September 25 - The Nationalist Religious Cult That Rules North Korea; Will Trump's Reckless Rhetoric Lead to Nuclear War?; NFL Owners and Players Line Up Against Trump

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the escalating tension between the U.S. and North Korea following Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho's assertion that President Trump's comments at the UN that he will "totally destroy" North Korea and his subsequent tweet that the North Korean leadership "won't be around much longer" constitute a declaration of war by the U.S. giving the North Koreans "every right to make counter-measures". Charles Armstrong, a professor of History and Director of the Center for Korean Research at Columbia University and author of “Tyranny of the Weak: North Korea and the World” joins us to discuss the nature of the North Korean regime as a mixture of politics and spirituality whose subjects are taught from childhood that they come from the birthplace of civilization and are indoctrinated with the “Juche” self-reliance philosophy, a nationalistic religious cult led by the dynastic Kim family who the North Korean people believe are the royal lineage of Tangun, the mythical founder of Korea 4,500 years ago.

Part 2

Then we get an assessment of the nuclear threat from North Korea following their recent announcement of their intention to shoot a missile with an H-bomb on it to be detonated somewhere over the Pacific. Philip Coyle, who was associate director for national security and international affairs in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and Assistant Secretary of Defense and Director of Operational Test and Evaluation in the Department of Defense, joins us. We discuss the likelihood of reckless rhetoric leading to a nuclear exchange in Northeast Asia.

Part 3

Then finally we look into Sunday’s extraordinary display of solidarity and indignation expressed by NFL players and owners in response to Trump’s crude attack on Colin Kaepernick for taking a knee during the national anthem and the president’s contention that the NFL was losing fans because the game was not violent enough. Ben Carrington, a Professor at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and author of “Race, Sport and Politics” joins us to discuss Trump’s dog whistle to his angry white voters that if the mostly black players in the NFL “want the privilege of making millions of dollars” they “should not be allowed to disrespect our Great American Flag”…if not YOU’RE FIRED”.