2016 Programs

2016 Program Archive

April 16 - The Possible Motives for Domestic Terrorism in Boston; A Bostonian on Their Greatest Day Turning to Horror; China's Defense White Paper; A Report on a Tense and Divided Venezuela

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 We begin with indications that the bombings in Boston were acts of domestic terrorism and speak with Mark Potok, the Director of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project and editor of their Hatewatch blog. We discuss the rampant speculation surrounding the bombings and try to assess possible motives for domestic terrorist groups to engage in an act whose sole purpose seems to be to kill Americans. mark potok

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Then we speak with Dan Kennedy who is a regular panelist on “Beat the Press’, a weekly roundtable program on media issues on WGBH – TV in Boston, to get a sense of how the city is dealing with this shocking tragedy and how its citizens are responding to comforting victims and their families and efforts by law enforcement to investigate who was behind the bombings. Dan Kennedy has an article at CNN “Our ‘greatest day’ turns to horror”.

dan kennedy

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 Then we discuss China's release of a Defense White Paper revealing the structure of its military with China expert June Teufel Dreyer, who was Asia Advisor to the Chief of Naval Operations and is the author of "China's Political System: Modernization and Tradition". We look into the autonomy of China's military and the extent of political control over it. june dreyer

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Part 4

Then finally, we go to Caracas, Venezuela to get an update on the tense and polarized situation following a very close election that has the winner, Maduro, accusing American imperialists of financing and directing acts of violence. Meanwhile the loser, Capriles, is demanding a recount, and has called off the planned rally to protest the results on Wednesday that the government has said it would not allow. Virginia Lopez, who covers Latin America and Venezuela for the U.K. Guardian and Sky TV joins us. She has an article at the U.K. Guardian, "Venezuela's opposition makes noise against Nicolás Maduro's victory."

 virginia lopez

 

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April 15

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 We begin with an examination of the bombings today near the finish line of the Boston marathon that have claimed 2 lives, including an 8 year old child, and wounded 110. James Corcoran a veteran journalist and Chairman of the Department of Communications at Simmons College joins us. He co-wrote, with the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Morris Dees, “Gathering Storm: America’s Militia Threat”, and we discuss the possibility of domestic terrorism being involved in this atrocity that so far no person or group has taken responsibility for. james corcoran

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Then we look into National Security Advisor Tom Donilon’s efforts in Moscow today to re-set the reset in the tattered and strained relations between Russia and the United States. Fiona Hill, a Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies Program at the Brookings Institution and author of “Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin”, joins us to discuss tit-for tats lists of banned Russians and Americans and what progress can be made in dealing with an elected autocrat who is turning back the clock on Russian democracy and human rights.

 fiona hill

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Then finally on tax day today we speak with Edward Kleinbard, who served as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation, and, recently testified before the U.S. Senate’s Budget Committee at a hearing titled “Reducing the Deficit by Eliminating Wasteful Spending in the Tax Code”. We discuss the possibility of reforming the tax code to make it fairer and more progressive and whether tax forms can be made simpler for citizens to fill out and file.

 ed kleinbard

 

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April 15 - Initial Reports on the Bombings in Boston; The White House and the Kremlin Try to Re-set the Reset; Wasteful Spending in the Tax Code

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Part 1

 We begin with an examination of the bombings today near the finish line of the Boston marathon that have claimed 2 lives, including an 8 year old child, and wounded 132 others. James Corcoran a veteran journalist and Chairman of the Department of Communications at Simmons College joins us. He co-wrote, with the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Morris Dees, “Gathering Storm: America’s Militia Threat”, and we discuss the possibility of domestic terrorism being involved in this atrocity that so far no person or group has taken responsibility for. james corcoran

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Part 2

Then we look into National Security Advisor Tom Donilon’s efforts in Moscow today to re-set the reset in the tattered and strained relations between Russia and the United States. Fiona Hill, a Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies Program at the Brookings Institution and author of “Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin”, joins us to discuss tit-for tat lists of banned Russians and Americans and what progress can be made in dealing with an elected autocrat who is turning back the clock on Russian democracy and human rights.

 fiona hill

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Part 3

Then finally, since it is tax day today, we speak with Edward Kleinbard, who served as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation and recently testified before the U.S. Senate’s Budget Committee at a hearing titled “Reducing the Deficit by Eliminating Wasteful Spending in the Tax Code”. We discuss the possibility of reforming the tax code to make it fairer and more progressive and whether tax forms can be made simpler for citizens to fill out and file.

 ed kleinbard

 

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April 14 - "Accompanying", not Observing the Venezuelan Elections; Antonio Gonzales Reports From Venezuela; Is Diplomacy Replacing Bluster in the Korea Crisis?

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 We begin and go to Caracas, Venezuela for an overview of today’s presidential election from Jennifer McCoy, the Director of the Carter Center’s Americas Program, who previously monitored and observed elections in Venezuela, but under the new rules for this election, is “accompanying” the election. With Hugo Chavez’s hand-picked successor Nicholas Maduro comfortably ahead of Henrique Capriles in the polls, we get a sense of how the election, described by many as “free but unfair”, is proceeding. jennifer mccoy

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Then we get a political analysis from the ground in Venezuela from Antonio Gonzales the President of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project who hosts a weekly radio show here at KPFK, the “Strategy Session”. We discuss today’s voting and its likely outcome and get a flavor of the politics in this highly polarized country that recently experienced the death of its popular leader after 14 years of his Bolivarian Revolutionary rule.

 antonio gonzalez

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Then finally we look into the latest developments in the Korean crisis that many expect will be inflamed further on the 101st anniversary the birth of the founder of North Korea Kim Il Song which falls on Monday April 15th, which is Sunday April 14 in the U.S. Paul Carrol, the Program Director at the Ploughshares Fund, which is dedicated to reducing the risk of nuclear conflict, joins us. We discuss Secretary of State John Kerry’s call for dialogue with the North while warning Pyongyang it risks further isolation if threats continue.

paul carrol

 

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April 11 - How Dictators Co-Opt Democracy; What the Saudis Want in Syria After Assad; “How the 99 Percent Live in the Great Recession”

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 With the Venezuelan elections underway this Sunday, we begin with an analysis of how elected autocrats like Hugo Chavez and Vladimir Putin are able to use the tools and outward appearance of Democracy to install permanent power and rule. William Dobson, the politics and foreign affairs editor of Slate and the former editor of Foreign Policy joins us to discuss his latest book “The Dictator’s Learning Curve: Inside the Global Battle for Democracy”. william dobson

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Then we examine the duplicity of our Saudi allies who are sending Salfist jihadists to Syria with the intention of toppling the Assad dictatorship and replacing it with a reactionary Islamic theocracy. Dr. Ali Alyami, the founder and director of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia joins us to discuss the divergent interests of Saudi Arabia and the U.S. in supporting the Syrian rebels and how our foreign policy establishment have not seemed to notice that the Saudis nurtured the Taliban and Al Qaeda and are radicalizing Pakistan, to the detriment of the United States.

 ali alyami

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Then finally we speak with Barbara Garson, the author of a new book “Down the Up Escalator: How the 99 Percent Live in the Great Recession”. We discuss the resilience of the American people in the face of the shameful fact that in America the rich are getting richer and the poor, poorer, and assess the state of economic justice and social responsibility as more of our citizens lose their homes and jobs to predatory banks and vulture capitalism. 

barbara garson

 

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