Thursday, April 28, 2011

Peasant of the Dawn

New World Notes News
Vol. 4, No. 18 -- April 28, 2011

This week in New World Notes, radio program #165, May 3, 2011

Peasant of the Dawn

In brief

Nice audiocollage by Virtual Renderings, introduced & slightly condensed by me. It's a meditation on class warfare, the ruling elite's dislike of democracy, American exceptionalism, economic inequality, mind control, and the prescience of George Orwell.

Voices heard belong to Howard Zinn, Michael Parenti, Noam Chomsky, historian Morris Berman, and Ken Nordine (himself a master of audiocollage), among others. Includes dramatic readings from Orwell's 1984. Don't miss the mashup satiric duet featuring Harry Shearer and Barack H. Obama ("Yes, We Can ... But").

Above: Historian Morris Berman. Below: Harry Shearer. When he's not mashing up duets with Obama, he's supplying the voices of a dozen Simpsons characters, Among them Mr. Burns, Smithers, Ned Flanders, and Principal Skinner.

Notes, credits, & links

Thanks to Virtual Renderings/Chazk for a large body of very good audio.

You can download without charge (or listen online to) dozens of Virtual Rendering's audiocollages. Here is a listing: http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/contributor/2102 . Click on any listed item for more information & download links. The uncut version of "Peasant of the Dawn" is here: http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/49945

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "Executive Dining Room") of WWUH-FM, a community service of that beacon of light in darkest Connecticut, the University of Hartford.

You can listen to any installment of New World Notes online or else download it (as an mp3 audio file) for later listening. The show is archived at both radio4all.net and (from #90 onwards) The Internet Archive. Either link should get you a reverse-chrono listing of available installments. Or browse the show's Web site: Each installment has a page, and each page has links to the recorded audio.

Series overview: Political and social commentary in a variety of genres. Exploring the gap between what we want ... and what they're trying to make us settle for.
Coming soon (Tuesday air debut date shown)


  • May 10 -- Sick of War
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):



A-Infos Radio Project http://www.radio4all.net


Saturday, April 23, 2011

They Warned Us!



New World Notes News
Vol. 4, No. 17 -- April 23, 2011



This week in New World Notes, radio program #164, April 26, 2011



They Warned Us!



In brief


The country is in a mess, economically, politically, in terms of civil liberties ... you name it! Well, it's not that nobody warned us where we were heading! Three prophets of years past combine wit, humor, and insight:

(1) Comedian George Carlin (2 routines from the 1990s) discusses the exploitation by the rich of everyone else, our non-functioning democracy, the falseness of The American Dream, class warfare, "divide and conquer," and Wall Street's determination to get your Social Security money for themselves.

(2) Political scientist Michael Parenti (early 1990s) corroborates Carlin on Social Security.

(3) Parenti goes on to discuss the U.S. government's & media's (then-recent or ongoing) propaganda campaigns seeking to drum up public support for attacking Libya, Panama, and Iraq--and for overthrowing the governments of Gaddafi, Noriega, & Saddam Hussein (respectively).

(4) Spoken-word artist Jello Biafra (2008, before the election) warns that Obama is just another "business as usual" politician dedicated only to reducing civil liberties, building the empire, and advancing the financial interests of the powerful corporations. (Just look at his voting record in the Senate!)


Below: Michael Parenti


Notes, credits, & links
New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "imprimatur") of WWUH-FM, a community service of that beacon of light in darkest Connecticut, the University of Hartford.
You can listen to any installment of New World Notes online or else download it (as an mp3 audio file) for later listening. The show is archived at both radio4all.net'>radio4all.net and (from #90 onwards) The Internet Archive. Either link should get you a reverse-chrono listing of available installments. Or browse the show's Web site: Each installment has a page, and each page has links to the recorded audio.
Series overview: Political and social commentary in a variety of genres. Exploring the gap between what we want ... and what they're trying to make us settle for.


Above: Jello Biafra


Coming soon (Tuesday air debut date shown)



  • May 3 -- Peasant of the Dawn Very nice audiocollage by Virtual Renderings.
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):




A-Infos Radio Project http://www.radio4all.net



Saturday, April 16, 2011

The OTHER People's Historian: David Rovics


New World Notes News Vol. 4, No. 16 -- April 16, 2011


Once again, the formatting is all messed up--though not quite as bad as in the previous entry--and my attempts to fix it aren't working. We are not amused.


This week in New World Notes, radio program #163, April 19, 2011


The OTHER People's Historian: David Rovics


In brief


David Rovics makes history interesting, relevant, occasionally inspiring. This week we offer four Rovics songs on historical events plus some background and commentary by me. The topics are



  • deindustrialization & decay of once-vital cities (specifically, Danbury, Connecticut)

  • the (anti-slavery) Abolitionists John Brown and Henry Ward Beecher

  • the revolt of "the little guy"--particularly war veterans--against the bankers, government, and other powerful interests after the Revolutionary War (Shays' Rebellion, 1786-87)

  • the first great Arab revolt of 2011, by the people of Tunisia.

Titles:



  1. Used to Be a City

  2. John Brown*

  3. Berkshire Hills

  4. Tunisia 2011*

*from Rovics' new studio album, The Big Red Sessions.

Rovics is good indeed at writing "bottom-up" history--which stresses how the world was experienced by the common people. He works in the same genre as did the late Howard Zinn. On top of that, Rovics is a very talented singer/songwriter and musician. So listen to him for the excellent music, if not for the history lessons. (See below for the address of his free archive.)

Above: Danbury Fair, Connecticut (1970s?). ("Used to be a City.") Below: Monument commemorating the last battle of Shays' Rebellion, Sheffield, southwestern Massachusetts. The government and the bankers won. ("Berkshire Hills.") Most graphics: Click to enlarge.


Notes, credits, & links http://davidrovics.com/


David Rovics' recorded music is available for free (payments also are accepted): http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=111310 New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "Boardwalk") of WWUH-FM, a community service of that beacon of light in darkest Connecticut, the University of Hartford. You can listen to any installment of New World Notes online or else download it (as an mp3 audio file) for later listening. The show is archived at both radio4all.net'>radio4all.net and (from #90 onwards) The Internet Archive. Either link should get you a reverse-chrono listing of available installments. Or browse the show's Web site: Each installment has a page, and each page has links to the recorded audio. Series overview: Political and social commentary in a variety of genres. Exploring the gap between what we want ... and what they're trying to make us settle for.


Above: Abolitionist John Brown, in Kansas Territory, holding a Beecher's Bible (viewer's left) and King James Bible (right). ("John Brown.") Below: Mohammed Bouazizi, Tunisian, d. December 17, 2010. His self-immolation touched off the first of the great revolts of the Arab peoples in 2011. The revolt drove Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to resign and flee the country. Rest in peace, Mohammed. ("Tunisia, 2011.")


Coming soon (Tuesday air debut date shown)



  • April 26 -- They Warned Us! Featuring George Carlin, Michael Parenti, and Jello Biafra.
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):




A-Infos Radio Project http://www.radio4all.net


Saturday, April 2, 2011