It's the Democracy, Stupid Featured Interviews

Edwin Eisendrath is joined by Tom Bonier, CEO of the TARA Group, and senior adviser for Target Smart, a Democratic political data and data services firm.

Catch “The Big Picture with Edwin Eisendrath” Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/the-big-picture).   

And find “The Big Picture (Full Episodes)” podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Amazon and TuneIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Edwin Eisendrath is joined by Bobby Kogan, senior director of federal budget policy at the Center for American Progress. 

Catch “The Big Picture with Edwin Eisendrath” Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/the-big-picture).   

And find “The Big Picture (Full Episodes)” podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Amazon and TuneIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Edwin Eisendrath is joined by Amanda Zurawski, reproductive rights activist who was the lead plaintiff in the landmark Zurawski v. State of Texas case. Amanda was denied abortion care after she experienced preterm pre-labor rupture of membranes (PPROM) at 18 weeks of pregnancy. Because doctors could still detect the baby's heartbeat, they could not perform an abortion or provide care until Amanda's life was considered “at risk.” After three days of waiting, Amanda went into septic shock and nearly died. Amanda spent three days in the ICU, and ultimately lost one of her fallopian tubes, compromising her ability to carry another pregnancy.

She spoke to WCPT ahead of the Our Voices, Our Stories, Our Future: Free & Just Storyteller Summit three-day summit, June 22-24, that coincides with the three-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Catch “The Big Picture with Edwin Eisendrath” Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/the-big-picture).   

And find “The Big Picture (Full Episodes)” podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Amazon and TuneIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Edwin Eisendrath is joined by Nancy MacLean, professor of History and Public Policy at Duke University.

Catch “The Big Picture with Edwin Eisendrath” Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/the-big-picture).   

And find “The Big Picture (Full Episodes)” podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Amazon and TuneIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Edwin Eisendrath is joined by Congressman Mike Quigley (D-IL), who has represented the 5th District since 2009. 

Catch “The Big Picture with Edwin Eisendrath” Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/the-big-picture).   

And find “The Big Picture (Full Episodes)” podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Amazon and TuneIn. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Edwin Eisendrath is joined by Seth Cotlar, professor of history at Willamette University.

He discussed the historical and contemporary dynamics of the right-wing political movement, highlighting the persistent conspiracy theories and alternative realities that have animated the right, dating back to figures like Sen. Joe McCarthy and lawyer Roy Cohn.

Cotlar talked about the intertwined threads of anti-communism, racism, hostility towards government, and corporate privilege in right-wing ideologies and how Donald Trump has affected, exploited and altered these dynamics.

Cotlar told WCPT: "I think Donald Trump has had a significant impact on the way millions of Americans view their fellow citizens and view the world. And he didn't turn people into people who they weren't already, potentially, but he kind of gave people permission to be their worst selves. It's this permission structure that the American right has created to perpetuate various forms of hatred and to tell themselves that they're not actually reproducing it and recreating it and solidifying it. They're just going along with it, they might tell themselves. . . . And it's been a very long process of reproducing these bigotries, resentments and so on. And what Donald Trump has done is he's taken all these cultural dynamics and just fed them into this institution that has tremendous power, weight in our society, our culture and our politics, which is the Republican Party." 

Catch “The Big Picture with Edwin Eisendrath” Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/the-big-picture).   

And find “The Big Picture (Full Episodes)” podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Amazon and TuneIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Edwin Eisendrath is joined by Ashton Pittman of the Mississippi Free Press. 

He discussed a story about Kasper Eriksen, a Danish immigrant arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) due to a 2015 paperwork error. Ericksen, who has lived in Mississippi for well over a decade, has four children and another on the way. The story highlights the broader issue of ICE targeting immigrants for clerical errors, including those who are law-abiding and contribute to their communities. Pittman emphasized the importance of local journalism in humanizing political issues and bridging community divides, noting the press's role in reflecting national trends and challenges.

Catch “The Big Picture with Edwin Eisendrath” Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/the-big-picture).   

And find “The Big Picture (Full Episodes)” podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Amazon and TuneIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Edwin is joined by Colette Holt, founder, Colette Holt & Associates. 

She discussed the Trump administration's assault on the rule of law, citing examples like Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem's ignorance of habeas corpus and President Donald Trump's claim to be the sole arbiter of the law. She highlighted the administration's use of racial animosity, referencing Trump's history with the Central Park Five and his treatment of refugees as president. Holt also expressed concern about the Trump administration's erosion of civil rights, the undermining of the judiciary, and the potential for Trump to ignore court rulings. 

Catch “The Big Picture with Edwin Eisendrath” Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/the-big-picture).   

And find “The Big Picture (Full Episodes)” podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Amazon and TuneIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Edwin Eisendrath is joined by Illinois Congressman Sean Casten, who discussed the GOP's budget bill that narrowly passed the House last week. Casten voted with all Democrats to oppose its passage. 

"It's a heartbreaking moment for America," he told WCPT. "Now, obviously, the Senate still has to pass this, and if your listeners are concerned, it's time to light up the phone calls, particularly Republican senators. But if this bill becomes law, it's a complete decimation of everything that we have come to rely on as Americans."

Casten said the legislation, as passed in the House, would authorize "the biggest-ever cut in food assistance in America, the biggest-ever cut in health insurance in America, and the biggest-ever tax cut for billionaires in America. How do you go home, look your kids in the eye and say, 'Thanks to me, kids are going to starve and Elon Musk will be richer'? Because at the end of the day, that's the trade. And that's even before getting to the horrible things that this will do to raise energy costs, to hurt our environment. I don't have a better word for this than 'mean.'"

Noting that the bill is projected to add about $3.5 trillion to the federal deficit over the next 10 years, Casten said the dollar amount is "probably 5 trillion-plus, after it drives up all the interest costs."

The four-term Southwest suburban Democrat criticized House Republicans for "not right now going out and honestly representing what they did" by voting to approve the bill.

"What we have right now is those voices that have historically been very strong in our society controlling the levers of power. They are not nice people. They are not democratic people. They don't support the rule of law. They don't support equality. They are at odds with all of the principles on which we tell ourselves that our country was based," Casten said, citing "a whole host of problems with campaign finance and gerrymandering" that have contributed to the problem.

He pointed out, though, that the U.S. Senate, with its statewide representation, is "ungerrymanderable." In the House, Casten has introduced a package of legislation that would, among other reforms, expand the U.S. Senate to include 12 nationally elected members. These new senators would, he told Eisendrath, "have to respond to public will. That would be the first time, in 250 years, that that would ever happen in the Senate." 

Catch “The Big Picture with Edwin Eisendrath” Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/the-big-picture).   

And find “The Big Picture (Full Episodes)” podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Amazon and TuneIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Edwin Eisendrath is joined by Amanda Macotte, senior politics writer at Salon.com. She discussed her new YouTube series "Standing Room Only" and her recent deep dive into the Christian prayer app Hallow, which features celebrities like Chris Pratt and Mark Wahlberg. Marcotte criticized the app's conservative Catholic content, including a course called "The Feminine Genius" that promotes "this notion that women are uniquely made to be submissive, giving . . . basically that women were meant to be the support system of men, especially, but also families, communities -- just traditional sexist gender stuff," she told WCPT.

Marcotte revealed that she is "really worried" that "this Biden age situation and the coverup of it," as reported in the recent book "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again," is "going to continue to haunt the party. And you can yell at journalists until you're blue in the face, it's not going to change anything, because it's going to just be like catnip to journalists to ask Democratic politicians, especially those who want to run for president, about the coverup of Biden's age-related decline. And if people can't just answer the question in an honest way, they're going to end up reinforcing these already negative stereotypes that Democrats are just a bunch of consultant creatures that never, ever speak from the heart or never, ever tell you the truth." 

Marcotte also addressed the Trump administration's adoption of white nationalist conspiracy theories, particularly the myth of white genocide in South Africa.

Catch “The Big Picture with Edwin Eisendrath” Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/the-big-picture).

And find “The Big Picture (Full Episodes)” podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Amazon and TuneIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.