Could Trump get something right? Retired US Army officer and prolific writer of military policy analysis Danny Sjursen compares how the brass In Washington sees Afghanistan versus the  empirical knowledge from people on the ground. The commanders see Afghanistan as

Melting polar ice caps is great for the rapacious oil and gas industry. Trump denying climate change and wanting to buy Greenland is actually part of the logic of what drives our military policy. Our guest on this show journalist

Trump is not the first. Author of many history books Adam Hochschild writes: “The last time we had anything similar from Washington was almost exactly 100 years ago and it, too, involved a flood of angry rhetoric and a fear

It’s a long and oscillating history: America welcoming immigrants and telling them to go home. As Washington Post senior editor Marc Fisher explains, it didn’t start with Trump: “there’s a long history of rejecting “different” Americans:” Eastern European, Irish, German,

If we criticize Trump, we don’t love America. If we learn history, we are disloyal. You know that’s what a lot of people on the right (in larger numbers than we’d imagined) are claiming. But what is Patriotism? Does the

“For the first time in the history of our country, the government has brought criminal charges against a publisher for the publication of truthful information.” The ACLU clearly recognizes the serious new threat to our First Amendment in the form

Leaving jugs of water in the desert for desperate migrants can be a crime.  The Border Patrol regularly hunts for them to stab and drain. Thousands of people have already died in the vast desert trying to escape violence in

Racism was certainly more honest and open a hundred years ago. Today’s voter suppression is far more subtle than blatant Jim Crow laws. But in terms of attitudes on immigration, surprisingly little has changed. On this show Author Arnold Skip

Under Trump, only white Christian people should be considered citizens. Karen J. Greenberg, Director of National Security at Fordham Law School, argues in this discussion that expanding the definition of enemies moves us toward unraveling society. By taking away citizenship

If you thought something was fishy about what we’re being told about Venezuela you were right. The scene of blocked humanitarian aid at the bridge? Well the bridge has never opened. Our guest Alliance for Global Justice’s Chuck Kaufman goes

Unions are making a comeback. The Flight Attendants scared the heck out of the Trumpists, teachers’ strikes enjoy broad public support. Historian Colin Gordon examines the trends and find that, after years of attacks, the direction of labor unions is

What’s the point? Trump’s policies on immigration and refugees rely on  blatant cruelty and they accomplish nothing. According to researcher and author Arnold Isaacs, who has written widely on refugee and immigration issues, Trump’s policies hurt people instead of fixing

Had Obama announced pull back of troops from Syria and Afghanistan, our guest Major Danny Sjursen says there’d probably be a ticker tape parade. But because of our reactive hatred for all things Trump, a bizarre thing happened: Democrats opposed

Of course Trump’s wall is useless. If we want to stem the flow of refugees from Central America, and stop wasting billions of tax dollars, a new Marshall Plan is needed. What motivates Central Americans to make the thousand mile

This is not your father’s Republican Party. Conservatism has been left behind, replaced by the politics of cruelty. The common good is no longer a concern; Trumpism has openly enshrined greed, and the old checks and balances of democracy as

It’s a uniquely powerful new tool: undermining peoples psychological ability to know and accept reality. In his new book: State of Confusion; Political Manipulation and the Assault on the American Mind, nationally renowned clinical psychologist and author Bryant Welch answers

Conventional Democratic Party wisdom is that McGovern lost to Nixon because he was too liberal, and as a result of that belief, ever since that loss party insiders have trended steadily to the right. But if today’s measuring tools had

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:

It’s right there for us to learn from. Not facing history has terrible consequences. With the rise of right wing authoritarian Trumpism in America the long dead Spanish dictator Franco is being reborn. As Spanish political history professor at Oberlin,

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

Who is in the caravan and why don’t they stay in Central America and try to make it better? Because those who do often end up dead. Journalist Peter Tinti reports that in Honduras “Corruption is the operating system and

On part one, veteran sports writer Robert Lipsyte shares his valuable and unique insights into the Kavanaugh/Trump “frat boys win” dynamic. The power of the pack: it’s there on sports teams, gangs, and nationalism. And on part two, writer Teri

You are hardly alone. Millions of Americans have been going though PESD since November 2016: Post Election Stress Disorder. It’s been a banner business time for psychotherapists. Some wake up with what they call a morning fright. Others have found

Ask today and everyone will tell you the American Dream is individuals becoming super rich. But the more traditional definition was one of equal opportunity and justice for all. Americans shared a belief in the social contract and a sense

The shooting in the first world war finally ended 100 years ago November 11. But did the war ever really end? Was anything resolved? So much of today’s world, from the mess of the Middle East to the power of

With his open appreciation of violent white nationalists, his insistence that he is above laws, his admiration for dictators, Trump has long embraced the rhetoric of fascism. But with his new attacks on the Justice Department for indicting his special

“Critics see Trump as an abomination, but he is also one of us.” So says Andrew Bacevich scholar and author of the forthcoming book “Twilight of the American Century.” He explains in this podcast that Trump is one of a

America First is leading quickly to America being left out. Even Republican internationalists are gone from the stage. The current administration is making a steady and sustained war on diplomacy and is now standing outside the tent. On this show,

NATO was created to defend the west against the Soviet Union. According to John Feffer, of Foreign Policy in Focus, the west missed a rare “golden opportunity” in 1991 to shift away from wasteful militarism in search of a new

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