Best ike lear Podcasts (2025)

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Episode 717: PETER TURCHIN-The historical forces that explain Trump & what needs to change 1:00:00

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6h ago1:00:00

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As one year ends and another begins, many pause to look backward and forward. We’ll do that on a deep historical scale with today’s guest, PETER TURCHIN, author of END TIMES. In 2010, when Nature magazine asked for a ten-year forecast, he predicted that America was in a spiral of social disintegration that would lead to collapse of the political or…

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Episode 716: RICHARD DAWKINS (2006) THE GOD DELUSION-We start w questions & end w awe 54:29

7d ago54:29

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As we celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas, here’s my 2006 conversation with RICHARD DAWKINS on his best-seller, THE GOD DELUSION. I consider myself spiritual, thank the universe daily, and feel myself blessed, but I don’t see an entity directing this unfolding pageant. I invite you to listen with an open mind and spirit. Dawkins and I begin with quest…

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Episode 715: USArmy Colonel (ret) IKE WILSON-Part 2-Trump’s Abuse of Military + deeper Qs re military 1:03:15

13d ago1:03:15

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This is Ike Wilson episode # 2. Questions about Hegseth, Venezuela, US cities are bigger than when we spoke in October. We make time to discuss other concerns I have about the US military - morale, Christian nationalism, lack of success despite unlimited resources. With 33 years in the field and teaching at West Point, Columbia, Yale, Arizona State…

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Episode 714: CHUCK COLLINS - BURNED BY BILLIONAIRES: How Concentrated Wealth & Power Are Ruining Our Lives & Planet 1:00:00

27d ago1:00:00

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This week when we give thanks, let me say how grateful I am to have these conversations about a world that just might work and that folks take the time to listen, learn, and share. CHUCK COLLINS says a lot of people tell him, “…nothing a billionaire does harms my life.” In response, he wrote BURNED BY BILLIONAIRES: How Concentrated Wealth and Power…

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Episode 713: SHERRY TURKLE(2011)-ALONE TOGETHER: Why We expect More from Technology, Less from Each other 53:46

1M ago53:46

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With family gatherings upcoming over the holidays and emergence of AI everywhere we look, here’s my 2011 episode with Sherry Turkle, Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at MIT, about her book ALONE TOGETHER Why We Expect More from Technology, Less from Each Other. At that point, Sherry had already been studying the relationshi…

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Episode 712: MELANIE CHALLENGER-HOW TO BE ANIMAL: What It Means to Be Human 1:01:39

1M ago1:01:39

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I’m not an environmentalist, but rather someone who works to move society toward a healthy relationship with the rest of nature. The notion that we are separate makes no sense to me. So I was drawn to this week’s guest, MELANIE CHALLENGER, who writes on the relationship of humans to the living world. She does field research - including in the Arcti…

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Episode 711: DEBORAH TANNEN (2002) - ARGUMENT CULTURE and I ONLY SAY THIS BECAUSE I LOVE YOU 1:01:51

2M ago1:01:51

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DEBORAH TANNEN, best known for YOU JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND: Women and Men in Conversation, 4 years on the NYTimes bestseller list, 8 months at #1. This conversation is about 2 later books: First, I ONLY SAY THIS BECAUSE I LOVE YOU on why we have so much trouble communicating within families - could be helpful with Thanksgiving coming up. The second, …

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Episode 710: ANDREW ROSS SORKIN-1929-Are we headed for another crash? 1:13:59

2M ago1:13:59

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The stock market keeps rising, driven almost entirely by the “magnificent seven” tech giants. No one tries to deny we’re fueling AI and crypto bubbles. Great time to talk with author, producer, and New York Times journalist, ANDREW ROSS SORKIN, about his new best-seller, 1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History. This episode was recor…

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Episode 709: 1) THOMAS FRANK(2004)-WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH KANSAS? 2) PAUL LOEB(2010)-SOUL OF A CITIZEN 1:00:00

2M ago1:00:00

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Following the largest single day of protest in American history, here’s first, my 2004 conversation with THOMAS FRANK about his ground-breaking classic, WHAT’ S THE MATTER WITH KANSAS? Frank examines the GOP’s success building unnatural alliances between Midwest and Wall Street, workers and bosses, populists and right-wingers. In the second half, y…

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Episode 708: Retired Army Colonel IKE WILSON-Trump’s Use & Abuse of the Military 59:47

2M ago59:47

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Trump has ordered troops to LA, DC, Chicago, and Portland. Americans are on the brink of using lethal force against other Americans. Our military are killing people at sea in the Caribbean with no constitutional basis. I turn to retired U.S. Army Colonel, IKE WILSON, for an expert take on Trump’s actions. What’s legal? How will the military respond…

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Episode 707: Defending nature with their lives-MARTIN GOODMAN-The Extraordinary Story of India’s Bishnoi 57:30

3M ago57:30

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These are dark times in the United States, and due to this country’s power and influence, dark times for the planet. This show is about a world that just might work – so we talk a lot about problems and crises as we look for solutions. I’m always on the lookout for good news and inspirations. MARTIN GOODMAN has written a book, MY HEAD FOR A TREE, a…

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Episode 706: ROBERT WRIGHT (2017)-WHY BUDDHISM IS TRUE-Can mindfulness help us deal with Trump? 57:46

3M ago57:46

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Here’s my 2017 conversation with ROBERT WRIGHT on his best-seller WHY BUDDHISM IS TRUE. Wright has been asking big questions for nearly four decades in books like THE MORAL ANIMAL, NON-ZERO, and THE EVOLUTION OF GOD. On Substack, he’s persuasively critical of much of what happens in Washington under either party. Why in the fall of Trump’s first ye…

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Episode 705: MICHAEL ANSARA-THE HARD WORK OF HOPE-a memoir of a lifetime of activism 1:00:00

3M ago1:00:00

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In 1969, my senior year at Harvard, anti-war activists took over University Hall and their brutal removal by state troopers led to a month-long strike. Today’s guest, longtime activist and organizer, MICHAEL ANSARA, was chair of the strike committee. We’ll talk about his new memoir, THE HARD WORK OF HOPE, the parallels between the late ‘60s and the…

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Episode 704: ROBERT JAY LIFTON (2020)-LOSING REALITY-Lifton died last week at 99 1:00:46

4M ago1:00:46

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Here’s my 2020 conversation with psychiatrist & author ROBERT JAY LIFTON whose work led him into some of history’s darkest corners - Hiroshima survivors, Nazi doctors, torture at Abu Ghraib. I turned to him as the pandemic raged and the BLM protests were in full bloom. We talk about his book LOSING REALITY: On Cults, Cultism, and the Mindset of Pol…

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Episode 703: HERE COMES THE SUN-BILL McKIBBEN-co-founder 350.org, ThirdAct.org 59:46

4M ago59:46

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I talk with BILL McKIBBEN (The New Yorker), co-founder of both the global climate campaign, 350.org, and, in 2021, ThirdAct for folks 60 & above. In these dark times, his new book, HERE COMES THE SUN offers hope – not with happy talk but with a clear declaration of facts: Solar and wind are no longer alternative fuels. They are the cheapest as well…

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Episode 702: 1) DOUGLAS BRINKLEY(2006)-20th anni of Katrina, The Great Deluge 2) RAFE ESQUITH(2005)-Hobart Elementary’s young Shakespearians 56:44

4M ago56:44

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First half: This weekend marks the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Here’s my 2006 conversation with Douglas Brinkley about his book The Great Deluge, in which he investigates the failures of government at every level, and traces the character flaws, inexperience, and ulterior motives that allowed the disaster to devastate the Gulf Coast. Sec…

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Episode 701: Trump v Rule of Law-Legal scholar ROBERT POST re Supreme Court, 1st Amendment, Free Speech, Academic Freedom, 58:38

4M ago58:38

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What happens when the President plays mob boss - “How much can I get away with? Who’s going to stop me?” I talk with American legal scholar ROBERT POST of Yale Law School about the rule of law, the American legal system, free speech, academic freedom, public morality, and the Supreme Court’s weakness in the age of Trump. You can learn more at law.y…

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Episode 700: ROBERT FULLER (2003)-Fought “Rankism”-the abuse of rank-died July 15th at 88 1:02:16

4M ago1:02:16

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A bittersweet truth about having recorded these conversations for 25 years is how many of my guests are no longer with us. I went back through my files and found at least 60 - Sixty human beings worthy, willing, and able to share an hour with me. Here’s my 2003 conversation with ROBERT FULLER, who crusaded for the dignity of all and against what he…

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Episode 699: LIZZIE WADE-How APOCALYPSE Has Transformed Our World-Is there an upside to down? 1:03:54

5M ago1:03:54

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In just the last two decades, we’ve experienced a global financial crash, a pandemic, multiple wars, and a climate crisis with repeated natural disasters. I talk with LIZZIE WADE about the ideas in APOCALYPSE: How Catastrophe Transformed Our World and Can Forge New Futures. If a society enters a cataclysm - climate crisis, war, plague, etc. - behav…

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Episode 698: My 1989 speech to my 20th Harvard reunion - prescient & tragically hopeful 15:28

5M ago15:28

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A couple of weeks ago I recorded myself reading a speech I originally gave June 9, 1989 - 36 years ago - at my 20th college reunion, Harvard class of 1969. Ours was the year of the University Hall takeover and the campus strike. In ’89, I was fully involved in the entertainment industry. In the speech, I asked how we were living up to our youthful …

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Episode 697: (1) Can government save capitalism from itself? CHRIS HUGHES, Facebook co-founder, (2) my prescient & tragic 1989 speech to my 20th Harvard reunion 59:45

6M ago59:45

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As we reel and resist Trump’s careless breakdown of government, society and the economy, I speak with CHRIS HUGHES, a co-founder of Facebook, who left the company in 2007 and called for META’s breakup in 2019. In the first 45 minutes, we talk about the current state of tech and then dive into his new book, MARKETCRAFTERS: The 100-Year Struggle to S…

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Episode 696: 30 years of research: Inequality hurts everybody-even the rich-Wilkinson & Pickett-THE SPIRIT LEVEL 59:25

6M ago59:25

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In Trump’s tax bill, 60% of cuts go to the top 20% (income: $217K+). More than a third to top 5% ($460K+) Households earning less than $51K will see income drop next year. Top 0.1% will get an average boost of $390K. Time for one of my favorite episodes: my January 2010 conversation with Richard Wilkinson & Kate Pickett about their groundbreaking b…

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Episode 695: TIM JACKSON, THE CARE ECONOMY - What if we kept score by valuing what actually matters? 58:30

6M ago58:30

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When I decided to speak with TIM JACKSON about his new book, THE CARE ECONOMY, I had second thoughts. What could be further from our current reality in the US than a care economy? Would talking about it seem naïve? But as Robert Reich makes clear, “We need to demonstrate not just against Trump but also for the America we want,” and this episode is …

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Episode 694: DON INGBER (2012)-Biotech Breakthroughs at Harvard’s Wyss Institute reveal costs of Trump’s research cuts 1:00:00

7M ago1:00:00

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The chaos Trump is creating in Southern California is a distraction from the other cruel, careless, and destructive actions of his administration. The assault on higher education and Harvard University in particular will cost us enormously, especially in terms of medicine and science. Here’s my 2012 conversation with Don Ingber, founding director o…

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Episode 693: Why do humans thrive? What about AI?-LESLIE VALIANT-THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EDUCABLE 55:46

7M ago55:46

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Today’s conversation with Turing Award-winning computer scientist LESLIE VALIANT explores a question I find myself returning to over and over again – What makes us human? What unique abilities have allowed homo sapiens to succeed, flourish, and dominate – knowing it’s not our size, strength, or speed. His new book, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EDUCABLE:…

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Episode 692: Who was Jesus? ELAINE PAGELS - MIRACLES AND WONDER: The Historical Mystery of Jesus 1:00:00

7M ago1:00:00

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With the recent death of Pope Francis and the election of Leo XIV, feels like a good time to talk with best-selling author ELAINE PAGELS about her new book, MIRACLES AND WONDER: The Historical Mystery of Jesus. In it, she asks: Why is Jesus said to have had a virgin birth? Why do we say he rose from the dead? Did his miracles really happen and, if …

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Episode 691: CHUCK COLLINS, Inequality.org, THE WEALTH HOARDERS: How Billionaires Pay Millions to Hide Trillions 1:00:48

8M ago1:00:48

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While Trump is in the Middle East making family business deals, House Republicans today proposed their tax cut bill, with a price tag of nearly $5T, paid for with cuts to Medicaid, food stamps, green energy programs, and everything else DOGE took a chainsaw to. But who actually pays taxes these days? The US is now the world’s second largest tax hav…

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Episode 690: PAUL HAWKEN-Step back, reframe, connect-CARBON: The Tree of Life 58:16

8M ago58:16

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I don’t say I'm concerned about “the environment.” Rather I see our goal as a healthy relationship with the rest of nature. PAUL HAWKEN’s new book CARBON: The Tree of Life takes a step back from the problem-solving approach of most of his work. He calls us to a deeper understanding of our place in the scheme of things as absolutely essential not ju…

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Episode 689: THE SQUARE (2013)-Director & Producer of Oscar-nominated doc on Egyptian protests that overthrew Mubarak 58:56

8M ago58:56

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When we the people are called to show up in the streets over and over in growing numbers till the powers that enable Trump withdraw support and authoritarian dominoes fall, here’s my 2013 conversation about Egypt’s Arab spring. The documentary THE SQUARE puts you in Tahrir Square as revolution swirls around you. The film follows a handful of activi…

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Episode 688: JAMES THORNTON-ClientEarth-Crushing polluters in court around the globe 1:02:35

8M ago1:02:35

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Wrapping up Earth Month, I speak with JAMES THORNTON, founder of ClientEarth, the preeminent environmental law group, with 300 lawyers holding governments and companies accountable across the globe. He steps down as the group’s president this month after 18 years. Their work training the Chinese - including their Supreme Court - in environmental la…

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Episode 687: PAUL HAWKEN (2021)-REGENERATION: Placing Life at the Center of All We Do 59:49

8M ago59:49

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Trump sows cruel, careless, criminal, incompetent chaos - even in Earth Month. Here’s my 2021 conversation with PAUL HAWKEN about his book, REGENERATION: ENDING THE CLIMATE CRISIS IN ONE GENERATION, and the organization dedicated to making that a reality. Here’s a chance to step back or sink deeper into the promise and the challenge of making a reg…

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Episode 686: Fox’s Lone Liberal-JUAN WILLIAMS-The Rise of America's Second Civil Rights Movement 1:08:30

9M ago1:08:30

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In 1987, 33-year-old JUAN WILLIAMS wrote the bestselling history Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years 1954–1965, which accompanied the PBS series of the same name. Now 71, after 10 years at NPR and 28 at Fox News, he’s written New Prize for These Eyes: The Rise of America's Second Civil Rights Movement. He sees this movement rooted in Ob…

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Episode 685: WHY CIVIL RESISTANCE WORKS-ERICA CHENOWETH (2019) - When nonviolent mass protests involve 3.5%, regimes fall. 52:09

9M ago52:09

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HANDS OFF - national mobilization opposing Trump & Musk SATURDAY APRIL 5. Sponsors include Indivisible, MoveOn, Third Act, Our Revolution, Common Cause, People for American Way, Planned Parenthood, UAW, SEIU, many more. Need motivation? Here’s my 2019 conversation with ERICA CHENOWETH, Professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School and author of WHY CIVIL R…

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Episode 684: What About Climate? ALEXANDER KAUFMAN - natural & political disasters - supply & demand 1:11:20

9M ago1:11:20

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The destructive pace and scale of Trump2.0 makes it hard to know what deserves and demands our attention. This week we step back from daily news to focus on climate with award-winning journalist ALEXANDER KAUFMAN. We look at the toll of climate related disasters and migration; the latest on the science, what have we learned over the last year or so…

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Episode 683: How Poor Immigrant Children Succeed in Inner City Philly-SISTERS CONSTANCE TOUEY & JEANNETTE LUCEY 1:00:00

9M ago1:00:00

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The headlines are full of the cruel, unjust, illegal, unconstitutional, and costly treatment of immigrants by the Trump administration. Here’s my 2019 conversation with SISTERS CONSTANCE TOUEY and JEANNETTE LUCEY. They met in 1984 when both were assigned to a parish K-8 school in inner city Philadelphia. Their book, DO IT BETTER: How the Kids of St…

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Episode 682: Can we the people join forces? DIANA McLAIN SMITH-REMAKING THE SPACE BETWEEN US 59:52

10M ago59:52

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It’s up to us. Political parties, political players, and the media promote and profit from our division. We the people have ultimate responsibility for healing our politics and our society. In her book, REMAKING THE SPACE BETWEEN US: How Citizens Can Work Together to Build a Better Future for All, DIANA McLAIN SMITH has good news. The media doesn’t…

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Episode 681: JULIE BATTILANA-POWER FOR ALL-How do we get it and use it to change the world? 1:00:00

10M ago1:00:00

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Feeling pissed, panicked, powerless? That’s what they want. How do we turn things around? Here’s my refreshing 2021 conversation with JULIE BATTILANA, Harvard professor and founder of its Social Innovation and Change Initiative about her book POWER FOR ALL. It's a call not only to understand and assert power in our own lives, but also to collective…

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Episode 680: Rich walk. Poor go to jail. AMY BACH (2009)-ORDINARY INJUSTICE 55:14

10M ago55:14

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When Trump sits in the White House dispensing pardons to other convicted felons - and an ambassadorship or two, when he was able to run out the clock on justice with his political donors paying most of his legal bills, when so many actions this administration has taken in the first month serve to eliminate or disable accountability or oversight… He…

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Episode 679: JAMES STEELE-of investigative reporting team, Barlett & Steele-AMERICA: What Went Wrong? The Crisis Deepens 1:00:00

11M ago1:00:00

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I’m honored to talk with JAMES STEELE, of the investigative reporting team, Barlett & Steele. He and DON BARLETT worked together for over 50 years, won journalism’s highest awards, wrote nine books. Don Barlett died this past fall. Their 1991 Philadelphia Inquirer series America: What Went Wrong? showed how Wall Street and Washington were squeezing…

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Episode 678: JEAN GUERRERO(2020)-HATEMONGER: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, & the White Nationalist Agenda 59:51

11M ago59:51

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Ever the real estate guy, Trump unleashes a demo crew on the government, says US should develop Gaza’s beachfront. Elon Musk invades federal agencies, accesses all our data, brags about throwing our global humanitarian aid in a wood chipper. Criminal, cruel, and unconstitutional. Here’s my 2020 conversation with JEAN GUERRERO, about her book, HATEM…

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Episode 677: STEVE SCHMIDT-Straight talk from former GOP strategist, co-founder, Lincoln Project 1:20:03

11M ago1:20:03

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A week into Trump 2.0, the cruelty and overreach are on full display, and the media and the Democrats are not up to the challenge. I turn to longtime Republican strategist, STEVE SCHMIDT, who abandoned the GOP in 2018 and co-founded the Lincoln Project. He’s now perhaps the most articulate, full-throated and damning critic of his former party and t…

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Episode 676: The time I was the guest. TERRENCE McNALLY(2014)-interviewed by SARA DAVIDSON 56:11

11M ago56:11

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TERRENCE McNALLY is my guest this week. In February 2014, I took a hiatus from this show after 17 years. I thought it might be the end of the line, and before signing off, turned to journalist and best-selling author, SARA DAVIDSON, to interview me. I returned to these conversations In 2017 after Trump’s election. So here we are - 11 years after th…

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Episode 675: A life in books & newspapers-editor & publisher-STEVE WASSERMAN, TELL ME SOMETHING. TELL ME ANYTHING. EVEN IF IT’S A LIE. 1:00:00

12M ago1:00:00

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STEVE WASSERMAN has spent half a century in the world of books, newspapers, and ideas, as an opinion editor at the LA Times, editor of the LA Times Book Review; and as an editor at several major publishers. We’ll talk about that lifetime of work, how publishing and the press have changed, and about his first book, a memoir, TELL ME SOMETHING. TELL …

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Episode 674: What were we thinking last time? NAOMI KLEIN (2017) NO IS NOT ENOUGH: Resisting Trump's Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need 54:48

12M ago54:48

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With Trump acting as if he were already president - and madly so - a number of the wealthy and powerful are stepping over each other to obey in advance. A clear step on the path toward authoritarianism cited by both Tim Snyder in On Tyranny and Daniel Ziblatt & Stephen Levitsky in How Democracies Die - here’s my conversation with Naomi Klein, recor…

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Episode 673: SAM DALEY HARRIS-RECLAIMING OUR DEMOCRACY-Transformational Advocacy Between Elections 1:00:10

12M ago1:00:10

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Happy New Year! Let’s work together locally & personally in 2025 as citizens and neighbors to overcome the political and media failures that brought us to this place. Here’s my conversation with SAM DALEY-HARRIS, founder of the anti-poverty lobby Results, about RECLAIMING OUR DEMOCRACY: Every Citizen’s Guide to Transformational Advocacy (2024 editi…

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Episode 672: DREW GILPIN FAUST-1st female Harvard president-NECESSARY TROUBLE: Growing Up Southern in Midcentury 1:02:05

1y ago1:02:05

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What was it like for a girl to grow up in Virginia in the days of legal segregation and civil rights battles? What was it like to go to college in the days of the women’s and anti-war movements? The first female president of Harvard (2007-18), DREW GILPIN FAUST, and I are contemporaries, and we look back together at our young years in the South and…

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Episode 671: We were warned-DON BARLETT (RIP) & JIM STEELE-The BETRAYAL of the AMERICAN DREAM (2012) 58:04

1y ago58:04

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I was saddened to learn of the recent passing of Donald Barlett. Here's my 2012 conversation with him & Jim Steele, about their book, Betrayal of the American Dream - one of my favorites. Had the Democratic party heeded their warnings about rising inequality & the destruction of the Middle Class, Trump would never have been President. To say nothin…

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Episode 670: MARSHALL GANZ-PEOPLE, POWER, CHANGE: Organizing for Democratic Renewal-lessons of MLK, UFW, Obama ’08 1:02:10

1y ago1:02:10

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MARSHALL GANZ worked on organizing campaigns with Mississippi Freedom Summer in 1964 and Cesar Chavez and UFW for 16 years, helped devise the grass-roots organizing model for Obama’s 2008 campaign, and teaches organizing and public narrative at Harvard. We talk about his life’s work and his new book PEOPLE, POWER, CHANGE:Organizing for Democratic R…

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Episode 669: Good News on the Menu-PAULA DANIELS (2019)-Transforming our food system one county, one school district at a time 1:00:00

1y ago1:00:00

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I talk with PAULA DANIELS, Co-Founder, Chair of the Board of the Center for Good Food Purchasing, and recently announced initial director of the Los Angeles County Office of Food Equity, which aims to address the root causes of food-system problems in the region. We talk about what it takes to pull together elements of business, entrepreneurism, po…

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Episode 668: THOM HARTMANN-HIDDEN HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN DREAM: The Demise of the Middle Class & the Roots of MAGA 29:57

1y ago29:57

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In 2024, Republicans won the popular vote for only the second time since 1980. After the worst four years of his life, Trump, running against the best administration for labor in years, won bigger numbers than 2020 among working class voters - including Blacks & Latinos. Hartmann’s new book, THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN DREAM: The Demise of t…

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