In this episode we consider the question "Is the US a failed state?"  Looking at the key characteristics of a failed state, are they here in the US today?  Is the US a failed state with a huge military and an inflated self-image?

The program contains the song "Failed State" by last week's guest, David Rovics, from his album "Strangers and Friends".

My guest today is David Rovics.  David is a songwriter, podcaster, and part of Portland Emergency Eviction Response.  We discuss the upcoming tsunami of evictions and the response of landlords, the history of rent strikes, and the struggle to stop evictions including that of the "Red House"  in Portland, OR.

You can find out more about David at https://www.davidrovics.com.  His podcast “This Week with David Rovics” is archived at https://drovics.podbean.com/  You can find his music on Spotify, Soundcloud, YouTube and wherever fine music is available. He even has an app for Android and Apple iOS!  

In this episode, I examine identity politics as a strategy for the Left.  Is it getting the results we want, or is it a distraction from the work the Left needs to do to gain political power?

I’m very pleased to welcome Patrick Lawrence back to Wider View.  Patrick was a correspondent abroad for many years, chiefly for the International Herald Tribune, and is currently a columnist, essayist, author, and lecturer. His most recent book is Time No Longer: Americans After the American Century.  Patrick's recent essays can be found at https://consortiumnews.com/tag/patrick-lawrence/

Patrick and I have a wide-ranging conversation mostly about US foreign policy and the contrast, or lack thereof, between the outgoing Trump Administration and the incoming Biden presidency.

With clips from experts and other commentators, I discuss the current situation with the 2020 Presidential Election (3 weeks later) along with the problems progressives face over the next 4 years under a Biden administration.

Catherine Shakdam joins me this week.  Catherine is a research fellow at the Al Bayan Centre for Planning & Studies and a political analyst specializing in radical movements. She is the author of A Tale of Grand Resistance: Yemen, the Wahhabi and the House of Saud. 

We discuss the differences in Middle East policy between the Trump Administration and the incoming Biden Administration and her take on this may surprise you.

You can find Catherine Shakdam's recent essays at New Eastern Outlook.

Colin Moran, a pharmacist, activist and neighbor, joins me to talk about some issues that have been ignored or grossly misrepresented in the Presidential campaigns this year.   

This is the second part of my interview with Moscow-based geopolitical analyst Mark Sleboda.  We talk about US-Russia relations and the impact of the upcoming election.  

Following the interview, I talk a bit about the election and the future for progressives in the US.