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2013 Program Archive
June 18 - Sectarianism and the Proxy War Over Syria; Will the Repudiation of Hardliners Lead to Less Repression in Iran?; Whistleblowers and Leakers
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We begin with the announcement today from the G8 summit that in spite of their differences over Syria, the U.S. and Russia have come together to back an urgent G8 call for peace talks on Syria in Geneva. Shibley Telhami, the Anwar Sadat Professor of Peace and Development at the University of Maryland and author of “The World Through Arab Eyes: Arab Public Opinion and the Reshaping of the Middle East” joins us to discuss the sectarian underpinning of the Saudi-Iranian proxy war in Syria and how Hezbollah’s reputation in the Arab world has been tarnished. |
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Then we hear from veteran foreign correspondent Reese Erlich who is just back from Iran where he covered the elections. We will discuss how much the Supreme Leader was taken by surprise by the last-minute surge of the moderate candidate Hassan Rohani, who won outright, and whether the repudiation of the hard-liners will translate into any improvement in human rights and an easing of the brutal security state-within-a-state run by the Revolutionary Guards under the control of the Supreme Leader. |
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Then finally we get a comparison of the current leaker of secrets Edward Snowden, who on the eve of the G8 summit revealed that Britain’s GCHQ had spied on delegates at the previous G20 conference in London, and an earlier whistleblower Katherine Gun who worked for GCHQ and went public with embarrassing secrets of how the NSA spied on the UN in the run up to the Iraq war. Marcia Mitchell, the author of “The Spy Who Tried to Stop a War: Katherine Gun and the Secret Plot to Sanction the Iraq Invasion” joins us. She has an article at Counterpunch “Spying on the G20 Summit”. |
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June 17 - The Military-Digital Complex and a Monopolized and Commercialized Internet; Obama's Chronicler Jonathan Alter on "The Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies"
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We begin with the latest leaks in The Guardian from Edward Snowden on the eve of the G-8 summit in Northern Island, revealing that the British equivalent of the NSA, GCHQ, spied on delegations at a previous G-20 summit put on by the same hosts back in 2009. Media critic and author Robert McChesney, joins us to discuss the continuing spy scandal in the context of a military-digital complex embedded in a commercialized Internet controlled by compliant monopolies who serve the national security state. We also discuss Robert McChesney’s latest book “Digital Disconnect: How Capitalism is Turning the Internet Against Democracy”.
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Then Jonathan Alter joins us in the studio. He is a columnist for Bloomberg View and an analyst and contributing correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC. One of the foremost chroniclers of the Obama presidency, Alter wrote “The Promise: President Obama, Year One” and he has now revealed the behind-the-scenes drama of the last part of Obama’s first term and his successful reelection in his latest book, just out, “The Center Holds: Obama and his Enemies”. We discuss the book and the latest CNN poll showing Obama’s approval rating is falling as a result of the recent scandals, both real and phony, with a particularly damaging 17 point decline over the past month among a key group of Obama supporters under 30. |
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June 16 - An Update on Iran's Elections from Tehran; How Moderate is the New Government of Hassan Rouhani?; A Spokesperson for the Syrian Opposition on Obama's Decision to Arm the Rebels
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We begin and go to Tehran to speak with one of the few Western journalists in Iran, Ali Arouzi, NBC’s Bureau Chief in Tehran. We discuss the outcome of Friday’s presidential election that surprised American analysts who predicted that a hard-line hand-picked successor to Ahmadinejad would win. We look into whether this is a victory for wisdom and moderation over extremism and ill-temper as the winner Hassan Rouhani has described it.
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Then we get a further analysis on whether the surprise win in Iran is a change in atmospherics or substance from Rasool Nafisi, a Middle East expert who has written about the Pasdaran, the guardians of the revolution. Today the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps said on their website that “we announce our comprehensive readiness for interaction and cooperation with the next administration.” We discuss what changes in Iran’s foreign and domestic policies are likely, given that the new president does not control foreign policy but instead presides over a troubled economy. |
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Then finally, following Bill Clinton’s remark that Obama could look like “a total wuss” if he does not intervene in Syria, we assess the impact of the White House’s decision to arm the Syrian opposition after acknowledging that the Assad regime had crossed its “red line” over the use of chemical weapons. Rafif Jouejati, the English language spokesperson for the Syrian Local Coordinating Committees, the umbrella group of the Syrian opposition, joins us to discuss what this change in U.S. policy might mean on the battlefield and at the negotiating table. |
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June 13 - The Enablers of Outsourced Intelligence; Why No Coverage of the Good Economic News?; America's Worst Charities
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We begin with Tim Shorrock, a Washington-based investigative reporter and author of “Spies For Hire: The Secret World of Outsourced Intelligence”, and discuss his article at The Nation “A Modern-Day Stassi State” and the role of ex-NSA and CIA head General Hayden and others who accelerated the privatization of intelligence to the point where today over two thirds of the intelligence budget goes to private contractors. |
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Then we examine why the good news about the improving economy has not been covered in the press in contrast to the earlier flood of “the sky is falling” reports parroting propaganda from deficit hawks like the Wall Street billionaire Pete Peterson. Mark Blyth, a Professor of International Economy at Brown University and author of “Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea” joins us to discuss how America escaped the austerity trap that has mired the Eurozone, even thought the deficit hawks are still demanding we follow Europe’s disastrous path. |
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Then finally we look into a new report from a year-long investigation by CNN, The Tampa Bay Times and the Center for Investigative Journalism into the 50 worst charities in the United State who took in a billion dollars last year and only spent 50 million on the needy. Kendall Taggert, a researcher and writer for the Center for Investigative Reporting joins us to discuss the report on America’s worst charities which is available at cironline.org and the scandalous fleecing of generous Americans who think they are donating to help dying children. |
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June 12 - Do Spy Agency Contractors Spy for Corporations or Wealthy Individuals?; Is North Carolina the Harbinger of America Run by the Kochs and the Tea Party?; An Analysis of Who the Real Erdogan Is
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We begin with an analysis of whether private contractors for secret intelligence agencies can use their advanced government–funded surveillance tools to spy on activists, political organizations, reporters and labor unions for corporate clients or wealthy individuals. Lee Fang a reporting fellow with the Investigative Fund of The Nation Institute joins us to discuss his article at The Nation “How Spy Agency Contractors Have Already Abused Their Power”. |
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Then we look into the state of the state in North Carolina, the model for aggressive Republican right wing governance that could be a harbinger of what America will look like if the Koch Brothers and Tea Party politicians like Rand Paul and Ted Cruz were able to take over the Federal Government. Jedediah Purdy, a Professor of Law at Duke University joins us to discuss his article at The Huffington Post “Why I Got Arrested in Raleigh: The States Are the New Front Line”. |
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Then finally, as Turkish riot police are poised again to evict protesters from Taksim Square and Gezi Park we get an appraisal of who the autocratic Turkish leader Erdogan really is, and how much his polarizing personality is responsible for the escalating showdown between a growing number of citizens and the government of the ruling Justice and Development Party. David Phillips, the Director of the Peace-Building and Rights Program at the Institute for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University joins us to discuss his article in the World Policy Journal “Why Are Turks So Angry?” |
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