Best The Progressive Page Turner Podcasts (2025)

1
Episode 13: Lee McIntyre - On Disinformation 30:00

Play Pause

1d ago30:00

30:00

Before the last election Lee McIntyre published his book On Disinformation: How to Fight for Truth and Protect Democracy. Now that we are dealing with Constitutional collapse his message is even more crucial.

1
Episode 12: Eileen Flanagan - Common Ground 30:00

16d ago30:00

30:00

As the environment heats up and authoritarianism is on the rise, dgivide and conquer has been a very effective technique to keep people from organizing for political or economic change. In her book Common Ground Eileen Flanagan explores how we can come together in spite of difference in race, class and religion.…

1
Episode 11: Brian Goldstone - There is no place for us 29:59

1M ago29:59

29:59

Homelessness is visible in every city in the United States but the number of people on the streets is just the tip of the iceberg according to journalist and anthropologist Brian Goldstone. In his new book, There Is No Place For Us: Working and Homeless in America , he follows families in Atlanta as they struggle to stay housed. The combination of …

1
Episode 10: Eve L. Ewing - Original Sins: The Miseducation of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism 29:59

1M ago29:59

29:59

Universal education was envisioned as a great equalizer that would fuel a meritocracy. But like so many American ideals it has been tainted by slavery and the Native genocide. Native boarding schools were founded with the goal of eradicating Native culture. Schools set up during Reconstruction taught the newly freed slaves that obedience would be r…

1
Episode 9: Jaz Brisack - Get on the Job and Organize 29:59

2M ago29:59

29:59

The unacknowledged truth about the capitalistic machine we all live in is that it relies on our compliance. When companies freely exploit workers without effective restraint from the government there is still power in grass roots organizing. In their book Get on the Job and Organize: Standing up for a Better Workplace and a Better World Jaz Brisack…

1
Episode 8: Jerry Avorn - Rethinking Medications 29:59

2M ago29:59

29:59

How safe and effective are the drugs we take? Why do Americans pay more for prescription drugs than people in other high-income countries? Jerry Avorn, a researcher at Harvard Medical School, explains why ineffective, dangerous and overpriced drugs make it through the FDA approval process in his new book Rethinking Medications.…

1
Episode 7: Alan Weisman - Hope Dies Last 29:59

3M ago29:59

29:59

In his new book Hope Dies Last Alan Weisman documents how people from all over the world are coping with our ecological predicament. The stories range from rewatering the marsh that might have been the Biblical garden of Eden to kelp farming, fusion reactors and other creative and imaginative ways to mitigate past destruction and navigate an uncert…

1
Episode 6: Russell Muirhead - Ungoverning 29:59

3M ago29:59

29:59

Before the 2024 election Russell Muirhead and his co-author Nancy RosenBlum predicted the destruction of the administrative state by Trump and his regime in their book 'Ungoverning'. In this episode we talk about how we got here and where we might be headed.

1
Episode 5: Sonali Kolhatkar - Talking About Abolition 30:01

4M ago30:01

30:01

Locking people away for long periods of time seems like a tough but effective way to deal with crime but multiple studies have shown that states with draconian sentences have the same amount of crime as states with more lenient laws. Imprisoning just one person costs tens of thousands of dollars per year and there’s other costs. When parents are ta…

1
Episode 4: Jared Yates Sexton - Midnight Kingdom 29:59

4M ago29:59

29:59

In the late 1970’s and early 80’s the New Deal era where the government regulated businesses and protected citizens from the excesses of capitalism was overturned by Neoliberalism the idea that the market, left to its own devices, would produce an optimal economic system. Neoliberalism was wildly successful at producing billionaires. Their incredi…

1
Episode 3: Todd May - Should We Go Extinct 30:00

5M ago30:00

30:00

In his book Should We Go Extinct Todd May takes an objective look at what we add to the community of life on the planet and what we destroy. This isn’t a call to end humanity as much as it’s a call to be better humans and citizens of Earth.

1
Episode 2: Jo-Ann Finkelstein - Sexism & Sensibility 30:00

5M ago30:00

30:00

Raising girls has never been easy but in the age of social media it’s even harder. According to a 2024 study by the CDC over half of teen girls feel “persistently sad or hopeless.” In this episode of The Progressive Page Turner I talk with Jo-Ann Finkelstein about her book Sexism & Sensibility. She has over twenty years experience helping girls fac…

1
Episode 1: David Noll - Vigilante Nation 29:59

6M ago29:59

29:59

The abortion ban in Texas included a bounty hunter clause that would allow vigilantes to enforce the law. This is the sort of alliance between private citizens and the state that allowed the reign of terror by the KKK to flourish. But blue states are not entirely without weapons in this war for the soul of the nation. In this episode I talk with Da…

1
Episode 26: Tom Kemp - Containing Big Tech 29:59

7M ago29:59

29:59

Billions of people all over the world use apps and websites. We have an unprecedented amount of information at our fingertips but it’s also allowed detailed dossiers to be collected on all of us. While most of the collected data is used for advertising there’s also the possibility of data being used for law enforcement and economic discrimination. …

1
Episode 25: Annalee Newitz - Stories are Weapons: Psychological Warfare and the American Mind 29:51

7M ago29:51

29:51

Social Media has become a battleground for psychological warfare. In this episode I talk with Annalee Newitz about how propaganda worked in the past and how both domestic and foreign agents are targeting voters in the US.