"Be Bold America!"

Jill Cody, MPA
  • 5.0 (3)
  • POLITICS
  • UPDATED MONTHLY

“Be Bold America!” is produced by KSQD 90.7, 89.5 & 89FM and is a live, biweekly, radio talk show for those who are motivated to step out with the bold actions necessary to reimagine ethical politics, restore our democracy and fight the climate crisis. “Be Bold America” is for those who want to understand the unique challenges ahead and who are curious to learn what they can Keep doing, Stop doing, and Start doing to fight for a bold democracy. Our future depends on it. Our future is unwritten. It will be shaped by how we treat each other and what we do right now. We have big things to do!

  1. 4D AGO

    Saving the American Dream

    Produced by KSQD 90.7, 89.5 & 89.7FM The American Dream at its best is an ethical ideal and a moral compass. If respected and sustained, it can guide the United States through Trump 2.0. Anchored in the US Constitution, Saving the American Dream features meditations for dark times. Meditations are intentional acts of focused attention. They seek insight—a clear and deep understanding—about critical issues. What, for example, is most important for the United States today? Are we Americans doing the best we can? How may inquiry about the American Dream advance the reflection and action needed now to support and defend the Constitution of the United States? Saving the American Dream is a journey that goes where such questions lead. Its fundamental premise is that individuals moved to communal action by warned awareness and committed resistance are indispensable to meet challenges that grow by the day. Guidance from reliable American writers—philosophers, historians, novelists, poets, essayists, religious thinkers—maps the way.” Interview Guest:  John Roth, is the Edward J. Sexton professor emeritus of philosophy at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California. Dr. Roth was named the 1988 U. S. National Professor of the Year by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Dr. Roth's expertise in Holocaust and genocide studies, as well as in philosophy, ethics, American studies, and religious studies, has been advanced by postdoctoral appointments as a Graves Fellow in the Humanities, a Fulbright Lecturer in American Studies at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, and a Fellow of the National Humanities Institute, Yale University.

    57 min

  2. APR 20

    The Making of Donald Trump with David Cay Johnston

    Produced by KSQD 90.7, 89.5 & 89.7FM “Be Bold America!” Aired April 17, 2026 at 5:00pm (PT) Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist David Cay Johnston stated in his bestselling book, The Making of Donald Trump, when Donald Trump rode down the Trump Tower lobby escalator live on national television in June 2015 to announce his campaign for president, nearly every journalist treated his candidacy as a vanity project.  Having covered Donald Trump intensely from 1988 through 1995 and following him ever since, David knew his dramatic entry on live national television indicated Donald Trump was serious. He also knew that his presidential run would not be for the benefit of the United States of America, but only for Donald Trump As the Financial Times wrote of Johnston’s book, “[It] gives Trump the thorough scrubbing, he deserves… He makes a compelling case that Trump has the attributes of both “dictator” and “deceiver.”  Interview Guest: David Cay Johnston is one of America’s most award-winning investigative journalists with a long career reporting for the Los Angeles Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the New York Times, where his work was awarded a Pulitzer Prize. Johnston is a journalist and author with a specialty in economics and tax issues. Johnston is the author of several bestselling books and teaches at Syracuse University College of Law. Of local note, David Cay Johnston graduated from Soquel High School and considers Santa Cruz County the best place in the world to live.

    54 min

  3. APR 6

    Why the Climate Fight is Failing

    Produced by KSQD 90.7, 89.5 & 89.7FM "Why the Climate Fight is Failing. Radical Activism is Needed!" “Be Bold America!” Aired April 3 2026 at 5:00pm (PT) The climate rallying cries to “Save the Planet” no longer work in our hyper-partisan world, nor do images of polar bears on melting glaciers. The problem isn't scientific, fact-based, or even technological.  The problem is political, emotional, and ideological. Hackman provides a path forward for engagement and voter mobilization that combats apathy, dread, and resentment, and builds greater issue identification. Conservation and climate advocacy expert, Will Hackman, in his book Radically Reframing Climate Change: A Guide to Saving Ourselves reframes the climate crisis as a humanity crisis, arguing that we must change how we think and talk about climate change, both in our conversations with non-believers and among those who care.  Assuring humanity's place on a changing planet will require a near universal level of public support we will never reach if we keep making the same mistakes. We know how to do this. But the stakes have never been higher and time is running out.  Interview Guest: Since 2013, Will Hackman has served as a senior strategist in conservation advocacy efforts and has helped to advance public policies related to ocean and land conservation as well as clean energy and the environment. Among his many efforts, Will spent years defending Alaska’s Tongass National Forest from industrial logging—the United States’ largest national forest and one of the world’s largest temperate rainforests.   Hackman also worked with local and indigenous communities across the western United States on conservation of public lands and rivers, helped strengthen fuel-efficiency regulations for cars and trucks, helped pass major bipartisan legislation to combat illegal fishing, and engaged in international marine fisheries conservation efforts around the world.  Will is a contributing author on energy, environmental, and climate change topics for print, podcasts, and online media.  in his 2022 TEDx talk, “The Future of Climate Change is Personal”, Will challenges us to reframe our climate conversations to overcome polarization and partisanship. CoHost: Mike Clancy, is a climate expert who serves on the “Question Review Team” for the Annual Leon Panetta Lecture Series. He is the former Scientific and Technical Director of the Navy's Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center in Monterey, and a recipient of the Navy’s highest civilian award, the Distinguished Civilian Service Award. And, if that wasn’t enough, he played a supporting role in the movie, “A Long Road to Tao”.

    54 min

  4. MAR 15

    Defiance.org with Miles Taylor

    Produced by KSQD 90.7, 89.5 & 89.7FM “If a political party does not have its foundation in the determination to advance a cause that is right and that is moral, then it is not a political party; it is merely a conspiracy to seize power.”     – President Dwight D. Eisenhower from a 1956 speech) Defy Like De Niro. From the mean streets to the halls of power, Robert De Niro has always stood up to bullies. His new role? Defying Trump and he’s daring the rest of us to do the same. No. I’m sorry to say we won’t be interviewing Robert De Niro, but we have the next best person, his friend Miles Taylor. Miles Taylor is a former White House official who was Chief of Staff to the Department of Homeland Security in the first Trump administration. You may know him by the pen name “Anonymous.” He created a nationwide controversy when he wanted to assure the American people that there were those inside the administration who were trying to hold on to the democratic guardrails against a lawless president.   When Trump returned in 2024, he claimed Miles’ action treasonous. Miles is fighting back, not just legally, but creating a nationwide organization called Definace.org. This organization has real teeth and is funding 100% of its income to nonprofits fighting against the Trump regime.    Interview Guest: Miles Taylor (security expert): is an American author, commentator, and former government official who served in the administrations of George W. Bush and Donald Trump. In the first Trump administration, he was an appointee in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from 2017 to 2019. He was first recruited into the department by former DHS Secretary and White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, serving as his senior advisor.   In 2018, Taylor wrote an op-ed in The New York Times under the pen-name "Anonymous" that was titled, "I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration", which drew widespread attention for its criticism of Trump. Several months after quitting the administration, again under the pen name "Anonymous," he published a book in 2019 titled, A Warning. In 2020, he revealed that he was "Anonymous" while campaigning against Trump's reelection. His second book: Blowback: A Warning to Save Democracy from Trump's Revenge and workbook for Blowback by Miles Taylor: a step-by-step guide to Understanding the Struggle for Democracy were published in 2024.

    58 min

  5. MAR 13

    Living in the US May Be Hazardous to Your Health

    Produced by KSQD 90.7, 89.5 & 89.7FM  “Be Bold America!” Aired March 6, 2026 at 5:00pm (PT) “America presents an egregious paradox – it has both the most expensive healthcare and the shortest life expectancy in the West." - Robert Sapolsky Living in the United States today means surviving in a society where the social fabric has been ravaged.  How healthy you are is dependent on where you live. Americans suffer, more cancers, heart disease, mental illness, and chronic diseases than those who live in other wealthy nations, despite having the most expensive healthcare system in the world.  Why?  This Interview will embark on a journey to unravel the profound impact of public policies on American health from before birth in the book "Born Sick in the USA" by Stephen Bezruchka, PhD. Delve into the intricate web where economic inequality weaves a tapestry of sickness stemming from a highly stressed society. Interview Guest: Stephen Bezruchka, M.D., M.P.H. is Associate Teaching Professor Emeritus in the Departments of Health Systems & Population Health and of Global Health at the School of Public Health, University of Washington. At UW he received the 2002 Outstanding Teacher Award, the 2008 Faculty Community Service Award, the 2017 Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award, and the 2018 Communicating Public Health to the Public Award.  Dr. Stephen Bezruchka is a returning guest. His previous interview was on his book, Inequality Kills Us All, and was one of the most listened to "Be Bold America!" podcasts. Dr. Bezruchka serves on the board of the Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, whose parent organization has shared two Nobel Peace Prizes. There he developed the Economic Inequity Health Task Force. He launched the Population Health Forum in 1998, which presents many of the ideas in this book. His previous books include The Pocket Doctor: A Passport to Healthy Travel; A Guide to Trekking in Nepal, with the 8th edition appearing in 2011; Nepali for Trekkers; and Altitude Illness: Prevention & Treatment. These books have been translated into other languages. (Live streams, worldwide, on any electronic device. Visit the ksqd.org website)

    55 min

  6. FEB 11

    The Last American President with Thom Hartmann

    Produced by KSQD 90.7, 89.5 & 89.7FM The Last American President: A Broken Man, A Corrupt Party, and a World on the Brink February 6, 2026 at 5:00pm (PT) Democracy is dying. And we handed the killer the weapon. The countdown has begun. As fascism spreads globally and climate catastrophe accelerates, Thom Hartmann exposes the terrifying endgame: a second Trump presidency that doesn’t just end American democracy – it triggers humanity's extinction. "The Last American President", through meticulous research and unflinching analysis, reveals how political cowardice and corporate greed created the perfect storm, threatening our species survival and our country. Donald Trump didn’t break America – he’s the inevitable product of a system designed to create him. This explosive investigation reveals the chilling truth: from his brutal childhood to Roy Cohen’s mentorship and shamelessness, from a corrupted Republican Party to billionaire puppet masters, Trump was manufactured by the very institutions meant to protect us. This is our final warning. Interview Guest: Thom Hartmann is a progressive national and internationally syndicated talk show host whose shows are available in over a half-billion homes worldwide. He's the New York Times bestselling, 4-times Project Censored Award-winning author of over 24 books, in print in 17 languages, on five continents. Thom Hartmann's daily articles may be found at his Substack page titled: The Hartmann Report. Thom's wife, Louise Hartmann, contributes by writing lyrics for a Daily Song, created in folksong style. Talkers Magazine named Thom Hartmann as the 10th most important talk show host in America in 2019 and has been in the top ten for over a decade and is the #1 most important progressive host, in their “Heavy Hundred” ranking.  The Thom Hartmann Program is heard on KSQD every weekday at 4:00pm.

    58 min

  7. JAN 11

    American Kompromat with Craig Unger

    Produced by KSQD 90.7, 89.5 & 89.7 FM American Kompromat - Kompromat: noun, Russian for “Compromising Information” January 2, 2026 at 5:00pm (PT) American Kompromat is "the counterintelligence that was promised by the Mueller Report but which failed to materialize" - Journal of Cyber Policy Craig Unger's bestseller, American Kompromat, shows that something much more sinister has been taking place than the public could ever imagine–that from Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein, kompromat operations documented the darkest secrets of the most powerful people in the world and transform them into potent weapons. American Kompromat is based on extensive, exclusive interviews with dozens of high-level sources–Soviets who defected from the KGB, former officers in the CIA, FBI counterintelligence agents, lawyers at white shoe Washington firms–and analysis of thousands of pages of FBI investigations, police investigations, and news articles from across the globe. Is Donald Trump a Russian asset? How could such an audacious feat have been accomplished? Craig Unger will answer these questions and more by explaining the operations that amassed compromising information on the richest and most powerful men on earth. Interview Guest: Craig Unger is the author of six books, including the New York Times bestsellers House of Trump, House of Putin and House of Bush, House of Saud.  For 15 years, he was a contributing editor at vanity fair, covering National Security, the Middle East, and other political issues. A frequent television analyst, he was a longtime staffer at New York Magazine, served as editor and chief of Boston magazine, and has contributed to Esquire, The New Yorker, and many other publications. Craig Unger has written about the Trump-Russia scandal for The New Republic, Vanity Fair, and The Washington Post. His graduate of Harvard University and lives in Brooklyn, New York.

    56 min

  8. 12/17/2024

    State of the Free Press 2025

    Produced by KSQD 90.7, 89.5 & 89.7FM “Be Bold America!” Sunday, December 15, 2024 at 5:00pm (PT) “First they came for the journalists. We don’t know what happened after that.” – Maria Ressa Every year, Project Censored highlights the vital stories that corporate media underreported, exposes rampant news abuse, and tracks emerging threats against the press from financial and political powers “State of the Free press 2025” comes at a time when trust in the media is at an all-time low.  A 2024 Pew Research Poll found that a remarkable 73 percent of adult Americans believe a free press is either extremely or very important to the well-being of society—though only a third of those polled believe that US media are completely free to report news. Half of those surveyed believe that US news organizations are influenced a great deal by corporate/financial or government/political interests. Reporters Without Borders gave the US a score of 66.59 out of a possible 100 points in their 2024 World Press Freedom Index—a drop of nearly five points from 2023. Tragically, 2024 stands out as the year that the corporate media failed to adequately cover Israel’s ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people and the threat it poses to the whole world. With their gaze trained elsewhere, the powerful got a pass from the very institution that should hold them to account. In 2023 Reporters Without Borders labeled US press freedom “satisfactory;” in 2024, they called it “problematic.” Interview Guest: SHEALEIGH VOITL is the digital and print editor at Project Censored. She first began her research with the Project at North Central College alongside Steve Macek, co-authoring the Déjá Vu News chapter in the State of the Free Press 2022 and 2023 yearbooks, and the Top 25 chapter in SFP 2023.

    59 min
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About

“Be Bold America!” is produced by KSQD 90.7, 89.5 & 89FM and is a live, biweekly, radio talk show for those who are motivated to step out with the bold actions necessary to reimagine ethical politics, restore our democracy and fight the climate crisis. “Be Bold America” is for those who want to understand the unique challenges ahead and who are curious to learn what they can Keep doing, Stop doing, and Start doing to fight for a bold democracy. Our future depends on it. Our future is unwritten. It will be shaped by how we treat each other and what we do right now. We have big things to do!

Information

  • Creator
    Jill Cody, MPA
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    137
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Jill Cody, MPA
  • Show Website
    "Be Bold America!"