America Trends

Dr. Chad Hanson is a forest fire ecologist from the John Muir Earth Island Institute and he believes the current logging bill before Congress will eliminate forest plan standards and open the forests up to clearcutting without any environmental analysis or public comment.  Is this a sop to the logging industry?  This is an important … Continue reading EP 66 WHY CONGRESS IS DEAD WRONG ABOUT FOREST FIRES

Holly Fretwell Aside from significant financial constraints, America’s public lands have many challenges. Wildfires burn millions of acres every year, costing billions of dollars. We see armed standoffs over grazing rights and conflict over national-monument designations. Given that the federal government owns nearly one-third of the expanse of our country, our political differences are spilling … Continue reading EP 65 THE FUTURE OF PUBLIC LANDS

That’s a concise one word explanation for the presidential campaign of 2016. It’s also the name of the new book by Dr. Gary Rose, a professor and Chair of the Department of Government, Politics and Global Studies at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. He provides a chronology of events leading up to the astonishing victory … Continue reading EP 64 HAYWIRE

Steve Almond details why, after forty years as a fan, he can no longer watch the game he loves. And he’s not alone. Many recent columns and stories attest to the concern that many fans are having with the brutal residual effects of the game which leaves so many players with brain damage in addition … Continue reading EP 63 FATAL HEAD WOUNDS MAY SIDELINE FOOTBALL ALTOGETHER

During the 2016 campaign and in the early days of his presidency, President Donald Trump made ‘defeating radical Islamic terrorism’ a key part of his counterterrorism strategy. He also said that he would step up efforts to blunt other terrorist groups. At the same time, he vowed to be successful without deploying large numbers of … Continue reading EP 62 THE BATTLE WITH ISIS-ARE WE WINNING?

In America, we’ve experienced four decades of progress against preventable deaths.  We’ve cut death rates for motor vehicle accidents, homicides and smoking.  That was before the opioid epidemic, which has driven the national death rate from overdoses to 9.3 per 100,000 in 2015, up from 0.4 in 1975.  What once was rarely seen is now … Continue reading EP 61 OPIOID NATION

Did you ever look around your cities and towns and wonder why so many folks look alike?  In cities, often we see a preponderance of people of color and in suburbs and rural communities just the opposite.  An accident, you wonder?  Just the way things happened…birds of a feather?  Not quite.  In fact, finally, thanks … Continue reading EP 60 SEGREGATION’S SEAL OF APPROVAL

  https://www.conventionofstates.com/ This effort is described as a project of citizens for self governance. The rallying cry of those who want to use Article V of The Constitution as a tool to amend it is that the federal government has grown to big, too unwieldy and overly intrusive in our lives. This they say is … Continue reading EP 59 CONVENTION OF THE STATES

Was the period of corporate loyalty to workers simply an aberration?  In the modern era, generous salaries and benefits packages were most commonly doled out from the mid-1940’s into the early 1980’s.  Through the prism of four corporate behemoths, Rick Wartzman, director of the KH Moon Center for a Functioning Society at the Drucker Institute, … Continue reading EP 58 THE END OF LOYALTY TO WORKERS

https://www.jimmywebb.com/ One of the joys of my broadcast career has been the opportunity to interview Jimmy Webb on more than one occasion.  He is known for his power ballads which tells stories about people and places that are unforgettable.  And for his remarkable collaboration with the late Glen Campbell, having written for him, ‘By the … Continue reading EP 57 JIMMY WEBB SONGWRITER EXTRAORDINAIRE

https://aztectwostep.com/ Rex Fowler, along with his duo mate, Neal Shulman, have spent a lifetime making music together as the folk/rock duo, Aztec Two-Step. After taking their name from a poem by beat poet, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, they have written love song and songs of conscience.  Rex Fowler reflects on the protest songs that have inspired him … Continue reading EP 56 THE FUTURE OF THE PROTEST SONG

https://www.pavlinaosta.com/ They don’t buy napkins.  They don’t play golf.  They aren’t buying cars or homes.  And they’re not even eating at Buffalo Wild Wings. So, how will this generation, which is like no other before it, continue to leave its imprint on our culture and business climate?  Pavlina Jaine Osta is a millennial pop culture … Continue reading EP 55 MILLENNIALS ARE KILLING DOZENS OF INDUSTRIES.  TIME TO PANIC IF YOU WORK IN ONE?

https://congressionaldish.com/ For generations the mainland U.S. has heaped insults and injury upon the people of Puerto Rico.  It’s a history that few understand but has stripped the island of its resources and economic prosperity, while leaving its political status in question.  Jen Briney, creator of the ‘Congressional Dish’ podcast, took at trip there recently to … Continue reading EP 54 THE FUTURE OF PUERTO RICO

THIS PODCAST COULD HELP SAVE YOUR LIFE PLEASE GIVE A LISTEN Antiobiotic resistance is one of the most pressing public health issues of our time. The golden age of penicillin and other antibiotics started in 1943 but is under tremendous assault today as new antibiotics are being approved at slower and slower rates just as … Continue reading EP 53 THE ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE CRISIS

Many states are facing their greatest budget battles since the Great Recession.  Illinois wins the prize for the biggest basket case economically, but there are a slew of other states teetering on the brink of fiscal collapse and lowered bond ratings. Some 33 states report lower revenues than initially projected which is the highest number … Continue reading EP 52 STATES AND CITIES DROWNING IN A SEA OF RED INK

Want a tax break Corporation X or Y?  Well, what have you done for the American economy lately to justify it?  That’s the thinking of Chris Macke, an investment strategist for over twenty-five years with major corporations in this country.  He’s starting Solutionomics, a non-partisan platform dedicated to persuading Congress of more innovative solutions for … Continue reading EP 51 TAX REFORM BASED ON PERFORMANCE

Ron Paul rose out of obscurity as a Texas Congressman to be embraced politically by a diverse coalition, including young and old.  He also ran for President three times, twice as a Republican and once as a Libertarian.  Now, out of elective politics, he has established an Institute for Peace and Prosperity.  That organization is … Continue reading EP 50 WHAT’S RON PAUL THINKING THESE DAYS?

  The escalating cost of a college degree has so many ripple effects.  Parents jeopardize retirement savings and  students defer many adult investments, in homes and family, in order to pay college loans back.  This phenomenon is relatively new.  Many of us can remember coming out of college with very modest paybacks required.  So what … Continue reading EP 49 TRYING TO MAKE SENSE OF THE RISING COST OF COLLEGE

So Much Nonsense Out There, So Little Time…. Alan Tonelson https://alantonelson.wordpress.com/   One key reason that Donald Trump now occupies the White House was his clarion call during the campaign for an ‘America First’ trade policy in order to rejuvenate mill and factory towns long forgotten.  Americatrendspodcast calls on Alan Tonelson, eminent trade expert, host … Continue reading EP 48 TRUMP TRADE POLICY: IS IT BRINGING BACK MANUFACTURING JOBS AS ADVERTISED?

If we all want love, why is there such much conflict in our most intimate relationships?  How do we choose who we mate with–and how do we lose them? Author David Buss began mulling these questions when he first write ‘The Evolution of Desire’ in 1994 and since that time, the study of human mating … Continue reading EP 47 WHAT IS CHANGING IN OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE BIRDS AND THE BEES?