There have been many shocking news stories recently about aggression by uniformed, masked, and armed ICE agents, but none excited as much public outrage as the shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis. That tragedy was sadly predictable. When armed paramilitary agents confront protesters complaining about injustices, there is potential for bloodshed.

One of the most notable examples of that combustible situation occurred 56 years ago when a governor sent armed national guardsmen to deal with protests on a university campus. Soldiers fired into a crowd, killing four students and injuring others. The history of that event contains lessons for our times.

Why has socialism, which failed to attract many voters throughout American history, gained popularity in recent years? How did a Democratic Socialist, Zohran Mamdani, manage to win a mayoral election in New York City, the hub of American capitalism?

This podcast identifies the sources of Mamdani’s popularity and examines the historical record of socialism in the USA. It also highlights the ideas of Louis Brandeis, an influential justice of the Supreme Court who defended local political experimentation. Brandeis gave those trial-and-error approaches a name: “Laboratories of Democracy.”

One of the current best-selling books is about excessive risk-taking that preceded the meltdown on Wall Street in 1929 and the Great Depression that followed in the 1930s. The author warns that similar practices are putting economies at risk today. He notes that financiers are encouraging the public to invest in private equity, crypto, and other chancy products. They are hawking dangerous investments that resemble the kind that crashed in 1929.

Could a financial catastrophe be on the horizon, one that turns the recent market boom into a bust? Obviously, there are no easy answers. Yet an examination of history illuminates how irrational exuberance and financial deregulation sometimes triggers an economic crisis.