History has given us a guide to removing unpopular, unable or unfit chief executives.  And, despite all the chatter about impeachment, it’s only one method. And come to think of it, it’s never been successfully carried out to its final conclusion–that being a conviction in the U.S. Senate and removal of the sitting President from office.  The one case where the threat of impeachment led to removal was Richard Nixon in 1974, when he resigned in lieu of facing the true likelihood of a conviction for crimes committed during Watergate. David Priess, author of ‘How To Get Rid of a President’, offers many examples throughout our history as to how presidents have been removed or diminished while in office.  They may not have occurred to you so I know that this episode will be a learning experience and a fun way to impress your friends. During the interview, I referred to it as 50 ways to lose your leader. It’s fascinating and I assure you you’ve not thought about this question in the way you will after giving David a listen.

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Imagine a day when you will be outlawed from driving.  According to Samuel Schwartz, also known as ‘Gridlock Sam’, when he was New York City’s Traffic Commissioner, it would be for your own good.  The carnage we have left on the roads as drivers is startling when you compare it to world wars and other forms of human destruction. In his book, ‘No One at the Wheel: Driverless Cars and the Road of the Future’, Schwartz says that autonomous vehicles offer great financial rewards and societal benefits, not the least of which being our own survival. He thinks the social change they will usher in is even greater than the onset of the automobile itself.  Talk to someone about this and you will sense a great deal of skepticism as to whether this will ever happen. Unless hundreds of companies–tech and automakers alike– are in the business of throwing away money, you can bet on it. Take a listen to ‘Gridlock Sam’ on this episode. Then convince your friends.

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 “Dear Machine” writes Greg Kieser, author of the book of the same name and founder of Supersystemic.ly, ‘we know you’re coming so can we just get along’.  These super aware/intelligent machines(SAIMs) may seem like science fiction but as they get closer to reality the question is how will humans respond when, or if, we are not the smartest beings on earth.  There are fears from some that they will think for themselves, run amok and be put to malevolent purposes. Others hope that they make life much easier and better for humans. Finally, there’s another camp of skeptics who believe that they will never come to do more than tasks humans program them to do.  Who really knows? Mr. Kieser is using this book to encourage humans to prepare for the emergence of SAIMs and explores what this might mean for all of us.

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It’s on its way. The fifth generation of wireless technology, called 5G, promises to grow the world’s economic output, add millions of new jobs and create breakthroughs in driver less cars, smart homes and even remote surgery sure to change our lives in ways we cannot yet fully imagine. Can you fathom speeds that are 100 or more times that which we have today with the latest iteration of 4G?  Yet so many questions persist about who will be the first to implement the technology. Many are concerned that there’s a 5G gap and that the United States may be third behind China and South Korea. Roslyn Layton, of the American Enterprise Institute, joins us to discuss the range of issues that government and private industry are grappling with on the way to the brave new world of 5G. It will get you thinking.

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It seems as if midsize cities in America are having their moment.  While the nation’s largest metro areas lost residents to smaller ones for the first time since the Great Recession, the new middle is thriving.  And this according to Mick Cornett, the four term mayor of Oklahoma City, who has presided over a virtual renaissance in that city. He’s clear to point out that many other mid metros are using their local assets to create new wealth and opportunity in places that previously had been given up on.  And whether it’s Provo, Des Maoines, Chattanooga or Louisville, as examples, each has a different approach to revitalization. He will explain OKC’s unique approach to taxation for projects which engenders buy in from voters in exchange for tangible results. This podcast explores the big promise of our midsize metros.

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 Black and Hispanic children see TV ads for sugary drinks, unhealthy snacks, and fast foods far more than anything else and it’s no accident.  They are targeted by the food companies that know the addictive qualities of their ‘food products’. According to the latest study by the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at the University of Connecticut, 86 percent of the ads on black targeted TV programs and 82 percent of the Spanish language programs were promoting these unhealthful offerings.  Jennifer Harris, of the Rudd Center, joins us to discuss the findings and to explain how this could be so when many of us have read about companies agreeing voluntarily to limit or eliminate such advertising. We are reminded that obesity and diabetes are rampant among these communities and many of our eating habits are formed at an early age. Take a listen and read the report.

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Americans are having fewer and fewer babies.  In fact, we are not having enough babies simply to replace ourselves.  The total fertility rate has been declining for seven years and last year represented the biggest drop in recent history. There are so many factors involved–cultural and economic–and we explore them in this podcast.  Perhaps, more important is the impact that these declines have on a nation over time. Lyman Stone, a specialist in population change at the American Enterprise Institute, takes us through causes and effects in a way that will have you thinking about this issue in a new light.  Whether your interest is in the decline in teen pregnancies or why women are waiting so long to have their first child, or the technology involved in the process, this podcast will illuminate these issues for you.

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While this podcast has done a number of episodes on the financial crisis over a decade ago, because its effects are still felt on our politics today, none of our previous episodes explained the crisis in such global terms as the one you will hear today.  Adam Tooze, author of ‘Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World’, will expand greatly on your understanding of how this meltdown was going on simultaneously throughout a world entangled in its financial covenants and relationships. Shocking to many will be the understanding that it was our Federal Reserve that saved many European banks, including their central banks.  This could have been much worse than the Great Depression. However, because of the extraordinary measures taken by the United States, akin to a military strategy credited to Colin Powell, many of its worst impacts were blunted. Given that Ben Bernancke, head of the Fed at the time, was a scholar of the Depression, perhaps it’s not surprising that he would not allow America to sleepwalk through this crisis as we had in the previous century.

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The impact of the opioid epidemic in America has twin tentacles in the legal dispensing of prescription painkillers and the the cheap and illegal flow of heroin, as well as synthetics, like fentanyl, into this country.  Underlying the use of these drugs is a country awash in emotional pain, often many years in the making. It’s a sad chapter in American history and it’s compounded by a flawed system that criminalizes addiction, pushes the big bucks agenda of the pharmaceutical companies and leaves many with unenviable choices as to recovery options, if they are available at all.  Ryan Hampton, author of ‘American Fix’, a leading recovery advocate and former White House staffer, with his own personal story of addiction, takes us through this labyrinth in a personal and wrenching way. Given the staggering numbers affected directly or indirectly by the scourge, he believes the millions involved are becoming a major political force in the 2020 election.

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 America, the country, has amassed more debt than any nation in history.  How that reality isn’t cause for screaming front pages headlines daily is something of a mystery, except for the ‘full faith and confidence’ the world has in the creativity of the American economy to grow over time and correct its imbalance.  How else can you explain why other countries continue to buy our debt, when we’re already so debt-ridden? We ponder with budget expert, James Capretta, of the American Enterprise Institute, how long this can go on before all Americans, particularly those receiving entitlement benefits, can expect them to be stable in the face of the growing pressure on the federal budget. The numbers generated by the Congressional Budget Office are staggering and the projections going forward grow more dire with each passing year.  We ring the alarm bell on this episode.

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