Who is really behind ISIS (or ISIL) and who is actually fighting them? It’s not who you’d expect. In this revealing interview, the co-founder of Gulf State Analytics Giorgio Cafiero  explains what’s really going on in Yemen. And you can’t

It’s been with us since before America’s founding. Now, as more and more of us demand a direction different from rule by the wealthiest few, the word populism is coming back into vogue. As Campaign for America’s Future’s Isaiah Poole

You may not love tax day, but for America’s few billionaires, it’s like Christmas and you are Santa Claus. Billionaire Warren Buffett knows it’s wrong that his secretary pays a much higher share of her income than he does. And

No question, Netanyahu skillfully used American fear tactics and political operatives to win re-election. In this highly informative discussion with Michael Winship, senior writer for Moyers & Company, it’s clear the same divide and conquer techniques used by the American

In the face of many wars, the big powers are trying to steer small nations to create their own version of peace. That was the Congress of Vienna 200 years ago and there’s a lot of deja vu, and still

Generally it seems that people’s eyes glaze over when the subject is the federal budget.  This years it’s different. The Republicans are now in control of both the House and the Senate. Their PR machine is calling it “A balanced

Psychedelics hold enormous potential for understanding the human mind, so why is it kept illegal? A recent study in the Journal of Psychopharmacology notes that some 30 million Americans have tried LSD and other drugs to no ill health effects. On this show former United Church of Christ minister George Zilliac discusses the spiritual benefits of the careful use of LSD and other similar substances.

At the depths of the first world war in 1915, about 1200 women from around the world met at The Hague to try to bring an end to that blood drenched disaster. As they celebrate their centennial, there’s much to learn from the past that remains in today’s news, many crucial topics needing attention.

March 8, 2015 marked the 50th anniversary of the first official ground troops landing in Vietnam. Today it’s like a dark family secret, intentionally disappeared from popular memory. It was erased in part by President Reagan who invaded Grenada to restore American Pride. Today the only lesson the government learned from that war is to keep reporters away and to use drones instead of American “boys.”

It used to be that when the word “Extremist” came up, the John Birch Society was the first thing you’d think of. Claire Conner was raised by two national leaders of the Birch Society. Her new book is “Wrapped in the Flag,” and she is a dedicated fighter for her country, trying desperately to make Americans realize that the John Birch Society is alive and well, and as she puts it, extremely dangerous. More so now than ever because today it’s called the Republican Party.

Every day more than 10,000 people born at the baby boom turn 65. America is not prepared for what today’s guest Ai-Jen Poo calls the “elder boom.” Her just-published book is called The Age of Dignity: Preparing for the Elderly Future in a Changing America.

It’s very difficult and painful to let go of a dream. For many decades, American Jews have based their identity as Jews on the State of Israel. On this show, Alice Rothchild bravely explores the difficulties Jewish Americans are having with the stark realities of so much injustice and racism in the State of Israel.

The corporate polluters want us to just accept our sense of powerlessness. But not only are there real answers, available now, to global climate change, but they can actually be made to happen. Environmental engineer and writer for the Huffington Post, Ellen Moyer on this show offers exceptional insight with realistic solutions. Some of the biggest sources of carbon emissions may surprise you. And we can make them happen, despite moneyed resistance in Washington.

It’s been a huge success now for 80 years. But the right has been attacking Social Security for the last decade. They’re trying to whip up fear among young people that it won’t be there for them. Balderdash.

Most Americans were shocked by high profile police killings of unarmed black men last year. Was it a few bad apples, poor training, or what? On this show, Professor Sam Mitrani discusses what he learned in writing his history book on the subject. Polic…

it was an earthquake in Greece. On January 25th, fed up Greek citizens took a leap into the unknown electing the radical-left Syriza to power to take on the anti-democratic forces of centralized capital. The European financial powers have threatened no…

Though it’s dropped out of the headlines recently, the situation in Ukraine and Russia is remarkably dangerous for the west. And according to our guest, Patrick L Smith, columnist for Salon and a veteran of the International Herald Tribune, most of the…

Teachers today face intense pressure to avoid politically controversial issues in their classrooms. But according to our guest, Diana Hess, author of The Political Classroom: Evidence and Ethics in Democratic Education, the need to do this is great. Am…

How and when the media got put on a short corporate leash? When we had an activist FCC, it was understood that the airwaves were being leased from the public and that the public had to be served. How far we have come.
On today’s show, guest is V…

There is a widely recognized crisis in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education. There is a huge demand for such educated kids but a very low supply. And it’s also now known that if schools don’t grab kids interest in K-2, it probabl…

It’s about power: not just generation of electricity. The story of nuclear power is one of citizen power: big money and tremendous political power one one side and average citizens organizing at the local level on the other. And guess what; despite the…

Potential presidential candidate VT Senator Bernie Sanders talks about his just released 12 point Economic Agenda for America. He believes Americans are at last hungry for real solutions to our challenges. People need work, and there is a lot of work t…

As the first president Bush exclaimed after the first Gulf War, “By God, we’ve kicked the Vietnam Syndrome once and for all.” Powerful political forces remain determined that we never learn any lessons from America’s disastrous …

Prisons are a very old concept and it’s time to ask: Do they still work? Do they accomplish the goals for which they were created? What can we do with dangerous people if we do away with prisons, how can we protect society? Maya Schenwar is guest on th…

 After any defeat, it’s an important opportunity to listen and learn any lessons. Most of the Democratic losses in the 2014 election were among Blue Dog, “centrist” Democrats. On part one of today’s show, Elias Isquith of Salon argues that it is E…

Peter Van Buren spent 24 years at the State Department and a year in Iraq. He has great knowledge of the players in the region, and on this show we focus on what’s possible in the new war against ISIS. There are not a lot of options at this point, and …

No doubt you’ve seen the current near-worship of all things military. All men and women in the military are called heroes. But what does that really do? On this show, Will Hopkins, who was decorated for valor in Fallujah 2004 and now serves as executiv…

Remember the boisterous chants of “We’re Number 1!” and “USA! USA” when Osama binLaden was taken out? Exceptionalism is beyond mere national pride, it is an insistence that we are above the normal rules and that we are God’s gift to the world. Of cours…

But will congress give it to them? FBI Director James Comey recently went to congress asking to change the law to enable them to get a back-door access to our cell phone and computer communications data. But according to guest Jake Laperruque, Fellow o…

There have been many clampdowns on free speech in America lately, a sudden radical and highly disturbing new trend has emerged. If you dare to criticize Israeli policies, watch out for your job. Today’s guest Allan Brownfeld of the American Council for…