Arizona and Immigrants: KPFK Wed. 5/5

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Are Arizona’s anti-immigrant laws going to help Barbara Boxer and Harry Reid win re-election?  In 1994, when California Republicans passed the anti-immigrant Prop. 187, Latinos started voting Democratic in overwhelming numbers. JOHN NICHOLS will comment; he’s Washington Correspondent for The Nation, and writes “The Beat” blog at TheNation.com — now redesigned and re-launched.

Also: Greil Marcus on Van Morrison, the wild and turbulent Northern Irish singer-songwriter who recorded the songs “Wild Night” and “Brown Eyed Girl” and the albums “Astral Weeks” and “Moondance.”  Greil’s new book is When That Rough God Roes Riding: Listening to Van Morrison.  Greil will be reading and signing Friday at 7:30pm Skylight Books , 1818 N. Vermont Ave.

Plus: yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the Kent State killings; and we’ll also have Your Minnesota Moment:  St. Paul’s mayor takes action against Arizona for its new anti-immigrant law.

Daniel Widener talks about culture and black struggle in postwar L.A. — he teaches history at UCSD and his new book is Black Arts West. We’ll also talk about the recent racist activity at UCSD — and the compendium of documents about it,  ‘Another University is Possible.’   Danny will be speaking at Eso Won Books on Fri. May 7, 7pm in Liemert Park.



Arizona Bans Ethnic Studies: The Nation 5/1

The Arizona legislature has passed a bill that will end ethnic studies classes in the state, according to the state’s top education official.

The bill bans classes that “promote resentment toward a race or class of people,” “are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group,” or “advocate ethnic solidarity instead of treating pupils as individuals.”

Also prohibited: all those classes that “promote the overthrow of the U.S. government.”

. . . continued at TheNation.com HERE

Honoring Walter Mosley: The Nation 4/29

Los Angeles’s Liberty Hill Foundation will honor Walter Mosley with its Upton Sinclair Award on May 20. Mosley, author of more than thirty books, is celebrated worldwide for his Easy Rawlins mysteries. Set in inner-city Los Angeles after World War II, they feature an out-of-work black war veteran who reluctantly becomes a private detective and confronts the city’s racism and corrupt police force. The best-known volume is probably Devil in a Blue Dress, which was made into a film in 1995 starring Denzel Washington as Mosley’s protagonist: “In a world divided by black and white, Easy Rawlins is about to cross the line.”
. . . Continued HERE.

Going After Wall Street: KPFK Wed. 4/28

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“The Goldman Sachs scandal has done the unthinkable,” says HAROLD MEYERSON of the Washington Post op-ed page: “It’s made it possible that legislation reining in Wall Street’s casino may actually be enacted.”
But the odds are still against real reform –And the problem isn’t just Republican opposition; there are also the Democrats.

Plus:  ROBERT KUTTNER talks about A Presidency in Peril: The Inside Story of Obama’s Promise, Wall Street’s Power, and the Struggle to Control our Economic Future.
Bob is a founder of The American Prospect, contributor to the Boston Globe and the Huffington Post and has worked as chief investogator for the Senate Banking Committee.

Also: REBECCA SKLOOT talks about how racism, poverty and science came together in the case of a poor black woman whose cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine. Rebecca’s book is THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS.  Rebecca’s LA events: Thurs. 4/29 at 7pm at Eso Won Books in Liemert Park in L.A. – 4331 Degnan Blvd. in L.A.; Fri., 4/30 at 7PM: at Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena; more local events HERE.

BookFest at UCLA Preview: KPFK Wed. 4/21


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L.A. Times Festival of Books Preview: DAVID ULIN, book editor of the L.A. Times, talks about BookFest highlights, including his own sessions with Dave Eggers and Elif Batuman.  BookFest schedule, info HERE. Tickets required but free from Ticketmaster: HERE. My session: “Does the American economy have a future?”  Sunday 11:00 Rolfe Hall.

Plus ROBERT MEEROPOL talks about the 20th anniversary of the Rosenberg Fund for Children.  He also will report on new info on the Rosenberg case in the new  book Exoneration by Emily and David Alman.  Upcoming RFC events in LA:  Sat. in Santa Monica, 4:30-6:30: contact Henry Slucki 310-556-2529 or hslucki@usc.edu; Sun. 10:15am,New Revelations in the Rosenberg Case” American Jewish Univ., 15600 Mulholland Dr., Bel-Air.  more info HERE.

Also: politics and photography – DOROTHEA LANGE took the photo called “Migrant Mother,” the iconic image of the Great Depression and the New Deal -0- and a lot of other photos the government censored.  LINDA GORDON will explain – her book Dorothea Lange, a Life Beyond Limits has been nominated for the LA Times Book Prize in biography. Linda’s session at the BookFest is Saturday 12:30pm in Young Hall.  (originally broadcast 11/4/2009)

A Historians’ Lies About Ike: The Nation 4/21

Stephen Ambrose, the best-selling historian who wrote or edited more than a dozen books about Eisenhower as general and president, based his fame in large part on what he said were his interviews with Ike – but now, eight years after Ambrose’s death, an official at the Eisenhower Library in Abeline says the interviews never took place.
Continued at TheNation.com HERE

Orlando Figes, Historian in Trouble: The Nation, 4/20

A prominent British historian has found a new way to get in trouble: Orlando Figes, a historian of Stalin’s Russia at Birkbeck College, London, and a contributor to the New York Review, has admitted that his wife has been publishing hostile comments about rival historians at Amazon.co.uk under a pseudonym.

The practice of using a pseudonym to post denunciations of rivals or critics on the internet is called “using a sock puppet.”   CONTINUED at TheNation.com: HERE.

David Remnick on Obama: KPFK Wed. 4/14

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From the Center for Obama Studies at KPFK: DAVID REMNICK, editor of The New Yorker, talks about his new book The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama. He’s speaking Thursday at 7:30pm at the Writers Guild Theatre, 135 S. Doheny Dr., Beverly Hills– tickets are $20 at writersblocpresents.com.

Also: KPFK Sports! the Dodgers’ won their home opener yesterday 9-5 against the Arizona Diamondbacks –we’ll speak with MARK KURLANSKY about the Dodgers who started out in Dominican Republic. Mark’s new book is The Eastern Stars: How Baseball Changed the Dominican Town of San Pedro de Macoris. He’ll be at the BookFest at UCLA Sunday April 25 at 1:30 in Young Hall.

Plus: China today has more millionaires, more skyscrapers, and more internet users than any other country. But what happened to Mao? What happened to the Cultural Revolution?  Everything you need to know about China – but were afraid to ask: UCI historian JEFF WASSERSTROM will explain. His new book is China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know.
Jeff will be at the BookFest at UCLA on the China panel Sunday April 25 at noon in Young Hall.

Quitting Afghanistan: KPFK Wed. 4/7

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Only one State Department official has resigned in protest over our war in Afghanistan: MATTHEW HOH.  Now he has been awarded The Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling.  At a time when Afghanistan was still looked at as the “good war,” Hoh came forward, publicly and at great personal risk, to challenge the war’s fundamental rationale. His passionate and informed letter of resignation lit a spark and was, for many, a crucial argument against our war in Afghanistan.

Plus: our Washington update with HAROLD MEYERSON, he writes a column for the Washington Post op-ed page and he’s editor-at-large of The American Prospect.

Also: “SAVING STATE U.: NANCY FOLBRE says public universities and colleges need a commitment to “an economic system that nurtures hope, curiosity and confidence in the future citizens of our country.” Nancy is a staff economist with the Center for Popular Economics; she teaches economics at UMass Amherst, and she writes for the New York Times Economix blog, where she wrote recently about “The World’s Best Countries for Women.” She also won a MacArthur “genius” award.
Read about misuse of UC student fees HERE

Your Minnesota Moments: Sarah Palin in Minneapolis HEREFact-Checking Michelle Bachman HERE

Obama’s Path: Clinton or Truman? KPFK Wed. 3/31

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Obama can follow the example of Bill Clinton, move to the center, and “triangulate” between Democrats and Republicans.  Or Obama can follow the example of Harry Truman and become an effective partisan and a resolute progressive — That’s what ROBERT KUTTNER says – he’s founding co-editor of The American Prospect.

Also: Is Obama’s health care bill constitutional? 14 state attorney generals say it isn’t.   ERWIN CHEMERINSKY comments – he’s dean of the law school at UC Irvine.

Plus: TOM FRANK asks, When will the GOP stop whining about the ‘elites’? Glen Beck & Co. claim to be victims — of those darn liberals who control everything.  Tom is the author of What’s the Matter with Kansas? and he writes a column for the Wall Street Journal. He’s also founding editor of The Baffler. WATCH the TRAILER for the documentary “What’s the Matter with Kansas” HERE