America's Democrats
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CONFRONTING THE THREAT OF RIGHT-WING EXTREMISM. Alexandra Minna Stern on the changing face of America’s far right. Michael Koncewicz on why Trump’s impeachment was a different kind of challenge for Republicans than Nixon’s. Plus Metropolitan Police officer Michael Fanone tells Bill Press why He is speaking out against political violence and those who foment it. ALEXANDRA MINNA STERN Alexandra Minna Stern’s research takes her deep into the dark matter of America’s far right. She says it’s a movement in transition, and an ever growing threat to our democracy. MICHAEL KONCEWICZ Michael Koncewicz’s most recent book on Republicans who defied Richard Nixon carries new relevance to the present day with Trump’s impeachment. Koncewicz says what makes today different is a greater fear among Republicans that challenging this President will be at their political expense. JIM HIGHTOWER HOW MONEY IS SUFFOCATING AMERICAN DEMOCRACY America exists today as a bizarre anomaly – we profess to be an electoral democracy, yet we are ruled by a governmental plutocracy. One especially gross example of this incongruity is the overwhelming power of big money over the people’s will. By a wide margin, Americans of all political stripes want to ban the distorting force of huge, electoral campaign donations by favor-seeking corporations and ultra-rich elites. BILL PRESS ONE COP'S BATTLE FOR AMERICA'S SOUL WITH MICHAEL FANONE. Before January 6th 2021, Metropolitan Police officer Michael Fanone was a self-described redneck who had voted for Donald Trump. On January 6th, he was dragged down the Capitol steps, beaten with a Blue Lives Matter flag, tased and tear-gassed. Rioters had threatened to shoot him, but he pleaded for his life telling them he had children. That day changed his life forever. Now retired from the DC Police, , Fanone has written Hold the Line: The Insurrection and One Cop's Battle for America's Soul with John Shiffman. He is also speaking out against political violence and those who foment it. If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
THE ORIGINS AND LEGACY OF THE NEW DEAL Terry Golway tells us how the Irish political machine known as Tammany Hall became the forerunner of the New Deal. Historian Harvey Kaye reminds us of FDR’s Four Freedoms speech and the legacy that remains unfulfilled. TERRY GOLWAY Tammany Hall no longer exists, but when it did, the New York political machine created a social safety net at the neighborhood level long before government programs came along. Author Terry Golway thinks we still need strong political organizations like that. HARVEY KAYE New Deal historian Harvey Kaye says President Reagan turned FDR upside down and inside out and progressives have to reclaim his legacy. JIM HIGHTOWER SHHH, THE GOVERNOR IS LISTENING Although we haven’t even gotten through this year’s midterm congressional elections, it’s still not too early to start examining some of the characters who hope you’ll make them president in 2024. I know, you don’t want to… but we must. That’s because corporate elites have already chosen their favorites, and they intend to use massive sums of money, lies, more money, PR slickum, and even more money to slide their toady into the Oval Office. BILL PRESS THE BIG TRUTH VS. THE BIG LIE WITH MAJOR GARRETT The Big Truth: Upholding Democracy in the Age of “The Big Lie,”is the new book by Major Garret, chief Washington correspondent for CBS News. His co-author is David Becker, the Executive Director and Founder of the nonpartisan, non-profit Center for Election Innovation & Research, working with election officials of both parties, all around the country, to ensure accessible, secure elections for all eligible voters. If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
Former Cleveland mayor Dennis Kucinich on his battle to save the city’s public electric utility. Julie Kohn on lessons learned from the Texas power grid failure. DENNIS KUCINICH In his new memoir, Dennis Kucinich writes about how he took on powerful interests to save a public utility. That happened over forty years ago, but the story still carries critical relevance today. JULIE KOHN After a historic winter storm left millions of Texans in the dark and without heat, energy experts are looking for ways to stop it from happening again. Julie Kohn says that means rethinking the state’s isolation from the nation’s power grid. JIM HIGHTOWER BEWARE: THE GOP HAS CHOSEN TO EMBRACE THE CRAZY Perhaps you remember Sen. Barry Goldwater, the GOP’s fringy, far-right-wing 1964 presidential nominee who famously said, “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice.” Today, however, the core of the Republicans Party has gone so far beyond the fringe that they would boo Goldwater’s right-wingism as insufficiently rabid. Instead, their new rallying cry is: “Nuttiness in the defense of extremism is no vice.” The GOP’s mainline officialdom now proclaim themselves The Party of Extremism. BILL PRESS "CONFIDENCE MAN" BY TRUMP BIOGRAPHER MAGGIE HABERMAN Confidence Man. The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America by the foremost interpreter of Donald Trump, the New York Times' Maggie Haberman. Haberman, a Pulitzer Prize winner, takes a different approach to the “Trump Book.” She goes all the way back to his days in New York to understand the man who became president. Who, she says, is not much different than the man who raged through New York in the ‘70’s, ‘80’s and ‘90’s. If you want to understand Donald Trump, you have to understand Donald Trump in that uniquely New York milieu. If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
CAN UNIONS SAVE DEMOCRACY? Author and organizer Jane McAlevey on her new book, A Collective Bargain: Unions, Organizing, and the Fight for Democracy. Plus, the millionaires who want to pay more taxes, not less. JANE MCALEVEY PT. 1 At a time when workers are under attack at historic levels, strikes are making a comeback. In that, Jane McAlevey sees an opportunity to reset power and politics in America, and clear a path to progressive change. JANE MCALEVEY PT. 2 Jane McAlevey about her powerful new book, A Collective Bargain: Unions, Organizing, and the Fight for Democracy. She makes the case that unions are central to challenging the corporate class and restoring democracy in America. But what about the millions of workers who don’t have a union? For Jane McAlevey, that translates into even more opportunities to build the power of organized labor. JIM HIGHTOWER MY NEWSPAPER DIED My newspaper died. Well, technically it still appears, but it has no life, no news, and barely a pulse. It’s a mere semblance of a real paper, one of the hundreds of local journalism zombies staggering along in cities and towns that had long relied on them. Each one has a bare number of subscribers keeping it going, mostly longtime readers like me clinging to a memory of what used to be and a flickering hope that, surely, the thing won’t get worse. Then it does. BILL PRESS "A PRESIDENCY TOTALLY OUT OF CONTROL." Peter Baker, The New York Times Chief White House Correspondent and Susan Glasser, a Staff Writer for The New Yorker have created a masterpiece of journalism in their new book, The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021. It paints a presidency that was totally out of control, far worse than any we've ever experienced. If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
THE COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. AND LBJ Two historians of the civil rights movement assess the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. JULIAN ZELIZER Julian Zelizer is a Princeton scholar of Lyndon Johnson as well as the civil rights movement. He says civil rights activism is no longer as organized or coherent as it was when it sought, and won, passage of the Voting Rights Act. DAVID CHAPPELL Historian David Chappell explains the post-Martin Luther King Jr. trajectory of the civil rights movement, which he says may have been only a historical artifact with King as the central figure. JIM HIGHTOWER THE INFLATION BLAME GAME Today, CEOs of big corporations are playing the tricky “Inflation Blame Game!” Publicly, they moan that the pandemic is slamming their poor corporations with factory shutdowns, supply chain delays, wage hikes, and other increased costs. But wait – inside their board rooms, executives are high-fiving each other and pocketing bonuses. What’s going on? The trick is that these giants are in non-competitive markets operating as monopolies, so they can set prices, mug you and me, and scamper away with record profits. BILL PRESS "A PRESIDENCY TOTALLY OUT OF CONTROL." Peter Baker, The New York Times Chief White House Correspondent and Susan Glasser, a Staff Writer for The New Yorker have created a masterpiece of journalism in their new book, The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021. It paints a presidency that was totally out of control, far worse than any we've ever experienced. If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
HOW DEMOCRATS FORGOT ABOUT STATE POLITICS Professor Theda Skocpol explains how the Democrats ceded control of state government to Republicans. THEDA SKOCPOL Government professor Theda Skocpol says Democrats think the presidency is the biggest political prize and, unfortunately, ignore politics at the state level. JIM HIGHTOWER THE VIRGINIA MODEL Last year’s gubernatorial race in Virginia was narrowly won by Republican Glenn Youngkin. An elite Wall Street multimillionaire, he was going to lose – until he discovered a right-wing racist bugaboo called Critical Race Theory. Glenn suddenly turned into an anti-CRT attack dog, fomenting parental fear and promising to sweep all teaching of the theory out of Virginia classrooms. But, golly, CRT was not actually taught in any of the state’s public schools. BILL PRESS THE GOP'S LONG-TIME DESCENT INTO CRAZY. It did not start with Donald Trump. In Mother Jones’ Washington Bureau Chief David Corn's new book, he details the long history of Republican Party condoning and encouraging crazy conspiracies to gain and hold on to power. It’s called American Psychosis, a Historical Investigation of How the Republican Party Went Crazy. If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF LADY BIRD JOHNSON. Julia Sweig on her book Lady Bird Johnson: Hiding in Plain Sight. Her political acumen was key in guiding the Johnson administration through the turbulent times after John F Kennedy’s assasination. JULIA SWEIG In her biography of Lady Bird Johnson, Julia Sweig reveals the unappreciated impact of a remarkable first lady during a historic turning point in American politics. JIM HIGHTOWER ASSORTED NUTS Let me say one word to you: Nuts. Now, let me say one name to you: Ted Cruz. They’ve become synonymous, with the Texas lawmaker perennially topping national lists of goofy, right-wing political goobers. Only, Ted can’t rightly be called a lawmaker, for he’s not a serious participant in that process, instead devoting his senatorship to political stunts and picking silly PR fights with a growing list of enemies. BILL PRESS `THE IMPERFECT UNION OF JOE BIDEN AND BARACK OBAMA." How did Barack Obama and Joe Biden meet? What did they think of each other? Was there really a bromance? And how did these two very different men form a very successful partnership for eight years in the White House. What did Barack Obama think of Biden’s chances in 2020? What is their relationship today? All those questions and more are answered in the new book, "The Long Alliance. The Imperfect Union of Joe Biden and Barack Obama" by New York Magazine National Correspondent Gabriel Debenedetti. If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
Jim Tankersley on the untold story of America’s middle class and why it matters now. JIM TANKERSLEY Jim Tankersley’s newest book reveals the crucial role women and minorities played in building the post-war middle class. He says it’s an untold story that offers an essential roadmap to reviving the Golden Era of America’s middle class by making it possible again for all workers to reach their full potential. JIM HIGHTOWER WELCOME TO OUR FUTURE OF “DIGITAL PRODUCTIVITY MONITORING” For generations, workers have been punished by corporate bosses for watching the clock. But now, the corporate clock is watching workers! Called “digital productivity monitoring,” this surveillance is done by an integrated computer system including a real-time clock, camera, keyboard tracker, and algorithms to provide a second-by-second record of what each employee is doing. BILL PRESS MIDTERMS: RED WAVE OR BLUE SAVE? Two months to the midterms. Bill talks to Steven Shepard, the Senior campaigns and elections editor and chief polling analyst for Politico. The often predicted Red Wave for the GOP has disappeared. But has this made a Blue Save possible? If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
KEEPING UP THE FIGHT AGAINST VOTER SUPPRESSION. Jorge Vasquez, Jr. on why he will continue to fight against voter suppression. JORGE L. VASQUEZ, JR. Jorge L. Vasquez, Jr. is a long-time advocate for voting rights. He says that even with record turnout in the November election, there is still a long way to go before voter suppression is a thing of the past. JIM HIGHTOWER THE EMBARRASSMENT OF MODERN CORPORATE MANAGERS What makes a newspaper great? Many say it’s having street-savvy reporters and editors with the integrity to shine the light of investigative journalism on the power structure’s abuses. But, no, says Fred Ryan, top executive of the Washington Post – the secret is attendance. BILL PRESS LABORATORIES OF AUTOCRACY We say it all the time. Down ballot races are very important. Lauren Baer is someone doing something about it. She is the Managing Partner at Arena, an organization convening training and supporting the next generation of candidates and campaign staff. With an emphasis on diversifying young people going into Democratic politics. But she is no newcomer to policy and politics. She spent six years in the State Department working for Hillary Clinton and John Kerry and Samantha power at the United Nations. She ran for Congress in Florida in a Purple to Red district and got more votes than any Democrat ever had. If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
Professor Gordon Lafer says issues like the minimum wage, a living wage and paid sick days are winning issues politically and progressive candidates should call out big business – and win. Service Employees International Union leader David Rolf takes us through the increasingly successful fight for a 15-dollar an hour minimum wage. GORDON LAFER As we commemorate another Labor Day, professor Gordon Lafer reminds us that unions gave us the minimum wage, the 8-hour day, and child labor laws – all of which were opposed by the Chamber of Commerce, which continues to oppose what most working Americans demand. DAVID ROLF The “Fight for 15,” organized labor’s move to raise the minimum wage, is having success, state by state, reports Service Employees union leader David Rolf. JIM HIGHTOWER CLUELESS CEOS CONFUSED BY WORKERS QUITTING For more than a year, America’s corporate chieftains have been moaning about “The Great Resignation” – the recent phenomena of workers just up and quitting their jobs. And now comes “Quiet Quitting,” workers who don’t leave their jobs, but only do what they were hired to do, quietly rejecting the endless extra (unpaid) tasks and weekend assignments that bosses try to pile on. What’s at work in the heads of all these workers? BILL PRESS REP. JACKIE SPEIER IS RETIRING, BUT SHE LEAVES A LEGACY FOR WOMEN Congresswoman Jackie Speier represents California's 14th congressional district just south of San Francisco. Jackie has been a strong leader on the important issue of sexual assault in the military. She's been relentless going after the Generals in the Pentagon pressuring them to take cases of sexual assault out of the military chain of command. Where they were too often just swept under the rug. Rep. Speier is retiring this year and reflects on the current fragile state of American Democracy. If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
Sam Berger of the Center for American Progress draws the parallels between Richard Nixon and Donald Trump, and asks us to take a lesson from how the nation recovered from Watergate. Karen Hobert Flynn, the President of Common Cause, explains why a national popular vote is a better way to pick the next president. SAM BERGER In the wake of Watergate, a wave of reforms were ushered in to repair a dysfunctional government and regain the public’s trust in its leaders. Sam Berger is a policy analyst who says that moment in history has much to offer in the modern day. KAREN HOBERT FLYNN Karen Hobert Flynn leads one of the nation’s leading organizations dedicated to strengthening democracy. That’s why she says it’s time for the nation to change the way we elect our President. JIM HIGHTOWER WHERE’S THE “DIGNITY OF WORK” WHEN WORK KILLS WORKERS? Corporate acolytes and right-wing moralists constantly preach to laboring stiffs about the uplifting dignity of work. Of course, that’s “dignity” as defined and controlled by corporate elites, not by workers, and the reward for it frequently includes on-the-job injuries… and death. Not that CEOs and well-heeled investors intend to sicken, maim, and kill thousands of laborers every year – but they certainly do put them in positions that assure such unhappy results. BILL PRESS WH DOCUMENTS: HOW IT’S SUPPOSED TO WORK. With all the talk over the last two weeks about the documents in the basement of Mar-a-Lago, Bill decided to talk to a man who oversaw presidential documents in the Obama White House. Greg Craig was Obama's White House Counsel. He knows the rules and he saw them followed completely. It's a tale of two presidencies. And it's not a pretty picture. For the country, or Donald Trump. If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
THE DESTRUCTIVE INFLUENCE OF “DARK MONEY” IN CAMPAIGN FINANCE. The truth on how American elections are bought and sold. Plus, Fred Wertheimer and the movement to restore ethics and integrity to government. KIMBERLY REED Kimberly Reed’s film, “Dark Money”, is a powerful expose of the influence of anonymous donors in political campaigns. She says growing up in Montana gave her a front-row seat to the corrupting influence of money in politics and the perfect setting to tell that story. FRED WERTHEIMER Fred Wertheimer has played a key role in every major campaign finance reform and ethics battle in Congress since the post-Watergate reforms in the 1970s. He continues that career as President of Democracy 21, where he calls on Congress to restore integrity to governing. JIM HIGHTOWER A TEAR-JERKER ABOUT THE HOUSING SAGA OF SOME RICH JERKS The “old homeplace” is a classic theme of Americana, expressed in everything from Norman Rockwell paintings to Woody Guthrie’s powerful folk lament, “I Ain’t Got No Home In This World Anymore.” But for a heart-rending, modern-day version of the emotional pull of home, you can’t beat the poignant wail of a new song entitled: “The Low-down Down-home Atherton Rich Man Blues.” Warning: You might need a box of tissues to get through this sad saga. BILL PRESS THE 25 YEAR CRACK-UP OF THE GOP The Destructionists: The Twenty-Five Year Crack-Up of the Republican Party is the new book by Washington Post Opinion Columnist, Dana Milbank. In this interview with Bill, he takes us from Newt Gingrich in 1990’s all the way to the GOP response to the Mar-a-Lago Search Warrant. And now we have one party that is not committed to our democracy. If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
It’s a new day in the climate battle that can only be fought by believing we can still make a difference. MICHAEL MANN Climate scientist Michael Mann has achieved fame for his work in proving climate change is happening. He says that even as we move past climate denialism, the battle over how to take action against global warming is as urgent as ever. DAN GLICKMAN There’s a growing acknowledgment that even as agriculture feels some of the worst impacts of climate change, it also contributes to the crisis. Former Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman says farmers can be part of the solution and public policy can help them do that. JIM HIGHTOWER GOOD NEWS: SMALL GROUPS CAN DEFEAT CORPORATE GIANTS From corporate polluters to political bosses, power elites try to create a myth of inevitability, trying to make workaday people feel helpless, too small to change the injustices of the system. Don’t bother is their message. But the feisty residents of Boxtown, Tennessee, definitely did bother when they learned that a couple of profiteering fossil fuel giants were targeting them. BILL PRESS THE DANGER OF "CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM." The First Amendment of the Constitution is pretty clear: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” But the GOP and MAGA World are increasingly promoting something called “Christian Nationalism.” What is it? Is it dangerous? Bill talked to his old friend the Reverend Barry Lynn who has spent his entire life fighting to keep the wall up between Church and State as well as many progressive causes. For 25 years he was Executive Director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
Lessons we learned from the Kennedys, and what they can teach us about today’s political climate. RICHARD KAHLENBERG Robert Kennedy ran an economically populist campaign that reached across America’s deep racial divide. Richard Kahlenberg says his legacy matters now more than ever. KATHLEEN KENNEDY TOWNSEND IN ONE OF OUR FIRST INTERVIEWS RECORDED FOR THIS SHOW, WE INTERVIEWED KATHLEEN KENNEDY TOWNSEND ABOUT AN ARTICLE SHE WROTE FOR THE WASHINGTON POST ABOUT HOW HER UNCLE, JOHN F KENNEDY, RECONCILED HIS PUBLIC SERVICE AND HIS CATHOLIC FAITH WITHOUT COMPROMISING EITHER. JIM HIGHTOWER SHOULD MAKING A LIVING MEAN SELLING YOUR LIFE? “Work your fingers to the bone – whadda ya get? Boney Fingers.” This 1960s song mocking the vaunted virtue of working hard is being sung today with new meaning by all kinds of employees – from factory workers to teachers… and even a few upper-floor executives. BILL PRESS "RAGE" AGAINST THE "PRO-LIFE" MACHINE When Bill talked to Jacqueline Ayers, the Senior Vice president at Planned Parenthood for Policy, Campaigns and Advocacy, the word “rage” came up six times. Rage against this latest Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe V Wade. Rage against the state legislatures and governors who are instituting draconian abortion bans. Rage against the burdens put on health care providers who have to consult with lawyers, or look over their shoulder at prosecutors, when trying merely to save a woman's life. If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
The past, present and future of progressives in the Senate. Senator Sherrod Brown on his book Desk 88: Eight Progressive Senators Who Changed America. SHERROD BROWN Senator Sherrod Brown’s most recent book offers a timely history of 20th-century American progressivism. Along the way he makes a compelling case to believe in the future of the Progressive idea in American politics. TODD GITLIN Columbia University professor Todd Gitlin, a long-time chronicler of progressive politics, urges the left to nail down a simple program that appeals to the general public. JIM HIGHTOWER A RUBE GOLDBERG INFLATIONARY SPIRAL Last July, several GOP senators combined their 5-watt intellects to charge that inflation was rising because of the “insane tax and spending spree of President Biden and the Democrats.” Never mind that the “insane” spending is for such sensible, productive, and enormously popular national needs as childcare and jobless benefits, Mitch McConnell’s rabidly partisan flock saw the chance to politicize the public’s legitimate worries about rising prices. BILL PRESS THE DARKER SIDE OF RIGHT-WING MEDIA As Bill used to say on his radio show, you don't need to watch Fox News or listen to Rush Limbaugh, because Media Matters for America was doing it for you. They're still doing it and they've added other right-wing outlets like One America News Network or OAN. In today's podcast, Media Matters writer Bobby Lewis takes us down the dark rabbit hole that is OAN. It's not only dark, it's dangerous. If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
RAISE THE MINIMUM WAGE. Revisiting some of the conversations we have had about raising the minimum wage. DAVID COOPER Progressive Democrats have made raising the minimum wage a priority for the new administration. And for a good reason. David Cooper says a $15 minimum wage would lift pay for tens of millions of workers and help reverse decades of growing pay inequality. JANELLE JONES Economic analyst Janelle Jones says a higher minimum wage is a crucial tool in bridging our nation’s widening income inequality gap And in the face of federal inaction, cities and states are setting up to the plate. JIM HIGHTOWER WHIP INFLATION NOW! Republican politicos are all over Joe Biden for failing to stop inflation. Perhaps you wonder, though, what these squawkers would do if they were in charge? No need to wonder – just look back to 1974, when Americans were being pummeled by price spikes that topped 12%, nearly double what we’re enduring today. But by Gollies, President Gerald Ford and his Republican contingent in Congress met the challenge head-on with a new magical program of economic uplift they called WIN – Whip Inflation Now! BILL PRESS TRUMP'S WASHINGTON AND THE PRICE OF SUBMISSION Mark Leibovich is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller This Town. His new book, Thank You for Your Servitude, DONALD TRUMP'S WASHINGTON AND THE PRICE OF SUBMISSION is the eyewitness account of how the GOP collaborated with Donald Trump to transform Washington’s “swamp” into a gold-plated hot tub—and a onetime party of rugged individualists into a sycophantic personality cult. A long time New York Times writer, he is now at the Atlantic, in part, he says, because he can use profanity there. If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT’S RISE TO POLITICAL POWER We take a look back at how the religious right and the white nationalist movement took over the Republican party. KATHERINE STEWART Katherine Stewart’s explores the rise of the religious right in America and its vast reach into American politics. She warns that the end result is fundamentally anti-democratic, and it is dangerously anti-science. DAMON BERRY Religion professor Damon Berry says real Christians want nothing to do with the white nationalist movement, which he says is growing. JIM HIGHTOWER THE SUNSHINE STATE’S DARK BULLY How about Ron DeSantis? The Florida governor is the new darling of the right-wing media, funders, and other establishment powers who’re pushing him to be your next president. “Ron DeSantis is the new Republican Party,” gushed one arch-conservative media maven. That’s odd, since what characterizes Ron’s tenure (and is causing a collective swoon for him within the rightist hierarchy) is his Big Government authoritarianism. BILL PRESS POPE PIUS XII AND WW II-THE SECRET, SORDID HISTORY The Pope at War: The Secret History of Pius XII, Mussolini, and Hitler is a new explosive and controversial book by Pulitzer-Prize-winning author David Kertzer, a Professor of Social Science at Brown University. The book tells the story of Pope Pius XII and his actions during World War II, including how he responded to the Holocaust. Spoiler alert: He did not cover himself in glory. If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
THE ONE THING TRUMP MANUFACTURED SUCCESSFULLY… “FORMER REPUBLICANS” Revisiting our interview with Author Rick WIlson on his book “Everything Trump Touches Dies: A Republican Strategist Gets Real About the Worst President Ever.” RICK WILSON The presidency of Donald Trump has brought discord to a party known for its political discipline as critics within the GOP take aim at a President they feel is destroying their party. Among them is Rick Wilson. Never one to mince words, his book is a scathing critique of Donald Trump. JIM HIGHTOWER BEWARE: THE GOP HAS CHOSEN TO EMBRACE THE CRAZY Perhaps you remember Sen. Barry Goldwater, the GOP’s fringy, far-right-wing 1964 presidential nominee who famously said, “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice.” Today, however, the core of the Republicans Party has gone so far beyond the fringe that they would boo Goldwater’s right-wingism as insufficiently rabid. Instead, their new rallying cry is: “Nuttiness in the defense of extremism is no vice.” BILL PRESS SCOTUS: "OUTRAGEOUS. AGGRESSIVE." Bill and his guest Elizabeth Wydra runs down the major and disastrous decisions from this Supreme Court. Wydra is the Constitutional Accountability Center’s President. From 2008-2016, she served as its Chief Counsel. Throughout her tenure she has filed more than 200 briefs on behalf of the Constitutional Accountability Center and clients, which include preeminent constitutional scholars and historians, state and local government organizations, groups such as the League of Women Voters and the AARP, and members of Congress. If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
THE LEGACY OF WOODY GUTHRIE Ten years later, we revisit a show celebrating the Centennial of the birth of Woody Guthrie with interviews from Pete Seeger and former Senator Fred Harris. PETE SEEGER Our first guest today was a truly great American, perhaps the leading progressive icon of our times. In honor of the centennial of the birth of Woody Guthrie, Pete had some fun telling stories on Woody, and revealing the history of the anthem “This Land is Your Land.” http://www.peteseegermusic.com/ http://www.woodyguthrie.org/ FRED HARRIS Fred Harris was a populist when he was the U.S. senator from Oklahoma. He talked with us about the legacy of Woody Guthrie and the lessons we learned from the Dust Bowl Era of American history. JIM HIGHTOWER AN ANGRY PUBLIC WILL OVERCOME ARROGANT OFFICIALS Donald Trump’s criminal attempt to steal the 2020 election failed, but it’s not the only recent coup attack on our democracy. In the last few years, a cabal of right-wing zealots have plotted to seize control of the US Supreme Court. By hook and crook, they’ve installed a six-judge majority, and now they’re using them as a political cudgel to try stealing not just a constitutional right, but an inherent human right from American women – the right to make their own reproductive decisions. By judicial fiat, the right-wing judges have decreed that the state will make birth decisions, regardless of what mothers want. This is the Republican Party’s current concept of “small government.” BILL PRESS THE MAN WHO COULD PRIMARY SEN. SINEMA Congressman Ruben Gallego of Arizona. This is his fourth term in Congress where he focuses on national security issues and the health and welfare of veterans. He's a veteran himself having served in Iraq as an infantryman in the Marines. He is the son of Hispanic immigrants and the first in his family to attend college, in this case Harvard University. If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
Environmental initiatives are often smeared as being anti-labor, while unions are often painted as anti-clean energy. Neither is necessarily true—in fact, the fights for climate and economic justice are deeply intertwined. WALLACE MAZON Activist Wallace Mazon says the fight for good jobs has to go hand in hand with the fight against climate change. JOSEPH B. UEHLEIN Joseph B. Uehlein works at the forefront of building union support for the effort to confront climate change. He says the Green New Deal has the potential to rebuild the labor movement and unite the working class. JIM HIGHTOWER THE CURSE OF MEDICAL DEBT What’s the most damning thing about America’s healthcare system? The system. While our doctors, nurses, and technicians are among the best in the world, the system itself is not even designed for care, but for the constant expansion of profits for insurance giants, drugmakers, hospital chains, system managers, financiers, and other voracious components of the medical industry. For starters, ponder that term, “medical industry.” BILL PRESS THE STILL DANGEROUS CASE OF DONALD TRUMP During the hearings of the January 6th Select Committee, one question keeps coming up, “Did Donald Trump believe he had actually won the election?” “How could it be, that after being told repeatedly that no substantial fraud had occurred, he still maintained he won?” “Is the man crazy?” It just so happens that we looked into this very question on the Bill Press Pod back in the summer of 2020 with our series, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
PROTECTING AMERICA’S FUTURE. Children are not allowed to vote, but they have the most vested interest in America’s future. Today we hear from experts about how the way complex political fights affect minors and what can be done about them. SIMON WORKMAN Simon Workman works on policy solutions that will improve the lives of children. It’s an issue, he says, that affects all Americans and tells us how voters can make politicians accountable. DANIELLE ALLEN Danielle Allen tells the story of her cousin, a young man who was tried as an adult at age 15 for attempted carjacking. After 13 years in prison, he was released and died violently at the age of 29. It is a story she says, about the deep and destructive “war on drugs” that has corrupted a criminal justice system that has abandoned our nation’s youth. JIM HIGHTOWER KARTOONUS AMERICANUS IS GOING EXTINCT! Right before our eyes, an invaluable American species is fast disappearing from view. Kar-toon-us A-mer-i-kan-as. These are the newspaper cartoonists who’ve long delighted readers and infuriated power elites. And there’s nothing natural about their sudden decline – it’s not the result of a declining talent pool, and certainly not due to a lack of political targets. Rather, what’s happening is that their media habitat is being intentionally destroyed. BILL PRESS THE J6 COMMITTEE MAKES ITS CASE. The January 6th Select Committee hearings. We'll hear from California Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, who led the questioning in Monday's hearing. If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
THE TRAP OF POVERTY WAGES. According to researchers, the number of Americans living at or near the poverty line has risen sharply since the beginning of the pandemic. This week, we hear from experts about the plight of poverty-wage workers around the world and the best strategies for combatting those conditions at home. ANNELISE ORLECK Historian Annelise Orleck traveled the world to write a book about workers who live on poverty wages. What she found gave her a renewed sense of hope and possibility. ELIZABETH LOWER-BASCH Elizabeth Lower-Basch has a long history inside and outside of government figuring out the best ways to assist struggling families. She says that “work requirements” for people on public assistance is exactly not the way to help. JIM HIGHTOWER HOW CAN DEMOCRATS SAVE THE PARTY… FROM THEIR OWN LEADERS? “It’s over.” “Biden’s numbers are in the ditch.” “Democrats are doomed.” “Call the priest.” These are Democrats talking! Even before November’s congressional elections are run, many conventional-thinking Democratic operatives are surrendering to a presumed Republican sweep. You don’t need a political science degree to know that if you start out announcing that you’ll lose, chances are you will. BILL PRESS "WE'RE IN A BAD PLACE RIGHT NOW." WITH NORM ORNSTEIN Norman Ornstein is one of the leading experts on the Congress and an Emeritus Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. He is the author, with Thomas E. Mann of the 2012 book, It's Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism and with Thomas E. Mann and E.J. Dione, the author of the 2017 book, One Nation After Trump: A Guide for the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate, and the Not-Yet Deported. If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
REBUILDING OUR NATION’S MANUFACTURING MUSCLE. The supply chain is in the news lately, with most stories about it focusing on the end results for consumers. But how can government look out for the interests of American manufacturing workers in a way that protects their rights while strengthening domestic manufacturing? This week, we talk to two experts about how to achieve those goals. JOHN POULAND John Pouland explains a study that details how the conventional political wisdom has completely missed the biggest electoral earthquake of the last decade, specifically highlighting how both Democratic and Republican parties have discounted and misjudged their appeals to voters in manufacturing-heavy working-class towns. TOM CONWAY As head of North America’s largest industrial union, Tom Conway speaks for over 800,000 workers. He says now more than ever, we need to protect working people and fight to rebuild our nation’s manufacturing muscle. JIM HIGHTOWER ENTHRONING CORPORATE POWER OVER AMERICA “Equal Justice Under Law.” That’s the noble principle carved into the marble façade of the temple-like Supreme Court building. Today, though, six right-wing, corporate-dominated activist judges control the present Court, and they’re implementing an elitist creed mocking that ideal. By putting the interests and power of the wealthy over the rest of us. BILL PRESS THE SECOND AMENDMENT IS ABOUT SLAVERY Elie Mystal returns to the Bill Press Pod with a withering takedown of the Second Amendment, Justice Alito and Supreme Court Ethics. He is The Nation Magazine’s Justice Correspondent. He's a frequent guest on MSNBC commenting on the intersection between the legal and the political. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, he gave up Big Law to fight for justice. If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
A MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM WAGE. The minimum wage often stands in for a variety of different workers-rights issues in political debates. This week we dig into how minimum wage laws can function as part of a broader social agenda—and study their direct, and incredibly intriguing opposite. JANELLE JONES Economic analyst Janelle Jones says a higher minimum wage is a crucial tool in bridging our nation’s widening income inequality gap And in the face of federal inaction, cities and states are setting up to the plate. SAM PIZZIGATI Income inequality in America is now at a rate we haven’t seen in close to 100 years. In a new book, author Sam Pizzigati says it’s time to resurrect an idea once endorsed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt … a maximum wage for our nation’s highest earners. JIM HIGHTOWER A RUBE GOLDBERG INFLATIONARY SPIRAL Last July, several GOP senators combined their 5-watt intellects to charge that inflation was rising because of the “insane tax and spending spree of President Biden and the Democrats.” Never mind that the “insane” spending is for such sensible, productive, and enormously popular national needs as childcare and jobless benefits, Mitch McConnell’s rabidly partisan flock saw the chance to politicize the public’s legitimate worries about rising prices. BILL PRESS TO STOP GUN VIOLENCE, ELECT DEMOCRATS. With the tragic massacre of children and teachers in Uvalde, Texas dominating the news, we talked to Igor Volsky of Guns Down America about what can be done, if anything, to combat gun violence and the politicians who support it. But our gun laws cannot change unless our politicians do, so Bill also talked to two sharp political reporters about the 2022 primaries: Niall Stanage, White House Columnist for The Hill and Political Analyst at News Nation AM and Maya King, Politics Reporter for the New York Times covering the South based in Georgia. If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
TEACHERS AT THE FRONT LINE OF PROGRESSIVE POLITICS. How a wave of teachers strikes in red state America is changing the political landscape. Education advocate Jeff Bryant tells us why a record number of educators are running for office, and what they want. ERIC BLANC In 2018, in some of the reddest states in our nation, teachers led a series of walkouts demanding not only better pay for themselves, but better schools for the children they teach. Writer Eric Blanc embedded himself in this unlikely and powerful rebellion for an inside view of a movement that has the potential to rebuild working class politics in America. JEFF BRYANT Jeff Bryant has written extensively about the intersection of education and politics. He says that a movement that began with teachers’ walkouts has turned into an a record number of educators running for office and fighting for the future of public schools. JIM HIGHTOWER SAVE THE WHALES! SAVE POLAR BEARS! SAVE POLITICAL CARTOONISTS! I never dreamed of growing up to be a political activist/ commentator, but here I am, and it’s worked out pretty well for me. I’ve been lucky enough to have a voice in public matters and eke out a modest living running my mouth as an independent populist agitator. Still, I have to confess to the sin of Job Envy. Not in the sense of being resentful, but regretful about my own inability to lift the trade of journalistic commentary to the heights attained by a small, feisty collection of unique public opinionators: Political cartoonists. BILL PRESS “NEWS FOR PEOPLE WHO GIVE A DAMN.” Journalist Judd Legum was a regular on the Bill Press Show for years. Today, he makes his debut on the Bill Press Pod. Legum writes a four-times per week newsletter, Popular Information, that practices Independent Accountability Journalism. He compares what people and institutions SAY to what these same people and institutions actually DO. Today we talked about the Great Replacement Theory behind the Buffalo shooting, that has been mainstreamed by Right Wing media and politicians; which corporations are contributing to Right Wing politicians while espousing Human Rights; Ron DeSantis and book banning in Florida and what the heck is going on with Elon Musk. If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
HOMEGROWN EXTREMISM IN AMERICA. This week marks the ten-year anniversary of the Facebook corporation going public on Wall Street. We examine that story from two different angles: The growing income inequality in America, which has often been fueled by Silicon Valley bubbles and the financialization of our economy, and the way Big Tech has helped stoke right-wing rhetoric—and even violence. RON FORMISANO Distinguished historian Ron Formisano has written a book about plutocracy and says we are in a new “gilded age” when the state and federal governments are up for sale. BRIAN LEVIN Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University San Bernardino, is one of the most trusted voices on hate and extremism in America. We discuss how the landscape of political violence has changed under the Trump administration. JIM HIGHTOWER WHY SHOULD WE THE PEOPLE RESPECT A COURT THAT DISRESPECTS THE PEOPLE? Mitch McConnell, the perpetually sour old goose who heads the Senate Republican Caucus, had a hissy fit when the news leaked out that American women are about to have their most fundamental constitutional right taken from them by a cabal of Supreme Court judges. What made Mitch twitch, of course, was not the bad news for women… but the leak. BILL PRESS MIDTERM GROUND ZERO. Former Progressive Caucus Co-chair Mark Pocan and the Democratic Party of Wisconsin are at the center of the 2022 midterms. Ron Johnson is up for reelection and control of the Senate may hinge on that race. There are competitive House seats that may determine control in that chamber. In Wisconsin the legislature is so gerrymandered, it is almost impossible for the Democrats to gain control. So having a Democratic governor is the one check on the extremist Wisconsin Republican Party. If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
From rideshare apps to food-delivery services—to ballot measures like California’s proposition 22, which allows companies to treat their employees interchangeable and dispensable—the new economy of the gig and temporary work is proving to be a disaster for workers' rights and long-term stability. This week we talk to two experts about just what is being lost in this transformation. DAVID ROLF Union leader David Rolf says even Republicans can be persuaded that America will be better off with a strong middle class. But it’s the plutocrats and their hired guns standing in the way. LOUIS HYMAN In his book, labor historian Louis Hyman tells the story of America’s transformation to a temp economy and why he calls it the moral crisis of work in the 21st century. JIM HIGHTOWER AMERICA NEEDS A QUALITY CHILDCARE SYSTEM Nearly every nation with an advanced economy (and some not so advanced) treats child care as a fundamental public good essential to nurturing children, families, and the whole society. But not our US of A. Indeed, our so-called leaders relegate millions of working parents and 21 million kids under 5 to the tender mercies of a for-profit market, with child care facilities ranging from impossibly expensive to helter-skelter, unlicensed Kiddie Korrals. BILL PRESS MIDTERM MADNESS BEGINS With the midterms just seven months away, Bill talks to Kyle Kondik, Managing Editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball, the University of Virginia Center for Politics’ nonpartisan newsletter on American campaigns and elections. They focus on the primaries coming up in the month of May in the GOP where Trump has endorsed candidates. How these primaries turn out may determine who controls the Senate in 2023. They also discuss the likelihood of the Republicans taking over the House of Representatives. And a little conversation about Biden and Trump in 2024. If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
WE MUST GO FURTHER WITH VOTING RIGHTS. With primary races soon to be in full swing, we take a closer look at some of the structural hurdles Americans face at the polls—and at just how narrowly President Biden was elected two Novembers ago. PHIL KEISLING Phil Keisling used to be the secretary of state for Oregon, one of three states that allow people to vote by mail. He said the practice increases turnout, especially among younger and more diverse voters. AMEL AHMED The passage of H.R.1 would mark a necessary advance in defense of the right to vote. But does that go far enough? Amel Ahmed says more can be done to go on the offense in the struggle over voting rights. JIM HIGHTOWER WE’RE STUCK ON A MONOPOLY MERRY-GO-ROUND The problem with our so-called “free market” is that it’s not free for you and me. It’s largely controlled by monopolies, which are free to inflate prices just because they can, letting gougers gleefully extract unwarranted monopoly profits from us. This milking of consumers by tightly consolidated industries is propelling today’s surging price hikes. BILL PRESS UKRAINE: "A GRINDING SLOG." Today's guest is Joe Cirincione, here for a monthly update on Putin's war in Ukraine. Cirincione is a Fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. He previously served for over 12 years as the President of the Ploughshares Fund, a foundation focused on nuclear nonproliferation and conflict resolution. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
THERE ARE TWO TAX SYSTEMS, ONE FOR THE RICH, AND ONE FOR THE REST OF US. Donald Trump is certainly a figure of unique notoriety, but his manipulation of tax law is simply one window into the way the wealthy avoid paying their fair share. This week, we look at what his case can teach us about the 1 percent more broadly—and at one solution that might make American taxation more equitable. DAVID CAY JOHNSTON David Cay Johnston has spent years reporting on Donald Trump’s business practices, and on the inequities of the U.S. tax code. He says reporting from the New York Times on Trump’s taxes offers greater proof of two tax systems, separate and unequal. EMMANUEL SAEZ Economist Emmanuel Saez studies wealth and income inequality around the world. His book argues that the American economy isn’t working for half of the nation and makes the case for a tax system that is truly progressive. JIM HIGHTOWER THE CORPORATIZATION OF PET CARE: ANIMAL CRUELTY? For many people, the animals they adopt and love become more like family members than pets. We have deep relationships, with cats, dogs, parrots, goats, horses, and other fellow critters – who at least pretend to love us back, providing comfort and joy all around. Sadly though, life for all of us animals is a spin around the wheel of fortune, so illness and injuries happen. That’s why one of the most valued members of every community are the staffers in our local veterinarian's office. BILL PRESS "A CATASTROPHIC EVENT IN FOOD." WITH AMB. CINDY MCCAIN Cindy McCain is the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture which leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. She is the widow of former Arizona senator and 2008 Republican nominee for President, John McCain. In 2020 she endorsed Joe Biden for president. She has a long history with helping people in need. From 1988 to 1995, she founded and operated a nonprofit organization, the American Voluntary Medical Team, which organized trips by medical personnel to disaster-stricken or war-torn third-world areas. If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
FIGHTING RIGHT-WING SMEARS OF PROGRESSIVE HEALTHCARE PROPOSALS. Republicans have been so effective at smearing so-called “government-run” healthcare as expensive and wasteful that they have obscured just how much the current, private healthcare industry gouges Americans on everything from pharmaceutical drugs to routine care. This week, we’re re-airing two interviews with experts who say healthcare can be safer and more affordable if corporations got out of our collective pockets. DAN ZUBERI If hospitals would spend a little more money paying their own employees, instead of outsourcing for the cheapest support workers, they would save money by cutting down on costly hospital infections. That’s the analysis from health professor Dan Zuberi. STEVE KNIEVEL Steve Knievel is an advocate for Public Citizen’s Access to Medicines program, focusing on expanding affordable access to medicines. They say that to help stop Big Pharma’s price gouging in the U.S., Congress must listen to the American public, ignore the pharmaceutical industry’s high-paid lobbyists and finally pass legislation granting Medicare the authority to negotiate drug prices. JIM HIGHTOWER THE SAD WHINE OF SUPREME COURT RIGHT Ralph Waldo Emerson told about a guest who came to dinner and spent the entire evening prattling about his own integrity: “The louder he talked of his honor,” Emerson wrote: “the faster we counted our spoons.” Today, America has not one, but six guests in our national home babbling about their integrity. They are the six extremist Republican judges who now control our Supreme Court, and it’s a bit unsettling to hear them go on and on, almost frantically pleading with us to believe in their judicial impartiality. BILL PRESS THE VIEW FROM EUROPE WITH NPR'S SYLVIA POGGIOLI Sylvia Poggioli is senior European correspondent for NPR's International Desk. She covers Italy, the Vatican, Western Europe, and the Balkans. Poggioli has reported on the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, the civil war in the former Yugoslavia, and how immigration has transformed European societies. If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.
