2011 Program Archive

June 27 - How Will Gaddafi's Arrest Warrant Affect Libya?; Arizona Denies Funds for Qualified Underdog Candidates; The Corporate Assault on Citizen's Rights; Will Democrats Buy into Deficit Hoax and War on Seniors?

Audio

Full Program

 Listen to Full Program -

Audio

Part 1

 We begin with a discussion of the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Libyan dictator Gadaffi, his son, Saif al-Islam, and his Intelligence Chief, Abdullah al-Sanuss. David Scheffer, who was the first U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues, joins us to talk about how this arrest warrant might affect the apparent stalemate in Libya David Scheffer

Audio

Part 2

Then we look at the Supreme Court’s latest ruling on campaign finance with Jessica Levinson, who was part of the losing side of the case that the thin conservative majority struck down, invalidating an Arizona law that provided for qualified candidates to get public funds to match excessive spending by wealthy opponents.

 Jessica Levinson

Audio

Part 3

Then we look at the broader corporate assault on citizen’s rights and the consumer’s ability to sue, with Susan Saladoff, the maker of a new HBO documentary feature film Hot Coffee. She joins us to talk about her film that profiles the incremental erosion of individual rights that the American people are giving away to corporate power in the name of tort reform.

 Susan Saladoff

Audio

Part 4

Then, finally, we look into the psychology of political message management with Drew Westen, the author of The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in deciding the Fate of the Nation. He argues that the Democrats are about to make a catastrophic mistake if they join the Republicans and buy into the deficit hoax and the war on seniors.

 Drew Westen

 

Tags:

June 26 - The Death of Earth's Oceans; Overpopulation and the Future of the Planet; The New Gilded Age and Rise of the 21st Century U.S. Plutocracy

audio

Full Program

 Listen to Full Program  

audio

Part 1

We begin with the alarming new report on the state of the oceans that cover two-thirds of this planet. Sylvia Earle, the National Geographic’s explorer-in-residence and former chief scientist of NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, joins us. We examine this latest warning of a mass extinction and look into ways to reverse the drift towards the death of the Earth’s oceans.

 sylvia earle

audio

Part 2

Then we examine the main culprit behind the looming mass extinction of the ocean, and by extension, the Earth, and that is overpopulation.  The head of the largest grassroots population organization in the U.S., Population Connection, (formerly Zero Population Growth) John Seager, joins us.  We look into the future of this planet on which the population has doubled since 1968 and will double again by 2030.

 John Seager

audio

Part 3

Then we have a conversation with labor historian Jefferson Cowie about the new Gilded Age and the rise of the 21st century American plutocracy. He is the author of Stayin’ Alive: The 1970’s and the Last Days of the Working Class. We look into the possibility of another Teddy Roosevelt emerging from America’s political class, locked in the grip of greed, to restore a government of the people, "by the people and for the people."

 Jefferson Cowie

 

Tags:

June 23 - Obama's Announcement of a Troop Withdrawal from Afghanistan; An Analysis of the Middle East Following the Arab Spring Revolutions; An Update on the Financial Crisis in Europe

audio

Full Program

 Listen to Full Program  

audio

Part 1

 We start off by discussing the president’s announcement yesterday regarding a troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, in effect, the un-surge of the extra 30,000 troops Obama deployed. To get an analysis of the beginning of the end of this decade-long, losing war, we are joined by AfPak expert, Christine Fair, who served as a United Nations political officer in Kabul and is a senior fellow in the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.
 		 Christine Fair

audio

Part 2

 Then we get a broader analysis of the Middle East, shaken by the Arab Spring revolutions, and assess the successes and failures while focusing on the counterrevolutionaries, in particular the contra of contras, Saudi Arabia, the oil-rich, reactionary feudal state that fuels religious medievalism and abhors democracy. Anouar Boukhars, an expert on the Middle East and in particular Morocco, where the Moroccan king is doing exactly what the Saudi King is urging and trying to bribe him not to do, joins us.
 		 Anoaur Boukhars

audio

Part 3

 Then, finally, we have an update on the financial crisis shaking the Eurozone with concerns over Greece defaulting on its stifling debt, and Portugal and Ireland staggering under the weight of their debt. Steven Hill, the author of “Europe’s Promise: Why the European Way is the Best Hope for an Insecure Age,” joins us from a conference of European leaders in Spain where these issues are being discussed, debated and presumably dealt with. Steven Hill

 

Tags:

June 21 - Afghanistan Troop Pull-Out(?) in Perspective; Defend Muslims, Defend America; Nuclear Power Now

Full Program

 LISTEN TO FULL PROGRAM    

Part 1

 The former Vice-Chair of the National Intelligence Council at the CIA who served as CIA Station Chief in Kabul Graham Fuller joins us to discuss the President's address on Afghanistan tomorrow where he is expected to announce the withdrawal of 10,000 troops from a war the American people increasingly see as a lost cause. Graham Fuller  

Part 2

 Azziz Huq who wrote an op-ed in Monday's New York Times "Defend Muslims, Defend America" joins us to discuss the racist paranoia behind the ludicrous rash of bills in State Legislatures banning Sharia Law, following the lead of Oklahoma. In addition to the obvious insult to American core values and a violation of the First Amendment, we examine the consequences of these discriminatory laws in terms of their adverse effect on national security. Aziz Huq  

Part 3

 With two Nebraska nuclear plants threatened by the rising Missouri River, we will look into nulear safety in the U.S. following the recent disasters in Japan and an expose by the AP accusing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of weakening safety rules to keep America's aging reactors operating. The president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research Arjun Makhajani joins us. Arjun Makhijani  
Tags:

June 20 - Huntsman and Romney; The High Cost of the Death Penalty; Ask a Mexican!

Full Program

 LISTEN TO FULL PROGRAM  

Part 1

 Rocky Anderson, the former mayor of Salt Lake City, who knows both Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman well, joins us to assess the man who many see as the most formidable and electable candidate Obama could face. We discuss the inconsistencies between the former Jon Huntsman and the latest candidate to enter the Republican race for the presidential nomination. Rocky Anderson  

Part 2

 Laurie Levenson, professor of Law at Loyola Law School joins us to discuss the just-released study, “Executing the Will of the Voters: A roadmap to mend and end the California Legislature’s multi-billion dollar death penalty debacle.” Laurie Levenson  

Part 3

 Gustavo Arellano joins us. He writes the syndicated column, “Ask a Mexican,” and we talk to him about what he sees as a shining example of the Tea Party’s idea of a political paradise where taxes are low, there is no Obamacare and the rich are free to get richer and richer. The Tea Party’s perfect country, large areas of which are government free and ruled by those with the most money and guns, is of course, Mexico. Gustavo Arellano  
Tags: