Thom Hartmann (1)

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: Popular progressive radio host and New York Times bestselling author Thom Hartmann reveals how and why attempts to implement affordable universal healthcare in the United States have been thwarted and what we can do to finally make it a reality.

"For-profit health insurance is the largest con job ever perpetrated on the American people—one that has cost trillions of dollars and millions of lives since the 1940s,” says Thom Hartmann.

Other countries show more have shown us that affordable universal healthcare is not only possible but also effective and efficient. Taiwan's single-payer system saved the country a fortune as well as saving lives during the coronavirus pandemic, enabling the country to implement a nationwide coronavirus test-and-contact-trace program without shutting down the economy. This resulted in just ten deaths, while more than 500,000 people have died in the United States.

Hartmann offers a deep dive into the shameful history of American healthcare, showing how greed, racism, and oligarchic corruption led to the current “sickness for profit” system. Modern attempts to create versions of government healthcare have been hobbled at every turn, including Obamacare.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: This book is for you if you've ever wondered why Luigi Mangione is being treated like a terrorist for allegedly killing a very rich "insurance" company executive, and why when we-the-people failed to rise in our millions against his heinous murderous act, he suddenly vanished from our media landscape.

Creating a martyr, a face that can act as a rallying image for people against the horrible system that delivers the worst results for the great majority of its consumers yet fattens wallets at an obscene clip, is not what "They" want.

What this book does is delve into the ways, the compromises, the roots of capitalist seizure of healthcare delivery. It's definitely not going to convert anyone on the political right. It is unabashedly tendentious. It makes no serious effort to come up with any idea to persuade the capitalists to loosen, still less release, their grip on the public purse.

In preaching to the choir, Hartmann is mostly issuing a rallying cry. The reason to read the book is to become motivated, to pick up a few bits and bobs to hurl at the enemy within. If you're tired of arguing, this is not your best investment of time and treasure.

If like me you're in search of fuel for the possibly-wavering fires of battle, here's you a book. show less

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: Thom Hartmann, the most popular progressive radio host in America and a New York Times bestselling author, looks at the history of the battle against oligarchy in America—and how we can win the latest round.

Billionaire oligarchs want to own our republic, and they're nearly there thanks to legislation and Supreme Court decisions that they have essentially bought. They put Trump and his political allies into office and support a vast network of think show more tanks, publications, and social media that every day push our nation closer and closer to police-state tyranny.

The United States was born in a struggle against the oligarchs of the British aristocracy, and ever since then the history of America has been one of dynamic tension between democracy and oligarchy. And much like the shock of the 1929 crash woke America up to glaring inequality and the ongoing theft of democracy by that generation's oligarchs, the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 has laid bare how extensively oligarchs have looted our nation's economic system, gutted governmental institutions, and stolen the wealth of the former middle class.

Thom Hartmann traces the history of this struggle against oligarchy from America's founding to the United States' war with the feudal Confederacy to President Franklin Roosevelt's struggle against “economic royalists,” who wanted to block the New Deal. In each of those cases, the oligarchs lost the battle. But with increasing right-wing control of the media, unlimited campaign contributions, and a conservative takeover of the judicial system, we're at a crisis point.

Now is the time for action, before we flip into tyranny. We've beaten the oligarchs before, and we can do it again. Hartmann lays out practical measures we can take to break up media monopolies, limit the influence of money in politics, reclaim the wealth stolen over decades by the oligarchy, and build a movement that will return control of America to We the People.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: This is another provocatively unapologetic takedown of the right-wing slow coup that's been ongoing since "They" installed that fatuous old actor in the White House after manipulating the media into reporting insanity as facts.

Not gonna work to deradicalize your MAGAt relative, but definitely can offer you some armor against joining them for even a second. Staying alert to what their end game is will keep your from getting too far off the line "They" don't want you to draw. It's blatantly partisan and at times on the overkill side, but better that than playing nice with nasty people.

To fight intolerance, you must learn to be intolerant of it. Paradoxically that works for all topics in public life. show less

In my early twenties, I decided to devote my life to bettering American healthcare. I gained exposure to the system as a medical student and still contribute professionally by bettering medical research through software development. My experiences show that many inefficiencies and much greed exist in the system. As Hartmann attests to in this book, so many people angle to profit off of citizens’ health needs. It’s sad, but the political will and personal wills to change systems are show more lacking. The author aims to change that by giving American readers a more informed picture of efforts to improve the American healthcare system.

Hartmann, a progressive radio host by trade, does so by a deep exploration of the history of the system. He explains how time after time, entrenched economic interests skewers any attempts to cut down on inefficiencies. That’s why, as is often told, the American system costs significantly more than any other nation’s but still produces subpar results. Although every other developed country favors a state-run solution, the American government consistently resists it. Solutions like Medicare for All (advocated for in this book) are relatively popular among the people, but monied interests loudly raise their voices whenever their piece of the pie is cut.

This book functions mostly as a political tract supported by history instead of a history of politics. Hartmann takes direct aim at what he views as the enemy – Reaganism and those who raise placards against “socialized medicine” every time reforms are suggested. He contends that Medicare for All will actually cost less money than the current system.

Perhaps this position is a bit idealistic. Those who are “losers” in such a schematic change will have to funnel their self-interest into other ventures. Indeed, it would upend the economy significantly, and the change could not happen overnight, much like getting rid of slavery took decades to overcome (if it ever has). That said, I believe he’s correct that getting rid of the excess capitalism is the right move to make economically and humanely. However, deeper study into a transition (whose absence is glaring here) might help alleviate future pain.

I’m not sure an American conservative would like reading this book because it brings out a view contrary to their party line. In contrast, American progressives would eat it up. What’s needed socially, however, is a healthy exchange of ideas among the camps. In an era of hyper-partisanship, I’m not sure Hartmann facilitates such dialogue. He merely pushes for his ideological position without calling his presuppositions into question. A little humility would make his argument stronger and his potential audience grow. Nonetheless, his approach will probably delight his radio audience and go to market well. From what I can gather from this radio star, I don’t think that hits too far from his intended target. show less

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: America's most popular progressive radio host Thom Hartmann reveals how the government and corporate America misuse our personal data and shows how we can reclaim our privacy.

Most Americans are worried about how companies like Facebook invade their privacy and harvest their data, but many people don't fully understand the details of how their information is being adapted and misused. In this thought-provoking and accessible book, New York Times show more bestselling author Thom Hartmann reveals exactly how the government and corporations are tracking our every online move and using our data to buy elections, employ social control, and score and monetize our lives.

Hartmann uses extensive, vivid examples to highlight the consequences of Big Data on all aspects of our lives. Along with tracing the history of surveillance, he shows how we got to where we are today, how China—with its new Social Credit System—serves as a warning, and how we can and must avoid a similarly dystopian future.

By delving into the Constitutional right to privacy, Hartmann reminds us of our civil right and shows how we can restore it.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: Not updated yet, I'll be very interested to see what Hartmann has to say about the extreme, upsetting effects of AI on the Body Politic.

While we are indeed starting to engage with the most important factor in this outdated screed against the Felonious Yam and his tech bro scum support/enablers, ie who's doing what with our deepest darkest secrets, it could really be much too late to do anything effective about it. Look at the *massive* data theft done by DOGE on behalf of Edolph Twitler. Why is no one in Congress screeching their fool lungs out about this?

Because, like Hartmann, they do not understand what the problem really is: Us. The userbase wants Big Data to store credit card numbers, passwords...16 billion of which were compromised on 18 June 2025 alone...so we don't have to think. Big Data will use its enormous database, its stunningly effective analytic software, and all the cash we've allowed it to pile up, to defeat any attempts to meaningfully deny it more and more and more data.

This is not to say we should not try. We should, starting right now.

Getting mad is the first stop on this train, so read this book and steam your way to Congress's inbox. show less