10:00 AM Pacific Time: Monday - Thursday
Letters & Politics seeks to explore the history behind today’s major global and national news stories. Hosted by Mitch Jeserich.
Brazil presidential election was won by far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro has frequently disparage women, gays, and blacks; praised torture an killings by police, and has said he will bring military men to his cabinet. Guest: James Green is professor of Brazilian History and Culture at Brown University. And the Director of the Brown-Brazil Initiative. Professor Green … Continued
We are joined by Adele Stan to talk about pipe bombs found in the mail to highly visible Trump critics, and some of the conspiracy theories going around, especially those concerning billionaire George Soros, one of the recipients of such a package. Guest: Adele Stan, is a columnist for The American Prospect, and the editor of … Continued
A conversation about what a big turnout could mean for the midterm election, the credibility of the process and the online political manipulation. Also, we talk about the bombs sent by mail to the Obama’s, The Clinton’s, George Soros and CNN. Guest: Steven Rosenfeld, is a senior writing fellow of the Independent Media Institute, where he covers national … Continued
A conversation with Professor Alan I. Abramowitz about how political polarization arose in the US, and in fact, is increasingly stronger. Partisan alignment grew out of the breakup of the old New Deal coalition; it introduced the most important difference between our current political era and past eras. The rise of “negative partisanship”, explains how … Continued
Professor John H. Aldrich and John D. Griffin make a compelling case that competition between political parties is an essential component of a democracy that is responsive to its citizens and thus able to address their concerns. In the modern era, as party competition in the South has come to be widely regarded as matching that … Continued
Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt have spent more than twenty years studying the breakdown of democracies in Europe and Latin America, and they believe the answer is yes. We talk to Daniel Ziblatt to understand how democracy is currently in danger in the US. Guest: Daniel Ziblatt is Eaton Professor of the Science of Government … Continued
A conversation with Professor of History Arthur Eckstein about how democracies and republics fell apart into chaos or despotism in the ancient western world. A history that recounts the current state of the rise of despotic demagogy in the White House. Guest: Arthur Eckstein is Distinguished Scholar at the University of Maryland, College Park. He specializes in the history of … Continued
A conversation with D.D. Gutttenplan about who are the new progressive leaders emerging to lead the post-Trump return to democracy in America. We also talk about the midterm elections that are just a few weeks away. Guest: D.D. Guttenplan is the Editor at Large at The Nation and Editor in Chief of the UK based Jewish Quarterly. He … Continued
A conversation with Matthew D. Hockenos about the controversial German pastor Martin Niemöller’s evolution from a Nazi supporter to a determined opponent of Hitler. Niemöller is well remembered for his quotation: First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and … Continued
A conversation with Hakam Takash about the closing of the Palestinian mission in Washington D.C. by the Trump Administration. The reason Trump said he ordered the closing, is because Palestine had not done enough for peace negotiations with Israel. Guest: Hakam Takash, was a top diplomat for the Palestinian Consular’s affairs office. Then, we talk … Continued
