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2012 Program Archive
November 27 - Jonathan Taplin sits in for Ian Masters: "How Scarcity will Remake American Politics"; Super PACs and the FEC; Is the Door Closing for Musicians in Digital Age?
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with Guest Host Jonathan Taplin |
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We begin and speak with Thomas Edsall, a Professor at the Columbia University School of Journalism, about his book, “The Age of Austerity: How Scarcity will Remake American Politics”. |
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Then we speak with Trevor Potter, who was a Republican FEC commissioner from 1991 to 1995 and has represented Stephen Colbert in front of the FEC, about Super PACs. |
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Finally, we are joined by David Lowery, who is the singer-songwriter and guitarist for the legendary alt/ indie bands Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven. We are going to talk about music, file sharing, advertising and intellectual property. |
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November 26 - Jessica Levinson sits in for Ian Masters: Political Reform in California
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with Jessica Levinson |
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First, we hear from Ann Ravel, the Chairwoman of the Fair Political Practices Commission. Chair Ravel gives us the perspective on political reform from the head of a government watchdog agency charged with creating and enforcing regulations of elections and political activities in California. |
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Second, we hear from Kathay Feng, the Executive Director of California Common Cause. Ms. Feng gives us the perspective of someone working for reform from outside of the government, by leading a non-profit good government group. |
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Third, we hear from Torey Van Oot who covers politics for the Sacramento Bee. Ms. Van Oot closely covered local, state and federal campaigns this election cycle. She gives us the perspective of a news reporter who lives and works in the State’s capitol. |
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November 25 - Michael Hiltzik sits in for Ian Masters: The Election and what it Wrought
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with Guest Host Michael Hiltzik
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First, we are joined by Eric Laursen, the author of "The People's Pension: The Struggle to Defend Social Security Since Reagan". We discuss the dangers to Social Security and to Medicare from the debate over the 'fiscal cliff', and how all the discussion in Washington about cutting the deficit, at a time when we still need government stimulus to promote job creation and economic recovery, is really a stalking horse for an attack on what are sometimes known as entitlements - those programs that are really crucial for keeping millions of Americans out of poverty and ensuring a comfortable retirement when declined corporate pensions and the financial markets have left American struggling. |
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Then we speak with Michael Grunwald about economic recovery and the government's role. Michael Grunwald is a national correspondent for Time Magazine, and his latest book, "The New New Deal", is a terrific examination of how crucial the Obama stimulus program was to the economic recovery after 2008, and since my latest book is "The New Deal: A Modern History," which deals with FDR's new deal, we compare and contrast these two. |
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Then finally we look into the defeat of Proposition 37 which would have required labels on a wide range of genetically modified foods, though not all GMOs, which was just one of the problems with Proposition 37. We are joined by Michael Eisen, a Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California Berkeley, who was one of the most articulate opponents of Proposition 37. We talk about how to create legislation dealing with scientific issues that is based on genuine science, not junk science. |
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November 22 - Stop Shopping and Save the Earth; Giving Thanks to Those who put Food on our Table; Celebrating People Power
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LISTEN TO FULL PROGRAM | |
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We begin on this Thanksgiving holiday as we celebrate family and community and look into what we have to be thankful for and what we can do to makes others thankful. We begin with the Reverend Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping and explore alternatives to the coming frenzy of shopping that begins tomorrow with Black Friday and intensifies in the month ahead until Christmas. |
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Then we speak with Sister Ann Kendrick, one of the nuns on the bus, who works in Central Florida bringing services and support to farm workers and their families. We discuss the challenges facing immigrant communities, many of whom toil to put food on our table, and the changing face of America that is fast-becoming a majority-minority country. |
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Then finally Jim Wallis joins us. He recently served on the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships and is president and CEO of Sojourners and editor-in-chief of Sojourners Magazine. We will discuss the many reasons to be thankful that our democracy survived an attempt by the oligarchy to buy the recent election, and how citizens can build a movement to take money out of politics and make government responsive to the needs of people not the power of money. |
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November 21 - Exiting the Quagmire as the Region Trembles; Pakistan's Perfidity in Losing our Longest War
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LISTEN TO FULL PROGRAMS | |
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We look into a big issue that was not mentioned in the recent presidential campaign, the Afghan war, a protracted engagement war-weary Americans want to forget, that has had eleven commanders in the last eleven years of America’s longest war. One of the leading experts on Afghanistan and its people and culture, Thomas Barfield joins us. He is the President of the American Institute of Afghanistan Studies and the author of “Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History” and we discuss the future of this tormented country the U.S is withdrawing from in 2014. |
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Then we further explore Afghanistan’s uncertain future with Christine Fair. She was a United Nations Political Officer in Afghanistan and is a Senior Fellow with the Counter Terrorism Center at West Point. We discuss the likely aftermath of the U.S. and NaATO withdrawal from Afghanistan and whether a reduced American footprint in the region will diminish the virulent anti-Americanism in a nuclear-armed and increasingly unstable Pakistan. |
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