Obama’s Amazing Mother: KPFK Wed. 7/6

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 Obama’s Mother, the amazing Ann Dunham: she married a black man – Barack Obama Sr. — when she was 18, and then she worked with poor women in the third world for more than a decade.  JANNY SCOTT of the NY Times tells that story – her book is A SINGULAR WOMAN.
WATCH Janny Scott on The Colbert Report HERE.

Also: When pop music meets politics – DORIAN LYNSKEY talks about 7 decades of protest songs.  He writes about music for The Guardian; his book is 33 Revolutions per Minute: A History of Protest Songs from Billie Holliday to Green Day. PLAYLIST: Nina Simone, “Mississippi Goddam,” Live 1964; James Brown, “Say it Loud,” 1968; Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five: “The Message,” 1979; Green Day, “American Idiot,” 2004.

Plus: Seth Walsh committed suicide when he was 13 after enduring years of harassment at school in Tehachapi because he was gay. The federal Office of Civil Rights recently negotiated a sweeping settlement with the Tehachapi schools.  And the ACLU-SC launched The Seth Walsh Project to stop harassment of other gay kids.  JAMES GILLIAM explains – he’s Director of the Project.
GLBTQ students: know your rights: HERE. WATCH “It Gets Better” HERE

Lennon: NOT a “Closet Republican”: Nation 6/29

A guy named Fred Seaman is all over the conservative blogs today for a new documentary in which he claims that John Lennon was “a closet Republican” at the time he was shot. This seems unlikely.
First of all, who is Fred Seaman? . . .
. . . continued at TheNation.com HERE
and see also Patt Morrison’s blog HERE

Wikileaks and National Security: KPFK 6/29

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 A federal grand jury in Alexandria VA is working on the Wikileaks case and may soon bring charges against Bradley Manning, Julian Assange and 2 hackers for national security violations.  ERWIN CHEMERINSKY will comment on the terrible Espionage Act and on Obama’s record on overclassification — he’s dean of the law school at UCI.

Also: KPFK Sports!  The Dodgers are victims of “CEO capitalism run amok” – that’s what HAROLD MEYERSON says, he’s executive editor The American Prospect and writes for the op-ed pages of the Washington Post and the L.A. Times.

Plus: Homeless vets in Brentwood: the ACLU of Southern California is suing the V.A., which rents part of the Brentwood V.A. land to Enterprise rent-a-car and part to a laundry for the Marriott hotels, but refuses to fulfill their legal obligation to house homeless disabled vets.  MARK ROSENBAUM will explain – he’s Chief Counsel of the ACLU-SC.

Obama’s Afghan Pullout Plan: KPFK Wed. 6-22

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 President Obama will announce his decision on the speed and size of the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in a speech tonight at 5:00pm – our JOHN NICHOLS will provide a preview.  He’s Washington correspondent for The Nation and he writes “The Beat” blog at TheNation.com.

Also: Wal-Mart–Too Big to Sue:  NELSON LICHTENSTEIN reviews the Supreme Court’s ruling Monday that women workers at Wal-Mart can’t file a class action suit. Nelson teaches labor history at UC Santa Barbara and is the author of The Retail Revolution, a history of Wal-Mart.  READ Nelson’s NYTimes op-ed HERE.

Plus: Dodgers for Sale?  DAVE ZIRIN is the author of Bad Sports: How Owners are Ruining the Games we Love (Scribner) – and explains the latest news about how owner Frank McCourt is ruining the Dodgers. Dave writes for The Nation and blogs at Edge of Sports ; his new doc is “Not Just a Game.”
READ Dave on “This Day in History: When Muhammad Ali Took the Weight” HERE

Ai Weiwei at the Venice Bienalle: ChinaBeat 6/15

At the world’s biggest art event this summer, the Venice Biennale, the world’s most famous imprisoned artist, Ai Weiwei, was not exactly neglected—but his case received virtually no official acknowledgment. . . . an unofficial contribution, “Bye Bye Ai Weiwei,” written in six-foot tall white neon letters along the Giudecca canal, was visible to all the passing vapporetti.
. . . Continued at TheChinaBeat.org, HERE.

Anti-War: WWI, and Now: KPFK Wed 6/1

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 The anti-war movement in WWI in Britain took a heroic stand against senseless slaughter: ADAM HOCHSCHILD tells that story in his magnificent new book To End All Wars — it was featured on page 1 of the New York Times Book Review. I’ll be in conversation with Adam at the downtown LA public library ALOUD series on Thurs June 2 at 7pm – free but reservations suggested, HERE.

Plus: The Korean War — BRUCE CUMINGS reveals the historical background that explains why it happened, and the extraordinarily vicious methods by which the U.S. fought it.  His new book is The Korean War: A History.

Also: Nixon and Watergate, then and now: historian STANLEY KUTLER sued the feds to force the release of the Nixon White House tapes — and won.  (He also writes for the Huffington Post.)  Now the full story is told for the first time at the Nixon Library in their new Watergate exhibit.  Stan will be speaking at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda Wed. 6/1 at 7pm on “Liberating the Watergate Tapes.”  Reservations recommended: Email nixon@nara.gov or call 714-983-9120.

Bob Dylan’s Birthday: KPFK Tues 5/14, 11am-1pm

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 It’s Bob Dylan’s 70th birthday!  I’ll be co-hosting a two-hour special, at a special time: Tues 11am-1pm, featuring Sean Wilentz, author of Dylan in America; Bob Dylan rarities — interviews on WBAI in NYC from the early sixties; highlights of ten years of my interviews about Dylan on KPFK with Greil Marcus, Sean Wilentz, and others;  highlights from “No Direction Home”, Martin Scorsese’s documentary on Dylan from his arrival in New York in 1961 to his “retirement” following his motorcycle accident in 1966.

It’s the KPFK Fund Drive, and our featured premium is the 2 DVD set of “No Direction Home” for a pledge of $100.00. Other premiums: Dylan Live at Brandeis 1963 CD $50.00; eight of my own interviews about Dylan on KPFK, 2001-2011, including: Greil Marcus on “Love and Theft” (2001), Greil on “Like a Rolling Stone” (2009), Sean Wilentz on Dylan’s Xmas album (2001), Sean on Dylan in China (2011), and lots more.  Available for a $50 pledge, or a free add-on to any pledge $100 or more.  Call and pledge during the show, 818-985-5735, or online at www.kpfk.org. Co-hosted by Alan Minsky and Maggie LePique.

John Nichols: The ‘S’ Word–KPFK Wed. 5/18

A short history of an American tradition: Socialism.  JOHN NICHOLS, the Wisconsin hero who writes “The Beat” blog at TheNation.com, offers an unapologetic retort to the return of red-baiting in American political life in his new book “The ‘S’ Word.”
It is our featured thank-you gift in the KPFK fund drive for the 4 O’Clock Report on Wednesday.  Please call during the show and pledge: 818-985-5735 — or pledge online at www.kpfk.org.