Dan Savage on Gay America: KPFK 7/17

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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

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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.

How Dollarocracy Works: KPFK 7/3

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Billionaires fund candidates in both parties, pushing self-serving plans like austerity.  That’s not democracy–it’s dollarocracy.  JOHN NICHOLS explains – he’s Washington Correspondent of The Nation, and his new book is Dollarocracy: How the Money and Media Election Compex is Destroying America.
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Also: it was a historic day in Egypt, as the military removed Mohammed Morsi from power, the country’s first elected president.  We have analysis from MARK LeVINE — he teaches middle eastern history at UC Irvine, and he writes for Al Jazeera English.

Plus: Hemingway Lives!  CLANCY SIGAL says we ought to celebrate Hemingway’s passionate and unapologetic political partisanship and his attitude toward sex and sexuality, as well as his “stunningly concise, no-frills writing style.”  Clancy wrote the classics Going Away and Weekend in  Dinlock, and co-wrote the feature film Frida; his new book is Hemingway Lives!

Supremes: Yes to Gay Marriage, No to Voting Rights: KPFK 6/26

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The Roberts Court ends the Civil Rights era: ADAM WINKLER of the UCLA Law School explains the historic significance of the Court’s 5-4 decision Tuesday invalidating the key part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.  Adam writes about constitutional law and blogs for the Huffington Post and the Daily Beast.

Also: The Supremes and gay marriage: JON DAVIDSON, Legal Director of Lambda Legal, comments on the court’s rulings on Prop 8 and DOMA.  Jon reported for us after sitting in on the arguments in the Court on Prop 8 in March.

.Plus: The greatest generation?  After the WWII Normandy invasion, after the heroism and sacrifice, American GIs’  violent sexual assaults on French women horrified the French.
Some Americans were prosecuted — and even executed–for raping French women — but almost all of them were black (including the father of Emmett Till).
MARY LOUISE ROBERTS tells that story – she teaches history at the University of Wisconsin/Madison and her new book is WHAT SOLDIERS DO: Sex and the American GI in WWII France.

Fellini’s “8 1/2,” 50 Years Later: LA Review of Books 6/25

Fifty years ago — on June 25, 1963 — Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2 had its US premiere in New York City. It’s a transparently autobiographical film about a world famous director unable to finish his next film, beset by doubts, anxieties, and nightmares. As the film opens, our hero Guido, Fellini’s alter ego, played by Marcello Mastroianni, faces a dilemma that may be familiar to many: What if your deadline arrived, but you had written nothing? What if people came to hear you, but you had nothing to say? What would happen if you ran out of ideas?
. . . continued at LA Review of Books HERE

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

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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.