America Trends

The doomsday clock is ticking…and who can we blame if the alarm is sounded and we find out it's too late for the human species to recover?  There's a certain irony that all of the good things that science and technology have wrought, bring with them byproducts which are the key ingredients of our own … Read More Read More

And you think your family has some great achievements and enough demerits to warrant a book?  Well, clearly, author and New Yorker writer, John Seabrook's family, has all of that in triplicate and he spells it all out in the eminently readable “The Spinach King: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty.”  His grandfather, … Read More Read More

  For more than sixty years, the United States has trained fewer physicians than it needs.  It is expensive and time-consuming to educate a new doctor, and much more expedient to bring immigrant doctors trained in other countries. And that's what we've done.  This all began, in earnest, with the passage of the Hart-Celler Immigration … Read More Read More

Bitcoin had been a bit player as people designed their financial portfolios.  Investors would ask ‘is this a scam and am I chasing the latest shiny object?'  But today it seems as if cryptocurrency and the blockchain technology that undergirds it is getting newfound respect.  The second Trump Administration has passed The Genius Act and … Read More Read More

 Many of us are unwitting victims of the private equity industry.  Some by virtue of being employed by companies they have bought whose future success or failure may have no impact on the private equity firm's ability to profit from the leveraged buyout of those companies.  In her new book, “Bad Company: Private Equity and … Read More Read More

 It is said that we are in the midst of the sixth great extinction.  Thus, we have taken some steps to protect endangered species–but clearly not enough.  And while the stories we usually tell ourselves about global warming tend to focus on the damage inflicted on human societies by big storms, severe droughts, and rising … Read More Read More

  It can be hard to explain how the actions of the top .01 percent have severe consequences for the rest of us, but in his book, “Burned by Billionaires,” Chuck Collins of the Institute for Policy Studies, lays it out chapter and verse.  He demonstrates through words and charts how the rest of us … Read More Read More

 America has many challenges in the health industry.  And while our guest, who came to America as an immigrant, wanted desperately to be part of what he considered to be ‘the best medical system in the world' back in 1975, he no longer holds that view. He says that our system has become too politicized, … Read More Read More

 While the ideal of the American woman was to be skinny, now they need to be skinny and have a glow acquired through some combination of daily yoga, vegan makeup and mushroom coffee or tea.  Gwyneth Paltrow's company, GOOP, in many ways best exemplifies this growing industry which rakes in about $5.6 trillion a year … Read More Read More

Refrigeration is considered to be the most impactful invention in the history of food and drink.  And while we focus on our personal refrigerators there is an entire ‘cold chain' of cold storage warehouses, shipping containers, trucks, and display cases, keeping foodstuffs fresh until we can purchase them.  It's a labyrinth never documented in the … Read More Read More

 Diane Ravitch, Ph.D, is a historian of education.  For decades now, she has written, lectured and been interviewed about her views on a range of subjects related to education reform, including standardized testing, vouchers, charter schools and accountability. Early on, she was a proponent of all of the above. She was part of the leadership … Read More Read More

 While we might think that ambulances are always involved in step on the gas exercises–get the paddles out, extricate from a car wreck or save from the effects of a heart attack, in truth there are many folks in the ambulance because they've run out of luck and have no one to call, excepting 9-1-1, … Read More Read More

Tim Bakken, a civilian professor, and the longest-serving law professor in West Point's history, filed a lawsuit recently in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, challenging a new U.S. Military Academy policy regulating faculty speech, which he alleges violates the First Amendment.  You may recall that Professor Bakken was on … Read More Read More

 The euro survived crises unimagined at its founding in 1992, giving European countries a common currency.  First there was the financial meltdown of 2007-2009, the sovereign debt crisis of 2010-2012, the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  The European Central Bank (ECB) pushed back against these ill winds with dramatic policy innovations, like buying … Read More Read More

To many, the term “Black Capitalists” tips an equation upside down.  Black people were the labor force that built the infrastructure of American capitalism through the violent dictates of legalized slavery, so is it possible in this moment to see Black people as beneficiaries of this system?  And if they are starting to amass capital, … Read More Read More

Oh, the times they are a changing'.  While the focus in a slew of parenting books has been on infancy, adolescence and the teenage years, little has been focused on as it relates to ages 6-12, which is deemed middle childhood.  To many parents there's a sense that the heaviest lifting for them is over.  … Read More Read More

 There are over 400,000 children in foster care in America, costing the state and federal government over $30 billion a year.  So, is the system working?  It's hard to say the system is failing, but perhaps it's more accurate to say that adults all along the way–from the biological families to a host of caregivers–are … Read More Read More

 Most of what we hear lately about higher education relates to the legal battles between the Trump Administration and Harvard, the nation's oldest university.  And while prior to this the leading issue in the news was student debt and overall affordability of college, there are a number of issues that have come to the fore.  … Read More Read More

  We like to imagine that we are safe and immune from much of what we see on the news.  In the case of wildfires, people on the east coast might see it as a west coast phenomenon.  Yet, there have been such fires in New Jersey and the Carolinas recently.  Even those living outside … Read More Read More

As a dog parent, I bristle at doggie dress-ups at the local pet supply store, yet I still eat meat.  Call me a hypocrite.  I accept the critique.  And yet when it comes to animals, there is a stratification as to how we treat them and the title of a book published a few years … Read More Read More

 Let's start with the basics.  What are ‘forever chemicals?'  And so this podcast begins with Professor Matt Simcik, an environmental chemist from the University of Minnesota, trying to explain to me, a layman, what they are.  They have been in the news lately and there are now efforts around the country to limit their use … Read More Read More

 Pneumatic drilling from building sites.  The dull roar of planes overhead.  Your fellow worker's phone conversations in an otherwise silent office.  The suburban drone of lawn mowers and blowers.  Noise seems to be everywhere, and it can disrupt our sleep, ratchet up our stress, destroy our concentration–yet it's a problem we shrug off once the … Read More Read More

While both parties have long histories with gerrymandering Congressional districts for partisan advantage, it's fair to say Republicans have taken it to a new low by interrupting the every ten -year process, based on the census, and doing it at halftime of this cycle.  In the process, they are encouraging Democrats to do the same.  … Read More Read More

 When political discussions take place, they are often focused on how Democrats or Republicans, conservatives versus liberals or red in relation to blue look at an issue.  They leave out a component of the electorate which grows in number and importance year after year–the independent or unaffiliated voter.  In fact, if you really analyze the … Read More Read More

 Can your star quarterback on a powerhouse Division 1 football program get paid as it stands today?  After the recent $2.8 billion settlement in House v. NCAA, which enables universities to directly pay college athletes for their athletic participation, the answer is yes.  First came the NIL ruling in which college players could get paid … Read More Read More

The U.S. Congress passed the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)in 1977 with the key objective of ending redlining, the decades-old practice of neighborhood discrimination by banks against African Americans and others based on race and income.  The race-based rejection of loans to creditworthy residents of redlined neighborhoods delayed the American dream of homeownership for generations.  Our … Read More Read More

  There is irony in a man determined to use the powers of the presidency and the administrative state capacity to disassemble the administrative state, aka ‘the deep state.'  Yet that is what we are seeing with the Trump Administration. The military, Department of Justice, homeland security and ICE are all aspects of the administrative … Read More Read More

   Attorney Ira Shapiro is a man who has seen it all in Washington. As a long-time U.S. Senate staffer, he has written three books about the upper chamber. The collection has been described by one scholar as an ‘epic trilogy', capturing sixty years of Senate history.  He was the chief U.S. trade negotiator with … Read More Read More

 Many lawsuits have been brought against the second Trump Administration on the basis of overreach of its authority in trying to enact policies. President Trump declared victory over ‘radical left wing judges' when the U.S. Supreme Court declared that the concept of the ‘universal' injunction, wherein one lower federal court can make a ruling which … Read More Read More

In 2019, the quiet suburb of New Canaan, Connecticut was shocked by the disappearance of Jennifer Dulos, a mother of five who vanished one morning after dropping her kids off to school.  In 2020, her husband Fotis Dulos–with whom she was locked in a contentious divorce–and Fotis's lover, Michelle Troconis, were charged with Jennifer's murder, … Read More Read More

America is a leader in scientific pursuits.  This fact that is underpinned by much evidence.  While the United States represents only 4 percent of the world's population it accounts for over half of science Nobel Prizes awarded since 2000, hosts seven of the Times Higher Education Top 10 science universities, and has introduced to the … Read More Read More

 The type of extensive evil that went on under Adolf Hitler back in the 1930's and 40's requires an apparatus that enlists ‘average' Germans of the era doing their jobs.  No one man could have done it alone.  Bringing this story forward, in authoritarian regimes around the globe there are people looking away at the … Read More Read More

 Ten states in this country have container deposit legislation, popularly called “bottle bills”.  The first one was passed in Oregon decades ago.  Container deposit legislation requires a refundable deposit on certain types of recyclable beverage containers in order to boost recycling rates.  First these measures were seen as an antidote to litter and an environmentally … Read More Read More

 Do you ever go to your primary care physician and are seen on time?  In a modern-looking facility?  Without the doctor having his or her hand on the door to signal a need to get to the next patient? In our sophisticated society, do you think we can get it right in combining cutting-edge technology … Read More Read More

Just as big box retail stores have given way to more boutique and on-line retail environments, grocery shoppers are drawn these days to stores with a curated selection of essentials at lower prices. Stores like the brother rivals of Aldi's and Trader Joe's are examples.  Do we really need 10 choices of olive oil?  Too … Read More Read More

Gallup ranks homelessness as one of Americans' top three concerns.  As it dovetails with the affordable housing crisis in this country, more and more people recognize how they, themselves, are a paycheck away from instability as it relates to having a roof over their heads.  The homelessness we are experiencing today finds its roots in … Read More Read More

 Whether your focus is on tariffs, the independence of the Federal Reserve or the reconciliation law and its tax and debt implications, the first six months of the second Trump Administration will have far-reaching effects on the American economy.  Perhaps, it's most important to watch the bond market reaction to the falling value of the … Read More Read More

 How does America end up with a Secretary of Health and Human Services who is at such great odds with physicians in America on the essential safety and efficacy of vaccines?  Leading medical organizations are now suing Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. over his agency's COVID-19 recommendations regarding vaccines for children and those who are pregnant.  … Read More Read More

We may be the only podcast to continue the conversation about our responses to COVID, but that's fine with me.  It's that important because we will be there again and yet we've barely touched the surface in doing a serious examination of our public policy responses. The COVID pandemic quickly led to the greatest mobilization … Read More Read More

 The far right has been masterful at manipulating class anger to outmaneuver progressive goals and liberals often put ‘the smoking gun' right in the hands of their political opponents.  Can this tendency be reversed?  Yes, but a lot of work needs to be done to change messengers, messaging and there needs to be a blunt … Read More Read More

            Americans spend endless hours growing, tending, and cutting their lawns.  In fact, 40 million acres of land in the United States is covered by turf grass, making it the most irrigated crop in the country.  To what end?  It has virtually no value to flora and fauna and there … Read More Read More

 When Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 in the Dobbs. vs. Jackson Women's Health Organization case, it was the decision that anti-abortion activists had been waiting to see for over 50 years.  While the decision did not ban abortions nationwide, it did throw the matter back to the states.  … Read More Read More

States, one by one, began legalizing marijuana, back in 2012 with Colorado leading the way.  It was sold to the public as a way to unclog the criminal justice system, bring tax revenue and strong regulation, which would ensure quality.  In truth the record shows that illegal shops have grown in number even in states … Read More Read More

These are tricky waters to navigate, but two scholars, Jessi Streib and Betsy Leondar-Wright, have co-authored a book called “Is It Racist? Is It Sexist?: Why Red and Blue White People Disagree, and How to Decide in the Gray Areas,” wade through it in their new book.  It's based on interviews with 125 white interviewees … Read More Read More

 High in the Arctic, myth is melting into reality: as temperatures rise, newly ice-free waters are turning the Northwest Passage from a fable into navigable waterways.  And while global superpowers, like America, Russia and China, see great economic benefit in finding a northern route that can act as a new superhighway for goods to equal … Read More Read More

 Congress authorized the Justice Department to conduct civil investigations into constitutional abuses by police, such as excessive force or racially motivated policing back in 1994 as a response to the beating of Rodney King, a Black man, by white Los Angeles police officers.  And in the wake of the George Floyd killing at the hands … Read More Read More

 Marriages are a 50/50 proposition in America as to whether they can survive all of the challenges couples go through.  For a Navy Seal, the divorce rate is closer to ninety percent.  Today, on the podcast, we talk to a remarkable SEAL couple, Jason and Erica Redman, who have written the book “Mission: Invincible Marriage: … Read More Read More

  While the need for strong, loving partnerships may be more necessary than ever in this complicated moment, the truth is fewer young people are even dating as other generations have done in the past, let alone marrying in their 20's or having families.  Our guest, Aleeza Ben Shalom, host of the series, “Jewish Matchmaking” … Read More Read More

 Call centers are the hub of much activity these days as customers seek information or wish to buy things.  Their role has changed over the years and the sophistication of the technology they use, the demands on them to streamline and cost cut with AI, and the supervisor ‘surveillance' which measures their minute- by- minute … Read More Read More

 Isn't it great when you deal with a company where the principal is the owner who will take full responsibility for the actions of the company's employees?  How rare is that?  Well, according to our guest, it is getting rarer by the day as systems are built to insulate humans from ever having to claim … Read More Read More

Mark Twain evolved over his adult life when it came to matters of race.  In perhaps the greatest American novel of all time, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, Twain demonstrates his keen sense that the Civil War did not end prejudice and bigotry in our society, though it did reshape its contours.  There is no … Read More Read More