Keeping Democracy Alive with Burt Cohen

Keeping Democracy Alive with Burt Cohen


Latest Episodes

Lincoln and his Antithesis in Today’s White House
March 05, 2020

How far can democracy unravel? Republican Lincoln was determined to hold America together, Republican Trump is determined to us apart. Just ahead of his new book on Lincoln, Summoned To Glory, history professor Richard Striner sheds light on a Lincoln

One State: A Reality But Not Yet a Solution
March 03, 2020

A two state solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is no longer possible. In his book Paradigm Lost: From Two-State Solution to One-State Reality, our guest Ian S. Lustick, political science professor at U of Penn,

We Need Smedley Butler Now More Than Ever. Who?
February 27, 2020

He was a famous military hero known throughout America. Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler was awarded two Congressional Medals of Honor between 1898 and the early ’30s for his outstanding military service.

Why The Runway To Adulthood is Longer Now
February 25, 2020

How is it that we don’t see four and a half million young Americans? Kids who have fallen through the cracks,not connected to either school or work. People between the ages of 16 and 24 living in their parents basements

Why Have We Not Gotten Smart About Race?
February 20, 2020

When some say African Americans can also be racist, that is not accurate. So says noted sociologist and author Margaret L. Andersen. Individuals can be prejudiced, sure, but racism is linked to a system of power. Since there is no

Two Early 19th C. Fugitive Black Boys Change a Nation
February 18, 2020

It’s an amazing story that started well before the Civil War. Conventional wisdom was that African Americans could only progress so far. Their race was believed to hold limits. But through education and some incredible bravery, the two boys James

After NH, Now What for the Democratic Candidates?
February 13, 2020

Iowa and New Hampshire’s results are in. What’s the best way for Democrats to beat Trump? On this show former Oklahoma Senator DNC chair and presidential candidate Fred Harris, who embraced populism in the 1970s, talks about different approaches: going

Public Service Is Not a Deep State
February 11, 2020

Twenty two million Americans. That’s the number of people working for the government. Trump insists this huge amorphous mass is the enemy of his administration and has it in for him. But our guest Cedric Alexander argues in his new

Australia’s Fires: Both Victim and Perpetrator
February 06, 2020

Putting out wildfires is one thing but how about paying attention to the causes? Our guest today is Daniel Judt who wrote a cover story for The Nation: “Australia’s Devastating Wildfires Were Not Inevitable.” Australia is among the highest emitters

Trump-Netanyahu Deal: Disappearing a People
January 30, 2020

Trump calls it the “Deal of the Century.” Just announced with much fanfare, a new peace plan for Israel and Palestine. Only with no Palestinian participation. The ceremony was with Trump, Netanyahu, Jared Kushner, and Sheldon Adelson, and some may