Keeping Democracy Alive with Burt Cohen
Latest Episodes
Christmas/Hanukkah: Strength Through Generosity Not Domination
It’s more than the similar time of year. According to guest Rabbi Michael Lerner, of Tikkun Magazine and chair of the Network of Spiritual Progressives, both holidays mark times in which people without power successfully took on the powers of
Bringing Democracy into the 21st Century
Democracy in 18th century America worked fairly easily. Nearly 250 years later, we are the least democratic of all the world’s republics. Right, left, or independent: nearly all Americans feel frustrated that the ability for average citizens to have power
The New Danger of Trump and Jerusalem
As of Trump’s unilateral declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel, the threat of a wider war is now much greater than with North Korea. So says Patrick Lawrence foreign affairs columnist for salon.com and The
28th Amendment to Restore Democracy? Vietnam Being Fought Again
Millennials may think of democracy as something we older people remember. The infamous Supreme Court “Citizens United” decision took legitimate power from the average American and shifted it to big concentrated money. Some Americans have not given up.
Shaping the Future of Work After Trump
FDR’s fixes of the 1930s were great for the time: bolstering unions, unemployment insurance, social security, and creation of new jobs rebuilding our infrastructure. Eighty years later, it’s time to adapt the New Deal to the 21st century and create
The Widening Gulf Between Judaism and Israel
The notion of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state is more of a myth now. According to our guest Rabbi Lev Baesh, who has a unique resume, it’s not so much of a Jewish state anymore and it has
Bernie Sanders: Not Just Rebuilding; Re-imagining Puerto Rico
They’ve been forgotten in the face of so much other news. The millions of Americans of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands are still largely without electricity three months after the hurricanes. They’ve been forgotten. But on November 28th,
400 Wealthy Americans: Don’t Cut Our Taxes
The only reason for the Trump “tax reform” bill is that a handful of donors demand it; after all, they invested heavily in Trump and congress expecting a healthy return. But not all in the top five and one percent
Teenage And Muslim in America
You think being an American teenager was challenging, try being a good Muslim on top of it. It’s a tiny minority in our culture. Most Americans know very little about what life is like as a Muslim in our country.
No Mercy: Long Term Effects of the Subjugation of the South after the War
The union was “pinned together with bayonets.” In his new book The Long Road to Antietam, How the Civil War Became a Revolution, Professor Richard Slotkin traces the battle of egos between President Lincoln and his General George McClellan and