Terrence Mcnally Podcast

RAJ PATEL has a written a new book (with Jason Moore): A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things: A Guide to Capitalism, Nature, and the Future of the Planet. "Cheap" is the opposite of a bargain and the seven things are nature, money, work, care, food, energy, and lives. Linking the birth of capitalism to the separation of nature and society, telling stories from Christopher Columbus to ChickenMcNuggets, can an examination of the past help us re-imagine the future?

FRANCES MOORE LAPPE, (Diet For A Small Planet; Eco-Mind) whose work for decades has consistently updated the best the 60’s had to offer and ADAM EICHEN, who graduated from college in 2015, met on a pro-democracy march and have co-authored a book that brings their generations together - Daring Democracy—Igniting Power, Meaning, and Connection for the America We Want.

CHUCK COLLINS is a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies and author most recently of Born on Third Base: A One Percenter Makes the Case for Tackling Inequality, Bringing Wealth Home, and Committing to the Common Good. We talk about inequality in America and the GOP’s proposed 2017 tax bill that will only make things much worse.

I’ve known JODIE EVANS for over 20 years. And throughout that time, she’s been a tireless activist, advocate, and communicator for peace, justice and the planet. When I noticed that Code Pink, which started as a vigil by a few women in front of Bush's White House, has just turned 15, I thought it was a good time to catch up with her. What have we learned since then about the US and activism?

Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body. With the enormous growth in awareness and practice of mindfulness and meditation have come widespread claims of benefits. Best-selling author Daniel Goleman and neuroscientist Richard Davidson, both longtime meditators, examined the scientific research to find out what is true and what is not.

PAUL HAWKEN (The Ecology of Commerce; Natural Capitalism; Blessed Unrest) has a new research project and a new best-selling book - DRAWDOWN. Based on rigorous scientific and economic analysis and review, it ranks the 80 most impactful solutions with which Hawken is confident we can reverse global warming. Plus it offers 20 additional very promising solutions for which there isn’t yet enough data to rank them. (drawdown.org, paulhawken.com)

RANDY OLSON, marine biologist turned filmmaker, author of DON’T BE SUCH A SCIENTIST and HOUSTON, WE HAVE A NARRATIVE says we’re all receiving a firehose of information and can no longer deal with all the separate bits, so we look for higher levels of organization. We look for narratives. Get on board if you want to impact society. PS His Narrative Index predicted Trump’s victory. http://www.randyolsonproductions.com/

JOHN NICHOLS, is National Affairs Correspondent for The Nation and Associate Editor of The Capital Times in Madison, so his beat includes the nation’s capital as well Wisconsin’s. His latest book, HORSEMEN OF THE TRUMPOCALYPSE: A Field Guide to the Most Dangerous People in America, reports on over 40 players on Team Trump. My biggest question for Nichols: What needs to happen so that Wisconsin and the rest of the Rust Belt dumps Trump in 2018 and 2020?

(1) ERWIN CHEMERINSKY and I talk about legal issues raised by Trump administration. How far is this Supreme Court going to go in weakening separation between church and state? Is Trump violating the law by making money - including taxpayer's money - from his businesses? Who's going to enforce that law? How bad is it that he belittles and scapegoats the judiciary? Is it too early to think about impeachment? We've only got a half hour, but we cover a lot. (recorded July 26, 2017) (2) In fall 2009, MATTHEW HOH, Marine Iraq war vet, resigned from the Foreign Service in Afghanistan because he couldn't participate in the occupation. American families, Hoh said in his letter of resignation, "must be reassured their dead have sacrificed for a purpose worthy of futures lost, love vanished, and promised dreams unkept. I have lost confidence such assurances can be made any more."

With his latest book, WHY BUDDHISM IS TRUE (#4 NYT Best-seller), ROBERT WRIGHT, who’s been asking big questions for at least three decades, asks another: What can mindfulness offer people trying to make sense and justice of contemporary politics, culture, and economics? We talk evolutionary psychology, confronting cognitive delusions, tribalism, and Trump.

The Republican party's beliefs and policies – while passionately hailed by millions - are no longer those of the majority of Americans, and so the only way they can dominate government as they do - White House, both houses of Congress, Supreme Court, and the vast majority of state legislatures and governorships - is by gerrymandering legislative districts and making it harder for millions to vote. Trump’s Election Integrity Commission aims to take it to the next level in 2018 and 2020. I talk about this with Ari Berman, author of Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America.

Naomi Klein (No Logo; Shock Doctrine; This Changes Everything) makes it very clear that even successful resistance is not enough. We must seize this moment to pursue nothing less than the world we long for - successfully confronting climate change and inequality while rebuilding our sense of human community. In addition to No, we need to offer a compelling, inviting, and just Yes. She offers the example of The Leap Manifesto, that she helped hatch in Canada, which commits to building a society in which we care for the earth and each other.

I turn to constitutional scholar ERWIN CHEMERINSKY to talk about legal issues raised by the Trump administration. How far is this Supreme Court going to go in weakening the separation between church and state? Is Trump violating the law by making money - including taxpayer’s money - from his businesses and properties? Who’s going to enforce that law? How bad is it that he belittles and scapegoats the judiciary? Is it too early to think about impeachment? We’ve only got a half hour, but we cover a lot.

Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist and author David Cay Johnston has covered Donald Trump off and on for 27 years. In THE MAKING OF DONALD TRUMP, he profiles the many ways Trump has gotten wealthy by bilking others, colluding with criminals, evading prosecution, and romancing the press. Johnston is the founder/editor-in-chief of nonprofit news service DCReport.org, that reports "what the President and Congress do, not what they say."

Ever since he dropped out of college to sample the Summer of Love, DANNY GOLDBERG has been an active participant in culture, counterculture, and politics. In addition to his career in the music business - manager of artists from Bonnie Raitt to Nirvana, chairman of Warner Brothers records - he was co-producer/director of the rock doc No Nukes and CEO of Air America. We talk about all of that as well as his latest book, In Search of the Lost Chord:1967 and the Hippie Idea.

New Episode! Nukes - How do we deal with North Korea, Iran, Russia, and Trump? Remember 2015 when the big nuclear weapons news was the deal negotiated by the Obama administration with Iran? Why is the UN now voicing fears of catastrophe? What role is the new Trump administration playing in the escalation of provocation? Are the UN's fears real and if so, what can we do about it? JOE CIRINCIONE is President of the Ploughshares Fund which supports people and organizations working to reduce and eventually eliminate the dangers posed by nuclear weapons.

Prior to the Institute for New Economic Thinking, Rob Johnson served as Chief Economist of the US Senate Banking Committee and a DIrector at Soros Fund Management. He also worked in the music and film industries (Exec Producer, Oscar winning doc, Taxi to the Dark Side). "The concentration of wealth and power that created a twin crisis of representation - in politics and in expertise - set the stage for Donald Trump's election victory, and has put America's founding principles at risk."

NEW SHOW! According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, "The number of hate groups in the United States rose for a second year in a row in 2016 as the radical right was energized by the candidacy of Donald Trump." Of a spike in reported incidents of "hate" violence, SPLC reports, "37% of them directly referenced either President Trump, his campaign slogans, or his infamous remarks about sexual assault." CHIP BERLET has investigated hate groups, theocratic fundamentalism, civil liberties violations, police misconduct, surveillance abuse, other anti-democratic phenomena.

Currently organizing where he grew up in Lancaster PA (as a Menonite), he was involved with Occupy Wall Street and has a lot to say about what worked and what we can learn from what didn't. Example: The rituals of assembly ended up standing in for strategy, becoming an end rather than a means. Smucker questions the left's tendency to identify as "the righteous few", where purity can become an obstacle to amassing enough power to win. He doesn't use the term "activist" because he believes that (self-)identification separates fighting for peace and justice from the rest of life, and creates an us which can leave out others. Insightful stuff. Join us.

Originally Aired in 2004 They noticed trends, asked questions, offered warnings and gave advice. "Why does the pro-life factory worker who listens to Rush Limbaugh repeatedly vote for the party that is less likely to protect his safety, less likely to protect his job, and less likely to benefit him economically?" - Thomas Frank "In politics framing is about making sure the debate takes place in language that fits your worldview. Framing trumps facts and self-interest." - George Lakoff Twelve years later their worst fears came true.