Electric Politics Podcast

An American Criminologist

george@electricpolitics.com — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 06:00:00 -0500

It's one of those things that everybody seems to know but nobody puts into words, until somebody does. Jonathan Simon, in his award winning book Governing Through Crime, observes that American ideas about criminal justice are not only out of kilter but have metastasized into almost every area of life. We've become terrified of our own shadows. The policy consequences are foolish, undemocratic, unfair and wasteful. We should be ashamed. We know better. Total runtime an hour and two minutes. Pray for small miracles.

Scientia Potentia Est

george@electricpolitics.com — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 06:00:00 -0500

Anybody in the U.S. who wants higher education should be able to have it. Preferably, for free. But that's not how the system works... What a waste! Nevertheless, good things are happening. For some inspiration from the community college level I turned to the maverick educator Wick Sloane. God bless 'im! Total runtime fifty one minutes. Live charitably.

Keeping the Present Inevitable

george@electricpolitics.com — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 06:00:00 -0500

Republocrats. Demicans. It adds up to Oligarchy. The wealthy have overtly seized control of the U.S. They're not of a mind to share the spoils. What to do? Nobody seems to know... Nevertheless, it helps to talk about the problem. And the more people who rattle their chains the better. Rick MacArthur, publisher of Harper's, tells it like it is. Total runtime fifty two minutes. The flame of liberty never dies.

Plato's Secret

george@electricpolitics.com — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 06:00:00 -0500

The Gods on Mount Olympus don't rule the world. Science does. But Plato couldn't say that in ancient Greece without a good chance of being put to death. So Plato did a sensible thing: he hid his secret, using musical codes, inside his already magnificent philosophical construction, a philosophy that became the cornerstone of western thought. Some of his contemporaries were privy to his secret knowledge but over the centuries it was lost. Rediscovered recently by Dr. Jay Kennedy, Plato's faith in science sheds new light on the origins of modernity. Total runtime forty minutes. Mysticism and logic ring free. ♪

Chili's Campaign in the Buckeye State

george@electricpolitics.com — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 06:00:00 -0500

Voters in Ohio's second congressional district have a real choice: the Democrat, Surya "Chili" Yalamanchili, wants to create jobs and is on the side of the workers, while his opponent, incumbent Republican Jean Schmidt, apparently has no policy views whatsoever except unconditional support for the rich. It's a Republican leaning district that in ordinary times could be counted on to grovel before the powers that be, but these aren't ordinary times. Chili has a real chance, and with your help might be able to pull off a surprise upset. Total runtime an hour and six minutes. If you can, please donate to Chili's campaign and/or volunteer!

The Art of Agriculture

george@electricpolitics.com — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 06:00:00 -0500

American culture has lost an essential chthonic connection with the soil. Restoring it requires rethinking conventional agricultural practices — practices, in any case, for many additional reasons, unsuited for the modern world. Dare we say we're on the cusp of an organic revolution? To get some of the story from a leading soil scientist I turned to Dr. John P. Reganold. A farsighted optimist, John points the way home. Total runtime an hour and seventeen minutes. Listen while gardening. ☺

The Power of Imagination

george@electricpolitics.com — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 06:00:00 -0500

Harkening back to an earlier age, the prolific and brilliant author and anthologist Michael Sims helps us to understand science, natural history, literature, and all manner of other things. A Renaissance man. In Dracula's Guest he explores through Victorian eyes the universal human fear of the dark. The fact is, we love to experience that fear, within limits. It's a decadent fancy, but it's also probably in part a primordial urge to venture into the unknown. As always, great fun talking with Michael. Total runtime forty three minutes. “For in that sleep of death what dreams may come...”

(Unlawful) Targeted Killing

george@electricpolitics.com — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 06:00:00 -0500

The U.S. government should not murder people abroad. A simple enough rule, yet in a bizarre, barbaric, and cold-blooded fashion Washington now not only claims the right to murder anyone it wants, anywhere it wants, abroad, including American citizens, but actively carries out such intent with drone missile strikes. Captain Ahab channeling Lord of the Flies could not have devised a more insensible policy. To talk about the legal issues I turned to Philip Alston, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions. Thank you, Philip! Total runtime thirty five minutes. International law isn't made to be broken.

The Death and Life of Intelligence Analysis

george@electricpolitics.com — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 06:00:00 -0500

Magical thinking drives the Neocons' perpetual efforts to start a war with Iran. Politicians, by and large, fail to apprehend the danger. If it weren't for analysts like Dr. Thomas Fingar — and many others — who have held the line on explaining the real costs of war, we would by now be well and truly screwed. Here, Tom and I talk about Iran, North Korea, and the reorganization of the intelligence community. The latter seemingly esoteric except that in certain ways it's our first (and maybe best) line of defense. Total runtime an hour and seventeen minutes. Audi alteram partem.

Regime Change Politics

george@electricpolitics.com — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 06:00:00 -0500

We tell ourselves that humans are sentient animals. Yet here in the U.S. our politics seem rather more directed by delusion, or denial, than reason. Collectively, we not only do not know that our political system does not produce democratic results, we pretend the results are democratic no matter how fundamentally unfair they may be. Money rules. Why is that? And why can't we imagine a better way of doing things that gives people health care, pensions, education, job security with decent wages — and all the rest? To talk about such things I turned to the brilliant sociologist Dr. Charles Derber. He explains that not only is radical change a real possibility, but that it's happened regularly throughout American history. So there's hope. Total runtime fifty six minutes. Enjoy!

Priorities

george@electricpolitics.com — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 06:00:00 -0500

To be honest, the shrimp fishermen don't matter. The Gulf coast tourist traps don't matter. The economic effects of the spill. Don't matter. It's not about the money. What matters is that we're destroying the environment, killing countless innocent creatures. I keep hoping things may not be quite as bad as they seem, but I keep worrying that in fact they're much, much worse. To try to make sense of this part of the story I turned to Dr. Jeffrey Short, one of the world's top experts on the environmental effects of oil. It was very kind of Jeff to take time in the midst of the crisis to talk with me — I really appreciate it. Total runtime half an hour. God forgive us!

Moral Methodologies, Military Spec

george@electricpolitics.com — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 06:00:00 -0500

If morality were only about rules then our conceptions of the Deity would become the equivalent of a giant computer in the sky. But morality is both about rules and about judging things for oneself. Thus it gets tricky when trying to train people to be responsible moral agents. Dick Couch has the right idea that more training in moral decision-making should be provided to our uniformed military personnel — and particularly to elite special forces — but how best to do that remains, I think, an open question. It was an honor and a pleasure to talk with Dick, and I much appreciate his willingness to put up with my grouchy questions. Total runtime fifty five minutes. Nosce te ipsum.

Alaska's Libertarian Environmentalist

george@electricpolitics.com — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 06:00:00 -0500

Those in the Gulf region affected by BP's undersea gusher surely can learn something from Alaska's 1989 experience with the Exxon Valdez. So I turned to Charles Wohlforth, who reported on the Exxon Valdez for the Anchorage Daily News (Alaska's largest circulation newspaper), and who has subsequently written several highly praised books on the environment. Even if you make sense of the issues in a very different way, this may be something of a helpful anthropological field trip. Thanks, Charles! Total runtime fifty three minutes. It's a big tent.

A Political Marathoner

george@electricpolitics.com — Fri, 28 May 2010 06:00:00 -0500

If he'd won the presidency in 1988, today the U.S. would be a very different place. But Governor Michael S. Dukakis was too nice, too decent a guy, to grind George H. W. Bush into the dirt. And instead of cashing in after leaving politics, like most of them do, he's become an academic. More power to him. If the Governor has a weak point, it may be that he's too loyal to the Democratic Party — but in a gentleman like Mike Dukakis that should be considered a virtue. Total runtime fifty nine minutes. Be Smart!

The F-35 Boondoggle

george@electricpolitics.com — Fri, 21 May 2010 06:00:00 -0500

A trillion dollar gold-plated warplane that can't do anything very well. But it looks slick. Brilliant! I'll have a dozen, please. If Mr. Obama and Mr. Gates were serious about containing Pentagon costs they'd cancel the F-35. If Congress were serious about budget deficits they'd stop funding it. If the public were serious about good government they'd toss out politicians who campaign for it. If the uniformed services were serious about professional standards they'd refuse it. And if mainstream journalists were serious about hewing to their responsibilities they'd report on it (to be fair, some do). An archetypal "teachable moment." What a mess! To talk about the F-35, here's Winslow Wheeler, one of the very few real experts on Pentagon procurement. Total runtime one hour. I protest!

Folk History

george@electricpolitics.com — Fri, 14 May 2010 06:00:00 -0500

To talk culture I turned to the award winning writer Luc Sante. Because Luc is Belgian, and therefore doubly an expert, I seized this opportunity to also talk about Tin-Tin comics, which I grew up on as a kid in the Belgian Congo and in Brussels. Among other topics we cover Luc's latest book, Folk Photography, which I very highly recommend. Total runtime an hour and seven minutes. Enjoy!

Óχi Euro

george@electricpolitics.com — Fri, 07 May 2010 06:00:00 -0500

Until fairly recently the Greek debt crisis wasn't so much in the news. Now, it's roiling markets and a lot of commentators are wringing their hands over the possibility that it could precipitate another world-wide financial crash. That's probably a baseless fear. Greece is mainly a Eurozone problem and, in fact, the damage Greece does to the Euro may turn out to be a blessing, for everybody. To get at some of these issues I turned, once again, to the seasoned and very progressive-minded investment banker Marshall Auerback. Ours may be a minority view but I have a high level of confidence that it's the right one. Total runtime thirty three minutes. Beware Greeks bearing Greeks!

Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR) AKA "Cold Fusion"

george@electricpolitics.com — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 06:00:00 -0500

In 1989 Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons announced to the media that they had discovered "cold fusion." Immediately, other scientists around the world tried to replicate their results. Most failed. Establishment science eventually dismissed it as an illusion, if not an outright hoax. "Cold fusion" became the epithet of choice for unorthodox scientific claims. Yet a few researchers soldiered on, accumulating an impressive body of work. To get an overview, I turned to Dr. Jan Marwan, an independent researcher in Berlin, who recently organized a symposium on "cold fusion" for the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society, and who, with the ACS, is editing a series of three volumes of papers on the subject for Oxford University Press. It's still controversial — and why not, it's practically a new branch of science — but "cold fusion" appears to be gaining legitimacy. You should listen and decide for yourself. Total runtime forty six minutes. Enjoy!

The Battle of Los Angeles

george@electricpolitics.com — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 06:00:00 -0500

In the early morning hours of February 25, 1942, something huge and glowing flew high and at a stately pace over Los Angeles. Civil Defense anti-aircraft batteries fired over 1,400 shells at it, a still-classified number of interceptor aircraft attacked it, but it flew off and disappeared. The Army says "it" was a case of nervous jitters. The photograph a day later in the Los Angeles Times says it was something else. Plus which, possibly over a million people were eyewitnesses. One of them, a boy of eight at the time, Dr. C. Scott Littleton, Professor Emeritus of Occidental and former chair of its Anthropology Department, believes it was a bona fide UFO from an alien civilization. If so, what was it doing? What does the event mean? Here, Scott explains... My own guess is that the intergalactic civilization out there is likely much, much more ancient — but it's fascinating and a pleasure to hear Scott's intelligent and educated speculation. Kudos to him for telling his story! Total runtime an hour and twenty two minutes. Imagine the impossible...

Of Priests and Pedophiles

george@electricpolitics.com — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 06:00:00 -0500

According to the experts, the sexual abuse of children happens more often than you might think. Child rape by Catholic priests is especially abhorrent, considering the role that the Catholic Church — for that matter, every religion — should be taking in eradicating pedophilia. But where the Church of Rome continues to obstruct justice for criminal priests the courts will have to intervene. To talk about these issues I turned to the distinguished lawyer Marci Hamilton, author most recently of Justice Denied, and a leader in the fight to protect children. It's always great to talk with Marci, and an honor too. Total runtime fifty eight minutes. Own your outrage!

Whither the Israel Lobby?

george@electricpolitics.com — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 06:00:00 -0500

Ever since his 1970 assignment to photograph Palestinian refugee camps, Jeffrey Blankfort has been a committed anti-Zionist. Jeff is less well known than he should be, though he frequently publishes in the alternative media and has a regular, weekly program on KZYX radio in Mendocino, California. He maintains a rare intellectual consistency, being unafraid to put rational argument above political loyalties (so, for example, regarding approaches toward the Israel Lobby he praises President George H.W. Bush but condemns Noam Chomsky). It was a pleasure to talk with Jeff and I wish more people had his moral integrity. Total runtime an hour and twenty one minutes. Enjoy!

Bosnia Redux

george@electricpolitics.com — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 06:00:00 -0500

In early August, 1992, the Serbs decisively and permanently lost (.doc) the propaganda war-within-a-war in the violent disintegration of the former Yugoslavia. Almost two decades later, conventional wisdom continues to blame the Serbs for everything wrong in the Balkans. But there is a legitimate, thoughtful, contrary view. I've taken it. So have many others, including people who were in senior positions in the U.S. government (and in other governments) at the time and, indeed, up through the present. Why this perspective doesn't get more attention remains an elusive question. In any case, Dr. Steven E. Meyer was formerly at the CIA and during the 1990s Deputy Director of the Interagency Balkan Task Force. He's now at the National Defense University. It was a real pleasure to talk with Steven and I hope we manage to convey a sense of place, events, and personality. Total runtime an hour and twenty minutes. Enjoy!

FairVote

george@electricpolitics.com — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 06:00:00 -0500

Here's one of the basic facts of American political life that every adult should know: The Constitution does not guarantee the right to vote. Why? Because when it was written voting was a jealously guarded prerogative. Our founding fathers never, ever expected the franchise to be widely applied. The upside of their omission, today, is that we have many options through state and local governments to adopt reforms such as proportional voting and instant run-off elections. We also could, and should, consider more fundamental constitutional changes. To get at some of these questions I turned to Rob Richie, Executive Director of FairVote. Rob gets top marks for thoughtfulness and it was a real pleasure to talk with him. Total runtime an hour and six minutes. Enjoy!

Economic Truth

george@electricpolitics.com — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 06:00:00 -0500

Economics is not engineering. Nor is it a "science" insofar as economics deals with questions of distribution. Formerly — in the nineteenth century — normative values provided a cornerstone of the theory of political economy; methods of ethics should be added back into the mix of today's overly mathematized discipline. To consider some specifics as well as some generalizations I turned to the Financial Times columnist John Kay. It was an honor and a great pleasure. Total runtime fifty four minutes. Novus Ordo Seclorum.

Nonviolent Struggle

george@electricpolitics.com — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 06:00:00 -0500

It would be a truly wonderful thing if the American system of government were capable of reforming itself to become democratic. Most likely, it can't. We're on a downward spiral that will end either in collapse or revolt. There is a politically legitimate off-ramp — Article V of the Constitution provides for amendments — but navigating great reforms through it won't be simple or easy or painless. Probably, at some point, nonviolent struggle will become necessary. To get a sense of nonviolent strategy from someone who doesn't agree with me but who has done more work on the theory and on comparative studies than anyone, I turned to Dr. Gene Sharp. It was an eye-opener to talk with him and I hope he forgives me my impertinent questioning. Total runtime forty three minutes. Enjoy!