August 8 - An Analysis of Trump's Economic Plan; Maintaining "Objectivity" While Covering Trump; Trump as the Republican Frankenstein

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with what was advertised as a major address on the  economy that Donald Trump delivered today to the Detroit Economic Club in which he gave away the store to the wealthiest of the 1% while reaching out to downsized workers in the rustbelt states whose jobs have been outsourced. Economist James Galbraith, a professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas and author of “Welcome to the Poisoned Chalice: The Destruction of Greece and the Future of Europe”, joins us to discuss Trump’s portrayal of himself as the deliverer of jobs and prosperity while casting his opponent as the steward of stagnation.

Part 2

Then we look into the crisis in journalism that the Trump campaign has brought about which is making life uncomfortable for mainstream, non-opinion journalists who privately find Trump a dangerous demagogue but publicly have to stick to the textbook of “fair and balanced” American journalism. David Mindich, a professor and former chair of media studies, journalism and digital arts at Saint Michael’s College and author of “Just the Facts: How “Objectivity” Came to Define American Journalism” joins us to discuss his article at the Columbia Journalism Review “For journalists covering Trump, a Murrow moment”, and whether Trump’s role as the GOP candidate for president confers a dignity on the hateful racist whose outrageous statements objective journalists may lose sight of.

Part 3

Then finally we analyze Donald Trump’s authoritarian tendencies with Jonathan Weiler, the author of “Authoritarianism and Polarization in American Politics” and discuss his article at The Huffington Post “Understanding Trump”: It’s Still the Authoritarianism, Stupid” in which Weiler argues that after decades of Republican dog-whistle racism and the demonization of the “other”, the GOP has created the conditions in which a Frankenstein monster has been able to emerge.