Steve Nolan spent 30 years in the military and 25 years as a mental health professional. He has published in numerous journals and his poetry was featured on National Public Radio, Morning Edition, upon his return from Afghanistan in 2007. He is the author of the books Go Deep,  Base Camp, and American Carnage, An Officer’s Duty to Warn. His work reflects his commitment to social justice.

I talk to Steve about his book American Carnage and why he feels compelled as a retired military officer and mental health professional to speak out about the threat former President Donald Trump poses to U.S. democracy and why Trump is mentally unfit for office as Commander in Chief.

Host Cyril Mychalejko’s 5 Book Recommendations to Further Shine a Light on the Issue

1. The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump 37 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President - Updated and Expanded with New Essays, by Bandy X. Lee, M.D., M.Div., Organizer of Yale's "Duty to Warn" Conference

ALSO LISTEN TO: 

• EPISODE 5 - The Growing Fascist Threat To American Democracy, with Jeff Sharlet

The Civic Circle is a new youth-led podcast by the Bucks County Beacon tackling politics and policy from a Gen-Z lens. Sarah Zhang, Mallorie Marsan, and Alexandra Coffey are students from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and once a month they will chat about activism, advocacy, and all the political happenings affecting their generation today. They will be focusing on PA politics and want the podcast to serve as a call to action for all young people to get involved in the civic process and demand change.

In this first episode we introduce ourselves, explain what brought us into this work, and discuss some of the hot issues of this past summer - with the hottest issue definitely being extreme weather, the sweltering heat, and how the climate crisis has directly affected us in Bucks County. 

Sarah Zhang is a CB East grad and sophomore at UNC Chapel Hill.

Mallorie Marsin is a Council Rock South grad and freshman at Temple University.

Alexandra Coffey is a senior at CB West. 

Also listen to Bucks County Beacon Editor Cyril Mychalejko’s interview with Sarah, Mallorie, and Alexandra on The Signal. 

The Civic Circle is produced by the Bucks County Beacon and Raging Chicken Media’s Kevin Mahoney.

The music is “Bet On It” by Silent Partner, copyright and royalty-free. 

Follow us on Twitter:

• @BucksCoBeacon

The Civic Circle is a new youth-led podcast by the Bucks County Beacon tackling politics and policy from a Gen-Z lens. Sarah Zhang, Mallorie Marsan, and Alexandra Coffey are students from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and once a month they will chat about activism, advocacy, and all the political happenings affecting their generation today. They will be focusing on PA politics and want the podcast to serve as a call to action for all young people to get involved in the civic process and demand change.

Today I speak to them about who they are, their politics, their generation, and The Civic Circle - which launches on Monday.

Sarah Zhang is a CB East grad and sophomore at UNC Chapel Hill.

Mallorie Marsin is a Council Rock South grad and freshman at Temple University.

Alexandra Coffey is a senior at CB West. 

The Signal is produced by Kevin Mahoney, Raging Chicken Media.

Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music. 

Follow us on Twitter:

• @BucksCoBeacon

Central Bucks is under fire for allegedly creating a toxic environment for LGBTQ+ students, vindictively targeting a teacher, and spending more than $1 million for reputation laundering. 

Witold Walczak is legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. Today I speak with him about the ACLU’s ongoing legal battles with Central Bucks School District, its latest complaint filed in court which charges the Republican-run district with illegally retaliating against a teacher for supporting a trans student, and Central Bucks’s million dollar disinformation campaign to avoid responsibility for creating a toxic, discriminatory environment for LGBTQ+ students – a charge currently being investigated by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.  

Full transcript of the episode available HERE.

Host Cyril Mychalejko’s 5 Book Recommendations to Further Shine a Light on the Issue

1. The Good News Club: The Christian Right's Stealth Assault on America's Children, by Katherine Stewart

• Advocates for Inclusive Education (Bucks County)

ALSO LISTEN TO: 

• EPISODE 2 – The Merchants of Deception: The Dark Money and Front Groups Behind School Privatization, with Maurice Cunningham

Barbara Simmons served as executive director for 30 years of The Peace Center, an educational peace and justice non-profit organization in Bucks County. She was founding director of PeaceTalks radio producing radio documentaries from Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Rwanda, South Africa, Vietnam, Northern Ireland, Canada and the United States, which aired on NPR, PRI and many other stations. Currently, Barbara is involved as an Ambassador to L.O.V.E. Is The Answer, the executive board of the NAACP, Chair of Communications for Newtown Dems, board member of Divorce Recovery Center, serves on DEI Committee of Bucks County Women's Advocacy Coalition and the Mercer Museum Advisory Committee, and is on the Board of the Nakashima Foundation for Peace. 

Today I talk to Barbara about why she memorializes the barbaric bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and her life as a long-time peace activist.

Host Cyril Mychalejko’s 5 Book Recommendations to Further Shine a Light on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Peace

1. Hiroshima, by John Hersey

ARTICLES

• A Life Committed to Peace, with Barbara Simmons, by Cyril Mychalejko

The Signal is produced by Kevin Mahoney, Raging Chicken Media.

Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music. 

Follow us on Twitter:

• @BucksCoBeacon

Frederick Clarkson is a senior research analyst at Political Research Associates, a social justice research and strategy center that exposes the agenda and strategies of the U.S. and global Right, revealing the dangerous intersections of Christian nationalism, white nationalism, and patriarchy. He has written about politics and religion for four decades. Clarkson is the author, co-author or editor of several books including Dispatches from the Religious Left: The Future of Faith and Politics in America and Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy.

Today we talk about a Christian theocratic movement that wants to build a "kingdom revolution" led by an "army of believers," starting in Pennsylvania, before spreading across the nation and then the world.

Host Cyril Mychalejko’s 5 Book Recommendations to Further Shine a Light on the New Apostolic Reformation

1. Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy, by Frederick Clarkson

ALSO LISTEN TO: 

• EPISODE 5 - The Growing Fascist Threat To American Democracy, With Jeff Sharlet

ARTICLES

• "Unfriending" America: The Christian Right Is Coming for the Enemies of God — Like You and Me, by Frederick Clarkson

Dominionism Is on the Ballot in November, but Most Voters Have Never Heard of It, by Jennifer Cohn

The Signal is produced by Kevin Mahoney, Raging Chicken Media.

Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music. 

Follow us on Twitter:

• @BucksCoBeacon

“Lots of normal people, it’s great.” That's a direct quote from Bucks County Moms for Liberty member and Northampton Township GOP committee member Megan Brock celebrating the so-called normalcy of the right-wing culture warrior moms at the summit in Philadelphia.

So what is this "new normal" for Brock and the Moms for Liberty Qlan that she is part of? Today we welcome two guests to the show to dig into the Moms for Liberty summit and their continued impact on our school boards and communities.

On the first half of the show we'll talk to Olivia Little, a writer and researcher with Media Matters who was undercover inside the group’s summit in Philadelphia. On the second half we are joined by Diana Leygerman, a writer, teacher, and Central Bucks School District Mom who refuses to co-parent with Moms for Liberty.

Host Cyril Mychalejko’s 5 Book Recommendations to Further Shine a Light on Moms for Liberty’s Extremism

1. The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism, by Katherine Stewart

ORGANIZATIONS

• Advocates for Inclusive Education (Bucks County)

ALSO LISTEN TO: 

• EPISODE 2 - The Merchants of Deception: The Dark Money and Front Groups Behind School Privatization, with Maurice Cunningham

ARTICLES

• Inside Moms for Liberty’s summit: Big money and even bigger conspiracy theories, by Olivia Little

The Signal is produced by Kevin Mahoney, Raging Chicken Media.

Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music. 

Follow us on Twitter:

• @BucksCoBeacon

Brett Freeman (He/Him) is a resident of Buckingham Township (in Bucks County, PA), a parent, a husband, a foodie, and an avid Philadelphia sports fan.  He is also a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh (1994) and The Wharton Management Program (1997) at the University of Pennsylvania. Currently, he is a state certified residential real estate appraiser and valuation expert, and actively practices regionally throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.  Beginning this year, he also serves on the DEI Committee for the Greater Philadelphia Board of Realtors. 

Today we speak with Brett about what it’s like raising a transgender child in an increasingly transphobic country, and specifically his experiences in Bucks County’s Central Bucks School District. 

Host Cyril Mychalejko’s 5 Book Recommendations to Further Shine a Light on the Issue

1. Melissa, by Alex Gino

ARTICLES

• I’m a trans teen in Central Bucks. Here, it doesn’t ‘get better.’, by Lily Freeman

ORGANIZATIONS

• PFLAG

The Signal is produced by Kevin Mahoney, Raging Chicken Media.

Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music. 

Follow us on Twitter:

• @BucksCoBeacon

Victoria Sanford is a John Simon Guggenheim Fellow and Professor of Anthropology at City University of New York. She has given expert testimony on the Guatemalan genocide in international courts and authored seven books, including Buried Secrets: Truth and Human Rights in Guatemala, and most recently, Textures of Terror: The Murder of Claudina Isabel Velasquez and Her Father's Quest for Justice, which was just published in May. I speak with Victoria about her new book, the U.S.'s bloody history in Guatemala, and the endemic of feminicide and impunity in this Central American nation.

Host Cyril Mychalejko’s 5 Book Recommendations to Further Shine a Light on Guatemala (in addition to Victoria’s books)

1. Guatemala: Never Again, by Recovery of Historical Memory Project (REMHI) Human Rights Office, Archdiocese of Guatemala

ALSO LISTEN TO:

• EPISODE 1 – Immigrant Solidarity: From Bucks County to the Border with Sue-Ann DiVito

ARTICLES

• The Dark Truth Behind Migration through a Father’s Quest for Justice, by Victoria Sanford

ORGANIZATIONS

• Immigrant Rights Action (Bucks County)

The Signal is produced by Kevin Mahoney, Raging Chicken Media.

Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music. 

Follow us on Twitter:

• @BucksCoBeacon

Today host Cyril Mychalejko talks to Christina Ellis and Ben Hodge about how and why students and teachers must organize and mobilize themselves and the larger community to resist book bans and other reactionary right-wing assaults on public education. 

Christina Ellis is an 18-year-old African-Caribbean American college student and activist. She was the former vice-president of Central York High School’s Panther Anti-Racist Union student club, better known as PARU. She and PARU worked together to reverse a book ban that the Central York School District placed on books/resources that promoted diversity and inclusion. While at Central York High School, she helped organize a peaceful protest that advocated reversing the ban. Christina and others continue to educate students and the public on the importance of diversity education and inclusion within her community. She is now at university working towards a career in medicine and will continue to advocate for minorities in medicine.

Ben Hodge is the founder and faculty advisor of the Panther Anti-Racist Union. A 20-year veteran of the classroom, he teaches Acting classes at Central York High School and serves as the Artistic Director for the Central York Performing Arts program. Ben is passionate about the acting profession and enjoys training and mentoring young actors, and teaching them to take control of their everyday lives through theater. A staunch advocate of the Diversity programming in the Central York School District since 2006, he has focused primarily on diversity education, mediation, and social-emotional awareness. After the murder of George Floyd, he wanted to create a safe space where students could come together and have meaningful discussions around social justice initiatives outside of their regular classes. This is how the Panther Anti-Racist Union was born. 

The Signal is a podcast by The Bucks County Beacon. Twice a month we will use this space to shine a light on the right-wing extremist currents streaming though Bucks County and beyond. We will talk to guests who will help listeners navigate these perilous political waters by providing insight, analysis, and organizing solutions so that we can steer the community toward calmer, saner progressive routes.

Host Cyril Mychalejko’s 5 Reading Recommendations to Further Shine a Light on the Issue:

1. Teachers, Students and the Central York Community Defeated a Racist Book Ban in Their School District, by Cyril Mychalejko

ALSO LISTEN TO:

• EPISODE 2 - The Merchants of Deception: The Dark Money and Front Groups Behind School Privatization, with Maurice Cunningham

The Signal is produced by Kevin Mahoney, Raging Chicken Media.

Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music. 

Follow us on Twitter:

• @BucksCoBeacon