Category Archives: economics

Dr. David King: Universal Health Healthcare

It seems healthcare – or the lack of it – is a hot topic these days. Whether it’s candidates advocating for single payer health care, and winning primary elections, or political appointees in The Department of Health and Human Services forcing out tens of thousands of agency employees; firing or replacing top leadership across the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; dismantling or heavily altering over a quarter of the scientific and public health advisory panels; cancelling billions of dollars of research grants, or funds to local health departments for tracking communicable diseases, mental health or addiction – with rapid spread of outbreaks such as measles, cyclospora or salmonella. One could go on and on in this vein.

Instead, I am delighted to share a conversation with retired physician, Dr. David King. For almost four decades he was a general practitioner in the small town of Belgrade, MT, which shares similarities with our Mendocino County communities – his patients were loggers, farmers and ranchers, small business owners and employees and families. His wife of many years, Daralee Schroeder, was a crew boss at the Plum Creek Lumber Mill.

He created numerous clinics, has been the medical director for nursing homes, hospice care, the geriatric team for the local hospital. Since retiring, he has been advocating for universal healthcare in the United States, He “says: We don’t have a health care system, We have a “health insurance system.”

We spoke with Dr. David King on August 10, 2026 via Zoom.

Some of the slides Dr. King mentioned in this conversation:

The Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) Single Payer Cost Estimates

Articles Pertinent to this conversation:

The legacy of Belgrade’s Dr. King https://www.belgrade-news.com/townnews/medicine/the-legacy-of-belgrades-dr-king/article_8781d97c-86df-11ed-92a7-87f003fef861.html

He Saw Specialist After Specialist. He Died When No One Gave Him a Flu Shot https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/10/opinion/medical-cures-trump-patients.html

Universal Health Coverage Could Save $1 Trillion and 114,000 Lives Every Year, Yale Study Projects https://ysph.yale.edu/news-article/universal-health-coverage-could-save-one-trillion-dollars-and-114000-lives-every-year/

Trump is laying waste to the agency that keeps hospital patients safe https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/aug/07/trump-healthcare-hospital-quality-patient-safety

Trump’s vaccine order is about feelings, not facts https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/aug/11/trumps-vaccine-order-is-about-feelings-not-facts

The U.S. Relies on Family Caregivers. Millions of Them Are Kids https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/05/magazine/child-family-caregivers-aacy.html

Tracking State Rural Health Transformation Plans https://kffhealthnews.org/rural-health/tracking-state-rural-health-transformation-plans/?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

Republicans Are Trying to Hide These Health Care Cuts https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/15/opinion/trump-health-care-cuts.html

‘We Must Pass Medicare for All,’ Says Troy Jackson as 12th Maine Maternity Unit Closes in 11 Years https://www.commondreams.org/news/maine-hospitals-closing

Rick Scott ‘oversaw the largest Medicare fraud’ in U.S. history, Florida Democratic Party says https://politifact.com/factchecks/2014/mar/03/florida-democratic-party/rick-scott-rick-scott-oversaw-largest-medicare-fra/

Pepper Culpepper BILLIONAIRE BACKLASH: THE AGE OF CORPORATE SCANDAL AND HOW IT COULD SAVE DEMOCRACY

Pepper Culpepper is Blavatnik Professor of Government and Public Policy, and Vice Dean for Academic Affairs at the Blavatnik School of Government, and a Professorial Fellow at Nuffield College at the University of Oxford. His research explores the intersection of capitalism and democracy.

His recent book, co-written with Harvard Professor Taeku Lee, BILLIONAIRE BACKLASH: THE AGE OF CORPORATE SCANDAL AND HOW IT COULD SAVE DEMOCRACY, argues for the positive, and politically popular, role of government regulatory action against large corporations in an era of populism. The work builds on some of the scholarly insights from his five-year Advanced Grant Project funded by the European Research Council, which sought to understand how big banks and the rules that govern them became objects of political contestation after the Great Financial Crisis of 2008.

His earlier books include the award winning, Quiet Politics and Business Power: Corporate Control in Europe and Japan; and Creating Cooperation. His public commentary has appeared in the Conversation, the International Herald Tribune, Le Monde, The New Republic, Times Higher Education, and The Washington Post.

We spoke with Pepper Culpepper on July 7, 2026 via Zoom.

In the Metaverse, Politicians Can Hear You Scream: Corporate Scandals, Big Tech Regulation, and the Microfoundations of Focusing Events https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/in-the-metaverse-politicians-can-hear-you-scream-corporate-scandals-big-tech-regulation-and-the-microfoundations-of-focusing-events/48096E895DC18ADE623601E7F465EF6A

Media effects revisited: corporate scandals, partisan narratives, and attitudes toward cryptocurrency regulation https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/political-science-research-and-methods/article/media-effects-revisited-corporate-scandals-partisan-narratives-and-attitudes-toward-cryptocurrency-regulation/3E115E475EBCD127849D4B01C0CE24BA

‘The Economy is Rigged’: Inequality Narratives, Fairness, and Support for Redistribution in Six Countries https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00104140241252072

‘This was a righteous case. A holy war’: the lawyer who took on Meta and Google – and won https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jul/12/mark-lanier-the-lawyer-who-took-on-meta-and-google-and-won-interview

Bipartisan bill fails to protect US consumers from datacenters’ true costs, critics warn https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/05/ratepayer-protection-act-datacenters

US residents angry at datacenters ‘being shoved down our throats’ are recalling officials https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/03/datacenter-recall-elections

‘Forgive Me, I’m Gonna Use The F-Word’: A Century-Old Veteran Just Delivered The Most Brutally Honest Take On Donald Trump, And He Did NOT Mince Words https://www.huffpost.com/entry/101-year-old-veteran-blasts-trump_n_6a442e9ce4b039eff60646f5?origin=home-whats-happening-unit

Air Force Major Demands Trump’s Impeachment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf7M29U-xSg

Air Force Detains Officer Who Called for Trump’s Impeachment at Capitol https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/03/us/politics/air-force-officer-arrested-trump-impeachment.html

Pepper Culpepper in Conversation with Taeku Lee: Billionaire Backlash https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uxuGgThS-A

Brendan Ballou WHEN COMPANIES RUN THE COURTS: HOW FORCED ARBITRATION BECAME AMERICA’S SECRET JUSTICE SYSTEM

What if your spouse has severe food allergies? You planned your trip to Disney World to find restaurants that prioritize patrons with such allergies. You asked your waiter several times, if your meal could be prepared without your allergens. Your waiter reassured you each time that it would be. When your food arrived without the labels marking them as safe, you expressed concern and the waiter again tells you that it is fine to eat. So you enjoy your meal. An hour later, your spouse drops to the ground struggling to breathe, and dies. You sue Disney and the company that owns the restaurant for negligence. Disney immediately moves to remove your suit from open court, to the shadows of forced arbitration, a private system of so-called justice that favors corporate defendants. Because you had signed up for the Disney + streaming service 4 years before, and had bought tickets to Disney World, and one of Disney’s lawyers was a former justice of the Florida Supreme Court, Disney had the law on its side.

This is just one scenario our guest, Brendan Ballou, cites in his latest book, WHEN COMPANIES RUN THE COURTS: HOW FORCED ARBITRATION BECAME AMERICA’S SECRET JUSTICE SYSTEM, published by Public Affairs. Perhaps you recall our 2023 interview with Brendan Ballou, when his earlier book, PLUNDER: PRIVATE EQUITY’S PLAN TO PILLAGE AMERICA, came out. https://forthright.media/2023/06/06/brendan-ballou-plunder-private-equitys-plan-to-pillage-america/

He served in the Department of Justice in the first Trump administration, and resigned because of Trump’s immigration bans. In the Biden administration, he was a Special Counsel for private equity at the DOJ’s Anti-trust Division, from 2020 – 2025. As a federal prosecutor, he prosecuted rioters, who had attacked the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He also served in the National Security Division of the DOJ. So, he has a thorough knowledge of justice and injustice; how we got to this point; and what can be done.

We spoke with Brendan Ballou on June 22, 2026 via Zoom.

We end this edition of Forthright Radio with an analysis of the appeals prospects for the Texas anti-ICE Prairieland protestors, who were sentenced to between 30 and 100 years in prison.

Articles, etc. pertinent to this episode:

He Signed Away His Right to Sue by Subscribing to Disney+ https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/01/opinion/arbitration.html?searchResultPosition=1

One Man Stole $660 Million. He’ll Never Pay It Back. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/opinion/corruption-trump-accountability.html?searchResultPosition=2

Why are US consumers so angry? It’s not just high prices https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/jun/04/us-consumer-rage-prices-economy

US supreme court backs FCC in clash with wireless carriers over fines https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/04/verizon-att-supreme-court-decision

The States Should Override Trump’s Indefensible Pardons https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/15/opinion/trump-presidential-pardons.html

Exclusive: FBI Files Counter Government Argument in Texas “Antifa” Trial https://inthesetimes.com/article/prairieland-antifa-trial-protest-repression-fbi

Judge blocks defense attorneys from arguing Texas ICE shooting was justified https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/crime/article314874894.html read more at: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/crime/article314874894.html#storylink=cpy

‘This is injustice’: how leftist zines were used to sentence anti-ICE protesters to decades in prison https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/jun/24/prairieland-texas-ice-protests-zines

Claiming an Antifa Plot, U.S. Charges 15 in Minneapolis With Conspiracy https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/16/us/minnesota-immigration-charges-antifa.html

The spectacular collapse of a case against ICE protesters: ‘It’s not justice, but it is a win’ https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/08/chicago-broadview-six-trump-administration

Federal jury finds army veteran and two other ICE protesters guilty of conspiracy https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/28/ice-protesters-conspiracy-charges

Henry Giroux GANGSTER CAPITALISM AND CORRUPTION IN TRUMP’S AMERICA

“A new administration must screen out those who regard Government service as the door to power or wealth, those who cannot distinguish between private gains and public trust, and those who believe that old-fashioned honesty with the public’s money is both old and out of fashion.”
John F. Kennedy, 1960

Returning to be our guest again is internationally renowned public intellectual, writer, and cultural and political critic, McMaster University Chair for Scholarship in the Public Interest, & The Paulo Freire Distinguished Scholar in Critical Pedagogy – Professor Henry Giroux.

He has authored, or co-authored over 65 books, written several hundred scholarly articles, delivered more than 250 public lectures, been a regular contributor to print, television, and radio news media outlets, and is one of the most cited academics working in any area of Humanities research. His books have been translated into many languages.

Henery Giroux is on the editorial and advisory boards of numerous national and international scholarly journals, and he co-edited a series on education and cultural studies with Paulo Freire for a decade. He is on the Board of Directors for Truthout. He is interviewed regularly on a number of different media including Democracy Now! Despite these illustrious credentials, he is never dull in conversation, and he certainly isn’t in this one, which was recorded via Zoom on June 5, 2026.

Liz Helenchild from the 2018 Mendocino Poetry Celebration Photo by Dan Roberts

This edition of Forthright Radio ends with a poem by Mendocino poet and radio colleague, Liz Helenchild‘s, poem: SLICE. Thanks to Dan Roberts for broadcasting it on Rhythm Running River (6-7-26) and for permission to include it. It was recorded at the 2026 Mendocino Poetry Celebration.

Articles pertinent to this interview:

GANGSTER CAPITALISM AND CORRUPTION IN TRUMP’S AMERICA https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/05/29/gangster-capitalism-and-corruption-in-trumps-america/

Never again in the age of historical amnesia https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/2PAID9HDNCTR7EKQXXBR/full?target=10.1080/00131857.2026.2671081

We Must Resist the Collapse of Conscience in the Age of Trump https://truthout.org/articles/we-must-resist-the-collapse-of-conscience-in-the-age-of-trump/

War Becomes Spectacle in Trump’s Horrific Propaganda Promoting War in Iran https://truthout.org/articles/war-becomes-spectacle-in-trumps-horrific-propaganda-promoting-war-in-iran/

The Myth of the Apolitical University: Education, Power and the Lie of Neutrality https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/04/24/the-myth-of-the-apolitical-university-education-power-and-the-lie-of-neutrality/

War on DEI’s Aim: Normalizing White Nationalism https://flaglerlive.com/dei-war/

Donald Trump’s apocalyptic and profane threats against Iran expose the unhinged language of war https://theconversation.com/donald-trumps-apocalyptic-and-profane-threats-against-iran-expose-the-unhinged-language-of-war-279801

Trump’s Crusade: Christian Nationalism and the Making of a Holy War https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/03/20/trumps-crusade-christian-nationalism-and-the-making-of-a-holy-war/

MAGA Aesthetics and Fascist Power: Spectacles of White Supremacy https://socialistproject.ca/2026/03/maga-aesthetics-and-fascist-power/

He’s Very Unwell” – Marsh Family parody of Chuck Berry’s “Never Can Tell” from Pulp Fiction https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2WWjjVlr7M&list=RD2J95CTmZUUM&index=2

Welcome to ‘the Claw’: the White House fighting cage captures Trump era rot https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/12/trump-ufc-fighting-cage

‘We call it the P-word’: Chicago professor suspended after assignment mentions Palestinians https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/05/professor-suspended-assignment-mentions-palestinians

‘We were attacked as bad Jews’: Columbia faculty who supported Gaza protests file claims with Trump’s antisemitism fund https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/03/columbia-jewish-faculty-protests-settlement-fund

Police want to decide which journalists can cover the Delaney Hall protests. That’s not their job https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/03/delaney-hall-new-jersey-protests-police

Trump’s UFC fight at White House combines punches and politics https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trumps-ufc-fight-white-house-combines-punches-politics-2026-06-05/

Judge Orders Restoration of National Park Plaques Removed Under Trump Directive https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/12/judge-national-park-trump-displays

Suzanne Simard WHEN THE FOREST BREATHES: Renewal and Resilience in the Natural World

Returning to Forthright Radio is Professor of Forest Ecology at the University of British Columbia, Suzanne Simard. You may remember our interview with her in 2021, when her book, FINDING THE MOTHER TREE: DISCOVERING THE WISDOM OF THE FOREST was published. You can hear that interview here: https://forthright.media/2021/05/04/suzanne-simard-finding-the-mother-tree-discovering-the-wisdom-of-the-forest/

She is a pioneer scientist on the frontier of plant communication and intelligence; who conveys complex, technical ideas in ways that are inspiring and profound. Her work has influenced filmmakers such as James Cameron’s “Tree of Souls” in Avatar. She has demonstrated that trees interact and communicate using below ground fungal networks, and that forests have elder trees, that she calls Mother Trees, which are large, highly connected trees, who play an important role in the flow of information and resources in a forest.

Her current research investigates how these complex relationships contribute to forest resilience, adaptability and recovery and has far-reaching implications for how to manage and heal forests from human impacts, including climate change.

She writes about this in her latest book, WHEN THE FOREST BREATHES: Renewal and Resilience in the Natural World, published by Knopf.

We spoke with Suzanne Simard on April 3, 2026 via Zoom.

Articles, etc. pertinent to this episode:

The Mother Tree Project & Program https://mothertreeproject.org/

My ideas are a little revolutionary’: ecologist Suzanne Simard on intelligent forests, the climate and her critics https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/mar/14/my-ideas-are-a-little-revolutionary-ecologist-suzanne-simard-on-intelligent-forests-the-climate-and-her-critics

B.C. government aims to permanently protect Fairy Creek https://thenarwhal.ca/bc-fairy-creek-protection-pledge/

Economic Valuation of Old-Growth Forests on Vancouver Island https://ancientforestalliance.org/old-growth-economic-report/

Hereditary Chiefs vs. Elected Chiefs: What’s the Difference? https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/hereditary-chiefs-vs-elected-chiefs

‘It’s path-breaking’: British Columbia’s blueprint for decolonisation https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/09/british-columbia-blueprint-decolonisation

‘A living collective’: study shows trees synchronise electrical signals during a solar eclipse https://theconversation.com/a-living-collective-study-shows-trees-synchronise-electrical-signals-during-a-solar-eclipse-255499

Biruté Galdikas, 79, Who Worked to Save Wild Orangutans in Borneo, Dies With Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey, she was one of three prominent researchers of great apes who were sometimes called the “tirmates.” https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/02/science/earth/birute-galdikas-dead.html

Elaine Ingham, Who Taught That Soil Is Alive, Dies at 73 A scientist and leader in the organic farming movement, she popularized the “soil food web,” and understanding that soil is a complex realm of microorganisms. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/19/science/earth/elaine-ingham-dead.html

Desmond Morris, 98, Dies; Explored Humans’ Animal Instincts in ‘the Naked Ape’ https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/20/science/desmond-morris-dead.html

Pages devoted to climate change have disappeared from key Yellowstone guidebook https://montanafreepress.org/2026/04/03/pages-devoted-to-climate-change-have-disappeared-from-key-yellowstone-national-park-guidebook/

‘Hybrid organ’: how a union of trees and fungi could revolutionise forest management https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/mar/20/hybrid-organ-trees-fungi-union-loblolly-pines-startup-forest-management

Charles G. Curtin PLACE-BASED SOLUTIONS: The Power of Regenerative Thinking in the Face of Crisis

Dr. Charles G. Curtin is the director of Regenerative Conservation Design.

He is the author of The Science of Open Spaces: Theory and Practice for Conserving Large, Complex Systems and the coeditor of Complex Ecology: Foundational Perspectives on Dynamic Approaches to Ecology and Conservation. His latest book is PLACE-BASED SOLUTIONS: THE POWER OF REGENERATIVE THINKING IN THE FACE OF CRISIS, published by Johns Hopkins University Press. His books explore the intersection of ecology and culture and focus on how the word’s messiness leads to uncertainty and unexpected outcomes, and what to do about it.

Not merely a world renowned ecologist with conservation collaborations including cross-cultural conservation exchanges from the Middle East and Africa to the fisheries of Maine. His Two-Cowboys Project involves cross-continent learning networks between Maasai pastoralists in Kenya and US ranchers in the New Mexico/Arizona and Mexico borderlands, as well as Montana’s Blackfoot Challenge. The Crown of the Continent Partnership is a collaboration project on the borders of Montana, Alberta, British Columbia and the Salish and Kootnai Confederation. You can find out more about this ecosystem here: https://www.crownmanagers.org/about-the-crown

We spoke to him via Zoom from his home in Ranchos de Taos, NM on March 23, 2026.

Articles pertinent to this interview:

How Minnesota Beat Trump https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/15/opinion/columnists/minneapolis-ice-trump-neighbor.htm

Grasslands: Where Resilience Takes Root https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/stories-in-mn-nd-sd/grasslands/

Radical Ruralism: Regeneration on the Edge https://forthright.media/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/fb86a-radicalrural-meandermagazine28229.pdf

Fear and Loathing Near Las Vegas https://forthright.media/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/d39e6-greenfire1.pdf

New Mexico Wildfires: The Gift That Keeps Giving (Fear and Loathing Near Las Vegas Part 2) https://forthright.media/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/50c35-greenfire2.pdf

Charting a Pathway Toward Long-term Fire Recovery https://forthright.media/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/7f438-gft_janfeb2026_7-10.pdf

Fireshed-Watershed-Foodshed: Reenvisioning Agriculture in the Face of Climate Change https://forthright.media/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/6fedb-beyondfiresheds.pdf

Fire, Power and Privilege in the Pyrocene https://forthright.media/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/37aef-fire2cpower2candprivalegeinthepyrocene.pdf

The Sangre de Cristo Mountain Initiative: An Audacious Commonsense Proposal https://forthright.media/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/d18c1-greenfire328129.pdf

Christine Webb THE ARROGANT APE: THE MYTH OF HUMAN EXCEPTIONALISM AND WHY IT MATTERS

Dr. Christine Webb is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Studies at New York University, where she is part of the Animal Studies program. Her research is driven by growing awareness that the ecological crisis demands a profound shift in how we understand other animals and our place among them.

Her work seeks to elucidate the complex dynamics of animal social life, and to apply this knowledge to foundational questions in animal ethics and conservation. She investigates how animals manage and mitigate social disruptions, the emotional and motivational states that underlie those processes, and the cultural influences shaping them, with a focus on nonhuman primates.

She also studies how prevailing societal norms, values, and institutions shape contemporary scientific knowledge of other animals. As you will hear, her work examines the pervasiveness of the belief in human exceptionalism, and how this ideology—oftentimes hidden—biases scientific exploration of the more-than-human world.

She asks: How are cutting edge scientific insights revealing striking interdependencies among different species? How has anthropocentrism fueled an essentially competitive, hierarchical view of Nature? How does this in turn obscure our understanding of evolution, and of ourselves, in ways that perpetuate notions of human exceptionalism?How has this emphasis on competition led people to misinterpret and misuse evolutionary theory to explain the current anthropogenic crisis of life on earth? And How can a less anthropocentric understanding help us re-imagine it?

She explores these questions and more in her book, THE ARROGANT APE: THE MYTH OF HUMAN EXCEPTIONALISM AND WHY IT MATTERS, published by Avery. We spoke with Professor Webb on February 24, 2026 via Zoom as she, and many others were snowbound in New York.

Articles pertinent to this interview:

Bonobos enjoy pretend tea parties and chimps think rationally: why apes are more like us than we ever thought https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/23/apes-behaviour-bonobo-chimpanzee-humans-science-aoe

Desmond Morris, 98, Dies; Explored Humans’ Animal Instincts in ‘The Naked Ape’ https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/20/science/desmond-morris-dead.html

Scientists recorded a sperm whale birth up close for the first time. They discovered something extraordinary. The marine mammals act like midwives, supporting mothers and their calves through delivery. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/sperm-whale-birth-video?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

Sperm whales live in culturally distinct clans, research finds https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/10/sperm-whales-live-in-culturally-distinct-clans-research-finds

Sperm whales’ communication closely parallels human language, study finds https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/15/sperm-whales-alphabet-vocalizations-similar-humans

How Brainless Slime Molds Redefine Intelligence https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/brainless-slime-molds/

Baby chicks link certain sounds with shapes, just like humans do https://www.npr.org/2026/02/19/nx-s1-5717039/baby-chicks-link-certain-sounds-with-shapes-just-like-humans-do

Chimpanzees pick up communication styles from their moms, not their dads https://www.npr.org/2025/08/16/nx-s1-5502642/chimp-moms-babies-human-language-communication-style

Is your dog bilingual? A new study suggests their brains can tell languages apart https://www.npr.org/2022/01/06/1070710852/is-your-dog-bilingual-a-new-study-suggests-their-brains-can-tell-languages-apart

Evidence for representation of pretend objects by Kanzi, a language-trained bonobo https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adz0743

Butterflies crossing oceans, moths navigating by the stars: unravelling the mysteries of insect migrations https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2026/mar/18/butterflies-crossing-oceans-moths-navigating-stars-insect-migrations-aoe

Alfred McCoy COLD WAR ON FIVE CONTINENTS: A Global History of Empire and Espionage

Our guest on this edition of Forthright Radio is the Fred Harvey Harrington Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, Alfred McCoy.

For well over five decades he has specialized in the foreign policy of the United States, European colonization of Southeast Asia, and CIA covert operations and illegal international drug trade. In June of 1972, he testified before the US Senate Committee on Appropriations’ Foreign Operations Subcommittee, testifying that American officials were condoning and even cooperating with corrupt officials at the highest levels in Southeast Asia’s illegal drug trade out of political and military considerations. He testified that the CIA chartered Air America aircraft and helicopters in northern Laos to transport opium harvested by their “tribal mercenaries”.

His multiple awards winning books include, THE POLITICS OF HEROIN IN SOUTHEAST ASIA: CIA COMPLICITY IN THE GLOBAL DRUG TRADE; A QUESTION OF TORTURE: CIA INTERROGATION, FROM THE COLD WAR TO THE WAR ON TERROR; IN THE SHADOWS OF THE AMERICAN CENTURY: THE RISE AND DECLINE OF US GLOBAL POWER; and TO GOVERN THE GLOBE: WORLD ORDERS AND CATASTROPHIC CHANGE. He was our guest when those last two were published. His latest book is COLD WAR ON FIVE CONTINENTS: A GLOBAL HISTORY OF EMPIRE AND ESPIONAGE, published by Haymarket Books.

As in his earlier books, he reiterates the importance of maintaining dominance over the heartland of the “World Island,” comprised of Eurasia and Africa, which was articulated in Halford John Mackinder’s 1904 article, “The Geographical Pivot of History.”

Articles pertinent to this interview:

‘We wasted a lot of lives’: CIA spymaster’s caution over past Iran intervention resurfaces from beyond the grave https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/apr/20/cia-spymaster-agent-peter-sichel-caution-over-iran-intervention-resurfaces-us-middle-east

America Is Waving the White Flag in the New Cold War https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/21/opinion/us-china-cold-war-tariffs-trump.html

‘The powerful have their power. We have the capacity to stop pretending’: the Canadian PM’s call to action at Davos https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/21/mark-carney-davos-canadian-prime-minister-donald-trump-new-world-order

A War Foretold: how the CIA and MI6 got hold of Putin’s Ukraine plans and why nobody believed them https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2026/feb/20/a-war-foretold-cia-mi6-putin-ukraine-plans-russia

How Trump is Demolishing U.S. Global Power and Its World Order https://tomdispatch.com/in-the-autumn-of-americas-empire/

Energy Policy and the Politics of American Decline https://tomdispatch.com/ozymandias-on-the-potomac/

Thousands of Chinese Fishing Boats Quietly Form Vast Sea Barriers https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/01/16/world/asia/china-ships-fishing-militia-blockade.html

Expiry of nuclear weapons pact between US and Russia risks new arms race https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/03/expiry-nuclear-weapons-pact-us-russia-arms-race

C.I.A. World Factbook Ends Publication After 6 Decades https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/us/world-factbook-cia.html

The Secret History of the Deep State https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/opinion/trump-nixon-watergate-radford.html

The risk of nuclear war is rising again. We need a new movement for global peace https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/08/nuclear-war-risk-rising-global-peace

5 Times the US Invoked the Monroe Doctrine https://www.history.com/articles/times-the-usa-invoked-monroe-doctrine?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-organization/article/further-back-to-the-future-neoroyalism-the-trump-administration-and-the-emerging-international-system/ABB12906CA345BBCA5049B544363D391#article

How to Read Scrooge McDuck in the Age of Donald Trump https://tomdispatch.com/trumps-foreign-policy-the-comic-book-edition/

Firesign Theater Temporarily Humboldt County https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqUyI5IIDOM&list=RDFqUyI5IIDOM&start_radio=1

Sven Beckert CAPITALISM: A GLOBAL HISTORY

“WHO CONTROLS THE PAST CONTROLS THE FUTURE, WHO CONTROLS THE PRESENT CONTROLS THE PAST.” George Orwell, 1984.

We first interviewed Harvard University’s Laird Bell Professor of History, Sven Beckert, when his tremendously informative Bancroft Prize winning book, EMPIRE OF COTTON: A GLOBAL HISTORY, was published in 2015. It weighed in at a respectable 640 pages.

His most recent tome, CAPITALISM: A GLOBAL HISTORY, dwarfs that earlier work at over 1,320 pages. In it he traces over the past thousand years, what he calls “the most impactful revolution the world has ever seen.” His exhaustive research took him to the archives on 6 continents, however it is anything but a dry disquisition. Rather it is people focused – examining their agency, resistance, ruthless coercion and innovations. From the merchants of 12th Century Aden, Yemen circulating goods from Asia, Africa and Europe to the workers in this decade’s sweat shops in Cambodia, he chronicles the ever adapting transformations of Capitalism.
We spoke with Sven Beckert, who was somewhere in Europe on January 13, 2026 via Zoom.

This edition of Forthright Radio is dedicated to the memory of Renee Nicole Good and the thousands of Iranians who have been killed demanding freedom and justice in their homelands, as well as the thousands more spurred on by the same imperatives and their courageous examples, who continue to brave dangerously cold weather and disproportionately armed agents of the state .

Articles, etc. pertinent to this interview:

Capitalism by Sven Beckert review – an extraordinary history of the economic system that controls our lives https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/dec/23/capitalism-by-sven-beckert-review-an-extraordinary-history-of-the-economic-system-that-controls-our-lives

E.U. and South America to Form Free-Trade Zone With 700 Million People https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/business/economy/european-union-mercosur-trade.html

The Oil Company Drilled. The Government Slaughtered. Who Is Guilty? https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/opinion/the-oil-company-drilled-government-slaughter-guilty.html

In Davos, the rich talk about ‘global threats’. Here’s why they’re silent about the biggest of them all https://www.theguardian.com/global/2026/jan/19/davos-rich-global-threat-economic-inequality-wealth

“The Secret Economic History of the World” with Pulitzer finalist Sven Beckert https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3HZNxljhNc

‘Endangered lawyer’ day highlights US justice system’s plummeting standing https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/22/lawyers-judges-intimidation-trump

Thousands of workers flee Cambodia scam centres, officials say https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/21/thousands-of-workers-flee-cambodia-scam-centres-officials-say

ICE Said Agents Can Enter Homes Without Judicial Warrant, Group Claims https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/21/us/politics/ice-warrant-whistleblower.html

The Fourth Amendment
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Fascists In Our Midst (Paul Cargnello w/Jonathan Emile) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2WgEOr-jaI&list=RDl2WgEOr-jaI&start_radio=1

I’m watching myself on YouTube saying things I would never say. This is the deepfake menace we must confront https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/05/deepfakes-youtube-menace-yanis-varoufakis