Back to School-RAFE ESQUITH (2013) REAL TALK FOR REAL TEACHERS
Written on August 26th, 2022As schools open around the country, here’s my 2013 converation with RAFE ESQUITH, who for 30 years taught 5th grade at LA’s Hobart Elementary public school. In 2005, PBS aired the documentary, THE HOBART SHAKESPEARIANS, about the full folio Shakespeare productions that his students perform each year. “I don’t want my students to be ordinary; I want them to be extraordinary because I know that they are. If a 10-year-old, who doesn’t speak English at home, can step in front of you and do a scene from Shakespeare,” says Esquith, “then there is nothing that he cannot accomplish.” We talk about REAL TALK FOR REAL TEACHERS: Advice for Teachers, From Rookies to Veterans: No Retreat, No Surrender! You can learn more at hobartshakespeareans.org
American Heroes-1) HOWARD ZINN (2005), 2) GEORGE McGOVERN (2005) – both born 100 years ago this summer
Written on August 26th, 2022Both born 100 years ago this summer, HOWARD ZINN (08/24/1922) and GEORGE McGOVERN (07/19/1922) were men of wisdom and principle who fought for their beliefs and the common good in the public square. Zinn taught at historically Black Spelman College from 1956-63 and Boston University 1964-88. An anti-Vietnam War leader, he wrote 20 books including A PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. McGovern was Director of Food for Peace under President Kennedy, South Dakota Senator from 1963-1981, and Democratic presidential candidate in 1972.
How do we resist Minority Rule? STEVEN HILL, DemocracySOS – 10 STEPS TO REPAIR DEMOCRACY
Written on August 9th, 2022Republicans have won the national vote for President only once since 1988, yet they’ve held the White House for 12 of those years and appointed 6 of 9 Supreme Court justices, who have just ruled against the majority of Americans on religion, guns, climate, and women’s rights. Here’s my new conversaiton with STEVEN HILL, author of 10 STEPS TO REPAIR AMERICAN DEMOCRACY and co-founder of FairVote about one of our gravest and most systemic problems, Minority Rule. Learn more at Fairvote.org, steven-hill.com and his frequent newsletters at democracysos.substack.com
Two Black Giants-1) BILL RUSSELL (2010), 2) CORNEL WEST (2009)
Written on August 5th, 2022The greatest winner in the history of team sports, BILL RUSSELL died this week at 88. Russell’s Celtics won 11 NBA championships in his 13 years. He was voted MVP 5 times by his peers, was the first Black head coach in a major US sport, and his legacy as a man of principle may be even greater than as an athlete. Here’s my 2010 conversation with ARAM GOUDSOUZIAN on his book, KING OF THE COURT: BILL RUSSELL AND THE BASKETBALL REVOLUTION. In the second half, you’ll hear my 2009 conversation with CORNEL WEST, teacher, philosopher, author, activist, and public intellectual on his memoir, BROTHER WEST. One of my favorite all-time guests. West entered Harvard College a few months after Russell’s retirement from the NBA.
Can we count on the Dems? MICHAEL KAZIN, WHAT IT TOOK TO WIN: A History of the Democratic Party
Written on July 27th, 2022Former 60s radical and longtime editor of Dissent, MICHAEL KAZIN, has written a history of the Democratic Party. Acknowledging their challenging mix of constituencies and their messaging and policy failures, he believes they are at their best – and the US is the better for it – when they articulate and deliver on what he terms “moral capitalism” – an economy and a society that works for working and middle class Americans. The high point was the New Deal era of the 1930s-1960s. Can they win elections by playing that role again? Can they do it soon enough and well enough to save democracy and deal with the major crises we face?
