Articles

Baher Azmy on Constitutional Rights and Justice for Guantanamo Detainees

Baher Azmy on Constitutional Rights and Justice for Guantanamo Detainees

PODCAST

Baher Azmy Murat Kurnaz was nineteen years old when he was arrested by Pakistani authorities and sold to the United States for a bounty. It was 2001 and the United States had distributed fliers in Pakistan promising money in exchange for suspected terrorists. Murat was a civilian who had not committed any crime. He ended up at the United States prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where for five years he was denied the right to due process and subjected to torture. His attorney, Baher Azmy, fought the Bush Administration to help get Murat and others released from Guantanamo.

Harriet Fraad on Feminism and Class

Harriet Fraad on Feminism and Class

PODCAST

Harriet Fraad Harriet Fraad, a Mental Health Counselor and Hypnotherapist, joins us to discuss feminism and class. Dr. Fraad writes articles and has a podcast on the intersection of politics, economics, and personal life. Her podcast, Capitalism Hits Home, is produced by Democracy at Work.

In this episode of Crossroads Dr. Fraad speaks about the history of the feminist movement, capitalism, and how identity politics have hurt attempts at a unified social justice movement. We also discuss current events such as the prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein, and the historic Bernie Sanders campaign.

Meghan Murphy on Feminism and Free Speech

Meghan Murphy on Feminism and Free Speech

PODCAST

Meghan Murphy It's Women’s History Month. But flags flying the definition of the word woman (“noun / adult human female”) for International Women’s Day were removed with an apology from town council buildings in Sefton, England after accusations that the flags represent hatred against transgender people. In December, when a woman named Maya Forstater was fired for tweeting that sex is based on biology and not internal identity, an employment tribunal judge said that her speech is not “worthy of respect in a democratic society.”

Strangers In Their Own Land by Arlie Hochschild

Strangers In Their Own Land by Arlie Hochschild

ARTICLE

Strangers in Their Own Land - bookcoverStrangers In Their Own Land by Arlie Hochschild is a must-read for anyone interested in going beyond conventional political analysis and exploring the “deep story” worldviews that shape thinking on both the left and right of the political spectrum. Hochschild describes “deep stories” as emotional images that shapes the essence of a person’s worldview, and this book was her attempt to understand the deep story that forms the ideology of the right wing. Hochschild is a UC Berkeley sociologist who spent five years in Louisiana in an attempt to break through the “empathy walls” that divide the political spectrum in the US. She worked to overcome her own biases as a member of the left-leaning political spectrum by forming human connections with conservatives in Louisiana, many of whom were Tea Party activists.

Is this the end? A conversation with Vincent Mignerot

Is this the end? A conversation with Vincent Mignerot

ARTICLE

The earth goes dark and cold.Vincent Mignerot is an independent researcher located in Lyon, France. He is founder of the organization Adrastia, dedicated to studying and spreading awareness about the collapse of the environment and human civilization. He is a frequent speaker in front of university audiences in France where his views on capitalism and human nature get him into hot water with some on the left. Whether you agree or disagree with some of Mignerot's arguments you will see that he is a careful, logical thinker who builds his arguments brick by brick. He compares what humans have done to the earth to a burned cake in the oven, which can never be reconstituted into its original ingredients. The damage is irreparable but there are ways we can prepare and adapt ourselves to what is coming.