Sunday, June 24, 2012

Food, Politics, and Whatnot

To download an audio file (save it on your hard disk): Click on this link for instructions.

New World Notes News
Vol. 5, No. 25 --June 24, 2012

This week in New World Notes, radio program #225, June 26, 2012

Food, Politics, and Whatnot

In brief

Reflections on local agriculture, how Jimmy Carter destroyed the Democratic Party in the Midwest in order to punish the Russians, how Obama stopped TARP bailout funds from helping homeowners, and other odd tales. Includes a short essay by Paul Burkheit ("Five Facts That Put America to Shame"), music by David Rovics, and commentary by Jim Hightower and Glen Ford.

Notes, credits, & links

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. See the gray sidebar on the right ("CONTENTS [Links]") for a table of contents.

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.

 
The Heart Attack Grill, Las Vegas

Coming soon (Tuesday air debut date shown)
  • July 3 -- Pink Slime, Meat Glue, Local Blueberries, and the Constitution (More Food, Politics, and Whatnot)
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):
A-Infos Radio Project http://www.radio4all.net
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Saturday, June 16, 2012

Be the First On Your Block to Reject Competition

To download an audio file (save it on your hard disk): Click on this link for instructions.

New World Notes News
Vol. 5, No. 24 --June 16, 2012

This week in New World Notes, radio program #224, June 19, 2012

Be the First On Your Block
to Reject Competition

 
In brief

Psychology researcher and educational theorist Alfie Kohn is in fine form in this vintage talk (ca. 1989). Kohn says that the problem with our culture is not that it is "too competitive." Rather, the scientific research shows that all competition is harmful and counterproductive. It leads away from excellence, not towards it. And it's bad for the soul.

So why is competition emphasized in America? Kohn (briefly) discusses how it reinforces existing structures of power in our society.

Don't confuse competition with conflict, Kohn says. Unlike competition, conflict is inevitable and sometimes good. Martin Luther King was right to challenge institutional racism and the power structure behind it. By the same token, trying to eliminate competiton puts the social reformers--yet again--in conflict with our society's power elite and the system they control.

Alfie Kohn

Notes, credits, & links

I've condensed Kohn's talk. The full-length original is available here. Thanks to Xenophrenia for making it available.

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 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. See the gray sidebar on the right ("CONTENTS [Links]") for a table of contents.

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)
  • June 26 -- Politics, Food, and Whatnot
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):
A-Infos Radio Project http://www.radio4all.net
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Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Why Factory Farming Has Got to Go

To download an audio file (save it on your hard disk): Click on this link for instructions.

New World Notes News
Vol. 5, No. 22 --June 6, 2012

This fortnight in New World Notes, radio programs #222-223, June 5 & 12, 2012

Why Factory Farming Has Got to Go

In brief

In an interesting, shrewd, and funny talk, Michael Pollan shows what is wrong with our globalized, corporate-controlled agriculture. And he shows why certain alternatives are sane, practical, and---on a small but growing scale--already in place.

This week, in Part 1, he explains six reasons why factory farming is not only bad but "unsustainable." And he shows why "Whole Foods"-type globalized, corporate organic farming is not much better.

 Below: Joel Salatin, of Polyface Farm

Notes, credits, & links

Pollan spoke at The Mondavi Center of the University of California, Davis, in November 2006. Adapted to radio in May 2012 by K.D.

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 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. See the gray sidebar on the right ("CONTENTS [Links]") for a table of contents.

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)
  • June 17 -- Competition is Bad, with Alfie Kohn
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):
A-Infos Radio Project http://www.radio4all.net
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