Alternative Radio

September 15, 2021 National, News & Public Affairs

Black Liberation

The widespread protests in the wake of the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor marked a new chapter in the struggle for Black liberation. What would constitute Black liberation? 

On the September 15 show, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor who writes and speaks on Black politics, social movements, and racial inequality. She is a professor of African American Studies at Princeton

September 8, 2021 National, News & Public Affairs

Terrorism: Theirs and Ours

Terrorism is the scourge of the era. It is a fearsome symbol conjuring up images of ferocious-looking, bearded men brandishing AK-47s. The media focus on the terrorism of official enemies like Saddam Hussein, bin Laden, and Zarqawi. After they were done away with, new demons appeared to justify war and bloat the Pentagon budget. Be afraid of ISIS and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Be afraid of Yemen and Somalia, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. Be afraid of all the jihadi groups that have mushroomed all over the Middle East. The notion that the U.S. and its allies engage in terrorism is simply not a topic for discussion. To scrutinize U.S. policy is verboten. The War on Terror is now the longest war in U.S. history. There is no end in sight. And that suits Washington just fine.

On the September 8th show, the speaker will be Eqbal Ahmad who was Professor Emeritus of International Relations and Middle Eastern Studies at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. He had an extraordinary life. He was born in Irki, Bihar to an Indian Muslim landowning family. 

September 1, 2021 National, News & Public Affairs

Hackers and Democracy

The digital age has given birth to hackers who carry out cyberattacks on our personal data, on pipelines, energy grids and meat processing plants. There are also hackers who practice the sharing of software, open sourcing and the secure free flow of information. Maureen Webb says those hackers “are making some of the most important contributions to preserving our liberal democratic tradition in the 21st century.”

On our September 1st show, our speaker will be Maureen Webb who is a labor lawyer and human rights activist. She has taught national security law as an Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia. 

August 25, 2021 National, News & Public Affairs

Q&A on American Sadism

The great 20th-century Irish poet William Butler Yeats wrote, “We had fed the heart on fantasies, The heart’s grown brutal from the fare.” The United States has long fed its heart with fairy tales about itself. Hardly a day goes by without some new story being spun about our noble intentions, benevolence and devotion to international law. Sadism is not something new. Just ask indigenous peoples and Blacks or the Vietnamese and Iraqis. Chris Hedges warns, “The violence and exploitation, which has long defined imperial projects now defines existence at home. For empires, in the end, cannibalize themselves. The tyranny we long imposed on others, we now impose on ourselves. The dark pleasure derived from exploiting others is all that is left.”

On the August 25th show the speaker will be Chris Hedges who is an award-winning journalist who has reported from the Balkans, the Middle East and Central America. He writes a weekly column for scheerpost.com. 

August 18, 2021 National, News & Public Affairs

American Exceptionalism

On the August 18th show, American exceptionalism has been a fundamental tenet of U.S. foreign policy. International law applies to designated enemies, not for Washington and its vassals. Obey the master or face the consequences. 

The speaker will be Howard Zinn, who is a professor emeritus at Boston University, was perhaps this country’s premier radical historian. 

August 11, 2021 National, News & Public Affairs

The Financialization of Housing

From Seattle to Toronto, the cost of owning a home is soaring. Rents are no better. Accelerated by neoliberal economic doctrine a paradigm shift in housing has occurred in recent years. There is a growing disconnect between housing as a human right and housing as a financial vehicle for investment.

The speaker will be Leilani Farha who is the special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. She was the executive director of Canada Without Poverty, an NGO based in Ottawa. A human rights lawyer by training, she has worked all over the world on the implementation 

August 4, 2021 National, News & Public Affairs

American Sadism

The great 20th-century Irish poet William Butler Yeats wrote, “We had fed the heart on fantasies, The heart’s grown brutal from the fare.” The United States has long fed its heart with fairy tales about itself. Hardly a day goes by without some new story being spun about our noble intentions, benevolence and devotion to international law. Sadism is not something new.

On the August 4th show, our speaker will be Chris Hedges who is an award-winning journalist who has reported from the Balkans, the Middle East and Central America. 

July 28, 2021 National, News & Public Affairs

Origins of the Vietnam War

The 50th anniversary of the Pentagon Papers has brought attention once more to Daniel Ellsberg. His action in 1971 in releasing the Pentagon Papers blew the lid off of Washington’s mountain of lies and deceptions about Vietnam and ultimately led to Watergate and Nixon’s resignation.

On the July 28th show the speaker will be Daniel Ellsberg who was a company commander in the Marine Corps. In 1959 he joined the RAND Corporation as an analyst. In 1964 he was recruited to serve in the Pentagon under Robert McNamara.

July 21, 2021 National, News & Public Affairs

An Indigenous People’s History

The history of the U.S. is one of settler colonialism. The state was established on the basis of white male supremacy, slavery, land theft and genocide. “From sea to shining sea” the Native nations were decimated and dispossessed. The survivors herded into concentration camps. The genocidal policy reached its peak under President Andrew Jackson. Its ruthlessness was best articulated by Army general Thomas Jesup, who, in 1836, wrote: “The country can be rid of them only by exterminating them.” Native people are still here. Today, there is growing support for their movements such as the campaign to abolish Columbus Day and replace it with Indigenous Peoples’ Day. The Dakota Access Pipeline resistance led by the Standing Rock Sioux was joined by many non-Native allies. The action, though unsuccessful, captured the imagination of people everywhere. The struggle for indigenous rights continues.

On the July 21 program, the speaker will be Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz who grew up in rural Oklahoma, the daughter of a tenant farmer and part-Indian mother. She has been active in the indigenous movement for more than four decades and is known for her commitment to social justice issues. 

July 14, 2021 National, News & Public Affairs

Chaos or Community?

On the July 14th show, the speaker is Michael Eric Dyson, a globally renowned scholar of race, religion and contemporary culture, is the Centennial Chair and University Distinguished Professor of African American and Diaspora Studies at Vanderbilt University. The discussion will be about chaos or community.