The Illusionists

Part 1: New World Notes #569, 27:59  (January 29)
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Part 2: New World Notes #570, 28:57 (February 5)
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 A good documentary film by Elena Rossini (2015), newly adapted to radio by KD.

It's about the damage--social, physical, and psychological--wrought by the huge and profitable "beauty" industry.

One of this film's virtues is its international scope. Throughout the world, the bad effects of the beauty business are remarkably similar--but the regional variations are very interesting. The focus shifts among. Boston, Paris, Milan, Beirut, Mumbai, and Tokyo.

Another virtue: the film focuses on men--the industry's latest target--as well as women.

Part One explores how the industry promotes personal insecurity ... how people worldwide have been persuaded to desire European features ... and how Third-World people are encouraged to lighten their skin color. Introduction by KD (and a brief PS by W. Shakespeare).

Part Two explores the "skinny" ideal and the diet industry ...Photoshopping models to make them skinnier still ... warped images of men's beauty ... the sexualization of children, especially young girls ... the connections between the beauty business and the porn business ...  and how to fight back.

 Calvin Klein ad

www.theillusionists.org/

The People vs. "The Masters of Mankind"

New World Notes #568, 28:40 (January 22)
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All for ourselves, and nothing for other people, seems, in every age of the world, to have been the vile maxim of the masters of mankind. -- Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, Chapter 4

Three short, impromptu talks by Noam Chomsky on the state of America today.  Chomsky brilliantly discusses

• the 1%'s attack on public education--and why they are doing it
• financial crimes that get people arrested--and the more serious ones that don't
• whether the people can change the system

The surprising answer to the third question is, Yes--they've done it before.

Our title refers to a favorite quotation of Chomsky's--reprinted at the top of this page.

Chomsky's remarks are taken from a Q&A session following a talk he gave in Syracuse, NY, on November 11, 2011.  From the video recording by Wilton Vought (othervoicesotherchoices.blogspot.com).  Many thanks.

Previously broadcast, as NWN #337, in August 2014. Files downloaded from the links, above, are identified as #337.

The Corporations and the Economy

New World Notes #567, 28:23 (January 15)
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This installment--first broadcast in March 2013--is as timely and relevant now as then--alas!

Corporate profits and stock prices continue to go up, up, up. Yet unemployment remains disastrously high, layoffs are increasing, poverty and personal debt are increasing. How can this be?

Noam Chomsky, Jim Hightower, Dave Johnson, The New York Times, and singer Mike Stout provide some answers.

Hint: don't blame nature, the Internet, new technologies, or China. Changes in federal laws and regulations--which Big Business fought hard for--enabled and encouraged the current mess.

Two of the sources we hear from bring up our local contributor to the Dow Jones Industrial Average: United Technologies Corporation. Just before the show's initial broadcast, UTC reported record profits and reached a record high share price. The company celebrated by announcing it would lay off (that is, fire) 3,000 more workers--on top of the 4,000 it laid off the precious year.

Chuck U. Rosina recorded the Chomsky segment in Boston on February 25, 2013. (Thanks again.)

Music added: Mike Stout, from "Occupy"

Clutter

New World Notes #566, 27:31 (January 8)
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It's stressful; it's expensive; ir's bad for the environment; it's bad for the soul; and it's very hard to get rid of. No, not the Trump Administration (or bedbugs): I'm referring to clutter.

We explore the problem with true confessions by me, an article by Erica Layne, remarks by environmentalist Lloyd Alter, and music by Chumbawamba.

Alex Wise's interview with Lloyd Alter courtesy of Sea Change Radio (December 11, 2018). Erica Layne's "9 Hard Truths About Clutter You Need to Hear" courtesy of ericalayne.co.

Disabilities

New World Notes #565, 28:25 (January 1)
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Once again we "compare great things with small." First, Jess Wright tells the history of "disability" in America.  People with impairments are labelled "disabled" when the economic system doesn't need them to fill a job. When more workers are needed, many of the "disabled" become "able"--as in US factories during World War II.

Then KD reads & discusses a newspaper story about a tragic disability afflicting many women in America: gray hair. And about the awful consequences of failing to use hair dye.

Previously broadcast, as NWN #325, in May 2014. Files downloaded from the links, above, are identified as #325. Jess Wright talk courtesy of wearemany.org.  Thanks to Robin Upton, producer of "Unwelcome Guests" (unwelcomeguests.net), for acquainting me with this talk.

Comic Satire for Christmas

New World Notes #564, 27:14 (December 25)
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An NWN Xmas tradition. Brief commentary by me, five satiric seasonal songs, and one imitation Broadway "big production number." All take a comic but critical view of American hypocrisies, religiosity, commercialism, class warfare, and other Christmastime traditions.

I'm especially fond of the pseudo- "big production number": Stan Freberg's 1958 masterpiece, Green Chri$tma$.  The audio fidelity is very good even by today's standards; the production is rich and sophisticated; the script is witty; and the message (alas) is still relevant.

Other contributions by Hugh Blumenfeld, Simon and Garfunkel, Anne Feeney, Roy Zimmerman, and Tom Lehrer.

This installment has previously been broadcast from time to time. Files downloaded from the links, above, are identified as NWN #355.

Scooter's War on Christmas Kickstarter

New World Notes #563, 28:33 (December 18)
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The Church fights back

A fine audio collage on Christmas and America produced by Scooter. A blend of social satire, inspired nonsense, improbable music, serious debate, standup comedy, right-wing craziness, & great fun.

This collage weaves together a debate on religion by the late Christopher Hitchens (atheist) and Catholic spokesman Bill Donahue, a parody musical-comedy Christmas movie, a parody war movie (climaxing in the death of all three Chipmunks), ravings by Bill O'Reilly and a few televangelists, heavy-metal Christmas carols, standup comedy by Lewis Black and Sam Kinison, and more.

Once again we present Scooter's tour-de-force almost uncut ... almost uncensored ... and almost unabridged!

This installment was previously broadcst--most recently in December 2016. The "broadcast quality" version has an extra bleep, making it all the more suitable for airplay.

Scooter, in a reflective moment

Scooter produces "The innerSide" radio program at KPFT-FM, Houston. Find more of his work at http://aksisofevil.org.

Plundering the Workers for Fun and Profit

New World Notes #562, 28:19 (December 11)
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Richard Wolff (2016)

With typical verve and wit, economist Richard Wolff shows how and why the corporate elite made themselves even richer and more powerful by plundering the American working class--and misleading them about what was happening to them. He also shows why the scam cannot go on much longer.

An especially interesting theme runs theough the talk: The very people who falsely claim to champion "family values" are the ones who themselves destroyed the traditional family--in order to preserve corporate profits.

With a brief introduction by KD.

Wolff spoke at the 2018 Left Forum in New York. This installment's title is my own. Wolff audio courtesy of unwelcomeguests.net.

Michael Parenti vs God and his Demons

Part One: New World Notes #560, 28:18 (November 25)
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Part Two: New World Notes #561, 28:42 (December 4):
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In a telephone interview with me on April 6, 2010, Left-leaning political scientist Michael Parenti discusses his book, God and His Demons (Prometheus Books)--a survey of the woes caused in the name of, and by, Organized Religion.

In Part One, Parenti talks about rampant child sexual abuse by the Christian (and other) clergy and the coverup thereof--and now, at the Vatican, the coverup of the coverup. He talks about the venality of the Protestant televangelists and the oppressive Buddhist theocracy in Tibet before the Chinese Communists took over. He talks about our society's ignoring some sins frequently denounced in the Bible--e.g., charging high interest rates ("usury")--while we piously condemn "sins" the Bible never mentions (gay marriage, abortion). And he rebuts creationism, "Intelligent Design," . . . and some of the conclusions of Charles Darwin.

Micharl Parenti

In Part Two, Parenti discusses the unholy alliance of the Church, the nation-state, and economic power; ... FEMA's enlistment of the clergy to preach obedience to authority; ... and the Christian Right's takeover of the Air Force Academy. He ends with praise for 2 unorthodox 16th-century Christians--Montaigne and Giordano Bruno--and explaining why, despite everything, he's not an atheist.

Music added: satiric songs by Roy Zimmerman (one in each part).

http://www.michaelparenti.org/
http://www.prometheusbooks.com

These installments were originally broadcast in April-May 2010. Files downloaded from the links, above, are identifiedas NWN #280 & 281.

Chris Hedges: Stop Fascism

Part 1: New World Notes #558, 27:44 (November 13)
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Part 2: New World Notes #559, 28:58 (November 20)
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A fine and fiery speech by journalist/activist Chris Hedges. He vividly tells the story of the "slow-motion coup" that replaced American democracy with oligarchy and the Corporate State.

Part 1 explains the takeover. Part 2 continues the story and then shows how--in the recent past--nonviolent popular resistance has overthrown oligarchies and established democracy.

Hedges spoke at an event titled Stop Fascism in the U.S., in Portland, Oregon, May 26, 2017. The event was sponsored by KBOO Community Radio. His speech was adapted to radio by Robin Upton and broadcast in installment #749 of Unwelcome Guests. Videos of the talk are available on YouTube. Thanks also to David Schonfeld, of WWUH-FM in Connecticut,  for his suggestions and advice.

Human Resources

Part 1: New World Notes #554, 27:42 (October 16)
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Part 2: New World Notes #555, 29:28 (October 23)
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Part 3: New World Notes #556, 28:33 (October 30)
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Part 4: New World Notes #557, 27:47 (November 6)
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Scott Noble's wide-ranging and fine documentary film of 2010. It's about the many attempts--some fairly successful--to reduce human beings to mere "cogs in the machine"--in order to further increase the wealth and power of the elite. Aiding this process at every step were the findings--and often the practitioners--of research in psychology, especially the "behaviorist" school of psychology.

Part 1 focuses on industrial relations. Through "scientific management," power in the workplace was taken from workers and given to management--yielding higher profits for the owners but degrading conditions for workers.

Part 2 begins with public schools. Schools were never designed to educate children--still less to empower them--but to turn them into obedient, docile workers and passive citizens. So argue both John Taylor Gatto and Alfie Kohn

The film then begins to explore how "the System" causes violence among the oppressed--and how that violence helps cement the elite's rule.

Part 3 shows psychology's "frustration-aggression" principle used as a means of social control. One predictable result of the human frustration "The System" creates is mass murder--as shown in the case of killer James Huberty.

But the worst mass-murderers are governments and politicians. With that claim (by anthropologist Elliott Leyton), the film begins to explore the CIA's infamous Project MK-ULTRA and other deadly experiments the U.S. government conducted on unwitting citizens in the decades following World War II.

A key figure in MK-ULTRA, infamous CIA-funded mind-control experimenter Dr. Donald Ewen Cameron destroyed the physical and mental health of scores of his patients. (Part 4 of this series)

Part 4 begins with KD reflecting on connections among the film, his life, and the recent massacre in his (and Mister Rogers') former neighborhood, Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh.

Then the film focuses on MK-ULTRA and its trail of damaged human beings. With MK-ULTRA, the CIA failed to discover the techniques of mind-control it was seeking. However it did find new techniques of torture, which it employed in recent years at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, and elsewhere.


Human Resources was adapted to radio by Robin Upton, of Unwelcome Guests. Many thanks to Robin.

This and other films by Scott Noble are available without charge at www.metanoia-films.org.

Climate Change Hope

New World Notes #553, 28:58 (October 9)
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Australian climate scientist Tim Flannery reviews some new, cutting-edge approaches to restraining or halting global warming.

Flannery opposes risky "geoengineering" schemes. But the new, "Third Way" approaches, he says, are different. Based on natural processes, they actually remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

These new technologies--combined with a shift from fossil fuels to wind and solar power--give us some reason to hope that climate catastrophe may be averted.

Tim Flannery

Flannery spoke in Seattle on November 12, 2015. The audio of his complete presentation was provided by Mike McCormick, producer of Mind Over Matters, in Seattle. (Many thanks.) I have substantially condensed the talk for this radio program.

This installment was previously broadcast as NWN #413, in February 2016. Files downloaded from the links, above, may be identified as #413.

How to Fight Back?

New World Notes #552, 28:28 (October 2)
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2011

With the Kavanaugh hearings, American politics seems to have reached yet another new low; and the majority of Americans are sick the whole corrupt system. But the Progressive opposition is fragmented and without a unifying vision. What to do? KD briefly explores the problem.

Then Progressive Black activist and intellectual Glen Ford proposes a solution: unite the opposition in a crusade to nationalize the banks.

Could this work?

Ford spoke at the Left Forum in June 2018. I have slightly condensed his talk. For the original audio recording, thanks to Wilton Vought, of the YouTube channel and podcast, Other Voices, Other Choices.

Sugar:The Bitter Truth

Part 1: New World Notes #550, 28:08 (September 18)
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Part 2: New World Notes #551, 28:22 (September 25)
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Robert Lustig is a physician (pediatric endocrinologist) and medical researcher. In this engaging and wide-ranging talk, he identifies the most important cause of America's epidemic of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary disease, liver disease, and metabolic disorder. The culprit is sugar, specifically fructose.

Industry is increasing the amount of fructose in packaged foods, including and especially soda. High fructose corn syrup is not the only villain: many forms are bad, including table sugar (which the body turns into fructose).

Lustig explores the politics, economics, and biochemistry behind this now-global problem.

With an introduction by K.D.

Previously broadcast, as NWN #438-439, in July and August 2016. Files downloaded from the links, above, are identified as #438 and 439.

Robin Upton, of Unwelcome Guests, adapted Lustig's lecture to radio. I have slightly condensed Robin's version. A video also is available, on YouTube.

How the Government Spies on You

New World Notes #549, 27:52 (September 11)
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A spooky talk by technology expert and civil-liberties activist Chris Soghoian.

The government tried to prevent strong encryption of phone calls and text and email messages. Failing that, it now hacks and decrypts personal communications at will ... and worse. It's not just the NSA and FBI: with federal funds, local police forces also are acquiring and using the latest secret surveillance technology. Citizens have been fighting back--often successfully--through the courts and the media.

Soghoian spoke in Seattle on March 11, 2016.  The original audio recording (which I have edited and condensed a little) courtesy of Mike McCormick. Many thanks. 

Previously broadcast, as NWN #436, in July 2016. Files downloaded from the link, above, are identified as #436. No lower-fidelity, "Decent quality" MP3 appears to exist for this installment: only the high-fidelity "Broadcast quality."

The Power to Change

Part 1: New World Notes #546, 28:01 (August 21)
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Part 2: New World Notes #547, 28:06 (August 28)
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Part 3: New World Notes #548, (September 4)
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Howard Zinn

A very good talk by Progressive historian Howard Zinn (d. 2010)--delivered three days after the 2008 presidential election. It deals with key themes in Zinn's writing (and social activism): social justice, war, economic power, the anti-democratic behavior of governments (including ours), propaganda, and the power of the people to organize and compel justice.

Part 1 focuses on the inadequacy of politicians' programs (notably President-elect Obama's) to bring about social justice--especially when those programs are compared with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Two major impediments to social justice in the U.S. are entrenched economic interests and the government's staggering expenditures on war.

Part Two focuses on this country's extravagant military expenditures and "absurd" wars. Zinn explores the American "mindset" that supports wars and imperialism--for example, "American Exceptionalism"; denial of our imperialism; and false definitions of "national security," "terrorism," and "patriotism."

Zinn in earlier days

In Part Three, Zinn concludes his remarks on war by discussing how war corrupts everybody. He draws on both his study of history and his own combat eperiences in World War Two. (He was a bombardier in the Air Corps.) He then discusses the need to learn real history ... how "disobedience is essential to democracy" ... and how "the people" have the power to change their world by joining together in social movements. Selections from the Q&A finish out the program.

KD introduces Part Three with the story of the American bombing of the town of Royan, France, in the last days of World War Two--an important event in the development of Zinn's views on war. Zinn himself dropped some of the bombs that destroyed Royan.

Of note: In 2016, candidate Donald Trump said that having been imprisoned by enemy forces in war does not in itself make John McCain a "hero." Fot this, Trump was--and continues to be--loudly denounced from both left and right. (New World Notes happens to agree with Trump on this particular point.) In fact, Howard Zinn said the same thing of McCain in 2008 (in Part Two). For Zinn, the real heros of the Vietnam War are those who tried to stop it.

Zinn spoke on "The Power to Change" in Binghamton, NY, on November 8, 2008. Original 90-minute recording courtesy of Lyn Gerry and the Unwelcome Guests Collective (unwelcomeguests.net). I have shortened a few pauses and removed a few stumbles: Zinn's talk is otherwise uncut.

Norman Finkelstein on Palestine

New World Notes #545, 28:05 (August 14)
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Norman Finkelstein

Mideast expert Norman Finkelstein reviews the horrors of Israel's attacks on Gaza and then explores Palestine's three options for regaining its freedom. Two of them--diplomacy and armed struggle--have failed to work, Finkelstein argues.

That leaves nonviolent mass resistance--with an immediate focus on ending Israel's blockade of Gaza. The tactic has worked before, including in Gandhi's India, in apartheid South Africa, and in fact in Palestine's FIrst Intifada. It can work again--if Palestine can overcome the handicaps of a demoralized population and corrupt political leaders.

Introduction by KD. I have condensed and edited Finkelstein's talk.

Finkelstein and Tariq Ali discussed the Israel/Palestine situation at the 2016 Left Forum. Thanks to David Schonfeld, my colleague at WWUH-FM, in West Hartford, for technical assistance.

Previously broadcast, as NWN #454, in November 2016. Files downloaded from the links, above, are identifies as #454.
 

Tariq Ali on Palestine

New World Notes #544, 28:41 (August 7)
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A fine talk on the past, present, and possible future of Palestine and its people, now enduring a brutal blockade and half-century-long military occupation by Israel. Much of Ali's criticism, though, is directed not against Israel but against the corruption of Palestine's "leaders"--the PLO and the so-called Palestinian Authority. These "leaders," conniving with Israel, have enriched themselves while the mass of Palestinians suffer, and they have made a "two-state solution" now impossible

Ali also criticizes the Arab countries, the United States, and most of Europe for their indifference to the Palestinians. And he praises the B.D.S. movement (boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel)--while noting its limitations.

Also of note: Ali's comparison and contrast of Palestine today and apartheid South Africa of years past ... and his discussion of why the Bernie Sanders movement is so encouraging.

Ali's remarks--which I have edited and condensed for radio broadcast--are from a panel discussion at the Left Forum, in New York, in May 2016. Thanks to David Schonfeld, my colleague at WWUH-FM, in West Hartford, for technical assistance.

Previously broadcast, as NWN #446, in September 2016. Files downloaded from the links, above, are identifies as #446.

London-based Tariq Ali is an activist and a scholar of international affairs. He is the author of more than a dozen books and the editor of the New Left Review.

Luddites

New World Notes #543, 27:51 (July 31)
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Jacquard loom

The Luddites were skilled workers in England (1811-1817)--weavers and other textile workers. They destroyed the new, automated factory machinery that threatened their lives.

KD discusses the Luddites' true history ,,, the pros and cons of their rebellion ... and the problems caused by globalized capitalism. He explores whether Luddism makes any sense in today's world ... and the possibility of nonviolent "soft-core" Luddism in our personal lives.

Included: a song by David Rovics and a clip from the documentary film Human Resources.

David Noble's documentary film Human Reseources is available, without charge, on the World Wide Web. See the site of its publisher (www.metanoia-films.org) or YouTube. David Rovics' "Everything Can Change" is from his album, If I Had a Hammer.

Vincent Emanuele on The Three Global Crises

Part 1: New World Notes #457, 28:31 (July 17)
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Part 2: New World Notes #458, 28:49 (July 24)
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Vincent Emanuele

An eye-opening and well-researched talk by activist Vincent Emanuele. He explores the three crises that are making the world--at best--highly unstable. Then he suggests some steps that the people can take to make our uncertain future as livable as possible.

Since neither government nor business is likely to do anything positive about these crises, useful responses will have to come from the grassroots.

All three crises are deeply rooted in the United States. Two of them are now global. The crises are

• social collapse in the U.S.
• militarization
• ecological disaster

 In Part 1, Emanuele shows the dimensions of social collapse and militarization and begins his discussion of the ecology crisis.

In Part 2, Emanuel explores the ecology crisis in depth and then proposes some general actions that the organized grassroots can take to maintain (insofar as possible) a good,decent, and cooperative life for the people.

Emanuele spoke at the Open University of the Left, in Chicago, on September 24, 2016. Thanks to Dale Lehman/WZRD, for the original audio recording, which I have condensed and slightly edited.

Previously broadcast, as NWN #457-458, in December 2016. Files downloaded from the links, above, are identified as #457 and 458.