Abolish the Filibuster: KPFK Wed. 1/5

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 Abolish the filibuster: JOYCE APPLEBY is one of nine historians, political scientists, and law profs sponsoring of a petition urging the senate to get rid of Rule 22 permitting the “invisible filibuster” for which they gathered 332 signers.   Joyce, professor emerita at UCLA, wrote about the filibuster for the L.A. Times.

Also: BARBARA EHRENREICH talks about Americans’ “unwholesome love affair with Positive Thinking.”  She says losing your job, or your home, is not “an opportunity.”  Her book BRIGHT SIDED: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking has Undermined America is out now in paperback.  (originally broadcast 11/11/09) Read the Journal of Happiness Studies HERE.

Plus: Obama Year Three: ARI BERMAN talks about what happened in the lame duck Congress and Obama’s agenda for the coming year: anything there about jobs?  Ari is a political correspondent for The Nation;  he’s also written for Rolling Stone and the Guardian. His new book is Herding Donkeys: The Fight to Rebuild the Democratic Party, where he says it’s time to revive the 2008 grassroots Obama movement.

2010 Progressive Honor Roll: KPFK Wed. 12/29

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The Progressive Honor Roll of 2010: JOHN NICHOLS names the names of some of our political heroes; number one is Bernie Sanders.  John is Washington Correspondent for The Nation and writes “The Beat” blog at TheNation.com.   “Most Valuable Online Activism”: Progressive Change Campaign Committee, HERE.

Also: The Museum of Jurassic Technology is one of the treasures of Los Angeles–it’s a weird and wonderful place on Venice Boulevard that attracts art fanatics from around the world.  Founder and director DAVID WILSON raises big questions about really small art.  (originally broadcast 6-19-2001).

Plus: THELONIOUS MONK wasn’t a naive, childlike, eccentric character – that’s what historian ROBIN KELLEY says.  He talks about the life, the times, and the music of  “an American original.” Robin teaches at USC; his book Thelonious Monk is out now in paperback.  PLAYLIST: “‘Round Midnight,”  “Well You Needn’t,” “Straight No Chaser,” “Sweet and Lovely” – 1947 Blue Note sessions.  (originally broadcast 10-21-09)

Top Ten Nixon Quotes of 2010: The Nation, 12/28

A new batch of Nixon White House tapes and documents were released by the National Archives in 2010, putting the former president back on page one. Herewith, the top ten:

10. “The Irish can’t drink. What you always have to remember with the Irish is they get mean. Virtually every Irish I’ve known gets mean when he drinks.” –to Chuck Colson,  White House hatchet man, Feb. 13, 1973.
. . . continued at TheNation.com HERE

Obama in 2010: What Happened? KPFK 12/22

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 For our year-in-review show, we’ll ask HAROLD MEYERSON what happened to Obama in 2010? Why did he make so many concessions to Republicans?  Harold writes op-ed columns for the Washington Post and the L.A. Times, and he’s editor-at-large of The American Prospect.

Also: Islamophobia — the year in review: MAX BLUMENTHAL of The Nation will look back at the alarming rise in attacks on Muslims and Islam in the US, ten years after 9-11.  Max is the author  Republican Gomorrah; read his new piece “The Great Fear” at TomDispatch.com HERE .

Plus: BOB DYLAN’s Christmas album: is this a joke — or a tragedy? SEAN WILENTZ explains — he’s historian-in-residence at the official Bob Dylan website, and his new book is Bob Dylan in America.  READ Sean Wilentz on Dylan’s Xmas album HERE. LISTEN to samples HERE. PLAYLIST: “Here Comes Santa Claus”; “I’ll Be Home for Xmas”; “Must Be Santa,” “Winter Wonderland”; “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” (originally broadcast 11/11/09)

John Lennon: It was 30 Years Ago Today: KPFK 12/8

For the 30th anniversary of Lennon’s murder, we’ll do a one-hour special featuring excerpts from Lennon’s last interview, rare clips of different versions of “Give Peace a Chance” performed live at different shows; and a chat with GREG MITCHELL, former editor of Crawddaddy (and current blogger at TheNation.com) about his meetings with Lennon in New York in the 1970s.

The Diane Rehm Show: NPR 12/08

Remembering John Lennon on the Diane Rehm Show, along with Philip Norman, author of John Lennon: A Life, and Richard Harrington, former music critic for the Washington Post: Listen HERE.

Lennon’s Last Interview: What the 60s Showed Us: The Nation 12/8

It was 30 years ago today: Dec. 8, 1980, on what would turn out to be the last day of John Lennon’s life, he did an interview promoting his new album, “Double Fantasy.” He talked about the sixties: “The thing the sixties did was show us the possibility and the responsibility that we all had. It wasn’t the answer. It just gave us a glimpse of the possibility.”
. . . Continued at TheNation.com HERE.

‘Imagine’ and its Critics: LA Times 12/8

At a high school in Riverside in 1991, student Aaron Salinger wrote the lyrics to “Imagine” on the stripes of an American flag as an art project. It was Lennon’s birthday and the Persian Gulf War was underway, and Salinger and his friends carried the “Imagine” flag in an antiwar demonstration. Aaron’s mother, Sharon V. Salinger, now dean of undergraduate education at UC Irvine, remembers being summoned to the principal’s office after Aaron was suspended for “desecrating the flag.” . . . Continued at LATimes.com HERE.