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We talk with social justice scholar Monique Morris about her new book, Sing a Rhythm, Dance a Blues: Education for the Liberation of Black and Brown Girls.
Then, as fire season in California becomes ever longer and more intense, some are saying the profit-driven utility ownership model just isn’t working. We talk with Ben Ehrenreich about his article in the Nation, “California Is Burning—Nationalize PG&E.”
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On the menu this week are two books, both with roots in South Asia and America, touching on two of the most central issues of our time: climate and immigration.
We talk first with acclaimed novelist and writer Amitav Ghosh about his newest work of fiction, Gun Island. Then, NPR-correspondent Aarti Shahani tells us about her stunning memoir of immigration to America — the dream and the nightmare. It’s called Here We Are: American Dreams, American Nightmares. Continue reading
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We talk with Ryan Grim, correspondent for the Intercept about his fascinating new book, We’ve Got People: From Jesse Jackson to AOC, the End of Big Money and the Rise of a Movement.
Then we check in with Jeet Heer about his take on the state of the Democratic Party after the last debate. His editorial in the Nation is “On a Crowded Stage, Democrats Divide Into Two Tribes.” Continue reading
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We spend the hour with Virginia Eubanks talking about her award-winning book Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor. It’s about how the use of computerized algorithms are replacing human beings in deciding in who is or is not “worthy” of getting help — and destroying lives in the process. Continue reading
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We talk with John Nichols of the Nation about how the Congress should be proceeding on impeaching President Trump.
Then Bernie and Warren are friends. Should their supporters be? In a recent editorial in the Nation, D.D. Guttenplan says they should.
Finally, we check in with Les Leopold, author of Runaway Inequality and founder of runawayinequality.org about the current state of income and wealth inequality. Continue reading
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We talk with David Bollier about the new book he co-authored with Silke Helfrich, Free, Fair and Alive: The Insurgent Power of the Commons.
But first, we tackle the toxic state public discourse and how to clean it up. We talk with James Hoggan about the new edition of his book, I’m Right and You’re An Idiot. Continue reading
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We talk with naturalist, author, and award-winning wildlife filmmaker Paul Rosalie about how a real life encounter with a tiger turned into a page-turner of a novel. His book is The Girl And The Tiger.
But first, we explore the relationship of water to people and people to water. We talk with journalist and historian Jim Rousmaniere about his book Water Connections. Continue reading
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What’s causing the epidemic of violence against women in Tijuana Mexico? That’s the question epidemiologist Dan Werb addresses in his powerful exploration into the causes of the epidemic of missing and murdered women in Tijuana. We talk with him about his book, City of Omens: A Search for the Missing Women of the Borderlands (Bloomsbury Press, 2019.)
Then, the UN Climate Summit and a global week of action on the climate is happening. We air an excerpt from an interview with climate scientist Michael Mann. Continue reading
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We talk with Paul Tough about his terrific new book, THE YEARS THAT MATTER MOST: How College Makes Or Breaks Us. It asks the question: Is the American system of higher education fair? Or is it designed to protect the privileged and leave everyone else behind?
Then we re-air our 2015 interview with Kristina Rizga about her book MISSION HIGH: One School, How Experts Tried to Fail It, and the Students and Teachers Who Made It Triumph. It’s about a high school in San Francisco with an impressive track record on educating poor, minority and immigrant youth.
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We spend the hour with science fiction novelist, blogger and technology activist, Cory Doctorow. First, we talk with him about his terrific new book, Radicalized. It brings together four speculative fiction novellas connected by social, technological, and economic visions of today — and what America could be in the very near future.
Then we re-air an edited version of our 2010 interview with Doctorow about his novel, Makers, which is about a movement of open source tech creators and their battle with the Disney Corporation.
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Eighty years ago on September 1, 1939 World War Two broke out. Today, we talk about a new novel and a surprising biography that illumine important but lesser known stories about that conflict: Julie Orringer’s acclaimed novel, The Flight Portfolio and Robert Matzen’s fascinating biography of the young Audrey Hepburn and her work with the Dutch Resistance against the Nazis, Dutch Girl.
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We talk with Jayson Greene about his memoir of losing his two year old daughter to a freak accident, Once More We Saw Stars.
Then, we talk with writer Mitchell S. Jackson about his memoir of growing up in an African-American community in Portland Oregon, Survival Math.
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We talk with playwright and author Octavio Solis about growing up the son of Mexican migrants in El Paso Texas. His book of stories based on that history is Retablos: Stories from a Life Lived Along the Border. We also talk about the August 3 mass shooting in El Paso and the impact it has had on Solis’ hometown.
Then, we re-air our 2018 interview with singer-songwriter Don Arbor about his song honoring immigrants, “Everyone Comes From Somewhere”. Continue reading
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We talk with Rachel Louise Snyder about her groundbreaking book, No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us.
We also play an excerpt from our 2018 interview with historian Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz about her book about the Second Amendment, Loaded. Continue reading
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We talk with Thomas Lockley about his book, African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan. It’s about the first foreigner and the only African to ever become a samurai.
Then, who—or what—won at Tuesday’s Democratic debate? Political analyst John Nichols of the Nation magazine joins us with his take. His article for the Nation is “Last Night’s Debate Produced a Clear Winner: Medicare for All.”