Tanya Erzen, n associate professor of religion and gender studies at the University of Puget Sound, joins us to discuss her new book: “God in Captivity: The Rise of Faith-Based Prison Ministries in the Age of Mass Incarceration”, explains what brought her to work inside the prison system and the shift of state prisons in […]

Cliff Schecter mourns the loss of Leonard Nimoy and reflects on the cultural importance of Star Trek. The Department of Homeland Security funding bill and the ongoing Republican fail on immigration. Was winning bad for the Republicans? Why President Obama is paying no price for being progressive. Why the crazy right wing media will never […]

Think Progress Justice Editor Ian Millhiser explains what was at stake in the Harris v Quinn decision, how the right wing majority attacked healthcare workers, how the right is “weaponizing” the first amendment, how the Court can do more to destroy unions in the future and the radical departure from precedent in the Hobby Lobby […]

James C. Goodale attorney the New York Times during the release Pentagon Papers explained why the defense establishment always defends secrecy, why President Obama has been played by the national security state, why secrecy is distinct from confidentiality, the Nixonian roots of today’s attacks on Edward Snowden and how aggressive the Obama Administration has been against […]

Historian and journalist Rick Perlstein discusses the political roots of Mitt Romney, the enslavement of Santorum’s grandfather and today’s conservatism.  Plus,

Friday favorite, Cliff Schecter joins Sam.  Today, rights that are ok for Rick Santorum’s family but not for yours?  And at the root of Ron Paul’s “good”

Matt Taibbi on Iowa caucus results, GOP primaries as a meaningless sideshow

News and posturing from Iowa: Santorum, Paul, Romney and the others.  Dave Weigel, Slate.com, talks candidates and