Background Briefing: July 26, 2023
A Roundup of Legal Issues Facing Hunter Biden, Guiliani, Flynn, Navarro and Trump
We begin with Hunter Biden’s plea agreement falling apart, Rudy Guiliani conceding he made defamatory charges against election workers in Georgia, General Flynn and Peter Navarro calling for civil war while blaming it on Democrats and the expectation that a third indictment against Trump for January 6 could come as early as tomorrow, Thursday. Joining us is Adam Klasfeld, Senior legal correspondent at The Messenger who was previously the managing editor at Law and Crime and a reporter for Courthouse News Service. We discuss his latest articles at The Messenger, “Trump’s Legal Team Braces for Conviction by a DC Jury Before He’s Even Indicted” and “Trump Indictment Watch Brings Sense of Déjà Vu to DC Federal Courthouse.”
Biden’s Mental Health Initiative as Addiction and Mental Illness Remain Untreated Across the Country
Then we look into President Biden’s proposed new rules ensuring mental health parity in insurance coverage as addiction and mental illness remain untreated across the country where mental health services are lacking or nonexistent. Joining us is Dr. Allen Frances, a Professor Emeritus and former Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Duke University. He is the author of the award-winning international bestseller Saving Normal and the reference work Essentials of Psychiatric Diagnosis and his latest book is Twilight of American Sanity: A Psychiatrist Analyzes the Age of Trump, now out in an updated paperback version.
The Techno-Autocracy of Saudi Arabia as an Example of Capitalism Without Democracy
Then finally we examine the growing examples of capitalism without democracy in autocracies like Russia and China with a focus on Saudi Arabia where a techno-autocracy headed by a macabre murderer with unlimited oil money is creating giga-projects like Vision 2030 while hiding the poverty within his country. Joining us is Quinn Slobodian, a Professor of History at Wellesley College where he teaches histories of modern Europe, international history, social movements and the intellectual history of neoliberalism. He is the author of Globalists: The End of Empire and the Birth of Neoliberalism, and his latest book is Crack-Up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World Without Democracy. We discuss his article at The New Statesman, “How Saudi Arabia is buying the world.”