jwiener

6 Questions for Jonathan Lethem: The Nation 10/10

Jon Wiener: The star of your new book [Dissident Gardens] is Rose Zimmer, the “Red Queen of Sunnyside” in the 1950s—you also call her “the Last Communist,” in capital letters. Where did you get Rose?

Jonathan Lethem: The mystery I was trying to explore was my grandmother’s political dark matter. As a kid, by the time I knew her she wasn’t talking about these things. But there was a famous photo of her in Life magazine in 1938 marching against Hitler in Manhattan. She was very proud of this photo, and it was an indication that she had been an activist and had lived the life of a dissident.
. . . continued at The Nation, HERE.

Bob Dylan: ‘Another Self Portrait’: KPFK 10/9

 LISTEN online HERE— iTunes podcast HERE
Bob Dylan: Another Self Portrait 1969-1971: 35 previously unreleased tracks.  After Blond on Blond and then Nashville Skyline, Dylan was done with fitting into other people’s categories. While the sixties were crashing, he retreated to Nashville and Woodstock to play with musicians who loved the sweet and weird old songs as much as he did. We’ll listen to key cuts and speak with SEAN WILENTZ, the official historian-in-residence at the official BobDylan.com website and author of Bob Dylan in America.

Also Valerie Plame is the former CIA officer who was outed in 2003 by the Bush White House after her husband, Ambassador Joe Wilson, challenged Bush’s rationale for invading Iraq.  Now she has a new book out, her first work of fiction – it’s titled Blowback.  We’ll speak with her about fact and fiction about the CIA.
Valerie Plame will be in conversation with Robert Baer  Wed., 7:30pm, at New Roads School, 3131 W. Olympic Blvd., Santa Monica; Tickets, $25  HERE.
WATCH the  Global Zero video HERE .

 

America at War: Andrew Bacevich on KPFK 10/2

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ANDREW BACEVICH has grim and eloquent critique of our military system—he was an army officer for 23 years and now teaches at Boston U.  His new book is Breach of Trust: How Americans Failed their Soldiers and Their Country. READ Rachel Maddow’s review in the NY Times Book Review, HERE.

Also: Maybe you heard the news: Republicans shut down the government.  JOHN NICHOLS will comment: he’s Washington correspondent for The Nation and his most recent book is Dollarocracy.

Plus: The project of restoring and protecting the L.A. river has reached a crucial turning point, as the Army Corps of Engineers has agreed to a $453 million plan to restore 11 miles of the river but leaving the rest hard to reach.  LEWIS MacADAMS will explain – he’s the cofounder and president of FOLAR, Friends of the LA River.

Hollywood, Hitler and Harvard: TheNation, 9/30

It doesn’t happen very often that a leading critic calls on a university press to withdraw and then reissue a corrected version of a scholarly book. But it’s happening now—the book is The Collaboration: Hollywood’s Pact with Hitler, by Ben Urwand; the publisher is Harvard University Press, and the critic is David Denby of The New Yorker . . .
. . . continued at TheNation.com, HERE.

Ry Cooder’s New Live Album: KPFK 9/24

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RY COODER has released his first live record in more than 35 years—Live in San Francisco, recorded in 2011. “One of those nights when you wish you’d been in Row A,” said the Sunday Times of London.  We’ll speak with Ry and listen:  PLAYLIST: “Crazy ‘bout an Automobile”; “Do Re Mi”; “Lord Tell Me Why”; “School is Out.”

Plus: Fighting foreclosure: cities can reclaim foreclosed houses from banks under eminent domain, and sell them at reduced prices—PETER DREIER will explain—he’s Distinguished Professor of Politics and chair of the Urban & Environmental Policy Department at Occidental College. His latest book is The 100 Greatest Americans of the 20th Century.  He wrote about cities seizing property from banks at TheNation.com, HERE.

Also: Hollywood and Hitler: in the 1930s, the studios cancelled several explicitly anti-Nazi films planned for production, and deleted anything that could be construed as critical of the Nazis in several other movies.  And yet the studios were run by Jews.  DAVID DENBY of The New Yorker says that the studios had “an enormous power base that makes their timidity regarding Nazism a matter of psychological, cultural and political interest.”

And: “Capitalism works for me!” – STEVE LAMBERG’s neon in Times Square asks people to vote “True” or False”: HERE.

Jonathan Lethem: 3 Generations on the Left: KPFK 9/18

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The wonderful novelist JONATHAN LETHEM talks about Communists in Queens in the 1950s, Hippies in the Village the 1960s, and the Occupiers of two years ago – all in his novel Dissident Gardens.
Jonathan will be reading at the Skirball, Tues. Sept. 24, 8pm; admission is free,  reservations  recommended – online  HERE .

Plus: Today Liberal education is under assault as never before—everyone from President Obama to Thomas Friedman are saying American business needs people in science, technology and engineering.  TOM FRANK will comment – he writes for Harper’s and The Baffler – and he has a PhD in history.

Also: The world’s first big all-girl teenage hard rock band was The Runaways, from L.A., featuring Joan Jett –EVELYN MCDONNELL will talk about the real story of The Runaways, and we’ll listen to some of their music from the seventies.  Her new book is Queens of Noise.
Playlist: “Cherry Bomb”;  “Gotta Get Out Tonight”;  “Queens of Noise.”

Politics of a War on Syria: KPFK 9/11

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The tremendous popular opposition to an attack on Syria is one of the more remarkable political events of the year: JOHN NICHOLS will comment on the latest news about the Obama adminsitration and the significance of its inability to win support.  John is Washington correspondent for The Nation and blogs at TheNation.com.

Plus: The AFL-CIO turns toward the community: At their convention in LA this week, everyone was talking coalition building with like-minded organizations to forge real change for workers.   HAROLD MEYERSON was there; he writes a column for the Washington Post op-ed page, and he’s editor-at-large of the American Prospect.

Also: The Other 9/11: Chile 40 years after the coup: today is the 40th anniversary of the American-sponsored overthrow of Latin America’s oldest democracy.  HEIDI TINSMAN will comment – she teaches Latin American history at UC Irvine; her new book, Buying into the Regime: Grapes and Consumption in Cold War Chile and the United States, will be published by Duke this winter.  UCLA Conference on “The Other 9/11”: Nov. 8-9 info HERE

A Modest Proposal: Bomb Both Sides in Syria: TheNation.com, 9/5

“Brutality of Syrian Rebels Posing Dilemma in West”—that story in The New York Times on September 5 reported that “many rebels have adopted some of the same brutal and ruthless tactics as the regime they are trying to overthrow.” The dilemma: how can we punish Assad for his violations of international law, when his opponents are also in violation—in this case, killing prisoners?
. . . contuned  at TheNation.com, HERE.