WikiLeaks and 9-11: The Nation 10/17

As WikiLeaks prepares to release 400,000 Iraq war documents, a former FBI agent argues that WikiLeaks could have prevented 9-11, if the website had been around in 2001.  . . . Continued at TheNation.com HERE.

Sarah Palin: Snubbed by Cal. GOP – The Nation 10/14

Sarah Palin is coming to California this weekend, but the state’s top Republican candidates, Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina, don’t want to bee sen with her.

. . .  The reason can be found in the new polls: most Californians don’t like Sarah Palin.  According to last week’s Field Poll, 69 percent of the state’s independent voters say they have an “unfavorable” impression of the former Alaska governor. . . . Continued at TheNation.com HERE.

Michelle in Milwaukee: KPFK Wed. 10-13

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Campaign update: Michelle Obama campaigned in Milwaukee today for endangered progressive Senator Russ Feingold — and our JOHN NICHOLS was there. He says she was terrific. John is Washington Correspondent for The Nation and writes “The Beat” blog at TheNation.com.

And 84-year-old ELMORE LEONARD has just published his 48th novel: Djibouti.  We’ll ask him about his famous “rules for writing” (originally broadcast 2/28/2004)

Also: How to Win Elections: JAMIE COURT explains how to win grassroots campaigns, pass ballot box laws, and get the change we voted for.  Court, a longtime organizer of ballot campaigns and other initiatives, is the author of The Progressive’s Guide to Raising Hell. WATCH Jamie’s 30-second video now running in Times Square on the Jumbotron HERE.

John Lennon’s 70th/Yoko interview: KPFK Sat. 10/9

KPFK kicks off a special twelve-hour Lennon 70th birthday celebration Saturday Oct. 9 at noon, and I’ll be hosting the first hour.  We’ll be listening to my interview with Yoko last week, plus the new “Stripped Down” versions of the great songs on “Double Fantasy”— remixed to bring up Lennon’s voice and remove some of the rest – starting with “Starting Over” and “I’m Losing You.”  We’ll also be featuring my long-ago interviews  with Abbie Hoffman and Pete Seeger about Lennon.

Plus;  highlights from the great documentary “The US vs. John Lennon,” featuring the bed-in for peace, Beatle record-burnings, and Geraldo Rivera, Tariq Ali and Gore Vidal on Lennon.
It’s the KPFK fund drive, and we’ll be featuring as thank you gifts the DVD of “The US vs John Lennon,” plus the new “Double Fantasy Stripped Down” CD, and a few surprises.  Please listen – and please call 818-985-5735 and pledge during the show!  Saturday noon-1:00pm, 90.7FM, streaming live at www.kpfk.org.

Lennon Top 5: OC Weekly 10/9

On what would have been John Lennon’s 70th birthday, a list of my top five Lennon solo records–and they included audio and video links to Lennon’s performances of each: Audio and video HERE.
5. “God”:  “I was the Walrus, but now I’m John” . . .
4. “Imagine”: We’ve heard it a thousand times, but still. . .
3. “I’m Losing You”: the strongest song on “Double Fantasy” . . .
2. “Instant Karma”: “Who do you think you are, a superstar?”
1.  “Oh Yoko”: playful, passionate, and perfect.

Bob Dylan’s Defense of Lennon: Nation 10/8

How do you explain the value of a rock musician to the Immigration Service?  Bob Dylan tried, in his letter opposing the Nixon Administration’s move to deport John Lennon.  “John and Yoko,” Dylan wrote, “inspire and transcend and stimulate,” and thereby “help put an end to this mild dull taste of petty commercialism which is being passed off as artist art by the overpowering mass media.”
TheNation.com story HERE;  Dylan’s letter HERE.

Interview with Terry Gross on “Fresh Air” – 10/8

The day before what would have been John Lennon’s 70th birthday, TERRY GROSS replayed the interview she did with me in 2000 on NPR’s “Fresh Air.”  We talked about the Nixon administration’s attempt to deport Lennon in 1972 — and what the  FBI files show about that effort.
Listen to streaming audio HERE.

Bob Dylan in America: KPFK Wed. 10-6

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Bob Dylan in America: SEAN WILENTZ talks about Dylan’s work as a songwriter and performer and his deep roots in Amercan culture.  His new book is Bob Dylan in America – Martin Scorsese says it is “as thrilling and surprising as listening to a great Dylan song.”  We are featuring the book as a premium in our fund drive – please call and pledge during the show, 818-985-5735, or online at kpfk.org.

Also: JOHN NICHOLS with our political update – how bad are things for the Dems?  Why is Wisconsin’s progressive hero Russ Feingold in trouble?  John is Washington correspondent for The Nation and writes “The Beat” blog at TheNation.com.  DOWNLOAD the entire new issue of The Nation HERE.

Plus: a chat with YOKO ONO about her plans for Oct. 9, which would have been John Lennon’s 70th birthday.  KPFK will feature a 12-hour John Lennon special on Oct. 9 – I’ll be hosting noon-100pm, featuring lots of rare audio, and the documentary “The U.S. vs. John Lennon” on DVD as a fund drive premium.

Obama’s Wars: Andrew Bacevich on KPFK Wed. 9/29

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America’s “Ministry of Global Policing” — ANDREW BACEVICH critiques Obama’s wars – a continuation of the policy, for 60 years, under which the US military has been ready to intervene anywhere at any time.   Bacevich’s new book is Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War. It’s on the best seller list this week.

Also: democracy and slavery: In the era of emancipation of Reconstruction in the 1860s and 1870s, the federal government promised former slaves equality and political rights, including the vote.  That history is told by ERIC FONER – he teaches history at Columbia University, and he’s the author of Forever Free: The Story of Emancipation and Reconstruction. (Originally broadcast 1-25-2006)

Plus: the conservative assault on the constitution: ERWIN CHEMERINSKY explains the Supreme Court’s dramatic shift to the right and how it has given presidents, police and corporations unprecedented power.  Erwin is founding dean of the law school at UC Irvine; his new book is The Conservative Assault on the Constitution.