How did the 60s lead to both 1973 and 2022? KEVIN BOYLE, THE SHATTERING: AMERICA IN THE 1960S

Written on July 2nd, 2022
1973 looms large as we live out the 50th anniversary of the Watergate Hearings and Roe v Wade. Let’s look at the fears and forces in response to ‘60s changes that fueled the long Christo-Authoritarian march to a Supreme Court forcing minority rule on America. In my recent conversation with KEVIN BOYLE about his book THE SHATTERING: America in the ‘60s, he reminds us how generations who’d lived through the Depression and WW II, facing an enemy with nuclear weapons, would cling to a newly found and highly valued sense of security – and how the the challenges and changes of the 60s threatened that security. 
 

My 2018 conversation w/ARLIE HOCHSCHILD (Strangers in Their Own Land) – listening to our alienated fellow Americans

Written on January 21st, 2021

Last week I spoke with ARLIE HOCHSCHILD, author of STRANGERS IN THEIR OWN LAND: Anger & Mourning on the American Right, about the Trump years, the insrrection, and the future. Given the inauguratiopn of Biden and Harris and the several immense crises we face, nothing may be more important at this moment than understanding our neighbors with whom we disagree. So here’s my 2018 conversation with Hochschild, in which we learn about her path to her current work and the lessons she learned from the folks she listend to. Finally we ask each other what new story might inspire more Americans to yearn for the future rather than the past.

MICHAEL APTED, 63 UP – the unique documentary series 56 years in the making

Written on December 12th, 2019

In 1964, the original 7 UP – in which children talked about their hopes and dreams – was broadcast as a one-off special in the UK. Michael Apted (Coal Miner’s Daughter; Gorillas in the Mist), took over as director on 14 UP and has returned to interview these same 14 individuals every seven years since. Roger Ebert, A few months before his death, wrote of the series, “It is a mystery, this business of life. I can’t think of any cinematic undertaking that allows us to realize that more deeply.” 63 UP is in theatres.

LAWRENCE LESSIG – They’re Not Representing Us-and what we need to do about it

Written on November 21st, 2019

In his latest book, THEY DON’T REPRESENT US: Reclaiming Our Democracy, Harvard Law School professor LAWRENCE LESSIG points out big problems the U.S. is NOT solving, and adds, “The crisis in America is not its president. Its president is the consequence of a crisis much more fundamental…The core problem with our democracy today is that it is essentially unrepresentative. We should secure, finally, a representative democracy…let’s just try it for once… and see if things get better.” We talk about how democracy is broken and how we can fix it.

NEW: JEREMY RIFKIN – The Green New Deal

Written on October 17th, 2019
I talk with JEREMY RIFKIN, advisor to China and the European Union, and author of 20 books about the impact of scientific and technological changes on the economy, society, and the environment. In his newest book, THE GREEN NEW DEAL: Why the Fossil Fuel Civilization Will Collapse by 2028, and the Bold Economic Plan to Save Life on Earth, he draws on successful lessons from bold initiatives in Europe and China to flesh out what it will take to pull it off in the US.