Tom Taft comes from a family with a 200 year history of dedicated public service. Tom wanted to add to that and his own legacy with a run for Congress as a Democrat in PA-01 but had to end his campaign after failing to gather the required number of signatures. Nevertheless, he joins me today to talk about politics in Bucks County’s first congressional district and the race for the Democratic nomination in May for a chance to unseat Republican incumbent Brian Fitzpatrick.

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ALSO LISTEN TO:

• What Did Sheriff-Elect Danny Ceisler’s Victory and Bucks County Democrats’ Blue Wave on Election Day Teach Us?
• Could Progressive Congressional Candidate Lucia Simonelli Shock PA-01 With a Victory in the May Democratic Primary?

Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music.

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Barbara Simmons serves as executive director of The Peace Center, an educational peace and justice non-profit organization in Bucks County. After retiring from the role in 2019 (after 30 years in the position), she came out of retirement in October 2025 to once again lead the organization after it was announced it was planning on closing—something she couldn’t let happen. Barbara spoke with me today to talk about International Women’s Day, what’s new at The Peace Center, and the organizing work around making Bucks County a more just, inclusive, and compassionate community.

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READ:

• Transcript: Barbara Simmons on International Women’s Day and Organizing for Peace in Bucks County
• Bucks County’s Peace Center Isn’t Going Anywhere
• On International Day of Peace, Let’s Pledge to Make Peace a Bigger Part of Our Lives
• Why I Commemorate the Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• Raising Our Children as Future Leaders in an Era of Book Banning and Attacks on ‘Critical Race Theory’

ALSO LISTEN TO:

• The Radical History of International Women’s Day and the Feminist Movement, with Liza Featherstone
• Radical Independent Media, Feminist Struggles, and International Women’s Day: A View from Latin America, with Dawn Paley
• Peace Activism from Bucks County to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with Barbara Simmons
• Sylvia Pankhurst – Suffragette Socialist and Scourge of Empire, with Dr. Kate Connelly
• The 365 Foundation’s Natalie Venezia on Promoting Women’s Empowerment Through Art, Advocacy, and Community Service
• After Misogyny: How the Law Fails Women and What to Do about It, with Julie C. Suk

Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music.

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An anti-fascist, dystopian YA novel published last week, We Were the Cuckoos Bees, was inspired in large part by Central Bucks School District during a time when Moms for Liberty and right-wing Christian extremists captured the school board in the early part of this decade. This is a story the Bucks County Beacon has reported on in great detail. Today I speak with local author Rich Shifman, who writes YA stories under the pen name, R.B. Shifman, about his new book which he dedicated to local Bucks County residents who helped flip the school board in late 2023 to bring sanity, common sense and compassion back to the school district.

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READ:

• Meet Three of the Neighbors Who United to Defend Public Education in Central Bucks School District
• Moms for Liberty CEO and Co-Founder Tina Descovich Verbally Attacks the Bucks County Beacon at Harrisburg-Area Event
• We Must Continue to Defend the Freedom to Read in Central Bucks School District
• It Takes A Village: Expelling Right-Wing Extremism From Bucks County School Districts

ALSO LISTEN TO:

• Unmasking Moms for Liberty’s Extremism, with Olivia Little and Diana Leygerman
• Raising a Transgender Child in an Increasingly Transphobic Country and School District, with Brett Freeman
• Fighting for Students’ and Teachers’ Rights in Central Bucks School District, with ACLU’s Witold Walczak
• The Christian Right’s Crusade for Power and War on Democracy, with Katherine Stewart
• Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider on Their New Book ‘The Education Wars: A Citizen’s Guide and Defense Manual’
• The History of Fascism and Anti-Fascism in America, with Bill Mullen and Christopher Vials

Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music.

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• @buckscountybeacon.bsky.social
• @cmychalejko.bsky.social