2016 Programs

2016 Program Archive

July 20 - The Greek Debt Crisis; Selling out Medicare?; The Too Big to Fail Media Tycoon.

Full Program

 LISTEN TO THE FULL PROGRAM

Part 1

 Matias Vernengo, a professor of Economics at the University of Utah, who is in Geneva working with the United Nations Development Program, joins us to talk about the Greek debt crisis that has the leaders of France and Germany huddled in Berlin trying to avert a default that is all but inevitable. We discuss whether it will be an orderly default or a disorderly one that could drag down the Eurozone with it. 

Part 2

 We talk about the fate of Medicare that is apparently a key part of the President’s compromise with the Republicans in both the big 4 trillion dollar deal he wants and the 3.7 trillion deal the so-called "Gang of Six" Senators are calling for. Ethan Rome joins us.  He is the Executive Director of Healthcare For America Now, a public interest group defending the much maligned Healthcare Reform bill that is supposed to reduce out-of-control heathcare costs that are the biggest contributors to the deficit.

Part 3

Former Federal Communications Commission commissioner Nicholas Johnson talks about how citizens in a democracy can take back the public airwaves media tycoons like Rupert Murdoch have been allowed to take over and not just increasingly control news and information, but own our politicians and decide who gets elected and who does not.

 

Tags:

July 19 - Rupert Murdoch Called on the Carpet

Full Program

 LISTEN TO FULL PROGRAM  

Part 1

First we went to London and spoke with the Deputy Editor of the British satirical magazine Private Eye, Francis Wheen. We looked into the testimony of Rupert and James Murdoch and Rebecca Brooks before the U.K. House of Commons Culture Committee which went from humble to pie in as much as Rupert Murdoch went out of his way to express humility and say how he was humbled by the hacking scandal. Then later in the hearing, one Johnnie Marbles attacked him with a pie made of shaving cream.

 

Part 2

 We examine further the inquiry into the activities of News International and the Murdoch media empire with media critic Robert McChesney, the author of “The Death And Life of American Journalism” and “Will The Last Reporter Turn out The Lights: The Collapse of Journalism and What we can do about it”. We not just discussed the events in London, but the influence here in the United States of Rupert Murdoch on journalism and the media.

 

Tags:

July 18 - Robert Kuttner: Save Obama from Himself; Afghanistan Now; Slowness as a Virtue

Full Program

 LISTEN TO FULL PROGRAM

Part 1

 We begin with the economic hostage crisis situation in Washington, DC where Republicans are using the threat of economic collapse to extort concessions from a President who has to run for re-election on a weak economy they are weakening further. Former chief investigator for the US Senate Banking Committee and a 20 year columnist for Business Week, Robert Kuttner, joins us to discuss his latest article in the Huffington Post, “The End Game: Saving Obama From Himself.” Robert Kuttner

Part 2

 With General Petraeus’ departure of from Afghanistan to head up the CIA, we look into whether or not the Petraeus surge was a success, since it depends on political stability and the quality of the Afghan army. Former Afghan Analyst at the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Marvin Weinbaum, joins us to discuss the recent series of assassinations including Karzai’s brother Wali, that indicate less stability and more success for the Taliban, as a drawdown of U.S. troops begins. Marvin Weinbaum

Part 3

 We talk about the unexpected and unintended consequence of the so-called “Carmageddon” hysteria that predicted gridlock, but instead delivered a calm and clean Los Angeles, where you could hear the birds and not the traffic, where you could breathe fresh air and where Angelenos relaxed at home with their families. Maybe we should demolish freeway bridges more often. The godfather of the slow movement, Carl Honore', joins us. He is the author of In Praise of Slowness: How a Worldwide Movement is Challenging the Cult of Speed. Carl Honore

 

Tags:

July 17 - Murdoch's Crumbling Empire; Elizabeth Warren Passed Over; A View from Cairo

Full Program

 LISTEN TO FULL PROGRAM

Part 1

 With the arrest of Rupert Murdoch’s protégé Rebecca Brooks, we begin with the unfolding scandal that appears to be tearing the News Corp Empire and the Murdoch family apart. Journalist, editor, and award winning author James Fallows joins us. He is the National correspondent of the Atlantic and we will discuss the apparent payback the political kingmaker is getting in England where the spell has been broken as politicians no longer fear Murdoch and his minions.

Part 2

 We look into the non-appointment of Elizabeth Warren to head up the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau she founded which opens on Tuesday with a new person in charge, former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray.  With the Republicans apparently determined to scuttle the new bureau, we look into the battle shaping up next week in Congress with Jennifer Taub, professor at the Vermont Law School, whose forthcoming book is titled, The Great Betrayal: How Washington Bailed Out Wall Street and Left Main Street Under Water.

Part 3

 Yasmine El Rashidi joins us. She has an article in the current edition of the New York Review of Books, “Egypt: The Victorious Islamists.” We will discuss the stalled revolution and as the ruling Egyptian Military Council maneuvers with the Muslim Brotherhood to deny the revolutionaries the fruits of their victory in Tahrir Square.

 

Tags:

July 14 - Robert Reich on Blackmail and Brinkmanship with the Economy; Age of Greed; The 193rd Nation

Full Program

 LISTEN TO FULL PROGRAM

Part 1

Robert Reich joins us to discuss the economic hostage crisis situation going on in Washington DC as the full faith and credit of the United States is subject to blackmail and reckless brinkmanship while economic recovery and creating jobs takes a back seat to the so-called deficit and debt crisis.

Part 2

 Then Jeff Madrick, the author of a new book “Age of Greed: The Triumph of Finance and the Decline of America” joins us.  He is an Economic Policy consultant and analyst and who explains the dismal economic trajectory we are on and how we got there.

Part 3

 Then with South Sudan now officially the world’s 193rd nation, we speak with author and journalist Rebecca Hamilton who has just returned from the war front at the dividing line between north and south Sudan. She gives us an update on the reality on the ground, far from the lofty pronouncements in the UN Security Council, as this new nation, born out of war, faces an uncertain future

 

 

Tags: