Keeping Democracy Alive with Burt Cohen

Keeping Democracy Alive with Burt Cohen


Latest Episodes

A New Deal That’s Also Green
November 07, 2019

The New Deal aspect of the Green New Deal often gets forgotten. The goal now as in the 1930s is to make the state the instrument of the popular will. Democratizing the economy, making it work for the common good,

The Blues: Education for the Liberation of Black and Brown Girls
November 05, 2019

All too often, schools function as a pipeline to prison for troubled kids. Kicking out troublemakers, punishing for bad attitudes leaves kids feeling they are disposable. Authoritarian models too often make schools feel like locations for punishment,

“How Ya Gonna Pay for Medicare for All?” Here’s How
October 24, 2019

The public is way ahead of politicians on this. Frightened of looking “soft on defense,” elected members of both parties duck and cover when polls show wide support for giving a serious haircut to the wild and woolly lands of

The Psychological Base of “Powerarchy”
October 22, 2019

We traditional Americans are doing what we can to take on oligarchy, plutocracy, and patriarchy.But our effectiveness is limited if we do not figure out the whys and hows of what our guest Melanie Joy calls “powerarchy.” Her new book

Democrats Took The Wrong Lessons from McGovern 1972
October 17, 2019

Conventional Democratic Party wisdom is that McGovern lost to Nixon because he was too liberal, and as a result of that belief, ever since that loss party insiders have trended steadily to the right. But if today’s measuring tools had

Cruelty Steers the New Supreme Court Docket
October 15, 2019

It’s not only Trump who is pushing cruelty. Since right wing Republicans have very successfully gained control over the third branch of government, the judicial branch, we should expect to see many examples of cruelty dictating decisions by the Supreme

Impeachment: Restore Entitled “Centrist” Ds and Rs to Power?
October 10, 2019

No question: today’s biggest unsolved problems came at the hands of the so-called centrists of both parties. Historian and author Professor Andrew Bacevich argues that while of course Trump must be removed, the constant focus of impeachment is a way

A Real Solution To Refugee Crisis
October 08, 2019

Across Europe tens of millions of refugees are living in horrible conditions, as countries erect razor wire to keep them out. Our guest today Tim Horgan of the World Affairs Council argues it is best to keep people where they

“Conservatives” Not At All Conservative
October 03, 2019

Pure individualism is not conservatism, much as though people who call themselves conservatives like to think it is. They’ll tell you the American Dream is individuals becoming super rich. But the more traditional definition is one of equal opportunity...

Thom Hartmann: Hidden History of Supreme Court and the Betrayal of America
September 30, 2019

It’s become “a nearly despotic branch of government.” But wasn’t the Supreme Court created to be a check on the powers of the executive and legislative, making certain they adhere to the Constitution? Author Thom Hartmann is a progressive national