Feet to the Fire

A weekly podcast for progressives working to understand and make the most of the political moment.

What‘s wrong with the U.S. economy, honestly?

Not the pandemic. Not inflation. Not the global supply chain. The deep problem, says Peter Barnes, is a set of property rules that fails to recognize our co-inherited wealth.

10-18
39:16

Forget Facebook (Ethan Zuckerman)

With Congress weighing a host of plans to curb the social-media giant, Ethan Zuckerman and his colleagues are laying the technological foundation of a whole new social-media universe. (Originally recorded in May 2021.)

10-08
36:12

The 2022 Elections (Mike Lux)

Handicapping and mobilizing for the midterms after a tough summer. 

09-30
31:25

A Civilian Climate Corps? (Neil Maher)

Congress will soon decide the fate and shape of legislation to (among many other things) create a modern-day CCC. The historian Neil Maher looks back at the profound political as well as environmental benefits of the original corps. (This episode was first cast in March 2021.) 

09-22
23:19

The Senate (Adam Jentleson)

The Republicans have rendered one chamber of Congress dysfunctional. What do we do about it?

09-14
29:59

Reconciliation Time (David Sirota)

The Biden administration has packed much of its domestic agenda into one giant package of legislation. The next few weeks could decide its fate.   

09-09
25:40

Can Blue America Talk to Red America? (George Goehl)

We've learned a thing or two about how to build support for progressive values and candidates in Trump country. (Originally recorded in May 2021.)

09-03
29:59

The Quest for Multiracial Solidarity (Heather McGhee)

The author, activist and NBC News commentator spent three years exploring the costs of racism and mapping a path to economic justice for "The Sum of Us." (Originally cast on 1/25/21)

08-25
37:40

Equality Imagined

America was headed that way, not so long ago. What if we had stayed on course? A conversation with Sam Pizzigati, Sarah Anderson and Chuck Collins of the Institute for Policy Studies.

08-18
35:44

Dreams and Scams (David Whitman)

The challenge of protecting students and taxpayers against predatory for-profit colleges.

08-11
29:02

The New Anti-Monopolists (Matt Stoller)

They're in Congress. They're in the Biden Administration. They're Republicans as well as Democrats. And they're making a powerful case with voters.

08-04
32:27

What's Realistic? (Jeff Greenfield)

And should political realism be a goal for American progressives right now?  

07-29
26:58

Joe Biden, Trustbuster (Morgan Harper)

Deciphering the President's executive order on "promoting competition."

07-23
29:32

Big Money, Weak Justice (Jennifer Taub)

Reviving the will and capacity to go after white-collar crime.

07-15
28:59

How's Our Health Care? (Laura Packard)

The ACA survives another Republican lawsuit. Where does that leave us?

07-08
24:52

Big Law (Molly Coleman)

Corporate law firms have become the default breeding ground for federal judges and prosecutors. Will the Biden administration and its Attorney General do enough to change that?

06-29
28:27

Big-Tech Fix (Cory Doctorow)

The novelist and activist explores the ways of digital monopoly and charts a path to digital democracy.

06-23
35:41

Tax Americana (David Cay Johnston)

Make heaps of money and send a pittance to Uncle Sam - David Cay Johnston explains how it's done, and how to deal with it.

06-16
31:16

Biden Knows Best (Robert Kuttner)

Anyway, better than some of his current doubters and doomsayers. Robert Kuttner makes the case for Biden's political acumen, assesses the Manchin-Synema problem, and lays out the administration's strategy for accomplishing big things in dicey circumstances.

06-09
34:50

Maximum Wage (Sam Pizzigati)

Do we need an income ceiling as well as a floor? Sam Pizzigati makes the case.

06-02
33:32

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