Full Program

Part 1

We begin with a letter from 10 electors who are expected to vote in a week’s time to, as the constitution dictates, “elect a president who is constitutionally qualified and fit to serve”, which they sent to the Director of National Intelligence asking for an intelligence briefing on Russia’s meddling in the U.S. presidential election. An expert on the Electoral College, Alexander Keyssar, a Professor of History and Social Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and author of the forthcoming book “Why Do We Still Have The Electoral College?”, joins us to discuss whether, if the evidence of Trump’s collusion with Putin is compelling, enough electors could switch to Hillary Clinton. We examine the constitutional wiggle room that allows so-called “faithless electors” to vote their conscience and perhaps follow the advice of Alexander Hamilton in the Federalist Papers, to prevent a “desire in foreign powers to gain an improper ascendant in our councils”.

Part 2

Then with Trump and his spokespeople denying any Russian involvement in the election while leading Republicans call for a bipartisan inquiry into apparent Russian interference, we look into how the truth is a moving target in our politics resulting in he or she who is the best at spinning the truth, winning the argument. Frank Pasquale, Professor of Law at the University of Maryland whose research addresses the challenges posed to information law by rapidly changing technology, joins us. The author of “The Black Box Society: The Secret Algorithms that Control Money and Information”, will discuss what he calls “a terrifying duopoly of power”, Google and Facebook, and the way Republicans intimidated Facebook into switching their news selection to algorithms which opened the door to fake news. 

Part 3

Then finally we assess the just-announced results of the recount in Wisconsin that confirmed Donald Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton in this key swing state by more than 22,000 votes resulting in Trump picking up an extra 131 votes. Matthew Rothschild, the Executive Director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and the former Editor and Publisher of The Progressive magazine in Madison, Wisconsin, joins us to discuss whether the recount was worth it and how much Governor Scott Walker’s suppression of Democratic votes effected the outcome. 

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with another case of putting Dracula in charge of the blood-bank with Donald Trump’s nomination of Andrew Puzder, the CEO of the Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. fast food chains, who is a relentless foe of raising the minimum wage and paying workers overtime yet will be heading up the Department of Labor tasked with enforcing workplace safety and wage laws on behalf of American workers. Fred Rotondaro, a member of the Patriotic Millionaires who was a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress working on poverty and inequality, joins us to discuss how this nomination will put the brakes on a raise in the minimum wage and overtime pay since Puzder has made it clear he thinks giving a worker a fancy job title helps them more than paying them a living wage. Puzder also believes that food stamps discourage poor people from working and machines are better than humans because “They’re always polite, they always upsell, they never take vacations, they never show up late, and there’s never a slip-and-fall, or an age, sex, or race discrimination case”.

Part 2

Then we speak with David Schanzer, Professor of the Practice and Director of the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security at Duke University.  He was staff director of the House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security and we will discuss Trump’s nomination for Secretary of Homeland Security, General John Kelly, who will be the third general nominated to a top position in Trump’s Administration with General David Petraeus a possible fourth. We will examine how a military mindset might adjust to civilian challenges in an agency that will oversee the Coast Guard, the Secret Service, the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Part 3

Then finally we examine efforts to abolish the antiquated Electoral College that twice in recent years has resulted in the loser of the popular vote winning the presidency. A Pulitzer Prize-winning expert on the Founding Fathers and the Constitution, Jack Rakove, a Professor of History and American Studies at Stanford University and author of “Revolutionaries: A New History of the Invention of America”, joins us to discuss his testimony this week before the House Judiciary Committee on the future of the Electoral College.