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

  • The Supply Chain Debacle Explained
    The break in the supply chain feels sudden but it’s been building  for some 50 years. And our guest American Prospect Executive Editor David Dayen explains in an special edition of the magazine: “None of the private players involved have any incentive to fix it.” And he points out that “No engineer would construct a supply chain with this many vulnerabilities, with this little resiliency.” It’s about concentration of power to the top who have made more money in 2021 than in the prior ten years. Of course there is price gouging. We need a return to stakeholder capitalism: workers, communities, the environment. Biden is taking the instant blame, of course, but in fact he is taking steps to rebuild an industrial base. And government has to step in for there to be any hope. There is evidence that it is starting to be addressed.
    59 min
  • How The Kennedys Came to Be Dynasty
    As with many success stories, an impoverished, unknown yet powerful woman made it happen. In his new book, The First Kennedys, The Humble Roots of an American Dynasty author Neal Thompson tells us about the Ireland they fled and the matriarch Bridget Murphy, and her dockworker son who became a political organizer in Boston, among others. The anti-immigrant fervor of their time served as a playbook for today’s nativist hatred of non-Protestant arrivals. There are good reasons Americans are still fascinated and connected with this family.
    58 min
  • Courageous Movement for Change That Works
    Breaking the mold of powerlessness happens, in the US Senate and in our neighborhoods. On the first segment Political Science professor and author Ron Feinman points to six little known US Senators who courageously stood up against war and injustice. And on the second part, Oregon’s Jan Spencer highlights changes at the local level. Facing down the pervasive isolation of unfettered capitalism, a permaculture is sprouting as a universal language, breaking barriers. Bringing diverse people together
    1 hr
  • The Last Colony: Western Sahara
    When Iraq invaded Kuwait, we went to war. With Russia massing at the Ukraine border, we threaten war. But when the repressive kingdom of Morocco claims possession of another distinct nation, silence from the US. The rest of the world recognizes Western Sahara but after Trump recognized Morocco as sovereign, now Biden carries that on. On this show, author Stephen Zunes says a comparison with the Palestinian struggle is entirely apt. But world pressure is mounting, because hypocrisy is not an ideal policy.
    1 hr
  • Shortlisted for Supreme Court: Like Police Interrogation
    One might think it was purely an honor, but it can be brutal. Especially for women. Sexism may generally be more subtle now, but not always. In this discussion of her new book, Shortlisted: Women in the Shadows of the Supreme Court, co-author Hannah Brenner Johnson reveals virtually unknown history of women nominees. Including what Nixon really said about his pretend nominee. Herbert Hoover’s choice was destroyed by a whisper campaign about her sexual orientation. It goes on. RBG changed the discussion and Biden’s nominee will certainly move the needle of continuing racism and sexism.
    1 hr
  • Ukraine: A Conservative Take
    Both establishment parties are competing to be toughest on the Ukraine crisis. But the fact is America’s founders were solidly non-interventionist. Our constant search for new monsters to destroy; where has that gotten us? More peace and justice? Our republic and democracy better preserved? On this show Jacob Hornberger, president of the Future of Freedom Foundation argues that as the power of the national security state grows, Americans lose more of our rights and liberties. And we are demonstrably less secure. This moment is, he argues, a time for introspection.
    1 hr
  • New Cold War Same as the Old One
    A dangerous addiction to war is a result of what our guest retired Lt Col. William Astore calls victory disease. He actually served at the nuclear trigger under 2000 feet of granite. Reagan fired up the desire for conquest, but what the real “new morning in America” we need now is to be a normal country in normal times. Astore worries that our re-awakened cold war attitude is a serious threat to democracy at home. Peace is a frightening threat to the military-industrial-congressional complex. And for those who think peace is only for dreamy liberals, remember Trump’s 2016 message of ending foreign entanglements resonated for a win.
    1 hr
  • The State of Israel vs The Jews
    In walling out Palestinians, the State of Israel has walled in themselves. Former Zionist Israeli Defense Forces paratrooper Sylvain Cypel speaks to us from Paris about his evolution.  As a Jewish Frenchman, he says how that country’s experience with Algeria gave him insight into Israel and the Palestinians. Perhaps most troubling is the move from denial that crimes occurred in Israeli history to defense of those crimes. And Israelis now say the link with American Jews is over, it’s only the far right that matters. A very troubling shift.
    59 min
  • A Successful Coup in 1944 America
    There used to be a long held American tradition of opposition to colonialism and that government served the common good. FDR’s vice president Henry A Wallace was an outstanding visionary. Then a corrupt political machine performed a bloodless coup at the 1944 Democratic convention. Though he had the votes to9 win, just as his name was to be placed in nomination, the gavel was slammed down and the convention instantly adjourned despite a huge outcry from the floor. Had Wallace remained as VP, he would have become president instead of Truman. Today American University History Professor Peter Kuznick explains the incredible significance of this little known act. There would have been no atomic bombs dropped and no Vietnam War, had Wallace’s name simply been placed in nomination. The difference was about nine seconds. Listen in and learn.
    1 hr
  • Why Americans Buy So Much Stuff.
    A consumers republic was born at the end of the second world war. And though it was genuinely intended to be a tide lifting all boats, it has increased economic inequality and created isolation where public space once was central. On this show Harvard history professor and author Lizabeth Cohen talks about her book on the undermining of the public sector and the politics of mass consumption. The Consumers Republic came from top down, now she says change must come from the bottom up.
    1 hr

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