April 26 - Similarities Between the Campaigns of Eugene McCarthy and Bernie Sanders; Our Rotten, Corrupt and Deliberately Complicated Election System

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We begin with the possibility that the current divisions between the Sanders and Clinton campaigns will continue and could become more strained at the primary process heads towards its likely conclusion in California on June 7. Matt Lindstrom, a Professor of Political Science at St. John’s University where he is the Director of the Eugene J. McCarthy Center for Public Policy and Civic Engagement, joins us. We discuss similarities shaping up between the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago and this year’s Democratic convention, in terms of how the young flocked to Eugene McCarthy’s 1968 campaign in huge numbers that resulted in a rift between the insurgent McCarthy and the establishment candidate Vice President Humphrey who was narrowly beaten by Nixon, leaving a bitter residue in the Democratic Party which effectively lost the executive branch for decades after.

 

Part 2

Then we are joined in the studio by award-winning investigative reporter, political columnist and foreign correspondent Andrew Gumbel whose latest book, just out is “Down for the Count: Dirty Elections and the Rotten History of Democracy in America”. On the eve of tonight’s primary election results in five states, we examine the truth in Donald Trump’s charges that the system is rigged and look into why it is that the United States is alone among advanced democracies in having a deliberately complicated and easily-gamed election system whose manifest flaws were exposed in Florida in 2000 but essential remain as broken as ever today, a condition which appears to be the way the two major parties, the Democrats and especially the Republicans want it.

 

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April 25 - How to Get Money Out of Politics; What Happened to the Party of the People?

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We begin with the $5 billion dollar election underway, which if you factor in all the local, state and federal elections, will likely end up being closer to a $10 billion dollar spending spree, and speak with Wendell Potter the co-author of a new book "Nation on the Take: How Big Money Corrupts Our Democracy and What We Can Do About It". With the growing likelihood that Donald Trump will win big in tomorrow’s primaries and move closer to the magic 1237 delegate number, we discuss how the Republican money machine will coalesce around him in spite of his claim to not take special interest money and only spend his own. And we also discuss the positive contribution of Bernie Sanders whose campaign has been well funded by small donors and could serve as a future model if the Democrats win the White House and Senate and can overturn "Citizens United" with a new Supreme Court.

Part 2

Then we speak with Thomas Frank, the author of “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” and “Pity the Billionaire: The Hard-times Swindle and Unlikely Comeback of the Right” and his latest book, just out, “Listen Liberal” Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People?”  He joins us to discuss why in spite of their venom spewed at Barack Obama, the uber-rich 1% have done very well under his presidency having gotten what they want: more immigration, trade deals and continued defense spending which ironically might be threatened by a President Trump. We look into why the party of the people has become captured by a globalist-minded elite both economically and culturally, while the Republican Party under Trump could become the party of the working class.

 

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April 24 - The "Bernie or Bust" and "People for Bernie" Movements; Trump's New Campaign Chief's Sleazy and Murderous Clients; Obama's European Agenda and Saudi Arabia's "Vision 2030"

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We begin with the BernieOrBust movement, which in spite of Bernie Sanders’ promise not to be another Ralph Nader, is vowing to vote for Sanders as a write-in candidate if he loses the nomination. Neil Sroka, the Communications Director of Democracy for America, a grassroots political organization founded by Howard Dean that supports Bernie Sanders, joins us to discuss the challenge Sanders faces, should he lose the nomination, in convincing his passionate followers to vote for Hillary Clinton and the “People for Bernie” movement that is forming to continue building the “political revolution” after the primaries are over.

Part 2

Then we speak with Ken Vogel, the Chief Investigative Reporter for Politico, who tracks the confluence of money, politics and influence. He is the author of “Big Money: 2.5 Billion Dollars, One Suspicious Vehicle, and a Pimp – on the Trail of the Ultra-rich Hijacking American Politics” and we discuss his latest article at Politico “Trump campaign brings in lobbyists for key posts” and the clients who Trump’s new convention chief Paul Manafort has serviced which include the dictators Marcos and Mobutu as well as the recently ousted Ukrainian kleptocrat Victor Yanukovych.

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Part 3

Then finally we examine President Obama’s visit to the U.K and Germany and look into his upcoming meeting with European leaders and speak with Michael Brenner, a Professor of international Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. He is the author of “Toward a More Independent Europe” and discusses Obama’s efforts to shore up the NATO alliance as well as his recent meetings at the Gulf Summit in Saudi Arabia where the Saudis are apparently anxiously awaiting the “Saudi Vision 2030” manifesto the new boy king, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is unveiling on Monday.

 

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April 21 - Can Obama Rescue Britain From Cameron's Self-Inflicted Brexit Catastrophe?; Cameron's Unpopularity and the Rabid Murdoch Press Could Spell Disaster; The Life and Legacy of the Extraordinary Harriet Tubman

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We begin with the arrival of President Obama in the U.K. where he will be having lunch on Friday with the queen who turned 90 today then meeting with the Prime Minister.  Apparently David Cameron is counting on Obama to help him out the mess Cameron got into by calling for a referendum on whether Britain should stay in the E.U. that now is dangerously close to becoming a self-inflicted disaster of historic proportions that could lead to the unravelling of the E.U., the weakening of NATO and the downsizing of Britain into small island nation. Economist Stephany Griffith Jones, Emeritus Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies at Sussex University and Associate Fellow at the Overseas Development Institute in London joins us to discuss the dire consequences of a so-called Brexit.  

 

 Stephany Griffith-Jones

Part 2

Then we get a second opinion on this unnecessary crisis in Europe which is already beset with a refugee crisis and terrorist attacks, and speak with Toby Miller one of the world’s leading analysts of popular culture, media, and there connection to everyday life. A Professor of Media and Cultural Studies at Cardiff University in the U.K., he joins us to discuss David Cameron’s low standing in the polls following revelations in the Panama Papers about his family’s hidden offshore wealth and the role the Murdoch Press in stirring up ignorant anti-European demagoguery.

 

Part 3

Then finally we look into the life and legacy of the extraordinary woman who in a few years will be gracing the front of the $20 bill, Harriet Tubman. Kate Clifford Larson, the author of “Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero”, joins us to recount the dramatic career of a disabled 5 foot-tall African American woman who escaped slavery, smuggled slaves to freedom, spied for the Union and led raids in the Civil War, and fought for a woman’s right to vote.  

 

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April 20 - Will Wall Street Become Less of an Issue in a Trump-Clinton Race?; Saudi Arabia's Internal Powder Keg; The Dead President's Shuffle With Jackson Out and Hamilton Still In

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We begin with the big victories for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in New York and assess whether they point towards a Clinton - Trump race in the general election and speak with the Pulitzer Prize-winning senior reporter for ProPublica Jesse Eisinger who covers Wall Street and finance and writes a regular column for The New York Times’s Dealbook section. We discuss how much the focus on Wall Street in the Sanders-Clinton debate may have influenced the outcome and whether in the general election reforming Wall Street might become less of an issue while Donald Trump, assuming he wins the Republican nomination, could himself become the issue in the fall campaign.

 Jesse Eisinger

Part 2

Then we will examine the apparent snub that President Obama received from the Saudi king who sent a minor official to greet Air Force One when Obama arrived in Riyadh today for a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting. Dr. Alon Ben Meir, a professor and Senior Fellow at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs joins us to discuss his article at The Huffington Post “Saudi Arabia - A Kingdom in Retreat” and the many current tensions between the U.S. and the Saudi ruling family who are critical of U.S. policies in the region but seem incapable of dealing with the kingdom’s own internal powder keg of a restive young population waiting for their "Arab Spring”.

Part 3

Then finally, with today’s announcement by the Secretary of the Treasury of changes to the $5, $10 and $20 bills, we will speak with David Reynolds a distinguished professor of American Studies at City University of New York’s Graduate Center and author of “Walking Giant: America in the Age of Jackson”. We discuss Jackson’s replacement on the $20 bill by the first non-president and a woman, the abolitionist Harriet Tubman, and Alexander Hamilton’s reprieve in remaining on the face of the $10 bill.

 

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