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2011 Program Archive
September 25 - An Insider Fills in the Gaps About 9/11; IMF Warns The Global Economy Has Entered a Dangerous Phase
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We are joined by Ali Soufan the author of a new book “The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War against Al Qaeda”. Ali Soufan is a former FBI Special Agent who served on the front lines against Al Qaeda and gained an international reputation as a top counterterrorism operative and interrogator. We explore in depth the issues of torture, strategy and political cover-up with this important insider who fills in some holes in the insufficient public knowledge available in regard to these momentous events that have shaped the last decade and continue to dominate our lives. |
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Then we are joined by Robert Johnson, the Executive Director of the Institute for New Economic Thinking. He has just met with top officials of the IMF who are concerned that the global economy is in dangerous territory as the European debt crisis threatens to drag us into a deeper recession or even a depression. We will find out what measures might be taken to reverse the drift and calm the markets. |
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September 21 - The UN Takes Up Palestinian Statehood; Winning Back Dissaffected Progressives; Life in an American Theocracy
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We begin with the United Nations where world heads of state are gathering for what is expected to be a session dominated by the question of Palestinian statehood. Veteran U.N. correspondent Ian Williams joins us. He covers the UN for Foreign Policy in Focus. |
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Then we look into the state of disillusionment among progressives when it comes to supporting President Obama’s reelection in 2012. Mike Lux, the co-founder and CEO of Progressive Strategies, who was formerly a special assistant to President Clinton for Public Liaison in the White House, joins us discuss the possibility of primary challenges and how the president can win back his disaffected base. |
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Then finally, with two theocratic candidates running for President, Rick Perry and Michelle Bachman, we analyze the results of American theocracy in terms of life in the Red States dominated by the religious right. Stephan Schwartz, Senior Fellow at the Samueli Institute joins us. He has an article in the Science Journal Explore, “The Rise Of American Theocracy; Implications for Science and Healthcare.” |
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September 20 - Greece Will Default and Soon; The Battle Inside Yemen's Elite; Mike Farrell on the Death Penalty
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We begin and go to Greece to talk with Dimitri Papadimitriou who is the President of the Levy Economics Institute and professor of Economics at Bard College. With Greece on the precipice of a default that could unravel the Eurozone, we get an update on how soon the crunch will come and how the chips will fall. |
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Then we speak with an expert on Yemen, Charles Schmitz, who is president of the American Institute of Yemeni Studies. Following recent mass shootings of street protesters, we examine the possibility of a civil war as the sons of the ailing dictator cling to power fighting the regime's former enforcer turned leader of the revolution. |
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Then finally on the eve of the execution of a man who many consider innocent, we examine the case of Troy Davis, whose execution tomorrow at 4 PM local time seems all but inevitable following the denial of clemency by the Georgia Pardons Board. Actor and activist Mike Farrell joins us. He is the president of Death Penalty Focus. |
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September 19 - Making Millionaires Pay; Making Voting Harder For Democrats; New Rules in the Keystone State
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We begin with the President’s announcement of plans to tax millionaires and his threat to veto any Republican deficit reduction proposal that does not include raising revenues. One of the country’s leading experts on tax policy, Pulitzer-prize winning journalist David Cay Johnston, joins us. |
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Then we look into Republican plans to restrict Democratic voter’s access to the polls in key states in next year’s election. Daniel Tokaji, professor of Law at Ohio State University, joins us to discuss what Ohio’s governor and legislature are implementing in terms or restrictions and impediments to either discourage Democratic turnout or make it more difficult for the poor and elderly to vote. |
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Then we look further into plans in Pennsylvania by the Republican governor and legislature to change the state’s Electoral College votes to favor the Republican presidential candidate. Pennsylvania pollster Dr. G Terry Madonna, who directs the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin and Marshall College, joins us to explain where this proposed change stands and how it is playing out in Pennsylvania politics. |
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September 18 - America's Lost Decade; The End of the Euro?; The Gloves Are Off With The U.S. And Pakistan
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We begin with “America’s Lost Decade” the title of an article by our first guest Jonathan Alter. He is an analyst for NBC news and a columnist for Bloomberg View and we discuss the lost decade that was just observed with the anniversary of 9/11 and try to assess whether in the next election, the electorate will recognize the damage done to this country by the Bush decade. |
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Then we look into the possibility of an unraveling of the Eurozone following the unsuccessful and inconclusive meeting of the U.S. Treasury Secretary and the European Finance Ministers. William Black an expert on bank fraud, just back from Europe, joins us to examine the irony that although it is really the German banks that are being bailed out, German voters do not want to bail out Greece, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel has rejected floating Eurobonds. |
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Then finally we get an update on Afghanistan and Pakistan following the latest brazen Taliban attack in Kabul where the city was held hostage for over a day by a group from the Haqqani network that, according the US Ambassador in Pakistan, is protected by Pakistan’s military intelligence service the ISI. Christine Fair, who was a political officer for the UN in Kabul and is a Senior Fellow with the Counter Terrorism Center at West Point joins us. |
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