Dan Savage on DOMA Repeal: ‘I Can Die Now’ TheNation 8/8

Q.  How did you feel when you first heard the news that the Supreme Court had overruled DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act that had defined marriage as limited to two people of the opposite sex?
Dan Savage: I’m morbid, so my first thought was ‘I can die now.’
. . . continued at TheNation.com, HERE

The Trial & Sentencing of Bradley Manning: KPFK 8/7

LISTEN online HERE— iTunes podcast HERE
The larger meaning of the Bradley Manning trial: former State Department whistleblower PETER Van BUREN, author of We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People, considers how America’s distant wars have come home — and how, under that pressure, this country is morphing into something unrecognizable. Peter writes for TomDispatch, HERE.  Alexa O’Brien trial coverage HERE.
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ALSO: HAROLD MEYERSON says L.A. has lessons for the American Left — about how to win: example, LAANE.  Harold’s report appears in The American Prospect, where he’s editor-at-large; he also write a column for the Washington Post op-ed page.

Plus: UCLA historian BRENDA STEVENSON remembers Latasha Harlins, the 15-year-old African American girl who was shot and killed in 1991 trying to pay $2 for a bottle of orange juice — and the killer got probation. That was shortly after the Rodney King beating and one year before the Rodney King Riots.  The terrible story of that killing is told in Brenda’s new book, The Contested Life of Latasha Harlins.

Edward Snowden E-Mailed Me! TheNation, 8/4

I got an e-mail from Edward Snowden yesterday. He says he’s got money in banks in Hong Kong and needs my help in getting it out. There are two surprises here: first, that he picked me; second, that his English is pretty bad. I’m excited that he picked me, but frankly I’m concerned about his writing. . . .
. . . continued at TheNation.com, HERE

Protesting the Worst Voter ID Law: KPFK 7/31

LISTEN onlineHERE— iTunes podcast HERE
North Carolina has passed the country’s worst voter ID bill.  It’s provoked widespread protest: thousands have marched in  the “Moral Monday” movement, and more than 700 have been arrested. We will talk to two of them, both history professors in North Carolina, both former presidents of the Organization of American Historians: JACQUELYN DOWD HALL of UNC-Chapel Hill and WILLIAM CHAFE of Duke. READ their op-ed about being arrested: HERE.

Also: “Life and Death in Assisted Living”: the shocking story of  the multi-billion dollar for-profit elder care industry.  We’ll speak with investigative reporter A.C. THOMPSON on the revelations from ProPublica and PBS Frontline.  WATCH the Frontline documentary by Carl Byker HERE.

Plus: “The Act of Killing” is a chilling  documentary about the death squads in Indonesia that killed more than a million people in 1965.  In the film, some of the leading executioners reenact real-life mass-killings for our benefit—in the style of the Hollywood movies they love.  The film is playing now in LA at the Nuart, and moves to the Landmark on Friday. We’ll speak with filmmaker JOSHUA OPPENHEIMER. WATCH “The Act of Killing” trailer HERE.

Today’s news from Edward Snowden & Glenn Greewald: XKeyscore, the NSA tool collects ‘nearly everything a user does on the internet’ —  HERE.

 

The Gore Vidal FBI File: The Nation 7/29

Gore Vidal died a year ago on Wednesday — his FBI file begins not with his political activism, or his homosexuality, but with a report that he made disparaging remarks about J. Edgar Hoover.
“The Gore Vidal FBI File” at TheNation.com: HERE

Jesus the Revolutionary: Q&A with Reza Aslan: TheNation 7/25

Reza Aslan: Crucifixion was a punishment that Rome reserved exclusively for the crime of sedition, for crimes against the state. If you know nothing else about Jesus except that his life ended on the cross at Golgotha, you know enough to understand who he was and what kind of threat he posed to Rome.
continued at TheNation.com, HERE.

Reza Aslan on Jesus the Revolutionary: KPFK 7/24

LISTEN online HERE— iTunes podcast HERE
The Romans captured and killed Jesus because the revolutionary movement he launched challenged the most powerful empire the world had ever known: That’s what REZA ASLAN says – his amazing new book is ZEALOT: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth.
Reza will be in conversation with Rainn Wilson tomorrow/Thurs at 8pm at All Saints Church in Beverly Hills at 504 North Camden Dr. – it’s a benefit for the LA Review of Books. tix $20 HERE .
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Plus: Today Obama talked about the economy in “a major policy speech.”  He said “we have more work to do,” and that he “hopes we can do it together.”  Wow!  HAROLD MEYERSON will comment – he writes a column for the Washington Post op-ed page and he’s editor-at-large of The American Prospect.

Also: Big news in the art world: Jeffrey Deitch is resigning as head of MOCA, the Museum of Contemoprary Art in LA.  CHRISTOPHER KNIGHT explains why Deitch failed–also why MOCA matters, and what’s next for the struggling museum.  Christopher is art critic for the LA Times.

 

Dan Savage on Gay America: KPFK 7/17

LISTEN online HERE— iTunes podcast HERE
DAN SAVAGE, a leading voice of gay America: “Savage Love” sex advice columnist, and award-winning author now of AMERICAN SAVAGE.  There are 50,000 “It Gets Better” videos: WATCH the very first, with Dan and Terry: itgetsbetter.org/#7IcVyvg2Qlo .
Other favorites: Ke$ha www.itgetsbetter.org/#DV4EmSviDfQ ;
Stephen Colbert www.itgetsbetter.org/#BThRZbCs-p8 .

Also: EDWARD SNOWDEN has set off a worldwide debate about the spying practices of the US. TOM ENGELHARDT says that, as a result, the US is losing the public opinion battle globally.  Tom is the legendary editor of TomDispatch.com.

Plus: Plutonium is the most dangerous substance on the planet.  The US manufactured it in Hanford, Washington, and the Soviets manufactured it in Ozersk, Russia.  Now we have an amazing history from the ground up of the two plutonium production projects: PLUTOPIA: Nuclear Families, Atomic Cities, and the Great Soviet and American Plutonium Disasters. The author is KATE BROWN—she teaches at the U of Maryland Baltimore County.
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Today in History: how the President of Purdue tried to ban the books of Howard Zinn: HERE.

A New Strategy for Voting Rights: KPFK 7/10

LISTEN online HERE— iTunes podcast HERE
Activists are already moving  ‘from outrage to action’ in fighting the Supreme Court’s awful  decision demolishing the Voting Rights Act of 1965; ARI BERMAN will explain the new strategies, starting with legal challenge to new voting restrictions through preliminary injunctions.  Ari writes for The Nation and is an Investigative Journalism Fellow at The Nation Institute. He is now working on a history of voting rights.

Plus: Yesterday was the confirmation hearing for Obama’s nominee to be the next director of the FBI, James Comey – we’ll have analysis  from RICK PERLSTEIN, who will comment not only on what Comey said, but what he should have been asked about what he’s done.

Also: The summer of 1964: that was Mississippi Freedom Summer, the tuirning point in the Vietnam War, the passage of the Civil Rights Act, the Republican convention nominating Barry Goldwater—and a magnificent new song, “Dancing in the Street” by Martha and the Vandellas.  MARK KURLANSKYwill explain what different people understood when they heard “summer’s here and the time is right.”  His new book is Ready for a Brand New Beat.