Keeping Democracy Alive with Burt Cohen Burt Cohen

Imagine a Supreme Court whose only agenda was “equal justice under law.” It was real. Unlike today’s court, which is openly an arm of the MAGA movement, when that court ended legal segregation 70 years ago, the Chief Justice was Earl Warren. Our guest, legal journalist Michael Bobelian tells how the Warren Court laid the foundation for reproductive rights and marriage equality. Though today little known, the Warren Court removed congress’s ability to harass citizens. He brought the court closer to America’s aspirations.

Wisconsin is a key swing state in the upcoming election, with traditions of both real right and real left. On today’s show on-the-ground journalist Christina Lieffring tells us about realities in that 90% rural state. She says to win voters, Democrats need to be authentic, and not hide from progressivism. They need to sponsor ambitious legislation to actually address the often dire economic challenges. And she says a tax on the super rich would help a lot.

America is an outlier: here it’s commonly accepted that if you succeed or fail you deserve it. We believe we make our own luck. And we blame ourselves for what’s really random bad luck. But that’s counterproductive, according to the research of social welfare professor Mark Robert Rank of Washington University. His new book is The Random Factor: How Chance and Luck Profoundly Shape Our Lives and the World Around Us. Europeans prepare their citizens for moments of bad luck at the front end. It’s far more costly when we wait till the back end. Give a listen.

CEOs cry that shorter work weeks will bankrupt their companies. The reality is a 4 day work week around the world has already brought results that are “off the charts.” A shorter work week means more jobs. And people lose hope when all they do is work. How about a right to life for more than just embryos? On this show author and columnist for The Progressive Sarah Jaffe and Burt Cohen explain the momentum.

The environmental movement is often derided as elitist. But as our guest Liza Featherstone of the New Republic and Jacobin magazines tells it, by planting wild miniforests there’s no such polarization. The ultra-rich may have their gated sanctuaries whereas miniforests are for everyone. They are exceedingly effective environmental actions, replicable everywhere. And they bring all kinds of people together in shared actual joy.

Laws intended to fight mafia crime are being used to crush legitimate protest. We’ve all seen excessive police force on campuses, and many legislators are also doing their part to chill our treasured freedom of speech and assembly. In These Times reporting fellow Adam Federman on this show pinpoints dangerous efforts to label traditional dissent as “domestic terrorism.” The success at the Standing Rock protest may never happen again, the oil interests and their congressional advocates have learned. Time for patriots to pay attention!