Ralph Nader Radio Hour

We talk concussions with policy director from League of Fans, Ken Reed. And our intrepid reporter, Ralph Nader, tells us about his week on “The Nation” magazine cruise, where instead of taking a Zumba class, he visited “Ugland House,” the building in the Grand Cayman Islands that corporations use to avoid U.S. taxes. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ralphnader.substack.com

Joanne Doroshow, executive director of the Center for Justice and Democracy, talks about how big business perpetuates the myth of the “litigious society” to keep ordinary people from pursuing civil justice.  And Steven Hill tells us how  “The Uber Economy” and unregulated capitalism are screwing the American worker. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ralphnader.substack.com

This week, we devote the entire episode to Ralph answering our listeners' questions. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ralphnader.substack.com

We discuss Fed Chairperson Janet Yellen’s reply to Ralph’s open letter and the accusation of “mansplaining.”  In addition, Ralph tries to put life insurance in layman’s terms with professor Joseph M. Belth, author of The Insurance Forum: A Memoir.  Also: writer and dog lover, Jeff Harder, talks about our obsession with pets. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ralphnader.substack.com

Using clips from the documentary “An Unreasonable Man,” David and Steve take Ralph through the history of how his seminal work, Unsafe At Any Speed, launched the modern consumer movement. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ralphnader.substack.com

Ralph discusses the history of Zionism in Israel, the nature of empire, and also France’s response to terrorism with distinguished Princeton University historian Arno J. Mayer.  And ocean conservationist, David Helvarg, of Blue Frontier returns to tell us all about his latest bipartisan campaign to end offshore oil drilling called The Sea Party Coalition.  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ralphnader.substack.com

Ralph’s Harvard Law School classmate and corporate governance expert, Robert A.G. Monks, explains how CEOs enrich themselves at the expense of productive investment.  And law professor, Mehrsa Baradaran proposes an alternative to puttingyour money into the big bad banks.  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ralphnader.substack.com

Ralph talks with businessman, Richard Master, the executive producer of “Fix It: Healthcare at the Tipping Point,” about how the business community should embrace a single payer healthcare system; and also Nomi Prins fills us in on how the Federal Reserve serves Wall Street over Main Street. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ralphnader.substack.com

In a wide-ranging discussion, Ralph talks community and worker ownership of businesses and the decision to use the atomic bomb with distinguished scholar and author, Gar Alperovitz.   And Ralph answers our listener questions. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ralphnader.substack.com

Ralph talks to Forrest Pritchard about how he saved his family farm, and we also critique the corporate media with Jim Naureckas of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ralphnader.substack.com

David and Steve talk to Ralph’s sister, the distinguished anthropologist Dr. Laura Nader about what the rest of the world thinks is good and bad about Euro-American culture from her latest work What the Rest Think of the West.  Then Ralph talks to nurse Amy Berman about how she is living a full life despite terminal breast cancer.  Also, Ralph reviews the first Democratic debate. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ralphnader.substack.com

Ralph tears apart the looming Trans Pacific Partnership with America’s #1 populist, Jim Hightower, and the director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, Lori Wallach.  Plus, listener questions. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ralphnader.substack.com

Ralph talks to Columbia Law Professor and software expert, Eben Moglen, about the recent VW scandal and how computer software in cars and voting machines is ripe for mischief and accidents.  And Paul Hudson, president of Flyers Rights tells us how we can fight bad airline service.  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ralphnader.substack.com

Author and car mechanic Matthew Crawford talks to us about his book Shop Class as Soul Craft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work about what it means to be able to work with one’s hands.  And co-founder of U.S. Right To Know, Gary Ruskin(gary@usrtk.org), tells what we can do to find out what is really in our food.  And after the latest deferred prosecution, Ralph calls GM a “homicidal fugitive from justice.” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ralphnader.substack.com

Ralph talks to intellectual property activist, Jamie Love, about his historic, yet unsung, efforts to get affordable, life-saving AIDS drugs to Africa and other underdeveloped areas of the globe.  And the head of the Center for Food Safety, Andrew Kimbrell completely takes apart all the arguments in favor of GMO foods and dangerous herbicides.  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ralphnader.substack.com

Harvey Wasserman rejoins us this time to talk about the real mischief going on with electronic voting machines.  And Public Citizen’s Dr. Michael Carome warns us about bad drugs, antibiotic resistance, hospital infections and ways to avoid them. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ralphnader.substack.com

Ralph talks to former protégé, Mitchell Rofsky, who founded the “Better World Club,” an eco-friendly alternative to AAA.  And we also check in with Rick Newman, the executive director of The American Museum of Tort Law about the importance of preserving our civil justice system. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ralphnader.substack.com

Former ambassador Anthony Quainton from the School of International Service talks to Ralph a bout the Iran deal. And Ralph both grills and advises Mark Everson, who is running for president in the Republican primary about the IRS, tort reform and breaking up the big banks.  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ralphnader.substack.com

Ralph talks about fighting political corruption Texas-style with Craig McDonald, director of Texans For Public Justice and professor Brandon L. Garrett fills us in on the depth of American corporate crime with his book Too Big To Jail. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ralphnader.substack.com

President of Missouri Farmers Union, Richard Oswald discusses the fight for U.S.’s “Country of Origin Labeling, and nuclear advocate and old friend Harvey Wasserman on the continuing dangers from the use of nuclear energy and aging power plants. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ralphnader.substack.com