June 17 - The Military-Digital Complex and a Monopolized and Commercialized Internet; Obama's Chronicler Jonathan Alter on "The Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies"

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the latest leaks in The Guardian from Edward Snowden on the eve of the G-8 summit in Northern Island, revealing that the British equivalent of the NSA, GCHQ, spied on delegations at a previous G-20 summit put on by the same hosts back in 2009. Media critic and author Robert McChesney, joins us to discuss the continuing spy scandal in the context of a military-digital complex embedded in a commercialized Internet controlled by compliant monopolies who serve the national security state. We also discuss Robert McChesney’s latest book “Digital Disconnect: How Capitalism is Turning the Internet Against Democracy”.

Part 2

Then Jonathan Alter joins us in the studio. He is a columnist for Bloomberg View and an analyst and contributing correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC. One of the foremost chroniclers of the Obama presidency, Alter wrote “The Promise: President Obama, Year One” and he has now revealed the behind-the-scenes drama of the last part of Obama’s first term and his successful reelection in his latest book, just out, “The Center Holds: Obama and his Enemies”. We discuss the book and the latest CNN poll showing Obama’s approval rating is falling as a result of the recent scandals, both real and phony, with a particularly damaging 17 point decline over the past month among a key group of Obama supporters under 30.