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May 20 - The G8's Conversion From Austerity to Growth; "Land Of Promise: An Economic History of the United States"; Protecting Whistleblowers Who Commit the Truth
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We begin with the G8 summit at Camp David and the announcement that the focus in Europe is now shifting away from austerity to growth. Thomas Ferguson joins us. He is a member of the advisory board of George Soros’s Institute for New Economic Thinking and we discuss Angela Merkel’s apparent conversion in the face of a looming Greek default and the insolvency of Spain’s banks. |
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Then the Policy Director of the New America Foundation’s Economic Growth Program, Michael Lind joins us. He is the author of a new book “Land Of Promise: An Economic History of the United States”. We discuss the economic future of a country that became an industrial, financial and military colossus but is now struggling to emerge from the Great Recession and could either become more of a plutocracy or rediscover its democracy. |
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Then finally we look into efforts underway to save the whistleblower. Tom Devine, the author of “The Whistleblowers Survival Guide – A Handbook for Committing the Truth” and the Legal Director of the Government Accountability Project joins us. And also joining us is Marcel Reid, the former President of ACORN in Washington DC, she is one of the organizers of a conference that starts on Monday in the U. S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing Room “Whistleblower Conference on Civil and Human Rights”. |
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May 17 - The War on the Poor; Whites Now a Minority in Births; "The Greening of the Media"
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We begin with a discussion about the war on the poor, declared this week at a “Fiscal Summit” in New York presided over by a billionaire deficit hawk who is championing the Ryan budget and promoting the belief that our fiscal woes are the result of too much spending on programs that help the middle class and the poor, and that these programs should be cut to reduce the deficit. Gary Rivlin, the co-director with Barbara Ehrenreich of the Economic Hardship Reporting Project and author of “Broke USA”, joins us.
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We then look into the just-released report by the U.S. Census Bureau that finds white births are a minority in America with children from racial and ethnic minorities for the first time now accounting for more than half of the births in the U.S. Mark Mather, a demographer with the Population Reference Bureau joins us to discuss the divide between the older white population with the votes, money and power, and a growing young population that is foreign to them. |
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Finally Toby Miller joins us in the studio. He is one of the world’s leading analysts of popular culture, media, and their connection to the politics of everyday life. His latest book is “Greening the Media” and we discuss the dirty secrets that hide inside our favorite electronic devices, debunking the myth that information and communication technologies are clean and ecologically benign, while arguing for ways to make the media greener. |
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| Music: My Morning Jacket - The Day Is Coming; MGMT - The Youth; Dire Straits - Money for Nothing |
May 16 - The Republicrat Stranglehold on Democratic Choice; Cutting Our Nukes Down to 900; Still Trying to Water Down Regulations on Wall Street
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We begin and discuss the collapse of an attempt by AmericansElect to open up this year’s presidential race with an online-selection of candidates. Joining us is the former mayor of Salt Lake City, Rocky Anderson, a Presidential candidate on the Justice Party ticket who is fighting for ballot access against the Republicrat stranglehold on America’s democracy that makes a mockery of our ideology of free market choice. |
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Then we look into a new study released today by Global Zero, an international non-partisan group of 300 world leaders dedicated to eliminating nuclear weapons. Bruce Blair who directed the study joins us to discuss the findings of a panel led by General Cartwright, the former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the former commander of U.S. nuclear forces, who is now calling for deep cuts in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. |
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Then as evidence of recklessness on Wall Street mounts, we examine efforts on the part of the Republicans on the Agriculture Committee who have oversight over derivative trading, to water down regulations even further. Bartlett Naylor, the former chief of investigations for the U.S. Senate Banking Committee joins us to discuss how Wall Street lobbyists write the legislation on these complex and esoteric financial instruments to allow unregulated overseas activities that often end up with the taxpayer holding the bag. |
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| Music: Velvet Underground - I Found A Reason; Randy Newman - Political Science; Postal Service - We Will Become Silhouettes; The Beatles - Piggies |
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April 15 - California Crackup; Most Americans Favor Defense Cuts; The Latest Excess On Wall Street
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We begin with the crisis in California where the governor faces a budget shortfall twice as big as projected due to declining tax revenues. Mark Paul, a former deputy treasurer of the State of California and author of “California Crackup: How Reform Broke the Golden State and How to Fix it” joins us to discuss why the legislature can’t raise taxes and further deep cuts are being made at the expense of the poor. |
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Then we examine the disconnect between the American public, a majority of whom want to cut the military budget, and the Republican Congress who refuse to cut it even though they signed off to automatic cuts. Steven Kull, a political psychologist and the Director of the Program for Public Consultation and a Senior Researcher at the Center for International Security Studies joins us. He has done a survey that finds three quarters of the respondents favor cutting defense as a way to reduce the deficit, including two thirds of Republicans as well as nine out of ten Democrats. |
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Then finally we speak with Roger Lowenstein, the author of “The End of Wall Street”. He is a veteran financial journalist who wrote for the Wall Street Journal for more than a decade and now writes for the New York Times and Smart Money. We will discuss the latest excess on Wall Street and how the Dodd-Frank reforms meant to rein in derivative trading have been watered down since the crash of 2008. |
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| Music: Bobby Womack - California Dreaming; My Morning Jacket - Two Halves; Jose Gonzalez - How Low; LCD Soundsystem - New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down |
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May 14 0 Leveling The Electoral Playing Field; The Indignants Make A Stand; Spain's Missing Historical Memory
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We begin with the other face of Facebook and look into how the co-founder of the social network is avoiding 600 million in taxes. Ilyse Hogue, former Senior Advisor to Media Matters and Director of Political Advocacy and Communication at MoveOn.org joins us to discuss this and how the 99% can level the electoral playing field as the 1% pour in millions to buy the 2012 elections. |
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Then we look into increasing political tensions in Spain where youth unemployment is over 50% and mass demonstrations are expected to culminate tomorrow on the one year anniversary of the founding of the “Indignants” movement. Anthony Geist, a professor at the University of Washington who specializes in contemporary literature and culture of Spain joins us to discuss the political mood in a country that might soon join Greece as the next insolvent country in the Eurozone.
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Then we discuss the economic and political tensions in Spain further with Dr. Louisa-Elena Delgado, a professor of Spanish Studies at the University of Illinois-Urbana. We look into the Spanish national identity that has not been reconciled following the murderous reign of the Franco dictatorship, and the role of the disgraced King and the current conservative government who are imposing austerity while denying historical memory. |
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| Music: The Beatles - Can't Buy Me Love; Ray Charles - Busted; Willie Nelson - Spanish Eyes; Rodrigo y Gabriela - Diablo Rojo |
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