The Doors’ John Densmore on “The Greed Gene”: KPFK 6/19

LISTEN online HERE— iTunes podcast HERE
Some people never sell out: one of them is JOHN DENSMORE, drummer for The Doors.  Today he talks about how he worked to block commercial exploitation of The Doors’ music, and how that conflict reflects a much larger problem: that no amount of money seems to be enough, even for the wealthiest people.  John’s new book is The Doors: Unhinged–Jim Morrison’s Legacy Goes On Trial.
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Also: A visit to Varanassi: our producer JOSH NUNI talks about sitar lessons, weddings, and the funeral pyres in the Hindu holy city on the Ganges.
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Afghan girls schoolPlus: In Afghanistan girls used to sneak out to go to school, with deadly consequences if they got caught.  Now girls’ schools are alive and well—we’ll speak with SHABANA Basij-Rasikh, the founder of  SOLA.  WATCH Shabana’s TED talk HERE.

Can Obama’s Domestic Surveillance Program be Stopped? KPFK 6/12

The ACLU is suing the Obama administration over its surveillance of domestic phone calls, arguing that the the once-secret NSA program is illegal, should be stopped, and its  records purged.  PETER BIBRING will explain; he’s Senior Staff Attorney at the ACLU of Southern California.  SEE the NSA “PRISM” slideshow HERE.
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Plus: It’s the 50th anniversary of the New York Review of Books, which started publication during the NYC newspaper strike of 1963.  ROBERT SILVERS is founder and still editor–he’ll talk about how the mag started , how it’s stayed alive–and how it’s never lost money.

also: A secret army, a war without end–and a journalist determined to uncover the truth: That’s the story of the film “Dirty Wars” and it’s playing now in LA at the Landmark on Pico and nationwide – it’s about Jeremy Scahill, national security correspondent for The Nation magazine.
He’ll be doing a live Q&A in LA tonight at the Landmark on Pico in West LA after the 7:40 screening.  WATCH the “Dirty Wars” trailer HERE.

The FBI File on “Louie, Louie”: KPCC 6/12

Louie LouieThe FBI  spent two years investigating the song, “Louie, Louie,” searching its lyrics for obscene messages.  The problem: some junior high school boys in Sarasota, Florida said it was a dirty song — and their parents complained to J. Edgar Hoover.
“Air Talk” segment on KPCC with Patt Morrison: HERE.

Venice Protest: No to Big Ships! The Nation 6/10

Flying into Venice for a long-awaited vacation, the biggest thing we could see from the air was not the Piazza San Marco, or the Doge’s Palace, or the Basilica—the biggest thing in Venice was a cruise ship docked in the passenger port.
 In town an hour later, we saw the posters, which said (in Italian, of course), “Defend the City—Take Back the Lagoon—Days of International Struggle Against the Big Ships—June 7-8-9.” We had arrived just in time. . . .
. . . continued at TheNation.com: HERE.