February 19 - Ukraine on the Brink of Civil War; A Report from the North American Summit; How Politicians and Plutocrats Persuade Americans to Vote Against their Interests

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the grave situation in Ukraine that appears to be on the brink of civil war in spite of President Yanukovich’s announcement of a truce with the opposition. Anders Aslund, the co-chairman of the board of trustees of the Kyiv School of Economics and a former Swedish diplomat and economic advisor to the governments of Russia and Ukraine, joins us to discuss the opposition takeover of police stations and the surrender of security forces to the opposition as the European Union discusses sanctions and Russian President Putin warns against Western interference.

Part 2

Then we go to Toluca, Mexico to speak with Tim Johnson, the Mexico City Bureau Chief for McClatchy Newspapers who is covering the so-called “Three Amigos” North American Summit where President Obama is meeting with Mexican President Pena Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to discuss trade, immigration, energy and other issues. We discuss what the Mexican and American leaders, who are more popular abroad than they are at home can come to an agreement on, and whether Prime Minister Harper has succeeded in pressuring President Obama to agree to the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.

Part 3

Then finally we speak with Ian Haney Lopez, a Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley and author of the new book “Dog Whistle Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Have Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the Middle Class”. We discuss his ground-breaking analysis of how politicians and plutocrats use veiled racist appeals to persuade white voters to support policies that favor the extremely rich while threatening the real interests of middle class and working Americans. We also examine the extent to which identity politics on the left play into the hands of these reactionary politicians and plutocrats.