On Democracy with FPWellman

Fred Wellman
  • 4.8 (208)
  • POLITICS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Multiple shows and interviews that feature engaging discussions with leading voices ranging from politics to comedy about the state of democracy in the U.S., the threats to its future, and how we can fight back to preserve our nation as well as lighter takes on the news and culture. From our 'OG' podcast featured on the MeidasTouch Network to 'Too Late to Cancel' every Sunday on the On Democracy Channel and stand alone interviews with newsmakers, candidates, and leaders. On Democracy is dedicated to informing, challenging, and growing our community of like minded freedom lovers.

  1. 1D AGO

    We will win with a positive progressive populism!

    Scarcely a day goes by when it doesn’t seem like the U.S. is sliding further into authoritarianism. At home we see ICE agents killing innocent civilians and terrorizing immigrant communities, unelected corporate titans dismantling public infrastructure, and unprecedented attacks on academic freedom and the press; abroad we see a disastrous tariff policy, saber rattling, and the targeting of Venezuela, Iran, and other countries that pose no danger to the US. Trump has been doing whatever he wants for a year and only today was finally checked by the Supreme Court. For Charles Derber, an acclaimed author and sociologist, there has never been a more urgent time to build a broad leftwing populist movement to repel the authoritarian juggernaut menacing Americans and the world. In his new book, FIGHTING OLIGARCHY: HOW POSITIVE POPULISM CAN RECLAIM AMERICA (Routledge, paperback, January 2026), he lays out a comprehensive plan for building such a movement, offers a compelling history of both right and left populism in the US, and provides a persuasive analysis of how rightwing populism culminated in a second Trump victory. He and Fred sit down to discuss his book, vision, and view on the unfolding events we face and how progressives can fight back. Charles Derber, Professor of Sociology at Boston College, has written 30 books on politics, democracy, fascism, corporations, capitalism, climate change, war, the culture wars, and social change. His most recent books include Who Owns Democracy, Dying for Capitalism, Welcome to the Revolution, Moving Beyond Fear, Sociopathic Society, and Capitalism: Should You Buy It? Find them all online and in your favorite bookseller.SponsorMack Weldon: Go to MackWeldon.com and get 20% off your first order of $125 or more, with promo code: FRED

    50 min

  2. FEB 13

    Censorship isn’t just redactions today!

    It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know the media is struggling to meet this moment in our nation and world’s history. Time and time again we see them follow unimportant stories, fail to explain complex issues, and shrink in the face of financial and government pressure. It’s not new. As long as we have had a nation, we have had a battle between the free press and the powers that are fighting to preserve their power and wealth. Today we are watching the collapse of media institutions like the Washington Post and CBS News as billionaires decide what we will see and watch with algorithms and massive amounts of money. Back in 1976 Project Censored was founded in the wake of the Watergate scandal and they are now celebrating 50 years of speaking truth to power and highlighting the organizations and people leading that charge. Fred is joined this week by MICKEY HUFF, the third director of Project Censored and the president of the nonprofit Media Freedom Foundation to discuss this dangerous moment for our democracy as the media struggles to maintain their freedom. Huff joined Ithaca College in New York in the fall of 2024, where he now also serves as the Distinguished Director of the Park Center for Independent Media and Professor of Journalism. Since 2009, he has co-edited the annual volume of the Censored book series. His most recent books include Project Censored’s State of the Free Press 2025, co-edited with Shealeigh Voitl and Andy Lee Roth); The Media and Me: A Guide to Critical Media Literacy for Young People , as well as Let’s Agree to Disagree: A Critical Thinking Guide to Communication, Conflict Management, and Critical Media Literacy and United States of Distraction: Media Manipulation in Post-Truth America (and what we can do about it), both co-authored with Nolan Higdon. Huff is co-editor of the recently released STATE OF THE FREE PRESS 2026 (The Censored Press, November 11, 2025, paperback).Learn more about Project Censored at projectcensored.org Sponsor: Shopify - Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at: shopify.com/FRED

    45 min

  3. FEB 6

    It’s the corruption…and everything else too!

    Beyond the outrageous behavior of ICE and CBP agents in the streets we are also seeing the complete collapse of the Department of Justice. Every day we see more examples that Pam Bondi and Kash Patel believe their jobs are to work for Donald Trump and not the American people. From political prosecutions to ignoring corruption we are not seeing anyone acting in the best interests of the American people. It’s even worse in Texas where outgoing Attorney General Ken Paxton has turned his office into a corrupt power base for his personal power and enrichment. He’s now running for governor and the Republicans running to replace him have all said they will “continue his legacy” which doesn’t bode well. There is a great Democrat in the race and one with an even crazier resume than Fred’s. He sit’s down this week with Tony Box who is a former Army officer, FBI Special Agent, SWAT team leader, and federal prosecutor, now an attorney in private practice in Dallas, Texas. After surviving a shooting at just 16, while intervening in an armed robbery in Chicago, he dedicated his life to public service – serving in the Army Reserves as an Airborne paratrooper and tank platoon commander, spending nine years as an FBI agent handling white collar and violent crimes (including deploying to New York City after 9/11), and serving on the Bureau's elite SWAT team where he was often the first one through the door on high-risk operations. Tony served a second tour in the Army, deploying to Iraq as a Judge Advocate General (JAG) officer (2009-2010), and helped uncover over $30 billion in waste and fraud as an investigator with the Congressional Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan. He later became a DOJ prosecutor (2018-2022) under both the Trump and Biden Administrations, handling everything from civil rights cases to wrongful convictions. Now he is running for Attorney General of Texas. Don’t miss this episode.   Sponsor Shopify: Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at: shopify.com/fred

    36 min

  4. JAN 30

    The mask is coming off Trump’s thugs

    Yet another killing by masked federal agents in Minnesota this week has sent shock waves across the country. It’s becoming clearer by the day that ICE and CBP have become out of control. Even the professional law enforcement community is condemning the behavior of these government forces from shooting protestors to literally macing people in the face on the side of the road. The divide between the people and their federal government is growing and it only becomes more dangerous. Law enforcement officials across the nation are stepping up to condemn the behavior and ensure their citizens they will act in their best interests. Fred is speaking to one of those key voices this week. Wellman is joined by Genessee County Michigan Sheriff, and candidate for Governor, Chris Swanson. For over three decades, Sheriff Swanson has dedicated himself to his local community in various roles, including as a police officer, paramedic, business owner, and professor. His strong ties to Genesee County further solidified through his election as Sheriff in 2020, a position he was re-elected to in 2024. Today, he oversees the 5th largest Sheriff’s Office in Michigan, leading with experience and a deep connection to the people he serves. He was a breakout star at the Democratic National Convention when he spoke during prime time and now has gone viral with his pointed take on what is happening in his neighboring state. Don’t miss this entire conversation.Learn more about Chris’ race for Governor at SwansonforMichigan.com.

    37 min

  5. JAN 23

    You can’t say you value every human life then ignore millions of them

    The images coming out of Minneapolis became even more shocking this week with the shocking pictures of little Liam Ramos being used as bait to get access to his family home. Meanwhile millions of Americans had their health insurance rates explode this month and tens of thousands losing their coverage completely. There are solutions including a bill for Medicare for All and important reforms to Medicare Advantage. This week Fred is joined by Dr. Ed Weisbart, the national board secretary and MO chapter chair of Physicians for a National Health Program, a non-profit non-partisan organization of more than 25,000 physicians and other health care advocates in support of a publicly financed, nonprofit, single-payer national health insurance program that would fully cover medical care for all Americans. After practicing family medicine for 20 years at Rush Medical Center in Chicago, he moved to St. Louis in 2003 to serve as chief medical officer of Express Scripts until retiring in 2010. He volunteered as an assistant professor of clinical medicine at Washington University in St. Louis from 2004 until retiring clinically in 2021. He also serves as president of the Consumers Council of Missouri, a nonprofit organization that works to build a more inclusive and equitable community through advocacy, coalition building, collaboration, and community education. Dr. Weisbart received his medical degree at the University of Illinois in Chicago in 1979 and completed his family medicine residency and a fellowship in family medicine education at Michigan State University in 1982. Learn more about Physicians for a National Health Program at https://pnhp.org   Sponsors: Shopify: Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at : shopify.com/FRED Mack Weldon: Go To MackWeldon.com and get 20% off your first order of $125 or more, with promo code: FRED

    39 min

  6. JAN 16

    It’s not the drugs, it’s the money

    We have seen weeks of chaos and now there is violence in Minnesota and Steven Miller’s evil machinations coming to fruition. It’s easy to forget that it has only been just two weeks since the attack on Venezuela on January 3rd.  Now federal agents are running amok in Minneapolis, Trump is threatening Iran, Mexico and Columbia, and more while the news leaked that he has quietly sold $500 million in Venezuelan oil and stored the funds in a bank in Qatar. It’s easy to forget that the original justification story for all of it was the threat of Venezuela and Maduro as major drug traffickers to the U.S. As usual the truth, and corruption, has gotten lost in the chaos. This week Fred peels back the onion on the justification for the attack which is as important as ever since Trump is also now threatening more attacks and reports leaked this week that he is demanding Mexico allow U.S. troops in to fight drug cartels. The drug war we are losing has nothing to do with our southern border as much as the actions of RFK Jr. and Trump himself since taking office. Fred is joined by Charles LeBaron, MD, the author of Greed to Do Good: The Untold Story of CDC’s Disastrous War on Opioids to discuss the real drug epidemic and how Trump’s Administration, RFK Jr., and the useless Republican Congress are making it worse instead of fighting it at all. For more than twenty-eight years, Dr. LeBaron worked as a medical epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While there, he was the author of more than fifty scientific studies published in peer-reviewed journals, including first- or senior- author papers in the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association. He was co-recipient of CDC’s Charles C. Shepard Science.     Sponsors: Shopify - Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trail period at: Shopify.com/FRED

    45 min

  7. JAN 9

    The Republican Congress has to go!

    It has been an absolutely catastrophic week in the United States from the raid on Venezuela and Trump’s continuing absured claims on their oil, threats against Denmark, and even worse the killing of an innocent civilian in Minneapolis by an ICE agent. Increasingly we are seeing the fallout of an out of control Executive branch with no oversight or pushback from the Republican Doormat Congress at all. This Congress has all but walked away from their Constitutional duty and act like they are simply spokespeople and influencers for Donald Trump and not representatives of their constituents. Well, we are finally in the midterms election years and it’s time to rally Democrats and democracy lovers to flip the Congress. Fred is joined by Kelly Dietrich who is the founder and CEO of the National Democratic Training Committee, which is not affiliated with the DNC, an independent organization providing guidance for anyone to run, staff, or support a campaign at any level. They will discuss how Democrats should approach these thorny issues, where the fight will unfold, and how folks can step up in this moment. If you find yourself asking…what can I do? Well…this is the place to start. Learn more at https://traindems.org.

    57 min

  8. JAN 2

    The Doormat Congress has to go!

    It’s finally here! Election year 2026 has arrived. We have the midterms in just 11 months now and it’s time to take a hard look at what the Republican Doormat Congress is doing for working Americans. The answer is pretty obvious…not just nothing but they are actually hurting working people. From failing to pass laws that make our lives better, providing no oversight for obvious failures by the Trump Administration, to outright disrespecting and hating the people they are supposed to represent. We have a disconnect from the people who are supposed to lead us and the people. But, you can change it this year. The entire House is up for election. Fred is solo this week to discuss the stakes we face and why you must get involved now before it’s too late.    Follow Fred at his Substack https://fpwellman.substack.com   Sponsors: Shopify: Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at: Shopify.com/FRED

    42 min
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4.8
out of 5
208 Ratings

About

Multiple shows and interviews that feature engaging discussions with leading voices ranging from politics to comedy about the state of democracy in the U.S., the threats to its future, and how we can fight back to preserve our nation as well as lighter takes on the news and culture. From our 'OG' podcast featured on the MeidasTouch Network to 'Too Late to Cancel' every Sunday on the On Democracy Channel and stand alone interviews with newsmakers, candidates, and leaders. On Democracy is dedicated to informing, challenging, and growing our community of like minded freedom lovers.

Information

  • Creator
    Fred Wellman
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    190
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2023 On Democracy with FPWellman
  • Show Website
    On Democracy with FPWellman

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