Howard Zinn on Lies, War, and History

New World Notes #538, 28:10 (June 26)
Broadcast quality MP3 (39 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

A classic talk by the late progressive historian Howard Zinn--never before broadcast on New World Notes.

Zinn spoke in Boston, at an antiwar "teach-in," on September 25, 2001. That was just after the attacks on 9/11 and just before the U.S. launched its war against Afghanistan.

Zinn spoke of governments that lie to their people--particularly the United States government. Governments especially lie as they launch unnecessary wars--for instance our past wars against Mexico, Spain, and Vietnam. Average citizens can empower themselves by learning and remembering real history.
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Zinn notes that most of the alleged attackers on 9/11 were Saudi Arabians--yet the government was now beating the war drums aginst Afghanistan, not Saudi Arabia. Something fishy is going on here. . . .

Decade War

New World Notes #537, 28:31 (June 19)
Broadcast quality MP3 (33 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

Selections from Skidmark Bob's fine 2011 audio collage on the horrors and futility of the US's recent wars--notably the war in Afghanistan. An engaging mix of Hollywood film clips, TV news clips, new and old music, and a good British documentary about soldiers, in a doomed outpost in Afghanistan, slowly being wiped out by the Taliban.

Musical highlights include a stunning update of Country Joe's "Feels Like I'm Fixin' to Die"--plus original (1965) and punk-rock versions of "Eve of Destruction."

This condensed version is suitably censored for radio broadcast.

Skidmark Bob produces the radio show & podcast, PoP dEFECT RADIO. More info. and download links at his blog, http://popdefectradio.blogspot.com/ . The uncut, hour-long original version of "Decade War" is available on radio4all.net.

Jean Shepherd: Elephant Feet

New World Notes #536, 28:49 (June 12)
Broadcast quality MP3 (33 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

All new episode!--most of which is 56 years old. The third in our series of classic monologues by the great radio humorist / satirist / storyteller Jean Shepherd.

Shepherd pokes fun at American life--including our crazy junk, our unrealistic "realistic" TV shows; our love of doing things just to see if they can be done; the rationalizations we concoct to justify space flights and war; and our favorite rhetorical question, "Who's covering up?"

Condensed by--and with a brief introduction by--KD.

Shepherd's monologue was originally broadcast on September 19, 1962, on station WOR AM-FM, New York. Thanks to flicklives.com for the original 45-minute recording.

Note: The first installment of our Jean Shepherd series was "Radio Great Jean Shepherd"--rebroadcast last week. Scroll down to find the page.

The second installment was "Jean Shepherd vs. 'Creeping Meatballism.'"

Radio Great Jean Shepherd

New World Notes #535, 29:09 (June 5)
Broadcast quality MP3 (40 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

Jean Shepherd (1959)

A tribute to the ad-lib art of late-night radio storyteller Jean Shepherd. Includes a condensed version of one of his great monologues, from October 1965. It's a humorous tale of grenade-replica cigarette lighters, the real George Washington, crime in real life vs. on TV, and life among the rednecks in Covington, Kentucky, in the 1950s. Introduction by KD.

 

Claire's "roscoe"? Smith & Wesson "Military & Police"
model revolver in .38 Special (1953)

Originally broadcast by NWN in 2009. Files downloaded from the links, above, are identified as NWN #232.

Shepherd recording courtesy of Radio Veronica. This and a few other Shepherd monologues are archived at radio4all.net