Whether trying to influence involvement in foreign wars, fight for social justice, or win an election, effective organizing is crucial. Here’s my 2012 conversation with MARSHALL GANZ, who dropped out of Harvard in 1964 to participate in Freedom Summer, worked for years as one of the lead organizers for United Farm Workers, and helped devise the grass-roots model for Obama’s 2008 campaign. Now a lecturer in public policy at Harvard, I can say without reservation, we need to learn from him. You can find more at marshallganz.com

I talk with NELSON LICHTENSTEIN, History professor at UC Santa Barbara, and the author of several books on labor in America including State of the Union: A Century of American Labor. First, about the resurgence of unions in America – highlighted by good new contracts at UPS, Kaiser Permanence, and Big Three automakers, as well as successful organizing at newer huge employers like Amazon, Starbucks, and Trader Joes; and second, about his latest book, co-authored with Judith Stein, A FABULOUS FAILURE: The Clinton Presidency and the Transformation of American Capitalism. 

I speak with theoretical physicist, futurist, and best-selling author, MICHIO KAKU, about his latest book, QUANTUM SUPREMACY: How the Quantum Computer Revolution Will Change Everything,

eventually illuminating the deepest mysteries of science and solving some of our biggest problems, including global warming, world hunger, and incurable disease. What is quantum computing? Where do we stand? What are the obstacles? What is the promise? What are the warnings? Learn more at mkaku.org. This episode was recorded as a LiveTalksLA event May 5th, 2023 in Santa Monica. 

In the five years since I recorded this conversation with NANCY MAC LEAN about her book, DEMOCRACY IN CHAINS: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America, events have confirmed her analysis and her warnings. We now have minority rule, led by Mitch McConnell, Mike Johnson, Donald Trump, and the radical 6-3 Supreme Court. She has been passionately attacked on the Right, and passionately celebrated by those who care about democracy

You can learn more her at scholars.duke.edu – search for Nancy MacLean.

Responding to the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and too many others, millions marched in 2020 to protest police brutality. Though Floyd’s killers faced charges and were found guilty, we learned that it remains extremely difficult to hold police accountable. Decisions of the Supreme Court, state and local governments, and policy makers have made them all but untouchable. In SHIELDED, UCLA law professor JOANNA SCHWARTZ shares the stories of victims, exposes the ways in which our legal system protects police, reveals the weakness of their justifications, and calls for sustained citizen engagement to make change.