Free Forum with Terrence McNally

Episode 727: BILL HARTUNG & BEN FREEMAN-TRILLION DOLLAR WAR MACHINE-Trump likes using it

TRILLION DOLLAR WAR MACHINE - the title of the new book BILL HARTUNG & BEN FREEMAN wrote together - is about a trillion dollar a year machine for waging wars and for creating them. Donald Trump has discovered he likes using it. We spend more than we did in 1985 for a military half the size. Hartung & Freeman talk about a military-lobbyist-newsmedia-entertainment-sports-industrial complex. The tech bro’s want in on the gravy train and see AI as their ticket. I assume we don’t talk about defense spending because no one expects anything to change. We’re about to find out once again how crazy that is. We recorded this conversation 2/26 - one day before the war on Iran. Learn more about Bill & Ben at the Quincy Institute - quincyinst.org/

Episode 726: CHIP BERLET(2017)-We look at extremism in early days of Trump One [Chip died in January]

Here’s my 2017 conversation with CHIP BERLET, investigative journalist, research analyst, activist - and friend - who died January 30, 2026. Over the last 50 years, Chip was one of a handful of folks who consistently tracked and organized against right-wing extremism. As MAGA grew and metastasized from its roots in the Silent Majority and the Tea Party, Chip was on the beat. Can’t say he didn’t warn us. Berlet was part of a team at the National Lawyers Guild who revealed the COINTELPRO program, in which US security and military forces disrupted left-wing movements for years, and co-authored (with Matthew N. Lyons) Right-Wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort a year before 9/11. We recorded this conversation two months into Trump One and five months before Tiki Torches in Charlottesville.

Episode 725: DEBORAH TANNEN-You Just Don’t Understand-35 years exploring everyday conversation

How we “talk” to each other has changed dramatically since 1990 when Georgetown linguistics professor DEBORAH TANNEN brought gender differences in communication style to public awareness in her phenomenal best-seller, YOU JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND. Personal interactions now include email, texting, What’s App, Slack, emojis, and AI. Over the years, Tannen has explored everyday conversation between men and women, parents and children, family members, at work, in argument, etc. We look back together at what she’s learned over those 35 years, and you can learn more at deborahtannen.com 

Episode 724: DAVID KIRP (2011), KIDS FIRST: Five Big Ideas for Transforming Children's Lives and America's Future

I believe we need compelling visions of life after the current horror is over. What if we loved our children? How would things be different? Here’s my 2011 conversation with DAVID KIRP about his book, KIDS FIRST: Five Big Ideas for Transforming Children's Lives and America's Future. These innovative programs have all been tried. They work and they deserve to be invested in and expanded nationally. I believe they could change so many things - for children, families, communities, and could even soften our political divisions.

Episode 723: JANINE BENYUS-BIOMIMICRY: Innovation Inspired by Nature-Looking back 28 years after she coined the term

In her 1997 book, BIOMIMICRY: Innovation Inspired by Nature, JANINE BENYUS - biologist, author, and innovation consultant - coined a term and invented a field. After 3.8 billion years of R&D on this planet, failures are fossils. What surrounds us in the natural world has succeeded and survived. Animals, plants, and microbes have found what works, what’s appropriate, and what lasts here on Earth. So why not learn as much as we can from them? Janine and I recorded our first conversation in 1999. In this one we look back together at the birth of biomimicry and its growth and impact over the years.