In 2016, a group of armed, divinely inspired libertarian protesters
led by Amman Bundy occupied the Malheur(translated: Bad Luck) National
Wildlife Refuge in the high desert of eastern Oregon.  Encamped in the
shadowlands of the republic, they insisted that the Federal government
had no right to own public land.  Were they heroes or villians?  The
answer to that question depends on your interpretation(or
misinterpretation) of the Constitution and your sense as to whether a
nation, built on abstract principles like America, has a being anyway. 
Sharing the expansive stage are a host of others who lay their own claim
to the American promise of liberty.  Among them are Native Americans,
public-land ranchers, militia members, environmentalists and Black Lives
Matter activists.  Inn many ways, this conflict is a parable of our
populist moment and unpacking this story may help us to better
understand our current political crisis.  To guide us through this most
tangled web of ideas and protestations is Anthony McCann, author of
‘Shadowlands’.    This one requires thought and attention. 

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  ‘The Fifth Domain’ is a term the Pentagon uses for cyberspace,
following the progression of locations for battle–land, sea, air and
space.  The key issue in cyberspace, like all of warfare, relates to the
calculations about offensive and defensive capabilities among the
actors and the readiness to deploy a country’s take down capabilities of
vital digital assets.  To some, they would rather see a cyber war,
presuming no one will die.  Tell that to a country that loses its
electric grid and finds itself back in the proverbial Stone Age.  There
is little doubt among policy planners that a substantial cyber attack
can well be the precursor to the next major, hot conflict.  Richard A.
Clarke and Robert K. Knake, two experts in national security, wrote
their first book together, Cyber War, about a decade ago and now they
update their thinking on where things stand today in cyberspace.  While
we keep reading about a disjointed response from America and attacks
that get through and affect our daily lives, these two experts suggest
the defenses being built are getting stronger.  No better way to update
yourself on this vitally important topic than by listening to this
podcast.

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  Honesty requires that I admit to what a bloody mess mess my
generation, the baby boomers, is leaving the many generations that
follow.  As if a despoiled and roiling planet isn’t enough, add to their
burdens a swelling, and unsustainable, level of national debt.  And,
yet, mum’s the word.  Nobody talks about the $20 trillion public debt or
the $200 trillion dollar fiscal gap.  The enormity of the numbers are a
paralytic to any meaningful conversation.  So we just change the
subject and focus on the outrage of the day.  A group of millennials and
generation Z leaders have caught up with the implications of the
problem and are determined to sound the alarm for others in their cohort
as part of Up To Us.  Through this conversation with Hilary Allen,
community manager of a competition this group runs, you will find out
what’s on their minds and how they want to make this issue a part of the
national conversation–finally.

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  The concept of a whistleblower is a unique American innovation, meant
to check corrupt power and help us give protection and sanctity to our
ideals in practice, not just in theory.  Whistleblowing is a cousin to
civil disobedience, but is done within the system through long
established tradition and laws.  We’re all getting a lesson in the
protections and reprisals that await a whistleblower as we are now
subsumed in, perhaps, the most significant episode of whistleblowing in
American history, in that it involves the President. While you often
hear that whistleblowers, particularly in the public sector, are truth
tellers, it may be surprising to find that often their complaints are
dismissed and they face reprisal for coming forward.  We are in a period
with more reported cases of whistleblowing as power is concentrated in
fewer hands.  However, the treatment of the whistleblower’s concerns in
the national political crisis we now face may determine the willingness
of others to come forward in the future.  This timely podcast emerges
along with the recent release of Allison Stanger’s book ‘Whistleblowers:
Honesty in America From Washington to Trump’.  We will pay particular
attention to the special circumstances surrounding whistleblowing in the
context of national security and intelligence.              

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  Healthcare delivery and cost concerns are top of mind in our political
debate.  Nowhere is that concern greater than in rural America. If you
live in remote places in the heartland and the South, the likelihood
that the hospital closest to your home may be shuttered or downsized is
growing greater each year.  Twenty one percent of rural hospitals are at
a high risk of closing, according to one report.  That equates to 430
hospitals across 43 states that employ nearly 150,000 people.  These
places attend to emergencies when a local farmer, let’s say, has a heart
attack and rapid response time is critical.  They also represent the
heartbeat of many communities as the largest employer, supporter of
local organizations and driver of economic activity.  And many in rural
America have significant chronic health problems, such as diabetes and
obesity.  Mark Holmes, PhD, a professor at the University of North
Carolina and director of the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services
Research, joins us to explain how this all came about and some possible
ways forward in dealing with a healthcare crisis.

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 In a democratic society, like ours, how easy or hard is it to upend
power and economic disparities, when those who have the most to lose
also have the most power?  It’s a tricky question which Professor Paul
Starr, a Pulitzer Prize winning author, attempts to answer in his new
book, ‘Entrenchment’.  Let’s be honest, it’s not easy and can literally
take centuries.  In America, the results of The Civil War were
remarkable, but still leave behind a legacy of injustice against black
people in our society which are persistent and pernicious.  So, we ask
our guest whether the process of change or turning over the old order
was envisioned by the framers to be a difficult process, given how
daunting a task it is to amend the Constitution.  Hint: we haven’t had
an amendment in a long time.  And when we do look to right wrongs or
address imbalances and bend them in a more just way, while hard won, are
they forever?  This notion of entrenchment will get you thinking about
change and the forces that often stand in the way.

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  If you listen to President Trump this is the best economy in years,
perhaps, ever. We have low unemployment numbers and a great uptick on
Wall Street.  If that’s the case, why does he keep pressuring the
Federal Reserve to lower interest rates in what the Fed Chairman, Jerome
Powell, says is not such a hot jobs market. David Blanchflower, a labor
economics professor at Dartmouth University and author of ‘Not
Working’, joins us to explain what the discrepancy is between what we
are told by officials and what we see and sense from our own lives.  He
says that economists, policy makers and bankers need to practice the
‘economics of walking about’.  By that he means, look at real lives and
make a judgment as to how things are going, because the published
unemployment rate today is an unreliable measure of the economy’s
performance.  Perhaps, the participation rate is a better indicator.  Or
the quality of the jobs available or ‘labor market slack’.  Whether you
like economics, or consider it the dismal science, Professor
Blanchflower explains it all in very understandable terms and helps
guide you to becoming your own economist as you sift through the ways
politicians will use the numbers to convince you of their positions in
2020.  Become better prepared, as well as entertained, on this episode.

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There are alarming reports from all over the country about the demise
of local newspapers and the sprouting up of local ‘news deserts’, where
finding out about what’s going on in your town or city is becoming
increasingly more difficult.  With it comes a lack of accountability on
the part of local officials as there’s no one watching(even taxes
increases may occur more easily without the media watchman in place). 
So, we turned to Dan Kennedy, a journalism professor from Northeastern
University, and author of two books on the the state of play for
journalism, to help us sort things out.  It’s a round discussion that
touches on many factors changing how and where we get our news.  Will
the on-line alternatives fill the breach, many of which operate because
of the generosity of community foundations?  Are daily newspapers
figuring out ways to monetize their on-line content?  Can TV news be an
adequate substitute for a local newspaper?  And what about weekly
papers? For old-timers, reading the newspaper every day is as natural as
taking their next breath, and as necessary, while most young people
have never had that attachment.  So where do we go from here?  Listen in
to find out.

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Frustrated and feeling betrayed, Americans have come to loathe politics–assuring more disastrous results. In his well researched book, ‘The Death of Politics’, Peter Wehner reminds us that politics can, and should, be about the noble pursuit of justice. To give up on politics means giving up on making America a more just society. The sense of the importance of politics in a democratic society requires a healthy respect for opposing opinions and an ability to find common ground. That foundation is crumbling in America and Donald Trump’s presidency is an outsized, and virulent, manifestation of this trend. As a devout Christian and conservative, Mr. Wehner is appalled at what co-religionists and former political allies have done to abandon their principles to serve the interests of this president. Having served in three previous Republican administrations, he has thought long and hard about where our politics is going and is troubled. His articulate expression of concern is something worth listening to given his unique vantage point. Since he ended the book on a cautious note of hope based upon the premise that the people will make a course correction, I ask him what he would say if the country signed on for four more years of this. You will find his answer quite interesting.

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  Humans have the capacity to be caring and show empathy toward total
strangers, even risk our lives on their behalf, yet, in contrast, we
also have the ability to dehumanize others thus opening the door to
shocking aggression and brutality.  Since our podcast likes to look at
trajectory, we were curious in what direction the pendulum was
swinging.  We turned to Adam Waytz, author of ‘The Power of Human’, for
the answer.  In a world of increasing pace, speed and human connection
of a secondary nature, by way of social media, we explore the impacts of
growing research on loneliness and social isolation, as major
contributors to declining health for many in our society.  We are in the
midst of a ‘dehumanizing shift’ and we’re growing less interested in
entering into meaningful relationships and conversations.  So, the next
time you’re across from someone at a table, rather than better dealing
them by looking for an ‘outer ring’ friend to connect with on line, pay
them some real attention.  Our society will be better for it.

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