At its birth, American populism was about economic fairness: The average citizen demanding power over his or her own life against the un-American economic royalist political influence of the rich and powerful. But that was then. Populism today is cultural:

In an unprecedented power grab, Republicans in Wisconsin are doing all they can while they still have the power to shut out democracy itself. On part one, The Progressive’s Ruth Conniff in Wisconsin describes the brazen moves by the lame

Antiglobalism. The little guy not feeling heard. City sophisticates and their culture mistrusted by country people. A pretend anti-elite which actually caters to the powerful elites. Intense hatred of the press. Big business targeting the regulatory system. An out of

He’s spoken openly about his concern for justice for Palestinians. As Jeremy Corbyn is continuing to rise as he leads the traditional left Labour Party of the United Kingdom, his detractors are working feverishly to discredit him as an anti-Semite.

When big gets too big, free market capitalism is stifled. The increased concentration of power and wealth undercuts economic freedom. The socialism of FDR’s New Deal very much helped capitalism become more competitive. A big, though lesser known, aspect of

Much like the toxic combination of angry racist populism with the power of the financial elite here in America, the European Union has been a brake on this dangerous combination in England. Today the British Right’s push for the UK

It may be out in the open now, and it is disconcerting to see and feel the blatant racism and hatred across America now. But maybe the ugly spirit of white supremacy may have been hidden from white people before 

The party establishment doesn’t understand that chasing the “centrist” rabbit down the rabbit hole makes no sense anymore. The rabbit isn’t there. That according to Robert Borosage who created the Campaign for America’s Future among other organizations. The focus of

What’s the way to win in 2018? More of the same or real change? The structure of the Democratic Party itself is being tested in Texas. The Washington insiders have come down to make their picks,but what about the actual

It was a successful popular movement for empowerment. And it was a close call: the parliamentary leader tried to declare himself prime minister, Armenians took to the streets in creative, even artistic, civil disobedience on a mass scale. They successfully

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

Author of the acclaimed “What’s The Matter with Kansas?” Thomas C Frank discusses the outlook for Democrats in 2018. he says that clearly some in the elite would rather lose than change. On one hand he points out that establishment

And you thought the first NAFTA was bad. Trump’s new version puts the globalist corporations squarely in the drivers seat, never mind local or state laws. Food labeling? Forget about it. The crucial work that bees perform? Again forget about

Is truth still the first casualty of politics? Not in the UK, where Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn stunned PM Teresa May. He dared to tell the truth; authenticity works. So says Marc Weisbrot of the Economic and Policy Research Center. And

How much did the election of Trump turn French voters away from the right wing populist Marine LePen in the May 7th election? To what degree is her party, the National Front, still racist? What is the danger of normalizing

The Democratic nominee was the very antithesis of populism; with her hand out to big money interests seeming to ignore everyday people. So we got Trump. In an article written by internationally recognized historian Alfred McCoy has written about The

“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

“Voting third party helps those you despise.” So argues Raymond Buckley, who recently ran for chair of the Democratic National Committee. The fact that the race was high in the news demonstrates the beginning success for necessary changes in the

Liberals 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 message, stoking the public’s fear of immigrants

We’re all familiar with 1776. But before the actual separation from England, there was revolution across the land. The spirit of 1774 was focused on class-blind democracy and a lot of what happened then, with powerful actions from the grassroots

” They didn’t call it fascism. They painted it red, white, and blue, and called it Americanism.” That’s from a 1942 movie with Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy called Keeper of the Flame, which imagines a full fledged homegrown American

Sometimes citizens must break the law to uphold the law. History shows that sometimes patriotic resisting requires taking personal risks. But how to determine which risks are worth it and will yield the results we want? For a long time,

They were real conservatives. They worried that our republican form of government was at grave risk if America joined the first world war over there. Michael Kazin’s timely new book is “War Against War: The American Fight for Peace 1914-1918.”

Over 3,000 prominent scientists, musicians, religious leaders, intellectuals, artists, actors, and others signed on to a full page ad in the January 4 New York Times, with the bold letters, “NO! In the name of humanity, we REFUSE to accept

People are asking: what can we do to fight the new authoritarianism? Our guest argues: “People  power need not be confined to a chant.” Keeping decision making close to home is something both right and left can agree on; municipalization

Most of us thought Right to Work was a 20th century scheme to destroy collective bargaining rights. According to Cedric DeLeon, author of The Origins of Right To Work: AntiLabor Democracy in 19th Century Chicago, it started out as a

With the election of Donald Trump, there’s talk of secession in California. But have we ever really been one nation? Certainly not.  Colin Woodard, author of the acclaimed book “American Nations,” reveals a history of eleven rival regional nations and

It was a disastrous day for Democrats. Senior strategist and media advisor to the Bernie Sanders Campaign Mark Longabaugh (remember that great “America” ad?)talks about opportunities ahead for traditional liberal Democrats. He argues Trump’s victory was less about hate and

From the Dadaists through Abbie Hoffman to today, the art of transforming everyday life into theater, challenging and befuddling unjust authority, has unique power to make real change. The unique new book is Tactical Performance: The Theory and Practice of

We’ve already seen the propensity of the angry, pumped up Trumpist mobs to violence. In his final debate performance, Donald Trump warned that his supporters might not abide by the results. Would the defeat of Trump be the end of