logo
episode-header-image
May 2023
26m 28s

Ralph Nader and Bruce Fein, "The Incommu...

NEW BOOKS NETWORK
About this episode

Incommunicados is a collection of unanswered letters to public officials and other notable figures from iconoclasts Ralph Nader and Bruce Fein. The project was edited by Francesco Desantis, Outreach Coordinator at the Center for Study of Responsive Law.

This booklet and Ralph Nader’s introduction meticulously document the self-ruinous disdain by Congress and the executive branch for thoughtful citizen input into government policies and practices. Citizen petitions, letters, memoranda, and articles are routinely unacknowledged and universally categorized as unworthy of a substantive response. Even speaking to a live person in a congressional office as opposed to leaving a voice mail has become a herculean test of endurance and patience.

Caleb Zakarin is the Assistant Editor of the New Books Network.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/public-policy

Up next
Oct 6
Katherine J. Parkin, "The Abortion Market: Buying and Selling Access in the Era Before Roe" (U Pennsylvania Press, 2025)
The abortion market was a powerful economic force in American life. Before legalization lowered the cost, one million women each year collectively paid upward of $750 million for abortions. In The Abortion Market: Buying and Selling Access in the Era Before Roe (University of Pen ... Show More
42m 15s
Oct 2
Greg Lukianoff and Nadine Strossen, "The War on Words: 10 Arguments Against Free Speech—And Why They Fail" (Heresy Press, 2025)
The War on Words: 10 Arguments Against Free Speech—And Why They Fail (Heresy Press, 2025) constitutes a bulwark against the persistent censorial efforts from both the political left and right. At a time when conformist pressures threaten viewpoint diversity, and when political at ... Show More
52m 35s
Oct 1
Michael Rowe, "Researching Street-Level Bureaucracy: Bringing Out the Interpretive Dimensions" (Routledge, 2024)
Researching Street-level Bureaucracy: Bringing Out the Interpretive Dimensions (Routledge, 2024) is the first among a number of new titles in the Routledge Series on Interpretive Methods that we’ll be featuring on New Books in Interpretive Political and Social Science. In it, Mik ... Show More
40m 9s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 7
Ralph Nader, consumer crusader, is not done yet
Ralph Nader, a consumer advocate and a former presidential candidate, says the auto industry moved too quickly on electric vehicles and needs to devote energy to making internal combustion engine vehicles more efficient.He acknowledges his 2000 presidential campaign overshadows h ... Show More
30m 50s
Oct 1
Michael Rowe, "Researching Street-Level Bureaucracy: Bringing Out the Interpretive Dimensions" (Routledge, 2024)
Researching Street-level Bureaucracy: Bringing Out the Interpretive Dimensions (Routledge, 2024) is the first among a number of new titles in the Routledge Series on Interpretive Methods that we’ll be featuring on New Books in Interpretive Political and Social Science. In it, Mik ... Show More
40m 9s
Oct 1
Michael Rowe, "Researching Street-Level Bureaucracy: Bringing Out the Interpretive Dimensions" (Routledge, 2024)
Researching Street-level Bureaucracy: Bringing Out the Interpretive Dimensions (Routledge, 2024) is the first among a number of new titles in the Routledge Series on Interpretive Methods that we’ll be featuring on New Books in Interpretive Political and Social Science. In it, Mik ... Show More
40m 9s
Oct 2024
Jon Michaels and David Noll, "Vigilante Nation: How State-Sponsored Terror Threatens Our Democracy" (Atria/One Signal, 2024)
Law professors Jon Michaels and David Noll use their expertise to expose how state-supported forms of vigilantism are being deployed by MAGA Republicans and Christian nationalists to roll back civil, political, and privacy rights and subvert American democracy. Beyond identifying ... Show More
1h 21m
Oct 2024
The Unpopular Vote
The closest we ever came to abolishing the electoral college and why we probably never will. As the US Presidential Election nears, Radiolab covers the closest we ever came to abolishing the Electoral College.In the 1960s, then-President Lyndon Johnson approached an ambitious you ... Show More
59m 46s
Jun 2025
Why I left the NIH
Francis Collins oversaw some of the most revolutionary science of the last few decades at the National Institutes of Health. A few months ago, he suddenly resigned. One of America's foremost scientists could no longer do his job. What does that mean for the US? And for science? G ... Show More
40m 34s
Jul 2024
Americanswers! Is it time for Kamala?
Joe Biden has issued a warning to his critics to challenge him at the upcoming Democratic National Convention. Anthony and Miles answer criticism on whether the BBC focus too much on the president’s cognitive abilities.And with momentum building behind the idea of Kamala Harris t ... Show More
25m 58s
Jun 2023
Rep. Yvette Clarke, Jeet Heer & Kevin Kruse
Rep. Yvette Clarke discusses the importance of regulating AI and highlights the dysfunctional workplace that is the US Congress. Jeet Heer from The Nation explains where Kevin McCarthy's leadership may lead him next, despite his lackluster performance as Speaker. Additionally, Ke ... Show More
50m 50s
Apr 2023
Andrew Walker, "Social Conservatism for the Common Good: A Protestant Engagement with Robert P. George" (Crossway, 2023)
Robert P. George is the indispensable man of American social conservatism. The Princeton professor is a scholar of such intellectual power that he almost single-handedly rescued the anti-abortion movement from the fringes of the American sociopolitical and legal landscape in the ... Show More
49m 43s
Feb 2018
Space Policy Edition #21: Bill Nye and the State of the Union
Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye attended the State of the Union address on January 30th, he also spent the day meeting with sixteen different members of Congress to promote science on Capitol Hill. In this special abbreviated show, Casey Dreier and Mat Kaplan welcome their colleag ... Show More
30m 29s