10:00 AM Pacific Time: Monday - Thursday
Letters & Politics seeks to explore the history behind today’s major global and national news stories. Hosted by Mitch Jeserich.
Demagogue: a political leader in a democracy who appeals to the emotions, fears, prejudices, and ignorance of the lower socioeconomic classes in order to gain power and promote political motives. With Richard Pirodsky, author of the novel The Demigod. Donald Trump made news recently for his outrageous comments bashing Mexico and Mexicans. “When Mexico sends … Continued
With Mansour Farhang, professor of international relations at Bennington College, Vermont. He resigned from his post as revolutionary Iran’s first ambassador to the United Nations when Khomeini’s regime refused to accept the UN’s recommendation to release its US hostages. He is author of U.S. Imperialism: The Spanish-American War to the Iranian Revolution and co-author of … Continued
The Greek people overwhelming voted ‘No’ on Sunday in a national referendum on the European Union’s bailout terms. We talk about the greek referendum results and what’s next for the country with Mark Blyth, Professor of economics at Brown University and author of Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea.
A. Brad Schwartz, author of the book Broadcast Hysteria: Orson Welles’s War of the Worlds and the Art of Fake News. About the book: On the evening of October 30, 1938, radio listeners across the United States heard a startling report of a meteor strike in the New Jersey countryside. With sirens blaring in the … Continued
Peter Coyote is an actor, author, director, screenwriter, narrator and activist. You might know his voice from his narration or voice work in nine Ken Burns documentaries. His second book is called The Rainman’s Third Cure: An Irregular Education. About the book: The guiding metaphor in Peter Coyote’s new spiritual biography is drawn from a … Continued
Pratap Chatterjee is the Executive Director of CorpWatch, an investigative journalist and producer. He is the author of Halliburton’s Army, Iraq Inc.: A Profitable Occupation and The Earth Brokers. His most recent article on Greece is called EuroZone Profiteers: How German and French Banks Helped Bankrupt Greece. And Alex Abella, journalist and author. His article … Continued
Late on Sunday the Greek government ordered a six-day shutdown for banks and the stock exchange to avoid a panic-fueled collapse. If Greece is unable to renegotiate a payment of its debts, it may be forced to leave the Euro zone. Costas Panayotakis, professor of Sociology at City University of New York and author of … Continued
With Anthony Wright, Executive Director of Health Access CA, the statewide health care consumer advocacy coalition. And Kenji Yoshino, Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law at New York University School of Law. A graduate of Yale Law School, where he taught from 1998 to 2008, and the author of Speak Now: Marriage Equality … Continued
With Sandra Blair, Associate Minister at the St. Paul A.M.E. Church in Berkeley, California and adjunct faculty at the Pacific School of Religion. A week after 9 were killed at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, Carolina, we talk about the origins and history of the AME church. From the AME website: … Continued
Nikki Jones is an associate professor in the Department of African American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. She is also a faculty affiliate with the Center for the Study of Law and Society. Her areas of expertise include urban ethnography, race and ethnic relations and criminology and criminal justice, with a special emphasis … Continued
