Keeping Democracy Alive With Burt Cohen

The appalling criminalization of ordinary people. No charges, no conviction, just sweep up people who, as he said: “look like illegals.” Blatantly circumventing constitutional law. And in the big, ugly bill, passed 7/3, spending for jail space and ICE skyrocketed. The post His Insatiable Appetite for Prisons appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.

The right wing is heavily invested in the meat industry. After all, it has the essential components: dominance, violence, destruction of the planet. In his new provocative book: The Omnivore’s Deception: What We Get Wrong About Meat, Animals, and Ourselves, The post Can One Have Meat and A Conscience Too? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.

In the 90s, the party took a turn to the right, taking the working and middle class base for granted. Instead they went for Trump in 2024. Clinton hurt this former base with austerity, and poorly thought out welfare reform The post Democrats Can Win Again: If… appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.

Why do they feel a need for violence to prove their manhood? What’s the connection between an angry Germany after the First World War and what many young men are feeling in 2025? Why do they see equality as deprivation? The post Young Men Are Drawn to Fascism. Why? What Can We Do? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.

There’s a reason the same voters were undecided between Bernie and Trump in 2016. People wanted real change. And in 2024, Democrats walked into a trap. As bad as it looks today, writing in Newsweek, today’s guest Matt Robison argues The post Under Water Now, Democrats Have to Become the Party of Change appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.

It’s not just politics but arts and a free culture that makes real change. Sure there are the leaders we all know, MLK and Malcolm X, but in his new paperback edition of The Jazz Men: How Duke Ellington, Louis The post How Their Music Toppled Jim Crow appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.

Society would rather not see them. Like people in prison, the foster care system makes hundreds of thousands of kids invisible. And the system is doing them great damage for life. On this show, author and foster care, juvenile justice, The post It’s Not the Kids, It’s the Foster Care System That’s Damaged appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.

Starting a trade war is just stupid. But maybe Trump simply doesn’t really care about tanking the economy. On this show, Washington Monthly politics editor Bill Scher points out that the current president appears to be trying to steer America The post Trade Peace Beats Trade War: Where Are the Democrats? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.

There is in fact great abundance in America. The problem is not just the greed of the top percent but also the 21st century version of real estate redlining. Many are shut out. There is a huge demand for affordable The post We Know What NIMBY means. But Here’s a New Twist: YIMBYism! appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.

May is Mental Health Month, and the Trump/Musk regime is pouring gasoline on our already widespread national crisis. The police-state ICE raids are indicative of a strategy to create fear. On this show Mattea Kramer and Dr. Sean Fogler share The post Mental Health Essential for National Security appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.

If he really aims to cut waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal bureucracy, there’s a lot of low hanging fruit. But Elon Musk has prioritized eliminating one of the smallest yet most effective programs: USAID.Poverty stricken people of developing The post Musk’s Chain Saw Does Not Think appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.

To normalize the horrific, it takes lots of people going along. From the history of leaders lying, the current regime has learned that spewing new lies many times a day works to make reality conform to the lies. On this The post Mindless Banality Spreads Quickly. And It’s Evil. appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.

Locking people up and deporting immigrants is on the rise. The adults face punishment (as if that works) and their children hide from the judgement and stigma of other kids and school administrators. They are of course totally innocent and The post Addressing the Unique Stigma on Youth Impacted by Incarceration, Detention, and Deportation appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.

Remember when we could count on the Washington Post to boldly take the lead on political corruption? And can you imagine a newspaper turning down a really big ad buy? Welcome to Trumpworld 2.0. As Common Cause president and CEO The post Washington Post Changes Bigly: Refuses $115,000 Ad appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.

We think of it as pure fun but the reality is great pressure and there are overtraining injuries. Coaches often lack crucial training. Non-athlete kids feeling less-than. And since kids don’t have a voice in the matter, the only option The post More Than Play: What’s Wrong With American Youth Sport appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.

There are two petrostate oligarchies linking up and gravely threatening what had been a rock solid alliance: Europe and the US. The traditionally shared moral universe of Europe and the rest of the “Free World” is suddenly gone. On this The post Europe Now Squeezed By Trump and Putin’s Pincer appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.

Kicking out troublemakers. It backfires. It certainly increases the likelihood of negative outcomes. And it is not applied equally. In this discussion author and researcher Aaron Kupnik talks about his new book: Suspended Education. If we want equal opportunity for The post School Suspension: More Often for Black Kids appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.

In being careful to avoid a monarchy or dictatorship, America’s founders adamantly insisted on each government agency being independent. The Federal Communications Commission act of 1934 was created to ensure that the public would have access to news without threat The post Is Freedom of the Press Doomed? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.

You may have noticed a continuing trend of Democratic candidates sheepishly rushing to some imaginary center, and how well that hasn’t worked! On this show, Richard Eskow, former head writer for the Bernie 2016 campaign explains how it seems candidates The post The Time is Now. Left-Populists: Unshackle Your Imaginations appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.

There are reasons all autocrats need to erase history. Among the flood of executive orders is something called “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling.” In other words: erasing history he doesn’t like.  To people like him, history must fit a The post Trump Wants to Abolish the Past. Historians Won’t Let Him. appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show.