Every time I talk to Sarah George, I wait for her to do what most politicians the other side of Bernie Sanders and well…Sarah George…always do. They hedge. They read the room. They see a poll and they talk to their “wise men’’ advisors. And they back off in the face of criticism. Not George. She doesn’t retreat. Doesn’t hedge. Doesn’t make a show of prosecuting some drug dealer to send a message.

George is the State’s Attorney for Chittenden County, which includes Burlington, Vermont’s largest city. That means she is the county prosecutor, the district attorney, the public official to whom the police bring cases of alleged crime to prosecute in court before a judge.

Our LIVE audience podcast on July 23rd at the Montpelier Performing Arts HUB was the FULL George, who is running for re-election in a Democratic primary August 11. She has a lot to say on issues that strike very close to home.

It was a great, thoughtful evening. Give it a watch or a listen below:

1. Video

2. Audio

P.S. Next Podcast Live at the HUB is August 27th @ 7pm with none other than former governor, presidential candidate and DNC Chair Howard Dean. First question will be - What the heck is wrong with the Democratic Party?

And then there is our history. We willingly kidnapped people from another land, brought them here against their will, enslaved them, raped them, killed them for no good reason and then expect them to rise up and be equal. And we tell everyone it’s in the past and to forget about it.

“The best way to eliminate discrimination is not to discriminate,’’ wrote Chief Justice Roberts, memorably.

When we arrived here, we discovered that people unlike us has already been here for hundreds of years. They had homes, customers, laws, languages, tradition. In our thirst for wealth and power, we destroyed those people, killed them, poisoned them and stole everything they had. It was genocide.

And then we turned that need for control, power and conquest to the rest of the world. We assassinated foreign leaders, destabilized governments and secretly undermined entire societies so our oil companies could steal the resources. Every time you flip on the AC, remember that some poor kid very far away sacrificed for our wealth and comfort.

It is a dark, sordid history that makes you want to leave - head off to Sweden or Portugal where they care about the less fortunate, cover people’s health care costs and make universal education very very inexpensive.

We continue to labor under the false narrative of the rough and tumble cowboy, fiercely independent. But as we now know, that is a myth and many of those cowboys were black.

And we perpetuate that myth with an orgy of gaudy celebration and flag waving, capped by a grotesque, staged fighting match on the lawn of the White House, an event that will go down as one of the great American insults to ourselves; and yet somehow very American. Oh yeah, and a full parade of neo-Nazis marching through the streets of Washington, DC in full cowardice behind masks, like the Klan.

Our dark side is on full display for the world to see, not to mention ourselves.

So how do we deal with being American 250 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence? How do I deal with it, standing on the backs of the slaves who came before me? Why not Sweden or Portugal? Why stay and continue to fight Trumpism? Why stay and find the good in people, to “do the next good thing’’ as a friend said recently?

Because you can’t run away from this and leave others behind.

Because my four children are here.

Because Bryan Stevenson is here, in Montgomery, Alabama, building civil rights monuments and defending poor black people we have put on Death Row. He points out that the four million slaves freed by Abraham Lincoln did not revolt in anger and bitterness. They went to work for freedom, ran for office, fought in our wars. They were never thanked. But they stayed anyway. Remarkable.

Because Jill Lepore is here. In an interview recently she said the country is in “freefall’’ and that she cannot understand why students at Harvard, where she teaches history, are not marching in the streets against the injustice happening around us.

“I’m baffled,’’ she said. “I have no answer to this question….where is everybody.’’

Because there is something called the public good that must be pursued. And if I don’t pursue it as best I can, others will give up as well. And then all is lost.

Because I can make a difference, however small. Grow a vegetable, hold a door, check on a neighbor.

Because I live in Vermont, which is fast becoming the go-to place for those who can’t stomach the greed of a capitalism gone off the rails. Vermont is a real place where people still live somewhat uneventful lives of common sense. There is no political corruption. And your neighbor really does pull you out of the ditch on a 10 degree night. It has clean air, lots of fresh water and a food system that rejects corporate poison in favor of co-ops and cooperation. It is really small at 640,000 people. That smallness comes with an intimacy that brings meaning to lives.

Because Maggie Haberman just wrote the best book on Trump ever, telling us what’s really happening inside our government.

Because two women are running for governor of Vermont in a Democratic primary.

Because my neighbor just lost her husband and needs someone to mow her lawn and stack her firewood.

Because one of my mentors is here, battling cancer and I need to go see him.

Because Downstreet Housing & Community Development is here, building affordable housing with skill, panache and determination.

Because Amy Goodman is here, doing the journalism that holds people accountable.

Because I think a backlash may be coming against the Trump thing. And I want to be part of it. I want to watch it happen and take part in what justice can look like after this blemish is gone from our history so my kids can know a more generous America.

Because in the end, I’m an American. And I won’t be silenced.

To compare this deal to the one Obama negotiated is an embarrassment. Let’s go back. In 2015, the Obama administration, in the form of serious diplomats and negotiators, signed a deal with Iran. It was called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). And it was signed not just by the US and Iran but several other world powers.

Here is what it accomplished:

• Enriched Uranium Limits: Capped Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile at 300 kilograms and restricted enrichment levels to 3.67%, well below the threshold needed for weapons-grade material.

• Facility Redesign: Required the redesign of the Arak heavy-water reactor to prevent the production of weapons-grade plutonium.

• Inspections: Mandated robust, long-term access and monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

• Sanctions Relief: Lifted international, European, and U.S. nuclear-related sanctions, unfreezing billions of dollars in Iranian assets

Trump’s people came up with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which means nothing except an agreement to negotiate the hard stuff over the next 60 days.

This MOU, while not binding, talks about the following:

• Open the Straight of Hormuz so oil can flow. (Already happened under Obama)

• Iran agrees not to build a nuclear weapon. (Already happened under Obama)

• Iran gets to sell oil. (Already happened under Obama)

• Iran gets $300 billion to rebuild after US bombing. (Trump called Obama a weak son of a bitch for giving Iran far less money. You know that this money will go right to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, which will rebuild its military and hurt the Iranian people.)

• Immediate termination of Israeli war in Lebanon.

Other issues like a ballistic missile program - which Trump the US “obliterated’’ and how much uranium Iran gets to keep will be worked out in the next 60 days.

So to summarize:

• the US spent 90 billion in a war that killed the Iranian leadership, leaving hard liners in place.

• We promised to support reform and even revolution in Iran, urging citizens to take back their government. We have now abandoned them.

• We gave up the moral high ground by killing innocent school children in the early bombing and have taken no responsibility for that act.

• We leave in place an emboldened Iran to keep fueling terrorism around the region. They now know that Trump is weak and that the Straight of Hormuz can be used a bargaining chip. Get ready to pay tolls for oil to get ships through there.

• In short, the JCPOA deal under Obama was far better. Trump killed it for cheap bragging rights and is now trying to put it back together. The Iranians know that.

• Trump is hanging responsibility for this failure around the neck of JD Vance, who is trying to explain it away while he promotes his unserious new book.

• Even Republican senators are growing some spine and criticizing the deal. Susan Collins of Maine, Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy of Louisiana and even Ted Cruz.

• And the fake macho voices of MAGA - Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro and Steve Bannon - hate this deal.

Trump got his rocks off with Pete Hegseth by bombing a country and killing people. They love that. But they didn’t think ahead to what comes next. And now his secretly favorite media outlet, the outlet that he so desperately wants to win over - the NY Times - is just killing Trump over this.

I would not want to be Secretary of State Marco Rubio or JD Vance right now because they are taking the midnight lashings from Trump. He is screaming at them. “You promised this would work out!’’

And now with Iran in the catbird seat, we will have to watch over the next 60 days as Trump negotiators like Steve Witkoff go toe to toe with Iranians who don’t care about our reputation, who now see we are weak and who don’t care about their own people.

This is a terrible retreat by Trump, who is trying desperately to save face as the mid-term elections approach and electoral disaster looms.

Look for other face saving moves by Trump to change the subject from Epstein and Iran.

Here’s my top 5 stories in The Times.

1. ‘Teachers Are Going to Hate It’: How Social Media Apps Hooked Teens at School

   Front page story on social media companies pushing their apps on school kids. These companies have now crossed the line into full mental health threats. The documents The Times dug up from various lawsuits tells a scary story. Meta, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube are revealed in their mendaciousness. They are the new Big Tobacco.

2. A team-by-team guide to the 2026 World Cup: What to expect and who to watch A special section on the upcoming World Cup football (soccer) tournament. Even if you don’t care - the section is full of great profiles and history. It is a window into how the rest of the world approaches their favorite sport/obsession.

3. Trump Keeps Immunity from I.R.S., a Victory in a Long-Running Feud

   Also on the front page. The lead story of the paper. I almost fell for it. Remember how Trump wanted to create a special fund and steal $1.8 billion from taxpayers to pay off Jan. 6 rioters/criminals and others he said were mistreated by the Biden people? They back off after a few Republicans found some spine and objected to such an absurd waste of money. But all of that obscured Trump’s shadowy deal with his own IRS stating that he and his family shall be immune from tax audits. That’s right - Trump sued his own IRS, which is run by his personal defense attorney Todd Blanche. The IRS then settled with Trump and agreed not to audit him. It doesn’t get more absurd and corrupt.

4. Resilience, Courage, ‘Blah Blah Blah’: A Legend Cheers His Knicks

   The Athletic section story on New York Knick legend Bill Bradley as he watches the NBA finals was a little dull - like Bradley himself. But also like Bradley, whom I have followed since childhood, it captures him in his complexity, his thoughtfulness and his love of the game.

5. How Three Chess Friends Battled Demons and Saved Two Lives

   A sort of love story about three friends - vastly different from each other - who play chess in Central Park. One is a professor, the other is sometimes homeless and the third is aging and struggling. Read all the way to the end. It will make your day and remind us all how to live better lives.

BONUS - The Interview - Scott Pelley on the Bari Weiss Era and His Last Days at ‘60 Minutes’

Not in the hard copy of the newspaper. The Times interview with 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley about his firing by CBS. I was prepared to scoff at wealthy TV journalists discovering that corporate bosses would sacrifice journalistic integrity for profit. “I’m shocked that gambling is going on here.’’ But Pelley, through tears, explains the powerful hold of a journalistic family and mission on him personally. It is fantastic.

You can watch the famous scene in the Robert Redford movie The Candidate. As the Redford character - running for the US Senate - moves closer and closer to victory by telling the truth about hard issues, he and the campaign get cautious. The candidate sleeps with a campaign aide. And the advisors begin telling him to not be so truthful. He compromises.

Now comes Graham Platner, Army vet, oyster farmer. Just a guy from Sullivan, Maine. For months he has told his truth. And that vanquished his Democratic rival, former Governor Janet Mills.

Maine voters want change and they want someone next generation. Voters supported Platner even after the disclosure of a Nazi tattoo on his body.

He copped to being really drunk and stupid after several tours in Iraq. He clearly went out and got shit-faced with his buddies. He said he didn’t know that the body art was bad. Dumb.

Then last week the NY Times broke a story about his sexting women. Also really dumb.

Then there is this week’s NY Times story interviewing former girlfriends. Now I don’t think The Times ever interviewed Trump ex-girlfriends and dating partners. They laid out Pete Hegseth’s sordid past pretty well, not to mention Brett Cavanaugh.

There is enough sleaze to go around both parties. Republicans are rallying behind a guy named Ken Paxton to be their candidate for the Senate in Texas. To their credit, Republicans in Texas impeached him for doing favors for a wealthy donor. It’s bribery. He was also indicted for securities fraud and is being divorced by his wife for “biblical’’ reasons.

So the tolerance for sleaze goes both ways. And that is why the next generation of voters is desperate for someone NOT sleazy, someone who talks like they do, who lives as they do.

Platner looked like them, talked like them and had life concerns like them.

For months, Platner looked like the next Bernie Sanders. He said all the rights things about inequality, wealth taxes, Medicare for All.

And he owned up to the tattoo thing being dumb.

But then yesterday he blinked. When the sexting story came out in The Times, he sent his wife Amy onto Instagram to vouch for him and defend their marriage. It was a courageous thing for her to do. I felt really really sorry for her.

But no interview with Platner himself. No mea culpa. Nothing. Big mistake.

Now comes The Times story about Platner’s dating life in which former girlfriends call him volatile and little dangerous.

Nothing from Platner or the campaign. Another mistake.

It is clear to me that no one advising Platner remembers the famous 2008 press conference by Republican presidential candidate John McCain. The Arizona senator had been accused in a NY Times story of having an affair with a lobbyist.

McCain did exactly the right thing. He walked out in front of the press corp and denied an affair, saying he knew the lobbyist but that is as far as it went.

The key moment was when McCain said he would stay and answer every question from reporters for as long as it took. He wouldn’t run away or hide behind a prepared statement or some press secretary. Eventually, the reporters got tired. Everybody went home. The story died.

This is what Platner needs to do right now.

Hold a press conference in Maine. Say you will answer every question from reporters for as long as it takes.

And in that press conference, he should do the following:

1. Own your past. You did stupid stuff. You know it. And we know it. Voters forgive if you tell the truth.

2. Don’t send your wife out to defend you. Women are sick and tired of explaining the stupid behavior of husbands. It’s gross and sexist.

3. Apologize. Say you were wrong. Apologize to those you may have mistreated.

4. Over-correct. Promise to be the kind of senator who grows from past mistakes, who forgives others and tries to be the best person you can be. Voters will either believe you or they won’t. You say you trust their judgment. It is time to prove it.

5. Get a better communications person over the age of 40 who has the guts to tell you the truth. There are a lot of young consultants around Platner from NY and elsewhere. Go find someone who remembers the John McCain press conference. Stop listening to advisors who say you should hide and get cautious.

You are about to lose this campaign and saddle the country with a Republican Senate. Go tell the truth and trust the voters.

Read more

I am also planning to recommend other writers and publications. My reading is wide and sometimes deep. And I don’t want to ignore other great writers in favor of The Times, which I sometimes feel can be constrained by an over-cautiousness; not to mention too much focus on silly fundraisers and insipid fashion.

This new weekly news rundown is still free to subscribers. But going behind the wall for paid subscribers soon! So stay tuned.

Here are my top five stories. What are yours?

1. How the Stars of 6 Tony-Nominated Shows Get Into Character - The Times interviewed Broadway actors on how they get ready every night to inhabit a role. The great Nathan Lane on how to play Willy Loman, Daniel Radcliffe in Every Brilliant Thing, Kelli O’Hara and Rose Byrne in Fallen Angels. How do they prepare? It’s a three-page layout and really fun.

2. Could ‘A River Runs Through It’ Have Been a Hit Today? - A Book Review essay about the great novella by Norman Maclean. It’s about fly fishing, about death, about aging, about tragedy. Robert Redford turned it into a truly great film. I return to the film a lot. ……"Eventually, all things merge into one and a river runs through it.’’

3. Gisèle Pelicot’s Memoir Said Something Original and Taboo About Victimhood Take a break from the vileness of Trump and Jeffrey Epstein to the bravery of Pelicot and her memoir. She turns the tables on her husband and the 50 men he recruited to rape her. “Shame must change sides,’’ she said. A must-read.

4. Here Are 1.5 Trillion Reasons Not to Trust Pete Hegseth’s Budget

   The Sunday Opinion section takes apart the absurd Pentagon effort to put more gravy on the gravy train. Start with this story as a way into how we should stop this kind of spending.

5. How a Democratic Governor Came to Release an Election Denier From Prison Colorado Governor Jared Polis commuted the sentence of an election official who tried really hard to overturn the 2020 election. Tina Peters was convicted and received a nine-year sentence. Now she is free, just like the Jan. 6 rioters pardoned by Trump.

One of my great pleasures - still - is reading the New York Times in detail, in hard copy, in my hands many times a week, especially on Sunday.

In 1980s Washington DC, as a young newspaper reporter, the other great pleasure was inserting a quarter into a green metal box and snatching a Washington Post for my subway ride to the newsroom. Thirty minutes later, totally informed, I was ready for Capitol Hill or righting wrongs via the telephone with evil doers, politicians and whistleblowers.

Sadly, the Post is a ghost, although those who remain in the Bezos era do great work.

So it is The Times that brings the pleasure. The paper lived on our magazine table all day every day in New Jersey growing up, my mother having fetched it from the end of the driveway. The only place in my town that still sells the print edition every day is the local food coop. This requires a car ride of a few miles. Worth it.

But what about you? You are reading the clips on Apple News, scrolling Instagram or heaven forbid, watching the network news or MS Now.

So here I offer you a new feature of Conflict of Interest. It is called NYT - Cover to Cover. (Hat top to Phineas Ellis for the name). Why not pick the top five stories in The Times that legendary editor Ben Bradlee used to call “Holy Shit stories,’’ the kind that stop you, change you, inform you and make you talk about it the rest of the day to whomever will listen.

I’ll take stories from anywhere in the paper. (I might even sneak in some stories from the website that don’t appear in the paper. But I will let you know. It’s kind of like telling your readers you are using AI).

I’m already doing the reading. So I may as well share with you.

Here goes - my top five stories from The Times this Sunday.

1. The page 1 story on Trump awarding a no-bid contract to a firm to renovate the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall between the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument. Trump drove his motorcade onto the floor of the empty pool this week for a photo op, alarming contractor types who said the heavy weight from the trucks (not Trump) could damage joints in the concrete. The no-bid contract didn’t surprise me. That’s par for the course with Trump. What surprised me was that previous presidents hadn’t done this. The Reflecting Pool is a major attraction and a symbol of the American democracy. And it has been allowed to decay. Another temporary Trump victory over Democrats with little imagination.

2. What Are Teen Takeovers? Still in the A section - a story about teenagers running amok in cities. The kids gather in parks and other places. The larger the crowd, the more likely violence ensues. The story brought out the usual tribalism. Law and order folks want the kinds arrested. The kids are looking for outlets, play, excitement, even danger. And they are not getting it in their screen-filled Internet life. So they pour into the streets. I was impressed with the words of Louis Custard, a 16-year-old in Detroit. “What I see is a bunch of kids trying to escape from the modality of their regular day-to-day life.’’ Well said.

3. The Arts & Leisure section has a weekly feature called Headliner, with 10 things you should know about celebrities like this week’s Khloe Kardashian. It is my least favorite part of The Times, its penchant for sucking up to celebrities. But I get the business need. If you are going to pay for coverage of Gaza, you gotta play with Kardashians. We learn that she plays music all day, gets her hair done a lot, lives in a gated community near her family and has a custom-made bed that can host slumber parties. We are doomed. (I struggled through the section’s cover story on what happens to America when the Late Show with Steven Colbert ends later this month. I’d had enough when they broke out the interview with David Letterman waxing philosophic.)

4. The Sunday Opinion section is a weekly roadmap to our crumbling empire and Trump’s corruption. So things can get a little depressing. But the cover story was “A New Theory About Why Americans Aren’t Having More Babies.’’ The answer is because young people these days are giving up on an America that used to promise prosperity via housing, community, education and great health care. Today, all of those issues are in jeopardy and young people are asking whether having kids is worth it. I’m not sure this is such a new theory. Any parent with adult children (like me) has been watching this play out for a decade now.

5. The Book Review did not contain a piece by Dwight Garner, the best book reviewer in America. But it had a small blurb about a new book on Lewis & Clark and their expedition to the Louisiana Territory. If you read Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose, you know what I’m talking about. The new book is This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis & Clark. It tells the story through eyes of the people who traveled with the two explorers, including the Shoshone teenager Sacagawea, who saved their lives countless times. Cannot wait!

6. BONUS pick - The entire special section on Design. It focuses on repurposing old buildings for new lives. As I am thinking a lot about empty buildings in my city and how they could be turned into housing, I am putting the section aside for Monday and Tuesday. I wanna go slow.

To kick off my LIVE audience podcast series in Montpelier, Vermont, why not have ice cream legend Ben Cohen come explain his campaign to win back the company taken away from him by the corporate folks.

In Vermont, it takes about an hour to get a call back from Ben Cohen. That is part of the beauty of the place. You see Bernie Sanders on the street and in the airport. You see the governor throwing tires into the back of a truck. And you know your state legislator because they are your neighbor.

Despite 35 years in Vermont writing and talking about politics, I had never met Cohen, although I had followed the company and his story closely. And in typical Vermont fashion, one neighbor of mine was the chief flavor developer for the company. I went to college with one of the CEO’s and knew another one. And I knew Jerry from politics and activism.

So it doesn’t take long for an email to hit the Inbox from Ben’s assistant saying he would be glad to do the show in front of 60-plus people at the Montpelier Performing Arts HUB in the state capitol.

The result of that conversation is here.

The evening brought lots of fun surprises about the company and about the founders that you rarely read in the superficial media treatments.

I won’t spoil the fun but I do like to ask interesting people why they do what they do — what drives them. With Ben, I asked - “You are rich and you are famous. Why bother’’ with the activism, getting arrested.

It takes a lot of work and sacrifice to try and buy back the ice cream company you co-founded with your grade school friend, especially at 75 years old.

The answer was thoughtful and nuanced.

His bottom line: “Not everyone cares about money.’’

Cohen has spent decades now on his activism. Nuclear weapons, the Pentagon budget, Bernie Sanders, economic development in impoverished communities, Israel/Gaza.

That last one got him arrested at the US Senate and forced the hand of Magnum Corp., the owner of Ben & Jerry’s. Ben got Ben & Jerry’s to stop selling ice cream in Israel to protest its war in Gaza. So Magnum started firing the company’s independent board members. The move was a violation of the unique agreement Ben and Jerry had forged with the Unilever Corp. to allow for the independent board and political stances. But once Unilever spun Ben & Jerry’s off to Magnum, things changed.

So Cohen has lined up socially conscious investors ready to help buy back Ben & Jerry’s from Magnum. But they won’t sell.

What to do? Start with a PR and political campaign to pressure Magnum to sell. Nobody does PR and political activism better than Ben Cohen. He hopes the campaign will drive down the stock price and make it impossible for Magnum to keep Ben & Jerry’s.

Other great anecdotes from the talk:

Ben and Jerry had an agreement when they ran the company that if there was a disagreement and one of them felt really strongly, all they had to do was say so and that person won the day. Fascinating.

Cohen is still an employee of the company. (They tolerate him?) I suspect their PR people are telling them that firing him just gives him more oxygen for the campaign.

There are touching moments to all this. Check out Jerry’s statement on the campaign website resigning from the company he co-founded. You can also get involved.

Free Ben & Jerry’s

Ben was good to stay for so long, not to mention bringing along ice cream for the audience. He also gave out merch for the Free Ben & Jerry’s campaign, stacks of stickers that he urged all of us to put on Magnum ice creams products like Breyers and Talenti in grocery stores.

And then it was over. Off he went into the Vermont night, on his way to the Shaws grocery store in downtown Montpelier to slap stickers on products of his dreaded overlord. I’m still not sure what drives him. But it is a thing to watch.

To kick off my LIVE audience podcast series in Montpelier, Vermont, why not have ice cream legend Ben Cohen come explain his campaign to win back the company taken away from him by the corporate folks.

In Vermont, it takes about an hour to get a call back from Ben Cohen. That is part of the beauty of the place. You see Bernie Sanders on the street and in the airport. You see the governor throwing tires into the back of a truck. And you know your state legislator because they are your neighbor.

Despite 35 years in Vermont writing and talking about politics, I had never met Cohen, although I had followed the company and his story closely. And in typical Vermont fashion, one neighbor of mine was the chief flavor developer for the company. I went to college with one of the CEO’s and knew another one. And I knew Jerry from politics and activism.

So it doesn’t take long for an email to hit the Inbox from Ben’s assistant saying he would be glad to do the show in front of 60-plus people at the Montpelier Performing Arts HUB in the state capitol.

The result of that conversation is here.

The evening brought lots of fun surprises about the company and about the founders that you rarely read in the superficial media treatments.

I won’t spoil the fun but I do like to ask interesting people why they do what they do — what drives them. With Ben, I asked - “You are rich and you are famous. Why bother’’ with the activism, getting arrested.

It takes a lot of work and sacrifice to try and buy back the ice cream company you co-founded with your grade school friend, especially at 75 years old.

The answer was thoughtful and nuanced.

His bottom line: “Not everyone cares about money.’’

Cohen has spent decades now on his activism. Nuclear weapons, the Pentagon budget, Bernie Sanders, economic development in impoverished communities, Israel/Gaza.

That last one got him arrested at the US Senate and forced the hand of Magnum Corp., the owner of Ben & Jerry’s. Ben got Ben & Jerry’s to stop selling ice cream in Israel to protest its war in Gaza. So Magnum started firing the company’s independent board members. The move was a violation of the unique agreement Ben and Jerry had forged with the Unilever Corp. to allow for the independent board and political stances. But once Unilever spun Ben & Jerry’s off to Magnum, things changed.

So Cohen has lined up socially conscious investors ready to help buy back Ben & Jerry’s from Magnum. But they won’t sell.

What to do? Start with a PR and political campaign to pressure Magnum to sell. Nobody does PR and political activism better than Ben Cohen. He hopes the campaign will drive down the stock price and make it impossible for Magnum to keep Ben & Jerry’s.

Other great anecdotes from the talk:

Ben and Jerry had an agreement when they ran the company that if there was a disagreement and one of them felt really strongly, all they had to do was say so and that person won the day. Fascinating.

Cohen is still an employee of the company. (They tolerate him?) I suspect their PR people are telling them that firing him just gives him more oxygen for the campaign.

There are touching moments to all this. Check out Jerry’s statement on the campaign website resigning from the company he co-founded. You can also get involved.

Free Ben & Jerry’s

Ben was good to stay for so long, not to mention bringing along ice cream for the audience. He also gave out merch for the Free Ben & Jerry’s campaign, stacks of stickers that he urged all of us to put on Magnum ice creams products like Breyers and Talenti in grocery stores.

And then it was over. Off he went into the Vermont night, on his way to the Shaws grocery store in downtown Montpelier to slap stickers on products of his dreaded overlord. I’m still not sure what drives him. But it is a thing to watch.

Don’t look now but right-wing populist Tucker Carlson and left-wing populist Bernie Sanders are starting to agree on a lot. In Vermont we call it meeting out behind the barn. And that agreement has huge implications for the political parties and for where the country is headed.

First the background:

We are in a major moment of historical change. The Republicans, who once cared about a strong, engaged foreign policy, military spending to make that policy real, economic freedom and limited government has transformed into a party that follows whatever Trump says, no matter how crazy.

The Democrats, once a party devoted to working people and using the tools of government (think FDR) to help people better themselves through housing assistance, social services, environmental protection, and progressive tax policy, has lost itself to Wall Street donors who prize wealth creation over the common good.

Bernie Sanders - my senator - agrees with this conclusion. He has spent 40 years in public office saying pretty much the same thing. The rich have all the money. The rich have designed a system that benefits themselves at the expense of working people, who are defenseless against the onslaught of a runaway capitalism that does not promote the common good. (There’s that phrase again)

For Bernie - we need to pause data center development while we figure out AI. We need to tax capital, not labor. That means raising taxes on the wealthy, including raising the capital gains tax from the absurd 20 percent level. It is the old saw about Warren Buffet’s secretary paying a higher tax rate than one of the richest men in the world.

Then there is Israel and its war against the Palestinians in Gaza, and now Lebanon. Bernie takes to the Senate floor to demand that the US stop providing Israel with weapons and the money to sustain its military. What began as a lonely effort with two other senators has now grown to 40 votes on the floor of the US Senate to defund the Israel war machine. It is now acceptable for mainstream US politicians to question the Israeli government and the morality of their actions. Twenty years ago, such an effort was foolhardy.

And now comes Tucker Carlson, a highly influential media personality with a big following. First a journalist, then a TV show host with liberal leanings, then a Fox News stalwart all in for Trump, and now an independent media voice with a huge following who helped Trump get elected a second time. Indeed, Carlson - believing that Trump actually meant what he said about no more wars and America First - campaigned for him dozens of times. The two spoke on the phone regularly.

Carlson is no dummy. He hasn’t prospered in America’s Internet-based, post-newspaper media environment by not paying attention to changing trends and attitudes. And no one is more cynical than I about how calculating, nasty and phony he is. Carlson has always reminded me of the wealthy boarding school kid who won’t shut up. Smart but determined to show everyone his smartness and then hold it over his classmates in his bow tie and plaid shirts. Oh - wait. That is exactly who Carlson is.

No Bernie Sanders is Carlson.

But then the New York Times, in the person of journalist Lulu Garcia-Navarro, took a trip to Carlson’s home in Maine to interview him about his latest feelings about Trump, especially given that Carlson has broken with Trump over the war in Iran.

Here’s the link to the interview, which is chock full of fascinating stuff about where Carlson’s mind is headed and what that means for the Republicans.

The Interview - What Does Tucker Carlson Really Believe? I Went to Maine to Find Out.

Carlson is now saying - as Bernie does almost daily - that Trump was bullied into war with Iran by Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel. He now calls Trump a “slave,’’ to that country’s war-making.

“That is our elected president, whose job is to protect our country and our interests and our economy. And he is looking out for Israel first. That’s outrageous.’’

And later.

“I agree with most Americans when I say this war is a disaster, it’s impossible to see how it helps the United States.’’

So…I get the break with Trump on war. He lied to the country and got elected by calling for an end to the war-making of previous presidents in Iraq and Afghanistan. Carlson loves Trump for that and goes all in for him. And then in February, after what Carlson describes as multiple telephone calls and personal lunches in which he begs Trump not to go to war, Trump pulls the trigger saying: “It will be alright.’’

But then the Times interview gets really interesting. Carlson goes further and talks about the need to change our tax policy, to do a better job of running the Head Start program and fixing homelessness in Los Angeles. He includes a broadside against Citi Bank, the country’s third largest bank.

He rued the 20 percent capital gains tax as not high enough and contributing to an economy that is screwing over young people.

“…the total destruction of the economic opportunity for young people, and what looks to me as a non-economist like the true hoarding of capital by a tiny group of people, a very lopsided and unfair economic system guaranteed to radicalize young people — and not just young people, but especially young people.’’ (Message to the cynical - Carlson is recognizing that future viewers are young and that the old people still watching CBS News are NOT his audience)

Wow. Tucker Carlson marching into Bernie Sanders territory. Why didn’t any bankers get punished for the 2008 recession? Why have we structured an economy that favors the wealthy at the expense of the young and working people? Why have we given over our future to oligarchs running technology companies without regard for the public good?’’

Who is more evil, Carlson was asked - the Neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes or Republican Senator Ted Cruz for his support of Israel and the war in Iran. Carlson says it is Cruz by far.

You can almost feel the tectonic plates of our political system moving. You can also feel Carlson’s total thrill at being front and center in the NY Times, the media institution that Trump loves to hate, but that still sets the standard for journalism and is secretly watched closely by Carlson and his ilk. The online clips will dominate for the next week and Carlson knows it. That’s why he did the interview.

What to make of this.

• Carlson has broken with Trump on the Iran War and Israel.

• Carlson now believes (although I use that word guardedly) that the wealthy have too much money and power and need to pay higher taxes so we can fund a fairer system in the US.

• Bernie Sanders believes this too.

• Look for Bernie to go on Carlson’s show to discuss all this.

• If the Democrats were smart - and that’s asking a lot - they would recognize that there are a lot of Carlson/MAGA believers feeling betrayed by Trump and who are ripe for the taking in the upcoming mid-term election. Young people also.

• The one Democrat who has cracked this code in addition to Bernie is Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner. Watch for him.

• Bernie Sanders will read this piece and say to himself - “Of course. That’s why I win rural conservative voters in Vermont for the last 30 years.’’ No surprise to him.

So Graham Platner, Bernie Sanders and Tucker Carlson. It is a new party. They may not like each other much. But they are starting to say the same things.

For more than two years and 75 episodes, my Conflict of Interest podcast has explored our politics and culture with a wide range of guests who enlighten and get beneath everyday onslaught of noise. Because in times like these -- I think we can all agree -- too often that noise can be deafening.

As a former newspaper reporter, radio show host and social guy, I have missed the in-person juice I get from talking to interesting people face to face. Couple that with my growing belief that the major issue of this generation is turning out to be isolation and the lack of community, I had an idea.

Why not launch an in-person, LIVE audience version of the podcast in my adopted hometown of Montpelier, VT, the nation’s smallest state capitol?

Why not do it at the Montpelier Performing Arts Performing Arts Hub, a hot new art space that grew out of the ashes of an old college library?

Why not bring people out of their homes to watch, listen and participate in fun, deep discussions they don’t get on cable TV or the dreaded algorithm?

Why not give ground-breaking Vermont and national guests a platform to discuss their work?

One of the best things journalism taught me when I was starting out -- that has stayed with me to this day -- was the realization that you could call up or email pretty much anyone in the world and they would call you back and answer your questions.

This is especially true in a small place like Vermont, which has lots of big-time people doing interesting things. Retired CIA agents, nationally acclaimed musicians, intrepid writers, Olympic athletes, Bernie Sanders. They are all here and have been invited on the show.

So…in concert with the Montpelier Performing Arts Hub, the Studio Friends podcast production company, ORCA media and lots of helpers, I am launching a LIVE-audience version of Conflict of Interest. The show hits monthly on the last Thursday of the month, with some possible exceptions for my personal schedule.

The goal is to discuss tough issues like housing, war & peace, health care, education, politics and culture with fascinating guests in a way that builds connection and community.

Our first guest is ice cream impresario Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s and currently in an epic battle to buy back the Vermont-grown company from its current corporate overlords.

So come join me LIVE and in-person! We’re kicking off the series NEXT WEEK on Thursday, April 23 at 7 p.m. with my discussion with Ben. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with some food and drink in the HUB cafe before starting the formal program at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10. RSVP HERE. If you can’t make the ticket price work, there are other options which you can learn more about HERE. If it is your first time at the HUB, you can find us at: 35 College Street Montpelier, VT.

If you are interested in sponsoring an episode or would like to submit a question for the interview, you can reach out at: Kevin.k.ellis52@gmail.com.

Bring your questions, bring your friends, and help spread the word!

I look forward to seeing you next week!

We have elected for a second time a terrible, terrible human being who is destroying this country and all the good it has stood for since its founding. And he has unearthed our dark side, always present but suppressed by good people everywhere until now.

It is really easy to let it all pass by, to ignore it, tell yourself it will pass, that we go through these phases. I don’t think so. We cannot throw up our hands and hope it goes away.

To understand why, we have to first make a decent accounting of Trump’s depraved behavior. It is behavior that is sullying our reputation in the world. The criminal acts are another matter. The felonies. The $80 million courtroom judgment for sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll in a New York City department store. The Epstein saga that continues to play out. We know what’s really in those files and how it all happened. And it is so ugly that we will want to turn away. When we finally find out the full Epstein story, it will make Harvey Weinstein look like a tea party.

We will be faced with the criminality once Trump leaves office - investigations, prosecutions. The press, led by the NY Times and new media outlets, will do their job and gradually uncover much of the corruption. Whether to prosecute or, as Obama did with the bankers in 2008, move forward. Those are political decisions that will take their course.

But our purpose today is the historic decline of the U.S. reputation around the world since 2016. Say what you want about George W. Bush on Iraq - billions squandered, hundreds of thousands dead and injured, lives ruined, lies about weapons of mass destruction.

But at least Bush based the Iraq debacle on some sort of ideal - that we had an obligation to fight terrorism, that we had a moral position at stake.

Same with Obama on the corrupt bankers in 2008. He made a decision to let them go so the country could move ahead and not squander his political capital and first term by prosecuting wrongdoers at the expense of economic recovery. (I believed you could do both)

Trump has none of this. I have now realized way too late that Trump is just one big TV show. He sees life in two week increments, like his reality show The Apprentice. When the story line runs out, say kidnapping the leader of Venezuela, he moves on to Cuba and then on to Iran. Then the pope. And now he is seeking to vacate the connection of more January 6 insurrectionists.

And a cartoon of Trump as Jesus tending to the sick, which his team then took down after complaints from catholics.

“…a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”

In the words of conservative writer David Brooks, a long time Republican voter who got his start at William F. Buckley’s right-wing National Review:

“Maximum malevolence….To threaten to wipe out a civilization. It is an assertion of true evil.’’

Brooks goes on: “Narcissists tend toward disinhibition as they age. They get more themselves.’’

Trump is now like the drunk uncle at dinner who thinks he can say whatever he wants. The more you put guidelines around him, the worse it gets. Brooks harkens back to Caligula, who killed anyone who disagreed.

The founders of this country feared that a rogue president could run through a Congress like a “whale through a net….Now their worst nightmare is happening,’’ Brooks said.

I’ve said this before and have been wrong. But I always believed that at some point, Trump’s incompetence would bring him down, that his disgusting, lying, made-up actions would bring him down, that the payoffs and grift would bring him down.

It has not happened because the line of decency in this country has moved to places we never expected.

Congressman Eric Swallwell thought he could abuse staffers and no one would care. Congressman Tony Gonzales thought he could have a sexual affair with a staffer who then killed herself and no one would care. Trump thinks that he can threaten a war crime of genocide against Iran and no one will care.

But eventually, the incompetence and hubris catch up. Trump went to war for revenge. Everything he does is about revenge. It has nothing to do with policy or helping people. It is ALL fake. It is ALL a lie. Nothing he says can be trusted.

He went to war in Iran because Netanyahu persuaded him to, because he hates Biden and Obama for signing the nuclear deal with Iran. He is threatened by anyone who disagrees with him.

Again - we have become numb to this behavior. So do me a favor and read the following statement from Trump on his social media account. Say it out loud and ask yourself if it makes you feel good that an American president is saying this.

“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran,” and adding, “Open the F***in’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH!”

Just saying that is a war crime. The Nuremberg tribunals after World War II established the principle that words carry weight.

Trump defenders point to the “madman theory.’’ That by looking and sounding deranged, the Iranians will cave for fear of annihilation. That these words are a negotiation tactic. They are wrong. The words are wrong. They are immoral. And they are a crime.

The 90 million people who live in Iran have it much tougher than we do. They are willing to endure a lot more pain than we are. They don’t look forward to Netflix at night and In & Out Burger. They are surviving a religious, fantastical regime. Imagine what Iranian families are thinking when they hear and read Trump’s words.

Imagine what the Germans and Japanese are thinking. The Canadians.

After World War II, we didn’t take over Europe via the spoils of victory. We helped rebuild it. We fed hungry people. We forgave Japan for bombing Pearl Harbor and helped build a democracy there. Presidents of both parties, Truman to Eisenhower and Kennedy to Nixon, Carter to Reagan, helped design and shape a post World War II era of rules and behavior that has worked for 80 plus years.

Trump despises rules. He hates working with others. He must be above everyone else and needs people to be beneath him.

The writer Fareed Zakaria fears that the damage done by Trump, the distrust that has been sown throughout the world, will take a generation to recover, if ever.

No one trusts us anymore. India and Canada are talking to the Chinese because they no longer trust the U.S. The Chinese electric car industry is eating our lunch as we lurch around the world demanding more fossil fuels, even though solar is now cheaper.

The whole thing is insane. And the question becomes whether a citizenry poisoned by runaway capitalism and wealth creation, oblivious to the injury being caused as we are served infinite scrolling on Instagram, can recover the democracy muscle. It has been done before in the 1890s and the 1930s. But it takes people to stand up and be counted. To get off the couch.

It is a lot to ask. It would help if people generally looked to for leadership would actually DO something. As the country comes down around us, where are Barack Obama and George W. Bush? Michelle Obama and Laura Bush? Where is Lebron James? Where is Mitt Romney? Where for that matter, is the entire women’s and men’s professional basketball association. Where is Planned Parenthood? Where are the Steelworkers? The churches? How much longer will evangelical Christians, who bet the farm on Trump to get rid of abortion, tolerate this abusive behavior? Aren’t they the moral ones?

When is someone gonna say what Mario Savio said at Berkeley in 1964, that sometimes the machine is so odious that participation is immoral and that you have to throw yourself at the gears to make it stop?

Most of us don’t have the luxury of protesting every day, of throwing sand in Trump’s gears. But Lebron James does. So does the Catholic Church. So does George W. Bush. I know that Bush is disgusted by Trump. Half the Republican senators and half of the people who now work for Trump say he is crazy. But they say it after work, at a bar, in the dark. Yet they do nothing. Why?

This will end at some point. Trump will go. Whether by age and infirmity or by criminal prosecution or whatever. But he will go. And we will be left to pick up the pieces, to apologize to our friends and allies around the world and put our government and society back together. It will be a monumental task.

And that task will have to be performed in the midst of an AI take-over of an already weak society. It will be very very hard.

Are we up to it?

Example: Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence under Trump. Gabbard was a member of Congress before running for president and then getting plucked by Trump to run one of the most sensitive agencies in the federal government. In that role, Gabbard sees all sensitive, top secret intelligence. In theory, she knows all the secrets. And there are a lot of them. She oversees the CIA, the National Security Agency, and the Defense Intelligence Agency, among others. It is a serious job.

Last week, Gabbard told a Senate committee that she stands by the intelligence community assessment of last year that Trump’s first bombing of Iran had “obliterated” that country’s nuclear capability. But when asked whether she agreed with Trump on his newfound belief that Iran posed an “imminent’’ threat to the US, she dodged.

Her answer to the Senate Intelligence committee was that only the president can decide what “imminent’’ threat means. That is a lie. The whole purpose of our highly expensive intelligence operation in this country is to tell the president the truth about what is or isn’t an imminent threat. The CIA did this before the Iraq war. George W. Bush didn’t listen. Gabbard knows the truth. She just won’t say it because she refuses to get sideways with Trump.

Gabbard’s top aide, Joe Kent, resigned in part because of his conclusion that Iran does NOT pose such a threat. This guy was Gabbard’s former chief of staff and then the director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Its mission is self-explanatory. He saw everything that Gabbard saw.

Over and over, before the Senate committee, Gabbard evaded and dodged questions from committee members about how the Iran nuclear threat could have been obliterated and just months later we needed to attack them because of that threat. You just know she was sitting before the committee, the TV cameras and others, hoping upon hope that Trump wouldn’t fire her for saying the wrong thing. (Credit to Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff for asking tough questions instead of making a speech to Gabbard)

Which poses the question: Why do people like Gabbard - and many more - agree to work for Trump? Why do they work for a man so mendacious, so despicable, so morally bankrupt, so demeaning to those less powerful, when they know better? Why do Republican senators continue to back almost every move Trump makes, even as they grumble privately to their colleagues of his awfulness? Why are they willing to preside over the destruction of NATO, of a world order that has kept a general peace since World War II, of a standard of conduct in world trade and other affairs that led the US to be trusted around the world, of basic human decency. And why do they soil themselves and their reputations to curry favor with Trump.

Why?

Because of The RIDE. Let me explain because I have seen it up close.

First a small caveat. There are some who work for Trump to advance a long-held political agenda. I actually respect that. You may not like what RFK Jr. stands for. But he made a deal with the devil because of his messianic beliefs, not to make money. His grandfather took care of that. Same goes for lots of true believers within the federal agencies right now. To their credit, they believe their beliefs. Trump never has.

THE RIDE is the journey you take when you work for the president. Imagine you are member of Congress from Hawaii. You raise millions of dollars, you win election. Now you have the honor of being one of 435 House members with very little power. The place is run by the speaker, maybe Nancy Pelosi or maybe Mike Johnson. Upon arriving in Washington one of the first orders you are given is to begin raising money for your own re-election AND raise money for a special fund to elect others from your party. You walk across the street from your office to a shabby building to make fundraising calls both back home and to super-connected money people from around the country. Think the Teamsters Union, American Express, Native tribes, tech executives, oil companies and the many lobbyists that front them in DC. There is an aide at your side with a laptop that has the name of the potential donor and biographical sketch. How much has he/she given, where do their kids go to school, their birthday.

Then you have to find a place to live during the week from Monday to Thursday while in Washington. You have to pay for this place out of your own pocket.

Then before you have passed a bill, made a floor speech or done anything of substance, you are on a plane back to Hawaii on Thursday afternoon to report to your voters on how it’s going. Then on Monday morning it is back to DC where you are probably living alone in a small apartment while your friends are back home.

And soon you face a re-election campaign against some upstart that tells everyone what a terrible job you are doing. That is your life.

Contrast that with The RIDE.

You say screw this and run for president. You lose badly. But that’s OK because your face has now been on national TV for months and you have met hundreds of people, people of influence and power. It is also kind of fun to fly around the country instead of back home to answer the same questions from constituents about the dysfunction of Congress.

Then you decide to abandon the Democrats and support Trump. Your old Democratic friends are mortified but suddenly your face is back on TV. You have LOTS of new friends. Lo and behold, Trump wins the election and rewards your support by making you director of national intelligence.

Now your face is on TV a lot. You are in possession of information about national security at the highest level. You travel in a special car with a security detail. Your rolodex and party invites are suddenly overflowing with people driving the US economy - Palantir, Lockheed-Martin, Raytheon, Booz-Allen. Your entire day is about top secret information. Heady stuff.

The biggest problem - and this goes for people like Pete Hegseth and CIA Director John Ratcliffe - is that you actually have to do the job. The old days of drunken nights, cheating on spouses, fathering children out of wedlock and Fox News gigs, are over. You have to decide life and death every day, preside over the national defense or intelligence services with thousands of dedicated professionals looking at your example. You can’t sleep in. And one misstep could be fatal.

So you survive. You evade questions from US Senators, thumb your nose at the press and do whatever Trump tells you to do.

Now - the payoff. The RIDE begins at a cocktail party, or fundraiser. You meet the CEO of a defense contractor or consulting firm, who says: “When you are finished your government service, why don’t you come work for us. We need a senior VP of strategic operations. Better yet - why don’t you come on our board of directors.’’

There is a great scene in the West Wing TV show about this very encounter. It is waaaay more idealistic than real life. But it shows you how these thing happen.

You muster up the courage to ask: “Does the board of directors position pay?’’

You ask this because now that you are out of job in Congress or the executive branch, you have NO income.

Yes, the CEO says. It pays $250,000 per meeting and the board meets four times a year, usually in a beautiful place. If you serve on a committee, that’s more money. And your first-class, airport private club travel, hotel and meals are all paid for, not to mention any other expenses.

You tell the CEO you will think it over. Your heart skips a beat. You are joyous. You cannot believe that a career in politics scraping by and then topping out with a congressional salary can turn into this. “I can buy a car with cash and fly first-class!’’

“I am glad to serve,’’ you say the next day.

And that is how The RIDE goes. You can apply this to otherwise smart people like Usha Vance, married to the vice president. A Yale-trained lawyer, she must be enduring the weekly insults from her own husband about her religion and eating habits as he tries to please Trump. But Usha Vance gets the same RIDE. Suffer through this public service crap for four years and then get a handsomely paid gig on a corporate board or a CEO position at a bank or think tank.

Same with Hegseth. Mark my words. When Hegseth finally unravels in a fit of war-induced exhaustion, he will soon turn up on the board of a defense contractor, feeding inside information from his Pentagon days right into the CEO’s office. Same with Tulsi Gabbard. In today’s perverted, Internet-deranged political system, they might even have their own TV shows at the same time.

And remember also that these people will sign up with a “speakers bureau,’’ an agency whose job is to get speaking gigs before say - the National Association of Realtors. Time is of the essence here. Right now, you are hot. You can command $200,000 per speech for a year or so. Soon your star will dim and that fee will drop. So you get it while you can. Ten speeches a year, plus a board gig and TV-radio show. Do the math.

And Republicans aren’t the only ones doing this. It is the most egregious under Trump. But high-level officials working for Democrats have been doing this for decades.

Where did Robert McNamara go after his disastrous operation of the Vietnam War? Purgatory? No. The president of the World Bank. When former Democratic Senator Tom Daschle left the Senate, he went right to a lobbying firm in DC, making millions and sitting on boards of directors and making paid speeches.

And then there is Hunter Biden, son of the former president, sitting on the board of a foreign energy company making huge fees just because of who is father is.

It is all outrageous and disgusting and it goes on every day in Washington under our noses. The press sniffs it out to the extent it can. Ken Vogel at the NY Times is especially good. But the racket is so pervasive, so corrupt, it is hard to keep track.

When the books are written, we will discover - if we choose to look - that the societal destruction by Trump, his family and the greed and immorality of those who worked for him, will set new standards for this kind of corruption.

The only challenge will be keeping it all straight.

“Vermont,’’ I said.

“Bernie Sanders!’’ he replied with a wide smile.

It was then that I realized that Bernie Sanders was the most recognizable political figure in the world. Trump has since seized that mantle, albeit as a villain, like Darth Vader, or better yet Voldemort. But Bernie Sanders still holds a unique place in the world, like Muhammad Ali, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, Gloria Steinem. These people are above. They inhabit a different place. Books upon books have been written about them. And for the most part, people like them. In the modern vernacular, they are brands.

Yet when it comes to Bernie, we don’t really know a lot about him. Where did he come from? Why is he so popular? What fuels his maniacal focus on his issues of class, wealth and inequality? Was it his parents? The cities that made him - first Brooklyn, then tiny Burlington, VT? What cultural and political forces joined together to make Bernie Sanders into the guy you see on TV, hear on the radio or see at a rally. Or more fun for us Vermonters, the guy you see on the street or in the airport.

We learned small tidbits during his 2020 campaign for president, not so much because he wanted to share. Bernie is famous for having little patience for the personal, for legacy, for personal details that shed light on character. All that distracts from the core effort - to bend the political system to a more egalitarian place where working people have more power than the capitalists.

He did share personal details in 2020 because consultants (whom he loathes) told him he must. So reluctantly, he told his story. The son of Jewish immigrants in a part of Brooklyn no one knows about today. A home where money was scarce. So Bernie and his brother understood poverty and the working class. Moves to Vermont and starts building a movement based on his ideas around socialism, Eugene Debs as his hero.

But beyond that - not much.

Well now you can have it all, the whole story. The origin of Bernie Sanders. And for guys like me it is manna from heaven.

Bernie for Burlington - The Rise of the People’s Politician has hit book stores. The author is not a political journalist. But a poet. Dan Chiasson is the chair of the English department at Wellesley College and grew up in Burlington with a bird’s eye view of the Bernie’s rise. He spent three years digging into the story, interviewed all the players, especially those who went with Bernie on the first mission, running for mayor of Burlington.

Bernie was gone from the mayor’s office in Burlington by the time I arrived in 1991. So I watched his people in transition. A new mayor named Pete Clavelle, a progressive yes. But not exactly a Bernie devotee. Other Bernie figures receded to the background, replaced a next generation.

There are dozens of great lines and anecdotes in the book. And Chiasson tracks them down in exhaustive fashion.

“You have to remember that Bernie and Reagan coincide almost perfectly,’’ Peter Clavelle says. “Without Reagan, there is no Bernie.’’

The book gets deep into the marrow of Bernie Sanders, especially where he comes from, how he recognized the opportunity to win political office and the personality that drives it all.

You can read this book in lots of ways. As a Vermonter, you will recognize all the sights - downtown Burlington in the 1980s and 90s. The rural hamlet of Middlesex where Bernie first owned land. Stratty Lines’s Oasis diner where deals were cut and Bill Clinton lunched. (But Bernie always preferred - and still does - Henry’s diner down the street.) The communes around the state inhabited by rebellious young people fed up with the Vietnam War and their parents. “How come you’re not involved with your town government,’’ Bernie asked. Eventually, many of them did get involved. And they turned a rock-ribbed Republican state into a liberal Democratic one. And Bernie Sanders would fight and argue with those Democrats his entire career.

As a policy and politics person, you can enjoy the fights Mayor Bernie Sanders got into with the major corporate and political players - the University of Vermont, the railroad, and of course the Democratic Party, where another presidential candidate, Howard Dean, plays a role.

Or you can read the book as a study in how a young man grows up in a small Brooklyn apartment with parents fighting about money and yearns for a broader canvas.

Bernie and his brother see an ad - at Rockefeller Center of all places - for land in Vermont. So they bought 85 acres in Middlesex, about 20 minutes from my house. The move wasn’t to build a second home or ski chalet as people do today. It was an escape. A way out of New York.

And there is a fourth way to read this book. Bernie’s Sanders’ life in Burlington intersected with Chiasson’s, himself a Burlington kid whose family struggled with money and who knew every nook and crannie of the place. Chiasson got to see Bernie’s political rise up close, not as an advisor. But as a citizen, a kid who was materially helped by Sanders’ efforts and inspired by the rhetoric that still pours out of him on CNN.

Chiasson remembers the Burlington before Bernie in 1970s and 80s, the Italian neighborhood demolished to make way for “urban renewal,’’ the early effort to develop the waterfront into a sparkling asset for the people instead of developers. All the while, Mayor Bernie Sanders was a fixture at basketball courts and parks around the city.

“Make it, take it,’’ is a common phrase in urban pick-up basketball. It’s a small thing. But it’s not very socialist. If you score, you get to keep the ball. Ruthlessly capitalist actually. I imagine asking Bernie about that. But it would probably irritate him.

The book shows a very human side of Bernie Sanders, who, after several failed runs for elective office, almost drops out of politics. With no visible means of financial support, Chiasson writes that Sanders almost gave it up to write, teach or do carpentry.

But a colleague/friend had studied the results of recent mayoral elections and noticed a pattern. Young voters were there for the taking. So too were Republicans, hungry to shake up the staid Democratic machine that ruled the city along with the Catholic Church.

He won the mayoral election of 1980 by 10 votes with little idea how to run a city, get the streets plowed or pick up the garbage. But he figured it out with a devoted team of young activists who worked for little or no pay and were often frustrated by their boss’s Ahab-like single-mindedness.

Indeed, one of the highlights of the book is an intervention staged by the staff, intended to save Bernie from himself. They wrote him a memo and then confronted him. He was mean, never smiled, mistreated staff, they told him. And it would ruin him politically. The incident ends with one staff member saying Bernie never changed and the staff went right on with their work. Classic.

The book ends with Bernie’s election to Congress. Chiasson sees no need to regurgitate the two presidential runs and the ways in which the Democratic Party sabotaged him and paved the way for Trump. (Hmmm - maybe I should write that)

Chiasson is an accomplished poet and writer, not a political journalist per se. So he doesn’t go where he might get over his head. But he uses the journalist’s tools - the phone, in-person visits, email and a heap of curiosity and devotion to the subject - to unearth the details we want and need to know about how Berne Sanders got here.

There is Greg Guma, a rival for the progressive banner, Peter Diamondstone, a lovable socialist who became a thorn in the Sanders side, Sadie White, the local gadfly who made it possible, Jane Driscoll, an aide who would become Mrs. Sanders, Sneakers Bar and Grill, Jim Schumacher, a bagel shop worker who became a campaign aide, Debbie Bookchin, reporter and future Bernie press secretary, political wizard David Clavelle.

It is all there in one big book. Bernie and Jane did not cooperate with Chiasson, who I interviewed about the book at Politics & Prose in Washington, DC recently. He says their cooperation would have hamstrung him and his reporting. I agree.

It was the right call for both sides. We now have the political biography of a political legend through the eyes of a growing teenager and those who signed up for the Bernie mission.

We should be grateful that he did the work.

These are the words of Maikel, a Costa Rican surfer who is coaching me this day.

Lest you think that the warm waters, sunshine, beauty and tranquility of the Pacific coast of Costa Rica are part of this moment, I assure they are not.

Maikel is shouting at me with an urgency that takes a moment to process. Is something wrong? Someone hurt? An emergency somewhere?

Nope. It is the way of surfing. Maikel’s first priority is getting me on that wave. It is an act of strange generosity, more common here than back in the US. There is little money to be made or advantage to be gained in our interaction. Just the satisfaction of helping someone do something. And it all began with a Whats App message saying - “Kevin - when would you like to paddle out?’’

Seven years ago I made a decision to surf. Growing up at the Jersey shore in an ocean environment meant I was a good swimmer and body surfer, at home in an environment that is foreign and scary to many people used to lakes and ponds.

I had watched surfers but never gravitated to them and their art. I had watched the Endless Sumer movie in 1964 and forever after dreamed of taking part in that lifestyle. Life got in the way. Spending 35 years living in land-locked Vermont didn’t help. But kids out of the home tend to refocus the mind on things not done.

Now it was time - before I got too old. (I am saying that a lot these days)

So I dragged my spouse and then my son on a series of journeys to this beautiful country with no army. Surfers like to keep their spots secret. But the secret is out about Playa Guiones in Costa Rica. Fabulous beach, laid back vibe. It has been discovered. And the developers and AirBnB owners and fake beach bars have arrived. But it hasn’t yet extinguished the great parts of this place - the beach, the jungle, the people and the wave. So I feel Ok sharing it with you.

Now when I say surf, you need to understand that actually surfing requires a few attributes of the surfer.

First, you are not a surfer out of the gate. It is a little like snow boarding for those who do that sport. You have to “eat shit’’ for the first few sessions. And then continue to eat that shit and the accompanying blows to your ego and body for many years to come.

Second, you need a coach, preferably a local who cares about you and your surfing. That’s Maikel, or his friend Doyls, or his friend Andreas. These guys are locals, known as Ticos. To them surfing is spiritual, an art and lifestyle that should be passed on to the rest of humanity.

Third, you need a place to surf. My place is the Corky Carroll Surf School in Nosara, Costa Rica. I’ve gone to “Corkys’’ for six years to achieve my goal of becoming a better surfer. When you go to a surf school, you get lessons from local surf instructors, a surf board, a clean bed and meals around a communal table with your fellow students. Sometimes you bond over how bad you all are at surfing. Sometimes you keep to yourself because you have eaten so much shit in the ocean you don’t want to talk about it, not to mention see it on the video screen. Surf schools video your surfing so the instructor can tell you how to improve. For me, the video playback reminds you that the wave you rode that you thought was a giant - a bomb - was really just a three-footer. The let-down is real.

Fourth, you need the most important thing for surfing - a wave. Guiones has one of the best waves in the world - consistent, not too big to scare you but big enough.

Did I say that to get better at surfing you have to eat a lot of shit? That means you have to fall off your board and wipe out - a lot. Oh - and you also have to paddle out to catch a wave. That means paddling up and over waves or diving under them - many many times. For guys like me, going under a wave involves a maneuver called a “turtle roll.’’ This requires the surfer - in the face of the oncoming wave - to get off the board, grab the sides with both hands and roll onto their back as the wave washes over them. Sometime this is easy. Other times, the wave tries to rip the board out of your hands while you, holding your breath, are washed 50 feet back to shore, eliminating all previous progress.

I have caught dozens and dozens of waves in my brief surfing career. And I have wiped out on roughly half. Wiping out on a wave can be fun with a soft landing in the warm ocean water. But much of the time, you lose your balance and fall into a cascading wave that has broken on your head. The wave rolls you over and over as if you are in a tumble dryer. There have been times when you are short of breath and you don’t quite know whether to swim up or down. And you don’t know the location of your surf board. (Don’t share this with your loved ones.)

With all of that - you might ask - why would anyone want to surf?

That is exactly what Maikel asked me. “What do you like about surfing Kevin?’’ Why was he asking me that question? Small talk? Sitting on your board in the open ocean invites you to consider the deeper stuff. Why indeed?

It is not a simple answer and requires a journey into oneself to answer for real.

“The ocean,’’ I said. “Being in nature. Trying to get better at something that is hard. No email, no social media. The other surfers become a community. You are in a foreign culture without the ruthless efficiency of the U.S.; generous people who share their love of surfing.’’

And that is Maikel and his colleague Doyls.

I sincerely hope you will head to Nosara soon whether you want to surf or not. The place is growing fast beyond its small town status. The giant maw of tourism - and I am part of it - has discovered the place and threatens it. It used to be mostly dirt roads paved with molasses to keep the dust down. Now the pavement is coming, along with the multi-million dollar homes, big grocery stores and fancy restaurants, hotels and non-surfers. It is an old story that repeats itself over and over seemingly everywhere. The massive world economy that has created so much wealth now allows most of us to get to Nosara and ask for organic cold brews, Sushi bowls and smoothies and the NFL for the folks from Ocean City, MD.

But the old Nosara is still there if you look for it. Head down to Corky Carrolls for a board and surf lesson. Then get the rice and plantain empanada at YaYas Cafe, homemade that morning. Hang out with the locals and learn about the culture of the place.

And by all means, head out with Michael, Doyls and Andreas to paddle. You will be exhausted and very very happy.

It stems from the January 6 riot fomented by Trump, for which he was indicted and saved only by the U.S. Supreme Court.

For any of you who don’t remember or believe the new Trump narrative that the rioters were peaceful and loving, here are the facts. They are indisputable. But you won’t hear them from media outlets that serve millions of people.

• Trump encouraged a mob to come to Washington to protest the election of Joe Biden.

• At a speech near the White House, Trump encouraged his supporters to “march to the Capitol.’’

• The rioters broke through police lines, assaulted police officers, erected a gallows to hang the vice president and threatened the lives of members of Congress and their staff. Many of those threatened and assaulted are dealing their injuries - mental and physical - to this day. This month’s Atlantic magazine examines the behavior of one rioter who tried to kill a police officer with a flag pole. It is hard to communicate the above in writing, without video and photos. The legacy of January 6 will live on for the people who almost died and for the families of those who DID die.

• Trump watched all this on television at the White House. In classic chicken hawk fashion, he promised to go to the Capitol with his supporters, but either backed out at the last minute or was forced by the Secret Service to abandon the plan.

• Members of Congress from both parties, including the Republican Speaker of the House and several senators, condemned Trump and the protesters and demanded justice.

• The Biden Justice Department prosecuted the law-breakers. More than 1,500 criminals were charged and convicted. Many of them apologized to their victims. Many went to prison.

• Trump was impeached for these deeds by the House of Representatives and a Senate majority, including 10 Republicans who voted to convict. But that number was less than the two-thirds majority needed to formally convict Trump and throw him out of office.

And here comes my theory. In the months of investigations and hearings and prosecutions, the full weight of a new right-wing media industry began accepting a new story line from a criminal president. Gone were the apologies by the rioters in court. Gone was any remorse. Gone were the calls for justice from any Republicans.

Trump called the rioters patriots and peace-loving, saying they had been mistreated. And when he won re-election, he pardoned them, wiping many of their records clean. Now some of them are doing more crime, hurting more innocent people.

Suddenly, the story had changed. Criminals were now patriots. Black was white and white is black.

How did that happen?

It happened when the Internet happened. It happened when Steve Jobs and Apple invented the iPhone. It happened when a lawless president sold the White House to powerful corporations who once refused to deal with his criminality and that now give him trophies (looking at you Tim Cook). It happened when we allowed these platforms (Facebook, Twitter and many others) to operate without regulation and cowardly hide behind federal protections as they allow the systematic destruction of childrens’ mental health and our democracy.

And it happened when Trump realized that facts didn’t matter. It happened when Trump realized that none of his followers watch CNN or the networks or read the NY Times. It happened when Trump, MAGA and the Republican Party realized that most people - uninformed - would believe anything if you fed it to them long enough and hard enough. It happened because most people can longer find a newspaper or real information. So they work all day while checking TikTok clips and Instagram.

In the old days - pre-2010 - a president had to appeal to multiple viewpoints, had to speak to all audiences, had to do interviews with different stripes of reporters.

Today, all he has to do is talk to favored personalities at Fox News, ONN and the bevy of right wing provocateurs who traffic in rage and clicks to inflame people and make money.

These outlets are not beholden to the old guard rails and professionalism that The Times enforces in its newsroom. And the Democrats have only just started to realize this. Still playing by the old rules of fairness, facts and reasoned debate, the Democratic Party is in shambles, like a flip phone, appealing to a smaller and smaller minority.

So Trump realized that his people only followed their favored right-wing outlets and never saw any facts. He knows that he can shift any story just by saying it. And these outlets will follow his lead. Trump is basically the CEO of a giant media complex that operates for him.

Special Counsel Jack Smith on his indictment of Trump? All a political hoax.

Trump mistaking Iceland for Greenland three times in a speech last week? Not true, says the White House, despite the video tape.

And January 6 criminals who beat police officers and threatened the lives of members of Congress? Peace-loving patriots.

You don’t have to contest the facts any more. You just have to tell your own story. And because people watch and read only to confirm their own viewpoints instead of trying to understand, the citizenry is merely armed with a story, often fake, rather than facts.

There is no more complexity or multiple sides to a story. Just give your story, however fake, to your bought and paid for media outlet and away it goes.

In the end, the losers were the members of Congress and their staffs, the injured police officers and the rest of us who saw January 6 with our own eyes.

Trump’s January 6 conspiracy to overturn the Biden election worked - maybe not that day. But a huge portion of the country agrees with him about January 6 and all the other lies. Trump may have had to fly away from the Biden inauguration in his helicopter embarrassed and humiliated - like the sore loser in high school. But in the end, he won. It just took longer than he thought.

After Trump’s invasion/kidnapping/takeover in Venezuela, those two statements are more true than ever.

You are going to hear and see a lot in the coming days about the precision military operation where American commandos went into Caracas and took the corrupt thug/dictator Maduro and his wife. The right-wing media will be full of it. Selected video clips bragging about our military might and “kinetic’’ attacks will be led by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The conservative echo chamber media, which now includes CBS News, will be all about it. Its new anchorman Tony Dokoupil is already leading the way.

So we will NOT be discussing the implications of an imperialist invasion of another country on the false premise that they were bringing drugs into our country (not true) or flooding our borders with terrorists (not true).

This dictator snatching was about two things.

1. Returning American oil companies to the country they once controlled to take the oil and sell it so the United States can control that wealth and resource in this hemisphere and around the world.

2. Turn the hemisphere into an American-controlled region. That gives us a secure oil supply for the long-term and sends a message to other countries to stay out of our backyard.

First the oil … At an hour-long press conference, Trump made it clear that the US will run the country. Secretary of State Marco Rubio tried to walk it back the next day. But get ready for a team of American officials like Rubio and Hegseth on Zoom calls with the remnants of the Maduro regime telling them how to run the country and how to welcome back American oil companies. Let’s remember that Hegseth couldn’t even run a small non-profit before this job without being accused of spousal abuse and drunkeness. So the odds of success here - not to mention our own history with Latin America - are slim. (I’ll write about our CIA-led disasters in the area another time)

Trump said the U.S. oil companies will move into the country and rebuild the oil infrastructure.

“The oil companies will be reimbursed,’’ Trump said. “We are going to take a lot of money out.’’

For the best mainstream explanation of the invasion, try this breakdown of different kinds of oil around the world. (Hint: Venezuela has more oil beneath its ground than any country in the world.

If like me you are looking for the journalists who are going to find out what secret deals were made with oil companies, keep your eye on Jane Mayer at the New Yorker and the great Anne Applebaum. She nails it.

Or maybe I’m overthinking it. We all know Trump doesn’t plan beyond the present moment. And whenever he strays from prepared remarks - which he can now barely read - you get what he is really thinking. Trump doesn’t try to hide it. He told a gathering of oil executives during the campaign that in exchange for $1 billion in campaign contributions he would deliver on their wish list. You used to go to prison for such comments. Now it’s a handshake deal.

It is tough to trust anything Trump says. And he looked half asleep at the press conference. But I do take him at his word that U.S. oil companies will now be in charge of the oil business there. And they will make a handsome profit while doing so. Correction: Trump will be in charge of the oil business there. And you can bet that a slice of oil profits will go directly to companies controlled by the Trump family.

Second - The Region.

Control of the region means a message has been sent to China and Russia to stay out. And here is where this gets sticky, complicated and dangerous. By telling everyone we are in charge of the region, Trump is sending a message to Putin and China that they can have their regions. Putin can have Ukraine. China they can have Taiwan.

“We wanna surround ourselves with good neighbors,’’ Trump. If I were in the Cuban government, I would be fleeing that country. Because they are next.

I have to hand it to Trump on this score. He is really good at identifying an issue that plays to his strength - old school, bully language with no plan - and forcing the hapless Democrats to respond. And respond they did - with feigned outrage and staff-prepared talking points while behind the scenes telling reporters they feel OK about Maduro in handcuffs.

As usual, the only voice out there articulating why this was such a bad idea is Bernie Sanders, who called the operation illegal and stupid.

He is right.

But as usual, an enfeebled Congress is unwilling to check the president. (Trump didn’t bother consulting any member of Congress)

The media is playing along. The NY Times and Washington Post BOTH knew about the operation ahead of time and granted the administration’s demand not to publish. CBS anchor Dokoupil - practically an employee of the administration - played along with Hegseth as he refused to answer questions.

Donald Trump has reinvented truth. He has reshaped the American government in his name. He has subjugated the American media into a cowering corner. And he has now remade this country into the dark bully that a majority of us have always resisted. We are now an oil-rich country that places wealth and power over any pretense to morality, democracy and human rights. Our allies - who helped us rebuild Europe after World War II - are left to ponder their future, alone.

We voted for this. And until the Democrats or someone else can articulate a better vision for the country, this is what we have.

I don’t know how important the Epstein files are to our democracy

But I do know that they illustrate better than almost any issue the craven, disgusting narcissism of the president of the United States. He was there. He was in the house. He was on the plane. He watched. He saw. And he did nothing. Didn’t call the police. Did nothing to protect innocent young girls from a rapist and a sex trafficker. If you want to really understand the importance of the Epstein issue, follow Nina Burleigh’s Substack called American Freakshow. (Same for Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Dershowitz and the rest of them)

I don’t know who WON the government shutdown standoff

But I do know that it ended because eight Democratic senators could no longer stand the pain of their constituents being denied SNAP benefits. As former Senate Chief of Staff Luke Albee told me on the podcast - “Senators want to play senator.’’ And people like Angus King of Maine and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire wanted to do something, anything, to feel like they were doing their jobs. The problem is that the Trump/MAGA people just don’t care. Don’t care about heating fuel, don’t care about SNAP benefits, don’t care about skyrocketing health insurance premiums. They just don’t care. And too many Democrats give a damn about the people they represent.

I don’t know why Republicans love their guns so much

But I do know that it is the mother of all political issues to hide behind the Second Amendment and claim gun owners need protection. It is the biggest cop-out in history, this misreading of the Constitution. And someday, just maybe, the politics will change and we will treat guns the way we treat gambling, driving, drinking and real estate development. You want a rifle, get a permit.

I don’t know how our government was taken over by lunatics like Trump and the weak senators who are afraid of him

But I do know the Democratic Party is largely to blame. Sure - blame Thom Tillis and Susan Collins and all the Republicans who vote for and enable this stuff. But blame Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Blame the people who protected them, enabled them and never gave them truth.

“Mr. President - It’s over. You cannot win this election. You are too old. It is time to retire with dignity and continue arguing for Democratic values outside of elected office.’’

“Madame Vice President - You don’t ever answer the question. You are refusing to separate yourself from Joe Biden. When you are pushed by a journalist you get angry and imperious as if they have no right to ask the question. You sound like you don’t believe in anything. You said and did nothing about the border. You could have the presidency if you had taken a stand on the border, thanked Biden for his service and promised to help a million young people rent an apartment or buy a house.’’

I don’t know if Australia can stop Zuckerberg and the others from destroying society and hurting our kids

I do know they are trying. And that’s a lot more than we are doing in the U.S. Australia just banned social media use for kids under 16. It is the single best step a society can take to protect kids and encourage healthy lives. If only we had the political will.

I don’t know who the next Democratic president will be

But I do know that she/he will be someone who tells more truth than their opponent. Let JD Vance talk about religion and whiteness and woke and whatever. Just tell the citizens of this country that you are going to help them get housing, find a job and be proud of their country again. You will win.

I don’t know who will win the Republic nomination for president

But I do know that the candidates will include RFK Jr. He is running. You heard it here first. You will soon begin to see the maneuvering and the backstabbing among JD Vance and Kennedy. The reasons for Kennedy running are the same as why he joined Trump in the first place. He has a religious belief in himself as a savior, an avenger of his assassinated father and uncle. He sees himself as the only one to act on all the anti-corporate, anti-CIA, anti-environmental stands he took before he got into bed with Trump. He will run.

I don’t know what will happen politically in 2026

But I do know Trump will get worse this coming year. As he sees his power slipping, Trump will accelerate his self-dealing and vengeance. Look for real estate deals engineered by Jared Kushner and the Trump sons. Also keep an eye on pseudo diplomat Steve Witkoff, for whom everything is a real estate deal. The issue doesn’t matter. Ukraine-Russia, Gaza-Israel, tariffs, immigration, Venezuela. Name any issue and there is a get-richer real estate deal in the works.

I don’t know why people I used to respect have bent the knee to Trump

But I do know that Apple CEO Tim Cook someday will be forced to explain himself to himself and his friends for choosing profits/corruption over democracy.

I don’t know the best movie of the year

But I do know that House of Dynamite explains better than any book or article that we are one human mistake - or a series of tiny mistakes - away from annihilation. If Trump wants to win the Nobel Peace Prize, he should do what Reagan almost did. Call for worldwide elimination of nuclear weapons and say the US will go first and lead an international campaign of elimination and verification to get it done.

I don’t know the best book of the year

But Buckley - The Life and Revolution that Changed America is the best book I have read this year. I can’t decide whether I love it because his life mirrors that of my Dad’s (they were Yale classmates) or whether because it explains how we got to Trump. But the book is essential.

I Don’t Know the Best TV show of the year

But watch The Diplomat for Kerri Russell and Rufus Sewell.

Now it’s off to watch Jimmy Stewart in It’s a Wonderful Life.

My upbringing told me it’s impolite to talk about money. I grew out of it.

It is now essential to talk about money - in our politics and our communities. A tiny group of billionaires is on the verge of controlling our politics and government. Therefore, they control what we watch, hear, buy and eat. Zuckerberg, Musk and Thiel and the rest are on the verge of controlling how we live.

For me, 2025 was the year I realized that we have allowed the takeover of society by menacing people who care not a wit about the public good. They care only about two things - maximizing profit and pushing the boundaries of technology at the expense of human connection. Community be damned.

Against those odds it is tough to have hope for the future, that we can turn it around. Sometimes, as the anti-trust lawyer/activist Zephyr Teachout told me this year - “You have to tend your own garden.’’

But you are also obligated to reach out beyond yourself, Teachout said. Being human demands it. It is important to give of yourself to something, anything. Doesn’t matter what it is. Donate some veggies to the food shelf, give money or time, sit on a board of directors, raise children, cook a great meal for someone, care for your mother.

I can both tend my garden and throw a pebble in the pond and see what waves happen in the world.

Hence - a new theme from me in 2026. A lot of Conflict of Interest, both the Substack and the Podcast, will be devoted to fighting back, defending the democracy and the culture from those who would control it for their benefit.

I like to ask guests on my podcast why they do what they do when it gives them no material benefit. What drives them? Their reaction is usually delayed because they rarely get the question. Journalist John Harwood said it is in part because of his parents, how he grew up at the dinner table. And that he knows no other way.

One way we can contribute beyond ourselves is to give money. Not the only way. But if you have some dough to spare, what are you keeping it for? Give some to a favorite cause. I’ll start by telling you where I am putting charitable dollars in 2025. And I want to know where you are putting yours. So many of us give but keep it a secret. A lot of us were raised that way. Don’t talk about sex, politics or money at the dinner table.

Well - I don’t think that works anymore. If we keep secret what we are doing, it doesn’t grow the efforts of the non-profits we support.

Think of McKenzie Scott, now the biggest, most effective philanthropist in the world. She took he money from her Jeff Bezos divorce and started giving it away in HUGE chunks. She doesn’t ask for a press release or for her name on a building. She just gives it away and then tells the world so that the rest of us might give more. Since 2019, Scott has given away $23 billion. That’s a lot.

If we share our giving ideas and recipients, it helps the recipients fund and expand their efforts. But it is also an act of generosity that makes us feel good, connects us to others doing good work and pushes back against the selfish oligarchs who don’t care.

So here is to the people doing the hard, unseen, unappreciated work in communities large and small. And here is my 2025 list of folks I am supporting with charitable contributions this year. I welcome your comments on other worthy causes that need help.

I hope you will join me. Where are you giving this year?

My list is centered around causes I care about in communities where I spend time and am connected to local people. Here is the list.

• Downstreet Housing & Community Development, Vermont. (I am board chair at this non-profit that builds affordable housing in central Vermont. We have built hundreds of affordable apartments in the last few years and will be doing more this year)

• Vermont Journalism Trust (This is the parent organization for VT Digger, the online journalism site in Vermont that has helped save local journalism and pioneered a non-profit, community-supported business model.)

• Migrant Justice (A Vermont organization protecting Vermonters from Trump and ICE)

• Montpelier Foundation (Based in Vermont’s state capitol that supports the ongoing recovery from downtown flooding three years ago)

• The Montpelier Bridge (A local weekly newspaper that covers the community)

• KWMR Radio (A community radio station in Pt. Reyes Station, CA threatened by Trump budget cuts)

• Nosara Civic Association (A non-profit community group dedicated to conserving the community of Nosara, a surfing mecca in Costa Rica.

• Realist Revolt (Supports the writing and speaking of Ward Hayes Wilson, a visionary thinker and writer on eliminating nuclear weapons)

That’s my list. I am always looking for others. Send me yours!