Terrence Mcnally Podcast

Aired 08/11/09 It is my privilege to have Latin America's most acclaimed writers, EDUARDO GALEANO. I confess I was not aware of him until Hugo Chavez presented Barack Obama with one of his books. For that introduction, I thank the Venzuelan President. GALEANO's works are a unique blend of history, fiction, journalism and political analysis, and his life is so much more than that. Born in Uruguay in 1940, EDUARDO GALEANO began writing newspaper articles as a teenager, by the age of 20 he became Editor-in-Chief of LaMarcha. A few years later, he took the top post at Montevideo's daily newspaper Epocha. At 31, he wrote his most famous book - Chavez gift -- The Open Veins Of Latin America: Five Centuries Of The Pillage Of A Continent. After the 1973 military coup in Uruguay, GALEANO was imprisoned and forced to leave the country. He settled in Argentina where he founded and edited a cultural magazine, Crisis. After the 1976 military coup there, he moved to Spain where he began his classic work Memory of Fire,

Aired 08/11/09 I like it when someone does something better than they have to, or takes stands or risks they don't have to take. RICK STEVES has a comfortable business and a comfortable place in our culture and media. He helps people learn how to make travel less stressful and more enjoyable. But in TRAVEL AS A POLITICAL ACT, he sticks his neck out. He has traveled to and written about Iran, El Salvador, Turkey, for instance, in ways that challenge what passes for conventional wisdom. Of course, conventional wisdom is often a contradiction in terms, conventional meaning parochial, provincial, small minded, with little possibility of wisdom. Not only that, STEVES serves on the board of NORML and has given keynote speeches calling for legalization of marijuana. Though RICK STEVES received degrees at the University of Washington, his real education came in Europe - since 1973 he's spent four months a year there. Spending one third of his adult life living out of a suitcase has shaped his thinking. Today he pr

Aired 07/28/09 MICHAEL LEWIS is one of my favorite popular writers. He writes about sports, business, Wall Street, Silicon Valley, political campaigns, now fatherhood - in bestselling books and for the New York Times Magazine and Vanity Fair, among others. He's smart and he has a sense of humor. Malcolm Gladwell says he's one of our best storytellers. LEWIS was a trader at Salomon Brothers before he wrote his first best-seller, LIAR'S POKER about the excesses of Wall Street in the 1980s. He continues to write about that world with a couple of books in 2008 -- Panic: The Story of Modern Financial Insanity and The Real Price of Everything (editor) -- and a column for Bloomberg. His newest book, Home Game, is about fatherhood, so we'll talk about that, but even more we'll talk about Wall Street, madness, greed, the crash, and how we're dealing with it. MICHAEL LEWIS received a BA in art history from Princeton University and an MSc in economics from the London School of Economics. He worked as an investment ba

Aired 07/21/09 HENRY JENKINS is the Provost's Professor of Communications, Journalism, and Cinematic Art at the University of Southern California. Until recently, he served as the co-founder of the Comparative Media Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His newest books include Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide and Fans, Bloggers and Gamers: Exploring Participatory Culture. www.henryjenkins.org/

Recorded 06/05/09 Christianity, Judaism and Islam are both peaceful and violent. Robert Wright discusses what circumstances bring out the best and worst in religion. Is religion a force for good or ill? This question has been more energetically debated over the last few years, globally, due to the West's confrontation with radical Islam, and in the U.S., to the political emergence and activism of evangelical Christians. This was brought to a head with the misadventures of George W. Bush, from Teri Schiavo to Bagdhad. Robert Wright takes on big questions, and he's taken this one on in his new book, The Evolution of God. He follows the changing moods of God as reflected in ancient Scripture, to see what circumstances brought out the best and worst in religions. According to Wright, "The moral of the story is simple: When people see their interests threatened by another group, this perception brings out the most belligerent parts of their religion. Such circumstances are good news for violent extremists and

Aired 06/30/09 JANE MAYER, one of our nation's foremost investigative journalists will join us for at least the last half hour, maybe a bit more. Her best-selling 2008 book, THE DARK SIDE, was chosen by the New New York Times, The Economist, Salon, Slate, and Bloomberg as one of the best books of the year. In THE DARK SIDE, MAYER reported (to quote a review by Andrew Basevich), "Since embarking upon its global war on terror, the United States has blatantly disregarded the Geneva Conventions. It has imprisoned suspects, including U.S. citizens, without charge, holding them indefinitely and denying them due process. It has created an American gulag in which thousands of detainees, including many innocent of any wrongdoing, have been subjected to ritual abuse and humiliation. It has delivered suspected terrorists into the hands of foreign torturers. Under the guise of 'enhanced interrogation techniques,' it has succeeded, in Mayer's words, in 'making torture the official law of the land in all but name.' Furt

Aired 06/23/09 LYME DISEASE and the documentary, UNDER OUR SKIN (opening in LA Friday June 26) ANDY ABRAHAMS WILSON producer/director/camera LORRAINE JOHNSON CEO, California Lyme Disease Association RICHARD HORWITZ MD Physician, President, International Lyme and Associated Diseases Education Foundation MANDY HUGHES Lyme disease patient Lyme disease is one of the most misunderstood and controversial illnesses of our time. Difficult to test accurately, tens of thousands of people go undiagnosed-or misdiagnosed with such conditions as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, autism, MS and ALS. The Centers for Disease Control admits that more than 200,000 people may acquire Lyme disease each year, a number greater than AIDS, West Nile Virus, and Avian Flu combined. And yet, the medical establishment-with profound influence from the insurance industry-has stated that the disease is easily detectable and treatable, and that "chronic Lyme" is some other unrecognized syndrome or a completely psychosomatic disorder. Le

Aired 05/19/09 REZA ASLAN is the author of "NO GOD BUT GOD" and his new book, "HOW TO WIN A COSMIC WAR: God, Globalization and the End of the War on Terror" REZA ASLAN says the only way to win a cosmic war is not to engage in one. That may seem obvious to some, but he's also saying that unless we recognize that we've been pulled into a cosmic war -- what that means and how it changes things -- we haven't got a chance of "winning" or even making the best of the situation. "A cosmic war is a battle not between armies or nations, but between the forces of good and evil. The ultimate goal of a cosmic war is to vanquish evil itself, which ensures that a cosmic war remains an absolute, eternal, and ultimately unwinnable conflict. Cosmic wars are fought not over land or politics but over identity." 1900 - 1/2 of world's population identified as members of major religions 2000 - 2/3 of world's population identified as members of major religions Aslan believes the days of wars between nation states are over. Whe

Aired 05/12/09 DAVID KORTEN author, AGENDA FOR A NEW ECONOMY: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth DAVID KORTEN is the author of WHEN CORPORATIONS RULE THE WORLD and THE GREAT TURNING: From Empire to Earth Community. He is co-founder and board chair of YES! Magazine, and a board member of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) http://www.yesmagazine.org http://www.livingeconomies.org RANDY HAYES has been highly successful waging corporate accountability campaigns with Rainforest Action Network and International Forum on Globalization. He's working to launch a media campaign to "Ecologize the Economy." http://www.worldfuturecouncil.org http://ran.org KORTEN's got some big ideas, HAYES does too -- and a knack for activism. I'll talk with both about taking advantage of the current crises to transform our economy and, in turn, our future reality.

Aired 05/05/09 MATT TAIBBI is a fire-breathing, shoot-from-the-hip reporter, columnist and blogger, whose March Rolling Stone article, "The Big Takeover," paints a dark picture of greed, corruption and power. http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/132859 You can learn more about Taibbi's work at: www.trueslant.com www.alternet.org www.rollingstone.com

Aired 05/05/09 One of Ronald Reagan's most famous and successful quotes is from his 1980 debate with Jimmy Carter, "There you go again..." No one can remember what it was about or whether it was accurate, but it worked. I bring it up because a new book makes clear that that same line applies all too well to the right in this country. "There you go again..." - bringing up the same old stereotypes, same old fears, same old prejudices... Today's first guest MIKE LUX has a new book out -- THE PROGRESSIVE REVOLUTION: How the Best in America Came to Be -- in which he traces the role progressives have played in leading the US to so many of its best advances, battling every time the right's determination to keep progress at bay. Needless to say, we are at another of those moments today. After 30 years of dominance by the right, disaster is clear to all, and change is on the move. We'll talk about the history, the present moment, and what we all need to do to keep moving forward to a more progressive future. www.t

Aired 04/21/09 Currently a fellow at the Carr Center for Human rights Policy at Harvard Kennedy School of Government, previously a Special Assistant to Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, BEN SKINNER has written for Newsweek, LA Times, Foreign Policy and others. He was named one of National Geographic's Adventurers of the Year 2008. His first book, now out in paperback, is A CRIME SO MONSTROUS: Face to Face with Modern Day Slavery. http://www.castla.org

Aired 04/10/09 KGNU is an independent, noncommercial community radio station licensed in Boulder and Denver. Story vs. Substance with panel Chip Berlet, Terry McNally, James Trengrove and host Kathy Partridge. http://www.colorado.edu/cwa/index.html

Aired 04/14/09 Joseph Cirincione joined Ploughshares Fund as president in March 2008. He is author of Bomb Scare: The History and Future of Nuclear Weapons and served previously as senior vice president for national security and international policy at the Center for American Progress and as director for nonproliferation at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace for eight years. He worked for nine years in the U.S. House of Representatives as a professional staff member of the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Government Operations, and served as staff director of the bipartisan Military Reform Caucus. He teaches at the Georgetown University Graduate School of Foreign Service and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. His previous books include two editions of Deadly Arsenals: Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Threats, (2005 and 2002), and previous reports include Universal Compliance: A Strategy for Nuclear Security (co-author, March 2005) and WMD in Iraq (co-author, January

Aired 04/07/09 FRITJOF CAPRA is a founding director of the Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley, California, which promotes ecology and systems thinking in primary and secondary education, and he's is on the faculty of Schumacher College, an international center for ecological studies in England CAPRA is the author also of The Tao of Physics, coauthor of Green Politics and coeditor of Steering Business Toward Sustainability. His most recent book is The Science of Leonardo. I read a book a quarter century ago that greatly influenced my view not only of science, medicine, agriculture, energy, and even politics - it influenced my view of my worldview. That book was THE TURNING POINT by physicist Fritjof Capra. He's got a new book THE SCIENCE OF LEONARDO in which he holds that DaVinci saw the world with a lens that other scientists have only discovered in the last 100 years - and which society has yet to fully grasp. http://www.fritjofcapra.net/ http://www.spaceandmotion.com/Philosophy-Fritjof-Capra.htm

Aired 03/24/09 In 2006, THOMAS HOMER DIXON, author of Canada's #1 bestseller, THE UPSIDE OF DOWN, wrote, "September 11th and Katrina won't be the last time we walk out of our cities." Whether from economic collapse, terrorism, climate change, pandemic, energy scarcity, or the widening gap between rich and poor, he believes breakdown is inevitable. And if we won't change our ways till we crash, it's up to us to make sure breakdown doesn't spiral into total collapse. Check out the book title. Today "down" is everywhere we look. Okay, there's the "Catastrophe." I'll talk with HOMER DIXON in search of the "Creativity, and The Renewal..." http://www.homerdixon.com

Aired 03/17/09 "A world organized around centralized control, strict intellectual property rights, and hierarchies of credentialed experts is under siege. A radically different order of society based on open access, decentralized creativity, collaborative intelligence, and cheap and easy sharing is ascendant." - from VIRAL SPIRAL A global brigade of techies, lawyers, artists, musicians, scientists. businesspeople, innovators, and geeks of all stripes are dedicated to creating a digital republic committed to freedom and innovation. From free and open-source software, Creative Commons licenses, Wikipedia, remix music and video mashups, peer production, open science, open education, and open business, the world of digital media has spawned a new "sharing economy" that increasingly competes with entrenched media giants. I will also ask David to comment on the recent - and upcoming - bailouts, from the perspective of citizens and the commons. In other words, rather than fearing socialism, what are we getting f

Aired 03/10/09 Growing up amongst the oil refineries in Louisiana, JOSH TICKELL experienced the impacts of dirty oil processing at a young age. After watching members of his family suffer from pollution-related cancers, Tickell began a lifelong quest to find sustainable, clean energy sources. In 1997, TICKELL set out on the road with a biodiesel powered "Veggie Van" and a video camera and began filming what would eventually become known as FUEL, the 2008 Sundance Audience Award winning documentary film that investigates the possible replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy. Over the course of his 11 year journey, TICKELL traveled the world going to over 25 countries, authored two books, founded a nonprofit organization, and jumpstarted America's biodiesel movement. "Fuel" is a vital, superbly assembled documentary that presents an insightful overview of America's troubled relationship with oil and how alternative and sustainable energies can reduce our country's -- and the world's -- addictive de

Aired 03/03/09 AZADEH MOAVENI is a contributing writer on Iran and the Middle East for TIME magazine. She spent two years in Iran, from 2005 to 2007, and just returned from three weeks there at the first of the year. As one of the few American correspondents allowed to work continuously in Iran since 1999, she has reported widely on youth culture, women's rights, and Islamic reform for Time, The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times. She is author of LIPSTICK JIHAD and co-author, with Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, of IRAN AWAKENING. Her newest book is HONEYMOON IN TEHRAN: TWO YEARS OF LOVE AND DANGER IN IRAN In his 2002 State of the Union address George W. Bush coined the term "axis of evil" to describe his vision of North Korea, Iraq, and Iran. The US has a new president who has made a fairly big and controversial deal about his willingness to meet with Iran's leaders without preconditions. Iran's last presidential election in 2005 brought the world Mahmoud Ahm

Aired 02/10/09 I bought this book when it originally came out in 1992. Much of it made profound sense then, at the dawn of the high-tech, Clinton era boom: Notice what really matters. Learn to say enough. Simplify. Choose. Today as we descend into the deepest financial crisis in over 60 years, its message is no longer a lifestyle choice. For most of us - and ideally for the entire American culture - it is a necessity. YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE shows readers how to gain control of their money and finally begin to make a life, rather than just make a living. The new edition contains updated resources and anecdotes and examples particularly relevant today. It tells you how to: · get out of debt and develop savings · reorder material priorities and live well for less · resolve inner conflicts between values and lifestyle · save the planet while saving money ...and more www.yourmoneyoryourlife.org http://victoriaroserobin.blogspot.com/