Today, Vince speaks with author, activist and alternative media pioneer, Michael Albert. Michael is the founder of ZNet and ZMagazine and the co-founder of South End Press. He is the author of over 21 books, ranging from economics and philosophy to politics and visions for the future. They discuss his early years as an activist, current social movements, the alternative media landscape, the 2016 elections and much more.
Solartopia Green Power and Wellness Hour – 05.12.16
The Prospects & Business of Marijuana Legalization are center stage in Solartopia.
We talk with the great Eric Stirling, legendary long-time pioneer activist and founder of numerous key groups in the struggle to end pot prohibition.
We also speak with David Dinenberg, a founder of KIND Financial, a Los Angeles-based company providing “seed-to-market” services for the marijuana industry.
At the heart of the discussion is the question of how to navigate toward full legalization of an industry that is now illegal federally, legal for medical purposes in a number of states, and fully legal in others. It’s also a schedule one drug where a number of insiders believe it’d be better to stay that way than to downscale to level two.
In other words, we look at a multi-billion-dollar industry with a wide range of unique and very high stakes challenges, ranging from mass incarceration to mass marketing and mass cash flow.
From a hot button political issue to a major financial entity, this is a fascinating case study in cultural transition. Turn on, tune in and join the brave new world of legal pot.
Smart Show (goharrison) with Cary Harrison – 05.09.16
1) CA Overturn Citizens United Act and Let The People Vote Act
Michele Sutter, MOVI (Money Out Voters In) co-founder, is a writer, teacher, producer, and activist. She is a former Story Editor at HBO and a former co-chair of The 29th StreetProject, a New York City based theater artists’ cooperative. She also produced the 2009 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award winning musical adaptation of Aristophanes’ The Wasps.
2) “Hillary Clinton Killed Berta!
Silvio Carrillo is an Oakland, California-based freelance journalist and nephew of Berta Caceres. You can follow the latest updates on her case at BertaCaceres.org or Facebook and Twitter: @JusticeforBerta.
Black Agenda Radio – 05.09.16
Welcome, to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective with your host Glen Ford and co-host, Nellie Bailey.
– Thousands of teachers went on sick-out in Detroit, last Monday and Tuesday, shutting down the city’s public schools. The sick-out was led by Steve Conn, who was elected president of the local teachers union but deposed at the urging of the national American Federation of Teachers. Steve Conn and activists from the BAMN organization, By Any Means Necessary, have been holding teacher sick-outs since November, to protest Governor Rick Snyder’s efforts to privatize the public schools, which are already more than half charter.
– The Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations plans events in a number of cities, to put together a National Black Political Agenda. The project came out of a Black Is Back Coalition national conference, in Harlem, last month. Coalition chairman Omali Yeshitela, explains.
– In Seattle, Washington, city councilwoman Kshama Sawant, head of the Socialist Alternative Party, has launched a petition calling on Bernie Sanders to run as an Independent candidate for president, after he fails to win the Democratic presidential nomination, in Philadelphia, this summer. Sawant says the nation needs a third party, to represent the 99 percent. But, what about the Green Party, which is already on the ballot – or will be – in a majority of states in November?
– Paul Street is an historian, an activist and author, who wrote early on that Barack Obama was a corporate politician who, as president, would side with Wall Street and the Pentagon. Paul Street’s latest book is titled, “They Rule: The One Percent Versus Democracy.” Street says Hillary Clinton will pull the Democratic Party even further to the Right, packing it with Republicans who prefer her to Donald Trump.
Nature Bats Last – 04.19.16
Mike and Guy interviewed Kevin Hester from New Zealand. A long-time sailor and activist, Hester is a prolific writer and public speaker. We discussed topics ranging from Fukushima and abrupt climate change to social justice and environmental protection. We took a few calls from listeners, too.
Meditations and Molotovs – 04.11.16
The Private Prison Industry, Immigrant Detention Facilities, Racism, De-industrialization and the End of Capitalism. Dispatches from the Rust Belt with Samuel Love. On today’s program, Vince interviews Gary, Indiana native, activist and artist, Sam Love, who is currently organizing to stop GEO Group from building yet another prison – this time, in Gary. Vince and Samuel talk about growing up in the Rust Belt, progressive activism, Chicago politics and building broad coalitions across racial and ethnic boundaries.
It’s All About Food – Robbyne Kaamil and Joe Cross – 03.22.16
Part I: Robbyne Kaamil, Vegan Sexy Song
Activist, author, actress, comedian, vocalist, radio personality and relationship expert are all hats worn by Robbyne Kaamil. Robbyne’s sassy style has landed her appearances on numerous radio & television shows including The Howard Stern Show and Bravo’s, “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”. As an actress Ms. Kaamil has graced the silver screen in several independent films including: Bear City: The Movie and Violet Tendencies starring Mindy Cohn of “Facts of Life”. Last summer her monthly advice column, “Dear Diva” was launched in Australia’s top gay publication DNA Magazine. She is also the Official Relationship Expert for Playgirl.
She was inspired to become an animal rights activist after seeing the PSA “Saving Lolita” which focused on the life of the orca Lolita who has been held at the Miami Seaquarium for over 45 years. She saw the parallels between Lolita’s story and her own family’s history in the Atlantic Slave Trade. She wrote the song “Let the Girl Go: Free Lolita” to help raise awareness about the orca. The music video was recently selected to be screened at the 2015 Wildlife Film Festival. Her latest music video, “Free the Monkeys”, exposes the mistreatment of monkeys being used in lab experiments in Hendry County, Florida. The video was produced & directed by NY Times bestselling author and former HLN television host – Jane Velez Mitchell. PETA co-founder, Ingrid Newkirk, recently enlisted Robbyne to write & narrate several public service announcements to protest animal captivity in marine parks, zoos & circuses. The PSA’s are currently running nationwide on ABC, FOX and Bounce TV affiliates.
Part II: Joe Cross, The Kids Menu
Joe Cross is a filmmaker, entrepreneur, author and wellness advocate. He directed, produced and was the subject of the award-winning documentary Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, seen by more than 21 million people around the world, and the popular sequel Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead 2; authored the New York Times bestseller The Reboot with Joe Juice Diet book, which has been released globally in multiple languages; and is credited with having accelerated the plant-based eating movement by media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, The Times of London and The Dr. Oz Show. His website, www.rebootwithjoe.com, has become an integral meeting place for a community of more than one and a half million Rebooters worldwide.
Joe began his business career as a trader on the Sydney Futures Exchange where he worked from the early 1980s until 1998. He subsequently managed a diverse portfolio of assets in telecommunications, media, technology and financial services for Queensland Press Ltd., and in 2003 began investing his own capital through his investment vehicle Jaymsea Investments Pty Ltd. Despite his commercial success, Joe found himself at age 40 overweight and in ill health, and elected to take matters into his own hands. After consultation with noted US doctor Joel Fuhrman, Joe embarked on a 60 day journey of transformation across the US, consuming nothing but the juice of fresh vegetables and fruits. That journey – filled with personal milestones for Joe, and eye-opening experiences with average Americans– was captured on film, and has become the award-winning documentary Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead. Seen by more than 20 million people around the world, Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead has inspired millions of people to follow Joe’s example and reclaim their own health and vitality by adopting plant-based eating habits. The response to the film was so overwhelming Joe founded Reboot with Joe, a health and wellness company that offers support, encouragement, community, media and tools to everyday people. Joe lives in New York and Sydney.
Black Agenda Radio – 03.21.16
Welcome, to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective with Glen Ford and co-host Nellie Bailey.
– the Black Is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations will hold a national conference on the presidential elections and Black self-determination, on April 9th, in New York’s Harlem. Coalition chairman Omali Yeshitela says the electoral arena is only one aspect of politics, and has historically been the LEAST useful for Black people.
– Veteran activist and historian Paul Street last week published an article titled, “Bernie, Black and Blue: Reflections on Race in the Democratic Primaries.” This month, large numbers of Black, brown and white demonstrators – some of them Bernie Sanders supporters – went to a Donald Trump rally in Chicago and shut it down. Sanders was not pleased. Although the Vermont senator claims to want to start a political revolution, he doesn’t like the idea of disruption.
– One of those who testified, last week, at congressional hearings on the poisoning of Flint, Michigan’s water supply was Prof. Marc Edwards, of Virginia Tech University. Edwards slammed the federal Environmental Protection Agency for “creating the climate” in which the Flint poisoning occurred. He has these other choice words for the leadership of the EPA.
– Political prisoner Mondo Welanga, from Omaha, Nebraska, died in his cell at the Nebraska State penitentiary, this month, at the age of 68. Mumia Abu Jamal, the nation’s best known political prisoner, mourns the passing of a fighter and a poet.
– Last year, Mondo Welanga recorded one of his poems for Prison Radio. It’s titled, “When It Gets to This Point.”
The Lifeboat Hour – 11.22.15
Carolyn is joined by activist, author, and Rumi scholar, Andrew Harvey as they discuss the human shadow and the global crisis and how we can heal both the personal and collective shadow.
Lifeboat Hour – 08.14.15
Carolyn and New Zealand activist Kevin Hester discuss climate chaos and recent concessions made by leading climate scientists regarding the severity of our predicament