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We talk with John Nichols about his recent article for the Nation magazine, “Democrats Must Reject Not Just a Billionaire but the Billionaire Class“.
Then, we switch gears to talk with novelist, biographer and now short story writer Lucy Hughes-Hallet about her new collection of stories based on myths and fables. It’s called Fabulous.
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Investigative reporter Greg Palast recently won a groundbreaking judgement from a federal court judge in Georgia that promises to open up to public scrutiny the massive 2018 purge of the voter rolls conducted by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp when he was Georgia’s Secretary of State — and his work with voter suppression impresario Kris Kobach to disenfranchise voters in other states, as well.
WV called Palast up for an in-depth look at that ruling, as well as voter suppression (or, as Palast calls it, “voter theft”) in other states. Continue reading
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We talk with filmmaker Deborah Shaffer and film editor Rachel Reichman about Queen Of Hearts, their wonderful documentary about the life and work of Audrey Flack.
Then we talk with investigative journalist Greg Palast about the important victory he just won in court to force the Governor of Georgia to release the details of a huge purge of mostly African American voters in the 2018 Georgia election. Continue reading
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This week’s episode gives us a sorely-needed message of hope. If we just simply let nature take its course, we can restore the Earth. We talk with Isabella Tree about her book Wilding – the Return of Nature to a British Farm. It’s out from Picador Press.
Then, we talk with Nation magazine contributor Jeet Heer about the Iowa caucus debacle, the progressive wing of the Democratic presidential campaign, and Michael Bloomberg, on its billionaire wing.
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Remember the Australian wildfires? The ones that killed some one billion animals and torched millions of acres of land? Well, Australia is still in fire season, and, as late as yesterday, February 5, they were still going on. There’s a temporary reprieve, as Australia braces for torrential rainfall, but they will no doubt be back.
A few days ago, Francesca spoke by Skype with journalist Daniel Judt about his recent piece in the Nation, “Australia’s Devastating Wildfires Were Not Inevitable.” It is the second in a three-part series on climate by Judt; the first in the series is “In Senegal, Climate Change is Robbing Thousands of Their Homes.”
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Michael Klare talks about his new book, All Hell Breaking Loose: The Pentagon’s Perspective On Climate Change.
Then we air a clip from our 2011 interview with Christian Parenti about his book, Tropic Of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence.
We also review a terrific new thriller from Hilary Davidson, Don’t Look Down.
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Critics have tried to tar Bernie Sanders with the brush of sexism, implied if not explicit. But gender studies scholar Sara Matthiesen says Bernie could be the first feminist president. We talk with her about her article in the Nation, “Bernie Could be America’s First Feminist President.”
Then, with all its importance to the lives of most Americans, Social Security doesn’t often make it into the headlines. That changed this week when the Sanders campaign charged that Joe Biden’s record on Social Security is flawed, suggesting it could weaken him against Trump in the general election. We spoke with Washington Post columnist Helaine Olen about her recent post, “Sanders is right: Biden is Vulnerable to Trump on Social Security.”
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We talk with Alyss Thomas about her guide to journaling: The Journal Writer’s Companion. Then, we check in with Thomas’ brother Gareth St. John Thomas about his terrific guide to learning and writing about a family member’s history. It’s called Finding True Connections.
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Today, we talk with spy fiction writer Alan Furst about his latest book, Under Occupation. Then we air excerpts from interviews we did with him about his previous novels, Spies of the Balkans and The Foreign Correspondent.
We also play a recording of a poem by the Greek poet C.P. Cavafy, Waiting for the Barbarians, translated from the Greek by Edmund Keeley.
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Episode #573
We remember two authors we interviewed in years past who died in 2019. First, we re-play our 2009 interview with William Greider about his book, Come Home America. Greider passed away on Christmas Day 2019. We also hear from my 2011 interview with Harold Bloom, who also passed away in 2019.
Then, we dip into Francesca’s audio archive for an interview she did with Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul & Mary in 2017 at an event honoring the Reverend Dr. William Barber — and we hear from Barber, as well, talking about his Poor People’s Campaign.
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Episode #572
It’s that time of year when media folks look back and try to pick out the Ten Best of whatever we produced or reviewed this year. You might as well gather them all up in a hat and toss the contents against the wall, we loved all our darlings so much.
But there were some standouts and so we winnowed down the list of about twenty to ten and then picked four to air excerpts from. Then we list the remaining six below.
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We talk with Current Affairs editor Nathan J. Robinson about his new book, Why You Should Be A Socialist: A Primer On Democratic Socialism For Those Who Are Extremely Skeptical Of It.
Then, energy and conflict analyst Michael Klare tells us how the US military will have to change in the face of the climate catastrophe. His recent article in the Nation is “When the Climate Replaces Our Forever Wars.”
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We talk with Richard Louv, author of Last Child In The Woods, about his new book, OUR WILD CALLING: How Connecting with Animals Can Transform Our Lives”•and Save Theirs.
Then, we play an excerpt from our 2015 interview with Carl Safina about his book BEYOND WORDS, What Animals Think and Feel.
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We talk with historian David Silverman about his book This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving.
Then, we continue our Thanksgiving week tradition of hearing Native American storyteller and ethnohistorian Marge Bruchac talk about Thanksgiving from the Native point of view — and her re-telling of the Story of Corn.
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We talk with Mimi Lemay about her powerful memoir of a family with a transgender child, What We Will Become: A Mother, a Son, and a Journey of Transformation.
Then, we welcome a special guest to our show, Senator Sherrod Brown. He’ll tell us about his new book, Desk 88: Eight Progressive Senators Who Changed America. It’s a celebration of eight former progressive senators who sat at the desk he occupies in the Senate.