radiofree.asia

Category: Ralph Nader

  • A Fresh Plea for the Very Rich to Make a Truly Wise Investment for a More Just Society



    The super successful mega-investor, Warren Buffett, CEO of the giant conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, was heard to say: There are only 535 members of Congress, why can’t 300 million Americans control them? That’s a pretty fundamental question since our senators and representatives are given their sovereign power by the people. Remember the preamble to our Constitution?

    Buffett is a generous philanthropist. Among his contributions, he has given the Gates Foundation (public health projects) about $3 billion each year for over a decade. That’s over $30 billion dollars! Just one $3 billion contribution, devoted to establishing systemic-focused Congress Watchdog locals in every congressional district, would fund such groups for more than thirty years. Their objective would be to organize up to one-half of one percent of adults to volunteer in each congressional district to make sure our elected officials do the general public’s bidding under honest election procedures. The American people and their children have far more commonly desired necessities and wants than the hyped divide-and-rule tactics imposed by the present ruling powers imply. (See, Unstoppable: The Emerging Left-Right Alliance to Dismantle the Corporate State by Ralph Nader, April 2014).

    I can hear some readers saying, “Well, if Mr. Buffett is such a public-spirited person, why don’t you ask him to do this? You’ve been writing about these groups for many years.” (See my recent columns: Think Big to Overcome Losing Big to Corporatism, January 7, 2022; Facilitating Civic and Political Energies for the Common Good, February 2, 2022; Going for Tax Reform Big Time, March 11, 2022; and Going for Big Watch on Big Budgets, March 31, 2022).

    Answer: I did once, broadly, in a written letter. No connection was made. In 2011, I wrote a fictional book, “Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!” about a Warren Buffett recoiling from the immediate neglectful aftermath of the 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans. In the book, he launched, with 16 other enlightened individuals, a just, step-by-step democratic overhauling of American politics top-down and then bottom-up.

    This realistic work of fiction caught his attention. He invited me to showcase the book at his massive annual shareholder’s meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. I went.

    At an earlier breakfast, I mused about the story becoming a Hollywood movie. He amusingly asked who would play his character. I mentioned actors like Warren Beatty or Alan Alda.

    In any event, nothing came of these interactions. My guess is that having to closely supervise over 70 managers of the sizable corporate subsidiaries of Berkshire requires an intensity of focus and time that is incompatible with the additional project of changing Congress to get good things done – popular as that would be in today’s America.

    Some knowing readers might ask why Buffett doesn’t ask his network of some 236 multi-billionaires, who have signed on to his Giving Pledge, to donate half of their wealth to “good works.”

    Answer: A condition for the Giving Pledge is that these philanthropists would not urge or ask each other to support their favored causes.

    The obvious rejoinder to that impediment might be, “Surely this reflective man, who gets his calls returned, can create the necessary institutional network and public investments to make these long-overdue changes” – again top-down then bottom-up. Probably, yes. But the problem is, neither he nor his collaborators want to be the recipients of daily vitriol and smears so easily conveyed to the world through the Internet. They want to be left to concentrate on their own business or other pursuits in retirement.

    So, what it comes down to is the perceived sense of great urgency, coupled with a belief that a group, such as described, is unique to being able to make a significant, lasting difference for the present and for posterity. That is what a civic sense of legacy, demonstrated already by the Pledgors, is – but multiplied many times over by institutional and structural reforms, backed by a critical mass of an alert citizenry, and nurtured by regular civic education for all ages.

    If any readers are in a position to have a few of these otherwise predisposed mega-donors come to a discussion about this opportunity, the generic questions to pose to them are: What if? How to? And why not? Taken together, my four books “Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us”! Unstoppable: The Emerging Left-Right Alliance to Dismantle the Corporate State, Breaking Through Power: It’s Easier Than We Think, and the Fable The Day the Rats Vetoed Congress provide detailed pathways to deep-rooted transformations of our country backed by about four-fifths of the American people.

    There are, predictably, many readers who will scoff and stereotype all very rich people with a totally dismissive brush. There are, however, enough examples in American history that expose this wave-of-the-hand as an excessive generalization. Some are not like the rest. Even some of the rest should be given the opportunity to make amends.

    Responses are invited: info@csrl.org

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams.

  • Will Congressional Progressive Caucus Ever Draw a Red Line?



    What follows is an encore for a column I wrote in 2018 for the new progressive Democrats elected to the House of Representatives. The Democratic Party won control of the House in 2018, and again barely in 2020. There was no response nor adoption of any of these power-enhancing suggestions from any of the novice legislators in those two election cycles.

    I am now sending to the entering class of 2022 these helpful tools to strengthen both their efforts and those of the citizen groups in the halls of Congress.

    The rapidity with which the Democratic Party’s political cocoon wraps itself around newly elected legislators, who arrive in Washington determined to change the culture and output of our premier branch of government, is beyond astonishing. Unlike the red-line-drawing so-called “Freedom-Caucus” among the House Republicans, who topple their leadership, or at least are power factors, the Democrats toe the line and surrender to their dictatorial leadership.

    Until the quieted progressives form their own voting bloc, the national citizen groups will remain as powerless as the dominant corporate Democrats in Congress want them to be.

    We shall soon know who, if any, of the progressives in the class of 2022 are serious about their pre-swearing-in determinations and strive to measure up to the yardsticks for empowerment.

    Are the New Congressional Progressives Real? Use These Yardsticks to Find Out

    In November, about 25 progressive Democrats were newly elected to the House of Representatives. How do the citizen groups know whether they are for real or for rhetoric? I suggest this civic yardstick to measure the determination and effectiveness of these members of the House both inside the sprawling, secretive, repressive Congress and back home in their Districts. True progressives must:

    1. Vigorously confront all the devious ways that Congressional bosses have developed to obstruct the orderly, open, accessible avenues for duly elected progressive candidates to be heard and to participate in Congressional deliberations from the subcommittees to the committees to the floor of the House. Otherwise, the constricting Congressional cocoon will quickly envelop and smother their collective energies and force them to get along by going along.

    2. Organize themselves into an effective Caucus (unlike the anemic Progressive Caucus). They will need to constantly be in touch with each other and work to democratize Congress and substantially increase the quality and quantity of its legislative/oversight output.

    3. Connect with the national citizen organizations that have backers all around the country and knowledgeable staff who can help shape policy and mobilize citizen support. This is crucial to backstop the major initiatives these newbies say they want to advance. Incumbent progressives operate largely on their own and too rarely sponsor civic meetings on Capitol Hill to solicit ideas from civic groups. Incumbent progressives in both the House and the Senate do not like to be pressed beyond their comfort zone to issue public statements, to introduce tough new bills, or even to conduct or demand public hearings.

    4. Develop an empowerment agenda that shifts power from the few to the many – from the plutocrats and corporatists to consumers, workers, patients, small taxpayers, voters, community groups, the wrongfully injured, shareholders, consumer cooperatives, and trade unions. Shift-of-power facilities and rights/remedies cost very little to enact because their implementation is in the direct hands of those empowered – to organize, to advocate, to litigate, to negotiate, and to become self-reliant for food, shelter and services (Citizen Utility Boards provide an example of what can come from empowering citizens).

    5. Encourage citizens back home to have their own town meetings, some of which the new lawmakers would attend. Imagine the benefits of using town meetings to jump-start an empowerment agenda and to promote long overdue advances such as a living wage, universal health care, corporate crime enforcement, accountable government writ large, renewable energy, and real tax reform.

    6. Regularly publicize the horrendously cruel and wasteful Republican votes. This seems obvious but, amazingly, it isn’t something Democratic leaders are inclined to do. Last June, I urged senior Democrats in the House to publicize a list of the most anti-people, pro-Wall Street, and pro-war legislation that the Republicans, often without any hearings, rammed through the House. The senior Democrats never did this, even though the cruel GOP votes (against children, women, health, safety, access to justice, etc.) would be opposed by more than 3 out of 4 voters.

    7. Disclose attempts by pro-corporate, anti-democratic, or anti-human rights and other corrosive lobbies that try to use campaign money or political pressure to advance the interests of the few to the detriment of the many. Doing this publicly will deter lobbies from even trying to twist their arms.

    8. Refuse PAC donations and keep building a base of small donations as Bernie Sanders did in 2016. This will relieve new members of receiving undue demands for reciprocity and unseemly attendance at corrupt PAC parties in Washington, DC.

    9. Seek, whenever possible, to build left/right coalitions on specific major issues in Congress and back home that can become politically unstoppable.

    10. Demand wider access to members of Congress by the citizenry. Too few citizen leaders are being allowed to testify at fewer Congressional hearings. Holding hearings is a key way to inform and galvanize public opinion. Citizen group participation in hearings has led to saving millions of lives and preventing countless injuries over the decades. Authentic Congressional hearings lead to media coverage and help to mobilize the citizenry.

    Adopting these suggestions will liberate new members to challenge the taboos entrenched in Congress regarding the corporate crime wave, military budgets, foreign policy, massive corporate welfare giveaways and crony capitalism.

    The sovereign power of the people has been excessively delegated to 535 members of Congress. The citizens need to inform and mobilize themselves and hold on to the reins of such sovereign power for a better society. Demanding that Congress uphold its constitutional obligations and not surrender its power to the war-prone, lawless Presidency will resonate with the people.

    Measuring up to these civic yardsticks is important for the new members of the House of Representatives and for our democracy. See how they score in the coming months. Urge them to forward these markers of a democratic legislature to the rest of the members of Congress, most of whom are in a rut of comfortable incumbency.

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams.

  • Helping These Groups Helps You and Reflects Your Generosity of Spirit



    It is that time of the year when generous people make donations to civic organizations that are the bedrock of our democratic society. Some are worthy charities. Others are advocates for change through advancing justice.

    Below are many nonprofit groups working for causes furthering environmental and consumer health and safety, economic well-being, and peace.

    Here are my recommendations for giving to these competent, honest, and results-oriented organizations. Visit their informative websites.

    Alternative Radio: https://www.alternativeradio.org/

    Appalachia-Science in the Public Interest: https://www.appalachia-spi.org/

    Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest: https://aclpi.org/

    Beyond Nuclear: https://beyondnuclear.org/

    Beyond Pesticides: https://www.beyondpesticides.org/

    Center for Health, Environment & Justice: https://chej.org/

    Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment: https://crpe-ej.org/

    Children’s Advocacy Institute: https://www.sandiego.edu/cai/

    Clean Air Campaign, Inc. [Send donations to: 307 7th Avenue, Room 1705 New York, NY 10001.]

    Doctors Without Borders USA: https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/

    Earth Island Institute: https://www.earthisland.org/

    FlyersRights.org: https://flyersrights.org/

    Family Farm Defenders: https://familyfarmers.org/

    Honor the Earth: https://honorearth.org/

    Indian Law Resource Center: https://indianlaw.org/

    Solitary Watch: https://solitarywatch.org/

    Nuclear Information and Resource Service: https://www.nirs.org/

    Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance: https://www.orepa.org/

    Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility: https://peer.org/

    Veterans for Peace: https://www.veteransforpeace.org/

    Western Organization of Resource Councils Education Project: https://www.worc.org/ep/

    Whirlwind Wheelchair: https://whirlwindwheelchair.org/

    Contributions to these 501(c)(3) organizations are tax deductible.

    I have followed and donated to all these groups for several years. Reading their reports and letters is an educational tour de force. They demonstrate how a few dedicated people with small budgets and large goals can overcome immense odds and obstacles to get our society to do the right things for the people. They invite your participation along with your donations to further their quest for justice in their fields of activity.

    Their combined budgets are less than what our military spends in about 3 hours of a 24-hour day. Their budgets are also about how much Peter Kern, CEO of Expedia, receives in a year from a rubber-stamp board of directors.

    These comparisons invite extrapolations about how our tax money and consumer dollars are spent now and could be spent better in cooperative or collaborative endeavors.

    One brief example: For a modest portion of what people are overpaying for their health insurance to a few giant, gouging, wasteful, claims-denying insurance companies, communities can build their own cooperatively owned primary care hospitals or clinics focused on preventative practices and attentive care. There are fewer available hospital beds in the US than we had in the nineteen seventies. The prospect of more pandemics breaking family and public budgets, invites us to band together to build community health care institutions, which makes great sense.

    The same is true for building other community institutions to address local economic necessities in energy, food, communications, housing, education and recreational facilities.

    The energy of democratic cooperation is exemplified by the above recommended organizations of citizen doers and innovators. Pitch in, deepen and benefit from these reservoirs of skilled good will. They bring you restorative tidings.

    (To progressive readers doing some last-minute holiday shopping, be sure to check out the CounterPunch online bookstore. There are plenty of engrossing titles for you to peruse. And it is a way to avoid Amazon.)

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams.

  • The Spoils of War

    Ralph welcomes back crack investigative journalist, Andrew Cockburn, who in his latest book “The Spoils of War” outlines how the U.S. military budget has never been about “defense” but about profit. The military-industrial- congressional-media complex profits. We pay. Plus, Ralph answers a listener question.


    This content originally appeared on Ralph Nader Radio Hour and was authored by Ralph Nader Radio Hour.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Nuclear Weapons in Ukraine?

    Ralph welcomes nuclear weapons expert, MIT professor Theodore Postol, to give us his insights into the possibility and the ultimate consequences of Vladimir Putin employing “tactical” nuclear weapons in the Russian conflict with Ukraine. And our resident constitutional scholar, Bruce Fein, weighs in on the hearing for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. Plus, Ralph answers your questions about the latest Boeing crash and money in politics.


    This content originally appeared on Ralph Nader Radio Hour and was authored by Ralph Nader Radio Hour.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • All About Voting

    Ralph invites his old friend, “The Black Eagle” activist and radio host Joe Madison, to discuss the hunger strike he endured to advocate for the recent voting rights bill and what the Democrats need to do to finally get the job done. Then, Richard Winger, publisher of “Ballot Access News” updates us on the fight to break the stranglehold the two major parties have on our elections by restricting access to a candidate’s ability to get on a ballot. Plus, Ralph answers a listener question.


    This content originally appeared on Ralph Nader Radio Hour and was authored by Ralph Nader Radio Hour.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Still Unsafe At Any Altitude

    Boeing whistleblower, Ed Pierson, joins us to talk about the report he wrote entitled “Boeing 737 MAX – How Is It Really Going?” that paints a troubling picture of current problems with the notorious plane that includes reports of 43 malfunctions and onboard failures and six flights where U.S. pilots declared emergencies. Plus, constitutional scholar, Bruce Fein, stops by to talk about how the NATO Treaty should not override the US Constitution, the misuse of the “state secrets” law, and an ongoing U.S. war crime from the Vietnam era.

     


    This content originally appeared on Ralph Nader Radio Hour and was authored by Ralph Nader Radio Hour.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Woke Racism/Ethnic Atlas

    Ralph welcomes professor John McWhorter, linguist and author of “Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America” and also Father Al Fritch to talk about his long project mapping and celebrating the various ethnic groups that make up the United States.


    This content originally appeared on Ralph Nader Radio Hour and was authored by Ralph Nader Radio Hour.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • How To Take Back Your Power!

    Ralph welcomes consumer advocates, Laura Antonini and Harvey Rosenfield, whose latest report is entitled “Reboot Required” about how in the past fifty years the civil justice system in America has fundamentally been weighted toward corporations and how ordinary people can start taking back that power. Plus, Ralph answers a listener question on the Ukraine crisis, and we pay tribute to two progressive champions, Paul Farmer and Joe Tom Easley.


    This content originally appeared on Ralph Nader Radio Hour and was authored by Ralph Nader Radio Hour.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Twenty Dollars and Change

    Ralph welcomes retired Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson to discuss the ongoing dispute over Ukraine. Plus, Professor Clarence Lusane joins the program to enlighten us about the legacy of Harriett Tubman and the campaign to replace Andrew Jackson with her image on our most common paper currency, the twenty-dollar bill.


    This content originally appeared on Ralph Nader Radio Hour and was authored by Ralph Nader Radio Hour.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Ukraine Crisis/Nuclear Boondoggle

    Ralph welcomes the editorial director and publisher of the Nation magazine, Katrina vanden Heuvel, to offer her expert insight into ways the U.S. can peacefully resolve our conflict with Russia over Ukraine. Plus, former Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner, Peter Bradford, updates us on the latest rise from the dead of that dangerous zombie technology known as nuclear power.

     


    This content originally appeared on Ralph Nader Radio Hour and was authored by Ralph Nader Radio Hour.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Suggestion for Reporters: February 11, 2022

    -Why not a report on Biden and Trump’s coronavirus relief proposals that have passed Congress? What has actually been spent? Over $4 trillion has been appropriated. Where is the unspent money and why hasn’t it been spent? One NY Times report said that only 34% of the Paycheck Protection Program actually went to the workers…


    This content originally appeared on Reporters' Alert: Fresh Ideas for Journalists and was authored by anthony.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Don’t Toss It! Fix It!

    Ralph and the boys have a fascinating and wide-ranging conversation with Peter Mui, founder of the Fixit Clinic, a worldwide organization that holds “pop up” events where experts teach you how to repair your consumer goods, which not only keeps them out of the landfill but is also a community-based activity that conveys critical thinking skills.


    This content originally appeared on Ralph Nader Radio Hour and was authored by Ralph Nader Radio Hour.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Corporatism Is The Problem

    Ralph welcomes Donald Cohen, the founder and executive director of “In the Public Interest” and co-author of the book “The Privatization of Everything” to discuss the many different ways corporatism has corrupted so many of our public goods. Also, constitutional scholar, Bruce Fein, joins us to give us his take on the constitutional ramifications of U.S. involvement in the conflict between Russian and Ukraine. Plus, we wish a happy hundredth birthday to legendary journalist, Morton Mintz and say a heartfelt goodbye to the innovative law professor, who created programs to provide legal representation to low-income Americans and devised the concept of Time Banking, Edgar Cahn.


    This content originally appeared on Ralph Nader Radio Hour and was authored by Ralph Nader Radio Hour.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Apple’s Hollow $3T Valuation

    Ralph welcomes econ professor William Lazonick, to let us know how Apple reached its record 3 trillion-dollar valuation and how what they and other large corporations are doing to enrich themselves is killing the middle class. Plus, Ralph answers more of your questions.

     


    This content originally appeared on Ralph Nader Radio Hour and was authored by Ralph Nader Radio Hour.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • The Corporate Assault on Medicare

    In our ongoing campaign against the corporate assault on America’s healthcare system, Ralph welcomes Kip Sullivan of “Healthcare for All Minnesota” to talk about what he terms “the creeping privatization of Medicare,” and tells us the story of how that ongoing corporatization is based on one particularly destructive yet durable myth.  


    This content originally appeared on Ralph Nader Radio Hour and was authored by Ralph Nader Radio Hour.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Suggestion for Reporters: January 14, 2022

    With all the attention on Senator Joe Manchin’s veto of President Biden’s infrastructure and social safety net proposals, reporters should dig deep into the total unanimity of 50 Republican Senators, especially among the five GOP Senators not running for re-election. Why no dissenters? What are the pressures? Who is wavering? And what are the Democrats…


    This content originally appeared on Reporters' Alert: Fresh Ideas for Journalists and was authored by anthony.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Suggestion for Reporters: January 13, 2022

    -Much reporting is needed on the contracting out of government functions on a massive scale of federal, state and local governments. The federal government provides summaries of these contracts but, despite bipartisan support in Congress, still does not provide the full text of this trillion dollar outsourcing. That effort has stalled in Congress due to…


    This content originally appeared on Reporters' Alert: Fresh Ideas for Journalists and was authored by anthony.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Beating the Healthcare System

    Ralph welcomes investigative journalist, Marshall Allen, author of “Never Pay the First Bill: And Other Ways to Fight the Health Care System and Win,” your “guerrilla” guidebook full of practical ways to keep your costs lower and your satisfaction higher. Plus, Ralph updates the Congress Club.


    This content originally appeared on Ralph Nader Radio Hour and was authored by Ralph Nader Radio Hour.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Play Democracy!

    David and Steve spend the hour reviewing the past year with Ralph and discussing what needs to be done for a better 2022. Topics include a potential military threat to democracy, Joe Manchin, plutocracy, Boeing, and Big Pharma. Plus, Ralph answers more of your questions not covered in our live Zoom from two weeks ago.


    This content originally appeared on Ralph Nader Radio Hour and was authored by Ralph Nader Radio Hour.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Inspiring Activists!

    Ralph welcomes two “doers” to the program, first Devin De Wulf, to tell us about how he and his group of community activists are protecting the food supply in his hometown of New Orleans by outfitting restaurants with solar panels that withstand power outages in a hurricane. Then Nathan Proctor of US PIRG tells us about his organization’s latest victory that gives consumers the Right to Repair their electronics, saving on money, toxic waste, and greenhouse gas emissions.


    This content originally appeared on Ralph Nader Radio Hour and was authored by Ralph Nader Radio Hour.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Power to the People!

    In a special webinar version of the program, Ralph discusses with our guest, Richard Panchyk, author of “Power to the People!: A Young People’s Guide to Fighting for Our Rights as Citizens and Consumers” how one person can make a difference and how only percent of any given group can make important change. And they answer questions from our virtual audience!


    This content originally appeared on Ralph Nader Radio Hour and was authored by Ralph Nader Radio Hour.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • For Year End Charitable Giving—Some Worthy Organizations

    There are many active, serving citizen groups that further the cause of, by and for the people. Perhaps you may be interested in the following list of groups which we have donated to recently. They are all 501(c)(3) organizations and therefore tax deductible. If you can, give them a lifting hand. Best wishes for the…


    This content originally appeared on Ralph Nader and was authored by eweisbaum.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Boeing: Murder Incorporated

    Ralph welcomes investigative journalist for Bloomberg, Peter Robison, to do a deep dive into his new book, “Flying Blind: The 737 MAX Tragedy And The Fall Of Boeing” and poses the question, “Did Boeing get away with murder?” Plus, Ralph answers more listener questions.


    This content originally appeared on Ralph Nader Radio Hour and was authored by Ralph Nader Radio Hour.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Ralph Nader on Journalism and the Public Interest

     

     

    Harvard Institute of Politics: What do you see as the chances that we will have a second civil war in your lifetime?

    Harvard Institute of Politics (12/1/21)

    This week on CounterSpin: Research from Harvard’s Institute of Politics finds young people worried about the state of US democracy and even the possibility of civil war. Yet US corporate journalists seem to feel nothing truly new is needed beyond the same old counsel: The “system” basically works, the US leads the world in rights and liberties, and “centrism” between the two dominant political parties is the wisest course, regardless of the content of their policies.

    The Harvard project leader says young people still “seem as determined as ever to fight for the change they seek.” And in that, they have examples of folks who didn’t necessarily have odds in their favor, but who showed that even a small group of people, willing to confront entrenched ideas and power, really can make change in the public interest. One example is today’s guest: Ralph Nader is a consumer advocate, lawyer, author and radio host. We catch up with him this week on CounterSpin.

          CounterSpin211210Nader.mp3

    Plus Janine Jackson takes a quick look at media coverage of Kyrsten Sinema and pharmacies’ opioid guilt.

          CounterSpin211210Banter.mp3

    The post Ralph Nader on Journalism and the Public Interest appeared first on FAIR.

    This post was originally published on CounterSpin.

  • Did The Sacklers Get Away With It?

    Author and addiction advocate, Ryan Hampton, joins us to talk about his experience trying to hold Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family accountable for the horrific opioid plague they helped set in motion as outlined in his book, “Unsettled, How the Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Failed the Victims of the American Overdose Crisis.” Plus, Ralph answers a listener question about Medicare (Dis)Advantage.


    This content originally appeared on Ralph Nader Radio Hour and was authored by Ralph Nader Radio Hour.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Overcoming Corporate Rule: A Success Story

    This week Maui resident, Paul Deslauriers, joins us to update us on how he and his merry band of activists were able to transform their local county government from “corporate rule” to “rule by the people” and how this template for change can be used nationwide. Plus, we parody the corporate sponsorship of baseball games.


    This content originally appeared on Ralph Nader Radio Hour and was authored by Ralph Nader Radio Hour.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Noam Chomsky

    Ralph spends the whole hour with the incomparable Noam Chomsky to discuss a whole raft of issues, including the climate crisis, the military budget, healthcare, challenging the corporate structure, reforming both the tax system and our elections, how the Democrats have abandoned the working class, and whether the U.S. will be able to fend off fascism.


    This content originally appeared on Ralph Nader Radio Hour and was authored by Ralph Nader Radio Hour.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Tom Morello: Still Raging

    Tom Morello, activist, and lead guitarist of “Rage Against the Machine,” joins us to discuss the uses of music in protest, his latest album “The Atlas Underground Fire,” and his new gig writing op-eds for The New York Times. Also, child advocate, Robert Fellmeth, stops by to shed light on a situation right out of a Charles Dickens novel: the state stealing social security checks from foster children. Plus, Ralph answers your questions.


    This content originally appeared on Ralph Nader Radio Hour and was authored by Ralph Nader Radio Hour.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Corporate Crime Pays!

    Ralph welcomes Miranda Massie, director of the Climate Museum, an institution focused on the intersection of art, climate science, justice, and activism — that aims to make people feel that collective action is both possible and necessary, and the only hope we have of saving the planet. Plus! Ralph answers listener questions.


    This content originally appeared on Ralph Nader Radio Hour and was authored by Ralph Nader Radio Hour.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.