To Fight the Virus We Need a Massive Campaign of Disruption: Gregg Gonsalves, plus Meagan Day on the Eviction Crisis

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The increasing number of cases of Covid-19, and of deaths, should be scary to everybody, Gregg Gonsalves says. A direct action campaign of disruption is necessary to bring the changes we need—something like the Act Up movement of the eighties. Gregg is an assistant professor of epidemiology at Yale School of Public Health and the recipient of a MacArthur “genius” grant, and he writes regularly for The Nation about the pandemic.
Also: We’re heading for an eviction crisis. On July 31 the direct cash payments of the CARES act expire and right now Republicans in Congress are not renewing it or anything like it. That means millions of people won’t be able to pay their rent on August 1. Meagan Day comments—she’s coauthor of Bigger than Bernie: How We Go from the Sanders Campaign to Democratic Socialism.  7/15/2020

Defund the LAPD–Kelly Lytle Hernandez; plus BLM is everywhere; Amy Wilentz on Ivanka and Ella Taylor on “Stateless”

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Black Lives Matter-L.A. says “defund the LAPD.” And the sherriffs, and the school police. Kelly Lytle Hernandez explains – she teaches history at UCLA, and she’s the recipient of a MacArthur ‘Genius” grant.
Also: Black Lives Matter protests are everywhere, including some fo the most unlikely places: Zoe Carpenter reports on what’s been happening in Laramie, Wyoming; Florence, Alabama; and even Vidor, Texas—it’s a former Ku Klux Klan haven that Texas Monthly described as the state’s “most hate-filled town.”
Plus: another episode of “The Children’s Hour,” stories about Ivanka, Jared, Don Junior, and Little Eric, with Amy Wilentz. This week Ivanka gets in trouble for wearing a mask – and Don Junior’s girlfriend tests positive.
And Ella Taylor talks about the new Netflix series “Stateless,” about a refugee detention camp in Australia, created by and starring Kate Blanchett—and also about “The Old Guard,” starring Charlize Theron, it’s the first superhero movie directed by an African-American woman, Gina Prince-Bythewood.  7-16-2020

Mike Davis: The Problem with Dr. Fauci; plus Amy Wilentz on Ivanka, and Debbie Nathan on Rembering Sandra Bland

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Mike Davis argues that, while Dr. Anthony Fauci has been handed a golden opportunity to speak truth to power, America’s most respected doctor remains a team player in an administration bent on disaster.
Also: another episode of The Children’s Hour—Amy Wilentz with stories about Ivanka, Jared, Don Jr., and little Eric. This week, Ivanka is in trouble for wearing a mask—and Don Jr.’s girlfriend tests positive.
Plus: Black Lives Matter: Sandra Bland’s was one of them. This week is the fifth anniversary of the death of Bland in a Texas jail—July 13, 2015. What happened to Sandra Bland? To understand that, you have to begin way before she died. Debbie Nathan reports on the life, as well as the death, of Sandra Bland. (This segment originally broadcast in April, 2016). 7-8-2020

Why the US is the World’s Sickest Country: Harold Meyerson; plus Ella Taylor on ‘Perry Mason” and Sandra Bland Remembered

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The US accounts for 4 per cent of the world’s population, but 25 per cent of the people who have come down with COVID-19 and 25 percent of those who’ve died from it. How did the richest country in the world –that spends the most on health care–become the sickest? Harold Meyerson comments.
Also: in our ‘news you can use’ segment, Ella Taylor talks about the new L.A. noir detective show, “Perry Mason”–and about the wonderful HBO series “My Brilliant Friend,” about two girls growing up poor in Naples in the Fifties.
Also later in this hour: Black Lives Matter, and Sandra Bland’s was one of them. This week is the fifth anniversary of the death of Sandra Bland in a Texas jail—July 13, 2015. What happened to Sandra Bland? To understand that, you have to begin way before she died. Debbie Nathan reports on the life, as well as the death, of Sandra Bland.  7-9-2020

Venice vs. the LAPD: in 1969, and L.A. Now: LA Times op-ed

July 4, 1969, was a day of festive parades and picnics across Southern California: Pacific Palisades had its annual “Americanism” parade, the West Covina parade had two Vietnam vets for its grand marshals and Claremont had an “Old Tyme Parade.”
Venice didn’t have a parade at all.
continued at LATimes, HERE

Jody Armour and Allyssa Richardson on “Set the Night on Fire” and “L.A. Protest, Past and Present”

“L.A. Protest Past & Present: From the Watts Rebellion to the Black Lives Matter Movement Today”, hosted by the USC Annenberg Center. With Law School prof Jody Armour, Annenberg school faculty Allyssa Richardson, discussing “Set the Night on Fire: L..A. in the Sixties” with Mike Davis and me, and a special appearance by Norman Lear. Attendees will be able to buy the books at 50% off from Verso Books. You can RSVP HERE.

Defund—and Disarm—the Police: Kelly Lytle Hernandez, D.D. Guttenplan, and Zoë Carpenter

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Defunding the police and re-imagining public safety—in Los Angeles—starts with the LAPD, but includes the sheriffs, the school police, and the UCLA police force. Kelly Lytle Hernandez comments—she’s a professor of history at UCLA, she wrote City of Inmates, a history of the LA jails, and she’s the recipient of a MacArthur “genius” grant.
Also: it’s time to disarm the police. They didn’t always carry guns, and there are other big cities in the world where most cops are NOT armed—like London. D.D. Guttenplan, editor of The Nation, explains.
Also: Black Lives Matter protests are everywhere, even the most unlikely places: for example, Laramie, Wyoming; Florence, Alabama; and even Vidor, Texas—it’s a former Ku Klux Klan haven that Texas Monthly described as the state’s “most hate-filled town.” Nation contributing writer Zoë Carpenter reports.  7/2/2020

The Coronavirus Spike: David Dayen; Michelle Goodwin: Racism in Mpls.; Ella Taylor: “Babylon Berlin”

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As new cases of Covid-19 continue to climb, the price of the drug Remsidivir, which helps reduce hospital stays, was announced: $3,120. Cost to Gilead Pharmaceuticals of production: $10. David Dayen talks about Biden how could cut the price–he’s executive editor of The American Prospect, and writes the daily “Desanitized” blog.
Also: UC Irvine law prof Michelle Goodwin talks about her experience of racism in Minneapolis.
And film critic Ella Taylor discusses “Babylon Berlin,” the German series set against the rise of fascism in Germany in 1929, and Kore-Eda’s new film “The Truth,” starring Catherine Deneuve. 7/2/2020