Free Forum with Terrence McNally

The Republican party's beliefs and policies – while passionately hailed by millions - are no longer those of the majority of Americans, and so the only way they can dominate government as they do - White House, both houses of Congress, Supreme Court, and the vast majority of state legislatures and governorships - is by gerrymandering legislative districts and making it harder for millions to vote. Trump’s Election Integrity Commission aims to take it to the next level in 2018 and 2020. I talk about this with Ari Berman, author of Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America.

Naomi Klein (No Logo; Shock Doctrine; This Changes Everything) makes it very clear that even successful resistance is not enough. We must seize this moment to pursue nothing less than the world we long for - successfully confronting climate change and inequality while rebuilding our sense of human community. In addition to No, we need to offer a compelling, inviting, and just Yes. She offers the example of The Leap Manifesto, that she helped hatch in Canada, which commits to building a society in which we care for the earth and each other.

I turn to constitutional scholar ERWIN CHEMERINSKY to talk about legal issues raised by the Trump administration. How far is this Supreme Court going to go in weakening the separation between church and state? Is Trump violating the law by making money - including taxpayer’s money - from his businesses and properties? Who’s going to enforce that law? How bad is it that he belittles and scapegoats the judiciary? Is it too early to think about impeachment? We’ve only got a half hour, but we cover a lot.

Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist and author David Cay Johnston has covered Donald Trump off and on for 27 years. In THE MAKING OF DONALD TRUMP, he profiles the many ways Trump has gotten wealthy by bilking others, colluding with criminals, evading prosecution, and romancing the press. Johnston is the founder/editor-in-chief of nonprofit news service DCReport.org, that reports "what the President and Congress do, not what they say."

Ever since he dropped out of college to sample the Summer of Love, DANNY GOLDBERG has been an active participant in culture, counterculture, and politics. In addition to his career in the music business - manager of artists from Bonnie Raitt to Nirvana, chairman of Warner Brothers records - he was co-producer/director of the rock doc No Nukes and CEO of Air America. We talk about all of that as well as his latest book, In Search of the Lost Chord:1967 and the Hippie Idea.

New Episode!Nukes - How do we deal with North Korea, Iran, Russia, and Trump? Remember 2015 when the big nuclear weapons news was the deal negotiated by the Obama administration with Iran? Why is the UN now voicing fears of catastrophe? What role is the new Trump administration playing in the escalation of provocation? Are the UN's fears real and if so, what can we do about it? JOE CIRINCIONE is President of the Ploughshares Fund which supports people and organizations working to reduce and eventually eliminate the dangers posed by nuclear weapons.

Prior to the Institute for New Economic Thinking, Rob Johnson served as Chief Economist of the US Senate Banking Committee and a DIrector at Soros Fund Management. He also worked in the music and film industries (Exec Producer, Oscar winning doc, Taxi to the Dark Side). "The concentration of wealth and power that created a twin crisis of representation - in politics and in expertise - set the stage for Donald Trump's election victory, and has put America's founding principles at risk."

NEW SHOW!According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, "The number of hate groups in the United States rose for a second year in a row in 2016 as the radical right was energized by the candidacy of Donald Trump." Of a spike in reported incidents of "hate" violence, SPLC reports, "37% of them directly referenced either President Trump, his campaign slogans, or his infamous remarks about sexual assault." CHIP BERLET has investigated hate groups, theocratic fundamentalism, civil liberties violations, police misconduct, surveillance abuse, other anti-democratic phenomena.

Currently organizing where he grew up in Lancaster PA (as a Menonite), he was involved with Occupy Wall Street and has a lot to say about what worked and what we can learn from what didn't. Example: The rituals of assembly ended up standing in for strategy, becoming an end rather than a means. Smucker questions the left's tendency to identify as "the righteous few", where purity can become an obstacle to amassing enough power to win. He doesn't use the term "activist" because he believes that (self-)identification separates fighting for peace and justice from the rest of life, and creates an us which can leave out others. Insightful stuff. Join us.

Originally Aired in 2004They noticed trends, asked questions, offered warnings and gave advice. "Why does the pro-life factory worker who listens to Rush Limbaugh repeatedly vote for the party that is less likely to protect his safety, less likely to protect his job, and less likely to benefit him economically?" - Thomas Frank"In politics framing is about making sure the debate takes place in language that fits your worldview. Framing trumps facts and self-interest." - George Lakoff Twelve years later their worst fears came true.