America Trends

Well, let me count the reasons: the sun, the beaches, the spirit of the people, the gentle breezes, the cost and the environment.  In many ways, it seems a place set apart from many of its neighbors and clearly from those of us in North America.  Maybe it’s, in part, because of the great messaging … Continue reading EP 356 Why Do More Americans Find Costa Rica a Good Place to Move to?

You didn’t know we still had one?  Without court injunctions delaying it, the Trump Department of Justice has been interested in reviving the practice using lethal injection.  In fact, President Trump has talked about extending its use to drug dealers in certain cases.  With about 70 people on death row in America for federal crimes, … Continue reading EP 355 The Death Penalty in America

David Ignatius borrows from the real world of international affairs to inform his wonderful spy novels and his fictional imaginings have even been used to train those in the espionage field. We are honored to close out our week of podcasts on international relations with him as we circle the globe exploring America’s changing role … Continue reading Special Edition #8 A Spin Around the Globe with One of America’s Best Foreign Affairs Observers

This is the second episode devoted to the dominant position America has played across the globe for nearly a century.  The truth of the matter it it is coming to an end.  Issues at home and abroad, as well as recent health and financial shocks, have made America attend to other matters and question whether … Continue reading EP 354 The Twilight of America’s Way of Empire

Empires of the past were pretty clear in their intent. They actually controlled the politics and the economy of the nations they colonized and put down their flag so there be no misunderstanding about their interests. In the modern era, following the Spanish Empire, the best example of that, of course, was the British Empire. … Continue reading EP 353 America’s Soft Empire and Its Impact on the Developing World

Let’s be honest, it seems to be getting harder and harder to get around in this country.  So much so that the skies above major metropolises like Los Angeles are filled with commuters in helicopters, like the one that went down recently killing Kobe Bryant, his daughter, Gigi, and eight other persons.  The situation is … Continue reading EP 352 Traffic Gridlock Choking America

Tens of millions of us believe that politics is exacting a toll on our social, psychological, emotional and, even, physical health. A study done in late 2019 shows, for example, that over thirty eight percent of the 800 people surveyed nationally said that politics is the root of their stress and that they have become … Continue reading EP 351 Today’s Politics May Be Bad for Your Health

The answer to the question is ‘yes’ as long as you understand the limitations of the doctrine of free speech and how its elasticity applies in the case of issues like campus speech, hate speech and fake news. Our guest, Stanley Fish, one of the great public thinkers on the American stage today was dis … Continue reading EP 350 Can the First Amendment Withstand Many Pressures in Today’s America?

Who better than a forty year veteran of the oil business to guide us through a discussion that ends with a new reliance and confidence that renewable energy sources are viable and poised to fuel our country? That’s what we develop in detail and nuance in a wide-ranging discussion with Jack Kerfoot, author of ‘Fueling … Continue reading EP 349 America’s Emerging Energy Future

While this podcast focuses on the likelihood of the continuing trend of viruses circling the globe, it was recorded just as the impacts of the novel coronavirus were coming into view in the United States. Just in the recent past, we have seen the swine flu, Zika, SARS, Ebola and, most recently, coronavirus. With each … Continue reading EP 348 A Superhighway of Viruses?

If you’re a person of a certain age, it’s likely that the house you grew up in was much smaller than the one you have today. And the car your family drove then–generally one per household–was a third the size of the one you drive today. How do social mores and expectations change over time? … Continue reading EP 347 The Impact of Peer Pressure on American Society

Risk-takers, dreamers and idea people in America are hedging their bets on that new business they have been imagining for years and it’s of concern to Congress. Recently, the House and Senate set up entrepreneur caucuses to raise the profile of the issue. Inc. Magazine identified six areas where we may see legislative action for … Continue reading EP 346 Why is Entrepreneurship In America Declining?

The Associated Press headline screamed ‘birth decline gives U.S. slowest population growth rate since 1918’. Wow, that was a long time back. So why is this happening now and what are the implications? Thanks to Dowell Myers, a professor of demography and urban planning at USC, we unpack the many issues surrounding the low birth … Continue reading EP 345 Older Americans Dominate America as Birth Rates Plummet

With the passage of the First Step Act in Congress, then signed into law by President Trump, we see common ground for politicians across the political spectrum to fix a broken criminal justice system. Whether it’s the over criminalization of low level offenses or the tendency to lock more African-Americans up than other populations, states … Continue reading EP 344 Criminal Justice Reform Bridges the Partisan Divide Throughout the Country

Recently we were reminded of the power of the drone as a weapon of pinpoint accuracy when Iranian General Qassem Suleimani was taken off of the battlefield by a precision strike at the Baghdad Airport. Drones are being used by the military in a host of different ways and, surprisingly, have been for many years. … Continue reading EP 343 Drone Technology and Its Impact at Home and on the Battlefield

There are some who will tell you that we’re making great strides in fighting cancer with more of the same approaches we’ve been trying for the last four decades. Dr. Azra Raza is not one of those experts. An oncologist and the Chan Soon-Shiong Professor of Medicine and Director of the MDS Center at Columbia … Continue reading EP 342 How To Lose the War on Cancer: Keep Doing What We’re Doing

It is really hard for most of us to understand what the Federal Reserve actually does and means to the our pocketbooks. After all it was the former Fed Chairman, Alan Greenspan, who famously quipped ‘never explain, never excuse’. The invisible hand of the Fed became more apparent during the financial meltdown in 2008 as … Continue reading EP 341 The Federal Reserve’s Impact on You and Its Extraordinary Response to the Pandemic

Politics in America has become a zero sum game. My team wins. Your team loses. And this polarization results in a downgrading of our democracy from a ‘full democracy’ to a ‘flawed democracy’ in the eyes of international experts and, more importantly, it results in nothing getting done, which brings on even more frustration. So … Continue reading EP 340 Breaking the Two Party Stranglehold on Our Politics

Economist Alan Tonelson writes the independent blog Reality Chek and is author of the book, ‘Race to the Bottom’. He wrote that book many administrations back when he saw the practice of outsourcing growing and manufacturing losses pile up. He was critical of a trade policy that was built more on foreign policy objectives, rather … Continue reading EP 339 Are Trump’s Trade Policies Working?

Okay, so you watch a lot of cable news, chime in with your political take on Twitter or Facebook, text witty banter back and forth with friends during an impeachment hearing and give an occasional donation to a political candidate, there’s a name for that. It’s called being a political hobbyist. Don’t worry, I admit … Continue reading EP 338 Are You Among the Growing Legion of Political Hobbyists?