Freedom Archives - KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show

In a world of smart homes and cities, data is the coin of the realm. Everyone is vulnerable, nothing is too private. We consumers are unintentionally paying for our own surveillance. The fourth amendment is taking a beating in the The post With Smart Everything, Your Data Will be Used Against You appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

From tinny AM pop to stereo underground rock, WBCN was right at the vanguard. According to our guest, the legendary Charles Laquidara, it was part of an exciting wonderfully freeing time. A commercial station, it still managed to be the The post Laquidara On the Legacy of WBCN appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

Remember when we could count on the Washington Post to boldly take the lead on political corruption? And can you imagine a newspaper turning down a really big ad buy? Welcome to Trumpworld 2.0. As Common Cause president and CEO The post Washington Post Changes Bigly: Refuses $115,000 Ad appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

From the proposed Department of Government Efficiency to possible invocation of the Insurrection Act of 1807 to the Espionage Act of 1917 to the proposal to take away the non-profit status of organizations alleged to have ties to terrorists, there The post The Many All-American Tools Trump Can Use To Chill Freedom appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

You know the saying “hurt people hurt people.” Well, our guest argues “healed people heal people.” Most of us look away from the terribly failed system of justice, but Notre Dame Professor Jason Springs offers us a new path that The post Restorative Justice Works Where Retribution Fails appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

They love to say America has the strongest military of any nation ever. But boasting usually leads to disaster. On this show, we hear from William J. Astore,  a retired lieutenant colonel of the US Air Force and professor of The post A Military Security State and the Erosion of Freedom appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

What do we mean by the word “hero?” Is it not a person of extraordinary courage, putting the good of the country above his or her own safety? That’s Daniel Ellsberg, most famous for the Pentagon Papers which he released The post Dan Ellsberg Died One Year Ago. Long May He Live. appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

For many decades the Supreme Court was reliably on the side of voting rights. Incrementally, quite steadily, the justices have chipped away at our constitutional rights. On this show Professor Josh Douglas and I discuss his new book: The Court The post The Court Versus the Voters: Who’da Thunk it?! appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

It’s the bedrock of who we are today. But to believe there was agreement among the “Founding Fathers,” that they aimed to to replace plutocracy with democracy is just wrong. In this lively interview, historian Woody Holton reveals fascinating little-known The post The Truth Behind the Myth of the American Revolution appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

They’re not supposed to be an arm of either political party. The word “supreme” means above it all but that’s not what we’ve got in 2024. The majority often contrives constitutional reasons to impose a right wing agenda. How can The post The Supreme Court: How Can We Fix it? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

Democracy and oligarchy: since our founding it’s been a long balancing act. In his new book Realigners: Partisan Hacks, Political Visionaries, and the Struggle to Rule American Democracy, author historian Timothy Shenk tells of how such incredibly diverse people as The post The Useful Struggle for American Democracy appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

When Republicans win power, they use it. Obama tried bipartisanship. There was little, if any, perceptible change. In the following campaign in 2016, Trump said “I made a promise to the forgotten men and women of this country that I The post Michigan Moves Forward, Arkansas Clamps Down on Rights appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

There’s a science to the demise of democracy. On this show, Vanderbilt University political historian Eli Merritt talks about the new book he edited: How to Save Democracy; Inspiration and Advice from 95 World Leaders. It’s about the knowledge and The post Time to Get Serious: How to Save Democracy appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

Reporters used to report, now there’s virtually no line between media and the national security state. Veteran international journalist Patrick Lawrence on this show notes the big change occurred 9/11; since then we have been subject to an information monoculture. The post The Collapse of Journalism and the Threat to Democracy appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio...

It may appear to be a rogue court today but the truth is the Supreme Court has long led the fight against democracy. Our guest today historian Steve Fraser points out that the liberal Warren Court was the real aberration. The post The Tyranny of the Supreme Court is Nothing New, It’s Tradition appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

It’s almost time for the start of schools. Of course all parents want to protect their children from inappropriate material. But when “parental rights” mean teachers are forbidden from mentioning homosexuality or racism because that means teachers are “grooming” kids The post As Schools Open Again: The Moms for Liberty Nightmare appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Rad...

“‘Opposite sex’ is a phantom concept—nobody lives it.” So says our guest author Kathryn Bond Stockton. Her new book Gender(s) argues that what seem like obvious genital distinctions are in reality incomplete. When children are born, it’s like parents “lower The post Simplistic Binary Genders is Oppressive Cultural Fortification appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show...

It’s the bedrock of who we are today. But to believe there was agreement among the “Founding Fathers” to replace plutocracy with democracy is just wrong. A lot of the answers as to where we find ourselves today, good and The post Behind the Neat Myth of the American Revolution appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

We barely pulled democracy back from the ledge. Now there’s work to be done to make democracy work even better. On this show Kristen Eberhard talks about steps described in her new book “Becoming a Democracy: How We Can Fix The post Now’s the Time to Make Democracy Better appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

Distrust of the press is hardly a new phenomenon. In the 1920s two American literary luminaries shared a concern about bias in the press. But they offered widely divergent reasons and ways to correct the unfairness. Upton Sinclair insisted the The post News Media: Commodity or Public Good? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

With the pandemic throwing everything up in the air, there are new opportunities for us to shape the way it all lands. Going back to the old “normal” is not the only option. On this show Joe Ryle a leader The post A Benefit From Covid? 4 Day Work Week appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

While there are major challenges, there is much to celebrate. We are the only country with the same form of government since our founding in 1787. But in light of Trumpism, religious nationalists, and January 6th, how strong is our The post Fourth of July 2021: Are We Keeping a Republic? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

When Roe v Wade was decided in 1973, many thought the matter was settled. Nearly 50 years later, the new Supreme Court agreed to hear a case that could overturn that landmark decision. On this show abortion law historian professor The post Supreme Court Case Threatens Roe, But It’s Not Over appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

The nuclear family, white hetero male dominance and control is not the only way it can be. Why can we can have firearms freedom but not sexual freedom? On this show, Janet Jakobsen professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies The post Why is Sexual Freedom So Frightening? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

The Covid 19 crisis is being used to bolster authoritarianism around the world: Trump, Orban, Bolsonaro, the list goes on. John Feffer, director of Foreign Policy in Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies explains how the coronavirus is being The post Covid 19 and Authoritarianism appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .