Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the upcoming third Republican presidential debate and focus on the new frontrunner Ben Carson, who has taken over the lead in the polls from Donald Trump, and already is the target of a “dog whistle” attack for his religious affiliation with the Seventh Day Adventist Church, in a desperate attempt by Trump to influence the evangelical vote by encouraging sectarian bigotry. Frederick Clarkson, a Senior Fellow for Religious Liberty at Political Research Associates, and author of “Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy”, joins us to discuss what sparks are likely to fly as the candidate who continuously boasts he is a winner and is number one, finds himself in second place behind a low energy brain surgeon who is trying to stick to the high road.

Part 2

Then we examine the growing tensions between the U.S. and China over the passage of an American warship within the 12 mile limit of an artificial island the Chinese are creating on a reef in the Spratly Islands between the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia in what is ironically referred to as the South China Sea. China specialist June Dreyer, a professor of Political Science at the University of Miami who was Asia Advisor to the Chief of Naval Operations joins us to discuss whether the nationalist backlash in China that the leadership has encouraged, might backfire and force their hand.

Part 3

Then finally, following the WHO report on processed and red meat being linked to cancer, we look into the forthcoming Dietary Guidelines for Americans that the USDA and HHS are preparing that are likely to ignore the latest health warning because of pressure from the meat industry. Michael Shank, a professor and Board Member at George Mason University’s School of Conflict Analysis and Resolution joins us to discuss how population growth and global warming will make meat production and consumption unsustainable, requiring everyone to switch to plant-based diets which will be good for the American people and the planet. To continue the conversation for recipe ideas, email: michael.john.shank@gmail.com

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the FBI Director’s remarks before the International Association of Chiefs of Police in Chicago where James Comey said “far more people are being killed in America’s cities this year than in many years”, attributing the surge of violence in part to the idea that police are being restrained by the so-called “Ferguson effect”. A former police officer Philip Stinson, a Professor in the Criminal Justice Program at Bowling Green State University who researches police crime and police integrity, joins us to discuss the small rise in the number of police officers charged in fatal shootings compared to the up to 1,000 Americans, who will be killed by U.S. police this year.

Part 2

Then we examine the lack of a serious debate about America’s economy as income inequality rises and populist anger on the right and the left emerges in this elections season. The author of “Land of Promise: An Economic History of the United States”, Michael Lind, the co-founder of the New America Foundation and Policy Director of New America’s Economic Growth Program joins us.  As Wall Street thrives and Main Street languishes, we will discuss the Republican obsession with tax cuts for the rich and how the Democrats are blinded by the orthodoxy of balanced budgets while globally there is an overabundance of capital looking for somewhere to invest as consumers run out of purchasing power because jobs pay less and wages have not risen since the 1970’s.

Part 3

Then finally we try to make sense of the elections in Guatemala where a comedian with ties to the country’s murderous Army that is tied to the drug trade and accused of genocide against the Guatemalan people was just elected. Victoria Sanford, a cultural anthropologist who has spent years uncovering evidence of genocide in Guatemala, joins us to discuss why the unqualified Jimmy Morales is no joke, despite the fact that here in the U.S. unqualified outsiders like Donald Trump and Ben Carson are leading the Republican polls.