Servants of the Damned
“Everyone is entitled to a defense” contend large law firms when they represent notorious corporate clients, but many of these firms push the ethical envelope. That’s the crux of the discussion Ralph has with David Enrich as outlined in his book, “Servants of the Damned: Giant Law Firms, Donald Trump, and the Corruption of Justice.” Plus, we welcome Dr. Michael Jacobson, founder, and former director of Science in the Public Interest to tell us how we need to raise taxes on alcohol to reduce alcohol-related deaths and mayhem.
The Federal Reserve and Debt
Ralph does a deep dive into the real purpose of the Federal Reserve and other aspects of the American economy with progressive economist, Michael Hudson. Plus, our resident constitutional scholar, Bruce Fein, joins us to talk about the elected official from New Mexico, who got removed from office because of his role in the Jan. 6th insurrection and what that possibly could mean for Donald’s Trump eligibility for office. And he also discusses a letter from retired Secretaries of Defense and Joint Chiefs about military leaders rejecting illegal presidential orders.
The Crack Up of the Republican Party
Ralph welcomes Washington Post columnist, Dana Milbank, who draws a direct line from Newt Gingrich’s ascendency to Speaker of the House in 1994 to the January 6th insurrection in his book “The Destructionists: The Twenty-Five Year Crack-Up of the Republican Party.” Plus, a new Capitol Hill Citizen is out!
Slaughtering Corporate Hogs
Ralph interviews North Carolina attorney, Mona Lisa Wallace, whose litigation team won more than $500 million in damages for the facility’s North Carolina neighbors against the hog production component of Smithfield Foods along with author Corban Addison who chronicled the gripping John Grisham-like tale in his book: “Wastelands: The True Story Of Farm Country On Trial.”
Some Justice for Sandy Hook
In a live Zoom recording, Ralph welcomes attorney Josh Koskoff, who tells us how he won a groundbreaking 73 million dollars from Remington and other gun manufacturers on behalf of the families of the Sandy Hook mass school shooting. Ralph and Josh lay out the story then Josh takes questions from our virtual audience.
Recession or Recovery?
In a packed program, Ralph first speaks to our resident constitutional scholar, Bruce Fein, about the latest Trump-anigans from Mar a Lago, then Washington Post business reporter, Allan Sloan, joins to talk about the Federal Reserve and answers the question of whether we are headed for an economic recession or a recovery. And finally, Steve Silberstein of National Popular Vote comes by to update us on their latest efforts to ensure that the candidate for president who wins the popular vote actually wins the election.
June 4, 2022
Ralph discusses with environmental champion, Bill McKibben, how to take the fight for the climate to “the next level of intensity,” plus his new book, “The Flag, The Cross, And The Station Wagon: A Graying American Looks Back at His Suburban Boyhood and Wonders What the Hell Happened.”
May 28, 2022
Infectious disease expert, Dr. Michael Osterholm, joins Ralph to update us on the very latest in Covid-related transmission rates, hospitalizations, boosters, therapeutics, testing, masks and more. Then, we welcome Dan Xie, the Political Director at Student PIRGs (Public Interest Research Groups) to tell us about all the great work her young charges are doing on climate issues, the unhoused, student hunger, affordable textbooks and more.
May 21, 2022
Ralph is joined by Lindsay Owens, executive director of the progressive economics think tank, the Groundwork Collaborative, who listened in on the earnings calls for some major corporations to hear management brag about using the current inflationary climate as cover for “plain old corporate profiteering.” And anthropologist, Roberto J. Gonzales, explains in his book “War Virtually" how the latest generation of autonomous weapons, robots, and drones are creating the illusion of war without risk and have the potential to boomerang back at us.
May 14, 2022
Ralph welcomes back crack investigative journalist, Andrew Cockburn, who in his latest book “The Spoils of War” outlines how the U.S. military budget has never been about “defense” but about profit. The military-industrial- congressional-media complex profits. We pay. Plus, Ralph answers a listener question.
May 7, 2022
Ralph spends the entire hour with the indefatigable, Hazel Henderson, the founder of the group, Ethical Markets, whose mission is to advocate for ways to measure prosperity and promoting economic models that emphasize not cut-throat competition and fear of scarcity but are based on principals of cooperation and sharing in our abundance.
April 30, 2022
Political journalist and author, E. J. Dionne, joins us to argue that voting - like jury duty - is a civic duty and should be mandatory in the United States like it is in Australia and as outlined in the new book he co-authored entitled “100% Democracy.” And peace advocate, Colman McCarthy, drops in to pitch his bold idea of how to make peace between Russia and Ukraine.
April 23, 2022
Notorious fashionista, Ralph Nader, discusses the effects of “fast fashion” on the environment, the workers, and the consumers with British Vogue editor, Dana Thomas, author of “Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes,” and “Fashionopolis Young Readers Edition: The Secrets Behind the Clothes We Wear.”
April 16, 2022
Ralph welcomes back prolific Pulitzer Prize winning author and esteemed public intellectual, Chris Hedges, to get his thoughts on the hypocrisy of war, corporate control of the press, Julian Assange, unions, grass roots activism, Christian fascists, and his work teaching in prisons. Plus, Ralph comments on the proposed Amazon internal app and the threat to Senate cafeteria workers.