The Ralph Nader Radio Hour

The San Quentin News – The Ralph Nader Radio Hour – September 4, 2023

Ralph welcomes newspaper publisher, Steve McNamara, to discuss the “San Quentin News,” California’s largest inmate-run newspaper and the birthplace of the San Quentin News Forum— where incarcerated men and visiting police, attorneys, and judges share their perspectives on the criminal justice system. Then Peter Lurie, President of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) joins us to talk about CSPI’s work advocating for a safer, healthier food system, as well as their newsletter “NutritionAction.” Plus, Ralph questions why the US still hasn’t ratified the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child— everyone else has done it!

Steve McNamara is a newspaper publisher, editor, and reporter. He has previously written for and edited the Winston-Salem JournalThe Miami HeraldCar and Driver magazine, and the San Francisco Examiner. From 1966 to 2004 Steve and his wife, Kay McNamara, published the Pacific Sun—the country’s second-oldest alternative weekly newspaper— and Steve has served as president of the California Society of Newspaper Editors and as founding president of the National Association of Alternative Media. In 2008 he helped revive the San Quentin News— a newspaper written and edited by incarcerated men at San Quentin Prison— and continues to work as a volunteer adviser at the paper.

Ralph Nader talks about what’s happening in America, what’s happening around the world, and most importantly what’s happening underneath it all.