Sirota

Smartphones -- they connect us in profound ways, putting us in constant contact through text messages, emails and social media. But are they destroying our kids? On this episode, I explore that question with Jean Twenge, a psychologist who is the author of the new book "iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy--and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood." We discussed skyrocketing teen depression and suicide rates and we talked about her research that suggests social media and smartphones could be part of those trends . We also talked about what parents can do to try to prevent the worst aspects of technology from harming our kids.

Last week, in the middle of the night, Senate Republicans passed a $1.4 trillion tax cut bill that was hastily scribbled on scraps of paper, and that most lawmakers had not seen before they voted on it. Most economists say the tax cut bill will increase the deficit and not spur significant economic growth. So why are Republicans pressing forward with this bill? To try to answer that, I called up Ronald Reagan’s former economic policy adviser Bruce Bartlett. He worked closely with Reagan on some of the major tax cuts of the 1980s, but has since become a critic of the modern Republican Party’s tax cut zeal. He has a new book out called “The Truth Matters: A Citizen's Guide to Separating Facts from Lies and Stopping Fake News in Its Tracks.” Bartlett argues that the new tax cut bill is all part of a long-term conservative strategy to create the budget conditions that will justify cutting larger social programs.

In the United States, it seems capitalism is no longer as popular as it may have once been. With Americans facing stagnating wages, intensifying economic inequality and rampant poverty, polls show more and more people are questioning whether the so-called invisible hand of the free market is really good for society. So is it time to discard capitalism? On this episode, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich basically says no. In a new Netflix documentary entitled “Saving Capitalism” he argues that our economic system can and should be rescued and reformed -- but he said that can only happen if voters can be mobilized to combat the influence of big money on our politics. During our discussion, Reich opened up about his battles with the Wall Street wing of the Democratic Party while he was serving as a Cabinet Secretary. He also discussed what he regretted most about his time in office, and he said both Clinton and Barack Obama never confronted the structural problems facing America’s middle class.

He was one of the Freaks and Geeks. He was the guy trying to forget Sarah Marshall. He wrote a Muppet movie. He was Marshall Eriksen on "How I Met Your Mother." He even played David Foster Wallace. On this episode, I talk to actor, writer and novelist Jason Segel about his new novel exploring the dangers of virtual reality. We also talk about how the Harvey Weinstein scandal could change Hollywood for the long haul.

Before there was Colin Kapernick, there was Craig Hodges of the Chicago Bulls. Hodges was Michael Jordan's teammate and one of the NBA’s greatest three point shooters. But after winning two championships, Hodges in the early 1990s suddenly found himself out of the NBA after he spoke out about the pressing civil rights issues of the day. On this episode, I talk to Hodges and sportswriter Dave Zirin about Jordan, sports activism and the backlash against athletes who dare to speak out.

Eighteen years before the Las Vegas massacre, there was Columbine -- a catastrophe that saw two students kill twelve other teenagers and a teacher. In between the two massacres, mass shootings have become a daily occurrence in America -- and the question is: why? On this episode, I explore that question with Tom Mauser -- the father of Daniel Mauser, who was one of the kids killed at Columbine. Mauser is now a board member of Colorado Ceasefire, a nonprofit that aims to reduce gun violence. Mauser arrived at our recording studio wearing his son’s sneakers. The discussion covered everything from mental health to gun control to politics. Over the course of the conversation, he expressed despondence over the fact that gun laws have not changed, and he also weighed in on whether society should blame the friends and family members of shooters for their acts of violence.

Consider the last two months in America: We’ve seen hurricanes destroy Houston, Florida and Puerto Rico. We've seen a Nazi rally in Charlottesville that culminated with the death of a protestor. We've seen the president intensify a nuclear standoff with North Korea. And we've most recently seen a Las Vegas massacre that was the biggest mass shooting in modern history. These are dark times -- some might even say they feel like end times. How can we maintain any hope or optimism at a moment like this? On this episode, I explore this question with Rabbi Adam Morris. You'll hear us discuss how to think through the larger sense of despondence that seems to have taken hold in America. And we have a pretty intense conversation about how many Jews struggle with their simultaneous affinity for the idea of Israel, and their disgust with some of the Israeli government’s actions. This is a wide-ranging discussion -- I hope it provides you with a thought-provoking perspective on how to process this tumultuous moment that we are all living through.

Sports and politics -- some say they go together, others say they should never go together, and that athletes should just shut up and play. President Trump touched off a big debate about the topic with his incendiary comments last week. On this first of two episodes, I discuss the role of athletes in politics with the one and only Kareem Abdul Jabbar -- an icon whose life has been a study in how athletics and politics intertwine. Since he was a young player, Kareem chose to use his platform for political causes. In 1967, he stood in solidarity at the famous “Ali Summit’ to show support for Muhammed Ali’s refusal to be drafted into the war. He then boycotted the 1968 Olympics. Now, he is a prolific writer on political and cultural issues. During our conversation, we discussed everything from civil rights to Islamophobia to his role in Airplane! to the Colin Kaepernick controversy to climate change.

It’s that time of year we all know so well -- the summer is ending, the smell of autumn is in the air, and that means its the back to school vibe, and football season. But that may not be a reason to rejoice. In recent years we’ve been hit by some disturbing science suggesting that football is more dangerous than we ever thought. There are concerns about concussions and CTE -- the long-term brain damage believed to be caused by repeated head trauma. A recent study of 111 brains of NFL players found that 110 of them showed signs of CTE. Luke Zaleski knows this science pretty well -- he is the research director for GQ magazine, which has published stories about the health and safety concerns surrounding football. In a new article, Zaleski reviewed his own personal decisionmaking process as a father of an 8-year-old boy who wanted to play tackle football in school. On this episode, I talk to Zaleski about his article called "What Kind of Father Lets His Son Play Football?"

This weekend was the Labor Day holiday -- a day that is supposed to celebrate the American worker. But does our country honors the American worker on a day to day basis? On this first of two podcasts about the changing relationship between workers and employers, I talk to Rick Wartzman -- the former Wall Street Journal reporter whose new book says no, America does not honor workers anymore. Wartzman explores a fundamental shift in corporate culture, and argues that things could get far worse for employees in the age of technological change. He also offers up straightforward policies that could begin to improve the situation.

A major American city is once again under water after a huge tropical storm: this time it’s Houston, Texas, the oil industry capital of America. One climate scientist has already said human-caused climate change may have amplified the unprecedented weather event. But is it appropriate to mention climate change amid these kinds of natural disasters? We explore that question on this first of two special episodes with journalist Naomi Klein. She says the attempt to shut down a discussion of climate change amid a natural disaster is a destructive political effort to avoid an urgently needed conversation about how to reduce carbon emissions. She also warns that Republicans may try to turn the disaster into a rationale to further expand fossil fuel development.

Imagine a time when a Native American tribe was one of the richest groups of people in the United States, all thanks to oil. It actually wasn't that long ago -- but then came a spree of murders in a state whose law enforcement apparatus and political system was so corrupt, it did almost nothing to stop the crimes. On this episode, I talk to New Yorker author David Grann about this terrifying tale, recounted in his new book called "Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI."

The term “economic anxiety” is one we’ve heard a lot since Donald Trump won the 2016 election. The theory is that Trump stoked Americans anger at rising economic inequality and rode that populist anger to the presidency. But what does that term “economic anxiety” really mean? On this episode, I talk to William Darity - a Duke University scholar who says it may be a euphemism for more insidious racial anxieties from white Americans who fear that people of color are gaining too much ground. Darity says the whole story of Trump as a great economic populist papers over how race and bigotry play into economic anxiety. He argues that Donald Trump did not just tap into general economic anxiety, but also white Americans’ more specific fear that they are losing their economic advantage over people of color. He also says that fear isn’t actually true -- in a recent Atlantic magazine article entitled “How Barack Obama Failed Black America,” he recounted how African Americans have not gained much economic ground over the last decade.

In 2008, Wall Street banks created a financial crisis that incinerated the economy. It was only a few years after the Justice Department aggressively prosecuted Enron and Arthur Anderson, and so many folks expected there would be similar prosecutions of financial executives, especially because Democratic presdiential candidate Barack Obama promised to “bring a new era of responsibility and accountability to Wall Street.” But it never happened. On this episode, I talk to a Pulitzer Prize winning ProPublica reporter Jesse Eisinger about why he says this failure to prosecute Wall Street reflects the rise of the Chickenshit Club. That's the name of his new book, which details how the federal government has reduced its efforts to seriously prosecute corporate executives.

In 2012, the Russian punk band Pussy Riot made international headlines, when they staged a protest against Vladimir Putin and were then thrown in jail. They spent 21 months in prison. As speculation has since swirled about alleged ties between Putin and Donald Trump, I met up with one of the founders of Pussy Riot, Nadya Tolokonnikova, to get her take on the situation. She was joined in our interview by actor John Cusack, who as part of his work for the Freedom of the Press Foundation has traveled to Russia to meet with whistleblower Edward Snowden. Cusack recently co-authored a book about that experience called “Things That Can And Cannot Be Said.”