Open Source with Christopher Lydon

We’re retracing our steps out of the last bad-dream era in American life. Michael Ansara was in the thick of that struggle too, around war and justice. The Hard Work of Hope is his memoir of many losses and his own big mistakes that come back, 50 years later, as lessons and blight. Michael Ansara. The post The Hard Work of Organizing appeared first on Open Source with Christopher Lydon.

We’re in Saratoga, New York, with the soulful American believer Marilynne Robinson, prize novelist and teacher of novelists. She’s known over the decades as the storyteller we trust to observe the troubled heart of our country—our own troubled hearts. She’s been a voice of encouragement—somebody said: a voice that has been overheard by more readers than any other living American writer. Marilynne Robinson with Chris. This summer, she crossed a line, relabelling the American condition in Trump time. Our politics and our culture, she writes, are “under occupation” by a faction of our fellow citizens. And it’s quite unlike your normal, ordinary right-to-left or left-to right political shift. It is not what people mean by polarization. It’s something quite different. The post Occupied America appeared first on Open Source with Christopher Lydon.

We’re in the Orwellian aftermath of what President Trump has called his 12-day war in the Middle East. It’s over, he proclaimed on Monday. “Congratulations world,” he said on his Truth Social site, “it’s time for peace.” Huss Banai. Our guest to watch a mystery unfolding is the Iranian-American scholar at Indiana University in Bloomington, Hussein Banai, known as Huss. He’s been my refuge and resource for 20 years and some on not just venomous politics, but high-tech warfare and now tentative, sudden peace, it appears, between two governments. The post Trump at War appeared first on Open Source with Christopher Lydon.

This week, it’s a conversation on the democracy question and the embattled fate of our own, beset as it is from within. Philosopher-historian Danielle Allen is our guest examiner of the cranky American condition. It feels to me shaken, defensive, divided, embarrassed—as I don’t remember ever before—around questions that go to our character as a country, questions about democracies morphing, sometimes disappearing, even dying. Danielle Allen. In all the talk we’re hearing, what’s different about Danielle Allen is her timeline. Her eye goes back to ancient days in Athens and Rome, especially to her friend Aristotle, who wrote the book on democracy and its corruptions—in oligarchy and other ways. The post Divided, Defensive Democracy appeared first on Open Source with Christopher Lydon.

We’re with the writer Paul Elie, recalling the moment when popular culture came to sound like public prayer. There was Madonna in 1989, singing her number one hit “Like a Prayer.” The song is a marker for what Paul Elie calls crypto-religion. Let’s call it the artistic underground where unlabeled church themes took root in our lifetimes. It’s where religious mystery went, but not to die—almost the opposite. Crypto-zone is where pop culture stars found a space for moods and visions they had known growing up. Paul Elie and Chris. Think Leonard Cohen and his all-time hit with “Hallelujah.” Think Prince singing “I Would Die For You.” Think Bob Dylan and his gospel period with “Gotta Serve Somebody.” And it’s not just songs. Crypto-religion is the zone where the filmmaker, Martin Scorsese, imagined The Last Temptation of Christ. It’s where the pop artist Andy Warhol, himself a Catholic, made endless versions of Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece of Jesus at the Last Supper with his disciples. The post The Last Supper appeared first on Open Source with Christopher Lydon.

We’re staring down the several crises in our economy—and recalling the grand old joke that it’s easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism. John Cassidy. John Cassidy of The New Yorker magazine has written a sprightly catalog of capitalism’s critics over the centuries: who got it right, for example, about today’s inequality crisis, or the climate damage, or the threat to democracy, or the alternatives to capitalism that might still work better, or even rescue it. The post Capitalism and Its Critics appeared first on Open Source with Christopher Lydon.

We’re staring down the global trade war with Mark Blyth at Brown University. He is the People’s Economist from Scotland, who takes us home to his village pub in Dundee every once in a while to tell all of us what the powers that be are up to. Penguins on an uninhabited island that’s been hit with a 10% tariff. We’ve been bracing for a universal trade war, not just China, but Canada, France, Mexico, you name it—uninhabited islands (where only penguins and seals live) will be touched. President Trump’s ultimate weapon of choice in such a war is a 125% tariff, on most of what comes from China, raising prices, of course, but the Trump line also says the flood of new tariff income could pay for what he calls his big, beautiful tax cut. The post Trade, Trumped appeared first on Open Source with Christopher Lydon.

Sarah Churchwell, a humanities professor at the University of London and expert on American literature, delves into the connections between F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby' and Donald Trump's political persona. She explores how both figures reflect deep flaws in American culture, critiquing ambition and moral character. The discussion touches on the darker sides of the American dream, linking themes of nostalgia and lost ideals to contemporary political issues like fascism. Churchwell argues for a reevaluation of societal progress in light of these enduring narratives.

Elaine Pagels, a renowned historian and professor at Princeton, dives deep into the life of Jesus of Nazareth, examining the political and spiritual turmoil surrounding him. She explores the radical insights of the Gnostic Gospels, contrasting them with traditional teachings. The conversation highlights the significance of resurrection and collective belief, delves into the artistic legacies of Jesus’ story, and reflects on the evolving themes of messianic identity. Pagels’ insights challenge conventional narratives and invite listeners to rethink spirituality and faith.

We’re tracking President Trump’s squeeze on higher education, and the argument in the Ivy League: whether or not to make a fight of it. First, Columbia surrendered under a Trump threat to cut $400 million in federal funding. Then Princeton said, “No way, we’ll fight your flimsy charges to the end.” And then Harvard, with $9 billion at stake, tried gentle engagement with the Trump inquiry, until 800 of its professors and staff said, “No way, when free expression and democracy are at risk.” Ryan Enos. What’s required, they said, is open, coordinated resistance, which gives the rest of us time to learn what this fight is all about. Ryan Enos is a young professor in Harvard’s government department, among the first of the 800 signers of that petition. The post Trump vs. Harvard appeared first on Open Source with Christopher Lydon.