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Archive 5: 2012

Shows Available from Pirate Television


Pirate Television is a weekly 58 min Public Access Television program broadcast in Seattle Washington USA.  Pirate TV challenges the Media Blockade by bringing you alternative information and independent programming that is unavailable on the Corporate Sponsor-Ship.  The show features talks, interviews and documentaries.

Some of the material seen on Pirate TV is obtained from other sources but most of it is locally produced and owned by us.  We are offering to sell copies of this material to support the operation.  If you would like to support the Pirate Television project you can obtain a copy of any of these tapes for a $20 donation (includes postage) in advance.  To obtain videotapes or DVDs, contact us first by email:

PirateTVSeattle(at)gmail.com

We like to expand Pirate Television to other broadcast venues.  If you would like to get on the Pirate Television schedule notification list-serve, or if you have questions, drop us a line.

DVDs of most of the recent Pirate TV shows are available.

This is a list of the material that was produced by us and does not include all the fantastic documentaries and other materials that we have broadcast.  Most source tapes are archived and can be accessed by special request.  If you are interested in a complete list of the actual shows for purposes of broadcast on other television stations, please contact us.  This material is also available in audio form for broadcast on the radio. 

Programs are listed in reverse chronological order.

[List 11]  January 2, 2012 to Dec. 17, 2012:

Chuck Collins: How Wealth Inequality is Wrecking the World and What We Can Do About It TRT  1:16 recorded 9/20/12
Chuck Collins: How Wealth Inequality is Wrecking the World and What We Can Do About It, Mon. 12/17 8-9 pm, Thurs. 1pm, Sat. 1am on SCM

The great grandson of meat packer Oscar Meyer, Chuck Collins grew up as a member of the 1%.   He is a national expert on economic inequality, tax policy, corporate power, class privilege and power as well as a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies where he directs the Program on Inequality and the Common Good (www.inequality.org) and co/founder of Wealth for the Common Good (www.wealthforcommongood.org), a national network of business leaders and high net worth individuals concerned about shared prosperity and fair taxation. Chuck Collins is author of 99 to 1: How Wealth Inequality is Wrecking the World and What We Can Do About It.  

Presented by Real Change and The Common Good Cafe 


Thomas Seeley: Honeybee Democracy TRT  1:12 recorded 10/24/12
Thomas Seeley: Honeybee Democracy, Mon. 12/10 8-9 pm, Thurs. 1pm, Sat. 1am on SCM

Honeybees make decisions collectively—and democratically: Every year, their life-or-death relocation process relies on collective fact-finding, vigorous debate, and consensus-building. For us humans, of course, the big debates come every two or four years. Just in time for the latest round of debate, Cornell biology professor and beekeeper Thomas Seeley, author of Honeybee Democracy, gave this talk and takes a look at just what these bees could teach us: collective wisdom and effective decision-making, the importance of debate, seeking diverse solutions, and minimizing a leader’s influence.

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall, University Bookstore and the Puget Sound Beekeepers Association.


Thomas Frank: Pity the Billionaire TRT  1:15 recorded 10/25/12
Thomas Frank: Pity the Billionaire, Mon. 12/3 8-9 pm, Thurs. 1pm, Sat. 1am on SCM

Economic catastrophe usually sparks social protest and demands for change, but when Thomas Frank, the great chronicler of American paradox, set out in 2009 to look for American discontent, he found only wildly unexpected results: The American Right was strangely reinvigorated by the arrival of hard times. As a result, Frank, author of Pity the Billionaire, offers a diagnosis of the cultural malady that has transformed collapse into profit, reconceived the Founding Fathers as heroes from an Ayn Rand novel, and enlisted the powerless in a fan club for the prosperous.

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall and University Bookstore

Dr. Michael Parenti: The 1% Pathology and the Myth of Capitalism TRT  1:13 recorded 10/19/12
Dr. Michael Parenti: The 1% Pathology and the Myth of Capitalism, Mon. 11/25 8-9 pm, Thurs. 1pm, Sat. 1am [SCM]

Dr. Michael Parenti gave this keynote speech for the 4th Annual People's Movement Assembly at Evergreen State Collage October 19, 2012. Dr. Parenti is the author of numerous books and is a charismatic and electrifying speaker. He spoke about economics, neoliberalism, globalization and the history of capitalism.

Miko Peled: Beyond the Zionist Paradigm- New Hope for Israel/Palestine TRT  1:06 recorded 10/1/12
Miko Peled: Beyond the Zionist Paradigm- New Hope for Israel/Palestine, Sat. 11/17 1am, Mon. 11/19 8-9 pm, Thurs. 11/22 1pm, Sat. 11/24 1am [SCM]

The privileged son of a famous Israeli army general and staunch Zionist, Miko Peled, peace activist and campaigner for Palestinian rights goes through the history of the state of Israel and systematically deconstructs the myths of the Zionist state while at the same time telling the story of his family history and his own personal awakening.  Peled is the author of “The General’s Son: a Journey of an Israeli in Palestine ”.

Thanks to Todd Boyle for videotaping this event.

Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan: The Silenced Majority Tour, TRT  1:58 recorded 10/26/12
Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan: The Silenced Majority Tour, [Web Exclusive]

Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan gave this talk in front of a packed Seattle Town Hall on October 26th as part of their hundred city tour to give expanded election coverage and pull back the veil of corporate media reporting.  Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan are co/authors of The Silenced Majority- Stories of Uprisings, Occupations, Resistance, and Hope.

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall and Elliott Bay Books



James Wells with Mayor Mike McGinn: Stop the Coal Trains!, TRT  1:17 recorded 10/29/12
James Wells with Mayor Mike McGinn: Stop the Coal Trains!, Monday 11/5/12, Repeats 1pm Thurs. and 1am Sat.

Special 90 minute Broadcast Monday, 11/5 at 4:30pm

Peabody Energy, the world’s biggest coal company wants to move millions of tons of coal from open pit mines in Montana and Wyoming by rail across the western United States to 5 huge coal terminals it plans to build in Washington State and from there, ship it to China where it will be burned- poisoning the ocean and the atmosphere with mercury and other toxins as well as every community along the way with toxic coal dust. Thus making certain that if asthma or cancer doesn't get you, climate change will. If that's not enough, the additional 18 daily 1.5 mile long, slow moving trains could make your traffic woes go from bad trip to Nightmare on Elm Street!

These are just some of the hundreds of impacts you can expect if Peabody Coal and the big money interests behind them get their way. Luckily, since Peabody and the banksters are virtually the only ones who think this is a great idea, people in communities all along the way are rising up and organizing to stop it.

Pirate TV so happened to be at one of these organizing meetings. This meeting was on October 29th in Seattle, held to prepare residents to speak effectively at the upcoming November 13th Seattle Environmental Impact Hearing- one of 8 to be held in Washington State. The first coal terminal is proposed to be built at Cherry Point near Bellingham. The hearing held in Bellingham, October 27th drew 2000 people. Unlimited comments can also be emailed, mailed, or submitted via the internet. Learn how you can participate by joining us in what turned out to be a rousing teach-in featuring an introduction by Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and conducted by activist extraordinaire James Wells.

See Also: Coal Free Seattle



Dr. Jill Stein & Kshama Sawant, TRT  1:24 recorded 10/21/12
Dr. Jill Stein & Kshama Sawant, Monday 10/29/12, Repeats 1pm Thurs. and 1am Sat.

The Green Party candidate for President of the United States, Dr. Jill Stein, talks about climate change, poverty, Medicare for all, getting the money out of politics, the shredding of the social safety net, legalization of marijuana, our vanishing civil rights, and more. Joining Stein is Kshama Sawant, the Socialist Alternative candidate for the 43rd Legislative District.

Presented by the Green Party of Washington State

Recorded  at Seattle Town Hall 10/21/12



Gar Alperovitz: America Beyond Capitalism, TRT  1:25 recorded 10/10/12
Hans von Sponeck and Sharon Moe: Responsibility to Protect (R2P) & U.S. Foreign Policy, Monday 10/22/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Thurs. and 1am Sat.

R2P has been the basis for justifying military actions in Libya — arguing for similar actions in Syria – and used, after the fact, to justify military intervention in Iraq. Clearly it’s important to discuss this issue. A government’s job is to protect its citizens. When it is unable to do so — or even violates its citizens’ rights — does the international community have a responsibility to respond? And in what manner? Hear an informed discussion about justifications and dangers involved in applying R2P in our world today.

Hans von Sponeck served as a UN Assistant Secretary-General and UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq. In 1957 he was one of the first conscientious objectors in the Federal Republic of Germany.
After Denis Halliday resigned as UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq in October 1998, von Sponeck took over, heading all UN operations in Iraq and managing the Iraqi operations of the Oil-for-Food program. Von Sponeck resigned in February 2000 to protest UN's Iraq sanctions policy. Von Sponeck accused the sanctions regime of violating the Geneva Conventions and other international laws and causing the death of thousands of Iraqis.

Rev. Sharon Moe is the District Superintendent of the Tacoma District of United Methodist churches.  Rev. Moe has traveled in the Middle East, most specifically, twice to Iraq with Peace Missions, to Syria with a United Nations Association mission to research the situation of Iraqi refugees in Syria, and travels frequently to Israel and the West Bank. She lived for a short time in Israel at the West Bank wall outside Bethlehem. Rev. Moe continues to work with a cross cultural camping program for Palestinian Christian children and young adults.

Sponsored by: Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility; Greater Seattle United Nations Association; Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation; Seattle Fellowship of Reconciliation; University Temple United Methodist Church; American Friends Service Committee, West Region; Phinney Neighbors for Peace and Justice; Interfaith Network of Concern for the People of Iraq.

Recorded  at University Temple United Methodist Church 10/10/12

Gar Alperovitz: America Beyond Capitalism, TRT  1:11 recorded 10/3/12
Gar Alperovitz - America Beyond Capitalism, Monday 10/15/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Thurs. and 1am Sat.

Activist and economist Gar Alperovitz offers a diagnosis of what ails America, and prescribes what Noam Chomsky calls “concrete and feasible” solutions. Alperovitz’s emerging “new economy” strategies propose locally-based, bottom-up efforts that democratize wealth and empower communities—changing a faltering system that, says Alperovitz, increasingly fails to sustain the great American values of equality, liberty, and meaningful democracy.

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall and Elliott Bay Books

Greg Palast - How Billionaires Steal Elections, TRT  1:12 recorded 9/27/12
Greg Palast - How Billionaires Steal Elections, Monday 10/8/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Thurs. and 1am Sat.

Greg Palast talks about his book Billionaires and Ballot Bandits, where he teams with fiery editorial cartoonist Ted Rall to name and shame the billionaires buying up our democracy, and the disenfranchisement of millions through voter-ID laws, list purges, and other assaults to our civil rights.

See: www.BallotBandits.org

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall and Elliott Bay Books
Cameras by Ed Mays, Mike McCormick & J Glenn Evans


David Domke & Christopher Parker: Obama, the Tea Party, and Racism, TRT  1:20 recorded 9/24/12
David Domke & Christopher Parker: Obama, the Tea Party, and Racism, Monday 10/1/12 8-9pm Repeats  1pm Thurs. and 1am Sat.

David Domke, Chair of the University of Washington Department of Communications and a winner of the school’s Distinguished Teaching Award, believes President Barack Obama has been subjected to historically unprecedented disrespect by legislators and many citizens. Is this evidence of racism toward our first African-American president? What role has the Tea Party played in this animosity? What does public-opinion data tell us; what do we learn from public rhetoric; and what does news coverage suggest? Speaking to the data, UW Professor of Social Justice and Political Science and author of the forthcoming book Change They Can’t Believe In, Christopher Parker joins Dr. Domke in a candid, evidence-based conversation around this explosive topic.

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall and Elliott Bay Books



Tom Carpenter: Hanford Cleanup- Progress and Challenges, TRT  1:20 recorded 9/16/12
Tom Carpenter: Hanford Cleanup- Progress and Challenges, Monday 9/24/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Thurs. and 1am Sat.

Tom Carpenter is the Executive Director of Hanford Challenge (http://www.hanfordchallenge.org), whose purpose is to transform the Hanford nuclear site into a model of safe and effective cleanup.  Hanford Challenge works closely with insiders and whistleblowers at Hanford, and keeps on top of developments there daily.

Tom discusses the present state of Hanford cleanup, where things are changing for the better, and where we are still stuck in old and not-so-useful patterns.  He has spent decades as an attorney representing whistleblowers at Hanford and other nuclear sites and has authored numerous articles and reports on nuclear risks, and worked to change public policy.  On August 17, Tom publicly revealed that a double-walled tank at Hanford is leaking a large, solid mass.

In this talk he educates and engages us in efforts to support whistleblowers and protect others working to clean up Hanford and nuclear threats to the environment and public health.  Tom also helps us grapple with how the meltdowns at Fukushima are affecting our region, and explores our options for reducing current and future nuclear risks


Conference on National Happiness, TRT  2:10 recorded 8/24/12
Conference on National Happiness, Monday 9/24/12 8-9pm Repeats  1pm  Thurs. and 1am Sat.

The National Happiness Summit explores the connection between happy people, healthy cities and a sustainable world. This program includes talks by

John de Graaf, Executive Director of Take Back Your Time and co-author of Affluenza and What's the Economy for, Anyway?,

Ryan Howell, creator of the Happiness Initiative national survey,

Robert Costanza, prominent ecological economist,

Eric Weiner, former NPR reporter and author of the best-seller, The Geography of Bliss, a story of his search for the world’s happiest countries,

Tom Barefoot, founder of GNHUSA was active in bringing the Genuine Progress Indicator to the attention of the Vermont legislature and,

Connie Moffit, worked in nonprofit management in the US and Canada for 20 years, including People for Puget Sound and Seeds of Compassion in Seattle.

This longer version contains the complete talk by Eric Weiner and talks by Tom Barefoot and Connie Moffit that were not included in the broadcast version.

Recorded at Seattle University, Aug 24-25, 2012 by Todd Boyle

Arun Gupta: Is This What Democracy Looks Like?, TRT  1:38 recorded 8/23/12
Arun Gupta: Is This What Democracy Looks Like? Monday 9/3/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Thurs. and 1am Sat.

Occupy Wall Street has been one of the most powerful social movements in recent U.S. history. Among the many reasons for its popular success is that it is at heart a democracy movement. What made it different is that Occupy tied economic democracy to political democracy.

The movement, with its slogan of “We are the 99%,” and the popular phrase “The 1%,” forced the political establishment and mainstream media to finally acknowledge that the concentration of monetary wealth inevitably leads to concentration of political power.

Ironically, President Obama, whose signature accomplishment has been to shield the banks and wealthy from criminal prosecution and higher taxes, has swiped Occupy Wall Street’s language for his re-election campaign. Obama, organized labor and MoveOn are painting Romney as “Mr. 1%,” and Obama as defender of the 99%. At the same time, Obama’s FBI is waging war on radicals in the Occupy movement, raiding the homes of activists while entrapping others in fabricated terrorism plots.

So how did Occupy go from a remarkably powerful outburst of anger against the political and economic system to fragmentation and co-optation? This is not imply Occupy is over, but it has receded back into the pool of social discontent from which it sprang, while the social conditions that gave rise to it are only getting worse.

In this talk, Arun Gupta will look at what made Occupy such a phenomenal success last year, why much of it disintegrated, how the Democratic Party co-opted its language, and what is its legacy, including the various movements that have sprung from it or which have been significantly influenced by it.

Arun Gupta is co-founder of The Indypendent and The Occupied Wall Street Journal, and former international news editor of The Guardian Newsweekly. He has visited more than 40 occupations in 27 states covering the Occupy Wall Street movement nationwide for The Guardian, Al Jazeera, Salon, Truthout, The Progressive, The Nation, and other publications. Since the fall of 2011 Gupta has helped set up Occupy newspapers in cities including Chicago and Tucson. He has been profiled by media including Business Week, PBS, Wired and The New York Times. He is a recipient of a Wallace Global Fund grant for his media work, and is a Lannan writing fellow. Gupta is a regular commentator on Democracy Now!, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Al Jazeera and Russian Television. He is writing a book on the decline of American Empire for Haymarket Books.



Faith Communities and Mass Incarceration panel, TRT  :58 recorded 7/24/12
Faith Communities and Mass Incarceration panel, Monday 8/27/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Thurs. and 1am Sat.
The U. S. not only has the highest rate of imprisonment in the world (715 per 100,000 people), but more people in prison that any other country in the world (2,019,234). In fact, even though America only has 5% of the world's population, it has 25% of world's incarcerated population. Prison overcrowding is a continuing problem, and states are building more and more facilities to house inmates.
Also troubling is racial disparity in enforcement. More than 60% of the individuals in prison are people of color. In Washington, even though only 3.6% of the population is African-American, blacks make up 11.5% of all drug arrests. The primary means driving incarceration was, and is, the War on Drugs.

In 1970, there were less than 200,000 people in prison. In 1971, the federal government enacted the Controlled Substances Act which made possession, sale, and manufacture of all drugs a crime. The current prison population is more than ten times what it was in 1970. 

This panel examines the devastating effect this has had on communities of color and explores some of the real reasons behind the exponential expansion of mass incarceration and as well as offers ways to put a stop to it. One excellent way is to help pass Initiative 502 to legalize the possession of marijuana for adults age 21 and older in Washington State.

Participants:

SpearIt- assistant law professor at St. Louis University
Pastor Carl Livingston- founder of Kingdom Christian Center
Reverend Paul Benz- Co-Director of Faith Action Network
Moderator- Michael Ramos, Executive Director of the Church Council of Greater Seattle


Sponsored by the ACLU-WA, the Church Council of Greater Seattle, Faith Action Network, and the Latino Community Fund

Video by Todd Boyle


Medea Benjamin: Drone Warfare: Killing By Remote Control, TRT  :58 recorded 7/28/12
Medea Benjamin: Drone Warfare: Killing By Remote Control, Monday 8/13/12 8-9pm Repeats  1pm Thurs. and 1am Sat.
Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Code Pink and Global Exchange and one of the country's pre-eminent activists examines the horrific implications of  the high-tech murder, extra judicial execution, and spying by aerial drones currently being carried out by the US national security state and proliferating to a city near you.  Seattle is one of 30 "test cities" already deploying remote controlled aerial drones.  These drones range from the size of a mosquito to a medium size airplane and have provoked international citizen opposition as well as a new arms race.  In this talk, we take a close look at the situation and consider what to do about it.  The title of Medea's new book is: Drone Warfare: Killing By Remote Control.

Thanks to Elliott Bay Books



War on Drugs: War on Communities of Color, TRT  1:17 recorded 11/29/11
War on Drugs: War on Communities of Color, Monday 8/6/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Thurs. and 1am Sat.
Drug use crosses race lines, but people of color are more often arrested, prosecuted, and jailed in the War on Drugs – replacing Jim Crow Laws with criminal records and undermining our communities. Join us for a public forum exploring America’s addiction to incarceration and strategies for how to break it.

Panelists:

Alice Huffman: President, California NAACP

Major Neill Franklin: Maryland State Police (ret.), Executive of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP)

Pastor Carl Livingston: Professor of Political Science at Seattle Central Community College (SCCC),  attorney and community activist, Founder of the Kingdom Christian Center.

Hosted by James Bible: President, Seattle King County NAACP

Event sponsored by the NAACP, ACLU of Washington, and Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP)

Recorded at Southside Commons in Seattle, Nov. 29, 2011



Dennis Bernstein, TRT  :58 recorded 6/9/12
Dennis Bernstein: Special Ed, Monday 7/23/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Wed
Poet and educator Dennis J. Bernstein will read from his new collection of poems, Special Ed: Voices from a Hidden Classroom.

These poems are about the kids who were Bernstein's students when he taught in the New York City public schools, before embarking on a career as an internationally known investigative journalist.

Bernstein, a long-time social justice advocate, is currently the producer and co-host of the news program, Flashpoints, KPFA Pacifica Radio.

Following the reading, Dennis is interviewed by Ed Mays and Mike McCormick on his role in exposing the Iran/Contra war crimes/drug running scandal, his role in the historic battle to save the Pacifica Radio Network in early 2000, and the current situation in the Israel/Palestine.



Chris Hedges: Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt, TRT  1:20 recorded 6/29/12
Chris Hedges: Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt, Monday 7/23/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Wed
As the nation’s poorest city per capita, Camden, N.J., is a poster child of postindustrial decay—and a warning to us all, says Chris Hedges. The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, co-author of the graphic nonfiction book Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt, traveled to the most depressed areas of the United States to show what happens when a society loses a sense of the sacred and nothing has an intrinsic value beyond monetary values.

Amid sky-high unemployment and threatened social services, Hedges warns of a bleak near-future where cities such as Camden—and even states—fall into bankruptcy, neofeudalism reigns, and the nation’s working and middle classes are decimated. 

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall and University Book Store

Camera by Mike McCormick



Richard Falk: The Economic, Legal and Moral Costs of War: A Forum on Israel-Palestine, and the United States TRT  :58 recorded 6/8/12
Richard Falk: The Economic, Legal and Moral Costs of War: A Forum on Israel-Palestine, and the United States, Monday 7/16/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Wed
Richard Falk, Prof. Emeritus of International Law Princeton University, and U.N. Human Rights Rapporteur to the Palestinian Occupied Territories assesses the Israel Palestine conflict on U.S.S. Liberty Day June 8, 2012.

"I think if we want to live on this planet successfully we have to more and more think as humans not as Americans, not as Jews or Christians or Muslims. We have to retain the pride of those identities, but they have to be part of a human experience, and the more that we allow ourselves to be human, the more likely we are to take suffering seriously. And when we take suffering seriously, we become inevitably committed to the struggle for justice."

Recorded at University Temple United Methodist Church in Seattle, WA.

Video by Todd Boyle


John Marzluff & Tony Angell: Gifts of the Crow TRT  1:11 recorded 6/7/12
John Marzluff & Tony Angell: Gifts of the Crow, Monday 7/9/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Wed

New research finds that crows are among the brightest animals in the world—and John Marzluff and Tony Angell say they’re also quite surprising. Marzluff, Professor of Wildlife Science in the UW’s School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, and artist/naturalist Angell, co-authors of Gifts of the Crow, marvel at the birds’ behavior: They play, take risks, reward people who help (or feed) them, use cars as nutcrackers, seek revenge on harassing animals, and dream—all things we humans might find strangely familiar.  

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall and University Book Store


Ted Rall: The Book of Obama TRT  1:07 recorded 6/2/12
Ted Rall: The Book of Obama, Monday 7/2/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Wed

Pulitzer Prize-finalist, cartoonist, independent war journalist, and polemicist Ted Rall returns to Seattle as part of a tour for his new book, The Book of Obama: How We Got from Hope and Change to the Age of Revolt (Seven Stories Press). Here, Ted Rall revisits what he sees as the rapid rise and dizzying fall of Barack Obama as president—and the emergence of the Tea Party and Occupy movements—and draws quite the conclusion: "We the People weren't lied to. We lied to ourselves, both about Obama and the two-party system."

Ted Rall is the author of sixteen books, including The Anti-American Manifesto and To Afghanistan and Back: A Graphic Travelogue.

Thanks to Elliott Bay Books

Video by Todd Boyle


Avner Cohen: Israel, Iran, & The Rivalry Over the Bomb TRT  1:08 recorded 5/22/12
Avner Cohen: Israel, Iran, & The Rivalry Over the Bomb, Monday 6/25/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Wed

As the only nuclear-armed state that doesn’t acknowledge its possession of the bomb, Israel has created a special “bargain,” says Avner Cohen. Now, the rise of nuclear Iran, says the author of The Worst-Kept Secret, may threaten the subtle nuclear equilibrium that has dominated the Middle East in recent decades. Israel is now facing a unique and fateful dilemma, a challenge larger than any Israel has ever dealt with in the past.  Cohen calls this “one of the most critical international issues of our day” and offers an appraisal of the dilemma.

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall and Elliott Bay Books



Chris Mooney: The Republican Brain TRT  :58 recorded 5/9/12
Chris Mooney: The Republican Brain, Monday 6/11/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Wed

Baffled about how that hard core right wing conservative in your life can't seem to accept the reality of everything from climate change to evolution to corporate rule? Ever notice how with people of this ilk, facts don't matter and what's worse, the more proof you give them the more it seems shore up their delusional belief systems?

We like to think that they are just the victims of Fox News and religious and ideological indoctrination.  We fanaticize that if we could only somehow get them to a professional deprogrammer, they would finally get a grip and join us progressives as part of the solution instead of the problem.

Maybe we should stop wasting our time.  A growing body of evidence illustrates that this may be delusional thinking on our part and science writer Chris Mooney explains why.  Dissecting the psychology behind Republicans’ refusal to accept things that most experts agree on, Mooney, author of The Republican War on Science and the his latest The Republican Brain, discovers that conservatives and liberals don’t just have different ideologies; they are in fact wired differently.  Join us for an illuminating and myth defying journey into the science of the Republican Brain.

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall and University Book Store



Mike Lapham and Brian Miller: The Self-Made Myth TRT  1:32 recorded 5/9/12
Mike Lapham and Brian Miller: The Self-Made Myth, Monday 6/4/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Wed

What we believe about how businesses succeed and how wealth is created has a powerful impact on the public-policy choices we make (including how we tax upper-income people).  UFE’s new book, The Self-Made Myth: And the Truth About How Government Helps Individuals, exposes the reality that any enterprise is the result of a variety of factors, including government support: No one in this country ever “made it” alone.

Co-authors Mike Lapham and Brian Miller jump-start the conversation surrounding the “self-made” myth and its impact on our political climate; joining them is guest speaker Bill Gates Sr., who wrote the book’s foreword—a particularly successful upper-income person who also didn’t make it on his own.

Presented by United for a Fair Economy.

LEARN MORE: www.Faireconomy.org


Bruce Gagnon. TRT  :58 recorded 4/15/12
Flash Video (:58)
Rocky Anderson: Standing Up for Justice, Monday 5/28/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Wed

The two-party system has given us endless wars, bank bailouts and tax-breaks for the rich. Rocky Anderson, former two-term, progressive Mayor of Salt Lake City, has a proven track record on human rights, environmental stewardship, and justice for the 99%. Rocky left the Democratic Party to build a third party alternative and is now running as a 2012 Candidate for President with the Justice Party.  Hear him speak out on corporate corruption, cost of war and the 2012 election.

Website for more info:
http://www.voterocky.org/

Contact Email:
justiceparty.washington.state@gmail.com



Bruce Gagnon. TRT  :58 recorded 4/15/12
Tim Noah: The Great Divergence, Monday 5/21/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Wed

For the past three decades, America has steadily become a nation of haves and have-nots, with the top 1% collecting some 21 percent of the nation’s income. Tim Noah, author of The Great Divergence (based on his award-winning series of articles in Slate), calls this potentially the country’s most important change during our lifetimes; he explains how it happened, the threats it poses, and how we can begin to reverse it.

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall and Elliott Bay Books



Bruce Gagnon. TRT  :58 recorded 4/15/12
Bruce Gagnon: The Deadly Connection: Endless War and Economic Crisis, Monday 5/7/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Wed

Having just returned from demonstrations in South Korea protesting the construction of a huge US Navy base on Jeju Island, Bruce Gagnon will speak on U.S. expanding militarism, as well as the impact of militarism on the economic crisis here at home; and the need to promote the conversion of the military industrial complex to sustainable production if we hope to have the slightest impact on climate change. These and similar issues are contained in his book Come Together Right Now: Organizing Stories from a Fading Empire.  Bruce Gagnon is Coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, and Long-time Member of Veterans For Peace



Dr. Zoltan Grossman on "New U.S. Military Bases: Side Effects or Causes of War?. TRT  :58 recorded 4/15/12
Dr. Zoltan Grossman: New U.S. Military Bases: Side Effects or Causes of War?, Monday 4/30/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Wed.

After every U.S. military intervention since 1990, the Pentagon has left behind clusters of new bases in areas where it never before had a foothold. The new string of bases stretch from Kosovo and other Balkan states, to Iraq and other Persian Gulf states, into Afghanistan and other Central Asian states - forming a new U.S. sphere of influence in the strategic 'middle ground' between the EU and East Asia.

Dr. Zoltan Grossman has taught Geography and Indigenous Studies for seven years at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, and is a longtime peace and justice organizer from Wisconsin. He is a civilian member of the board of directors for GI Voice / Coffee Strong, a co-founder of FOR's Militarism Watch project, and a frequent contributor to Counterpunch, Z, CommonDreams, and other publications.

Video by Todd Boyle



Michael Huesemann: Techno-Fix: Why Technology Won’t Save Us Or the Environment. TRT  1:05 recorded 3/28/12
Michael Huesemann: Techno-Fix: Why Technology Won’t Save Us Or the Environment, Monday 4/23/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Wed.

You might not want to pin your hopes on nanotechnology, genetic engineering, or miracle drugs, says Michael Huesemann, author of Techno-Fix: Why Technology Won’t Save Us Or the Environment. As much as we’d like to believe that technological innovation will let us magically continue our lifestyle and prevent social, economic, and environmental collapse, Huesemann shows that most technological solutions are ineffective—and, in the presence of continued economic growth, modern technology does not promote sustainability, but hastens collapse.

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall and Elliott Bay Books


Dr. Helen Caldicott: What We Learned From Fukushima. TRT  1:22 recorded 3/22/12
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Norm Stamper: Safe and Just Policing, Monday 4/16/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Wed.

Former Seattle Chief of Police Norm Stamper leads an ACLU of Washington forum subtitled, “Toward a Police Culture Beyond the War on Drugs.” A police officer for 34 years and chief of the Seattle Police Department from 1994-2000, Stamper is an advocate of fundamental reforms in policing, saying the wars on terror and drugs have spurred a regrettable “militarization” of police work. ACLU-WA executive director Kathleen Taylor says, “Stamper’s experiences have led him to valuable insights about curtailing police abuse and improving police-community relations”—especially relevant in the wake of the recent Department of Justice report on Seattle police …

Norm Stamper is author of "Breaking Rank: A Top Cop’s Street-Smart Approach to Making America a Safe Place For Everyone"

Presented by the ACLU of Washington



Dr. Helen Caldicott: What We Learned From Fukushima. TRT  1:05 recorded 3/17/12
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Dr. Helen Caldicott: What We Learned From Fukushima, Monday 4/9/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Wed.

Few people know that the Pacific Northwest got whacked hard by fallout from the Fukushima disaster with radiation rates hundreds of thousands of times higher than normal background radiation.  The damage from this is not something that the corporate media or the government is talking about.  It mysteriously disappeared from the radar almost immediately.  Dr. Caldicott referred to this as a process of “cover-up and psychic numbing.”  Looks like it may be working.  The Nuclear Regulatory Commission just approved two new nuclear power plants this week (4/2/12) in South Carolina in addition to the two approved earlier this year in Georgia.

Dr. Caldicott talks about the dangers and hidden costs of nuclear power then tells the awful truth in minute detail about the actual scale of the Fukushima disaster and compares it to the nuclear disasters of Chernobyl and Three Mile Island.  Recent studies estimated that a million people have died so far from Chernobyl.

Dr. Helen Caldicott is a physician, Nobel Peace Prize winner, noted author, anti-nuclear power advocate and has founded numerous national and international groups which oppose nuclear power & weapons, including Physicians for Social Responsibility.

See also: www.helencaldicott.com



Andrew Ross: Phoenix: Lessons from the World’s Least Sustainable City. TRT  1:25 recorded 2/3/12
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Andrew Ross: Phoenix: Lessons from the World’s Least Sustainable City, Monday 4/2/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Wed.

Andrew Ross (Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at NYU, and a Nation contributor) examines Phoenix, AZ, one of the fastest growing and least sustainable metropolitan regions: a city in the bull’s eye of global warming. Ross contends that if we can’t change the game in fast-growing, low-density cities like Phoenix, the whole movement has a major problem, and argues that solutions will come through political and social change rather than technological fixes. Ross is Author of "Bird on Fire".

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall and Elliott Bay Book Company



Peggy Orenstein: A New Generation of Girlie-Girls. TRT  1:10 recorded 2/15/12
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Peggy Orenstein: A New Generation of Girlie-Girls, Monday 3/19/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Wed.

Peggy Orenstein’s 2006 essay "What’s Wrong with Cinderella?" sparked a firestorm; now she digs more deeply into our growing girlie-girl culture. Facing down her own confusion as a mother raising a girl, journalist Orenstein, author of the bestseller "Schoolgirls" and "Cinderella Ate My Daughter", examines the seemingly-retro trend toward the ultra-feminine, from Disney princesses to the color pink; the role the ubiquitous marketing machine plays in packaging and promoting it; and what it could mean for our daughters’ identities and futures. 

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall and University Bookstore


Jeff Clements: Corporations Are Not People ,. TRT  1:18 recorded 3/5/12
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Jeff Clements: Corporations Are Not People, Monday 3/19/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Wed.

Jeff Clements, Author and Free Speech For People Co-Founder, talks about his new book, "Corporations Are Not People" which tells the true story of how some of the largest corporations in the world organized to take over our government and Constitution, culminating in 2010 with the 5-4 Supreme Court decision, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. Clements, a lawyer and legal scholar served as Assistant Attorney General and Chief of the Public Protection & Advocacy Bureau in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office from early 2007 to 2009. In this talk he discusses the little known history of how corporatist Supreme Courts overstepped during previous periods of corporate rule in US history leading to uprisings by the people forcing constitutional amendments much like the current struggle to overturn Citizens United.

After Jeff's talk there was a discussion moderated by Enrique Cerna, co-creator, host, and executive producer of the weekly current affairs program "KCTS 9 Connects". He is a five time Northwest Regional Emmy Award winner with more than 36 years of experience in the Seattle broadcast market.


John Nichols: How Wisconsin Renewed the Politics of Protest,. TRT  :72 recorded 2/13/12
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John Nichols: How Wisconsin Renewed the Politics of Protest,
Monday 3/12/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Wed.

On the anniversary of the Wisconsin protests, journalist John Nichols describes how they led to the biggest labor rallies since the 1930s. In February 2011, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker moved to strip collective-bargaining rights from public-sector workers; now Nichols, author of Uprising, discusses how conservatives are trying to revoke unionizing rights nationwide in an assault coordinated by privatizers and billionaire political donors—and how ordinary people are fighting back.

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall and University Bookstore

Jamal Joseph: Coming of Age in the Black Panther Movement. TRT  1:19 recorded 2/13/12
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Jamal Joseph: Coming of Age in the Black Panther Movement,
Monday 3/5/12
8-9pm Repeats 1pm Wed.

In the 1960s, Jamal Joseph exhorted students at Columbia to burn down their college; today he’s chair of its School of the Arts film division. Joseph, author of Panther Baby, chronicles his personal odyssey, from high-school honor student Eddie Joseph to his introduction to (and eventual leadership of) the Black Panther Party, to sentences at Riker’s Island and Leavenworth, and to the halls of Columbia, illuminating the life of a soldier inside the militant movement— and a life of rebellion and reinvention.

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall and University Book Store



Kim Ives: Politics and Disaster: The U.S. in Haiti. TRT  1:24 recorded 2/6/12
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Kim Ives: Politics and Disaster: The U.S. in Haiti, Monday 2/27/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Wed.

Two years after the Haiti earthquake, Kim Ives offers an exposé of diplomatic cables that reveal U.S. government policies and practices there. Ives, founder of the weekly newspaper Haiti Liberté and a commentator for Democracy Now!, has analyzed internal documents from 2003-10 released by the U.S. Embassy in Haiti and provided to Liberté and The Nation by WikiLeaks—documents that explain the government’s role in the coup against former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and its plans to profit from disaster.

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall



Rebecca MacKinnon: The Struggle for Internet Freedom. TRT  1:24 recorded 2/6/12
Rebecca MacKinnon: The Struggle for Internet Freedom, Monday 2/20/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Wed.

For all the overheated rhetoric of liberty and cyber-utopia, says Internet policy specialist Rebecca MacKinnon, it’s clear that the corporations that rule cyberspace are making decisions that show little or no concern for their impact on political freedom. MacKinnon, author of Consent of the Networked, argues that it’s time for us to demand that our rights and freedoms are respected and protected before they’re sold, legislated, programmed, and engineered away. Ultimately, she says, the purpose of technology, and of the corporations that make it, is to serve humanity—not the other way around.

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall and University Book Store



Capt. Charles Moore: Saving Our Oceans from Plastic. TRT  1:14 recorded 1/25/12
Capt. Charles Moore: Saving Our Oceans from Plastic, Monday 2/13/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Wed.

Like a synthetic siren, The Great Pacific Garbage Patch drew Charles Moore to science; now his research raises deep questions about plastic. Moore, author of Plastic Oceans, first encountered the 2-million-square-mile floating landfill by chance in 1997, as skipper of a catamaran. He returned repeatedly to cull scientific samples, finding that the plastic in his nets outweighed zooplankton by a factor of 6-to-1—prompting not only a global reassessment of plastics’ invasiveness, but also a personal quest to achieve his own scientific credibility—and to save our oceans.

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall and University Bookstore



Jim Diers: Building Healthy Communities. TRT  :58 recorded 1/29/12
Jim Diers: Building Healthy Communities, Monday 2/6/12 8-9pm Repeats 1pm Wed.

There is no substitute for community when it comes to preventing crime, responding to disasters, enhancing our health and happiness, caring for one another and our planet, creating a vibrant democracy, and advancing social justice. Strong communities are needed now more than ever due to the current economic and environmental crises. Yet, our communities and our democracy have also been in decline for some time. Government, non-profits and other institutions that are seeking to help are inadvertently contributing to that decline. 

Based on his 35 years of community work in Seattle, Jim Diers shares lessons for building broad and inclusive community participation. He emphasize the power of focusing on the strengths rather than the needs of individuals and their neighborhoods. Jim shares stories of hope from his international travels to illustrate what is possible when individuals and institutions rediscover the power of community.

Jim’s book, Neighbor Power: Building Community the Seattle Way, is available in both English and Chinese editions.

Thanks to Plymouth Church, Seattle Washington




David Barsamian: Uprisings: From Kashmir to Egypt to Wall Street. TRT  1:44 recorded 11/9/11
Special 90min broadcast: David Barsamian: Uprisings: From Kashmir to Egypt to Wall Street. Monday 1/30/12 7:30-9pm Repeats 1pm Wed.

One of America’s most wide-ranging investigative journalists, David Barsamian has altered the independent media landscape with his weekly radio show Alternative Radio—now in its 25th year and heard locally on KUOW, KEXP, and KSER—and with his books, written with Howard Zinn (The Future of History), Arundhati Roy (The Checkbook and the Cruise Missile), Edward Said (Culture and Resistance) and Noam Chomsky (the new How the World Works). Barsamian, who recently was deported from India due to his work on Kashmir and other revolts, discusses world affairs, the state of journalism, censorship, the economic crisis, and global rebellions.

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall and Elliott Bay Book Company



John de Graaf and David Batker: What’s the Economy For, Anyway? TRT  1:20 recorded 12/13/11
John de Graaf and David Batker: What’s the Economy For, Anyway? Monday 1/16/12 8-9pm, repeats Wed. at 1pm

Here’s the question no one has ever bothered to ask about the economy: How can we make it work for us, instead of the other way around? Local activists John de Graaf and David Batker, authors of What’s the Economy For, Anyway? (based on the film of the same name), tackle 13 economic issues, challenging us to consider the point of our economy and setting forth a simple goal for any economic system: the greatest good for the greatest number over the longest run.

See also: Batker’s Earth Economics bio
De Graaf’s page at The Huffington Post

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall and University Bookstore



Shi-Ling Hsu: The Case for a Carbon Tax. TRT  :58 recorded 12/7/11
Shi-Ling Hsu: The Case for a Carbon Tax, Monday 1/2/12 8-9pm PST, repeats Wednesday at 1pm

There’s a simple, straightforward way to cut carbon emissions, says Shi-Ling Hsu—and we’re rejecting it because of irrational political fears. Hsu, author of The Case for a Carbon Tax, weighs the merits of the major approaches to curbing CO2 and concludes that while a tax is not the perfect (or only) solution, it can be implemented immediately and paired effectively with other approaches—but we’ll have to get past our hang-ups if we are to avert a global crisis.

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall and Elliott Bay Books