Best Bucks County Beacon, LLC Podcasts (2024)

1
The Signal | Interview with Alan Jenkins, author of 1/6: The Graphic Novel 30:31

10d ago30:31

30:31

Alan Jenkins is a writer, Harvard law professor, and human rights advocate. He and co-author Gan Golan, along with illustrator Will Rosado, led the creation of the graphic novel series 1/6, which asks the question: What if the Jan.6 insurrectionist attack on the US capitol had been successful? In the tradition of speculative fiction from George Orw…

1
The Signal | Keystone Newsroom Political Correspondent Sean Kitchen on the Democratic National Convention 24:02

1M ago24:02

24:02

Sean Kitchen is the Keystone Newsroom’s political correspondent. The Keystone is a Pennsylvania-based newsroom of local editors and reporters with a modern take on sharing information and telling stories that impact our communities. The Keystone is owned and operated by COURIER, a pro-democracy news network that is building a more informed, engaged…

1
The Signal | From Jesus to John Wayne and Donald Trump to Project 2025. A Conversation with Kristin Kobes Du Mez About MAGA Evangelicals 43:47

2M ago43:47

43:47

Kristin Kobes Du Mez is Professor of History and Gender Studies at Calvin University. She holds a PhD from the University of Notre Dame and her research focuses on the intersection of gender, religion, and politics. She has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Religion News Service, and Christianity Today and has been inte…

1
The Signal | How the Corporate Poverty Complex Profiteers Off of Poor Americans, with Anne Kim 27:16

3M ago27:16

27:16

Anne Kim is a writer, lawyer, and public policy expert with a long career in Washington, DC-based think tanks working in and around Capitol Hill. She is a contributing editor at Washington Monthly, where she was a senior writer. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, Governing, TheAtlantic.com, the Wall Street Journal, Democracy, and numerou…

1
The Signal | This Bucks County Dad Took His Child’s School District to Court to Uncover a Secret Book Banning Scheme 45:48

3M ago45:48

45:48

Darren Laustsen has lived in Bucks County for over 35 years. He became involved in local politics after witnessing right wing extremism consume his daughters’ school district. Darren is an outspoken voice in support of public education and against Moms For Liberty. He testified in Harrisburg in support of anti-book banning legislation and took the …

1
The Signal |The Education Wars: A Citizen’s Guide and Defense Manual, with Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider 44:13

4M ago44:13

44:13

Jennifer Berkshire writes about the intersection of education and politics for the Nation, the New Republic, the New York Times, The Baffler, and other publications. Jack Schneider is the Dwight W. Allen Distinguished Professor at the UMass Amherst, where he leads the Beyond Test Scores Project. He is an award-winning scholar, and his work broadly …

1
The Signal | Getting the Demoratic Party's Message Out, with JoAnn Loulan 42:24

5M ago42:24

42:24

JoAnn Loulan has been a political activist since college, demonstrating during the Vietnam War and fighting for civil rights, and then after college for lesbian visibility and political rights. She's written 3 books about that issue (Lesbian Sex, Lesbian Passion, and Lesbian Erotic Dance) and was on many talk shows back when there was little lesbia…

1
The Signal | A Conversation with Mike Wendling About His New Book "Day of Reckoning: The Far Right’s War on Democracy" 51:09

5M ago51:09

51:09

Mike Wendling is U.S. National Digital Reporter for the BBC, based in Chicago. In 2020, he co-founded the BBC News disinformation unit and was editor and presenter of Trending, the BBC World Service show that covers the world of social media. He has decades of experience covering extremism, the American far right, social media and disinformation. T…

1
The Signal | Bucks County's Joe Khan Wants to Be Pennsylvania’s Next Attorney General 27:53

6M ago27:53

27:53

Before running for Attorney General, Joe Khan served as the Solicitor for Bucks County, where he was credited with “redefining the role of County Solicitor.” In addition to overseeing all litigation for the County, Joe built partnerships with other public entities to protect consumers and the environment through innovative litigation, including the…

1
The Signal | “Building a Greater Society: A Guide to Political Revolution for Millennials & Generation Z,” with Connor O’Hanlon 32:56

6M ago32:56

32:56

On this special episode of The Signal we welcome Connor O’Hanlon onto the Show. Connor is Chair of the Democratic Party in Doylestown, PA, and has spent his young adulthood serving his community on multiple non-profit and governmental boards. Connor's passion for progressive change led him to run for office at the age of 23 and shortly thereafter h…

1
The Signal | Fighting for Women’s Rights with 365 Foundation Executive Director Natalie Venezia 18:36

6M ago18:36

18:36

Natalie Venezia is Executive Director of the 365 Foundation, which promotes women's empowerment through art, advocacy, and community service. As a local, key figure in the feminist movement, Natalie is at the forefront of the Foundation's efforts to empower women and promote gender equality. Through strategic partnerships with local organizations a…

1
The Signal | Radical Independent Media, Feminist Struggles, and International Women’s Day: A View from Latin America, with Dawn Paley 31:48

7M ago31:48

31:48

Dawn Marie Paley is an investigative journalist and author of Drug War Capitalism and Guerra Neoliberal. She is the editor of Ojalá (https://www.ojala.mx/en/ojala-home/), a feminist digital weekly providing reporting and analysis from Latin America. She is also a member of NACLA’s Editorial Committee. Host Cyril Mychalejko’s 5 Book Recommendations …

1
The Signal | American Patriots: A Short History of Dissent, with Ralph Young 37:47

7M ago37:47

37:47

Ralph Young is a history professor at Temple University. He is the winner of several major teaching awards, including the College of Liberal Arts Distinguished Teaching Award, the Provost’s Award for Innovative Teaching in General Education, Honors Professor of the Year, the Lindback Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence, and Temple’s highest ho…

1
The Signal | Black History Is a History of Resistance and Liberation, with Rann Miller 38:24

8M ago38:24

38:24

Black History is a history of resistance and liberation. This may explain why, in part, we’ve seen such a whitelash and a war against Black studies – and Black history in general – being waged by right-wing reactionary groups like Moms for Liberty, and Republican lawmakers. Today I am joined by Rann Miller. Rann is an author, educator, and advocate…

1
The Signal | America's Book Banning Crisis, with PEN America's Sabrina Baêta 39:30

9M ago39:30

39:30

While voters overwhelmingly rejected pro-book banning, Moms for Liberty-backed Republican school board candidates in Bucks County – and across the United States – at the polls in November, the country still finds itself in the midst of a book-banning crisis. Pennsylvania has the dubious distinction of cracking the Top 5 book banning states, coming …

1
The Signal | Notes on Bucks County: Reflections on Politics in Pennsylvania’s Most Curious and Captivating Collar County, with Andy Warren and Hal Marcovitz 43:28

11M ago43:28

43:28

A public works project that exploded into protests, mass arrests and political upheaval. A decades-long feud between two of the region’s best-known elected officials. Judges who feared their own constitutional rights were being ignored. The travels and travails of two candidates who went on to win statewide office, albeit with more than a few nervo…

1
The Signal | A Conversation with André Gagné About His Book “American Evangelicals for Trump: Dominion, Spiritual Warfare, and the End Times” 55:16

11M ago55:16

55:16

André Gagné is Full Professor and Chair of the Department of Theological Studies at Concordia University in Montreal. His teaching and scholarship focus on political theology, religion and violence, and the interpretation and reception of the Bible. Dr. Gagné's work and interviews have been featured over 300 times in media outlets such as the New Y…

1
The Signal | The Christian Right’s Crusade for Power and War on Democracy, with Katherine Stewart 34:41

12M ago34:41

34:41

Katherine Stewart is an investigative reporter and author who has covered the Christian right, politics, policy, and education for over a decade. Her latest book, THE POWER WORSHIPPERS: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism, pulls back the curtain on the inner workings and leading personalities of a movement that has turned religion in…

1
The Civic Circle | School Board Elections and Interview with Bucks United’s Kunal Atit 48:08

12M ago48:08

48:08

The Civic Circle is a new youth-led podcast by the Bucks County Beacon tackling politics and policy from a Gen-Z lens. Sarah Zhang, Mallorie Marsan, and Alexandra Coffey are students from Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Once a month they will chat about activism, advocacy, and all the political happenings affecting their generation today. They focus on…

1
The Signal | After Misogyny: How the Law Fails Women and What to Do about It, with Julie Suk 39:35

1y ago39:35

39:35

Julie C. Suk is Professor of Law at Fordham University School of Law and is a leading expert on gender and constitutional law in the United States and around the world. In 2020 she published, We the Women: The Unstoppable Mothers of the Equal Rights Amendment, which was the first book to chronicle and assess the twenty-first-century revival of the …

1
American Carnage: An Officer’s Duty to Warn, with Steve Nolan 40:38

1y ago40:38

40:38

Steve Nolan spent 30 years in the military and 25 years as a mental health professional. He has published in numerous journals and his poetry was featured on National Public Radio, Morning Edition, upon his return from Afghanistan in 2007. He is the author of the books Go Deep, Base Camp, and American Carnage, An Officer’s Duty to Warn. His work re…

1
The Civic Circle | The Climate Crisis is Real, Local, and Demands Action 29:46

1y ago29:46

29:46

The Civic Circle is a new youth-led podcast by the Bucks County Beacon tackling politics and policy from a Gen-Z lens. Sarah Zhang, Mallorie Marsan, and Alexandra Coffey are students from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and once a month they will chat about activism, advocacy, and all the political happenings affecting their generation today. They will…

1
The Signal | Introducing Our New Gen Z Podcast The Civic Circle, with Sarah Zhang, Mallorie Marsan, and Alexandra Coffey 19:33

1y ago19:33

19:33

The Civic Circle is a new youth-led podcast by the Bucks County Beacon tackling politics and policy from a Gen-Z lens. Sarah Zhang, Mallorie Marsan, and Alexandra Coffey are students from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and once a month they will chat about activism, advocacy, and all the political happenings affecting their generation today. They will…

1
The Signal | Fighting for Students’ and Teachers’ Rights in Central Bucks School District, with ACLU’s Witold Walczak 29:26

1y ago29:26

29:26

Central Bucks is under fire for allegedly creating a toxic environment for LGBTQ+ students, vindictively targeting a teacher, and spending more than $1 million for reputation laundering. Witold Walczak is legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. Today I speak with him about the ACLU’s ongoing legal battles with Central Bucks School District, its…

1
The Signal | Peace Activism from Bucks County to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with Barbara Simmons 38:24

1y ago38:24

38:24

Barbara Simmons served as executive director for 30 years of The Peace Center, an educational peace and justice non-profit organization in Bucks County. She was founding director of PeaceTalks radio producing radio documentaries from Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Rwanda, South Africa, Vietnam, Northern Ireland, Canada and the United States, which …

1
The Signal | The New Apostolic Reformation: A Revolutionary Theocratic Movement Coming for Pennsylvania, the Nation, and the World, with Frederick Clarkson 33:46

1y ago33:46

33:46

Frederick Clarkson is a senior research analyst at Political Research Associates, a social justice research and strategy center that exposes the agenda and strategies of the U.S. and global Right, revealing the dangerous intersections of Christian nationalism, white nationalism, and patriarchy. He has written about politics and religion for four de…

1
The Signal | Unmasking Moms for Liberty’s Extremism, with Media Matters’s Olivia Little and Bucks County’s Diana Leygerman 43:38

1y ago43:38

43:38

“Lots of normal people, it’s great.” That's a direct quote from Bucks County Moms for Liberty member and Northampton Township GOP committee member Megan Brock celebrating the so-called normalcy of the right-wing culture warrior moms at the summit in Philadelphia. So what is this "new normal" for Brock and the Moms for Liberty Qlan that she is part …

1
The Signal | Raising a Transgender Child in an Increasingly Transphobic Country, with Brett Freeman 29:40

1+ y ago29:40

29:40

Brett Freeman (He/Him) is a resident of Buckingham Township (in Bucks County, PA), a parent, a husband, a foodie, and an avid Philadelphia sports fan. He is also a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh (1994) and The Wharton Management Program (1997) at the University of Pennsylvania. Currently, he is a state certified residential real estate ap…

1
The Signal | Feminicide, Impunity, and the United States in Guatemala, with Victoria Sanford 45:54

1+ y ago45:54

45:54

Victoria Sanford is a John Simon Guggenheim Fellow and Professor of Anthropology at City University of New York. She has given expert testimony on the Guatemalan genocide in international courts and authored seven books, including Buried Secrets: Truth and Human Rights in Guatemala, and most recently, Textures of Terror: The Murder of Claudina Isab…

1
The Signal | Students and Teachers Fight Back Against Book Banning in Central York, with Christina Ellis and Ben Hodge 47:47

1+ y ago47:47

47:47

Today host Cyril Mychalejko talks to Christina Ellis and Ben Hodge about how and why students and teachers must organize and mobilize themselves and the larger community to resist book bans and other reactionary right-wing assaults on public education. Christina Ellis is an 18-year-old African-Caribbean American college student and activist. She wa…

1
The Signal | Understanding Backlash Politics and Religious Conservatives Inciting School Board Wars, with PRRI’s Melissa Deckman 29:40

1+ y ago29:40

29:40

Melissa Deckman, Ph.D., is the CEO of Public Religion Research Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to conducting independent research at the intersection of religion, culture, and public policy. Her first book, School Board Battles: The Christian Right in Local Politics, won the American Political Science Association’s Hu Mor…

1
The Signal | The Right’s Long War on Public Education, with Jennifer Berkshire 26:34

1+ y ago26:34

26:34

Jennifer Berkshire writes about the intersection of education and politics for the Nation, the New Republic, the New York Times, and other publications. She is the creator and co-host of the education policy podcast Have You Heard, and the co-author of A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door: The Dismantling of Public Education and the Future of School. Jen…

1
The Signal | The Growing Fascist Threat to American Democracy, with Jeff Sharlet 27:00

1+ y ago27:00

27:00

On this episode, Bucks County Beacon Editor Cyril Mychalejko welcomes Jeff Sharlet to the show. Jeff (@JeffSharlet) is the bestselling author or editor of eight books, including The Family, made into a Netflix documentary series. He's the Frederick Sessions Beebe '35 Professor in the Art of Writing at Dartmouth College and a contributing editor to …

1
The Signal | Sylvia Pankhurst: Suffragette Socialist and Scourge of Empire, with Dr. Kate Connelly 35:40

1+ y ago35:40

35:40

On this episode, Cyril welcomes Dr. Kate Conelly to the show. Kate is a writer, historian and activist. She is a biographer of Sylvia Pankhurst, her book Sylvia Pankhurst: Suffragette Socialist and Scourge of Empire was published by Pluto Press in 2013. In 2019 she edited and introduced Pankhurst's previously unpublished manuscript about her suffra…

1
The Signal | The Radical History of International Women’s Day and the Feminist Movement with Liza Featherstone 33:52

1+ y ago33:52

33:52

On this episode, I welcome Liza Featherstone to the show. Liza Featherstone (@lfeatherz) is an author, journalist, essayist and critic. She is a columnist at Jacobin and The New Republic, as well as a contributing writer at The Nation. I'll be talking with Liza about the radical history of International Women’s Day and feminism. Featherstone is the…

1
The Signal | Merchants of Deception: The dark money and front groups behind school privatization with Maurice Cunningham 27:55

1+ y ago27:55

27:55

On this episode, Cyril welcomes Maurice Cunningham to the show. Maurice is the author of the book Dark Money and the Politics of School Privatization. He retired in 2021 as associate professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. His work has been distributed through the Independent Media Institute and has appeared in …

1
The Signal | Immigrant Solidarity: From Bucks County to the Border with Sue-Ann DiVito 29:04

1+ y ago29:04

29:04

Sue-Ann DiVito is a Bucks County mother, grandmother, and political activist. Her “witnessing” has included three trips to the border to see first hand the humanitarian crises exacerbated by policy failures, of Republican and Democratic Administrations alike. She most recently returned from a solidarity delegation sponsored by Witness at the Border…

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