Today Chris McGreal helps understand how the opioid addiction became a catastrophic and deadly epidemic in America. He argues that the epidemic was born of Congressional neglect, amplified by corporate greed, and brutally exploited by illegal drug cartels. Guest: Chris McGreal is a senior writer at the Guardian and former journalist for BBC. He has published several articles on … Continued
Letters and Politics
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.
We talk to Ralph Nader about the government shutdown -in its 32nd day already, and about his book To the Ramparts: How Bush And Obama Paved The Way For The Trump Presidency, And Why Ii Isn’t Too Late To Reverse Course. Ralph Nader has spent his lifetime challenging corporations and government agencies to be more accountable to … Continued
We are in conversation with professor Gary Dorrien talking about the history of the black social gospel tradition that included socialism and humanism and that heavily influenced Martin Luther King Jr. views of Christianity. Guest: Gary Dorrien is the Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary and Professor of Religion at Columbia University. He is the author of eighteen books … Continued
A conversation on eighteenth-century philosopher Denis Diderot and the battle over his encyclopedia which was considered to be full of subversive stuff. Diderot challenged virtually all of his century’s accepted truths, from the sanctity of monarchy, to the racial justification of the slave trade, to the norms of human sexuality. He is considered a prophetic philosopher … Continued
The government shutdown is today in its 26th day. The longest shutdown in US history and it will likely go longer. Shutdown the government is a tactic that has been used to obtain a political end in times and places since ancient Greece. Today we talk explore the question of what does it mean for a … Continued
The Role of An Attorney General and the Issue of Executive Power
The Senate Judiciary Committee began the confirmation hearing for William Barr to become the next Attorney General. Today we are in conversation about the historic role of an attorney general and the long standing controversial issue over executive power. Guest: Peter M. Shane is the Jacob E. Davis and Jacob E. Davis II Chair in Law … Continued
The British parliament is scheduled to vote on a withdrawal agreement with the European Union as the UK is trying to leave the EU by March 29th of this year. A political crisis has been set up in London as well as in Europe over this vote and what could happen afterwards. Professor Desmond Dinan … Continued
Mike Pence’s drive for power, perhaps inspired by his belief that God might have big plans for him, explains why he shocked his allies by lending Christian credibility to a scandal-plagued candidate like Trump. We are in conversation with author Michael D’Antonio about the history of Mike Pence and his role in the Trump administration. … Continued
We talk to Legal scholar Alan Hirsch about historical lessons and how the Constitution provides context during times of political uncertainty and crisis. We dive into two presidential impeachments in U.S. history. The first one on Andrew Johnson in 1868, and the second on Bill Clinton in the late 1990’s. Guest: Alan Hirsch is the chair … Continued
We talk to Professor Thomas E. Mann about the history of the government shutdowns including the current one. Professor Mann explains the politics and the implications of the shutdowns. Guest: Thomas E. Mann is Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at The Brookings Institution and Resident Scholar at the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley.