These days, it's almost impossible to have a civil conversation with anyone of a different political view. But contrary to what you might believe, learning to talk to someone who holds deeply ingrained opinions that differ from yours without the conversation quickly devolving into an argument or nasty fight is possible, but it takes time and possibly training. That is the topic of the conversation that prompted this article.

I spent some time with Robert Jensen, author of "It's Debatable: Speaking Authentically about Tough Topics," because his book provides a way to have more in-depth and meaningful conversations on topics that are fraught with mine fields. Given the divisive political environment today, Robert Jensen and authors like him may be our only hope for being able to bridge the growing gap between the left and the right. Robert Jensen writes for those who want arguments to be grounded on facts, logic, critical introspection, and respect for one another.

https://www.laprogressive.com/

Robert Jensen, It’s Debatable: Talking Authentically about Tricky Topics (Northampton, MA: Olive Branch Press, 2024).

https://robertwjensen.org/books/its-debatable/

https://www.interlinkbooks.com/product/its-debatable/

https://www.amazon.com/Its-Debatable-Talking-Authentically-Tricky/dp/1623716845/

Subscribe to the Robert Jensen Email Updates List at http://www.thirdcoastactivist.org/jensenupdates-info.html

Former judge Bill Blum chats with the LA Progressive about the ways in which the Supreme Court has supercharged the nation’s gun violence epidemic. He tells Dick Price and Sharon Kyle of the LA Progressive that the Supreme Court has left our schools, streets and communities soaked in blood. He says we'd be wrong if we justed pointed the blame at the National Rifle Association and their lackeys in the Republican Party. Raise another finger.

You can read Bill Blum's article here:

https://www.laprogressive.com/law-and-justice/american-way-of-death

Henry Giroux is an American-Canadian scholar and cultural critic. One of the founding theorists of critical pedagogy in the United States, he is best known for his pioneering work in public pedagogy, cultural studies, youth studies, higher education, media studies, and critical theory. Henry Giroux sits with Dick Price and Sharon Kyle of the LA Progressive and explains how liberal education strengthens democracy. You can read the article Henry wrote on this same topic here:

https://www.laprogressive.com/education-reform/critical-pedagogy-in-dark-times

Today, John Kiriakou is an author and a journalist but not long ago, he was a CIA counterterrorism officer and a senior investigator with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. It was in this roll that John became the sixth whistleblower indicted by the Obama administration under the Espionage Act – a law designed to punish spies. He served 23 months in prison as a result of his attempts to oppose the Bush administration's torture program. You can find John's writings at http://ConsortiumNews.com, http://johnkiriakou.substack.com and https://www.laprogressive.com/author/john-kiriakou

Professor Richard Wolff sheds light on the role that racism has played as an essential tool for maintaining the capitalist order. Says Wolff, "U.S. capitalism solved its instability problem by making cyclical downturns afflict chiefly a minority subpart of the whole working class." He explains how and why this "feature" has served to keep us all locked in to the inefficient, contradictory system.

Dick Price and Sharon Kyle publish the digital magazine LAProgressive.com. The discussion has here with Rick Wolff stems from an article Rick wrote that was published by the LA Progressive. That article is titled, "How Racism Is an Essential Tool for Maintaining the Capitalist Order"

Rick Wolff's website, Democracy at Work Please visit the LA Progressive if you like this interview -- there's more

Rick Wolff has a written new book, "Understanding Capitalism". Professor Richard D. Wolff has written this book in an effort to provide clear and concise answers to questions that thousands have asked him over and over as he engaged in speaking engagements across this country.

Richard D. Wolff is a professor of economics emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a visiting professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs of the New School University, in New York. Wolff’s weekly show, “Economic Update,” is syndicated by more than 100 radio stations and goes to millions via several TV networks and YouTube. He has authored several books, including Democracy at Work . Rick Wolff believes that we can do better than capitalism. You can find his books, podcasts, videos, and more at https://www.democracyatwork.info/shows

He is also a regular contributor at the LA Progressive digital magazine.

https://www.laprogressive.com/author/richard-d-wolff

Cornel West, the public intellectual, author, and professor, announced his bid for the presidency of the United States and selected Dr. Melina Abdullah as his running mate long before Kamala Harris took on the mantel. Mainstream media tends to focus exclusively on the Democratic and Republican candidates while ignoring the other parties. This conversation with Dr West addresses the focus of his campaign which, according to West, is more than a campaign -- it's a movement.

Security for war criminal Netanyahu was more extensive than what was provided for 32 heads of state for the recent NATO anniversary in Washington, D.C.

The U.S. Congress invited the war criminal Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress on July 24, thereby solidifying the complicity of the Executive and Legislative branches of the U.S. government in the genocide of Gaza.

Incredibly, the security arrangements for one person, Benjamin Netanyahu, surpass those implemented for 32 heads of state during the recent NATO anniversary in Washington, D.C.

While the NATO meetings involved high fences around the Washington Convention Center, the security for Netanyahu's visit includes fencing off the entire U.S. Capitol complex, placing barricades in front of the House of Representatives and Senate buildings and around the Watergate complex where he stayed.

To read about this issue:

https://www.laprogressive.com/foreign-policy/millions-spent-netanyahu-trip