Living in the USA

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The Republicans were winning everything in the budget debate – then they threw it all away.  We’ll have our political update from ARI BERMAN of The Nation.

Plus: “Being a white man in America is not what it used to be,” says GARY YOUNGE. He asks why so many people today are retreating into the refuges of religion, nationality, and race. Gary is a columnist for The Nation and the Guardian; his new book is WHO ARE WE: and Should It Matter in the 21st Century?
WATCH Gary’s videos for The Guardian of his 2010 roadtrip across the US HERE and HERE
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Also: Banned by Google! GREG MITCHELL has a new book out, about Hiroshima and Nagasaki – but Google told him they were “suspending” his online ad for the book on the grounds that it quote “promotes violence.”  The book is ATOMIC COVER-UP: Two US Soldiers, Hiroshima & Nagasaki, and the Greatest Movie Never Made.
WATCH banned footage of Hiroshima & Nagasaki HERE

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Yesterday Wisconsin voted in the first round of the campaign to recall Republicans in the state legislature — and all six “real” Democrats won their primaries, defeating the fake Democrats run by the Republican establishment. The big elections will be Aug. 19. JOHN NICHOLS of The Nation reports from Madison.
READ The Nation‘s investigation of ALEC HERE

GARY SHTEYNGART talks about his hilarious political satire set in “the near future” – SUPER SAD TRUE LOVE STORY. It’s about a world where the Bipartisan Party rules and where everybody gets their news either from Fox Liberty Prime or Fox Liberty Ultra.  And then Lenny meets Eunice. . . WATCH Gary’s video HERE;   GET Gary’s iPod app HERE

Plus: our political update from HAROLD MEYERSON, who says Obama has “moved so far to the right that he has picked up many of the ideals the Republicans have jettisoned and embraced them as his own.”  Harold writes a column for the Washington Post op-ed page and he’s interim executive editor of the American Prospect.

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Obama’s Mother, the amazing Ann Dunham: she married a black man – Barack Obama Sr. — when she was 18, and then she worked with poor women in the third world for more than a decade.  JANNY SCOTT of the NY Times tells that story – her book is A SINGULAR WOMAN.
WATCH Janny Scott on The Colbert Report HERE.

Also: When pop music meets politics – DORIAN LYNSKEY talks about 7 decades of protest songs.  He writes about music for The Guardian; his book is 33 Revolutions per Minute: A History of Protest Songs from Billie Holliday to Green Day. PLAYLIST: Nina Simone, “Mississippi Goddam,” Live 1964; James Brown, “Say it Loud,” 1968; Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five: “The Message,” 1979; Green Day, “American Idiot,” 2004.

Plus: Seth Walsh committed suicide when he was 13 after enduring years of harassment at school in Tehachapi because he was gay. The federal Office of Civil Rights recently negotiated a sweeping settlement with the Tehachapi schools.  And the ACLU-SC launched The Seth Walsh Project to stop harassment of other gay kids.  JAMES GILLIAM explains – he’s Director of the Project.
GLBTQ students: know your rights: HERE. WATCH “It Gets Better” HERE

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A federal grand jury in Alexandria VA is working on the Wikileaks case and may soon bring charges against Bradley Manning, Julian Assange and 2 hackers for national security violations.  ERWIN CHEMERINSKY will comment on the terrible Espionage Act and on Obama’s record on overclassification — he’s dean of the law school at UCI.

Also: KPFK Sports!  The Dodgers are victims of “CEO capitalism run amok” – that’s what HAROLD MEYERSON says, he’s executive editor The American Prospect and writes for the op-ed pages of the Washington Post and the L.A. Times.

Plus: Homeless vets in Brentwood: the ACLU of Southern California is suing the V.A., which rents part of the Brentwood V.A. land to Enterprise rent-a-car and part to a laundry for the Marriott hotels, but refuses to fulfill their legal obligation to house homeless disabled vets.  MARK ROSENBAUM will explain – he’s Chief Counsel of the ACLU-SC.

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President Obama will announce his decision on the speed and size of the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in a speech tonight at 5:00pm – our JOHN NICHOLS will provide a preview.  He’s Washington correspondent for The Nation and he writes “The Beat” blog at TheNation.com.

Also: Wal-Mart–Too Big to Sue:  NELSON LICHTENSTEIN reviews the Supreme Court’s ruling Monday that women workers at Wal-Mart can’t file a class action suit. Nelson teaches labor history at UC Santa Barbara and is the author of The Retail Revolution, a history of Wal-Mart.  READ Nelson’s NYTimes op-ed HERE.

Plus: Dodgers for Sale?  DAVE ZIRIN is the author of Bad Sports: How Owners are Ruining the Games we Love (Scribner) – and explains the latest news about how owner Frank McCourt is ruining the Dodgers. Dave writes for The Nation and blogs at Edge of Sports ; his new doc is “Not Just a Game.”
READ Dave on “This Day in History: When Muhammad Ali Took the Weight” HERE

for the record: my show on KPFK Wed 6/7 is cancelled — on vacation!

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The anti-war movement in WWI in Britain took a heroic stand against senseless slaughter: ADAM HOCHSCHILD tells that story in his magnificent new book To End All Wars — it was featured on page 1 of the New York Times Book Review. I’ll be in conversation with Adam at the downtown LA public library ALOUD series on Thurs June 2 at 7pm – free but reservations suggested, HERE.

Plus: The Korean War — BRUCE CUMINGS reveals the historical background that explains why it happened, and the extraordinarily vicious methods by which the U.S. fought it.  His new book is The Korean War: A History.

Also: Nixon and Watergate, then and now: historian STANLEY KUTLER sued the feds to force the release of the Nixon White House tapes — and won.  (He also writes for the Huffington Post.)  Now the full story is told for the first time at the Nixon Library in their new Watergate exhibit.  Stan will be speaking at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda Wed. 6/1 at 7pm on “Liberating the Watergate Tapes.”  Reservations recommended: Email nixon@nara.gov or call 714-983-9120.

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It’s Bob Dylan’s 70th birthday!  I’ll be co-hosting a two-hour special, at a special time: Tues 11am-1pm, featuring Sean Wilentz, author of Dylan in America; Bob Dylan rarities — interviews on WBAI in NYC from the early sixties; highlights of ten years of my interviews about Dylan on KPFK with Greil Marcus, Sean Wilentz, and others;  highlights from “No Direction Home”, Martin Scorsese’s documentary on Dylan from his arrival in New York in 1961 to his “retirement” following his motorcycle accident in 1966.

It’s the KPFK Fund Drive, and our featured premium is the 2 DVD set of “No Direction Home” for a pledge of $100.00. Other premiums: Dylan Live at Brandeis 1963 CD $50.00; eight of my own interviews about Dylan on KPFK, 2001-2011, including: Greil Marcus on “Love and Theft” (2001), Greil on “Like a Rolling Stone” (2009), Sean Wilentz on Dylan’s Xmas album (2001), Sean on Dylan in China (2011), and lots more.  Available for a $50 pledge, or a free add-on to any pledge $100 or more.  Call and pledge during the show, 818-985-5735, or online at www.kpfk.org. Co-hosted by Alan Minsky and Maggie LePique.

A short history of an American tradition: Socialism.  JOHN NICHOLS, the Wisconsin hero who writes “The Beat” blog at TheNation.com, offers an unapologetic retort to the return of red-baiting in American political life in his new book “The ‘S’ Word.”
It is our featured thank-you gift in the KPFK fund drive for the 4 O’Clock Report on Wednesday.  Please call during the show and pledge: 818-985-5735 — or pledge online at www.kpfk.org.

For the record: KPFK on Wed 5/11 & 5/4 is pre-empting my show for special fund drive programming. Please pledge — call 818-985-5735, or online at kpfk.org.