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The change agenda at America's Future NOW!

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In what is perhaps the most in-depth, critical look at the life and worldview of Glenn Beck, Alexander Zaitchik exposes a man who has battled mental illness, fabricated a key part of his family history and peddles a warped view of history as he builds a political base with his Fox News and radio shows. Zaitchik does this in his new book, "Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance," and he discusses key findings in the book with Sara Robinson.

In the interview, Zaitchik explains the man behind what he calls "the cult of Beck": an ex-disc jockey prone to shockingly cruel on-air antics who seemingly couldn't hold on to a job who evolved into an evangelist blending strands of Mormonism, right-wing orthodoxy and historical distortions into a potent brew that is a hit with Tea Party populists.

Zaitchik tells Robinson that it is important to understand what drives Beck and to be prepared to refute the ideological statements Beck makes. But Zaitchik concludes that the most important thing that progressives can do to counter Beck's "lies" is to "come up with our own agenda that is educative and based in reality."

Zaitchik will appear on a panel entitled "Tea Parties, Beck, Bachmann and Blarney" at the America's Future NOW! conference in Washington June 7-9. Read more about the Zaitchik interview on our blog.

Trade expert Clyde Prestowitz, president of the Economic Strategy Institute, discusses his new book, "The Betrayal of American Prosperity," at the AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington May 18. The book looks at what Prestowitz calls the "false doctrine" of free trade and suggests a new framework for how America should compete in the global economy.

RELATED: "American Betrayal, Sponsored by Intel"

As the Senate continues its debate on a financial reform bill, the Institute for America's Future Report, "Big Bank Takeover," looks at who's really behind the scenes attempting to control the debate. In this podcast, Bob Borosage, Co-Director, Campaign for America’s Future; Stephen Lerner, Director, Service Employees International Union’s Banking and Finance Campaign; Kevin Connor, Co-Director, Public Accountability Initiative, and George Goehl, Executive Director, National People’s Action, discuss the revolving door of government officials and lobbyists used by the financial sector to stymie reform and the "Showdown on K Street" planned to counter the financial sector's influence.

This podcast features highlights from a news conference call by a group of progressive leaders seeking to counter the largely one-sided debate about how to reduce the federal deficit being promoted by Wall Street billionaire Peter G. Peterson and other deficit hawks. Roger Hickey, co-director of the Campaign for America’s Future, is joined in the call by Robert Kuttner, The American Prospect, Demos, and author of the new book, "A Presidency in Peril"; Heidi Hartmann, economist and President of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research; and Dean Baker, economist and co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

Hickey said that the experts were part of a broader coalition that is seeking to "pull this deficit discussion back on the basis of reality" rather than on the false assertion that reducing the deficit required drastic cuts in Social Security, Medicare and other safety-net programs.

Hear the full news conference call here, and read Bill Scher's account of the call here.

Hours after President Obama's deficit commission had its first meeting at the White House, a group of progressive leaders argued during a news conference call that Wall Street billionaire Peter G. Peterson was exerting undue influence over the commission's deliberations, resulting in a largely one-sided debate about how to reduce the federal deficit.

Roger Hickey, co-director of the Campaign for America’s Future, said that the experts were part of a broader coalition that is seeking to "pull this deficit discussion back on the basis of reality" rather than on the false assertion that reducing the deficit required drastic cuts in Social Security, Medicare and other safety-net programs.

Joining Hickey in the call was Robert Kuttner, The American Prospect, Demos, and author of the new book, "A Presidency in Peril"; Heidi Hartmann, economist and President of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research; and Dean Baker, economist and co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

In addition to the news conference, Hickey and other writers have participated in an online Virtual Summit on Fiscal and Economic Responsibility at ourfuture.org/virtualsummit.