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

  • Improbable History: Red Scare in VT and the GOP Urgency on Kavanaugh Explained
    Shocking history then and now: Liberal Vermont and the Red Scare in the Green Mountains. On part one, Rick Winston discusses his new book. And on part two: why the frantic rush to get Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court? Marjorie Cohn, former president of the National Lawyers Guild explains why the hurry. A case is coming right up which may protect Trump and others from prosecution. There’s immigrants rights at stake, the very ability of US agencies to protect the environment, and employer versus employee rights. No wonder the urgency of the Republicans to put him on the bench!
    1 hr
  • Yemen: An Accountability Free Zone
    Bombing a school bus that killed 44 children in Yemen was almost two months ago! We Americans have had so many other distractions since then. But the marriage of commerce and war continues largely unnoticed. The military contractors learned that when there are no American “boots on the ground,” we don’t bother to notice. And their profits roll in. But the people of the Middle East are well aware of US bombs and jet fuel behind the Saudi war on Yemen. Not good for our interests in the region. Working with Medea Benjamin, our guest author Nicolas J. S. Davies explains that our policy may be working in terms of American domestic polices,but not in the real world. But House ConRes 81 offers some hope to end the war; if we can convince our members of congress.
    1 hr
  • Universal Basic Income: An Old Idea Whose Time is Near
    Economic despair in the face of unimaginable wealth? Scarcity in a reality of plenty? Is there now a  case for giving every American a share of a public wealth fund? In what ways might a universal basic income work to increase productivity and economic stability? And in what ways does the idea appeal to conservatives? On this show, host Burt Cohen talks with Jim Pugh co-founder of the Universal Income Project. The idea goes back to 18th century England and President Nixon who pushed the idea in 1971. With the advent of AI and robotics, for a more secure economic future, can we afford not to open our eyes to this idea?
     
     
     
    1 hr
  • America’s Long Aversion to Truth
    It did not begin with Trump. How have we gotten to this place where truth and lies are interchangeable? There are a lot of factors not the least of which is the clutter and chaos of the internet, where anything that is said has eternal life, true or not. Veteran journalist and author Arnold “Skip” Isaacs talks about personal experiences with leaders who blatantly lied, from George Wallace to Corey Stewart, knowing it was lies. Isaacs tells the story of truth-deficient Trump telling Vietnam veterans they were wrong about Agent Orange. Some sort of immunodeficiency of the mind. And the Boston Globe-led 300 paper editorial in defense of the media: help or hurt? Yet another heavy lift for millenials to grapple with.
    1 hr
  • The Tango War: Key To Who Would Win WWII
    There’s the European theater and the Pacific. But hidden away as both sides preferred, Latin America held the key to which side would be victorious. There were a lot of Germans in Brazil, vital war resources in Central America and the Amazon, along with oil in Mexico. Award winning reporter Mary Jo McConahay’s new book is called The Tango War; The Struggle for the Hearts,Minds, and Riches of Latin America During World War II. And it is surprising how influential that period remains regarding US-Latin American relations now. And the story says a lot about the rise of fascism.
    1 hr
  • High School Kids Leading Us All, Not Waiting to “Grow Up”
    Remember your not-so-great high school days? Remember wanting to be respected while being consistently treated as less-than? According to author Eric David Dawson, “the system is set up to be destructive of everybody.” His new book, Putting Peace First: Seven Commitments to Change the World  is a manual for young people. But it is a result of Dawson’s observation of young people initiating and taking action that has made a real difference where more traditional, adult-led efforts have failed. He tracks seven commitments made by high school kids effectively tackling such issues as bullying and police violence. Dawson wrote his book “for anyone who, like I did, is growing up angry.” He tells the kids, “You’ve been lied to,” which not all adults like to hear but his goal is to connect with and inspire young people to persistent peace-making.
    1 hr
  • From Rhetorical to Full On Fascism
    With his open appreciation of violent white nationalists, his insistence that he is above laws, his admiration for dictators, Trump has long embraced the rhetoric of fascism. But with his new attacks on the Justice Department for indicting his special friends in congress, along with his call for criminal prosecution of the New York Times for simply doing what the press in America has always done, the president has made the transition from mere rhetoric to full on fascism. This according to Lehigh University assistant professor of political science Anthony DiMaggio. Thomas Jefferson would be apoplectic, with his famous passion for the primacy of a free press. And DiMaggio suggests that congressional Republicans will only start to distance themselves if they see a need to stop the electoral hemorrhaging. So once again it’s up to us to keep democracy alive.
    59 min
  • Bacevich: Our Fixation with Trump is Actually a Distraction
    “Critics see Trump as an abomination, but he is also one of us.” So says Andrew Bacevich scholar and author of the forthcoming book “Twilight of the American Century.” He explains in this podcast that Trump is one of a nation of narcissists (selfies anyone?). Sixty plus million voted to repudiate  the long standing policy consensus but got more of the same. Economic inequality, globalization for the benefit of the few, permanent wars: these are the real issues and the obsession with Trump is basically a shiny object serving to distract us from what needs to be done. All these problems predate Trump and our fixation with Trump impedes solutions. A surprising and thoughtful analysis from this widely respected history scholar.
    1 hr
  • Pan-Africanism: Can Colonialism Be Overcome?
    Nearly every inch of Africa used to be owned and controlled by the colonial powers: British, French, German, Portuguese, Belgian, Spain. Mussolini’s Italy finally went after its share with a one sided assault on Ethiopia in 1936. Is the long history of ugly colonialism in Africa finally over? Not yet, says our guest Ameth LO, a Senegalese scholar and pan-Africanist whose new article is The Long March to Post-Capitalist Transition: Pan-Africanist Perspectives. Colonial powers are now less actual countries and more international financial powers. The goal is to unite Africans in the diaspora around the world (notably the Caribbean) to become a strong unified force helping free oppressed people everywhere.
     
    1 hr
  • Chicago Plus 50: Positive Lessons for 2018
    Blood in the streets. Chaos at the convention. The establishment Democrats won and then they lost. From the vantage point of 50 years later, it may surprise some how less has changed and been learned than we might have thought. With thoughts from Yippie leader Abbie Hoffman as the convention was about to begin and relevant music with the spirit of 1968, what can we learn? Bobby Seale and Black Lives Matter. Insurgents taking on the establishment.Going along or challenging entrenched power. How to re-engage working people. Today’s politics and protest began that year. Listen in!
    59 min

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