February 13 - The Comcast-Time Warner Merger: A Monopoly Too Far; Obama and Jordan's King Meet Over Syria; A Conversation with the Filmmakers of "The Square"

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the just-announced merger of the two cable giants Comcast and Time Warner and examine what this will mean for the consumer, now at the mercy of what amounts to a monopoly and a gate-keeper over the pipe into your home that brings you television and Internet. Michael Copps, who was an FCC commissioner from 2001 to 2011 and currently heads up the Media and Democracy Reform Initiative at Common Cause, joins us to discuss the cable-ization of the Internet by powerful monopolies and what citizens can do to restore consumer choice over what news, information and entertainment to which they have access. 

Part 2

Then we look into the Jordanian King’s busy schedule in Washington and his Valentine’s Day-long meeting planned with President Obama at a Palm Springs estate. Curt Ryan, a Professor of Political Science at Appalachian State University, a Fulbright Scholar to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and author of “Jordan in Transition: From Hussein to Abdullah”, joins us to discuss the regional pressures on Jordan from the war next door in Syria, the instability in neighboring Iraq and the unresolved Palestinian issue, as well as internal pressures on the Kingdom from democratic aspirations raised by the “Arab Spring”.

Part 3

Then finally the filmmakers of the Academy Award-nominated Best Feature Documentary “The Square”, director Jehane Noujaim and producer Karim Amer join us in the studio. We look into the role the film, that is banned in Egypt, is playing abroad and whether outside pressures can influence the military regime that three years after the democratic uprising in Tahrir Square documented in “The Square”, has deposed the first democratically elected government, rewritten the constitution to make them above the law, and announced that the Supreme Military Leader is a candidate for president.