Keeping Democracy Alive with Burt Cohen

Latest Episodes
Historian Michael Kazin on America’s Enduring Actual Greatness
There is in fact a lush garden of American greatness and it is not MAGA. Though less well known, there is a proud history of successful dissent which does make America great. Military power and straig
Rising in the UK and the US: A Democratic Left
Englands Labour Party is a lot like Americas Democratic Party: all over the map. Both used to be the party of laboring people. The UKs current PM Kier Starmer won claiming to be of the left. Now he
The Trump Era and the Psychology of Moral Courage
Researchers are beginning to understand why some of us demonstrate what is called moral courage and others do not. In fact, most of us actually have a warped sense of our own moral courage. We like
Why Mamdani May Revitalize the Democratic Party: 1911 CA Precedent
After 2024, the mainstream of the Democratic Party is in the wilderness, but Zohran Mamdani may lead a way out. This weeks guest Fred Glass, talks about what early 20th century California history can
A Blueprint for A Future Israel/Palestine
Innumerable people have tried over many years to stop the forever wars between Israel and Palestine. With the world now horrified by the use of starvation as a weapon, the urgency of a resolution has
“Just Following Orders”?
American military service members certainly did not sign up to fight the American people. Yet with the massive deployment of national guard and marines to stop protests in Los Angeles, that was indeed
How The Left Lost the Working Class and How to Win Them Back
What mainstream Democrats dont understand is that anti-elites are economically progressive, while the elites are economically conservative. NYCs Mamdani won the primary by building an economic coalit
The Power of Photographs and the Truth That Threatens Dictators
Its called airbrushing history and all dictators do it to erase the truth. Sometimes it can be petty. One example is that Pete Hegseths Pentagon deleted photos that were on their website of the firs
His Insatiable Appetite for Prisons
The appalling criminalization of ordinary people. No charges, no conviction, just sweep up people who, as he said: look like illegals. Blatantly circumventing constitutional law. And in the big, ugl
Can One Have Meat and A Conscience Too?
The right wing is heavily invested in the meat industry. After all, it has the essential components: dominance, violence, destruction of the planet. In his new provocative book: The Omnivores Decepti