Ben Burgis Who Debated Charlie Kirk on “Democratic Socialism vs. Conservative Populism”
We begin with the inflammatory narrative Trump, Miller and Vance are continuing to push that Charlie Kirk’s assassin was acting on behalf of the Democratic Party and the radical left financed by George Soros when a much more personal motive appears to be emerging. According to Utah’s Republican governor, the 22 year-old shooter comes from a devout conservative family and was living with a partner who was transitioning from a male to a female. This raises the possibility that Kirk’s cruel and hostile scapegoating of trans people, which he was engaged in when he was shot, is more likely a motive. Joining us is Ben Burgis, the host of the Give Them an Argument podcast and YouTube channel, a professor at Rutgers University and a columnist for Jacobin. His books include Give Them an Argument: Logic for the Left, Canceling Comedians While the World Burns: A Critique Of The Contemporary Left, and Christopher Hitchens: What He Got Right, How He Went Wrong, and Why He Still Matters. He debated Charlie Kirk on “Democratic Socialism vs. Conservative Populism” and we will discuss his article with Meagan Day at Jacobin, “Charlie Kirk’s Murder Is a Tragedy and a Disaster”
Echoes of the 60’s and 70’s From Protest Songs Against Trump and MAGA Fascism
Then we will examine the latest protest songs against Trump and MAGA fascism as a “No Kings” opposition movement is being mobilized across the country and speak with William Talen, who is better as “Reverend Billy“ the pastor of the Church of Stop Shopping, a group of activists based in New York City, who protest consumerism, and mono-culture through musical performance, including singing-while-trespassing. The Stop Shopping Choir, which is directed by Savitri D, has staged performances in Walmarts, Disney Stores, Monsanto labs, the roof of Carnegie Hall, and at jails, pipe-lines and JPMorgan Chase lobbies across five continents. He conducts a weekly service Sundays at the Earth Church housed in a converted bank in the east village of New York and is currently on tour with Neil Young, and will be performing tonight at the Hollywood Bowl.
An Assessment of the Military Standoff Between Russia and Ukraine
Then finally we get an assessment of the military standoff between Russia and Ukraine now that Putin’s probing of Poland and Romania along with a sabotage campaign inside NATO countries are emboldening the alliance while Trump pulls back US military and intelligence support from Ukraine as yet another favor to Putin who he pretends to unhappy with. Joining us is Stephen Biddle, a professor of international and public affairs at Columbia University, Director of the International Security Policy Concentration and a senior fellow for defense policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. His books include Military Power: Explaining Victory and Defeat in Modern Battle and Nonstate Warfare: The Military Methods of Guerillas, Warlords, and Militias.