September 13 - The Erasure of History in Mecca's Building Boom; Socialism Now Heading in Britain's Labour Party; Is Trump's Racism, Nativism and Misogyny Good for America?

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the crane belonging to the Bin Laden Company that toppled onto the Grand Mosque in Mecca on September 11, a day when Americans observed the 14th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States inspired by Osama Bin Laden.  Robert Lacey, a British historian and author of numerous international bestsellers including “The Kingdom” and his latest “Inside the Kingdom: Kings, Clerics, Modernists, Terrorists, and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia” joins us to discuss the continuing construction boom in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina where historical sites, even those where the Prophet Mohammed lived and was buried, are being erased and demolished according to the strictures of the official Saudi Wahhabi religious doctrine that is followed by the Islamic State who are destroying the UNESCO World Heritage site in Palmyra, Syria and the Saudi Air Force who are bombing museums and destroying historical antiquities in Yemen, including the oldest surviving fragment of the Koran.

Part 2

Then we explore the impact on British politics that the election of a socialist Jeremy Corbyn as head on the Labor Party will have, particularly in contentious policy areas such as relations with the E.U. and Scotland, foreign affairs, defense and NATO membership. Harold Clarke, a Professor in the School of Economics, Political and Policy Studies at the University of Texas, joins us. He has been the co-investigator of the British Election Survey at the University of Manchester where he is a visiting professor and his forthcoming book is “Austerity and Political Choice in Britain”.

Part 3

Then finally we speak with Adele Stan, a columnist at The American Prospect where she has an article “A Nation of Sociopaths? What the Trump Phenomenon Says About America”.  We discuss whether, as some are claiming, the Donald Trump candidacy is good for Democrats, or more to the point, is the spewing forth of racism, nativism and misogyny into the public arena, good for America.