Justice or Just Us?
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An Interview with Garrison Hawk
Garrison Hawk - vocalist for the reggae/dancehall outfit "Method of Defiance" spoke on the "Dread Zone" to discuss his new album "Survive."
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The War in Iraq is Over... Or is It?
Over 8 years after the start of the U.S. War in Iraq, President Barak Obama is declaring the war over. Amidst much pomp and circumstance, the president is taking credit for bringing about an end to the conflict - all the while avoiding any mention of the true costs, casualties, and neglecting any commentary on whether or not our mission was in fact "accomplished." Exactly what does it mean to say that the war is over? Is Obama really responsible for ending the war, or are the politics...
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Hillbilly Nationalists, Urban Race Rebels, and Black...
Ever hear of the Young Patriots Organization or Rising Up Angry? If not, then you haven't really heard the history of the Civil Rights movement. Indeed, while most historians of the 1960s are content to portray poor and working class whites as - at best - spectators to the Civil Rights movement and - at worst - as reactionaries and racists, fact is that white participation in the movement extended far beyond the small group of white college activists and included some of the nation's most...
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Play, Creativity and Social Movements
Been to a rally, demonstration or protest lately? If so, you may have been surprised to discover a playful, carnival-like atmosphere. Today, a new cohort of social activists are using “play” to create social change and reinvent democratic social relations. Despite the contention that such activities are counterproductive and detract from the gravity of the contested social issue, social movements continue to put the right to party on the table as a part of a larger process of social change,...
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Mad Professor Interview
An interview with the Mad Professor (as heard on the Dread Zone.) Featuring DJ Yogi.
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SharkSavers
With movies such as the hugley popular Jaws franchise, sharks are among Hollywood's favorite viscious killers. Yet the truth is - sharks are not the hunters so much as they are the hunted. In large parts of the ocean, shark populations are down by 90% due to overfishing driven in part by a demand for shark fins. In a cruel practice called "shark finning," sharks are caught alive to have their fins brutally cut off. The rest of the shark is wasted, thrown back into the ocean to bleed to...
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Jarret Lovell on KPCC discussing Police & Media
Commentary on the role of media in bringing the Kelly Thomas beating by Fullerton police to public light.
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Mental Illness: Removing Myths, Misconceptions, and...
It is a pattern that is becoming all too familiar. In the days following tragic incidents involving persons with severe mental illness such a schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder, blame grounded in myth and misconception is placed almost everywhere it isn't needed. Consider the following: In the days after the death of Kelly Thomas at the hands of the Fullerton, CA police, the American Spectator questioned why there was, "virtually no criticism of Thomas’s divorced parents for allowing...
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Government Subsidies for Factory Farms?
Amidst endless talk about cutting the fat out of the budget, the federal government Monday announced it will buy $40 million of unwanted chicken products that will be dumped on our nation's school kids and others in federal food programs. Why? Because chicken-meat factories have increased production while actual demand for chicken in flat, causing an imbalance in their spreadsheets. All of this raises several important questions: Is this U.S. now bailing out the meat industry? If so, does...
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Machine Man, The Movie: A Dramatic Telling of Obsessive...
Something is plaguing Ben Lyle's mind, causing him to have irrational, intrusive and often disturbing thoughts. His fears and anxieties that he may hurt someone - or worse, may already have hurt someone - are taking over his life. His mind is a broken machine, causing him to relive the same terrifying nightmare over and over again. So goes the plot of MACHINE MAN, an in-development movie that focuses on an individual with a disturbed mind. But Ben Lyle is not purely fictional. He is one of...
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Rebellious Pixels: Reclaiming Culture One Video at a Time
His name is Jonathan McIntosh, aka Rebellious Pixels. Perhaps you’ve seen his work. His satirical video mash up of Glenn Beck and Donald Duck has been viewed over a million times on YouTube, causing Beck himself to accuse the federal government of funding the creation of anti-Beck propaganda. Or maybe you’ve seen his hilarious video, “So You Think You Can Be President” or his gender-bending children’s toy commercials. Operating as Rebellious Pixels, McIntosh works as a pop culture hacker,...
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"Rights" and Reggae: Breaking Through Homophobia in...
In 1992, Jamaican dancehall artist Buju Banton recorded the song “Boom Bye-Bye,” an anthem that advocated violence against the LGBT community and that capitalized on the island nation’s widespread homophobia. The formula proved a success in a nation that criminalizes homosexuality, and it turned Banton into a reggae superstar. Since then, penning homophobic lyrics has become all but a required rite of passage for aspiring Jamaican dancehall artists, with top dancehall artists from Capleton...
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Fully-Informed Juries & Jury Nullification
A funny thing happened on the way to a Salt Lake City courthouse recently. As prospective jurors entered the courtroom to be selected to hear a case of an environmental activist, activists handed them fliers published by the Fully Informed Jury Association. They said that jurors had the right to come to a decision based on the evidence and their conscience. But according to an article published on Truthdig.com, the presiding judge in the case was so outraged by the flier that he brought the...
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Against Equality: Queer Critiques of Gay Marriage
When it comes to gay marriage, the times, they are a-confusing. Indeed. Consider that while gays in California and the rest of the nation are working tirelessly to secure marriage equality, not all members of the LGBTQ community believe that marriage equality is an appropriate goal. Against Equaltiy is a collective of writers, artists and agitators focused on critiquing mainstream gay and lesbian politics. For example, should gay and lesbian politics really demand inclusion in the U.S....
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Coalition to Preserve Reggae Music
The music of Kingston isn't what it used to be. Sound systems that used to send messages of peace,love, social living and redemption now blast lyric preaching misogyny, violence and homopobia. Many lovers of reggae music fear that this artform which has passed down Jamaican history from generation to generation is giving way to new sub-genres, making reggae less culturally and historically relevant. The Coalition to Preserve Reggae Music works to preserve this precious cultural artform....
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The Sorry Status of Gender in Televised Sports
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 guaranteed - amongst other things - protection from gender discrimination in collegiate sports. Yet nearly 40 years since its enactment, one would hard pressed to find evidence of its impact by watching televised sports. A new study released by the Center for Feminist Research reveals gross inequities in the coverage of gender among the major broadcast networks and ESPN. For example, while both the men's and women's NCAA (i.e., collegiate)...
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Ziggy Marley
Ziggy Marley calls into the Dread Zone (Mon. 6-8pm)and talks about his music, his charity work, and what it's like to have his last name!
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Meat is for Pussies!
Tired of the 'wimpy vegetarian' stereotype? Let's face it: The same marketing gurus who convince us that the Marlboro Man is a stud are the same folks who propagate the myth that meat is "mans" food. But there's nothing manly about erectile dysfunction, colon cancer, heart disease, waning libidos, and a host of other ailments that come from a meat-based diet! In his new book Meat Is For Pussies, punk icon John Joseph of the band the Cro-Mags provides men with an in-your-face reality check...
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Undercover Investigations Exposing Animal Abuse
Chilling undercover footage recorded during a new Mercy For Animals investigation exposes dairy farm workers sadistically abusing cows and young calves. During a four-week investigation of Conklin Dairy Farms in Plain City, Ohio between April and May, MFA's investigator documented farm workers: Violently punching young calves in the face; body slamming them to the ground, using pitchforks to stab cows in the face, legs and stomach; beating restrained cows in the face with crowbars -- some...
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CommUnity Harvest & the Grain Project
Got produce? Need produce? Then find out about a CommUnity Harvest. That's right! If you have extra home-grown produce and are interested in sharing it with families in need, or if you are low income and can benefit from fresh, free produce, then a CommUnity Harvest is a perfect way to build community while providing healthy food for those in need! The idea is simple: create an outreach program, collect locally grown produce, distribute it to those in need, and build community in the process...
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Underground Undergrads: The Plight of Undocumented...
The immigrant rights debate has a profound impact on millions of undocumented people living throughout the country and now especially in Arizona. But there is one group of undocumented immigrants who face a particularly daunting challenge, and that is students. The majority of these young people came to the United States as children, brought from their native lands by parents or relatives. Many of our nations colleges and universities - including UCI - have a sizable undocumented student...
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VegDay... Hooray!
On April 6, 2010, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution encouraging city residents to eat vegetarian on Mondays. Just in time for Earth Day, The VegDay Resolution, introduced by In Defense of Animals and the San Francisco Vegetarian Society, enjoyed unanimous support. The resolution encourages residents of San Francisco to adopt a plant-based diet, and restaurants, schools and other institutions to offer veggie options on Mondays. Numerous San Francisco restaurants are...
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Stop Human Trafficking: A Report Back From Haiti
Think slavery is a remnant of the past? Think again. Human trafficking is a modern form of slavery involving the abuse and maltreatment of the most defenseless and feeble members of the world community. Mostly women and children, these victims are trafficked for exploitation and abuse usually across international borders. This heinous criminal activity involves the recruitment, hiding, shipping, acquiring or providing any vulnerable individual for services or labor engaging in forced labor,...
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Saving the Wild Horse
Greed and corruption take center stage in a new documentary exposing how the United States’ failed energy policy and the pillage of western public lands by oil, gas, mining and corporate cattle grazing, is leading to the extinction of America’s wild horses and burros. In Disappointment Valley, A Modern Western director James Kleinert documents the struggle of the wild horse – an animal that has long symbolized freedom and individualism in America. Once protected by the Free Roaming Wild...
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Howard Zinn (1922-2010): Why Civil Disobedience Matters
Professor Zinn's appearance on KUCI 88.9FM's Justice, or Just Us? marked the 35 year anniversary of the publication of his book: Disobedience and Democracy: Nine Fallacies on Law and Order recently re-issued by South End Press (www.southendpress.org). The book was written in part as a response to a 7-1 Supreme Court decision that upheld the criminal conviction of David O'Brien for burning his draft card. When Justice Abe Fortas wrote a booklet on civil disobedience justifying such...
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Grow Where You Are! Urban Gardening
Grow where you are! That's right. You don't need a farm to cultivate a garden and produce delicious vegetables and beautiful flowers. The art of urban gardening is in the use of tires, cardboard, old fencing and many other discarded items that fill the urban landscape. For example, old tires are good for raised flower beds and excellent for root crops like potatoes. Of course, besides being aesthetic and fun, there are environmental and economic benefits to urban gardening. And it's a great...
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Anthropology & the Counter-Counterinsurgency Manual
When the U.S. military decided it needed cultural expertise as much as smart bombs to prevail in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon’s Counterinsurgency Field Manual offered a blueprint for mobilizing anthropologists for war. As a response, the “Network of Concerned Anthropologists” issued their own Counter-Counterinsurgency Manual which not only critiques that strategy but also offers a blueprint for resistance. In particular, the Counter-Counterinsurgency Manual explores the ethical and...
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Becoming Rasta
So much has been written about the Rastafari, yet we know so little about why and how people join the Rastafari movement. Although popular understandings evoke images of dreadlocks, reggae, and marijuana, Rastafarians were persecuted in their country, becoming a people seeking social justice. Yet new adherents continued to convert to Rastafari despite facing adverse reactions from their fellow citizens and from their British rulers. Our guest, Professor of Anthropology Charles Price author...
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World March for Peace
What will it take to communicate to world leaders the people's opposition to war and nuclear conflict? Will it take a mass rally? A nationwide mobilization? How about a world march for peace? Indeed, having begun on October 2, 2009 — the International Day of Nonviolence — in Wellington, New Zealand, and culminating on January 2, 2010 at the foot of Mount Aconcagua in Argentina, the World March for Peace and Nonviolence is an unprecedented social mobilization which aims to create...
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Policing Dissent: A 10 year anniversary of the Battle...
In November 1999, thousands of protesters converged on Seattle to shut down the World Trade Organization's Ministerial Meeting. Using innovative and network-based strategies, the protesters left police flummoxed, desperately searching for ways to control the crowds in Seattle and the emerging anti-corporate globalization movement. Faced with these network-based tactics, law enforcement agencies transformed their policing and social control mechanisms to manage this new threat. In Policing...
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After-Abortion Resources
The decision to have an abortion is one of the most emotionally powerful decisions a woman may ever make. Women (and their partners) may experience feelings such as sadness, happiness, empowerment, anxiety, grief, relief and/or guilt. Yet while abortions are legal, there nevertheless remains a deep cultural stigma surrounding this medical procedure. The result is that many women who have abortions find it difficult to find the right person with whom to speak about their mix of emotions....
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Twilight Zone: Nonfiction, Fantasy, Fifty!
It’s rare that a television show rises to the level of significant social commentary, but The Twilight Zone (CBS, 1959-64) stands as the role model for socially significant and entertaining television anthologies. Indeed, its “sci-fi/fantasy” parables explore humanity's hopes, despairs, prides and prejudices in metaphoric ways conventional drama cannot. At a time when nonfiction programs refused to tackle some of the most pressing issues of our time, creator/writer Rod Serling addressed...
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A Report Back from the G20 Protests
As leaders of the world’s richest nations gathered in Pittsburgh for the G-20 summit, thousands took to the streets in protest amidst a heavy police crackdown. Heavily armed riot police were out in force and used tear gas, stun grenades, smoke canisters and sound cannons, which direct extremely loud shrill sounds. A report back from David Meieran of the G20 Summit mobilization, focusing on the 3 rivers climate convergence (3riversconvergence.org) and the G20 Media Support team (g20media.org).
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Mark Rudd: Life in SDS and the Weathermen Underground
In 1968, Mark Rudd led the legendary occupation of five buildings at Columbia University, a dramatic act of protest against the university’s support for the Vietnam War and its institutional racism. Rudd was the charismatic chairman of the Columbia chapter of SDS, Students for a Democratic Society, the largest radical student organization in the U.S. After a violent police bust, the Columbia occupation turned into a student strike that closed down the entire campus, turning Rudd into a...
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FIJI Water: Clearly Unjust
Loved by President Obama and "A" list celebrities, FIJI Water has quickly become one of the top selling bottled water brands in the United States. This is no doubt the result of a marketing blitz that has constructed for the water both a posh image and - perhaps more pointedly - a reputation for being a charitable purchase which benefits the people of the tropical island and the environmental movement. But is the reputation well deserved? In a new Mother Jones magazine expose, journalist...
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Animal Acres and the Animal Sanctuary Movement
Ever wonder what happens to those abused farm animals you see on grainy video exposes after the cameras stop rolling? Animal Acres is home to rescued cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, sheep, goats, and other critters raised in cruel conditions. Some of the animals are rescued during Animal Acres undercover cruelty investigations. Others arrive from humane enforcement agencies. All are refugees from slaughter and are provided safe haven for the remainder of their natural lives. Thus, hens who...
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Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals
It is a long held assumption that humans alone are moral beings. Indeed, it's all too easy to assume that the gap separating humans from other animals is a "morality" gap. Yet like our biology which has evolved from and resembles that of other species, morality too develops through an evolutionary process and links us to the broader animal kingdom. In his new book Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals, Marc Bekoff (and co-author Jessica Pierce) argue pointedly that animals too are moral...
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The Curious (Federal) Case of Walt Staton
Call it the "Curious (Federal) Case of Walt Stanton," or simply call it outlandish. But in Tucson, Arizona a human rights activist from the group No More Deaths went on trial Monday for leaving plastic jugs of water in a National Wildlife Refuge near the U.S.-Mexico border. The activist, Walt Staton, says the water jugs were left to prevent migrants from dying of dehydration. Indeed, over the past decade nearly 2,000 men, women and children have died of dehydration and other illnesses while...
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Down the Drones!
In recent months, the U.S military has expanded its use of unmanned “drones” — or bomb-dropping planes operated via remote control. The military points to the drones as a major advance in the technology of war. Yet the idea that technology can provide a cleaner and safer battlefield is seductive but has been proven a lie. From the catapult and crossbow, poison gas and airplanes in World War I, to the "smart bombs" of the Gulf War, war has only grown deadlier. Indeed, technological advances...
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The Criminalization of Homosexuality Around the World
With recent court and legislative victories, the United States appears to be moving slowly forward in recognizing the rights of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Yet sadly, homosexuality continues to be criminalized throughout the world. Indeed, about 80 countries now criminalize homosexuality in one way or another, mostly in Africa and the Arab world. As a strategy of protest, a New York-based LGBT activist organization recently called for a boycott of goods,...
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Crimes & Punishments: A Discussion with Lewis Lapham
“Twenty-five years ago when in the company of foreign journalists visiting New York, I could count on their remarks about the American love affair with crime… Times have changed.” So writes Lewis H. Lapham in his preamble to the Crimes & Punishments issue of Lapham’s Quarterly. Today, Americans are no longer solely concerned about singular criminals and events; they are also preoccupied with criminogenic enterprises and institutions. Yet while the nature of the crimes that occupy our minds...
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Jonathon Keats
A liar, a cheat, a degenerate, and a whore. These are the last people one might expect to be virtuous. But a legendary Kabbalist has discovered the truth: they are just some of the thirty-six hidden ones, the righteous individuals who ultimately make the world a better place. In The Book of the Unknown by Jonathon Keats we meet twelve of the secret benefactors, including a timekeeper’s son who shows a sleepless village the beauty of dreams; a gambler who teaches a king ruled by the tyranny...
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38 Witnesses/Melville House Publishing
It remains one of the most notorious deaths in New York City history not because of who was murdered but because of the circumstances. On March 13, 1964 twenty-eight-year-old Kitty Genovese was brutally murdered. Although the attack took nearly thirty minutes and had thirty-eight witnesses to the crime, not one did a thing to stop the murder or even call for help. In the years that followed, the Kitty Genovese case has become studied by nearly every branch of the social sciences. For some,...
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Bagram: America's Other Guantanamo
Think President Obama’s executive order calling for the closure of Guantanamo means that the U.S. will no longer torture or detain prisoners indefinitely? Think again. In late February 2009 the Justice Department announced that it would adhere to the Bush administration's position that detainees imprisoned at a U.S. air base in Afghanistan have no right to challenge their confinement in U.S. courts. On February 20, acting Assistant Attorney General Michael Hertz stated the position on Bagram...
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Anti-Nuclear Activism under the Obama Administration
For people working for peace and environmental protection, the global sigh of relief was palpable when Barack Obama won the presidential election in November. Yet while there is reason to be hopeful, answers to questions about Obama’s positions on nuclear energy and weapons remain uncertain. Jim Haber of the Nevada Desert Experience talks about anti-nuclear activism under the Obama Administration. Since the birth of NDE in 1982, thousands of people have come to its retreats and conferences...
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Tales for Little Rebels: Progessive Children's Literature
In 1912, a revolutionary chick cries, "Strike down the wall!" and liberates itself from the "egg state." In 1940, ostriches pull their heads out of the sand and unite to fight fascism. In 1972, Baby X grows up without a gender and is happy about it. Rather than teaching children to obey authority, to conform, or to seek redemption through prayer, twentieth-century leftists encouraged children to question the authority of those in power. Tales for Little Rebels collects forty-three mostly...
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Hip-Hop Artist Paris!
An interview with Oakland-based hip-hop artist Paris on his new album "Acid Reflex."
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Higher Education, or Higher Salaries?
As cash-strapped colleges and universities raise tuition, increase instructor workload, and deal with a shortage of financial aid, not everyone within higher education is suffering. Indeed, salaries for university presidents and administrators continues to increase according to a new survey by the Chronicle of Higher Education. According to the survey, the median pay at public research universities rose nearly 8 percent over the previous year to $427,400 – meaning half of colleges surveyed...
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The Emotional Lives of Animals
Do animals get embarrassed? Can they empathize, feel anger, or experience love? For years, those who come to the defense of animals have been accused of engaging in anthropomorphism – attributing human characteristics to non-human species. Yet scientist Marc Bekoff knows better. Based upon years of studying social communication in a wide range of species, his research concludes that animals have rich emotional lives. Now, with the remarkable success of California’s Proposition 2 which...
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Cesar Chavez & the Common Sense of Nonviolence
Cesar Chavez has long been heralded for his personal practice of nonviolent resistance in struggles against social, racial, and labor injustices. Yet the works of Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. have always overshadowed Chavez's contributions to the theory of nonviolence. In what ways has Chavez uniquely contributed to the common sense of nonviolence? In a new book, Cesar Chavez and the Common Sense of Nonviolence, our guest Professor Jose-Antonio Orosco engages the life of Chavez in...
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The Green Scare: FBI, Infiltrators and the Case of Eric...
The Sacramento News & Review called it “A Conspiracy of Dunces” and questioned whether there would have even been a conspiracy but for the actions of a college student serving as a paid informant. But that didn’t stop the FBI from pushing for a 20 year sentence for environmental activist Eric McDavid on conspiracy charges. The government’s case was based on the word of a single FBI infiltrator – a young woman in her mid twenties who used her sexuality to lure McDavid, and who was paid over...
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Wall Street Bail Out: Scandal or Criminal?
The US government has seized control of insurance giant AIG, American International Group, in an unprecedented $85 billion bailout. The Federal Reserve made the deal Tuesday to save AIG from collapse in what the New York Times describes as “the most radical intervention in private business in the central bank’s history.” This comes on the heels of a government bailout just over a week ago of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and six months after the Fed bailed out Bear Stearns by...
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Meat of the Matter: Factory Farms and Global Warming
Ask most Americans about what causes global warming, and they’ll point to a coal plant or a car tailpipe. While factories and automobiles certainly play a part, the truth is that livestock is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than the entire global transportation system. Believe it or not, the problem is methane from cows, sheep and other livestock raised for food. The American meat industry produces more than 60 million tons of waste each year, and just one midsized feedlot for...
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Karmacy & Nicco: Blazin' Hope Hip-Hop
Karmacy is a hip hop trio that addresses cross-cultural identity, and they do so through songs that might be performed in any of five languages: Spanish, Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati or English. This Friday, Karmacy and Be the Cause will hold a benefit concert at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood to support two nonprofits: Peace4Kids and the Itipini Community Project. Since its inception in 1998, Peace4Kids has touched the lives of over 600 foster and at-risk youth in the South Los Angeles...
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Healthcare and the Underinsured
During the 2008 presidential primary season, it was common to hear candidates attempting to outdo each other with plans to provide healthcare coverage to the estimated 49 million Americans without health insurance. Unfortunately, with health insurance comes huge costs. This explains why the number of underinsured U.S. adults--that is, people who have health coverage that does not adequately protect them from high medical expenses--has risen dramatically. Indeed, a Commonwealth Fund study...
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Dorothy Day: Don't Call Me A Saint
Dorothy Day: Don’t Call Me A Saint is a documentary that tells the story of the New York writer and Catholic anarchist who the Vatican is currently considering for canonization. But Dorothy is no ordinary saint. Dorothy's career began as a writer for radical papers during the Bohemian whirl of 1917 Greenwich Village. At the height of the Depression Dorothy met the French peasant philosopher, Peter Maurin. Bound by the teachings of Christ they created the Catholic Worker, a social justice...
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Exposing the Cruelty of the Egg Industry
Last week, news headlines revealed an undercover investigation by the animal rights group Mercy for Animals (MFA) that took consumers behind the closed doors of one of California’s largest egg factory farms, exposing the hidden cost of egg production — cruelty to animals. Hidden camera video recorded in early 2008 at Gemperle Enterprises in Merced County, California revealed rotting carcasses in cages with live hens still laying eggs for human consumption, birds suffering from untreated...
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What is Jail Solidarity?
What is the finishing point of civil disobedience? Must nonviolent resistance end upon arrest? Why should there be an expectation that those who dissent will assist the government in imposing punishment? Jail solidarity is a strategy of dissent wherein arrestees at a protest refuse to cooperate with or take part in the State’s capacity to punish acts of political dissent. But how – exactly – does this strategy work? What are the tactics? What kind of planning goes into it? What are the...
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Michael Parenti: Contrary Notions
Michael Parenti is an internationally known award-winning author and lecturer. He is one of the nation's leading progressive political analysts. His highly informative and entertaining books and talks have reached a wide range of audiences in North America and abroad. Now, after years of scholarship on issues ranging from media manipulation and ethnic stereotypes to free markets and class war, Parenti's work is available in a concise, single volume: Contrary Notions: The Michael Parenti...
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The Art of Protest
An interview with T.V. Reed, author of The Art of Protest and director of American Studies and professor of English at Washington State University. Imagine the civil rights movement without freedom songs, the Black Panthers without James Brown or Gil Scott Heron, or the AIDS awareness movement without the iconic aesthetics of ACT UP. In The Art of Protest Professor T.V. Reed provides a broad overview of the aesthetics of social movements and the distinctive cultural forms that helped shape...
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What is Feminist Porn?
Are “feminism” and “porn” completely incompatible, or is feminist porn a possibility? If so, what would be its parameters? How would it differ from so-called mainstream porn? As a response to the racism in the pornography industry, the owner of a Toronto-based sex shop “Good for Her” founded the annual Feminist Porn Awards and in so doing sparked an important dialogue about feminism, sexuality, and stereotypes. Guest Nikko Snyder, founder of Good Girl Magazine, has been writing about the...
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Medical Students for Health Care Reform
Much of the mass media portrays health policy in often diluted and misleading ways. Even though there has been increasing focus and talk about healthcare reform during the current election, this problem persists. To address this problem, on January 28, 2008 medical students across many California campuses (UCI, USC, UCSF, UCD, UCLA...) met en masse on the steps of the State Capitol to advocate a single payer healthcare system. My guests are several of the medical students who represented UCI...
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Africa Action
As President Bush returned from his tour of the African continent last week, much media coverage focused upon the administration’s “successes” in individual countries while ignoring the systemic, continent-wide problems that unjust U.S. policies continue to promote. Thus, while pundits were quick to praise Bush for his Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, widely ignored was the role of U.S. trade and economic policies in diverting funding away from AIDS relief. Also overlooked was the lack of...
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The "Bull" About Bull Riding
Bull riding is promoted as a rough and tough exercise of human skill and courage in conquering the fierce, untamed beasts of the Wild West. In reality, it is nothing more than manipulative displays of human domination over animals, thinly disguised as entertainment. In fact, many of the animals used in bull riding and - more broadly - in rodeos are not aggressive by nature; they are physically provoked into displaying "wild" behavior to make the cowboys look brave. Worse, while the cowboys...
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Sexual Harrassment in Academic Settings
When people raise the issue of sexual harrassment in the workplace, it is common for persons of all political persuasions to be somewhat dismissive or judgemental, thinking that it isn't really as serious a problem as it's made out to be. Yet sexual harrassment is real, and it can have very personal and emotional consequences for those involved. Moreover, its occurrence is not limited to the corporate setting; it also extends to the academic setting where power relations among professors,...
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Race, Class & Gentrification: Nathan McCall discussing...
For years, Nathan McCall has been writing about crime, injustice and racism in modern day America both as a journalist for the Washington Post and via his memoir Makes Me Wanna Holler. Now, his new book (and first novel) titled Them explores issues of race and gentrification through the story of Barlowe, a middle aged black man who lives in Atlanta's Fourth Ward. When a white couple moves in next door, Barlowe eventually forms a friendship with the wife while continuing to experience tension...
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Policing Homelessness Away?
On September 24, 2006 Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced the public launch of the 'Safer Cities Initiative' on skid row - a police effort at the behest of development interests to "crack down on crime." One year after its launch, our guest, UCLA Law professor Gary Blasi, has released a study of the initiative, and its findings are staggering. Although skid row is only 3/4 square mile in size, it has been subjected to an unprecedented police presence. Thus in one year, police...
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Jah Rasta Yogis
Jah Rasta Yogis aren't just a band, they are an experience. Inner peace through music; balance through meditation. A better world begins within. Listen.
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Unarmed Insurrections: People Power in Non-democracies
In the last two decades of the 20th century, a wave of "people power" movements based upon the principles of nonviolent action erupted throughout the nondemocratic world — from the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa to the people power movement in the Philippines to the anti-regime challenge in Burma. Yet while some people power campaigns succeed in changing the course of history, others fail to bring about democratic change. How does nonviolent action work? Why does it work in some...
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The Harms of Factory Farms
In the United States, 10 billion land animals are raised and killed annually by the meat, egg, and dairy industries. Despite the incredible number of individuals and the routine suffering too many endure, these farm animals do not receive protection under the federal Animal Welfare Act. Moreover, 95 percent of the animals slaughtered each year do not receive protection under the federal Humane Methods of Slaughter Act. And, while each state has its own animal cruelty code, most states exempt...
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The Advocate: a voice for LGBT community for 40 years
For 40 years, the Advocate magazine has been a leader in providing the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgendered (LGBT) community with news and opinion. Now, as this pioneering publication celebrates 4 decades in print, we take a look back at LGBT history and - perhaps more importantly - take a look forward on the challenges and promise that awaits. Guest: Anne Stockwell, editor.
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Veterans for Medical Marijuana
In his 2007 State of the Union Address, President George W. Bush told the American public that, "We must remember that the best healthcare decisions are not made by government and insurance companies, but by patients and their doctors." Yet when it comes to medical marijuana, it seems that bureaucrats know what's best. As the DEA continues to raid cannibis providers throughout CA, a new voice has entered the debate over the use of medical marijuana: Veterans. Incorporated in 2007, Veterans...
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Combatants for Peace: Israelis and Palestinians in...
The "Combatants for Peace" movement was started jointly by Palestinians and Israelis, who have taken an active part in the cycle of violence; Israelis as soldiers in the Israeli army (IDF) and Palestinians as part of the violent struggle for Palestinian freedom. After brandishing weapons for so many years, and having seen one another only through weapon sights, Israelis and Palestinaians decided to put down their guns, and to fight for peace. Listen to their stories.
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Targeting Academic Freedom
When the University of Colorado recently announced it was firing the well-known academic and writer Ward Churchill, the decision came as no surprise to university professors employed at public institutions. Nor did the decision by DePaul University to deny tenure to Norman Finkelstein, especially after the publication of such books as David Horowitz's The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 provided social conservatives with an opportunity...
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Iraq Veterans Against the War
Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) was founded by Iraq war veterans in July 2004 at the annual convention of Veterans for Peace (VFP) in Boston to give a voice to the large number of active duty service people and veterans who are against this war, but are under various pressures to remain silent. From its inception, IVAW has called for: Immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces in Iraq; Reparations for the destruction and corporate pillaging of Iraq so that Iraqi people can control...
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Murder Inna Dancehall: Homophobia in Dancehall Music
As a cross between reggae and hip-hop with an electronic vibe, "Dancehall" music is one of the most popular musical stylings to emerge from the Caribbean. As Rastafarians, biblical concepts from the Old Testament have always been prominent in dancehall music, yet dancehall singers have taken this to a completely new level. Indeed, some of the genre's most popular artists now promote discrimination, violence towards gays and lesbians. In response, dancehall fans from across the world have put...
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Applicant editor Jesse Reklaw
One night while rooting through the recycling bin for magazines, Jesse Reklaw found all the confidential Ph.D. applicant files for the biology department at an Ivy League university from the years 1965-1975. Stapled to many of the yellowed documents were photographs of the prospective students, along with recommendation forms commenting on each candidates relative strengths and weaknesses. For example, one female applicant is penalized for being "not as physically attractive as some" other...
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Honoring Kurt Vonnegut: A Rare 1977 Self-Interview
Author Kurt Vonnegut — who died last week at the age of 84 is one of the most lauded American authors of our time. This is rather surprising, considering he has been a tireless voice lampooning many aspects of American culture, especially our military culture. In a rare 1977 interview from National Public Radio, author Kurt Vonnegut discusses western art and meditation, films and writing, the effects of media on the imagination and intellect, his family background, and his experiences in...
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The Case for Midwifery
Comparing WHO recommendations to U.S. statistics, American mothers appear largely dependent upon the health care industry for what is otherwise a routine aspect of life. Are U.S. mothers simply privileged, or they victims of what has been dubbed the Maternity Industrial Complex where a dependency upon medicine places the cost of each child birth in the tens of thousands? Guest: Susan Hodges, President of Citizens for Midwifery.
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Niketown Mobilization
Students Against Sweatshops is set to begin its Niketown Mobilization for 2007. Tune in to learn about Nike's continued dependence on sweatshop labor, and find out what you can to protest! Guest: Zack Knorr, Students Against Sweatshops.
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Martin & Malcolm & America
An interview with James H. Cone, author of Martin and Malcom and America: Nightmare or Dream? While Martin Luther King, Jr. saw America as "essentially a dream... as yet unfulfilled," Malcolm X viewed America as a realized nightmare. But were they really so different in their views? What are the legacies of each figure? What should we take from their teachings, and what should we discard?
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PTSD & the Military
Guest: NPR Correspondent Daniel Zwerdling A study by the investigative arm of Congress, the Government Accountability Office, suggests it's a national problem: GAO found that about 80 percent of the soldiers who showed potential signs of PTSD were not referred for mental health follow-ups. The Pentagon disagrees with the GAO's findings. But an NPR investigation at Colorado's Ft. Carson has found that even those who feel desperate can have trouble getting the help they need. In fact, evidence...
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Food Not Bombs: A History of Direct Action
An interview with founder of Food Not Bombs and author of the FNB Manual Keith McHenry. FNB's goal is to distribute food to the needy, and to provide the information and recipes necessary to set up a Food Not Bombs service in your community. Founded by a small group of friends and activists with the vision of providing food for the hungry, they collect and distribute edible, recoverable food that is thrown away (surplus food).
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Witness Against Torture: Shut Down Guantanamo
Frida Berrigan a member of Witness Against Torture will talk about her trip to Guantanamo and about future campaigns. In December 2005, a group of twenty four friends, following the nonviolent tradition of Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker walked to Guantanamo to visit the prisoners, calling themselves Witness Against Torture. When they returned, they launched the "Campaign to Shut Down Guantanamo," which consists of public education and community outreach, networking and resource sharing,...
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Alliant Action: Stop the Merchants of Death
On October 2 (Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday), seventy-four activists (including the host of "Justice, or Just Us?") were arrested outside a Minneapolis office building attempting to deliver a supoena to Alliant Techsystems, Inc. CEO Daniel J. Murphy. Alliant Techsystems is a leading manufacturer of anti-personnel landmines, cluster bombs and depleted uranium munitions which many military and non-military experts consider to be "indiscriminant" weapons and therefore a violation of International...
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War Resisters League: Anti-war or Anti-Militarism?
Jim Haber of War Resisters League - West discusses the difference between being anti-war and anti-militarism. He also provides a report back from the International War Resisters League Conference as well as information on the upcoming "Stop the Merchants of Death" conference and civil disobedience action in Minneapolis at Alliant Technology, makers of depleted uranium and cluster bombs, scheduled on Gandhi's birthday — October 2.
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Todd Chretien: Green Party Candidate for U.S. Senate
An interview with Todd Chretien, Green Party Candidate for U.S. Senate. Bring the troops home now? Abolish the USA Patriot Act? Build schools, not jails? Raise taxes on the top 1%? Immigrant rights? Abolish the death penalty? Sound good? Then tune in to hear Green Party Candidate for U.S. Senate Todd Chretien.
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Live From Camp Casey
Military Families Speak Out member and organizer with the Orange County Peace Coalition Pat Alviso is currently camped outside President Bush's ranch in Crawford, TX waiting for an explanation as to why America's children must kill, fight and die for an unjust and unnecessary war. She'll be reporting for Justice, or Just Us? live from Camp Casey where Cindy Sheehan, Code Pink for Peace, and activists from across the country and - indeed - around the world are holding vigil for peace.
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What is animal law?
Animal Law includes any type of legal action, whether it be transactional or litigation, that effects the rights, standing and/or welfare of an animal. In short, it is pro-animal and pro-animal activists. Christine Garcia, lead council for the San Francisco based Animal Law Office, discusses her current cases including the defense of a man arrested for passing out educational leaflets in front of Marine World, as well as several animal rights advocates who were arrested for passing out...
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Adam Mansbach Interview
ANGRY BLACK WHITE BOY, OR THE MISCEGENATION OF MACON DETORNAY. Macon Detornay is a suburban white boy possessed and politicized by black culture, and filled with rage toward white America. Soon, he launches the Race Traitor Project, a stress-addled collective that attracts guilty liberals, wannabe gangstas, and bandwagon riders from all over the country to participate in a Day of Apology. Guest: Adam Mansbach - author of Angry Black White Boy, or the Miscegenation of Macon Detornay
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Immigration & the New Civil Rights Movement
An interview with Justin Akers Chacon, co-author (along with Mike Davis) of the forthcoming book No One is Illegal. He is the author of three articles in the current issue of the International Socialist Review, each examining the "New Immigrant Civil Rights Movement."
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TWILIGHT OF THE SUPERHEROES author Deborah Eisenberg
On December 31, 1999 people around the world shared mixed emotions: concern that Y2K would cause the world to fall apart, and hope that a new millennium would bring a peace and properity. When the clock struck midnight and the world didn't fall apart and everything didn't change, the world breathed a sigh of relief. Meanwhile, downtown from Times Square, 5 friends couldn't believe their luck as they moved into a large Manhattan sublet with a beautiful view of the World Trade Center — perhaps...
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Ask a Mexican columnist Gustavo Arellano
What's the difference between a Mexican and a Hispanic? Why don't Mexicans ever go to the doctor? What part of illegal don't Mexicans understand? What started out as a lampoon on racist ignorance of immigrants has become a national sensation and one of the most relevant news columns of our time. "Ask a Mexican" columnist Gustavo Arellano visited KUCI for a conversation.
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Billboard Liberation Interview
In the beginning was the Ad. The Ad was brought to the consumer by the Advertiser. Desire, self worth, self image, ambition, hope; all find their genesis in the Ad. Through the Ad and the intent of the Advertiser we form our ideas and learn the myths that make us into what we are as a people. That this method of self definition displaced the earlier methods is beyond debate. It is now clear that the Ad holds the most esteemed position in our cosmology. Jack from Billboard Liberation...
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The Unbroken Circle
"The Unbroken Circle" is a new true-to-life movie that tells the story of two families - one Israeli, one Palestinian - affected by the never-ending circle of violence plaguing the region. "Justice, or Just Us?" spoke with the writer/director John C. Ludwig, as well as with the producer Terry Michaels.
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Bitch Magazine: Celebrating 10 Years of Feminist Critique
Bitch Magazine: Feminist Response to Pop Culture turns 10 year old this month. Join "Justice, or Just Us?" as it celebrates 10 years of feminist critique as we speak with Lisa Jervis - co-founder of Bitch Magazine.
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Is Iraq Another Vietnam?
The moment the United States' war on Iraq started going wrong, comparisions with the Vietnam War inevitably rose, with "quagmire" as a key buzzword. Yet is the current war in Iraq at all comparable to Vietnam? If so, how — and what lessons can we learn from our recent history? If not, in what ways is our current predicament different, and what are we to do? Author Kale Baldock discusses his new book: Is Iraq Another Vietnam?
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Interview with JEL - Beatmaster of the Anticon Collective
Longtime sound architect of the radical indy hip-hop collective Anticon, Jel has until now been content to stand in the background of the many bands (Themselves, Subtle, 13 & God) he helped to create. But on his new solo release Soft Money, Jel provocatively fuses black nationalist rap with indie rock tunefulness. The result is a powerful album that merges pounding beats with equally bombastic politics.
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Quality of Life - the movie
Shot and edited in the Mission District of San Francisco, Quality of Life is an authentic and gripping film by first-time director Benjamin Morgan. The film tells the story of two young graffiti artists struggling to maintain their friendship after getting busted by the cops. Not a documentary, but nevertheless a true-to-life portrait. Director Benjamin Morgan joins KUCI for a discussion.
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African-American Aural History
Due to a scheduling conflict, African-American History Month comes to "Justice, or Just Us?" a bit early. Hear the sounds of freedom as Paul Robeson, Langston Hughes, Angela Davis, Bobby Seale and more use music, poetry and the spoken word to detail the struggles of African Americans and demand change. (Excerpts from the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings Collection)
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Empire of Scrounge: Inside the World of Dumpster Diving
When Jeff Ferrell quit his job as a tenured professor, he began an 8 month odessy into the world of dumpster diving. In Empire of Scrounge, professor Ferrell provides a documentation of what he found, how he survived, and what he learned about America's dangerous habit of conspicuous consumption. He also details the criminalization of those who refuse to contribute to a capitalist economy and its practice of waste.
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Nation of Rebels: How Counterculture Became...
In this highly thought-provoking and important critique of the cultural politics of the Left, author Joseph Heath (and co-author Andrew Potter) lament that such strategies as culture-jamming and an obsessive rejection of anything conformist have "completely replaced socialism as the basis of radical political thought." The problem, as they see it, is that the very idea of a counterculture is a myth, one that threatens to true attainment of social justice. Guest: Joseph Heath, Associate...
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Has the Underground Scene "Sold Out" to Corporations?
Recent marketing campaigns appeared to come from the underground, but were paid for, promoted and distributed by corporate dollars. Has the underground finally sold out? Guest: Anne Elizabeth Moore, columnist for Punk Planet.
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