500, finally reached the radio studio halfway through this show. He proposes a six pron…
To Solve The Fiscal Cliff, Obama Should Channel FDR
Not just the right wing plutocrats, but both parties now focus on cuts to solve the deficit and debt problem.Guest on this show is Roosevelt scholar David Woolner who points out why the opposite is needed: America should spend much more to stimulate de…
Sequestration: What It Should Mean for the Defense Budget
Congress has consistently passed the buck and now, instead of taking responsibility themselves, cuts across the board are threatened. Some, like Defense Secreatary Gates, have blamed entitilements, others, like today’s guest cites out of control spendi…
Lincoln: Great Movie. It is Fiction. Here’s the Truth.
If you see the movie, you owe it to yourself to listen to this interview. Spielberg’s basic premise is false. What is true is that Lincoln’s presidency had a profound effect on the America we now live in, with so much power in the hands of a few corpor…
Jewish Voice for Peace on This Year’s Gaza War
What is the truith behind today’s flare up in Gaza? Many insist that if you criticise the current government of the State of Israel, that makes you anti-Semitic. But many Jews across the world are deeply dismayed by the actions of Prime Minister Netany…
Legal MJ in Colorado and Washington/ Constitutional Rights Under Obama?
Who would have ever thought it would take this long? The states of Washington and Colorado on November 6th voted to legalize recreational use of marijuana. How did it happen, how can the good sense spread? And on the second half hour, the state of our …
Calls for Secession Multiply. Left and Right: Might it be What We Need?
Oppose the concentration and centralization of power and authority. Natural, locally grown foods. End American imperialism and militarism. Sounds like typical left stuff, right? Well, with the re-election of President Obama, there are petititons from m…
Crawling From The Wreckage: What Next for Republicans?
Without a doubt, controversial right wing NH Speaker of the House Bill O’Brien was the Democrats best organizer Democrats could have asked for. Now with the rout behind us, can the sane segments of the Republican Party retake control? Today’s guest is …
The Mighty Israeli Army Threatened by a Pop Song
They say music has charms to soothe the savage beast. Apparently it also has the power to shake and anger the powerful as well. Israeli Defense Forces radio has banned the playing of a new pop song. According to today’s guest, Richard Silverstein, who …
The NH View From One Week Out
Here’s a look at where we stand in the New Hampshire elections. First it’s Rick Fabrizio, managing editor for news at Secoast newspapers, making some incisive observations and predictions. Then, on then on the second half, it’s two candidates for state…
Head of NEA on Education in the Election/Plutocracy Roaring Toward Us
Among the high stakes in the upcoming election is the future of American education. On the first half of this show, national head of the NEA Dennis Van Roekel talks about what’s necessary for our secure economic future and about the two highly divergen…
Two Great Dead Guys Interviewed
First we lost Gore Vidal, then on October 21, it was George McGovern. From the archives of 1981, Burt interviews Gore Vidal at the Ritz-Carlton in Boston during his tour for his book Creation. See if his descritions of ancient days remind you of anythi…
The Politics of Voter Suppression
We need a photo ID to buy liquor or fly on an airplane, so what’s the big deal about needing one to vote? Don’t we need to stop voter fraud? Actually voter ID is a solution in search of a problem, according to Burt’s guest Tova Andrea Wang, author of a…
What’s At Stake In New Hampshire
Martha Fuller Clark was one of those swept out in the tsunami of 2010, but it’s a virtual cwertaiknty she will be back in the state senate soon, albeit in a new district. She’ll explain. There’s a lot at stake in the November 6th election, not just the…
Guernica Plus 75: What We Must Learn
It shook the world when it happened. Picasso created one of the century’s masterpieces from the terror bombing of the Basque town of Guernica 75 years ago. Today, very few remember the significance of the Spanish Civil War and the still-alive issues in…
America’s Chernobyl: It’s in Navajo Country
For most of us the cold war is a bad memory we’d like to forget. But for thousands living in America’s southwest, it’s a toxic nightmare that is there each and every day. On this show, internationally renowned expert on alternative energy technologies …
Parental Paradigm Shift: No Wonder the Right is Afraid
Renowned 21st century feminist author Jessica Velenti says;” The traditional nuclear family is becoming a thing of the past and it’s time for American culture and politics to catch up.” Her new book: Why Have Kids? directly addresses the ongoing d…
Slow Democracy: Is Real Democracy Possible?
What passes for democracy today is more like fast junk food: corporate created, no citizen input, and it’s not very good for us. In her new book, Slow Democracy: Rediscovering Community, Bringing Decision Making Back Home, Burt’s guest Susan Clark and …
What if American Foreign Policy Addressed Freedom From Want?
Franklin Roosevelt understood that our foreign policy required both America’s military strength and a commitment to be a beacon for the developing world. Among his famous Four Freedoms was freedom from want. On this show, David Woolner, Senior Fellow a…
How Antietam Transforms A Conventional War Into Total War
In his new bookThe Long Road to Antietam, How the Civil War Became a Revbolution, Professor Richard Slotkin traces the battle of egos between President Lincoln and his General George McClellan and how that may have been a factor in transforming the war…
Hurtling Toward Election: Obama Getting a Backbone, Republicans Panicking?
Better late than never? Some political observers swear they see the president displayijng a boackbone after all. Today Alternet columnist Steven Rosenfeld talks about this, the Republican strategy of voter suppression, and what they are so deathly afra…
Consciousness and Ethics
There’s an emerging science of conscounsness. Guest on this show is the UK’s Dr. Daniel Bor, author of The Ravenous Brain; How the New Science of Consciousness Explains Our Insatiable Search for Meaning. The discussion asks what consciousness is,…
Mark Green: Democrats Finding Backbone!
While some Democrats excell in risk avoidance, Mark Green, former Public Advocate for New York City and nominee for mayor, argues that “wars are won with Normandys not Dunkirks.” He and former Senator Gary Hart wrote a piece for the Huffington Post and…
The Breathtaking Dishonesty of the Republican Convention
Exaggerating is one thing, but the Republican speakers at the national convention have resorted to breathtaking lies. Most notably delivered by the fresh young smile of VP nominee Paul Ryan. On this show, veteran Democratic politica consultant and stra…
How Privacy In America Went Virtually Extinct in Just A Decade
“Big Brother is becoming America’s new normal.” So says author David Rosen. This show is an examination of just how seriously the new surveillance state has undermined our traditional rights of privacy. The government is working hand in glove with priv…
Latin America Moving Left and Forward
Central and South America in the twentiteth century were regions of US led military coups and repressive ologarchies. But today, in El Salvador for example, in their new democracy the leftist rebels Reagan tried to exterminate are now in power. Through…
Bread and Roses, Too: Less Work, More Jobs, and a Stronger Economy
Ever since Henry Ford, the work pace has been speeding up. Fewer people are working a greater percentage of their lives, and there’s more economic instability and less personal satisfaction. A hundred years ago, women strikers at the Lawrewnce Mills de…
Republicans Unleash Multi-Pronged Attack on Health and Envrionment
It’s policy-making by myth, so who needs reality? According to guest Scott Slesinger, legislative director of the Natural Resources Defense Council, congressional Republicans seriously intend to turn back government to before Upton Sinclair’s “The Jung…