By David Swanson
We will never succeed without media, and we will never succeed at media by criticism and legislation alone. We must build our own.
One small way in which I’m working on that is by hosting a weekly radio show online at http://www.thepeoplespeakradio.net
It’s every Wednesday evening from 8-9 p.m. ET, and people can and do phone in to ask questions of my guests from all over the world. You can mark the show on your calendar, go to the link above to listen, and phone in toll-free from anywhere in the world at 877-489-6350 or from the United States and Canada at 888-228-4494.
Past interviews you can listen to include:
Aidan Delgado and Eve Tetaz: http://www.thepeoplespeakradio.net/audio/2007/#november
Jamie Leigh Jones, Robert Wexler, and John Nichols: http://www.thepeoplespeakradio.net/audio/2008/#january
George McGovern, Leslie Angeline, Ellen Taylor, Dave Meserve, David Earnhardt, and Tracy Barker: http://www.thepeoplespeakradio.net/audio/2008/#february
Here are some upcoming guests:
March 5th: Cathy Wilkerson, peace and justice activist and author, former member of the Weatherman and fugitive from the law. Wilkerson’s new book “Flying Close to the Sun” offers a wealth of lessons for today’s peace and justice activists. There is no need for us to reinvent the wheel. Included are plenty of warnings against missteps that we should avoid repeating at all costs. Do you support the Iraqis’ right to use violence in defense of their nation? Then why don’t you join them with violence here? Or do you understand the superiority of nonviolence? Then why don’t you insist that the Iraqis use it? You can be sure that Wilkerson has thought this through, and that I’ll ask her about it.
March 12th: Laurie Dobson, U.S. Senate candidate from Maine, advocate for impeachment and for the criminal prosecution of Bush and Cheney. Why do so few candidates of such decency emerge? Why did this one? What, other than proposing the right policies, is Dobson doing to make her campaign a success? How can we help? I play devil’s advocate in these interviews, but I don’t pretend to not be myself a citizen of our democracy.
March 19th: [To Be Determined, I may be in jail: http://resistinmarch.org]
March 26th: Mark Crispin Miller, author of “Fooled Again: The Real Case for Electoral Reform,” “The Bush Dyslexicon,” and the brand new “Loser Take All: Election Fraud and the Subversion of Democracy, 2000-2008.” Why not take a one-hour break from two years of incessant obsessing over candidates to consider the question of how we can create an election system in which we know our votes – whomever they are for – are actually counted? Join us!
Now, you knew this was coming, so don’t act so indignant: If we cannot find significant financial support, we cannot keep this show going. We need a few large donations, or some small ones that repeat every month. Admit it, you subscribe to some pretty lousy newspapers and magazines. You support activist groups that buy incredibly expensive ads in the New York Times, thus funding one of the greatest forces opposing what the same groups try to accomplish. Why not put a little – whatever you can afford – into something you can feel good about?
