Noam Chomsky may be the world’s most widely-read super critic of American policy, but even his books got a boost in sales last month when Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez waved one on the floor of the UN General Assembly and implored gathered heads of state to read it. A boost as in Number One on Amazon.com.

Chomsky made his name as a brilliant scholar of linguistics, but for decades now he has been a brutal critic of American power and its uses. Admirers call him a hero. Critics call him a self-important ranter.

Chomsky just keeps writing. His latest message — America itself is a failed state.

Hear a conversation with the super-critic of American hyper power Noam Chomsky.

- Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Noam Chomsky, Professor of Linguistics at MIT, author of “Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy” (2006).

Alan Dershowitz, Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, criminal lawyer, and author of “Preemption: A Knife that Cuts Both Ways (2006).

Pat Kane, writer, journalist and author of “The Play Ethic: A Manifesto for a Different Way of Living.”