As prospects for radical reform slip away the silver lining may be that Barack Obama reacts quickly when burned by mistakes. But in early days he could waste a lot of time, energy, and political capital (the latter somewhat unrecoverable) doing things the establishment way. For a check on Obama's honeymoon with the left I turned to the tough, realistic and insightful Bill Fletcher, Jr. of Black Commentator. Bill believes this is a long term game and that we've still got a lot of potential influence. I agree. It was a great pleasure talking with Bill and I hope to have further conversations with him. Total runtime an hour and one minute. Be patient!

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One chokes when one sees so many Clinton staffers taking up jobs in the new Obama administration (not to mention rumors that Hillary herself may be offered a cabinet position). The word despair comes to mind. Yet give credit where credit is due. Having accomplished the impossible, Obama now faces even bigger challenges — and as they say, in crisis, opportunity. Our duty is to keep pushing him to the left. For a positive take on the election I turned to the brilliantly commonsensical John Stauber. It was great to talk again with John and I learned a lot. It's helpful to be reminded of Obama's strengths. Total runtime an hour and three minutes. Enjoy!

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Here's an optimistic look at nuclear nonproliferation. Dr. Jeffrey Lewis, the eponymous Arms Control Wonk, believes the stage is set for significant progress, and what he's saying makes sense to me. I sure hope he's right, and I hope the new Obama administration seizes the opportunity for some relatively easy deals. It was great to talk with Jeffrey and I hope I can tap his expertise again. Total runtime forty eight minutes. Look on the bright side! ☮

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No doubt the Republicans will cheat. No doubt the Republicans will try to deny the vote to as many potential Democratic Party voters as they can. No doubt the Republicans will lose. The only question is by how much. To get some of the flavor of the campaign I turned again to Amy Sullivan, a correspondent for Time magazine, who's got the knack for politics. Without predicting Tuesday's results we talk about the campaign so far. It was a treat to talk again with Amy and I hope we can revisit America's political future when it becomes a bit more clear, perhaps following the inauguration. This is a shorter interview, with a total runtime of thirty eight minutes. Enjoy!

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For better or for worse Russian history plays out over an extraordinarily long scale. And, with all due respect, it's probably fair to say that Russian society has not yet made it into modern times, existing, as it were, in a kind of parallel world. One with great flashes of innocence and genius. More's the pity, then, that America so poorly understands Russia and, particularly, seems overly disposed to thinking that it is the enemy. To try to put things into a better perspective and fill in some of the blanks I turned to E. Wayne Merry, one of the most perceptive U.S. experts around. It was very kind of Wayne to take the time. Total runtime an hour and twenty seven minutes. Enjoy!

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What a wonderful world! So why is it that often people don't find themselves free to exercise their natural curiosity about things? When reputable — indeed, extraordinarily distinguished — scientists began to question whether HIV causes AIDS the backlash was stunning. Yet, to me, as a non-scientist, the skeptics make a lot of sense. And I question the establishment's explanation for why nobody has actually isolated an "HIV" virus. Perhaps the more radical case that HIV doesn't, in fact, exist, is right. What a thought! To get a graceful and philosophical, even poetic, look at what's going on I turned to the courageous independent journalist Celia Farber. I very much enjoyed talking with Celia and hope she'll be a return guest, perhaps on other subjects as well. Total runtime an hour and fourteen minutes. Prepare to be amazed.

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Yes, we have a financial crisis. But more fundamentally we have a jobs crisis: we don't have a healthy, modern industrial base and, in particular, we aren't making enough advanced industrial things to export. In short, our consumption is based on borrowing from abroad. And that can't go on indefinitely. To talk about both the immediate crisis and the larger structural problems I turned once again to Paul Craig Roberts who is always a source of great practical wisdom. Total runtime an hour and fifteen minutes. Shave and a haircut, two bits.

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By this time, only someone of extreme naïveté and inexperience could believe that the U.S., through force of arms, might bring democracy and stability to Afghanistan and Iraq. The reality is that ultimately the U.S. military will be — must be — utterly swallowed up. I have long maintained that our "leaders" who put us in those places surely understood that. Why exactly we are there, then, I don't know. History will judge. Specifically regarding Iraq, despite John McCain's dishonest touting of the surge, victory is nowhere in sight; indeed, there's a heap of trouble coming down the road. To get a well-informed and balanced sense of what's happening I turned again to Wayne White, one of the top U.S. intelligence analysts specialized in Iraq, recently retired. It's always a privilege to talk with Wayne, who exercises a refined discretion in his judgment, which I reckon to be far more accurate than the conventional wisdom. Total runtime an hour and sixteen minutes. Think smart.

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What with Paulson's Plunder in motion, this conversation on the economy with Jeff Madrick, recorded Monday of last week, is a bit overtaken by events. But not entirely, by any means. Jeff is a sensible, practical, and passionately eloquent left economist who's been around for a long time. His general disposition (including political observations) remains as true today as it was when we spoke and as it no doubt will continue to be going forward. Indeed, I find the distance of a week here a very reassuring reminder that there's no need to panic. Thanks, Jeff! Total runtime an hour and twelve minutes. Invest and prosper. ☺

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Even the choice of the day — 9/11 — is not something that a real Muslim terrorist would do. More likely, it seems to me, it's evidence of a western mind at work branding a nightmarish new ad campaign. And although the farther in time we get from 9/11 the easier it may be to sift through technical facts, to me it still causes extreme discomfort to acknowledge the cloud of evil, the profound treachery, directed by high American officials. Indeed, I suspect that in the long run public acceptance of an alternative narrative will hinge less on empirical analysis than on a plausible political explanation. To learn about the progress the 9/11 truth movement is making I turned once again to Dr. David Ray Griffin, whose most recent book is The New Pearl Harbor Revisited: 9/11, the Cover-Up, and the Exposé. It was great to talk with David — I have the utmost respect for his leadership on these vexing questions and for both the quality of his work and his phenomenally prodigious output. Please think critically. Total runtime an hour and nine minutes.

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At some point — who knows where? — if we do not control immigration into America, legal and illegal, it will control us. One of two core issues that the left habitually gets wrong (the other being gun control), immigration, nevertheless, has the potential to bring the left and the right together. To get at some of the thorny issues I turned to the brilliant political demographer Dr. Steven A. Camarota. It was generous of Steve to talk with me, I very much enjoyed the discussion, and I really learned a lot. Total runtime an hour and fourteen minutes. Please listen even if you think you disagree.

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It's impossible to say yet whether we've fully weathered the mortgage crisis. Things look to be stabilizing but if the economy turns down much more there could be another tsunami of defaults, this time among prime borrowers with negative equity who decide to walk away from their homes. Something that's both economically rational and, perhaps surprisingly, legal (although culturally frowned upon). We'll see. My own view is that we won't have put the crisis behind us until we start to re-regulate financial institutions, but at the moment that isn't taken to be a serious option in Washington. To get a sense of what's happening from the field I turned to Paul Muolo, co-author of the recent Chain of Blame: How Wall Street Caused the Mortgage and Credit Crisis, and executive editor of National Mortgage News, the leading trade publication of the industry. Paul has broken many of the stories in this crisis and understands the situation as well as anybody. It was kind of him to talk with me, which I much appreciate. Total runtime forty eight minutes.

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In his recent autobiography, A Persistent Peace, Father John Dear writes about his practice of non-violent civil disobedience (which has resulted in his being arrested many dozens of times and serving jail sentences) and his revolutionary faith in the emergence of a non-violent world. Like his role model, Mahatma Gandhi, John practices vegetarianism and, also like Gandhi, John personally lives an abstemious life. Saintly, some say, but I take the point made by George Orwell who, in writing of Gandhi, noted that "the essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection." I honor John for his tremendous personal courage, his faith, and the critically important reminder he brings that a world tolerant of war should be unacceptable. Total runtime an hour and seven minutes. Listen carefully to your conscience.

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One of the things people don't generally get about R. Crumb, and which in his self-deprecating way he may somewhat overlook himself, is his sense of kindness and fair play. He sees, and draws, not just the odd, amazing, tragic, surreal and funny things about human beings, but also good things, including the good we see in ourselves — even when it may not be strictly true. Called by the noted art critic Robert Hughes the "only genius the 1960s underground produced in visual art, either in America or Europe," Robert is sort of a living bridge between our authentic cultural past and our authentic cultural future. It was a thrill to talk with him. Total runtime an hour and fourteen minutes. Enjoy!

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In the spirit of summertime and for 'something a little different' here's a conversation with Jos Houben, an internationally acclaimed performance artist, writer, director, producer, and teacher at the Jacques Lecoq theater school in Paris. Laughter is a gift, really, and we should share it more often. Even, perhaps especially, in politics. Many thanks to Jos for taking time to talk with me — he's an absolutely delightful person. Total runtime an hour and three minutes. Enjoy!

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According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, of funds disbursed by the U.S. government for intelligence work about 70% go to private contractors. The overall budget, of course, remains classified. Money details aside, the process of turning intelligence into a business inexorably leads to rotten results. And combined with questions as to the overall level of government surveillance of ordinary Americans' everyday lives, it adds up to a big problem. To get at what's happening and what it all means I turned to Tim Shorrock, an independent investigative journalist and author of the recent and highly praised Spies for Hire: The Secret World of Intelligence Outsourcing. It was gracious of Tim to take time to talk with me, I much appreciate it, and I hope we can talk again. Total runtime an hour and ten minutes. Be aware!

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The late Deng Xiaoping had it about right — many years ago he said he didn't care if a cat were white or black, so long as it caught mice (actually, a Sichuan proverb). I feel that way about international criminal justice: in many instances it hasn't worked out, in some, regardless how contrary to legal norms, it has; and I don't preclude the possibility it may work quite satisfactorily in certain cases in the future. Indeed, I look forward to it. The key word being justice, not consistency. John Laughland, however, disagrees. His latest book, A History of Political Trials from Charles I to Saddam Hussein, explains that political legitimacy resides chiefly or only at the national level and that legitimacy, indeed, always and everywhere must precede the success of legal order. Because international authorities lack true political legitimacy their observance of international laws must therefore always be unfair, in practice a farce. It was kind of John to return as a guest to EP and I very much appreciate his good nature. Total runtime an hour and twenty eight minutes. We argue, you decide.

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From time immemorial politicians have promised the moon. Some delivered. My natural inclination regarding Barack Obama is to be skeptical and cautious because he hasn't yet really been tested. On the other hand, he's shown a remarkable ability to bring people together and he tends to say the right thing in the right way at the right time. See, for example, his great speech yesterday in Berlin. Moreover, people whose judgment about people is better than mine tend to trust him. To kick around some perceptions of Obama and talk politics generally I went Midwest, in a conversation with Dr. Bud McClure, a psychologist at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. This one is quite unstructured and laid back, and I much enjoyed it. Thanks, Bud! Total runtime an hour and seven minutes.

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For your summertime listening edification, here's a quick interview with former U.S. Senator James G. Abourezk, recorded yesterday. An "in-between" podcast, between EP's regular Friday shows. Please note, in particular, the Senator's experience in trying to organize progressives and his observations regarding current efforts — or the lack thereof. It was very kind of Senator Abourezk to take time to talk with me and I'm grateful to him for his honest answers. Total runtime twenty three minutes. Enjoy!

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With a will, we can manage our environmental and energy crises. But it's policy that's too important to leave to politicians, policy-makers, and the market: a large part of the intelligent public must demand that the right things be done. To get a sense of what's possible here in the U.S. I turned to Terry Tamminen, formerly the Secretary of California's EPA and a top adviser to Governor Schwarzenegger. Terry provides a splendid, thoughtful and surprisingly optimistic tour d'horizon. The voice of experience in making things happen. Total runtime an hour and fourteen minutes. Take heart!

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One could attach different numbers to the curves in Limits To Growth, maybe push the timeline back several decades, but one can't argue much with the heuristic conclusion that unrestricted exponential growth results in sudden collapse. If we won't make the hard choices to control growth (e.g., population and industrialization), nature will. To get a better sense of how planetary dynamics works and what policy changes might be available I turned to the very distinguished scholar Dr. Dennis Meadows, who has been working all his professional life to advance the cause of sustainability. It was kind of Dennis to take time to talk with me and I learned a great deal. Total runtime an hour and eighteen minutes. Think wisely!

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For over two hundred years any notion that the United States government might officially practice torture was unthinkable, ridiculous. Under George Bush's tyranny, what have we become? Even if Congress has no stomach for a serious investigation, the thinking public must never let culpable officials off the hook. Zero tolerance for torture: it's the only civilized approach. For a sense of how a seasoned British lawyer sees the situation I turned to Philippe Sands, author of the superb, recently published case study Torture Team. Under international criminal law, Philippe explains, the arrest and prosecution of Bush officials when they travel overseas remains a very real possibility, but should shame Americans into taking remedial action for ourselves. I value Philippe's insights tremendously and thank him for talking with me. Total runtime, forty four minutes. Keep fighting!

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Politicians practically worship the Pentagon because it carefully, cleverly directs its gargantuan spending across almost every congressional district. And because contractors kick back a hefty tranche to politicians' bank accounts. Not so much of this supports the public good or authentic "defense." Call it the dark side of Keynesianism. Our ruinous military money conveyor can't go on indefinitely but most politicians won't discuss it or give reform the priority it deserves. And the mainstream media won't report the facts. Ordinary people are left to struggle on their own to make sense out of what's happening. So when a former top civilian official at the Pentagon declares that the weapons procurement system is completely broken, that overall spending is out of control, that we should "scrap the whole process," and who agrees an intellectually respectable argument can be made for cutting military spending by half — well, we should pay attention! Formerly the director of weapons testing, Tom Christie was extraordinarily kind to talk with me and explain things. I thank him for his candor. Total runtime an hour and ten minutes. Pass the word.

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One fact should be tacked on to all discussions of policy priorities: the U.S. spends over half a trillion dollars on its military, more than the rest of the world's military spending combined. To be blunt, that's insane. And it explains why the U.S. lags so far behind other advanced countries when it comes to social programs, public infrastructure, and generally every progressive metric that can be measured. There's no money left. To get at the cultural history behind our prohibitively expensive military fantasies — fantasies that go all too easily unchallenged — I turned to Dr. H. Bruce Franklin, the eminent cultural historian and author of War Stars (recently republished in a revised and expanded second edition after twenty years). It was great to talk again with Bruce, who has clearly found critical pieces of the puzzle regarding where and how American ideas about war went wrong. Total runtime an hour and twenty three minutes. Remember, it's not "Defense," it's military racketeering.

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The U.S. pays for and protects a system of Apartheid in Israel. The U.S. government routinely lies about this, describing Israel as a "Democracy." Worse, the U.S. encourages Israeli Jews to keep those Palestinians who live in Gaza and the West Bank in a sort of outdoor prison-cum-shooting gallery. Absolutely contrary to what many of the Left have argued, seemingly forever, Jews are the ones calling the shots. It's the most odious, obscene abuse of human beings in the world — precisely because its necessary enabler is a leader among nations but also the greatest hypocrite regarding human rights. To hear further from the Palestinian side I turned to Dr. Saree Makdisi, author of Palestine Inside Out, who seems to be picking up where his late uncle, Edward Said, left off. It was very kind of Saree to talk with me, I learned a lot, and I hope we can do it again. Total runtime an hour and four minutes. Help educate your family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and friendly strangers.

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