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 UK’s Jeremy Corbyn: What Now?
    Smeared and driven from leadership of the British Labour Party. Relentlessly attacked by the uniquely powerful British tabloid media, our guest today Matt Sarb-Cousin argues there’s never been a leader like Jeremy Corbyn. Except perhaps America’s own Bernie Sanders. Trump friend Conservative Boris Johnson defeated him in the 2019 election based on their exploitation of economic anxieties. Support for and against Brexit broke down on non-traditional lines. Corbyn supported Brexit to ease harsh austerity measures and now supports a re-vote. Today’s Labour Party is taken over by the Blairite Wing, with the appeal of being more competent managers of the status quo. Though the charge of anti-semitism was painted onto Corbyn, he spoke out against the one percent of Labourites whom it fit. Corbyn continues to stand for transformation to a more equitable, non-imperialist England. He’s not done yet.
    59 min
  • Brothers from Another Mother: Trump and Kaiser Wilhelm II
    The similarities are uncanny and deeply disturbing: Kaiser Wilhelm II and Donald Trump share an amazing number of attributes. Such as fascination with and envy of more powerful people, the need to belittle other heads of state, believing themselves physically irresistible, desperately needing flattery, living in fantasy worlds, and dismissing reality. According to our guest author of 2010’s The Three Emperors: George, Nicholas, and Wilhelm, both men were basically illiterate. Her recent article asks “What Happens When a Bad-Tempered, Distractible Doofus Runs an Empire.” One important unanswered question is what happens to truth telling and democracy itself after Trump?
    1 hr
  • 2020 Not the Worst Election; 1876 Was
    It was either another civil war or ratify a backroom deal to choose the next president. In that deal, the rights of newly emancipated people were sacrificed. Moving on from abolition, white northerners figured locking in white supremacy and the power of big banks was an acceptable price to avoid war. The mob of January 6th 2021 was one thing, but in 1876 white southerners were still a disciplined armed force. The secretive resolution enabled the rebirth of the Confederacy.  On this show, Historian William Hogeland explains how racist paramilitary violence was given a green light. Oh, and the person with the most votes did not win.
    1 hr
  • Why Democrats Should Listen to Deep Red Nebraska
    Why should population density continue to determine Democrat or Republican wins? How is it that the Democratic Party seems to have given up on what used to be our working class farm/labor base? In his new book Rural Rebellion, our guest Ross Benes, who is from a Nebraska town of 300, reveals what drives this important key constituency and how they became so solid Republican. The home state of populist WJ Bryan, Nebraskans today see smug elitism coming from the Democrats. But progressive, caring issues bring Midwest rural people together. For example Nebraska welcomes more refugees per capita than any other state. Utilities are municipally owned. Democrats would do better there taking on the big corporations. We can either give up or listen to their voices.
    59 min
  • Trump and Pompeo Dictate New Map on Africa//Franco Still Dead
    The world is as they say it is. Never mind the people who actually live there, Trump and Pompeo decided and imposed new boundaries between Morocco and Algeria. It may start a war between them but at least it gets Morocco to recognize Israel, pleasing the right wing evangelical base in America. International journalist Stephen Kinzer provides the details of what they did in this increasingly important continent. And on part two the status of the body of former Spanish dictator Franco brings tension and possibly justice to his victims.
    59 min
  • Stop American War Billions Marching Us To Disaster
    Why do we keep investing our national treasure in policies which make us much less secure? Part of the reason is what our guest calls the “fire-hose of content” from the 24/7 news cycle. Our foreign policy affects us all but we just don’t see it. This show’s guest is University of San Francisco Professor Roberta Gordon, author of American Nuremberg: The U.S. Officials Who Should Stand Trial for Post-9/11 War Crimes.  The question is can we finally stop and see this is making us less secure and that with a new administration, now is the time to push for a sensible foreign policy.
    1 hr
  • After 50 years, A Tipping Point for the Defeat of Fossil Fuels?
    What we’ve been saying all the years has come true. The easy oil days are over. Banks are always leery of making bad investments, and heavy footprint fossil fuel interests also frighten the insurance industry. Oil is just not profitable any more. Extraction, transportation, pipelines all yielded bad publicity and public opinion does matter to investors. On this show Professor Richard Lachmann sheds welcome light on the tipping point that may have at last been reached, where sustainable energy is now clearly seen as a wiser investment. And the fact is protests have worked.
    59 min
  • Biden’s Better Foreign Policy?
    The slogan was Build Back Better. In terms of foreign policy, our guest today Foreign Policy In Focus’s John Feffer says: “Thanks in no small part to Donald Trump, the United States just doesn’t matter much anymore,” our leadership is diminished. It will be different, possibly a lot better under President Biden. Relations with Iran and China will be more productive and pragmatic. Tariffs which hurt American farmers will stop under Biden. Trump’s policy toward the Palestinians was to have Jared Kushner give the Saudis money to buy their acquiescence. The Saudis should expect a change. Look for a reined in  CIA  and renewed treaties. Still, pressure will be required from the progressive wing.
    1 hr
  • The Beginning of the End for National Cruelty?
    With his gleeful displays of cruelty, is it possible that Donald Trump performed the service of waking us all up to cruelty commonly in national and corporate policy?  In his new book, Cruelty or Humanity: Challenges, Opportunities, and Responsibilities Australian academic Stuart Rees talks about the need to unmask the pervasiveness of cruelty. He says collusion is used to get perpetrators off the hook of  the responsibility that is theirs. For example the US and the cruel actions of the Saudis. The energy expended in denying cruelty keeps it alive. In the 21st century, there is no need for cruelty to continue. Silence is acceptance, it is time for courage.
    1 hr
  • Now’s the Time to Make Democracy Better
    We barely pulled democracy back from the ledge. Now there’s work to be done to make democracy work even better. On this show Kristen Eberhard talks about steps described in her new book “Becoming a Democracy: How We Can Fix The Electoral College, Gerrymandering, and Our Elections.” For example there’s an easy 21st century fix: ballot tracking. Proportional representation as in many other countries, and “Democracy Vouchers,” by which each voter is given $100 to invest in the candidate of his or her choice. And despite concerns, eliminating the Electoral College and going to popular vote actually advantages neither party. Many solutions are at the state level. Many reasons for optimism.
    1 hr

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