Keeping Democracy Alive with Burt Cohen

Keeping Democracy Alive with Burt Cohen

By Burt CohenSociety & CultureNewsPolitics
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Keeping Democracy Alive with Burt Cohen episodes

  • Real Democracy and Infertility
    We value the right to control our bodies. But is there really reproductive fairness and justice if those who want to be a parent face unchosen infertility and are denied access and face social stigma?  The new book is called Infertilties: a Curation, and our guest is co-curator Maria Novotny. It’s an important issue often ignored.
    1 hr
  • More Democracy Can Prevent Climate Collapse of Civilization
    Phoenix may not last another 25 years. Whole countries will collapse. The issue is elite control, and that was why earlier civilizations: Chaco canyon, the Mayan culture, and Viking Greenland collapsed; average people had no say. On this show Professor Michael Klare opines that collapse may be inevitable, but maybe not. More democracy is required.
    58 min
  • Happy Birthday Henry?
    One hundred years old and what’s Henry Kissinger got to show for it? Well, he’s a free man because the US never joined the International Criminal Court. Though he wouldn’t want to travel to the many nations that can prosecute him for war crimes. On this show, Rebecca Gordon of the University of San Francisco, not only reminds a young generation of his legacy in places throughout the globe, but points out that today’s executive disregard for congressional restrictions are a continuing legacy.
    1 hr 1 min
  • 2023: A Turning Point for Israel/Palestine?
    It’s been an exceptionally long and bloody stalemate. And with the far right anti-democracy government of Netanyahu turning its wrath on Jewish Israelis, and opinion in the US and the world showing real shift, our guest Mitchell Plitnick of ReThinking Foreign Policy cites reasons why 2023 stands to be a turning point at last.
    1 hr
  • Is Education Quantifiable?
    Is command and control from the top down bureaucrats the best method for teaching kids? How about critical thinking skills? Much of the best results of public education come from democratizing schools, welcoming input from those who best know what they’re doing. On this show author Josh Beach discusses his new books: Can We Measure What Matters Most, Why Educational Accountability Metrics Lower Student Learning and Demoralize Teachers, and The Myths of Measurement and Meritocracy Why Accountability Metrics in Higher Education are Unfair and Increase Inequality. He says for the best education, teachers need flexibility. It’s another case where more democracy yields better decisions.
    1 hr
  • US Powers Split on China Policy
    The Republicans in power are set against themselves: on one hand there’s the revved up old Cold Warriors targeting China. On the other hand there’s the strength of the big business powers who see their futures tied to China. On this show economist Richard D Wolff looks at what this means politically and for the developing world
    59 min
  • Get Back to America’s Founding Ideals? No; Leave the Standard Story Behind
    This book changed my view of US History. He posits that the standard story is not the truth: The surprising reality of America’s founding shows we were created for insider rule, a stable hierarchy but not justice. On this show UPenn Law School professor Kermit  Roosevelt III discusses his eye opening book The Nation That Never Was in which he argues  the Gettysburg Address was the pivotal moment and should be the basis for how we move forward. He says the Confederates and the January 6th are the inheritors of the original intent; to move forward to the nation we can become, it’s really time to leave that behind.
    58 min
  • Blaming Caregivers When It’s the System
    Overwork, uniquely stressful conditions, patients suffering.  Blaming individual caregivers with personal failures results in fewer and fewer professionals when the need by boomers is growing exponentially. On this show, David Schenck author of two previous books on ethics and healing in healthcare, 25 year hospice volunteer tells about his new book Into the Field of Suffering: Finding the Other Side of Burnout. He says the national Covid experience actually offered a clarified, quite useful perspective on  needed systemic change.
    58 min
  • War Policy: Keeping the Fog on Our Windshield
    If it was only about achieving national security! But our foreign policy is like driving while self-blinded and that undermines both stability and democracy. Our decades old War on Terror only damages America; real national security is weakened. The damage may be secret from us but not from the world. On this show author Norman Solomon talks about his new book War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of its Military Machine.
    59 min
  • Time to End Family Court?
    Imagine being a judge and having a mandate to break up families! Today’s guest, noted children and family lawyer Jane Spinak talks about her new book The End of Family Court: How Abolishing the Court Brings Justice to Children and Families.  Instead of routinely blaming families labeling kids, a great deal of money can be saved and children and families far better served by implementing community based solutions. Give a listen, it is hopeful.
    1 hr 1 min

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