Terrence Mcnally Podcast

Aired 06/17/12 DAVID DeGRAW, who a year ago was among a handful who called for the 99% to rise up. On June 14th, Flag Day, last year, Anonymous and the 99% Movement launched a collaborative effort to announce the birth of a "decentralized non-violent resistance movement to end the system of political bribery and break up the big banks centered at the Federal Reserve." This morphed into Occupy Wall Street, and we will talk about one of the newest incarnations of that effort. DAVID DeGRAW. David is founder and editor of http://ampedstatus.com/, formerly editorial director of http://mediachannel.org/, and author of The Economic Elite Vs The People of the United States. He is one of the early leaders of the the Occupy/99% movement and one of the founders of http://moneyoutpack.org/

Aired 06/17/12 This week's show will deal with the Occupy/99% movement from two different perspectives. For most of the hour I'll be joined by renowned scholar and activist, NOAM CHOMSKY. His newest book, a collection of interviews and speeches on the movement, is entitled simply OCCUPY. NOAM CHOMSKY is Professor of Linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where has taught for over 50 years. He is also a renowned political activist and writer. His scores of books on linguistics, human rights, economics and politics, include Manufacturing Consent, Necessary Illusions, Hegemony or Survival, 9/11, and his latest, OCCUPY. http://chomsky.info/about.htm

Aired 06/10/12 PAUL GILDING says it's time to stop worrying about climate change. We need instead to brace for impact because global crisis is no longer avoidable. He believes this Great Disruption started in 2008, with spiking food and oil prices and melting ice caps. It is not simply about fossil fuels and carbon footprints. We have come to the end of Economic Growth, Version 1.0, a world economy based on consumption and waste, where we lived beyond the means of our planet's ecosystems and resources According to Gilding, the coming decades will see loss, suffering, and conflict as our planetary overdraft is paid; however, they will also bring out the best humanity can offer: compassion, innovation, resilience, and adaptability. Gilding says we must fight-and win-what he calls The One Degree War to prevent catastrophic warming of the earth. He believes the crisis offers us a chance to replace our addiction to growth with an ethic of sustainability, and an unmatched business opportunity as old industries

Aired 05/16/12 Crazy though it may be, I assume many have accepted the fact that the Republican party has a problem with science and ultimately with evidence facts -- reality. It is now a matter of politics for them to deny science. Among their presidential primary candidates, only Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney accept that warming is happening and humans are a contributing factor. CHRIS MOONEY has been on this trail for years. In 2005, he wrote the best-selling THE REPUBLICAN WAR ON SCIENCE. By the time their anti-science, anti-reality bias was established, MOONEY was asking a deeper question. Did science have anything to teach us about why? And it turns out, recently, science does. That brings us to Chris's new book, The Republican Brain: The Science of Why They Deny Science and Reality. According to Mooney, from climate change to evolution, the rejection of mainstream science among Republicans is growing. Not only that, so is denial of expert consensus on the economy, American history, foreign policy,

Aired 05/06/12 After 3.8 billion years of R&D on this planet, failures are fossils. What surrounds us in the natural world is what has succeeded and survived. So why not learn as much as we can from what works? Nature, imaginative by necessity, has already solved many of the problems we are grappling with. Animals, plants, and microbes are the consummate engineers. They have found what works, what is appropriate, and most important, what lasts here on Earth. In January 2009, Harvard received the largest philanthropic gift in its history -- $125M -- to create the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, and today's guest is its founding director, DON INGBER. I find this whole notion of imitating nature one of the most exciting developments in human activity and something that gives me great hope. The human body is an engineering marvel that maintains its balance while executing complicated movements, and senses and adapts to heat and cold. Every 20 seconds, it circulates blood through its extr

Aired 04/29/12 Should we pay children to get good grades? Is it ethical to pay people to test risky new drugs or donate their organs? What about hiring mercenaries to fight our wars, outsourcing inmates to for-profit prisons, auctioning admission to elite universities, or selling citizenship to immigrants able to pay? Phenomenally popular Harvard professor, Michael Sandel, notes that in recent decades, market values have crowded out non-market norms in almost every aspect of life-medicine, education, government, law, art, sports, even family life and personal relations. He argues that we have drifted from having a market economy to being a market society. In his new book, What Money Can't Buy, Sandel asks: Is there something wrong with a world in which everything is for sale? If so, how can we prevent market values from reaching into spheres of life where they don't belong? What are the moral limits of markets? http://www.justiceharvard.org

Aired 04/15/12 For over thirty years, you and I have lived through a radical redistribution of wealth -- upward, to a tiny fraction of the population -- as though we're part of a bizarre experiment to see how much inequality a democratic society can tolerate. Finally this past year, as a result of the Great Recession that burst the mortgage/refi/credit card bubble that had allowed too many of us to deny reality, people have woken up and "We are the 99%," the rallying cry of the Occupy movement, has spread far and wide. CHUCK COLLINS has been on the case since at least 1995, when he co-founded United for a Fair Economy to raise the profile of the inequality issue and support efforts to address it. In fact, when he did so, he was one of my first guests on this show and we talked then about the same issues we will talk about today. Chuck's new book, 99 to 1: How Wealth Inequality is Wrecking the World and What We Can Do About It, paints a picture of how disparities in wealth and power play out in America and

Aired 04/08/12 Do you consider yourself to be creative? Do you think of creativity as a gift, a talent, something you either have or you don't? Do you find creativity to be a bit mystical or magical, dependent on luck, the muses, or higher powers? Today's guest, JONAH LEHRER, has written a book in which he looks at the latest brain science and attempts, in his words, "to collapse the layers of description separating the nerve cell from the finished symphony, the cortical circuit from the successful product." In Imagine: How Creativity Works, Lehrer makes clear, "Creativity shouldn't seem like something otherworldly. It shouldn't seem like a process reserved for artists or inventors or other "creative types." After all, he points out, the human mind has the creative impulse built into its operating system, hard-wired into its most essential programming code." Creativity is a variety of distinct thought processes that we can all learn to use more effectively. In the book, Lehrer reveals the importance of em

Aired 04/01/12 Too often problems are not solved, solutions are not found or implemented, and money, lives and moments of opportunity are wasted. CONNIE RICE has taken on school and bus systems, Death Row, the states of Mississippi and California, and the LAPD - and won. Not just in court but also on the streets and in prisons, where she has spearheaded campaigns to reduce gang violence. She has long been dedicated, in her words, to finishing what Martin Luther King Jr started, and she pursues that aim with a focused passion, intelligence, and commitment. Too often we oppose each other rather than looking for every opportunity to align to solve a problem. Rice sues a model of law enforcement that dominated Los Angeles for decades. In response, the model begins to shift. She then works with -- and finally -- within LA Law Enforcement. The model shifts some more. Such movement calls for the right sequence of opposition and cooperation, the strategic use of the tools available, and the ability of both sides

Aired 03/25/12 Recently the annual TED conference took place in Long Beach California. I have long recommended its famous 18 minute TED talks. Check out TED.com/talks, they cover a wide range of topics including science, technology, design, business, global issues and they have recurring themes of inspiration, challenge, and optimism. Not unlike what I try to do with this radio show. On opening day the recent conference scheduled two talks one after the other. The first by Paul Gilding entitled The Earth is Full asked questions like Have we used up all our resources? Have we filled up all the livable space on Earth? Gilding suggests we have with the possibility of devastating consequences. In a talk that's equal parts terrifying and oddly hopeful, he says "It takes a good crisis to get us going. When we feel fear and we fear loss we are capable of quite extraordinary things." That talk was followed by one by today's guest, PETER DIAMANDIS, entitled Abundance Is Our Future in which he makes the case for op

Aired 03/18/12 Among the things that most people agree are in big trouble these days are the European Union and democracy in the US. I will talk with today's guest, STEVEN HILL, about both. We have been hearing for two years about the trouble Europe is in. The debt crisis in Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and beyond is challenging this federation of nations and economies to share the solutions to problems that have proven worst in individual countries who took greater risks than their more prudent neighbors. After Europe seemed to have fared better than the US in the early stages of this prolonged crash, what brought on this crisis? How close are they to solving it? How close are they to blowing it? What would Hill's advice be? And what does it mean for the rest of the world and for the US in particular? While the bad news of this Euro crisis makes headlines in the US, what has not made headlines is the good news contained in HILL's 2010 book EUROPE'S PROMISE. I will check in with Hill about the curren

Aired 03/11/12 RICHARD DAVIDSON, author, The Emotional Life of Your Brain DAVID EAGLEMAN, author, Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain PETER BAUMANN, convener, BEING HUMAN 2012 In 1989 I addressed the 20th reunion of my Harvard class. In 1969, we'd spearheaded student protests that led to a month long strike of the University. Our demands included removing ROTC from campus, creation of an African-American studies program, and reforming Harvard's behavior as a landlord. Twenty years later, I encouraged my classmates to live up to our youthful ideals. I recall focusing on environmental challenges, including the mounting evidence of man-made contributions to climate change. But when asked where we needed to focus our attention to turn things around, I pointed to the environment within our own minds. Now, over twenty years later, my conversations about politics, economics, technology, ecology, etc. focus more and more on the need to tinker with the human software that drives or interprets everything we d

Aired 03/02/12 The stock market's roaring, and applications for unemployment are down, but there was disappointing news in Thursday's economic data. In January manufacturing growth slowed, construction spending dipped, and Americans' after-tax income fell, leading to a fourth straight month of weak consumer spending. Guest host Terrence McNally explores the continued gap between Wall Street and Main Street, and what we can do about it. Although it's down a bit today, the Dow hit 13,000 this week for the first time since May, 2008. NASDAQ flirted with 3000. One US company, Apple, is now valued at over $500 billion, higher than the gross domestic product of Poland, Belgium, Sweden, Saudi Arabia or Taiwan. Yet manufacturing growth has slowed, construction spending has slipped, and consumer spending remains weak. Both housing construction and Americans' after-tax income actually fell in January. What accounts for the disparity? How important is it? What can be done about it? And how will all this play out in t

Aired 03/02/12 Iranians went to the polls in parliamentary elections today. With many reformists and opposition leaders not participating, the vote is a contest between hard-line supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Pressure from the West over Iran's nuclear program has been a central issue. Barbara Slavin is Washington correspondent for AL-Monitor.com, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, and the author of Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies: Iran, the US and the Twisted Path to Confrontation. Guests: Barbara Slavin: AL-Monitor.com, @barbaraslavin1 Also Vladamir Putin is almost certain to regain the presidency in elections in Russia on Sunday, but that victory may be more a reflection of voters' resignation than broad support for his twelve-year rule. Putin, who has been suggesting Russia could walk away from the Start II treaty and is accusing Hillary Clinton of funding protests in his country, is heavily favored. Matthew Rojansky is Deputy Director of the

Aired 03/04/12 In the early 1960s, MARSHALL GANZ dropped out of Harvard to join the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi. He then spent 16 years working with César Chávez and the United Farm Workers. He returned to Harvard in the 1990's, graduated, earned his Ph.D., and now teaches organizing and the power of public narrative at the Kennedy School. During Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, he was lead organizer of the grassroots for the former community organizer. GANZ offers a valuable perspective on the Occupy/99% movement. http://www.hks.harvard.edu/organizing/?utm_source=03-04-2012-Marshall+Ganz&utm_campaign=Mardhall+Ganz-03-04-2012&utm_medium=email http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k2139&utm_source=03-04-2012-Marshall+Ganz&utm_campaign=Mardhall+Ganz-03-04-2012&utm_medium=email

Aired 02/05/12 How did the Egyptian people overthrow longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak and are the people of Egypt better off today? I am very excited to speak with WAEL GHONIM, the Egyptian web exec who played a leading role in last year's Tahrir Square protests. With the first anniversary of those protests and the recent elections in Egypt, we have a lot to talk about. WAEL GHONIM was a little-known 30-year-old Google manager, unwilling to publicly criticize the Egyptian regime -- silenced like many by resignation and the fear of reprisals -- until he anonymously launched a Facebook campaign to protest the death of one particular Egyptian man at the hands of security forces. In his new memoir, he tells us - from his experience -- why and how the Egyptian people finally rejected 30 years of oppression and found their voice. Let me read two quotes from WAEL GHONIM: "Social media allow ideas to be shared. They are places where people can unite, Revolutions can begin. A new type of Revolution - Revolution 2.0"

Aired 01/29/12 HAPPY. Are you happy? What makes you happy? Does money make you happy? Kids and family? Your work? Do you live in an environment that values and promotes happiness and well-being? Do you expect you're going to get happier? How? ROKO BELIC'S documentary HAPPY explores these sorts of questions. It weaves the latest scientific research from the field of "positive psychology" with stories from around the world of people whose lives illustrate what we're learning. The basic approach to the pursuit of happiness taken by many of us and by society in general isn't delivering. We know more than we ever have about what science can tell us about happiness. And we have access to more diverse models and worldviews than ever before. This is a good time to ask some basic questions. http://www.worldhappyday.com/

Aired 01/29/12 Though change has never been as rapid as it is today, adapting to new circumstance is so crucial to our survival that "love of the new" is hardwired into our brains at the deepest levels. The number of new things we confront - from products to information - has quadrupled in the last thirty years with no signs of slowing. In NEW: Understanding Our Need for Novelty and Change, WINIFRED GALLAGHER points out that 15% of us are "neophiliacs," biologically predisposed to passionately pursue new experiences. Another 15% are "neophobes" who resist change. Most of us fall in the middle. WINIFRED GALLAGHER has written for magazines from The Atlantic Monthly to Rolling Stone. Her books include Just the Way You Are: How Heredity and Experience Create the Individual, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, The Power of Place: How Our Surroundings Shape Our Thoughts, Emotions, and Actions; and Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life.

Aired 01/20/12 There are 183 million active video gamers in the US, and the average young person will spend 10,000 hours gaming by the age of 21. There are now more than five million "extreme" gamers" in the US who play an average of 45 hours a week. According to game designer JANE McGONIGAL, this is because videogames are increasingly fulfilling genuine human needs. But she goes way beyond that, in her first book, REALITY IS BROKEN -- just out in paperback - she suggests we can use the lessons of game design to fix what is wrong with the real world. Drawing on positive psychology, cognitive science, and sociology, she shows how game designers have hit on core truths about what makes us happy so that videogames consistently provide the exhilarating rewards, stimulating challenges, and epic victories that are so often lacking in the real world. I recommend Reality Is Broken to people who have no interest in games. Separate from what it says about the current reality and possible future of games, the book

Aired 01/15/12 Guests: David De Graw, one of the central figures in the leaderless and horizontal Occupy/99% movement and Dr Ben Chavis, longtime civil rights leader, from his youthful days with King, to his leadership of the Million Man March, to his current role in the Hip Hop Summit Action Network. We talk about the alliance between African American faith leaders and the Occupy movement -- Occupy the Dream. The coalition called a National Day of Action for January 16, 2012, Martin Luther King Day, with demonstrations in multiple cities nationwide, focusing attention on the injustice visited upon the 99% by a financial elite. You can learn more at occupy the dream.org. DAVID DeGRAW is founder and editor of AmpedStatus.com, as well as OWSnews.org, formerly editorial director of MediaChannel.org, and author of The Economic Elite Vs. The People of the United States. In 1965, while a college freshman, BENJAMIN CHAVIS became a statewide youth coordinator in North Carolina for the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther Ki