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2016 Programs
2016 Program Archive
December 9 - An Apocalyptic Endgame in Syria?; A View from Palestine; The Empty-Handed U.N. Climate Conference
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We begin with an overview of the tormented Middle East as turmoil in Egypt continues and a possibly disastrous endgame involving the use of weapons of mass destruction in Syria looms. Egyptian-born veteran New York Times and Wall Street Journal Middle East correspondent Youssef Ibrahim joins us to discuss the demise of democracy and the rise of fundamentalism as the “Arab Spring” is now being referred to as the “Arab Winter”. |
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Then we go to Palestine and talk with Mark Danner who is a journalist and professor and a long-time writer for The New Yorker and the New York Review of Books where he has an article in the last issue “The Politics of Fear” and an article in the latest issue “How and What Obama Won”. We discuss the triumphant return of the Hamas leader to Gaza and the upcoming reconciliation talks with Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. |
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Then finally we speak with Anne Petermann who is the Executive Director of the Global Justice Ecology Project who has been attending U.N. climate conferences since 2004 but was banned from the U. N. Climate Conference in Doha that just ended. We discuss the scant progress made where the Kyoto Protocols were extended to 2020 but no reduction in greenhouse gasses was agreed to in spite of the desperate pleas from the island nations who are disappearing as a result of global warming. |
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December 6 - The Fatuous Theatrics of the "Fiscal Cliff"; The "Dark Genius" Roger Ailes; Paralysis and Polarization in Egypt
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We begin with an update on the political wrangling over the so-called “fiscal cliff” and get some clarity on the real economic situation, not the fatuous theatrics the Press is fixated on. Dean Baker, the co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research joins us to discuss how the people who caused our economic troubles are trying to exploit a phony crisis to enrich themselves further. |
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Then we look further into Roger Ailes, the power behind the throne of right wing politics in America, whose emissary was caught on tape offering the recently-disgraced General Petraeus the presidency. Dr. Kerwin Swint, the author of “Dark Genius: The Influential Career of Legendary Political Operative and Fox News Founder Roger Ailes” joins us to discuss the latest effort to corrupt our Democracy by the mendacious Murdoch empire. |
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Then finally we speak with the former head of the Political Science Department at American University, Cairo Sheila Carapico, about Egypt’s embattled new leader and his power grab that has resulted in paralysis and polarization. We will examine the likely outcome of next week’s referendum on a new constitution that the opposition is boycotting, making it likely to pass since the fundamentalist block of Muslim Brotherhood voters are sure to show up in lockstep. |
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December 5 - The Kingmaker Fox News Tries to Recruit Petraeus for President; Why is Obama's FCC Rewarding Murdoch?; Egypt's Revolution Takes an Ugly Turn
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We begin with the extraordinary tape revealed by Bob Woodward of the Washington Post in which an emissary of Roger Ailes, the head of Fox News, offers General Petraeus the presidency bankrolled by Rupert Murdoch. Investigative journalist Karl Grossman, who knows the emissary involved, joins us to discuss how the owner of the “Pravda” of the Republican Party, became the king maker in the U.K. and now in the U.S.A. |
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Then we look further into the malignant effect of the Murdoch empire on journalism and politics with Timothy Karr, the Senior Director of Strategy for Free Press who is trying to prevent Obama’s FCC from removing the cross-ownership rules preventing media moguls from owning Newspaper and Television monopolies in the same markets. In spite of Murdoch’s and Fox News’s efforts to deny Obama a second term, the Obama Administration appear to be rewarding Murdoch, allowing him to buy the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune. |
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Then finally we look into escalating street battles in Egypt between the secular young revolutionaries who toppled Mubarak and the Muslim Brotherhood who ended up capturing political power. Juan Cole, professor of Modern Middle Eastern and South Asian History at the University of Michigan and author of “Engaging the Muslim World” joins us to discuss the growing polarization of Egyptian politics as the new fundamentalist leader grabs more power. |
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December 4 - Military Spending and the "Fiscal Cliff" Follies; Who is Profiting From the Deliberate Destruction of the U.S.P.S.?; A Possible New Approach to the War on Drugs in Mexico
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We begin with the most bloated government program contributing to the deficit that appears immune to Washington’s handwringing over the “fiscal cliff,” and that is the military budget. The author of “Rumsfeld: His Rise, Fall and Catastrophic Legacy”, investigative journalist Andrew Cockburn, joins us. He has an article in Tuesday’s Los Angeles Times, “Defending Defense Cuts: When it comes to the U.S. Military Budget, the “Fiscal Cliff” isn’t all that Scary”. |
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Then we look into the role of Senator Feinstein’s husband Richard Blum, the head of the world’s largest commercial real estate company, who has an exclusive contract with the U.S. Postal Service to list and sell its valuable and historic public property as the Congress deliberately bankrupts the Post Office in the name free enterprise. U.C. Berkeley professor of Geography, Gray Brechin joins us to discuss the theft of our national heritage which the press is ignoring while only reporting that the Postal Service is in default, but not why, and who is profiting from its deliberate destruction. |
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Then finally we examine the newly sworn-in Mexican President Pena Nieto and the make-up of his cabinet with George Grayson, the author of “Mexican Messiah: Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador” and “The Executioner’s Men: Los Zetas, Rogue Soldiers and Criminal Entrepreneurs”. We discuss the possibility of immigration reform and a new approach to the failed war on drugs that has claimed over 50,000 Mexican lives in last six years. |
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December 3 - Obama's Red Line Warning to Assad on the Use of Chemical Weapons; The Phony "Fiscal Cliff" Debate; Hillary 2016 and the End of a Two-State Solution
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We begin with the growing alarm expressed by the White House that the besieged Assad clan in Syria might soon use chemical weapons against their own people. Rafif Jouejati, the English language spokesperson for the Syrian Local Coordination Committees, the umbrella group of activists inside of Syria fighting to overthrow the regime, joins us to discuss the likely response if the regime crosses that red line. |
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Then we look into the politics of the so-called “fiscal cliff” following the Republican counter-offer to the president’s proposal. Jeff Madrick, who writes a column on economics for Harpers magazine and is the author of “Age of Greed: The Triumph of Finance and the Decline of America, 1970 to the Present” joins us to discuss the absurd theatrics surrounding the phony urgency of going over a mythical cliff while the real issues facing the economy are not being addressed by the press or our politicians. |
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Then finally, we discuss Israel’s announcement of 3,000 more settlements on the West Bank and Hillary Clinton’s appearance at a pro-Israel forum over the weekend where, according to a provocative new article by the New Yorker editor David Remnick, she appeared to be laying the groundwork for a presidential run in 2016. Professor of International Affairs at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, Steven Walt joins us to discuss the latest display of fealty to Israel while Prime Minister Netanyahu again pokes America’s president in the eye. |
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| MUSIC: Supper Furry Animals - It's Not the End of the World; The Beatles - Don't Let Me Down; Jim O'Rourke - Prelude to 110 or 220 / Women of the World |
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