Bill Moyers Journal (Audio) | PBS

With disgraced lobbyist back in the news and on the big screen in Alex Gibney's new film, CASINO JACK, we re-present Bill Moyers 2006 in-depth exploration of Abramoff and his Washington world. CAPITOL CRIMES investigates the Abramoff lobbying scandal, revealing the web of relationships, secret deals and political manipulation and opening a disturbing window on the dark side of American politics. The fall of Jack Abramoff has exposed a huge web of corruption that still remains vastly unreported by the broadcast media, even as prosecutors continue to chase down leads and quiz insiders and witnesses. Moyers and his colleagues untangle emails, reports, interviews and facts on the record to provide viewers with a coherent pattern of criminal and political chicanery.

In this special one and half hour edition of Bill Moyers Journal, The Journal travels to Iowa where one group has been helping ordinary citizens fight for change for more than three decades. And, Bill Moyers and populist Jim Hightower to look at the history and legacy of people's movements and discuss how ordinary people can reclaim political power. And, Acclaimed author Barry Lopez joins Bill Moyers to discuss nature, spirit and the human condition. Lopez is an essayist, author and short-story writer, whose many books include ARCTIC DREAMS, winner of the National Book Award and OF WOLVES AND MEN, a National Book Award finalist. And, a Bill Moyers Essay.

The Internet has transformed business, politics, and culture – but will a corporate agenda kill freedom of the Web? With radio and television dominated by mega-corporations, more and more Americans have turned to the Internet for news – but a recent court ruling gives Big Telecom more control over broadband. Bill Moyers talks with FCC commissioner Michael Copps to discuss the future of 'net neutrality', the fight for more democratic media and the future of journalism in the digital age. And, as President Obama makes the case for strong financial reform, Bill Moyers sits down with veteran regulator William K. Black, who says Wall Street is already been breaking current rules.

How did Big Finance grow so powerful that its hijinks nearly brought down the global economy – and what hope is there for real reform with Washington politicians on Wall Street's payroll? Bill Moyers talks with authors Simon Johnson and James Kwak, two of the nation's most respected economic experts and authors of the new book 13 BANKERS: THE WALL STREET TAKEOVER AND THE NEXT FINANCIAL MELTDOWN. Also, a Bill Moyers essay on the true costs of war.

Renowned for her mastery of multiple genres - including thirteen novels, poetry, children's literature, and a memoir of early motherhood - Louise Erdrich discusses how her Native American heritage and unique cultural experience has impacted her life, motherhood, and work. And historian, international relations expert and former US Army Colonel Andrew J. Bacevich returns to the JOURNAL to discuss America's long war in Afghanistan.

In the months before his death, Dr. Martin luther King Jr. had expanded his focus on racial justice to include reducing economic inequality. On this week's 42nd anniversary of King's assassination, Bill Moyers sits down with attorneys Bryan Stevenson and Michelle Alexander to discuss how far we've really come as a country, how poor and working class Americans have been falling behind and what America must do to fulfill Dr. King's vision. And a Bill Moyers essay on inequality in America.

Eighteen months after the economic meltdown, and following successful drives for stimulus and health reform legislation, why has Washington been unable to deliver serious financial reform and rein in Wall Street?  Bill Moyers speaks with financial journalist Gretchen Morgenson for a candid look at the obstacles facing substantive reform of the financial system and what Washington's proposed legislation would – and wouldn't – accomplish. Morgenson, a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, writes the Market Watch column for The New York Times. Also on the program, Bill Moyers takes a closer look at the newly signed health bill and explores why some say that reform is not yet done with The Nation Washington correspondent John Nichols and National Organization for Women president Terry O'Neill.

Dr. Jane Goodall. Despite dire warnings for our endangered planet, Jane Goodall says all is not yet lost - we can change course if we act now. And, the Jane Goodall institute's global youth program, Roots and Shoots.

Bill Moyers sits down with NYU president and modern renaissance man John Sexton for a wide-ranging conversation about God, baseball, and the importance of thoughtful discourse in society. Previously a champion debate coach and scholar of religion and law, Sexton discusses his unique take on theology, contemporary politics, and the evolving role of universities throughout the world. Born to a struggling Catholic family in Brooklyn, John Sexton still teaches undergraduates in addition to his work as president of one of the world's largest and most prestigious universities.

Bill Moyers sits down with former insurance executive turned public health advocate Wendell Potter, who argues that all is not lost in the healthcare bill and details what he likes about the legislation. Then, single-payer advocate Marcia Angell on why she thinks the debate over reform needs a fresh look at the economics and delivery of the care promised in the bill. And, Bill Moyers checks in on viewer mail.

Once adversaries in 2000's Bush v. Gore Supreme Court case, now two of the nation's premier lawyers -- one conservative and one liberal -- have teamed up to make the constitutional case for same-sex marriage.

As two-thirds of American voters oppose the Supreme Courts decision in Citizens United v. FEC, Bill Moyers Journal takes a hard look at how campaign cash in judicial races may sway America's courts. The Journal revisits the 1999 FRONTlINE special "Justice for Sale" which looked at the growing concern - even among Supreme Court justices themselves - that campaign contributions may be corrupting the judicial process. Then, Bill Moyers sits down with legal analyst and journalist Jeffrey Toobin to talk about the relationship between big money and judicial elections today.

On lincoln's birthday, Bill Moyers Journal takes a unique look at our nation's 16th President – through the eyes of critically acclaimed, veteran dance artist Bill T. Jones. In a groundbreaking work of choreography called Fondly Do We Hope...Fervently Do We Pray, Jones reimagines a young lincoln in his formative years through dance. Bill Moyers speaks with Jones about his creative process, his insights into lincoln, and how dance can give us fresh perspective on America's most-studied president. "The number of ways in which one could ask the question 'Who was this man?" is less interesting to me than 'Can we see that man anywhere in ourselves or around us right now?'" says Jones.

In the wake of a controversial Supreme Court decision giving corporations and unions more freedom to spend on elections, many federal and state lawmakers are hoping to curb Citizens United V. FEC's effect on elections. Find out how some legislators are fighting to curb Big Money spending even as the Court invalidates laws in 24 states aimed at keeping elections clean. And, libertarian journalist Nick Gillespie and legal scholar lawrence lessig discuss public financing of campaigns and the effects of money on politics. Also, Pediatrician Margaret Flowers speaks about protesting for change and her recent arrest in an effort to get a Medicare-for-all plan back on the table. And, Bill Moyers on money, politics and retreats with lobbyists.

Are America's elections now up for sale? The JOURNAl explores what the Supreme Court's decision means for campaign finance reform and the future of our democracy with progressive legal experts Monica Youn and Zephyr Teachout. Monica Youn directs the campaign finance reform/money in politics project at NYU's Brennan Center for law and Justice and Zephyr Teachout teaches law and politics at Fordham University's School of law. Then, America's workers need jobs, and AFl-CIO president Richard Trumka is calling on them to stand up and fight. Trumka joins Bill Moyers to offer his perspective on President Obama's first State of the Union address and on whether organized labor can grow and generate jobs in the 21st century. Trumka has previously worked as a coal miner, a lawyer, and president of the United Mine Workers of America. And, Bill Moyers remembers historian Howard Zinn.

The JOURNAl assesses Obama's first year as President in the wake of Democrats' defeat in Massachusetts' special election for Senate with Princeton politics and African American studies professor Melissa Harris-lacewell and journalist Eric Alterman. And, faced with the increasing global demand for oil and the threat of climate change, experts say that America needs a new energy policy - but what are our options? Bill Moyers sits down with analysts Jean Johnson and Scott Bittle to discuss how we can power America's future. And, a poem and hope for Haiti.

America has committed more money and more troops to Afghanistan, but Greg Mortenson, the bestselling author of THREE CUPS OF TEA argues that there's a better path to peace: building schools and nurturing local communities. WAll STREET JOURNAl correspondent and author of THE WRECKING CREW: HOW CONSERVATIVES RUINED GOVERNMENT, ENRICHED THEMSElVES, AND BEGGARED THE NATION takes a look back at the decade that was.

MOTHER JONES journalists David Corn and Kevin Drum offer a hard look at the obstacles to real reform of the financial industry. And, a Bill Moyers essay.

At the close of lincoln's bicentennial year, Bill Moyers Journal takes a unique look at the 16th President. Moyers speaks with critically acclaimed choreographer Bill T. Jones about his creative process, his insights into lincoln, and how dance can give us fresh perspective on America's most-studied president.

Amidst fading hopes for real reform on issues ranging from high finance to health care, economist Robert Kuttner and journalist Matt Taibbi join Bill Moyers to discuss Wall Street's power over the federal government. And, The JOURNAl profiles Steve Meacham, a Massachusetts community organizer fighting to keep working people in their homes. Plus, Bill Moyers picks his favorite books from 2009.

Renowned historian Howard Zinn has chronicled centuries of people's struggles against oppression. He joins Bill Moyers to discuss the voices of today's people - facing big interests' outsized influence - and his new film THE PEOPlE SPEAK. And, organizers George Goehl and Heather Booth on turning anger into action.

Veteran Oliver Stone came back from Vietnam a changed man. Now, with four films on the Vietnam War under his belt –Platoon (1986), Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Heaven & Earth (1993), and Pinkville (2007) – Oliver Stone talks with Bill Moyers about how his experiences of war has affected his life, his work and his vision of the world today. Also on the program, Bill Moyers comments on President Obama's decision to escalate troops in Afghanistan.

Dr. Jane Goodall. Despite dire warnings for our endangered planet, Jane Goodall says all is not yet lost - we can change course if we act now. And, the Jane Goodall institute's global youth program, Roots and Shoots.

As President Obama prepares to announce how many more troops he will send to Afghanistan, Bill Moyers remembers the presidency of lyndon Johnson and the agonizing decisions that escalated America's involvement in Vietnam. Through Johnson's secret tapes of phone calls and conversations, and his own reminiscences, Moyers recalls the events that plunged us ever deeper into war.

While politicians and the media war over "the public option" and "bending the cost curve," acclaimed actress-playwright Anna Deavere Smith and her one-woman play "lET ME DOWN EASY" give voice to questions of life and death, sickness and healthcare. And, the JOURNAl visits a new home in New York City for contemplation and celebration of poetry.

The Dow's up, but why are Main Street Americans still reeling from last year's economic collapse? With Americans still facing rising unemployment, foreclosures, and declining property values, renowned economist James K. Galbraith on whether we've averted another crisis and how to get help for the middle class. James K. Galbraith is the lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr. Chair in Government/Business Relations at the lBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. Galbraith has authored six books, most recently The Predator State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why liberals Should Too. And, National Review senior editor Richard Brookhiser talks about his mentor William F. Buckley, Jr. and today's conservative movement.

Bill Moyers talks with Judge Richard Goldstone, who headed up the controversial UN Human Rights Council investigation into the fighting in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. And Bill Moyers remembers Texas judge William Wayne Justice.

Barack Obama was elected on a message of change, promising a new era of diplomacy and international cooperation - but can the President deliver a new vision of America? Reporting from the world's most troubled hotspots, Mark Danner has seen countless deaths over ethnic and political divides, and witnessed firsthand how U.S. attempts to exploit those conflicts have resulted in disastrous unforeseen consequences. Danner speaks with Bill Moyers about Obama's challenges in resetting the mindset of America from war to peace, and redefining the US as a nation. Danner was a staff writer for many years at The New Yorker, contributes frequently to the New York Review of Books, the New York Times Magazine, and his latest book is Stripping Bare the Body, which chronicles the moral history of American power over the last quarter century. Also on the program, the Journal profiles public health doctor America Bracho, who serves her Santa Ana, CA community - notorious for crime, poverty and disease - with her organization, latino Health Access.

Just over a year after economic calamity brought promises of reform to Washington, many now say that the recession is nearing an end. But is it business as usual for Wall Street, and have future financial crises been averted? Former International Monetary Fund chief economist Simon Johnson and US Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) join Bill Moyers for a report card on the bailouts, an update on the state of the U.S. economy, and to find out whether efforts of reform have been derailed. And, Bill Moyers remembers his friend, renowned physician and mountaineer Charlie Houston.

Rory Stewart, director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, lays out an alternate strategy for the international community in Afghanistan. And, Kavita Ramdas, president and CEO of Global Fund for Women, the largest grant-making foundation focused exclusively on women's rights issues talks about human rights initiatives around the world. And, lynn Sherr on the century of women.

Digging deep into the roots and evolution of the American conservative movement, Sam Tanenhaus talks with Bill Moyers about why he believes that conservatism is dead and how it might yet come back to life. Tanenhaus is the editor of both THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW and the Week in Review section of the TIMES. And, with public support for labor unions at its lowest point in 70 years, Bill Moyers talks with experts Bill Fletcher, co-author of SOlIDARITY DIVIDED: THE CRISIS IN ORGANIZED lABOR AND A NEW PATH TOWARD SOCIAl JUSTICE and Michael Zweig, director of the Center for the Study of Working Class life at SUNY Stony Brook, about the state of organized labor.

The JOURNAl takes a hard look at the state of affairs in ever-divided Afghanistan with McClatchy DC Pentagon correspondent Nancy Youssef. And, global health specialist and Dartmouth College president Dr. Jim Yong Kim shares his expertise in public health.

Next week, the Supreme Court reconvenes early for a special hearing on the constitutionality of campaign finance limits for corporations. To hear the arguments, Bill Moyers sits down with Trevor Potter, president and general counsel of The Campaign legal Center and a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, and Floyd Abrams, a First Amendment attorney. And, a Bill Moyers essay on health care reform.

Bill Moyers Journal presents CRITICAl CONDITION, a film by Roger Weisberg that follows families fighting illness without health coverage. The families discover that being uninsured can cost them their jobs, health, homes, savings, and even their lives.

Conservative journalist David Frum worries that Republicans would only win a failing status quo in their fight to kill health care reform. Bill Moyers sits down with the former special assistant to George W. Bush, who is calling on Republicans to come up with a plan for health care reform and suggests changes that conservatives can favor. David Frum is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the editor of NewMajority.com. Also on the program, the JOURNAl sorts fact from spin in the health care debate. Media analyst Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Kaiser Family Foundation president and CEO Drew Altman discuss the messages in health care ads today, and how well they reflect the real issues of health care reform.

"Change, growth, and new learning" - there's a cultural shift in America, says Sara lawrence-lightfoot. This Friday, Bill Moyers speaks with one of America's leading educators and author of The Third Chapter: Passion, Risk, and Adventure in the 25 Years After 50. Sara lawrence-lightfoot is the first African American woman in the history of Harvard to have an endowed professorship named in her honor. She's been on the faculty for 37 years, and her career as a scholar has won her the prestigious MacArthur fellowship and the George ledlie prize for research. And, photographic artist Chris Jordan turns the statistics of consumerism into palpable images in his startling series Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait and Intolerable Beauty: Portraits of American Mass Consumption.

With almost 20 years inside the health insurance industry, Wendell Potter saw for-profit insurers hijack our health care system and put profits before patients. Now, he speaks with Bill Moyers about how those companies are standing in the way of health care reform. And, a Bill Moyers Essay.

Bill Moyers sits down with Trudy lieberman, director of the health and medical reporting program at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, and Marcia Angell, senior lecturer in social medicine at Harvard Medical School and former editor in chief of the New England Journal of Medicine. And, what happens when America's airwaves fill with hate? BIll MOYERS JOURNAl revisits a tough look at the hostile industry of "Shock Jock" media with a hard-hitting examination of its effects on our nation's political discourse.

In his new book, THE EVOlUTION OF GOD, bestselling author Robert Wright examines how the idea of God has changed through history. Wright sits down with Bill Moyers to discuss why he thinks the notion of God - real or not - is imperative to a moral society. And, Bill Moyers talks with two environmental activists who are disappointed in Obama's progress on climate change. Plus, a Bill Moyers essay on health care.

With almost 20 years inside the health insurance industry, Wendell Potter saw for-profit insurers hijack our health care system and put profits before patients. Now, he speaks with Bill Moyers about how those companies are standing in the way of health care reform. And, a Bill Moyers Essay.

Bill Moyers talks to Cornel West, Serene Jones, and Gary Dorrien for a fresh take on what our core ethics and values as a society say about America's politics, policy, and the challenges of balancing capitalism and democracy. And, why are America's food banks suffering shortages? Find out what you can do to help.

On the heels of winning this year's Pulitzer prize for poetry, W.S. Merwin joins Bill Moyers for a wide-ranging conversation about language, his writing process, the natural world, and the insights gleaned from a much-lauded career of more than 50 years. W.S. Merwin is the author of 21 volumes of poetry and won his second Pulitzer Prize for his most recent collection, THE SHADOW OF SIRIUS. And, what's your vision for the future of the American Dream? Our guests and our viewers speak out.

Instructed by a dream and organized in prayer, leymah Gbowee and thousands of everyday women in liberia -- both Christians and Muslims alike -- confronted warlords and a corrupt president to successfully fight for peace and dignity in their war-torn nation. "I realized that every problem we encounter on this journey, I'm going to rise above it and lead these women because they trusted me with their lives and their future," says Gbowee. Journal guest host lynn Sherr interviews leymah Gbowee and Abigail Disney, who documented their inspiring tale in the award-winning film Pray the Devil Back to Hell. lynn Sherr is a long-time broadcast journalist who most recently covered events in liberia for PBS' news program, WorldFocus.

As Secretary of labor under President Clinton, Robert Reich successfully implemented a higher minimum wage, the Family and Medical leave act, and fought for sweatshop workers. Now, Reich sits down with Bill Moyers to talk about the influence of lobbyists on policy, the economy, and the ongoing debate over public health care. Currently a professor of public policy at UC Berkeley, Robert Reich is the author of several books, most recently, Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and Everyday life. On the 200th anniversary of Thomas Paine's death, Bill Moyers sits down with Thomas Paine and the Promise of America author Harvey J. Kaye and National Review senior editor Richard Brookhiser, author of What Would the Founding Fathers Do?

From a billion dollars sought for embassies in Pakistan and Afghanistan to May's highest casualties for US forces in Iraq since September, the wars abroad are taking their toll on our nation. Bill Moyers sits down with award-winning investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill to examine the human and financial costs of America's wars. Scahill is author of the best-selling book Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army. And, from headlines surrounding the health care debate to media frenzy over Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, NPR's On the Media host Brooke Gladstone and NYU journalism professor and PressThink blogger Jay Rosen sort the messages and spin from the week's news.

Washington's abuzz about health care, but why isn't a single-payer plan an option on the table? Bill Moyers speaks with advocate Donna Smith about how our broken system is hurting ordinary Americans. Then, policy analysts and physicians Sidney Wolfe of Public Citizen and David Himmelstein of Physicians for a National Health Program join Bill Moyers for a frank discussion about the political and logistical feasibility of a single-payer system amidst the troubled economy and a government dominated by lobbyists.

As the banking stress test results come in, the Journal takes a closer look at money's stranglehold on politics. Bill Moyers speaks with Senator Dick Durbin (D-Il) - who declared last week that banks "are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place" - on campaign finance reform, big lobbying, and making Washington work for the people rather than special interests. Bill Moyers speaks with one of America's leading educators and author of THE THIRD CHAPTER: PASSION RISK AND ADVENTURE IN THE 25 YEARS AFTER 50.

New debate has emerged from the release of the Department of Justice's Office of legal Counsel memos approving extreme measures of interrogation under the Bush administration. But, as the President acknowledges "a dark and painful chapter," how should he respond to allegations of torture? Bill Moyers sits down with Bruce Fein, former deputy attorney general under President Ronald Reagan and chairman of the American Freedom Agenda, and Mark Danner, who has been reporting on the US treatment and interrogation of detainees for the New York Review of Books. Also on the program, the Journal profiles Steve Meacham, a Massachusetts community organizer fighting to keep working people in their homes.

This week, the Senate responded to the growing demand for a new Pecora Hearing, the 1930s investigation into the causes and effects of the Great Depression. ring, the 1930s investigation into the causes and effects of the Great Depression. A 92-4 vote in Senate supported the creation of a bipartisan and independent commission to investigate wrong doing in the lead-up to the economic crisis. For context, Bill Moyers speaks with economist Simon Johnson and Ferdinand Pecora biographer and legal scholar Michael Perino. Johnson is a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and a professor at MIT Sloan School of Management, and Perino is a professor of law at St. John's University and has been an advisor to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

From crime beat reporter for the BAlTIMORE SUN to award-winning screenwriter of HBO's critically-acclaimed The Wire, David Simon talks with Bill Moyers about inner-city crime and politics, storytelling and the future of journalism today.

Assassinated on Good Friday, Abraham lincoln was transformed from man to martyr and myth. In this special performance edition of Bill Moyers Journal acclaimed actor Sam Waterston and historian Harold Holzer explore lincoln's legacy and legend in the poetry and prose by great American writers across the decades who have wrestled to define the true lincoln through the lens of their own times.