Political Analysis

This week's show is an hour-long special covering the life and lasting influence of rebel investigative and independent journalist Izzy Stone, with two distinguished guests.1.) Fred Peabody is an Emmy-winning journalist and filmmaker whose credits include seven years as a producer-director on the acclaimed CBC investigative program “The Fifth Estate”. In 2003 he was Supervising Producer on “Perfect Illusions," a PBS documentary about eating disorders in young women. His film on the childhood exploitation of the Dionne quintuplets was nominated for an Emmy in 1998, and he won an Emmy in 1989 for a film about wild horses rescued from starvation and abuse. He’s produced two documentaries on chemical and biological weapons, and a major investigation of corporate SLAPPS (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation).Fred learned his craft at the CBC in Toronto, where he spent four years as a news editor/reporter with CBC News, followed by seven years as a producer on "The Fifth Estate". His investigative work at “The Fifth Estate” led to staff producer jobs with ABC News 20/20 and Dateline NBC.He is currently writing, producing and directing "All Governments Lie", a 90-minute theatrical release documentary on the legendary Washington journalist I. F. Stone, in collaboration with Peter Raymont, President of White Pine Pictures in Toronto.2.) Myra MacPherson is a journalist, lecturer and author of five books that include best sellers and award winners. "All Governments Lie: The Life and Times of Rebel Journalist I.F. Stone" was awarded the Ann M. Sperbr biography award in 2007, a 2007 PEN USA Literary Award finalist, named Number One of the Top Ten Biographies of 2006-2007 by Booklist and Best Book of the year by newspapers, including the Boston Globe. MacPherson is also noted for her best selling "Long Time Passing: Vietnam and the Haunted Generation," which was published in 1985 and was the first trade book to mention an unknown phrase, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Her book is now considered a Vietnam classic and remains in print.Her latest book, "The Scarlet Sisters: Sex Suffrage and Scandal in the Gilded Age" saw a return to the subject of feminists and women's rights that she had touched on in her best selling "The Power Lovers: An Intimate Look at Politicians and Their Marriages."MacPherson was a long time political and general reporter for the Washington Post, wrote for the New York Times, numerous magazines, and Salon.com.

The May 21, 2015 edition of "Political Analysis" featured two guests.1.) Meg Healy was a researcher & reporter for the website RioOnWatch.org last year and will be returning to Rio in August as a housing policy reporter. She is a recent graduate at University of Wisconsin-Madison and authored her recently-submitted senior thesis titled, "Olympic Housing Games: Housing Policy and Socio-Spatial Displacement in Pre-Olympics Rio de Janiero." Healy discussed her research and writing on the forthcoming Olympic games with "Political Analysis."2.) Alleen Brown is Associate Research Editor for The Intercept and author of two recent investigative articles on one of the lesser-known forces that propelled Obama Administration-backed Arctic drilling from dream to reality. That is, the National Petroleum Council, not to be confused with the American Petroleum Institute. Brown talked about these articles and previewed what she's working on in the coming days and weeks for The Intercept.

The May 14 edition of "Political Analysis" on The Progressive Radio Network featured a debate between a proponent of U.S. Bernie Sanders' (I-VT) run for president as part of the Democratic Party primary vs. Hillary Clinton (among others) and a critic of it. It also featured a critical look at the political-economy of freelancing.On the first half of the show, Carl Gibson, author of an Al Jazeera America article in favor of a Sanders Democratic Party primary run went toe-to-toe with Ashley Smith, author of an article appearing online in Jacobin Magazine critical of such a run.The second half of the show featured Sarah Grey, author of the recent piece published online by Jacobin titled, "Four Myths About the 'Freelancer Class.'”

The May 7, 2015 edition of "Political Analysis" on The Progressive Radio Network featured the work and voices of two documentarians: Marcos Barbery and Neal Broffman. 1.) Marcos Barbery, Director and Producer of the newly-released documentary film "By Blood," which is a contemporary and historical account of the African-American Freedmen of Cherokee descent, who were enslaved by the Cherokee Tribe and have still yet to achieve the rights and benefits they argue are owed to them by the Tribe. The movie raises fascinating questions about race, identity and history and is timely given what's going on as of late in Baltimore, Ferguson and other US cities.Barbery is a filmmaker and journalist and founder of THREAD Productions.The Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute has supported Barbery’s reporting. Barbery's writing has been featured by Long Reads, and appeared in Salon, The Huffington Post, and This Land Press. 2.) Neal Broffman, Director and Producer of the new documentary film "Help Us Find Sunil Tripathi" about Sunil Tripathi, who was initially misidentified as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev during the initial manhunt for Dzhokhar and his now-dead brother Tamerlan (then known as "Suspect One" and "Suspect Two"). Sunil was eventually found dead (having committed suicide) in a river near Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, but not before the damage was done and his name forever tied to the April 2013 bombing. The movie's recent release coincides with the ongoing death penalty phase of USA v. Tsarnaev case occurring in a U.S. District Court in Boston.Sunil's mom Judy and his brother Ravi also came on the show, joining Neal Broffman.Help Us Find Sunil Tripathi had its world premiere in March, 2015 at the Atlanta Film Festival where it won the Audience Award for Feature Film. The international premiere was in April-May of 2015 at the renowned Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, where it was also included in Docs For School.

The April 30, 2015 edition of "Political Analysis" on The Progressive Radio Networked featured the work and voices of two energy and environmental historians: Christopher Jones and Bob Johnson. 1.) Christopher Jones, history professor at Arizona State University, joined "Political Analysis" to discuss his book "Routes of Power: Energy and Modern America," recently nominated for the Turku Book Award.2.) Bob Johnson, history professor at National University in La Jolla, California, joined the show to talk about his new book titled, "Carbon Nation: Fossil Fuels in the Making of American Culture."

NEVER HAVE SO MANY, DONE SO MUCH, TO ACHIEVE SO LITTLE!Greg Mello of the Los Alamos Study Group joins Chuck McCune of Prizm Foundation (sitting in for Host Sandy Leon-Vest) for an in-depth discussion on energy, global instability, nuclear weapons, conservation, environment, sustainability, white privilege resource consumption, and expected converging disasters. This in the context of unresponsive government, industry and regulators regarding the concern for our future survival. We examine the strategies of the last 4 decades and the progress, or rather the lack thereof, and call for a boycott of all Ecocidal Products and Services. For more information, Facebook Page Boycott Ecocidehttps://www.facebook.com/pages/Boycott-Ecocide/378437659029235, Los Alamos Study Group www.lasg.org, Prizm Foundation www.prizm.org.

The two show segments centered around the "Battle of Seattle" (no, not the one of late-90s fame!).Segment one featured Sydney Brownstone, a reporter for The Stranger, Seattle's only newspaper, an alt-weekly and a Pulitzer Prize-winning publication. Brownstone talked about her latest reporting on the oil-by-rail legal battle pitting the Swinowish Tribe vs. Warren Buffett's rail company giant BNSF Railway, as well as her prolific reporting on the battle over Shell's movement to use Seattle's port to store its tankers and accessories there as it awaits an opportunity to tap oil in the Arctic.Segment two featured Adam Brown and Jason Reid, Director and Producer respectively of the documentary Sonicsgate, which covers the business wheeling and dealing that forced the Seattle SuperSonics to move from Seattle to become the Oklahoma City Thunder. 

The April 2, 2015 edition of "Political Analysis" featured three professors and contributors to Jacobin Magazine. 1.) Matthew Huber is an assistant professor of geography at Syracuse University and author of the book "Lifeblood: Oil, Freedom, and the Forces of Capital." He discussed his latest piece in Jacobin titled, "Too Much Oil," which analyzes what lowering global oil prices means for the Left going forward among other related things.2.) Tyler Zimmer is a visiting professor of philosophy at Northeastern Illinois University and author of the recent piece, "Questions about Chuy," also appearing in Jacobin. He discussed his article, which serves as the "skunk in the room" of sorts in the Chicago Mayoral race, set to take place on April 7 and pitting Jesús "Chuy" García vs. Rahm "Rahmbo" Emanuel.3.) Nicole Aschoff is an editor at Jacobin, an adjunct professor of sociology at Boston University and she blogs at The Game is Rigged, which she maintains on her own over at WordPress. Further, her new book "The New Prophets of Capital" published by Verso is now on-sale. She discussed her latest piece in Jacobin titled, "The Smartphone Society."

Guests: Nikeeta Slade and Alex LotortoThere's a lot of talk right now about racism, sexism, classism, homophobia and elitism within the environmental movement. But too many white liberals view the term "racist liberal" as an oxymoron.Tonight on Political Analysis, Sandy LeonVest is joined by Nikeeta Slade and Alex Lotorto to kick off an ongoing series, in which all of these issues and more will be addressed. The conversation is the first of its kind, dealing with the critical but underplayed issue of racism in (and the "unbearable whiteness" of) the contemporary green movement -- specifically the Big Greens and NGOs. Among other things, the program will look at the prickly (but all too real) issue of "liberal racism;" how environmentalists can go beyond PR, campaign slogans and tokenism to "reach out" to non-white communities; and how the current movement can begin strategizing for effective bridge-building. -- ie: the ways in which environmentalists can begin building deep diversity and REAL coalitions with communities all over the world, including with indigenous people (whom, after all, were the FIRST radical environmentalists).Nikeeta Slade is a member of the International Socialist Organization and the Green Party ... She’s been involved in feminist, environmental and anti-racist organizing for several years … She’s also an editor and contributor to Red Wedge Magazine, a radical arts and culture magazine, and an editor for The Peace Newsletter, a Syracuse based publication dedicated to peace and justice. Alex Lotorto has been an activist and organizer for the past several years – mostly around the issue of fracking. He’s been actively involved in labor organizing and union issues … Today, Alex Lotorto serves as the shale gas program coordinator for Energy Justice Network.

PIMP THIS PUBLIC SCHOOLGuest Lineup: Author and essayist PL Thomas, teacher and journalist Adam Bessie and teacher/journalist Mickey Huff (Project Censored).On tonight's show, Sandy LeonVest and Steve Horn present Part One of their new series, headlined Pimp This Public School ... During the course of the series, they feature a critical look at public schools, the privatization frenzy, corporate influence and the importance of literacy and quality education for ALL – what some call “universal education” -- to a functional democracy. Joining Steve and Sandy are professor/essayist/author PL Thomas, college teacher and journalist Adam Bessie and Mickey Huff (Project Censored).This conversation in the wake of President Obama's much-heralded (and some would argue, overly-hyped) proposal to make community college tuition-free.PL Thomas serves as Associate Professor of Education at Furman University, in Greenville SC … He’s also a prolific author and essayist. Among his many books, Ignoring poverty in the US.: The corporate takeover of public education and  Becoming and Being a Teacher: Confronting Traditional Norms to Create New Democratic Realities.  Adam Bessie is a professor of English at Diablo Valley College – based in Northern California. Adam has published essays on education, comics, media and culture in (among other publications) The Washington Post’s “Answer Sheet,” Daily Censored, the Project Censored book series and Truthout. Mickey Huff is a Professor of social science and history at Diablo Valley College … He serves as director of Project Censored, a Northern California-based non-profit, dedicated to educating students and the public about the importance of a free press for democratic self-government. Among other things, Project Censored exposes and opposes news censorship and promotes independent investigative journalism, media literacy, and critical thinking.

Adrian James Tan, a Lecturer of Sociology at the University of North Texas at Dallas and independent reporter Rania Khalek came on the show to discuss both the sociology of the fitness/weightlifting industrial complex and Tan's book titled "Million Dollar Muscle: A Historical and Sociological Perspective of the Fitness Industry", as well as the ongoing Jeffrey Epstein-Alan Dershowitz human-trafficking/sex slave saga that Rania Khalek's been digging into, respectively.

Dr. Margaret Flowers, Kevin Alexander Gray, Kevin Zeese, Phil RockstrohOn tonight's Political Analysis, Sandy LeonVest hosts a conversation about effective 21st century activism, featuring a veritable rock star lineup of activists. Sandy is joined by the magnificent Dr. Margaret Flowers, activist and author Kevin Alexander Gray, attorney and activist Kevin Zeese and poet and political philospher/sattirist Phil Rockstroh to talk about organizing strategies for the 21st century, the pros and cons of social media (and "armchair activism") and creating a sustainable, non-violent revolution.

Three guests joined Sandy Leonvest and Steve Horn on the show for this week.For the first third of the show, Sam Daniel, a campaigner for Greenpeace Israel, came on to talk to Steve about the massive oil spill that recently took place in southern Israel, where clean up efforts have just begun. It was the biggest spill in the history of the country.For the second third, "Newsvandal," historian and investigative journalist JP Sottile joined Steve and Sandy to discuss plummeting global oil prices and ask the questions: who, what and why? They also discussed the central role of OPEC and the Saudi Arabian autocracy, as well as the key role of the dollar empire and "petrodollars."And for the last part of the show, Steve and Sandy chatted with Anne Petermann, executive director of the Global Ecology Justice Project, about the failed (or a success, for corporate sponsors) of the Lima, Peru United Nations climate negotiations, as well as deforestation issues in Paraguay. They also discussed the "people's climate summit," a counter to the corporate-dominated event in Lima.

For the first two-thirds of the show Steve Horn had Zach D Roberts on the show, a photo/video journalist whose work has been published in the Observer, The Guardian, TheNation.com. He has been photographing and researching for an investigation on voting suppression for Al Jazeera America with investigative journalist Greg Palast, which we discussed on-air.For the last third of the show, Steve had on Darren Dorchuk, Associate Professor, Department of History and Associate Professor in the Humanities in the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis. His research explores points of connection between religion, politics, and culture in modern U.S history. He is author of the 2011 books "Bible Belt to Sunbelt: Plain-folk Religion, Grassroots Politics, and the Rise of Evangelical Conservatism" and "Sunbelt Rising: The Politics of Space, Place, and Region" He is currently on the book, "Anointed With Oil: God and Black Gold in Modern America," which served as the topic of discussion for the show.

***Part 3 of Political Analysis' series on the Global Water Crisis***FROM PENNSYLVANIA TO UKRAINE: FRACKING FRENZY, NEOLIBERALISM AND THE WORLD WATER CRISISTonight Sandy LeonVest is joined by researcher Laura Stroup, who co-authored with Michael Finewood, the groundbreaking new report, "Fracking and the Neoliberalization of the Hydro-Social Cycle in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale."Sandy and Laura discuss, among other issues, the ways neoliberalism is re-defining the relationships between people and the non-human world; the significance (or lack thereof) of this week's US-China climate agreement; and how "multi-scale neoliberal discourses" obfuscate a deeper understanding of the impacts of fracking on water resources -- and facillitate the normalization of a false narrative on fracking and other energy-related issues and practices.They also discuss the huge socio-environmental costs of the current "fracking frenzy" in the US and abroad, as is so graphically illustrated in Ukraine, where the connection between neoliberal policies and the global fracking rampage is painfully apparent -- and emblematic of the larger problem. The report states: "But more broadly, we are interested in contributing to a context-specific analysis of  As market approaches to environmental regulation become a more accepted, and perhaps a dominant part of governance strategy, places like northeastern PA are ''written off for environmental destruction in the name of a higher purpose, such as the national interest" (Scott 2010, 31). These 'sacrifice zones' assume an ecological disconnect between people and their environment, normalizing environmental degradation in some places while protecting others, and also assume no alternative uses ofland or energy resources. This can be viewed as a form of remote environmental exploitation and brutality where the scalar issues make these sacrifice zones almost invisible to the larger nation and world. We feel that these struggles to (re)define the nature/ society relationship is about the power to ensure capital flows into specific hands, which will likely result in greater costs to other people and their environments. Formally investigating and deconstructing pro- fracking discourses is part of an ongoing project to come to terms with the realities involved with the transformation of the hydro­ social cycle and with the water-energy nexus, and to strive for a more equitable future."http://www.ucowr.org/…/fracking-and-the-neoliberalization-o…(Michael H. Flnewood and Laura J. Stroup, Chatham University, Pittsburgh, PA; St. Michael's College, Colchester, VT)

The Global Labor Institute's Dr. Sean Sweeney joins Sandy LeonVest on tonighit's Political Analysis. Sandy and Sean reflect on Tuesday's election results and the ramifications for the climate. They also discuss Energy Democracy in an increasingly undemocratic world and this November's Labor and Climate Justice Forum in NYC (moderated by  Dr. Sweeney). Other topics include the folly of Obama's "all of the above," methane-powered climate plan; the imperative of organizing a mass, "transformative" movement -- from the ground up; effective coalition building on a divided planet and current strategies for uniting various activist and grassroots groups, in the interest of saving the climate."With the threat of climate change and the likely breach of planetary resource limits, human civilization faces an energy emergency of global proportions." (from the WorldwatchInstitute’s State of the World 2014: Governing for Sustainability, co-authored by Dr. Sean Sweeney, co-director of the Global Labor Institute at Cornell University.) The book highlights the need for economic and political institutions to serve people and preserve and protect our common resources.Resources: www.worldwatch.org/…/state-world-2014-governing-sustainabilitySolarTimes FB page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/244748076427/www.solartimes.orgwww.solartimesnow.org

Steve was joined for the first 35 minutes by Brandon Garrett, a Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law and author of the new book, "Too Big to Jail: How Prosecutors Compromise with Corporations." They discussed what he means by "too big to jail," how the heck corporations and executives got "too big to jail" to begin with, why lack of corporate accountability matters, the online research database he created as an appendix of sorts for his book on corporate crimes and lack of federal prosecutions and if he thinks tort lawsuits and private litigation can act as a remedy to lack of U.S. government prosecution of corporation, among other related issues. For the last 20 minutes of the show, Steve talked with Paul Street, an independent journalist, policy adviser, and historian. He is author of the new book "They Rule: The 1% vs. Democracy," and also authored the books, "Crashing the Tea Party" and "The Empire's New Clothes." They discussed what he means by "they rule" and also went into depth on some of the contents found within the book including financialization, the deep state and solutions to shifting the balance of power away from the 1%.

Sandy and Steve are joined for the first half-hour byJoel Dyer, editor at the Boulder Weekly, an alternative online publication out of Boluder, CO. They talk to him about fracking politics, and why the fracking battle in Colorado is both illustrative of the bigger fracking battle and key to winning the "fracking war." They also talk about Joel Dyer's recent piece (co-authored with Matt Cortina and Elizabeth Miller), titled, "Who Killed the Vote on Fracking? -- Why Colorado’s anti-fracking measures were not supported by Democrats and environmental groups." Dyer's work has been published in a host of publications, including Vanity Fair and Mother Jones.During the second half-hour, Steve and Sandy are joined by anti-fracking activist Carolyn Harding. Among other issues, they talk about why the "community rights-based" initiatives cropping up across the country are so important, and why the anti-fracking movement and the anti-nuclear movement are a "natural alliance." Carolyn is a Columbus, Ohio-based grassroots activist working to pass a Community Bill of Rights there, with the help of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF). The initiative would ban fracking waste injection within city limits, on the basis that safe air, water and food are a human (or community) right. She also works with Radioactive Waste Alert, a grassroots group in Columbus.

First Segment:RACISM AND THE MILITARIZATION OF EBOLA: Medical Apartheid, “Bioeconomic Warfare” and Neoliberalism Sandy is joined for the first half-hour by author, activist and scholar Dr. Horace G. Campbell, Professor of African American Studies and Political Science at Syracuse University in New York. Dr. Horace Campbell is the author of numerous books, his most recent, Global NATO and the Catastrophic Failure in Libya (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1583674128/counterpunchmaga), published in 2013, has been met with wide acclaim from the academic press and progressives alike. Among other issues, Dr. Campbell talks about how the "progressive left" is failing to connect the dots with respect to racism and the militarized response to Ebola (and everything else) in West Africa -- and the continent at large. He makes an impassioned plea for progressives to take on the issue of systemic, globalized racism and the "debasing" of black Africans, whom, to this day, suffer profoundly from ongoing colonialism and neoliberal policies, as illustrated by West Africa's devastated healthcare infrastructure.He talks about bio-economic warfare, medical apartheid and his recent piece published last week at Counterpunch (http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/10/10/ebola-the-african-union-and-bioeconomic-warfare/)  From his early years in Jamaica, Dr. Campbell has been involved in the Black Liberation Struggle and in the struggle for peace and justice, and he's been an influential force all over the world, lecturing and offering alternatives to the hegemonic ideas of capitalism. While at the University of Dar es Salaam, he was the Secretary of the Liberation Support Committee. As a member of the Dar Es Salaam school he was active in debates on the transition beyond colonialism. At Syracuse University, he is the Director of the Africa Initiatives and  works in the wider Syracuse Community as a peace activist. He is a board member of the Syracuse Peace Council.Second Segment:FIGHT AGAINST KILLER COAL FAR FROM OVER: Big Coal's Last, Gigantic, Mountain-Swallowing Last GaspDuring the second half of the show, Sandy is joined by Head-On Radio's Bob Kincaid and activist Bo Webb. They discuss Big Coal and the ongoing practice of “mountaintop removal,” which continues to devastate communities in and around the Appalachian Mountains. They also talk about the ACHE Act, which Bo Webb describes as "elegant," in that it demands that the health and welfare of communities be absolutely assured before any other mountaintop removal projects go forward. The ACHE Act (HR 526) establishes a moratorium on new mountaintop removal mining permits while the director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences initiates comprehensive studies into the health effects of the mining on people in surrounding communities. It would halt new or enlarged mountaintop removal permits unless and until the federal government completes a definitive health study determining that the process does not harm residents’ health.The two activists explain why the ACHE Act is so important, and why the battle against Big Coal isn't over yet.Resources for tonight's show:First half-hour:Ebola, medical apartheid, neoliberalism and militarized response in Africa:http://www.maryknollogc.org/article/liberia-militarization-fight-against-ebolahttp://www.counterpunch.org/2014/10/10/ebola-the-african-union-and-bioeconomic-warfare/http://www.democracynow.org/2014/10/15/infected_workers_slow_deployment_no_vaccineshttp://fpif.org/militarizing-ebola-crisis/http://www.maryknollogc.org/article/liberia-militarization-fight-against-ebolahttp://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/09/25/africoms-ebola-response-and-the-militarization-of-humanitarian-aid/http://uprisingradio.org/home/2014/09/19/a-critical-look-at-the-militarized-response-to-ebola-in-west-africa/http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=10367 (Emira Woods on Obama and the militarization of Africa) Second half-hour: What is the ACHE Act: http://media.wix.com/ugd/257771_3da6c49419844d9c921530644d2f73d5.pdfhttp://www.powerengineeringint.com/articles/2014/10/world-bank-misguided-on-decision-not-to-bankroll-coal.htmlhttp://www.forbes.com/sites/lorensteffy/2014/02/14/coal-makes-a-comeback-despite-natural-gas-abundance/https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FvtNyzp-P34 (Bo Webb)http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/blog/2014/08/after-dark-year-arch-peabody-optimistic-about.html?page=allhttp://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/04/17/224755/old-school-coal-is-making-a-comeback.htmlhttp://www.forbes.com/sites/lorensteffy/2014/02/14/coal-makes-a-comeback-despite-natural-gas-abundance/https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=twOziMkQnXo (Bo Webb)https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PwmXOoHWvUQhttp://www.wvgazette.com/article/20140825/ARTICLE/140829580

Sottile and Horn discussed oil price volatility, LNG and oil exports, corporate interests in the Ukraine conflict and oil interests underlying the Islamic State conflict in the Levant for the first two-thirds of the show. Tempus and Horn then discussed issues surrounding climate change and sea-level rise and what -- and what not -- big cities are doing to prepare for what's to come. They also unpacked the oft-used euphemism, "resiliency."