Background Briefing has a new home at BackgroundBriefing.org.
Please visit and bookmark the new site. You can search show archives here.
2012 Program Archive
June 26 - The Junk Bond Deal That Made Mitt; "The Great Dismantling"; A Syrian Film Maker Who Testified Before the International Criminal Court
|
|
LISTEN TO FULL PROGRAM | |
|
|
We begin with Beth Healy, a financial investigative reporter with the Boston Globe who has uncovered Mitt Romney’s transformative 1988 business deal which turned a $10 million dollar investment into a $175 million profit for him and Bain Capital. We discuss this deal that was financed by junk bond king Michael Milken who at the time was under an SEC investigation that led to his conviction and imprisonment. A time Romney refers to as “the glorious days” of Drexel Burnham, quoting him, “it was fun while it lasted”. |
 |
|
|
Then the author of “Land of Promise: An Economic History of the United States”, Michael Lind, joins us in the studio. We discuss America’s economic history, in particular the current era we are in that began in the mid seventies, the “Great Dismantling” as Michael Lind calls it. An era where the household wealth and living standard of most Americans has stagnated or declined, while the wealthiest one percent have benefited from increased productivity, accruing most if not all of the additional wealth. |
 |
|
|
Then finally a Syrian-born film maker Sam Kadi joins us in the studio. The director of a new feature film “The Citizen” which is about a Lebanese immigrant who comes to America just before 9/11, he recently testified before the International Criminal Court in The Hague about the on-going slaughter of Syrian civilians by the Assad regime. Atrocities which film makers like Sami’s murdered colleague Basel and others, risk their lives to document. |
 |
| MUSIC: Titus Andronicus - Four Score and Seven; The Shins - No Way Down; Big Rock Candy Mountain; Built To Spill - Things Fall Apart |
Tags:
June 25 - The Supreme Court Upholds "Show Me Your Papers"; Darryl Issa the Modern McCarthy Witchhunter; Delusional Leftists Still Support Assad
|
|
LISTEN TO FULL PROGRAM | |
|
|
We begin with the Supreme Court’s decision handed down today in Arizona v The United States and speak with Rudolfo Espino who is a Professor of Political Science at Arizona State University and the Editor of “Latino Politics: Identity, Mobilization and Representation.” We discuss how law enforcement in Arizona will deal with what is left of SB 1070, the so-called “show me your papers” provision. |
 |
|
|
Then we speak with Matthew Miller who is the former Communications Director for Attorney General Eric Holder who this week the House of Representatives will likely vote to hold in contempt of Congress. At issue are documents that allegedly pertain to a botched ATF operation, “Fast and Furious”. But so far the lead inquisitor Representative Darryl Issa has refused to allow public testimony from the AFT which refutes his claims about an operation the Bush Administration set up in the first place, which Eric Holder only learned of a year ago. |
 |
|
|
Then finally award-winning investigative journalist Max Blumenthal joins us. He has been writing for the Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar, and we discuss his clash with the pro-Assad bias of the newspaper that led to his recent resignation, as well as examine why some still consider Syria’s tyrannical ruling family of murderous kleptocrats, revolutionary leaders in the struggle against Western imperialism. |
 |
| MUSIC: Ry Cooder - Across the Borderline; M. Ward - Cosmopolitan Pap; The Roots - Guns Are Drawn; The Beatles - Revolution |
Tags:
June 24 - Is Judical Activism on a Roll?; The Liar-in-Chief; Allowing the Winner to Win in Egypt
|
|
LISTEN TO FULL PROGRAM | |
|
|
We begin with an analysis of what might come down from the Supreme Court next week as we await their ruling on the Affordable Care Act. The Chief Council of the Constitutional Accountability Center Elizabth Wydra joins us to discuss whether the radical anti-union ruling that came down last week could be a harbinger of the court’s intention to kill Obama’s signature healthcare reform act. |
 |
|
|
Then we examine how Mitt Romney lies with remarkable alacrity and frequency, and how he gets away with it. Michael Cohen, a columnist for Foreign Policy and the author of “Live From the Campaign Trail: The Greatest Presidential Speeches of the 20th Century and How They Shaped Modern America” joins us. We discuss his article in the UK Guardian “Mendacious Mitt: Romney’s Bid to Become Liar-in-Chief”. |
 |
|
|
Then finally Juan Cole joins us. He is a professor of Modern Middle Eastern and South Asian History at the University of Michigan and the author of “Engaging the Muslim World”. We discuss the results of the Egyptian presidential election where it appears the ruling military council decided to allow the winner to win rather than face a violent backlash from the Muslim Brotherhood. |
 |
| MUSIC: MGMT - We Don't Care; The Eagles - Lyin' Eyes; Born Ruffians - Retard Canard |
Tags:
June 21 - Angela Merkel Is Not The Miracle Worker; The Tailhook Whistleblower Speaks Out; The Film Makers of "The Invisible War"
|
|
LISTEN TO FULL PROGRAM | |
|
|
Following the just-concluded G-20 summit where world leaders ganged up on Angela Merkel to solve the Eurocrisis, we begin with a German perspective on how much the German Chancellor can do to save the Euro, save the British and American economic recoveries, and save President Obama from an election defeat. Thomas Kleine Brockhoff, a senior Transatlantic Fellow at the German Marshall Fund joins us to defend Germany against constant attacks that they are part of the problem, not the solution. |
 |
|
|
Then we look into one of the most under-reported stories in the media with Paula Couglin, a former anti-submarine helicopter pilot who was the whistleblower who originally spoke out and uncovered the Tailhook scandal back in the early 1990’s. She was punished by the Navy for complaining she was raped by drunken sailors and was forced to resign. She appears in the new film, “The Invisible War”. |
 |
|
|
Then finally, the film makers of “The Invisible War” Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering joins us to discuss their groundbreaking investigation into the epidemic of rape in the U.S. Armed Forces that has claimed up to half a million victims. We discuss the institutions that perpetuate and cover up this on-going scandal and the profound personal and social consequences of the military’s failure to address this problem. |
 |
| MUSIC: The Flaming Lips - Waiting For A Superman; Fiona Apple - Sullen Girl; Aus Rotten - Second Rape; James Blake - What I Know Now |
Tags:
June 20 - "Nuns On The Bus"; Mitt and Karl's Fabulous Weekend; The Trillion Dollar Failure
|
|
LISTEN TO FULL PROGRAM | |
|
|
We begin with an appeal for social justice from the “nuns on the bus” who are touring the richest country on earth that is casting aside more and more of its citizens. Sister Simone Campbell, the Director of Network joins us to discuss her visit to the district offices of Congressman Paul Ryan whose budget gives more tax cuts to the wealthy and more money for defense while dramatically cutting Social Security, health and education funding and aid to the hungry and poor.
|
 |
|
|
Then as Mitt Romney prepares for a weekend retreat of campaign strategy and money-raising sessions in Deer Valley Utah, where he will be hosting his top billionaire donors, Karl Rove, the Vice Presidential hopefuls and a pantheon of Republican heavy-hitters and conservative commentators, we hear from Craig Holman who is the Government Affairs Legislative Representative for Public Citizen. We discuss the fiction that superPACs such as Karl Rove’s do not coordinate with the Romney campaign. |
 |
|
|
The finally we speak with award-winning documentary film maker Eugene Jarecki about his latest film, “The House I live In”. This powerful and personal film tells the complete and untold story of the failed war on drugs and its costs to American society, from the perspectives of the victims as well as prosecutors, narcotics detectives, Federal Judges, and prison officials trapped this trillion dollar failure that has jailed 45 million Americans. |
 |
| MUSIC: The Caravans - If I Had A Hammer; Peggy Lee - Ain't We Got Fun; Nas (Ft. Lauryn Hill) - If I Ruled The World; Immortal Technique - Peruvian Cocaine |
Tags:
RSS Latest Radio Programs
Pacifica App