How big do you think Pakistan is? Would you guess over 200 million people? It’s a  nuclear armed power, deeply in debt, with a few rich powers and the military in control. On this show Murtaza Hussain fills in what we Americans don’t know and why it matters.

 

The Trumpist right today has had no small success erasing the productive history of liberalism. Today’s guest is author, lecturer, and journalist for The Washington Monthly David Masciotra who in this show talks about the renewed interest in Ted Kennedy, the liberal lion of the senate, as shown in two new books. Today we all benefit from his accomplishments. A leader for the future?

Though most of us never see it, instead of doing ethical justice, there’s a whole factory system routinely, intentionally turning injustice into revenue. On this show law professor, lawyer, and advocate for impoverished children and adults author Daniel Hatcher describes his new book Injustice, Inc.

Children have fewer filters: when they see and experience injustice they’re not scared  to draw pictures of the truth. In her new book Drawing Deportation Art and Resistance among Immigrant Children author Silvia Rodriguez Vega tells of the human creativity and agency of immigrant children today.

Is the US is merely a procedural, but not a substantive democracy? On part one, Franklin and Marshall history professor Van Gosse asks: what are the factors why we lack more actual democracy? And on part two, The Nation’s national affairs correspondent John Nichols answers questions a lot of KDA listeners have been asking: Who is this Ruben Gallego, taking on Kyrsten Sinema? You’ll be glad you listened in to this double topic discussion.

Private Security Firms; just part of doing business, right? Blackwater was America’s version in Iraq; The Wagner Group is Russia’s today in Ukraine and Africa. Atrocities in the Donbass region of Ukraine? Russia cynically said, that’s not us, it’s “little green men.” History Professor Emeritus Dr. Lawrence Wittner on this show reveals the major role of mercenaries, soldiers of fortune in the pay of Russian oligarchs. And they boost their great wages with wholesale looting. The United Nations is not doing it’s job.

All refugees lives are threatened equally, so why are Ukrainians handed the welcome mat as it is denied to most others? On this show, Columbia University Professor and co-author Helen Benedict shares what she’s found in the new book Map of Hope and Sorrow. It seems that yet again, there is discrimination against those deemed “the other.” Even those who save people from drowning are criminalized. But we are not powerless. Listen in.

Despite the obvious divides, both sides in today’s fierce split may actually share a lot in common and can be pulled together for a better America by something traditional called Civic Republicanism. On this show, Washington Monthly Editor in Chief Paul Glastris spells it out, explaining that it has worked remarkably well in the past and holds great promise for our future.

Suddenly in 2023, the aspiration of  being the only democracy in the middle east is unraveling itself from within. With its turn to the far right, antidemocratic political Zionism is overpowering traditional spiritual and cultural Zionism. On this show, The ArabAmerican Institute’s James Zogby talks about this moment and what it may mean for a shift in public opinion.

In her CounterPunch essay, Medea Benjamin co-founder of CodePink writes of surprisingly good things that happened in 2022. On this show, she cites many genuinely positive developments and some hopeful wake-up calls. Give a listen!