Blog Topic: Democracy in Crisis

In the Loop: Podcast: Did Trump Violate the Constitution?

By Blake Aued | June 16, 2017 3:59pm

In this week's episode, host Marc Steiner interviews Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, who, along with his counterpart in Washington, D.C., filed a lawsuit alleging that President Trump violated the U.S. Constitution's Emoluments Clause, which prohibits U.S. leaders from accepting gifts or benefits from foreign leaders.

Democracy in Crisis is a weekly podcast hosted by Baynard Woods and Marc Steiner, and produced and engineered by Imani Spence for The Center for Emerging Media. Theme music is by Ruby Fulton and the Rhymes with Orchestra.

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In the Loop: Sessions' Sexist Stonewalling at the Senate Hearing

By Baynard Woods | June 14, 2017 11:39am

Photo Credit: Baynard Woods

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is sworn in before testifying at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing Tuesday.

If you didn’t know, via obscure Latin etymology, that the word “testify” is related to the word “testicles,” you sure could have guessed it from watching Senate testimony pretty much any time ever, but certainly this year. (For what it’s worth in Rome, you swore on your balls to tell the truth.)

Back when now-Attorney General Jeff Sessions was in the middle of the confirmation hearings in which he seemingly perjured himself about contacts with Russian officials, Sen. Elizabeth Warren tried to read a letter Coretta Scott King wrote to the Judiciary Committee about Sessions into the congressional record. King wrote the letter in 1986, when Sessions was up for a federal judgeship. Though Sessions didn't get the post because of his racist views, the letter never made it into the record, and Warren was trying to correct that.

Majority Leader MItch McConnell pulled out an obscure rule to censure Warren for impugning the character of a fellow senator. McConnell uttered the now famous phrases: “She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.”

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In the Loop: Podcast: Exorcising the White House and the State of the Counterculture

By Baynard Woods | June 8, 2017 10:14am

On this week’s episode, co-hosts Baynard Woods and Marc Steiner, joined by producer Imani Spence, talk about the Fugs, exorcising the White House and the state of the counterculture.

Democracy in Crisis is a weekly podcast hosted by Baynard Woods and Marc Steiner, produced and engineered by Imani Spence for The Center for Emerging Media. Theme music by Ruby Fulton and the Rhymes with Orchestra.

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In the Loop: Marching for Truth Before Comey Testifies

By Mary Finn | June 6, 2017 12:45pm

Photo Credit: Mary Finn

Gretchen Spieler, 53, a protestor at San Francisco's March for Truth on June 3.

Ten members of St. Gabriel’s Celestial Brass Band gathered at the trolley turnaround at the corner of Market and Powell St in San Francisco last Saturday. The New Orleans second-line brass band usually just “marries ‘em and buries ‘em,” as one band member told me, but today the band volunteered to lead a Market Street procession of protesters gathered for the the San Francisco March for Truth.

The Celestial Band, wearing their uniform of red polo shirts with the band name on the back and black pants, warmed up with a version of “When the Saints Come Marching In.”

But it wasn’t New Orleans that was on the mind of many in the crowd. It was Russia.

Across the country, there were marches for truth scheduled to take place in 150 cities. The stated objective of the march was to call for “urgent investigations into Russian Interference in the US election and ties to Donald Trump, his administration and his associates,” according to the #MarchForTruth national organizing website.

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In the Loop: Podcast: Hannah Arendt in the Age of Trump, Part 2

By Baynard Woods | June 2, 2017 10:09am

In the second part of a two-week conversation, cohost Baynard Woods talks with scholar and writer Kathleen B. Jones about the relevance of political theorist Hannah Arendt in the age of Trump.

Jones is a professor emerita at San Diego State University and the author of numerous books, stories and essays, including "The Power of Ordinary People Facing Totalitarianism," in The Conversation. She directs a National Endowment for the Humanities program for public school teachers on the work of Arendt.

Democracy in Crisis is a weekly podcast hosted by Baynard Woods and Marc Steiner, produced and engineered by Mark Gunnery for The Center for Emerging Media. Theme music by Ruby Fulton and the Rhymes with Orchestra.

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In the Loop: Podcast: Hannah Arendt in the Age of Trump

By Baynard Woods | May 26, 2017 12:33pm

On this week's podcast, cohost Baynard Woods talks with scholar and writer Kathleen B. Jones about the relevance of political theorist Hannah Arendt in the age of Trump.

Jones is a professor emerita at San Diego State University and the author of numerous books, stories and essays, including "The Power of Ordinary People Facing Totalitarianism," in The Conversation. She directs a National Endowment for the Humanities program for public school teachers on the work of Arendt.

Democracy in Crisis is a weekly podcast hosted by Baynard Woods and Marc Steiner, produced and engineered by Mark Gunnery for The Center for Emerging Media. Theme music by Ruby Fulton and the Rhymes with Orchestra.

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In the Loop: Podcast: Trump's Loose Lips and Chelsea Manning

By Baynard Woods | May 18, 2017 3:59pm

On this week's episode, cohosts Marc Steiner and Baynard Woods talk first about the secrets Trump shared with Russian diplomats. Then, they are joined by Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight for the Future and a close friend and supporter of Chelsea Manning, to talk about Manning's release from prison.

Democracy in Crisis is a weekly podcast hosted by Baynard Woods and Marc Steiner, produced and engineered by Mark Gunnery for The Center for Emerging Media. Theme music by Ruby Fulton and the Rhymes with Orchestra.

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In the Loop: Podcast: Comey Gets Canned

By Baynard Woods | May 11, 2017 5:17pm

On this week's episode, cohosts Marc Steiner and Baynard Woods talk with Mark Trahant about Donald Trump's decision to fire FBI Director James Comey.

Mark Trahant is an independent print and media journalist who writes at TrahantReports.com. He is the Charles R. Johnson Endowed Professor of Journalism at the University of North Dakota. Earlier this month, he became a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Democracy in Crisis is a weekly podcast hosted by Baynard Woods and Marc Steiner, produced and engineered by Mark Gunnery for The Center for Emerging Media. Theme music by Ruby Fulton and the Rhymes with Orchestra.

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In the Loop: Podcast: Trump's Rally and the May Day Protests

By Baynard Woods | May 4, 2017 5:20pm

On this week’s episode, cohost Baynard Woods and Baltimore City Paper editor Brandon Soderberg talk about the strange political landscape after attending both the Trump rally in Pennsylvania and the May Day marches in Washington, DC.

Democracy in Crisis is a weekly podcast hosted by Baynard Woods and Marc Steiner, produced and engineered by Mark Gunnery for The Center for Emerging Media. Theme music by Ruby Fulton and the Rhymes with Orchestra.

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In the Loop: Podcast: The Trump Administration's Disarray at 100 Days

By Baynard Woods | April 27, 2017 4:30pm

In this week's episode, hosts Baynard Woods and Marc Steiner talk with writer and analyst Imara Jones about the chaos surrounding the White House as we approach the 100th day of the Trump administration. Imara Jones holds a degree from the London School of Economics and is currently developing a television news program aimed at progressive millennials of color.

Democracy in Crisis is a weekly podcast hosted by Baynard Woods and Marc Steiner, produced and engineered by Mark Gunnery for The Center for Emerging Media. Theme music by Ruby Fulton and the Rhymes with Orchestra.

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