HEALING THE HEART OF DEMOCRACY

Guest: Parker J. Palmer

On this program, renowned author, speaker, activist and founder of the Center for Courage and Renewal, Parker J. Palmer, shares his thoughts on how we can use the energy of our political tensions to unite us for the common good.

Where have "We the People" gone? is a valid question to ask at a time when our nation seems so polarized. We are still here, says Parker Palmer, but in need of rebuilding our political infrastructure in the same way that we rebuild bridges in need of repair. In this stimulating discussion, you will hear how the "habits of the heart" and "chutzpah and humility" can help us find community with each other.

These are major themes from Parker Palmer's latest book, Healing the Heart of Democracy: The Courage to Creat A Politics Worthy of the Human Spirit.

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IT BEGINS WITH A STORY: CAPTURING THE EXPERIENCES OF VETERANS

Oral histories and art and print projects are providing opportunities for veterans to tell their stories in ways that invite us to feel what life was like for them.

Molly Graham, Oral History Archivist for the Wisconsin Veterans Museum, Yvette Pino, U.S. Army Veteran and Founder of the Veteran Print Project, and Desert Storm Veteran Carolyn Morgan, who encourages more African/American women veterans to come forward, join together to describe how they are helping veterans tell their stories and why it is so important to capture these real life memories.

Hear their stories in this insightful program. As Yvette Pino said, "I had experienced so many more traumas in my life, and I knew that I needed to learn how to reconnect or begin new connections with non-military people. I want the conversations to continue. Until we learn to talk with one another we will have ignorant opinions about each other."

For more information or to share your stories, go to the Wisconsin Veterans Museum, wisvetsmuseum.com.

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STANLEY KUTLER ON NIXON, WATERGATE AND THE NEW NIXON TAPES

This program goes behind the scenes of Watergate with UW Professor Emeritus Stanley Kutler.

Forty years ago in June the Watergate break-in occurred which led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. No person was more tuned into this event and chronicled it more substantially than Stanley Kutler, Ph.D., the E. Gordon Fox Professor of American Institutions and History of Law, University of Wisconsin-Madison. In the mid-1990's, his successful lawsuit against the National Archives and the Nixon Estate forced the release of the suppressed Nixon tapes which are published in his book, Abuse of Power: The New Nixon Tapes.

On this program, Professor Kutler takes us back 40 years to this remarkable time in our American history and describes how our democracy unfolded as it should. Would the resignation of Richard Nixon occurred without the tapes? Professor Kutler answers this question and gives us new insight into some of the Congressional leaders whose strong commitment to the Constitution helped the Watergate hearings stay on course.

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HOW THE SUPREME COURT SHAPES AMERICAN CULTURE

Guest: Richard Leffler, Ph.D., Editor Emeritus, Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution

The Supreme Court has spoken. The Affordable Care Act - the Individual Mandate - is Constitutional. Pages were written on both sides of this opinion, and in the end, Chief Justice, John Roberts, found that is was constitutional under the broad taxing powers of the Constitution.

What do we know about the Constitution - the dynamic dialogue and negotiations that the Founding Fathers engaged in? This program takes you back to those days, before air conditioning, when those bigger than life leaders from the relatively newly-established states gathered together to create a document that would unite us all and would be ageless in its interpretation. Richard Leffler eloquently describes the reality of the lively discussions and the delicate negotiations and trust that eventually led to the ratification of the Constitution and subsequent Bill of Rights.

As the Judicial Branch of the Constitution, the Supreme Court has, throughout its history, sought to find within the Constitution sound reasoning for the decisions that have evolved. With the substance of the Constitution in hand, on this program Richard Leffler dissects the latest ruling of the Supreme Court using the actual words of the Justices who wrote them.

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