The Paula Gordon Show: May 6-May 20

Ignorance is the enemy of freedom and self-government, a powerful tool for people in power, says Anthony Lewis, a legendary journalist. As the nation’s sovereigns, ordinary people have to know what's going on and have the courage to act on what we know. That knowledge is, in principle, protected by the First Amendment's protections of free speech, freedom of assembly and a free press.

Mr. Lewis says that the people of the United States are very fortunate that its founders were deeply influenced by the thinkers of the English Enlightenment. He contrasts that enlightened thinking to the paroxysms of fundamentalist fervor which periodically sweep the nation and seek to establish the one belief system to which those fundamentalists cling. They claim a monopoly on "truth." Ignorance seeks to supplant evidence and theocracy replaces democracy. Often genuine courage is required to resist the fundamentalists' claims ... and threats.

Twice the Pulitzer Prize has been awarded to Mr. Lewis over his long and distinguished journalistic career. Author of Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment, his Gideon’s Trumpet has been in print for over 40 years. Mr. Lewis was columnist for The New York Times op-ed page from 1969 through 2001 and for many years the paper’s London correspondent. He has also been a lecturer at Harvard’s Law School, a visiting professor at the Universities of California, Illinois, Oregon, and Arizona, and since 1983, the James Madison Visiting Professor at Columbia University. He and his wife, a former Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court, live in Cambridge.

James Mann

Rather than re-direct savings resulting from the end of the Cold War and in the absence of enemies that could justify the huge costs of the military budget, the Defense Department under Dick Cheney came up with a new rationale. According to reporter and author James Mann, the new excuse was "we need a huge military that's so big that any emerging rival would realize it is crazy to try and challenge the American military power." Could it also be "crazy" to spend what America spends?

The groups which made this questionable argument (principally Republicans) are essentially the same as those who now argue that the United States must make deep budget cuts ... and that cutting the military budget is still off limits.

Prior to devoting full time to books, Mr. Mann was an award-winning Washington reporter, columnist, and foreign correspondent for 20 years at the Los Angeles TImes. The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan: A History of the End of the Cold War further enhances the Mr. Mann’s keen observations in his bestseller Rise of the Vulcans, bringing to clearer focus the individuals and influence of American conservatives and neoconservatives from the Nixon Administration forward. His several books on China include the best-seller, The China Fantasy. He is author in residence at the prestigious Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and lives near Washington, D.C.

This Program with James Mann will be here at 11:00 PM GMT, Sunday, May 20.

Just over 7 years ago, we had a riveting conversation with Julian Fellowes. He had just published his first novel, Snobs, and his directorial debut would follow in September of that year with Separate Lies. The current success of his TV series, Downton Abbey, is hardly a surprise ... and we congratulate him anyway.
Tim Weiner has just published Enemies: A History of the FBI. Assuming this new book is as well-researched and presented as his Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA, it is a book every American should read (an opportunity we have not yet had). We were initially sceptical of his subtitle claiming "THE History of the CIA." After reading the book and talking with Mr. Weiner, we are satisfied that the claim is justified. One may readily trace today's problems in Greece, Iran, Indonesia, Japan (among many others) to CIA misadventures going back decades.

Paula's regular commentary is available on The Huffington Post.

New Post added: April 1: Our Deadly Cocktail

America's role in the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman tragedy goes down as smoothly as any toxic cocktail: one part guns, one part race, one part stress, stir and duck. ...

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Just over 7 years ago, we had a riveting conversation with Julian Fellowes. He had just published his first novel, Snobs, and his directorial debut would follow in September of that year with Separate Lies. The current success of his TV series, Downton Abbey, is hardly a surprise ... and we congratulate him anyway.		Tim Weiner has just published Enemies: A History of the FBI. Assuming this new book is as well-researched and presented as his Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA, it is a book every American should read (an opportunity we have not yet had). We were initially sceptical of his subtitle claiming "THE History of the CIA." After reading the book and talking with Mr. Weiner, we are satisfied that the claim is justified. One may readily trace today's problems in Greece, Iran, Indonesia, Japan (among many others) to CIA misadventures going back decades.