EP 846 Policing in America: Is the Treatment of White Supremacists Equal to the Threat?
Back in 2021, then FBI Director, Christopher Wray, a Trump appointee, said that white supremacy is a “persistent, evolving threat” and the “biggest chunk” of racially motivated violent extremism in the U.S. To Mike German who served sixteen years as an FBI special agent and the author of “Policing White Supremacy: The Enemy Within”, that’s an understatement. It represents just a snapshot of a long America tradition of over-policing people of color in America, starting with slave patrols in our early history, and continuing virtually unabated until now. He starts the book by detailing the manifestations of this as reflected in the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. He quotes former Republican campaign operative Steve Schmidt saying ‘there’s a 5th column within their ranks’ and that many of the police organizations underestimated the threat and some cooperated with it. This, German notes, is part of a historical pattern and one that gets swept under the rug because the FBI does not even compile accurate national data on white supremacist violence and has a culture of tolerating overt racism in law enforcement in general.
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Choice dominates every sphere of modern life, almost to a point where it becomes overwhelming. Which type of jelly should I buy? Which insurance policy is right? What should I watch on my 5 streaming services? And yet in the political realm often we have two choices and our understanding of what they offer may be limited, particularly in races for local offices where little attention is brought to them. The fields of psychology and marketing are aspects of choice–one to delve into how humans process choice and the other to try to convince us to buy certain services or products. Politically choice is a shared desire between the left and the right–one for example wanting to expand a woman’s right to choose and the other wanting to have more school choice. Looking at this historically, Professor Sophia Rosenfeld, the author of “The Age of Choice: A History of Freedom in Modern Life” takes us through a historical romp regarding the subject. It has changed vastly over the years. Can you imagine not having shops available to offer all that choice or limits on religious choices? Much of what we now take for granted evolved over time. She’ll explain.
“We the People” is the opening salvo of the Constitution. However, the definition of the people was very limited at the time. And women, among others, were not part of the equation. The Constitution was aspirational and later amended to include the previously excluded and while women fought, alongside many men, to take their rightful place in our society, there is a long-stalled amendment to the Constitution codifying those rights. That issue, as we discuss, in this podcast is once again a subject of vigorous debate. What’s not at issue is how carefully and thoroughly our guest, Professor Jill Hasday of the University of Minnesota Law School details the history and modern challenges for women in America. In her book “We the Men: How Forgetting Women’s Struggles for Equality Perpetuates Inequality.”, she shines a bright light on a long line of judges, politicians, and other influential voices who have ignored women’s struggles for equality or distorted them beyond recognition by wildly exaggerating American progress. Our discussion of the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs’ decision, and its implications for other privacy issues, must be heard if you want to fully understand what’s happening in this space.
The last time we discussed this topic a few years back with our guest, the military, at least most branches, was struggling to meet its recruitment targets. And for an all-volunteer force deployed around the globe, that is not a good thing. The picture was a bit better in 2024, but the seismic changes at the culture of the Department of Defense may augur well for luring some young people in, while others may not see themselves fitting quite as comfortably into the new armed services. We will just have to wait and see. With all that said, we felt it was a good time to revisit the recruitment effort, particularly the Future Soldier Preparatory Course and other innovations to market military service. Greater, more marketing driven, efforts have been needed given the strength of the private sector job market in the last several years. We turn once again to Lindsay Cohn, Ph.D., and an Associate Professor, National Security Affairs, at the U.S. Naval War College to share her nuanced insights on this topic.
Robert Kaplan’s erudite take on the world’s geopolitical situation can be summed up in the manner described in our headline, but there is so much more nuance in his book “Waste Land: A World in Permanent Crisis” that you must read it for yourself to grasp the complexities of our fast-changing world in these illegible times. Trust me, a careful reading describes a new era of global cataclysm with a deadly cocktail of war, climate change, great power rivalry, rapid technological advancement, the end of monarchy and empire, and countless other dangers. Our guest makes the keen observation that the current geopolitical landscape must be considered alongside contemporary social phenomena such as urbanization and digital media. His framework encompasses philosophy, politics and literature as he helps us find our footing in this tremulous period. His masterful comparisons to the Weimar Republic are alone worth the price of the book. Or listen to the podcast, which is free to all.
Donald Trump said he would end Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine on day one of his second Administration. While that date has come and gone, he is making moves to find a resolution to the conflict, but is it a continuation of the U.S.-led NATO effort on the side of Ukraine or has America switched teams? Given Trump’s fascination with strongmen, like Putin, and major powers paying little deference to smaller actors, fears are growing that all of Ukraine’s brave sacrifices may result in the loss of territory and few security assurances. President Trump’s words suggest a major departure from Biden era policies. It raises the specter of the 70- year NATO alliance, one which many consider the greatest defense structure in modern history, in rubble in its wake. Greta Uehling, a professor at the University of Michigan, and author of “Decolonizing Ukraine: The Indigenous People of Crimea and Pathways to Freedom” joins us to discuss the possibilities going forward.
When Professor Nancy Rosenblum joined us months back, she and Russell Muirhead had written a book called “Ungoverning” The Attack on the Administrative State and the Politics of Chaos.” Their case study was the first Trump Administration. And while every modern state is an administrative state, the bureaucracy at all levels of government has been under attack for decades claiming that it is rife with waste, fraud and abuse. If so, then why fire, as one of Trump 2’s first acts, the Inspectors General for a number of agencies?. They are the internal auditors who have found billions of dollars in inefficiencies over the years. Perhaps it is because the goal is not institutional reform, but deconstruction. Then, you might say, why? When you replace career civil servants with political cronies you get more control vested in the Office of the President and the Imperial Presidency on steroids. Our guest, Professor Rosenblum, a Professor of Ethics in Politics and Government Emerita at Harvard University, breaks down what she sees as three actors playing out their long- held desires–President Trump, Elon Musk and the Project 2025 crowd. Are they on a course to deconstruct the federal government or a crash course in hubris and overreach? Find out today on the podcast.
While the recent killing of the United Health Care CEO was a shocking and heinous act, it brought to the surface long held frustrations with our health care system in terms of access and costs. For some time, it has been hard to have a conversation with anyone who feels that our delivery system is working, be it because of insurance snaggles, access to providers, or the transparency surrounding costs of procedures. As the health care system has become even more financialized with the purchase of hundreds of hospitals by large hospital groups and private equity firms, which see dollar signs over patient care, the situation grows more dire. Add to this our growing dependence on medications and Big Pharma is part of a growing list of groups frustrating patients today. Joining us for a panoramic discussion of health care in America is Lindsay Dymowski, President of Centennial Pharmacy Services, a leading medication-at-home pharmacy.
For years, we have seen the richer get richer in America and the poor stagnate or lose economic ground. Even the 2024 election was won by Donald Trump because many who voted for him felt that the middle- class life they wanted was becoming out of reach, even though the macro-economic indices were saying things were going well. Now, along comes a recently revised 2023 study by MIT researchers showing that over the past four years wage inequality has shrunk dramatically. What? Since the 1980’s wage inequality has been mostly a one-way street, with the benefits of wage growth going to those with more education and skills while those with fewer of these characteristics seeing lower wage growth. That fact makes it surprising to see, in the MIT study, that real wage increases among workers without college degrees have reversed nearly one-third of the cumulative wage inequality from 1980 to 2019. This is a remarkable turnaround. On today’s podcast we explore the reasons behind it with Brent Orrell, a Senior Fellow for Domestic Policy with the American Enterprise Institute(aei.org).
The Louvre. The Tower of London. The Parthenon. St. Peter’s Basilica. An all- inclusive resort in Bermuda. What do all of these places have in common? Well, they are fine to visit, but they are predictable and have been given the designation of ‘tourist traps.’ Often times we are fearful of going off-road and exploring faraway destinations that might not be the headliners for travel agents (if they still exist) and guidebooks. In this scenario, the tourist, or traveler, if you prefer, puts places on his or her bucket list, snaps a photo and moves on, considering much around them, including the locals, as a self-serving means to an end, while the new tourist is humbled by the experience of meeting new people and delving into a culture. The new tourist might even try to learn the language or study the history before visiting the place. In her book, “The New Tourist: Waking Up to the Power and Perils of Travel,” Paige McClanahan may not say exactly where to go, though she does have some enticing stories about the world’s treasure spots, but focuses more on how to go–with an open mind, plenty of curiosity and a desire to be surprised as you step out of your comfort zone. It’s a fun and enlightening conversation.