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

Poetry. Music. That’s how legal scholar and author Burt Neuborne describes it in his new book: Madison’s Music: On Reading the First Amendment. It’s only been secure since the 1950s, he points out. And when people pick it apart in

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

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.

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 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…

Preserving democracy is even more important than ice cream. On this show, Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben and Jerry’s, talks about his new effort to literally stamp money out of politics. As he describes, the Stamp Stampede is a campaign to stamp messages…

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…

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…

What happened? With the Republicans now in the driver’s seat, does this actually improve chances for Democrats in 2016? Or might that just be sour grapes talk? Guest on this discussion of New Hampshire and the nation is Republican political consultant …

On election day 2014 The Burt Cohen Show examinest the intent of America’s founders. The far right has too often gotten away with claiming the mantle of the values of America’s founders. Even Glenn Beck has stolen the title of Thomas Paine’s 1776 pamph…

Do you oppose the concentration and centralization of power and authority? Prefer natural, locally grown foods. Want top end American imperialism and militarism? Sounds like typical left stuff, right? Today there are petitions from more than 30 states …

Thomas Jefferson said: “An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people.” Maybe that’s exactly why some authoritarian political interests try to ban many books. The last week of September is the annual Banned Books Week an…

Brushed aside for decades, a recent conference of scientists focused on the potential uses of LSD and other psychedelics. On this show, guest Randolph Hencken of Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies talks about Psychedelic Science for …

Though American history is full of left-leaning populist movements, for the last few years, the only populism has been on the far right. That may be changing, so argues Elias Isquith, assistant editor at Salon.com.

Buying food at the supermarket is like flicking the switch to turn on the power: we don’t see it but it has a lot of impact on the environment, and on human health. Guest on this show is Danielle Nierenberg, co-founder of a new think tank called Foodta…