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2013 Program Archive
February 4 - The President Stumps for Gun Safety; More Blackouts Ahead and How to Avoid Them; Recapturing the Word Jihad from Muslim and Anti-Muslim Extremists
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We begin with the president’s speech today in Minneapolis in front of a backdrop of police officers where he kicked off his public campaign to reduce gun violence in America. Lawrence Jacobs, the Director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota joins us to discuss what steps have been taken to reduce gun violence in Minnesota and whether the president can get enough of the public behind him to stand up to the NRA. |
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Then we speak with one of the leading authorities on the delivery of power to large populations, David Freeman, the former head of the TVA, New York Power and the LA Department of Water and Power. Following the half-hour blackout in the middle of the Super Bowl, we discuss our dependence on electricity from an ageing grid that will be subject to more and more stress in the future from extreme weather caused by global warming, that is in turn caused to a great extent by the use of coal to generate electricity. |
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Then finally we speak with the organizer of a public campaign #MyJihad, which seeks to recapture the proper meaning of the word “Jihad” that has been expropriated by Muslim and anti-Muslim extremists alike. Ahmed Rehab, the Executive Director of the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations joins us to discuss his campaign that has already begun with advertisements in subways and on buses in Chicago, San Francisco and Washington D.C. |
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February 3 - A Brazen Attack on the CFPB by the Banking Lobby's Hirelings; The Secular/Religious Divide in Israel and Egypt; The NFL's Legacy of Brain-damage
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We begin with the latest brazen attack on the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with an apparent collusion between the DC Circuit’s Republican judiciary and the Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell who sent the president a letter on Friday vowing to block the re-nomination of the current head of the CFPB Richard Cordray until Congress passes a bill to neuter the bureau. Jeff Connaugton, the author of “The Payoff: Why Wall Street Always Wins" joins us to discuss whether the banking lobby’s Republican hirelings and the court’s judicial activists will succeed in eliminating any consumer protection from an industry that all but destroyed the economy. |
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Then we speak with investigative journalist Max Blumenthal who just returned from covering the elections in Israel and the riots in Egypt. We discuss the secular and religious divide in Israel that was reflected in the elections and in the current horse-trading going on now as a coalition government is being formed. And the same divide in Egypt between the secular youth who propelled the revolution now battling in the streets against the religious government that stole the revolution. |
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Then finally, with today’s Super Bowl celebrations underway in New Orleans, we look into the future of the increasingly violent game of football that has led to over 4,000 lawsuits from NFL players seeking damages blaming the league for minimizing brain-damage and its long-term effects. Veteran sportswriter Robert Lipsyte joins us to discuss whether the brutal collisions in football can be minimized without losing fans of this multi-billion dollar spectator sport. |
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January 31- Does Hagel's Lackluster Testimony Invite a Filibuster?; How Successful Republican Gerrymandering Will Backfire; China Hacks The New York Times
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We begin and get an assessment of how President Obama’s nominee to head up the Department of Defense equipped himself under a barrage of hostile questions from his former Republican senate colleagues. Winslow Wheeler, who worked on national security issues for over 30 years for members on the U.S. Senate, joins us to discuss today’s lackluster performance by Chuck Hagel and whether that will embolden Republicans to filibuster his nomination. |
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Then we look into whether the recent attempt by Republicans to change the Electoral College so that the losing candidate could win the presidency has fizzled or has been put on hold. Jeremiah Goulka, a former Republican who has an article at Truthout.org “Shot by Their Own Men: How the Virginia Senate Inadvertently Predicts Republican Decline” joins us to discuss how successful gerrymandering by Republicans could backfire as right-wing incumbents in safe seats, are forced to run against even more extreme right-wing candidates, eventually turning off moderate and conservative voters. |
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Then finally we examine cyber attacks aimed at the New York Times that have been blamed on Chinese hackers in apparent retaliation for negative stories the Times had run about the fabulous wealth accrued by the families of China’s leaders. Gordon Chang, the author of “The Coming Collapse of China” joins us to discuss who is behind these cyber attacks and the apparent insecurity China’s Communist leaders have about their capitalist riches. |
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January 30 - What did Israel Strike in Syria?; A Teachable Moment for Deficit Hawks; The 42nd Gun Death This Month in Chicago
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We begin and go to Beirut for the latest on a suspected Israeli attack on Syria which the Assad regime claims struck a scientific research facility but other reports suggest it was a convoy carrying SA -17 missiles to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Thanassis Cambanis, the author of “A Privilege to Die: Inside Hezbollah’s Legions and Their Endless War against Israel” joins us to discuss a possible regional escalation of Syria’s civil war. |
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Then we examine the unexpected contraction in the Gross Domestic Product in the last quarter of 2012 and what this means in terms of a slowing recovery that could be stalled even more if budget cuts from the sequestration go into effect. Dimitri Papadimitriou, the President of the Levy Economics Institute and Professor of Economics at Bard College joins us to discuss this unwelcome news that might give House Republican deficit hawks pause as they insist on more budget cuts. |
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Then finally, with the shooting death of a high school honors student and a majorette who performed at President Obama’s recent inauguration, we speak with award-winning author Alex Kotlowitz whose PBS FRONTLINE documentary “The Interrupters” profiled efforts to stop gun violence in Chicago’s inner city. We discuss 15 year old Hadiya Pendleton’s death, which was brought up today in a U.S. Senate hearing on gun control, the 42nd shooting this month in the gang-infested south side of Chicago. |
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January 29 - The President's Pitch for Immigration Reform; Arizona's Ground Truth on Immigration Reform; The Makers of "The Square" a New Film on the On-going Egyptian Revolution
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We begin and go to Del Sol High School in Las Vegas, Nevada where the president spoke today on immigration reform. Angela Maria Kelly the Vice President for Immigration Policy and Advocacy at the Center for American Progress joins us to outline what the President Obama proposed today and assess the chances of it being implemented by Congress where House Republicans are bitterly divided on the issue. |
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Then we look into the so-called “gang of eight” senators who offered their immigration reform proposal yesterday. Since two of the four Republican senators are from Arizona, we look into both the president’s and the senator’s proposals from the perspective of the reality on the ground in Arizona where immigration is a deeply contentious issue. Jeff Biggers, the author of “State Out of the Union: Arizona and the Final Showdown over the American Dream” joins us. |
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Then finally we are joined in the studio by the film makers of “The Square” a new feature documentary on the on-going Egyptian revolution that just won the Audience Award at Sundance. The director of “The Square” Jehane Noujaim, who also directed the award-winning film “The Control Room”, and the Producer of “The Square” Karim Amer, will discuss their heroic efforts to bring the inside story of this revolution, that is at the heart of the “Arab Spring”, to the screen. |
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