Podcasts

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Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz – ARCHIVE for Standing Rock: The Great Sioux Nation

By MariaNovember 16, 20162016

An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, TWO of TWO
Dunbar-Ortiz is looking for reasons why the founding ideology of the US proved so deadly for the indigenous peoples living here. A little known and astounding fact is that to this day the US follows the Doctrine of Discovery developed by the Pope for Portugal and Spain and then used by the modern colonial powers. The Doctrine of Discovery treats indigenous land as unoccupied and ready for the taking as long as Christians were not present. The US Supreme Court, as recently as 2005, relied on the Doctrine of Discovery to limit the sovereignty of the Oneida Nation.
Dunbar-Ortiz also explains the role of the military in the suppression and re-education [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz – ARCHIVE for Standing Rock: Military Response

By MariaNovember 8, 20162016

An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, ONE of TWO
This first part of the program brings you Dunbar-Ortiz’ description of North America before invasion, the emergence of the US concept of a chosen people, the development of the role of the US military as a force for genocide that seamlessly transitioned into the US foreign wars, the role of militias, a brief history of AIM, the American Indian Movement, and the consequences of the Gold Rush in California.
The late great Howard Zinn, author of the now world famous book: A People’s History of the United States, was her friend and he played a role in convincing Beacon Press to commission and publish An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)

Ralph Nader “Breaking Through Power” (TWO of TWO)

By MariaNovember 2, 20162016

Part two of this program begins with a summary of Nader’s strategy for breaking through power: Congress, he said, is the center of power. We need to focus razor like on individual members. Organizing from the grassroots in each district we agree on specific demands that are supported widely – even nationally – and then presented in person to these members.
Nader suggests opening year round offices in each congressional district to represent the people full time. There would be about 2,000 people in these offices in each district, made up of volunteers and paid staff.
Nader’s plan also includes a small staff of full time lobbyists in Washington who will follow up on the local demands, including offering sample legislation. They [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)

Ralph Nader “Breaking Through Power” (ONE of TWO)

By MariaOctober 26, 20162016

This talk was recorded on October 18, 2016, at City Lights Books in San Francisco – just three weeks before election day. Nader talked about his new book – published by City Lights under the title ‘Breaking Through Power – it’s easier than we think”. From the advance reviews we knew that he was not going to advocate for any party, blue, red or green – in spite of his own former affiliation with the Green Party – and not even for Sanders in particular. He has a specific plan how to take power ourselves and apply it directly to Congress without the mediation or intervention of any party.
In his book and talk Nader explains how to create a coherent [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:01 — 19.9MB)

Julia Whitty – For Love and Protection of the Deep Ocean (TWO of TWO)

By MariaOctober 18, 20162016

This is the second part of a one hour reading and commentary by Julia Whitty on her book: Deep Blue Home. She is a diver, former nature documentary filmmaker, author and investigative journalist. As environmental correspondent for Mother Jones she had just returned from the Gulf Coast when I met her in Sebastopol, CA, in early August 2010. Not only had she visited the marshlands but she spent time with researchers who do deep ocean work on the so-called scattering layer.
In part ONE of this program Whitty gave a scholarly, lyrical and moving account of the unknown and unprotected life in the deep ocean. This largest and richest ecosystem left on Earth presents the foundation of life for the creatures [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:58 — 19.9MB)

Julia Whitty – For Love and Protection of the Deep Ocean (ONE of TWO)

By MariaOctober 12, 20162016

I met Julia Whitty in August 2010 after her investigation of the Deepwater Horizon Disaster. This is an updated program of a memorable evening triggered by the August 2016 release of the movie: Deepwater Horizon that makes no mention of the ecological consequences.
In a small Northern California town where she lives she was giving a reading from her book: Deep Blue Home, An Intimate Ecology of Our Wild Ocean. That book had been described as: “breathtakingly learned and lyrical, written with humor, reverence and curiosity.”
Julia Whitty is a diver, former nature documentary filmmaker, author and environmental correspondent for Mother Jones.
She explained why the deep ocean is the foundation of life for the upper layer of the sunlit sea. Many whales, [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)

Sea Shepherd Ocean Protectors – Captain Paul Watson

By MariaOctober 4, 20162016

Paul Watson was co founder of Greenpeace and led the campaigns against the slaughter of baby seals in the late seventies. When Patrick Moore became president of Greenpeace Canada he halted direct action and forced Watson out. Today Patrick Moore is a spokesperson for Monsanto and the nuclear industry.
Paul Watson never stopped his involvement in direct action. After his ouster from Greenpeace he founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. (SSCS) It’s an international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organization. Their mission is to end the destruction of habitat and the slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans.
Paul Watson is both praised and criticized for Sea Shepherd’s practice of aggressive non-violence. He says that some laws and conventions exist to protect the [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)

Prof. Jeffrey Sachs: Sustainable Development and Deep Decarbonization

By MariaSeptember 7, 20162016

How the world lost a quarter century in the quest to get to zero carbon emissions, protect biodiversity, alleviate poverty and bring about sustainability for all.
Jeffrey D. Sachs is a world renowned professor of economics, leader in sustainable development, senior UN advisor, bestselling author and syndicated columnist. His monthly newspaper columns appear in more than 100 countries.
He is the co-recipient of the 2015 Blue Planet Prize. That’s the global prize for environmental leadership. The New York Times called him “probably the most important economist in the world.”
Sachs was appointed University Professor at Columbia University in 2016, and also serves as Professor of Sustainable Development, and of Health Policy and Management at Columbia. Prior to joining Columbia, Sachs spent over twenty [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:01 — 19.9MB)

The Dublin Interview with Professor Kevin Anderson (TWO of TWO)

By MariaAugust 31, 20162016

This conclusion of the one hour interview covers Anderson’s intriguing proposal for carbon rationing; the fifth great extinction; the miserably small amount of money offered to the non-industrialized countries in the global climate fund; and it poses a provocative challenge to all of us: Are we choosing climate disaster or are we choosing a way out that requires courage and dramatic changes to the way we live? Because given the reality of our time and the clear state of science, says Kevin Anderson, this is the decision we are making now – not in 5 or 10 or 20 years. If we continue CO2 emissions as we do now it will be too late – possibly as early as in [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)

The Dublin Interview with Professor Kevin Anderson (ONE of TWO)

By MariaAugust 24, 20162016

At the Paris Climate Talks in 2015 195 countries made pledges how to keep global warming under 2 degrees Celsius – or even better 1.5 degrees. However there is very little information as to how or if at all – these pledges are being honored.
Kevin Anderson is Professor of Energy and Climate Change at the University of Manchester, and Deputy Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research.
In March 2016 he came for a whirl wind speaking tour of Ireland and sat down for an interview in Dublin with John Gibbons from the National Trust for Ireland. Gibbons calls Anderson one of the world’s best known and most influential – and outspoken – climate specialists.
Here is the first part [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)

The Project for the New American Century (TWO of TWO)

By MariaAugust 16, 20162016

Updated Archival Program
On the enduring power of the neo-conservative movement in the US
This is the conclusion of the reading of a once well guarded document “Rebuilding America’s Defenses, Strategy, Forces and Resources For a New American Century”. It was commissioned by Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz and others in the year 2000, before any of them were in government. Named in the text are the countries to be invaded: On the A-list: Iraq, Syria, Libya and later Iran and North Korea. This is evidence that the invasion of Iraq on false “intelligence” was promoted – successfully one might say – by a neo-conservative interventionist movement of which Cheney and Rumsfeld were two important players among many who are still active. [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:01 — 19.9MB)

The Project for the New American Century (ONE of TWO)

By MariaAugust 10, 20162016

Updated Archival Program
The enduring power of the Neo-conservative movement in the US
The program opens with the peace poem: “Speak Out” by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, features General John Allen’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton for president with Bernie Sanders supporters shouting “no more war”; and ends with a reading by SF Mime Troupe founder R.G. Davis from the bone chilling neo-con plan for US global military dominance.
The original 2003 program by TUC Radio was an appeal for peace and a disclosure of a well guarded document “Rebuilding America’s Defenses, Strategy, Forces and Resources For a New American Century”. The document was commissioned by Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz and others in the year 2000, before any of them were in government. Named in [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)

From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima, Arjun Makhijani (Part TWO of TWO)

By MariaAugust 2, 20162016

Hiroshima Day Archival Special
Makhijani asks how it had been possible to exclude almost all military and civilian leaders of the WWII war effort from the Pentagon to the US government, including even the Vice President, and all but a handful of members of Congress, from knowing about and influencing the Manhattan Project.
Among the few in charge was the engineer and inventor Vannevar Bush. He was the first presidential science advisor and coordinated around 6,000 scientists working on war technologies. Bush was director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) in the Roosevelt White House, the very organization that initiated the Manhattan Project.
Notes: Makhijani has written books and articles on the nuclear fuel cycle, weapons production, testing, workers’ exposure [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:01 — 19.9MB)

From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima, Arjun Makhijani (Part ONE of TWO)

By MariaJuly 26, 20162016

Hiroshima Day Archival Special
Arjun Makhijani is an extraordinary and rare mix of nuclear scientist, historian and socially engaged philosopher. I’m presenting him every two years because his analysis is embedded in rarely scrutinized facts and remains shockingly timely:
Disarmament is more urgently needed now that nuclear weapons have spread far beyond the original weapons states and there are even voices in Japan today that call for nuclear weapons. And Makhijani shows that we can only find the path back from the abyss if we are clear and honest about how nuclear weapons were invented and first used. And there is much information in this talk that has been shunned or kept secret.
Questions raised in this part are: Why was the US [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:58 — 19.9MB)

Who’s Counting – Marilyn Waring on Sex, Lies and Global Economics (ONE of TWO) – ARCHIVE

By MariaJuly 12, 20162016

A TUC Radio classic on the destructive power of endless economic growth
Marilyn Waring was shocked and dismayed when she learned that all countries that are members of the UN are forced to keep their books and design their budgets under the system of National Income Accounting. This GDP system counts only cash transactions in the market and recognizes no value other than money. This means there is no value to peace and to the preservation of the environment.
At age 22 (in 1974) Marilyn Waring became the youngest member of the New Zealand Parliament. She chaired the prestigious Public Expenditures Committee and became familiar with the Gross Domestic Product system and decided to disclose its pathologies in a film, her teachings [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)