Living in the USA

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The problems with Obama’s deal on the fiscal “cliff”—HAROLD MEYERSON explains – he’s editor at large of The American Prospect and he writes a column for the Washington Post op-ed page—where his new piece is “Lessons from the Longshoremen,”  HERE.

Plus: DAVID COLE asks the question “Who Pays for the Right to Bear Arms?”  His answer: Black America.  Young black men die of gun homicide eight times more often than young white men.  David teaches Constitutional Law at Georgetown; his gun piece appears on the NYTimes op-ed page today, HERE.

Also: What Lincoln did, and what he didn’t do, to free the slaves: yesterday was the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation: ERIC FONER will comment – he teaches history at Columbia and won the Pulitzer Prize for his book The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery.
READ Eric Foner on the Emancipation Proclamation in the New York Times yesterday HERE.

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CALVIN TRILLIN has written an epic poem about the 2012 election–for example, a verse on Michelle Bachman, to the tune of the Beatles song:  “Michelle, our belle/Thinks that gays will all be sent to hell.”  Trillin writes for The New Yorker and serves as The Nation‘s Deadline Poet; his new book is DOGFIGHT.

Plus:  JOHN NICHOLS with The Nation’s Progressive Honor Roll for 2012: from Bernie Sanders to Boots Riley, from Marcia Moody to Jane McAlevey, we salute activists, movements and politicians.

Also:  it’s time to listen again to BOB DYLAN’s 2009 Christmas album!  Is this a joke — or a tragedy?  SEAN WILENTZ explains — he’s official historian at the official Bob Dylan website (he also teaches history at Princeton.)  READ Sean Wilentz on Dylan’s Xmas album HERE.   PLAYLIST: “Here Comes Santa Claus”;  “I’ll Be Home for Xmas”; “Must Be Santa,” “Winter Wonderland”; “O Little Town of Bethlehem”  (originally broadcast 11/11/09).

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JOE KENNEDY, the famous father, was said to be a Nazi sympathizer, an anti-Semite, a bootlegger, and a Wall Street swindler.  Only some of that is true, says DAVID NASAW — his new book THE PATRIARCH: THE REMARKABLE LIFE AND TURBULENT TIMES OF JOSEPH P. KENNEDY, was named one of the ten best books of the year by the New York Times.

Plus: What will Barack Obama do with his second term?  Cut military spending, and a mount frontal attack on global warming?  The far right thinks so; TOM FRANK doesn’t agree.  His column in the new Harper’s is “Second Chance”.  Read The Baffler on gun culture HERE.

Also: LEONARD COHEN‘s songs combine intense emotion and impressive intelligence with a rich musicality.  SYLVIE SIMMONS talks about his life and unforgettable work — her new book is I’M YOUR MAN: THE LIFE OF LEONARD COHEN.
Playlist: “Suzanne”;  “I’m Your Man”; “Tower of Song”; “Democracy”;  and of course “Hallejulah.”

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OLIVER SACKS talks about seeing things, hearing voices, and his own experiences getting stoned in Topanga in the sixties.  He’s the legendary neurologist and wonderful  New Yorker essayist whose books include the classics The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Awakenings.  His new book is Hallucinations — it’s eloquent, compassionate, and fascinating.  “Sacks deftly integrates literature, art, and medical history around his very human, often riveting, case histories“–Library Journal.

 Plus: Oliver Stone’s Untold History of the United States – it’s a 10-part documentary, running now on Showtime Mondays at 8 – and it’s also a big book, co-authored by historian Peter Kuznick.  Analyzing the American empire especially after WWII, it’s provocative, massively documented, and a necessary antidote to the mainstream media’s celebration of American triumphalism—
–and the book is our featured thank-you gift in the KPFK fund drive.

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HOWARD ZINN, who died in 2010, stood at t e center of key social movements of the 20th century, and wrote the best-selling left-wing American history book A People’s History of the US.  Historian MARTIN DUBERMAN talks about his achievement and his politcs – his new book is Howard Zinn: A Life on the Left.

Plus: MARK LeVINE on Gaza.  Mark teaches the history of the modern Middle East at UC Irvine and writes a column for Al Jazeera English; his most recent book is Impossible Peace: Israel/Palestine since 1989.

Also:  Columbia Records has produced and released a lot of the key music of the 20th century – historian SEAN WILENTZ talks about the musicians, the producers, and the music.  Sean’s new book is 360 Sound: The Columbia Records Story. 
PLAYLIST: Louis Armstrong Hot 5: “West End Blues” 1928; Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys: “Steel Guitar Rag”, 1935; Billie Holiday “God Bless the Child,” 1941; West Side Story, Rita Moreno, “America” – 1961.

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OLIVER STONE talks about his “Untold History of the United States,” a 10-part documentary series on Showtime, Mondays at 9 (and other times) – this coming Monday is episode 3 on The Bomb–video preview HERE.   Companion volume, co-authored by Peter Kuznick: info HERE.   More info at The Nation, HERE.

Plus: HAROLD MEYERSON on Washington politics—and that fiscal cliff we hear so much about.  Harold writes a column for the Washington Post op-ed page and is editor-at-large of The American Prospect.

Also: ERIC FONER comments on “Lincoln,” Steven Spielberg’s highly-praised film about passage of the 13th Amendment banning slavery.  Spielberg’s point: Lincoln freed the slaves.  Eric says that’s not quite right—first we had the abolitionists; and then during the Civil War the slaves did a lot to free themselves.  Eric’s book The Fiery Trial won the Pulitzer Prize and the Bancroft Prize; it’s out now in paperback.

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“It wasn’t even close,” says JOHN NICHOLS at TheNation.com.  John will talk about Obama’s two-million vote margin.  John was MSNBC’s man in Ohio last night, reporting for Rachel Maddow & Co. from the Teamsters’ Hall in Toledo.

Also: TOM FRANK will talk about what Obama will do with his win: pursue “the grand bargain” and make a deal with Republicans to cut the budget.  Tom’s new book, Pity the Billionaire, is out now in paperback.

And HAROLD MEYERSON will look at the Senate races, where Democrats triumphed across the board — and billionaires failed to put their candidates in office.  Harold writes about politics for the Washington Post op-ed page and The American Prospect, where he is editor-at-large.

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“Ladies, don’t fall for Moderate Mitt!” – that’s KATHA POLLITT’s advice.  She’s a poet, essayist and columnist for The Nation.  PS from Katha:  “Did I mention that the gender gap is huge this year?”

“Mitt Romney’s America is the America that was,” HAROLD MEYERSON says.  “Barack Obama’s America is the America that will be…. And the distance between the two is greater, perhaps, than in any election we’ve had since the Civil War.”  Harold writes a column for the Washington Post op-ed page and is editor-at-large of The American Prospect, where he reported recently on politics in Florida.

Plus: ERWIN CHEMERINSKY on the Supremes: “If Romney wins, we can expect a frighteningly conservative high court. A victory for Obama could mean a liberal majority for the first time since 1969.”  Erwin is founding dean of the Law School at UC Irvine and wrote recently for the LA Times op-ed page.

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THE SECRET HISTORY OF DISCO: Peter Shapiro talks about how disco brought a polysexual, polyracial, polymorphous celebration — to a space beyond the reach of church, state and family; how it became a worldwide phenomenon; and how it ended in a homophobic, racist backlash. His book is Turn the Beat Around.  PLAYLIST: Bee Gees, “Stayin’ Alive” 1977 #1; Gloria Gaynor, “I Will Survive” 1979 #1; Sister Sledge, “We Are Family” 1979 #2; Chic, “Good Times” 1979 #1.

also: JOHN NICHOLS on the presidential race, and on Massachusetts, where Democrat Elizabeth Warren is ahead, and Wisconsin, where Democrat Tammy Baldwin is ahead.  John is Washington correspondent for The Nation and a frequent guest on The Ed Show on MSNBC.

Plus: TOM FRANK says there is one grand political issue that defines our time – in the words of Elizabeth Warren, “the system is rigged.”  Tom writes a column for Harper’s–this month he writes about Paul Ryan as a fan of Rage Against the Machine.  Tom’s new book Pity the Billionaire is out now in paperback.

Romney debates Obama tonight at 6: we’ll get ready for the debate at 4:00 with RICK PERLSTEIN: will the candidates say anything they haven’t said a thousand times already?  Will the pundits declare Romney the winner because he didn’t make another terrible “gaffe”?  Rick is the author of the classic Nixonland; he wrote about the Republican National Convention for The Nation.
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Also: with BOB DYLAN’s new album “Tempest,” we’re back in the old, weird America: SEAN WILENTZ will comment; he’s the official historian-in-residence at the official BobDylan.com website, and author of Bob Dylan in America, our featured thank-you gift in the KPFK fun drive today (along with the beautiful vinyl version of “Tempest.”)   Please call and pledge during the show: 818-985-5735, or online at kpfk.org.