Keeping Democracy Alive

The Burt Cohen Show - The Politics of Voter Suppression - 10/25/12

We need a photo ID to buy liquor or fly on an airplane, so what's the big deal about needing one to vote? Don't we need to stop voter fraud? Actually voter ID is a solution in search of a problem, according to Burt's guest Tova Andrea Wang, author of a new book, The Politics of Voter Suppression: Defending and Expanding Americans Right to Vote. A ghuest on many national radio and TV news programs, in this show Wang explains that the new efforts are part of a long history of the intentional suppression of certain segments of American society. Voting is a right, not a privilege. Don't let them scare you, it is still easy to exercise that right. And we must, to keep America a republic.

America's Chernobyl: It's in Navajo Country - 10/11/12

For most of us the cold war is a bad memory we'd like to forget. But for thousands living in America's southwest, it's a toxic nightmare that is there each and every day. On this show, internationally renowned expert on alternative energy technologies Mark Snyder explains why it is no exaggeration to call the ongoing massive exposure to radiation from uranium mines America's Chernobyl. And some politicians claim nuclear power is safe and clean!

Slow Democracy: Is Real Democracy Possible? - 10/04/12

What passes for democracy today is more like fast junk food: corporate created, no citizen input, and it's not very good for us. In her new book, Slow Democracy: Rediscovering Community, Bringing Decision Making Back Home, Burt's guest Susan Clark and co-author Woden Teachout lay out specifics of what is being done to bring back real democracy. And it looks like 2013 will be a very productive time for a public hungry to bring power back to those affected.