Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the continuing meltdown of the Trump campaign following a Bloomberg report that Trump instructed his supporters to attack the press and double down on the racist smears against the Federal judge presiding over the Trump University case who Trump refers to as a “Mexican” and a “hater”. Adele Stan, a columnist for The American Prospect, joins us to discuss the dysfunction at the heart on Trump’s campaign, or non-campaign, as the candidate strikes out at his critics with increasing stridency as his top campaign managers fight amongst themselves and leading Republican figures including a prospective running mate Newt Gingrich, distance themselves from Trump’s attacks on the judge. 

Part 2

Then we look into whether the recent historic move by the German parliament to recognize the Armenia genocide played into the hands of Turkish genocide denialists, confirming their belief that the accusations are inspired by anti-Turkish politics rather than historical truth. Nicholas Danforth, a doctoral candidate in Turkish History at Georgetown University, joins us to discuss his article at Foreign Policy “The Impeccably Bad Timing of Germany’s Armenian Genocide Vote” and what can be done to stop the unravelling of the Turkey - E.U. refugee deal and restrain President Erdogan’s increasingly autocratic rule.

Part 3

Then finally we assess the latest polls in Britain ahead of the June 23 “Brexit” vote which indicate the “Leave” vote is edging ahead of the “Remain” vote, a development that is alarming officials on both sides of the Atlantic with the Fed Chair Janet Yellen warning today of “significant economic repercussions” on U.S. markets which will be impacted by an adverse reaction in European financial markets. Harold Clarke, a Professor in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Studies at the University of Texas and co-investigator of the British Election Study at the University of Manchester, joins us to discuss the competing scare campaigns with “Remain” warning of dire economic consequences and “Leave” warning of waves of immigrants swamping England’s shores. 

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the German parliament’s overwhelming vote to approve a resolution calling the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915, genocide. Richard Hovannisian, a professor of Armenian and Near East History and Chair in Modern Armenian History at the University of California, Los Angeles, joins us to assess the historical significance of this move by Germany, Turkey’s strongest ally in Europe and its ally during World War 1 when the Armenian genocide occurred. We discuss Turkey’s decades-long dogged resistance to widespread calls from more than 20 countries and Pope Francis to recognize the killings as genocide and Germany’s role as Turkey’s ally during World War 1 when its military did nothing to stop the genocide, a guilt that Germany acknowledged today while Turkey doubled down on denial and withdrew its ambassador as President Erdogan threatened retaliation.

Part 2

Then we get a perspective on the political tightrope Germany is walking with Turkey as diplomatic relations are increasingly strained by Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian rule at the same time Berlin needs Turkey’s help in resolving the refugee crisis with more than 1.1 million migrants having been settled in Germany last year. Andrei Markovits, the Karl W. Deutsch Professor of German Studies at the University of Michigan joins us to discuss how much the deal struck between Chancellor Merkel and Erdogan in March to take back migrants arriving on Greek Islands in exchange for money and visa-free travel for Turks in Europe, is now in jeopardy.

Part 3

Then finally we get an analysis of the new Federal regulations for payday lenders proposed today by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from Bartlett Naylor, the financial policy advocate for Public Citizen’s Congress Watch who served as chief of investigations for the U.S. Senate Banking Committee. We discuss whether the new rules will be sufficient to stop the predatory practices of loan sharks whose $38 billion industry rips off 12 million poor and unsuspecting Americans every year under the protection of our cash-and-carry Congress.