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October 7 - Turkey and Syria "Not Far" From War; The Paucity of Presidential Debates; "The Good Girls Revolt"
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We begin with Turkey and Syria exchanging cross-border mortar shelling for a fifth day and the Turkish Prime Minister saying the two countries are “not far” from war. Asli Bali, a professor in the UCLA School of Law who is on the Advisory Council of the Middle East Division of Human Right Watch joins us to discuss the escalation of war in the region. |
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Then we get an assessment of the role of journalism in the presidential debates following the first exchange between Romney and Obama where the big questions hovering over the campaign about Mitt Romney’s taxes and his attitude toward the 47% were not discussed. The founder and director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, Tom Rosenstiel joins us to discuss how the American people and our democracy are not being served by these staged and circumscribed events. |
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Then finally we speak with Lynn Povich about how she and a group of the “good girls” at Newsweek during the era of “Mad Men” and male chauvinism, revolted against being secretaries and researchers and sued their bosses and changed journalism. Lynn Povich is the author of a new book “The Good Girls Revolt: How the Women of Newsweek Sued their Bosses and Changed the Workplace”. |
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October 4 - The Presidential Debate and the Failure of Journalism; Venezuela's Presidential Election; From the Current Gilded Age to the Last
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We begin with an analysis of the first presidential debate in terms of whether the American people are well served by these few debates that are controlled and circumscribed by both parties and where the role of journalists in probing candidates is limited and lacking. Jay Rosen, a Professor of Journalism at New York University and the author of “What Are Journalists For?” joins us. His award-winning blog, PressThink offers critical analysis of journalism and the press. |
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Then we go to Venezuela to get an assessment of where the candidates stand in the last days before Sunday’s presidential election. Virginia Lopez, a Caracas-based journalist who covers Latin America and Venezuela for the UK Guardian joins us to discuss the conflicting polls that give Hugo Chavez a lead between 5 and 10 points and others that give his challenger Henrique Capriles a 4 point lead. |
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Then finally, since we appear to be living in the new Gilded Age, we look back into a fascinating character from the last Gilded Age with Janet Wallach the author of a new book “The Richest Women in America: Hetty Green in the Gilded Age”. We discuss similarities between the current Gilded Age and the last and comparisons between the plutocrats of today and those that the thrifty Quaker Hetty Green despised in her day. |
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October 3 - Congress's Most 1%-Friendly Lawmakers; Iranians Take to the Street; "We're Not Broke"
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We begin with a new report on the Congress’s most 1% friendly lawmakers and speak with one of its authors Scott Klinger, who is a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. We discuss the nearly 60 members of congress who have received failing grades for feathering the nests of America’s most affluent while ignoring the needs of the 99%. |
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Then we look into the increasing economic distress in Iran from sanctions that are driving down the value of the rial and causing street demonstrations that the Iranian government is blaming on foreign subversives. Sohrab Behdad, professor of Economics at Denison University who previously taught economics at Tehran University, joins us. We discuss the role of the merchants, the “Bazaaris” and the money-changers in these growing protests against an unpopular government. |
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Then finally we speak with the film makers of a new feature documentary “We’re Not Broke”. Co-directors Karin Hayes and Victoria Bruce join us to discuss their film that documents how U.S. corporations don’t pay taxes and hide trillions offshore while a growing number of Americans take their frustrations to the streets demanding corporations pay their fair share. |
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October 2 - Voter Suppression in Pennsylvania Backfires; The Legal Assault on Dodd-Frank; "Boss Rove: Inside Karl Rove's Secret Kingdom of Power"
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We begin with today’s overturning of the Republican Pennsylvania voter ID law that analysts claim would have disenfranchised almost a million Democratic voters. Dr Terry Madonna, who directs the Franklin and Marshall College poll and is a pollster for the Philadelphia Daily News joins us to discuss how Republican efforts to suppress the Democratic vote in this key swing state appear to have backfired. |
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Then we speak with the president of Public Citizen, Robert Weissman about an important ruling that struck down a key part of the Dodd-Frank law to regulate speculation on oil and commodity prices. We examine the concerted legal and political campaign by those on Wall Street responsible for ruining the economy, along with their Republican allies, to cripple and kill the Dodd-Frank laws passed in response to the 2008 financial meltdown. |
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Then finally we look into the key power-broker who more than anyone else, is trying to both buy and steal the 2012 election for the Republicans, Karl Rove. Craig Unger, the author of the new book “Boss Rove: Inside Karl Rove’s Secret Kingdom of Power” joins us to discuss the resurrection of one of the most powerful political operators in American history who is determined to prevent Democrats from voting and re-electing President Obama. |
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October 1 - Gathering Gloom Over Afghanistan; Kenya's Sanctioned Invasion of Somalia; What we Won't be Hearing in the Presidential Debates
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We begin with the gathering gloom over Afghanistan where the 2,000th U.S. soldier was killed by Afghan “allies” and the U.S. general in charge just told “60 Minutes” that “were willing to sacrifice a lot for this campaign, but we’re not willing to be murdered for it.” A former United Nations Political Officer who worked in Afghanistan, Chris Fair joins us to discuss an accelerated exit from Afghanistan and a likely civil war to follow. |
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Then we examine another futile war in a failed state, Somalia, where Kenyan soldiers have captured the southern port of Kismayo that the al Shabab militia have apparently abandoned. Robert Young Pelton, the founder and publisher of Somaliareport.com joins us to discuss the newly-assertive Kenyan military and his article at Foreign Policy “Hijacked: How the U.N. Saved the Somali Pirates from the Brink of Extinction”. |
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Then finally, we discuss what we won’t be hearing in Wednesday night’s presidential debate with Mattea Kramer, a Senior Research Analyst at the National Priorities Project. She has an article at the Huffington Post and Tomdispatch, “Tough Talk for America: A Guide to the Presidential Debates You Won’t Hear. |
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| MUSIC: Paper Lace - Billy don't be a Hero; M. Ward - From a Pirate Radio Sermon 1989/ Cosmopolitan Pap; Xavier Rudd - Pockets of Peace; |
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