Bay of Pigs at 50: The Lessons Kennedy Never Learned — The Nation 4/18

It’s the fiftieth anniversary of the Bay of Pigs, April 17-18, 1961, when a CIA-trained army of Cuban exiles were sent by President Kennedy to overthrow Fidel Castro. Their humiliating defeat showed the world that Cubans would fight to defend their revolution, especially against an invasion sponsored by the United States. But that’s not the lesson Kennedy learned from his first great defeat as president.
. . . . Continued at TheNation.com HERE

Bob Dylan in Beijing: No Sellout. The Nation 4/14

Bob Dylan did not sell out to the Chinese government when he performed in Beijing on April 6. The “sellout” charge was made in the New York Times on Sunday by Maureen Dowd, along with several other people.  The problem: Dylan submitted his set list to the Chinese culture ministry, according to The Guardian’s Martin Wieland in Beijing, and as a result the concert was performed “strictly according to an approved programme.”
. . . contined at TheNation.com HERE

Bob Dylan in Beijing: No Sellout. KPFK Wed. 4/13

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 Did Bob Dylan sell out when he sang in Beijing and Saigon this week?  Maureen Dowd says yes — what Bob did is “worse than Beyonce singing for Qaddafi.”  But SEAN WILENTZ says it’s not true — Bob did not bow to government demands that he not sing what Dowd calls “iconic songs of revolution like “The Times They Are a-Changin,’ ” and “Blowin’ in the Wind.””  Sean teaches history at Princeton; his new book is BOB DYLAN IN AMERICA, and he wrote a reply to Maureen Dowd at The New Yorker website.  We’ll listen to some of the songs Bob sang in Saigon and Beijing.   PLAYLIST: “Ballad of a Thin Man,” “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall,” “All Along the Watchtower,” “Highway 61 Revisited.”

ALSO:  Japanese officials now admit the radiation release from Fukushima is as bad as Chernobyl.  DAN HIRSCH will explain — he teaches at UC Santa Cruz and heads Committee to Bridge the Gap.

Plus:  In Obama’s deficit speech today he contrasted his vision of “the kind of future we want” with the Republicans’.  We’ll have commentary from HAROLD MEYERSON, he’s editor at large of The American Prospect and he writes a column for the Washington Post op-ed page.

L.A. Labor: The Great Exception – KPFK Wed. 4/6

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HAROLD MEYERSON of The American Prospect says the labor movement in L.A. is the great exception nationally – instead of fighting defensive battles, they are winning new jobs at decent wages—mostly, union jobs in government construction projects.  Harold wrote about L.A. labor for the L.A. Times op-ed page.

Plus: Women of Wal-Mart, Unite!  NELSON LICHTENSTEIN reports on the class-action suit of women workers at Wal-Mart – which would be the largest in the history of the world.  Nelson teaches labor history at UC Santa Barbara and is the author of The Retail Revolution, a history of Wal-Mart.

Also: Men, Women and Unions: Why cops and firemen change the picket line equation.  NATASHA VARGAS-COOPER worked as an SEIU organizer for five years; now she’s covering the Wisconsin story – and writing about it for The Atlantic the New York Times op-ed page.

Change Comes to Nixonland: L.A. Times op-ed 4/5

Watergate was “the ultimate stress test” for the nation, says Timothy Naftali, director of the Nixon Library. It was also a stress test for the National Archives and the Nixon Library. . . .
. . . continued at the L.A. Times op-ed page HERE

From Fukushima to Washington DC – KPFK 3/30

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 Nuclear power industry execs testified in Washington yesterday that we have nothing to worry about – except perhaps the fact that almost all American nuclear power plants have backup batteries that would last only half as long as those at Japan’s troubled Fukushima.  DAN HIRSCH comments: he’s head of Committee to Bridge the Gap, which has been fighting nuclear power for more than three decades.

Plus, our Wisconsin update:  JOHN NICHOLS reports live from Madison  – he calls it “Lawless FitzWalkerstan.” WATCH recall campaign TV ad HERE

Also: Lincoln and slavery: how our greatest president changed his mind about abolition, emancipation, and black voting rights: historian ERIC FONER explains — and provides helpful hints about updating a lecture on Lincoln.  His book The Fiery Trial just won the Bancroft Prize and the Lincoln Prize, the two biggest awards in the history profession.  (originally broadcast 12/1/10)

Imagine No Religion: The Nation 3/24

When John Lennon sang “Imagine there’s no heaven” in 1971, rock critics called the song “utopian.” But 40 years later, researchers have found that religion is indeed disappearing in nine countries . . . .
. . . continued at TheNation.com HERE.