America Trends Podcast

Biases, prejudices and preconceptions are part of living. Sometimes it’s because of the way we were raised, the messages we receive through various sources and the politics of this moment, as the GOP’s presumptive presidential candidate refers to people coming across the border as ‘animals’. In the multi-racial and multi-ethnic society in which we live, … Read More Read M

Climate change(aka global warming)and warming denial– human-engineered and accelerating at a rapid clip–have been on display in America for at least 4 decades, dating back to when then Vice President Al Gore shared with us “An Inconvenient Truth.” Scientists were aware of what our industrial and consumer advances–electricity, gas guzzling cars and growing use of … Read

Many books have been written in the recent period about rural America. The beginning of this literary push to better understand the opportunities, problems and malignancies of what one author coined ‘overlooked Americans’ in the hinterlands of non-metropolitan areas was J. D. Vance’s “Hillbilly Elegy” which raised many questions. It dealt with the character of … Read Mo

His day job involves commenting on what’s happening in real time around the globe but David Ignatius, the highly respected foreign affairs columnist of the Washington Post, also uses his journalistic sources and methods as the basis for compelling fiction. Thus his latest spy novel “Phantom Orbit” offers great insights into the importance of America’s … Read More Read Mor

One of the fastest growing demographic cohorts in America is men over the age of 60. Growing with this group, in a majority of instances, is their prostate. That gland gets much attention primarily as men age and doctors track their PSA number for the potential of being cancerous.. Less discussed, but quite impactful, is … Read More Read More

The pursuit of happiness is a birthright for those of us who are American citizens. It’s right there in the Declaration of Independence, which itself seems rather odd. We are not guaranteed that state of satisfaction and by recent polling and just a good look around there are lots of unhappy people in this country. … Read More Read More

Aaron Stein, president of the Foreign Policy Research Institute(fpri.org), shares his insights with us on the Israel-Hamas conflict. With as many critical issues affected by it, first and foremost the lives of the hostages and citizens on both Israel and Gaza, we wanted to find an expert to help us to better understand these turbulent … Read More Read More

The U.S. Senate has particular Constitutional responsibilities and political duties. As the deliberative body it is meant to check the impulses of a more rambunctious House of Representatives, confirm judicial appointments, ratify treaties and, when necessary, act as the jury in the event of the impeachment of the President or Cabinet officials. Ira Shapiro, Senate … Read More Re

When Alvin Ridley’s wife was discovered dead in their home, residents of the small town of Ringgold, Georgia assumed the recluse, hoarder, and odd fellow naturally murdered her. His difficulty in communicating what took place added to the conclusion many had drawn about his guilt. As it turns out, they were proven wrong in a … Read More Read More