Keeping Democracy Alive with Burt Cohen

Keeping Democracy Alive with Burt Cohen


Latest Episodes

One Nation Indivisible? No. Eleven Distinct Nations.
July 24, 2018

With all the current discussion about ever-more inflamed divides in the currently united States, more people are wondering if we  really are one nation after all. It’s not just blue vs red, North vs South. There’s us here in Yankeedom.

Socialism/New Deal: It Saved Competitive Capitalism Then. Can it Now?
July 19, 2018

When big gets too big, free market capitalism is stifled. The increased concentration of power and wealth undercuts economic freedom. The socialism of FDR’s New Deal very much helped capitalism become more competitive. A big, though lesser known,

The UK’s Brexit Shambles
July 17, 2018

Much like the toxic combination of angry racist populism with the power of the financial elite here in America, the European Union has been a brake on this dangerous combination in England. Today the British Right’s push for the UK

Evangelicals Had Been Pro-Choice and the NRA Was All About Gun Safety. Really.
July 12, 2018

Since its founding after the Civil War the NRA was concerned about the proliferation of guns in America. They became a sportsmen’s gun club focused on responsibility and safety. And conservative  Christian evangelicals cited Bible references to say lif...

Report from Violent Nicaragua: The Truth Behind the Picture
July 11, 2018

Reached somewhere he won’t specify in Nicaragua, our guest is protecting himself from killings, kidnappings, and the coordinated strategy of roadblocks.The Trump Administration and most of the mainstream press paints a picture of the Sandinista governm...

50,000 Kids Behind Bars// “Infest” and “Civility:” The Danger Lurking
June 28, 2018

America is shocked at the sight of 2500 migrant kids in cages. But behind high walls are over 50,000 American kids.This is invisible for a reason. According to Professor Cara Drinan, expert on juvenile sentencing and criminal justice reform, if

Left and Right Against Dumb Wars//Indian Kids Taken for Decades
June 26, 2018

Donald Trump won a lot of support from conservative Americans who agreed our endless wars are nothing but a big waste. Of course he flipped positions since then but renowned professor Andrew Bacevich observes that there is still anger at

Free Speech Not OK in War? The Lessons of Debs and LaFollette June 1918
June 21, 2018

Is it treasonous to urge resistance to a war once America is in it? Most Americans opposed our entry into the First World War but once Wilson sent our men, some argued it was no longer OK to urge resistance.

Erasing Net Neutrality, Crushing American Freedom
June 19, 2018

The effects of net neutrality have been like the founding fathers dream: a truly free media open to all points of view, where even the smallest voice can reach millions. It’s logical then that the big internet service providers and

Meanness and Hatred Can’t Be Blamed on Trump: It’s Always Been There
June 14, 2018

It may be out in the open now, and it is disconcerting to see and feel the blatant racism and hatred across America now. But maybe the ugly spirit of white supremacy may have been hidden from white people before