Keeping Democracy Alive with Burt Cohen

Keeping Democracy Alive with Burt Cohen


Latest Episodes

The Biggest, Least Human Power in America: Amazon
April 30, 2021

The dehumanized Amazon warehouse as pictured in the movie Nomadland is more benign than reality. There is an “existential bleakness” where every instant is being watched, humans serve robots, and one can be fired by algorithm. In his powerful new

In Military Gear, Patriots Invade the Capital: 50 Years Ago
April 28, 2021

Self-professed “patriots” stormed the US Capitol Building January 6th, but it was Vietnam Veterans Against the War in late April 1971 who were the real patriots. They came for what they considered another tour of duty, after serving in the

Troubles in Northern Ireland: Unforeseen Brexit Blues
April 26, 2021

You may have read recently about a flare up of rioting in Belfast. It’s all a result of Boris Johnson’s Brexit. Scholar Kenneth Surin, a British citizen teaching in the US, explains what’s going on in Northern Ireland. Though it’s

How the Wealth Defense Industry Poisons Democracy
April 23, 2021

As our guest Chuck Collins explains, it’s like one person orders expensive wine for a dinner crowd and sneaks out without paying. His new book is titled The Wealth Hoarders; How Billionaires Pay Millions to Hide Trillions. What he calls

Sedition and Democracy
April 20, 2021

Thanks to January 6th, the word sedition is in our consciousness again.  Trump is more likely guilty of treason than of mere sedition according to the former director of the CIA and our guest, history teacher and essayist William Pruden

No Common Ground for Confederate Monuments
April 15, 2021

The monuments to Confederate leaders are all about altering the realities of history to empower and enforce old mythic beliefs. They are there on courthouse lawns to remind black southerners of their place. One this show, Southern historian Karen Cox

Hands in His Pockets as He Kills George Floyd
April 12, 2021

The message of his calm kneeling and centuries of racist violence is: you could be next, black person. Chauvin knew only 1% of police killing black people are even prosecuted. There have been others caught on film in broad daylight

Border Crisis? How About A Right to Stay Home
April 08, 2021

Americans talk about the surge at the border, but the real point is everyone has a right to stay home. Today’s guest Avi Chomsky says that under Biden, Trump’s cement wall is instead outsourced to a militarized high-tech barrier. Do

Can Biden Complete JFK’s Start at Peace?
April 05, 2021

He came in as a macho Cold War president but after the reality of near nuclear war, John Kennedy became a changed man. He gave an important speech about peace in June 1963. Now the Cold War is back and

Stronger than Ever : The One World Idea is Back
April 01, 2021

Fierce nationalism and the insistence that the US is indispensable to organize the world has played itself out. With awareness of climate change, worldwide opposition to racism, and the avoidable persistence of great poverty, could this be the time once