Democracy on the Move

Kevin Howard drops by again for a lively discussion about how wealth has co-opted our media and government. He references the Powell Memorandum, written in 1971, which was a blueprint for persuading the masses to support corporate takeover. This effort greatly influenced the infamous “Citizens United” Supreme Court ruling of 2010, which elevated corporate influence over individuals by allowing the...

Amanda Taylor drops by to discuss her campaign to represent District 103 in the Missouri House of Representatives. The House currently has a Republican "super-majority," so Amanda, running as a Democrat, has her work cut out for her. We discuss her main campaign issues, what she hopes to accomplish as a state legislator, and the current state of politics in Missouri and the rest of the nation. The...

To keep from killing each other, people just don’t talk about the topics of politics and religion at the family dinner table or during outings with friends. This is unfortunate because these are the topics that undermine unity in our nation. Corey Nathan, however, bravely steps into this space and produces a podcast that’s unafraid to take on these topics. What results is a series of engaging, pro...

In this episode, we talk about Universal Healthcare with two guests - Dr. Ed Weisbart, an advocate for a single-payer national health program, and Franklin Delano “Denny” Roth II, a U.S. Congressional candidate for Missouri’s 8th district. We unpack some of the major challenges of implementing Universal Healthcare in the United States. Dr. Weisbart, with his extensive background in medicine and he...

In this episode, we sit down with Kevin Howard, author of Onward At Last, a compelling collection of essays exploring the root causes of American unhappiness and the pathway to personal and collective progress. Raised in the Bronx and having served in the US Army, Kevin navigated a successful career in business banking before realizing a critical void in his seemingly accomplished life. His book d...

In this episode, we're joined by Patrick Lovell, the creative mind behind the eye-opening documentary series The Con. Our conversation digs into the critical issue of how major financial institutions, with the tacit approval of a complicit government, have manipulated the United States' financial system. We explore the troubling "revolving door" phenomenon, where government officials, responsible...

In this episode of our podcast, we engage with Franklin Delano “Denny” Roth, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Congress from Missouri's 8th District. Facing a formidable challenge against the incumbent Republican, Jason Smith, Roth is undeterred despite the district's strong Republican lean and Smith's significant political standing. Our conversation, set in the tranquil surroundings of Roth's h...

This week we talk with Jojo Stewart about the disturbing rising tide of fascism in America. Jojo is an activist, avid blogger and social media manager for a candidate who's running for the U.S. House of Representatives. We discuss the historical origins of fascism, its core tenets, and the warning signs that indicate its presence. We also talk about the current political climate in the United Stat...

Jeff Basinger, an attorney from Columbia, Missouri, fights for the initiative process in Missouri. This process allows citizens to directly petition the government for ballot measures, giving them the ability to exercise direct democracy. In essence, it is democracy in action. However, certain people within the government have taken it upon themselves to interfere with the initiative process, deny...

I’m going on hiatus for a few weeks. But before I go, I’d like to introduce you to a new project I’m working on, called “Dirt Road Radio.” If you’re interested in joining an effort to help heal our national divide, we would love to hear from you! Go to www.dirtroadradio.com , check it out, and fill out the contact form. We would love to hear from you!

This week we discuss Artificial Intelligence (AI). We'll unravel the differences and similarities between human intelligence and AI, explore misconceptions, fears, and concerns surrounding the technology, and illuminate its true nature as a tool created and controlled by humans. We'll discuss how AI is misunderstood and feared, delve into the misuse of AI by nefarious human actors, and review how...

The recent Supreme Court decision that removes race from consideration in Affirmative Action has had a seismic shift in college admissions. The ruling appears to be based on the concept of “Meritocracy,” where students admitted into college are considered on the basis of merit - especially academic achievement. In this podcast, we discuss how the concept of merit is seriously flawed, because it fa...

Sam Fieldman, the national counsel for Wolf-PAC, joins us to discuss their bold, citizen-driven initiative to enact an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The proposed amendment, intended to loosen the grip of corruption and vested interests in Congress, aims to overhaul our faltering campaign finance system. As Constitutional Amendments hold primacy over both Congress and the Supreme Court, a mov...

In this week's episode, we delve into a thought-provoking discussion with three pivotal personalities from the Missouri Equity Education Partnership, or MoEEP. We address the pressing need for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) within Missouri's educational system. You may wonder, isn't educational equity a reality already? Our guests paint a contrasting picture. They share how students are al...

Today we talk with our semi-regular guest, Nathan Falcone, about Social Democracy. Well, we start off talking about Social Democracy, but we wander boldly into other topics. We meet in person at a coffee house called “Toasted,” in High Ridge, Missouri. This is also the first recording for Nathan’s new podcast called “Reason Will Prevail.”

Today we talk with ChatGPT about Artificial Intelligence. Yes, we have a conversation with an AI bot about AI technology. We'll discuss what is meant by AI, how it can help us as individuals, how it threatens us, how it will change society, how our government should regulate AI and what might happen to people that don't keep up with developments in AI. It’s an interesting discussion with a non-hum...

Tim Gibbons, the Communications Director for the Missouri Rural Crisis Center (MRCC), drops by to talk about the crisis in our heartland. We discuss the problems with foreign ownership of American farmland, the loss of family farms to corporate interests, the consolidation of hogs and cattle into four major meatpacking companies (two of which are foreign-owned), the labeling of foreign beef as Ame...

The forces of White Christian Nationalism have been building since the 1960s, and today we can no longer ignore the threat it presents to our democracy. We are now at a crossroads, where Americans must make a choice; do we get involved and fight for our democracy, or do we sit passively while our freedoms are taken away? In this podcast, we briefly examine how the anti-democratic forces are now tu...

Bernadette Holzer and Chris Burgess join the podcast to talk about Dirt Road Radio (DRR) - a new streaming radio station that seeks to tell a better story about rural life in America. DRR will connect rural communities across the country through music, arts & culture, news & opinion, and good, honest conversation. Why is Dirt Road Radio a necessary part of American life? What does it do? And how c...

In this podcast, we explore the accelerationist movement, which seeks to hasten the collapse of the current social, economic, or political order to establish a new world order. Accelerationism can be seen in the writings of Senator Josh Hawley, who has advocated for "immanentizing the Eschaton," or bringing about the end times to create a new order. However, this ideology has dangerous implication...

This week we chat again with Nathan Falcone. Our topic today? Politics and Corruption. Nathan is a lifetime resident of Cedar Hill, Missouri, a small unincorporated town of about 1700 people. He describes himself as having "an absurd love" of politics, and he believes that society is unnecessarily divided, and through discussion, we can heal the differences.

Shavanna Spratt, Executive Director of St. Louis-based organization Da Hood Connect, drops by to talk about the organization. She emphasizes Da Hood Connect’s commitment to addressing and reducing barriers faced by Black and/or under-resourced communities through education, advocacy, and connections. Leveraging media and entertainment, including a community podcast, Da Hood Connect aims to create...

In this podcast we discuss the technique used by authoritarian and fascist leaders to erode democratic values and manipulate societies into submission by blurring the line between legal and illegal behavior. We look at how individual citizens often disengage and become cynical in the face of threats to democracy, thereby reenforcing the movement away from democracy. There is hope, however. We indi...

In this episode we talk about how the modern controversy over abortion might lead us down a dark path where, as history has shown, our nation may end up forcing sterilization on certain people. We also talk about the modern day controversy over pronouns and the cesspool that the Arkansas legislature has inadvertently entered when trying to legislate over cultural issues.

This week we chat with Nathan Falcone, a lifetime resident of Cedar Hill, Missouri. Nathan describes himself as having a keen interest in politics, which he describes as "an absurd love." He believes that society is unnecessarily divided, and an open discussion of major issues may help alleviate this problem of division. In this episode, we talk about ordinary stuff, but focusing mostly on how Cov...