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2012 Program Archive
September 11 - A Whistleblower Who Tried to Prevent 9/11; An Editor Fired for Not Covering Putin's Latest Stunt; The Senate's Mendacious Attempt to Kill Dodd-Frank
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On this 11th anniversary of 9/11 we begin with Coleen Rowley, a former FBI special agent who pushed to investigate the so-call thirteenth 9/11 hijacker Zacarias Moussoui before the 9/11 attack. We discuss the latest revelations of a hidden body of memos and intelligence briefs that preceded the infamous August 9 CIA daily brief “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US” that make it clear how culpable the Bush White House are for not preventing 9/11 and how negligent they were in ignoring repeated, specific warnings. |
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Then we go to Moscow to speak with the editor of a popular science magazine who was fired for not covering Putin’s stunt flying with the cranes. Masha Gessen, the author of “The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin” joins us to discuss the on-going struggle of brave Russians standing up to an increasingly repressive leader who continues to dramatically reverse freedom of expression and the legal, civil and human rights of Russians. |
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Then finally we examine the latest attempt by the Wall Street banking lobby to undo the Dodd-Frank post 2008 reforms. Amit Narang, Public Citizen’s regulatory policy advocate and Editor of The Administrative Law Review joins us to discuss how a bi-partisan group of Senators are pushing a poison pill bill posing as financial reform that will enable Wall Street to smother attempts at oversight with endless delays through litigation. |
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| MUSIC: James Blake - What I Know Now; Dirty Projectors - Spray Paint The Walls; Doom - Gazillion Ear |
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September 10 - Early Predictor of Obama's Re-election; Why Chicago's Teachers Are on Strike; Mexico's Messiah Steps Down
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We begin with Allan Lichtman, a Distinguished Professor of History at American University who has correctly predicted the outcome of every presidential election since 1984. We discuss the latest Republican-leaning polls that show the president ahead as well as the likelihood of wild cards upsetting Obama’s path to re-election. |
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Then we examine the reasons why Chicago’s teachers have gone out on strike with Kevin Kumashiro, who is a professor and past chair of the Department of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Illinois-Chicago. We discuss his contention that Chicago’s teachers are not striking because of money, but rather are protesting so-called “reforms” that have made their jobs nearly impossible. |
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Then finally, we speak with George Grayson, the author of “Mexican Messiah: Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador”, about the resignation of the PRD’s presidential candidate who is still contesting the last two presidential elections in Mexico. We discuss whether Lopez Obrador’s exit from the Democratic Revolution Party to form a new political youth movement Morena, the national regeneration movement, will divide and weaken Mexico’s left. |
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| MUSIC: My Morning Jacket - Look At You; Crosby Stills Nash & Young - Teach Your Children; Kanye West - All Falls Down; Molotovs - Gimmie Power |
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September 9 - The Eurocrisis Postponed But Not Over; Corporate Capitalism's Long March; The Democrats Shy Away From Populism
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We begin with the intervention by the European Central Bank to buy Spanish and Italian bonds which gives the long and painful Eurocrisis a temporarily reprieve and is surely welcome news in the White House. Thomas Ferguson, a member of the advisory board for George Soros’s Institute for New Economic Thinking joins us to discuss this temporary fix that has left Germany’s Bundesbank and Bundestag fuming. |
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Then we speak with political economist and activist Gar Alperovitz about the recently concluded Republican and Democratic conventions and the homestretch the campaigns are now entering with the Romney campaign running the old Bill Clinton/James Carville 1992 campaign, “It’s the Economy Stupid”. We discuss this strategy and a possible counter-strategy as the latest dismal reports on jobs numbers appear to help Romney. |
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Then finally historian Jefferson Cowie joins us to critique the Democratic convention and its failure to draw a sufficiently clear distinction between the party of the oligarch’s represented by an exemplar of the 1%, Mitt Romney, and the party of the middle class and working Americans whose main legacy is a social safety net that is under attack. We discuss the reasoning behind appealing to a shrinking center while not arousing the downsized and outsourced 99%. |
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| MUSIC: Caberet - Money; Flaming Lips - Waiting For A Superman; Aaliyah - Try Again |
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September 6 - "The Big Things Obama Can Get Done At His Convention"; Can Obama Re-invent or Revive the Spirit of 2008?; Will Obama Take on Campaign Finance Reform?
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We begin and go to the Democratic Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina and speak with Stanley Greenberg, the former pollster for Bill Clinton and co-author with James Carville of the new book “It’s The Middle Class Stupid”. We discuss what President Obama needs to do tonight and the memo that Stan Greenberg and James Carville wrote to President Obama, ”The Big Things That Obama Can Get Done at His Convention”.
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Then we examine ways that President Obama might re-awaken the youth vote that put him over the top in 2008. Mike Lux, the co-founder and CEO of Progressive Strategies joins us. He was a Special Assistant to the President for Public Liaison in the White House and we discuss his article in the Huffington Post about the choices facing Americans in this election, “What Kind of People Will We Be?” |
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Then finally we speak with veteran journalist Peter Stone who has been tracking money in politics for decades. We discuss the many issues in the Democratic platform that will likely not be discussed on stage at the convention; gun control, raising the minimum wage, slowing and reversing climate change, and most of all, campaign finance reform. |
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| MUSIC: The Shins - No Way Down; Against Me! - Bitter Divisions; My Morning Jacket - I'm Amazed |
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September 5 - Former Speechwriter on Clinton's Speech Tonight; Jim Hightower on Progressive Patriotism; Syrian Refugees Swamp Jordan
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We first go to the Democratic convention in Charlotte, North Carolina and speak with President Clinton’s former speechwriter, Paul Glastris, to get a sense of what the still popular former President might deliver tonight in his keynote speech. |
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Then the popular, populist radio commentator Jim Hightower joins us. He along with 20 prominent Democrats wrote an open letter to the Democratic leadership, “How Democrats Can Get Back on Offense” and we discuss the letter and how it was received, as well as review the First Lady’s widely praised speech and what former President Bill Clinton will bring to the convention tonight. |
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Then finally, following the announcement by the UN that over 100,000 refugees fled Syria in the month of August, we speak with Jillian Schwedler, a specialist on Jordan where most of the Syria refugees are ending up in UNHCR tents in the blistering, hot desert. We get a sense of how the fragile kingdom is handling the on-going humanitarian disaster next door, and how Jordan is still coping with the massive influx of refugees from the last war in Iraq. |
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| MUSIC: Jim O' Rourke - Please Patronize our Sponsers; Bonnet - Let's Get Organized; Dirty Projectors - No More; Tom Petty - Refugee |
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