The Signal

Bucks Co Beacon

The Signal, a podcast by The Bucks County Beacon, will shine a light on the right-wing extremist currents streaming though Bucks County and beyond. Twice a month we will talk to guests who will help listeners navigate these perilous political waters by providing insight, analysis, and organizing solutions so that we can steer the community toward calmer, saner progressive routes.

  1. JAN 28

    Reading George Orwell in Trump’s America, With Laura Beers

    Back in December I read an article Laura Beers published in The Conversation where she compared White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s press conference on the so-called truth about the good news of the state of the economy under President Trump’s stewardship to the repeated pronouncements of the Ministry of Plenty in George Orwell’s ‘1984.’ This led me to pick up and read her book Orwell's Ghosts: Wisdom and Warnings for the Twenty-First Century. Beers is a professor of British history at American University whose writing has appeared in the New Republic, Washington Post, CNN, among other publications. She joined me today to speak about her book and the enduring value of Orwell's insights for modern society, especially under this new Trump Regime. Listen on Apple, Spotify, and iheart  READ:  Karoline Leavitt’s White House briefing doublethink is straight out of Orwell’s ‘1984’ Philadelphia Sues Over Trump Administration’s Removal of Slavery Exhibit at Independence National Historical Park Pittsburgh Professors Say Research Was Weaponized in Trump’s Higher Education Fight AI Is the Next Frontier for Far-Right Extremists to Spread Propaganda, Incite Violence, and Recruit New Followers Always Watching: How ICE’s Plan to Monitor Social Media 24/7 Threatens Privacy and Civic Participation ALSO LISTEN TO: The Normalization of Book Banning in the United States, With PEN America’s Sabrina Baêta The History of Fascism and Anti-Fascism in America, with Bill Mullen and Christopher Vials Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music.  Follow us on BlueSky: @buckscountybeacon.bsky.social @cmychalejko.bsky.social @rcpress.bsky.social

    43 min
  2. 12/12/2025

    The MAGA-fication of the U.S. Military, with Bucks County Veteran Steve Nolan

    On this week’s episode of the Signal we welcome back Bucks County’s Steve Nolan. Steve spent 30 years in the military and 25 years as a mental health professional. He is the author of the 2020 book American Carnage, An Officer’s Duty to Warn, and today Steve is here to warn us again about the MAGA-fication of the military and How Pete Hegseth is running Trump’s Department of War. Listen on Apple, Spotify, Google and iheart  READ:  Trump’s Pardon of Honduran Ex-President Who Conspired to Traffic Over 400 Tons of Cocaine Into US Exposes ‘War on Drugs’ Myth Leaked DHS Memo Shows Trump Administration Wants to Deploy Military on City Streets to Hunt Down Immigrants ‘Bro Culture’ on Top at the Pentagon Here’s What Project 2025 Has Planned for the Military Trump Tells Military Brass ‘We’re Under Invasion From Within’ and US Cities Should Be ‘Training Grounds for Our Military’ Using Black Hawk Helicopters and Chemical Agents, ICE Agents Turn Chicago Into a ‘War Zone’ How the Trump Administration Turned Immigration Courts Into Deportation Traps for ICE ALSO LISTEN TO: Is Donald Trump Mentally Unfit to Be Commander in Chief? An Interview with Military Veteran and Mental Health Professional Steve Nolan American Carnage: An Officer’s Duty to Warn, with Steve Nolan Former FBI Agent Who Once Infiltrated Neo-Nazi Groups and Militias Explains Why Law Enforcement Fails to Take Far-Right Extremism Seriously How Donald Trump and the MAGA Movement Will Legalize and Deploy Vigilantes to Push Their Agenda, with David Noll Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music.  Follow us on BlueSky: @buckscountybeacon.bsky.social @cmychalejko.bsky.social @rcpress.bsky.social

    45 min
  3. 10/29/2025

    America Is a White Christian Nationalist Project, With Religion Dispatches Editor Megan Goodwin

    Megan Goodwin is senior editor for Religion Dispatches, nerd-in-chief at Feral Nerd Consulting, and media & tech consultant for The Crossroads Project. Goodwin is the author of Abusing Religion: Literary Persecution, Sex Scandals, and American Minority Religions (Rutgers 2020). With Ilyse Morgenstein Fuerst, she cohosted Keeping It 101: A Killjoy’s Introduction to Religion Podcast; and their first co-authored book, Religion Is Not Done With You, is now available through Beacon Press. Her next project is tentatively entitled Cults Incorporated: The Business of Bad Religion. Megan, who grew up in Yardley where she attended St. John the Evangelist Grade School and later graduated from Archbishop Egan High School, joins The Signal to talk about her scholarly and journalistic work covering religion. She explains why religion – and specifically white Christian Nationalism – are topics each of you should care about, whether you are religious or not.  Listen on Apple, Spotify, Podbean and iheart  ALSO LISTEN TO: The History of Fascism and Anti-Fascism in America, with Bill Mullen and Christopher Vials Katherine Stewart Discusses Her New Book ‘Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy’ Kristin Kobes Du Mez on Evangelical Support for Trump and Project 2025’s Christian Nationalist and Authoritarian Designs for the Nation A Conversation with André Gagné About His Book ‘American Evangelicals for Trump: Dominion, Spiritual Warfare, and the End Times’ The New Apostolic Reformation: A Revolutionary Theocratic Movement Coming For Pennsylvania, The Nation, And The World Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music.  Follow us on BlueSky: @buckscountybeacon.bsky.social @cmychalejko.bsky.social @rcpress.bsky.social

    43 min

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

The Signal, a podcast by The Bucks County Beacon, will shine a light on the right-wing extremist currents streaming though Bucks County and beyond. Twice a month we will talk to guests who will help listeners navigate these perilous political waters by providing insight, analysis, and organizing solutions so that we can steer the community toward calmer, saner progressive routes.