Writer's Voice with Francesca Rheannon: Ted Rall, TRUMP & Ken Silverstein on the Clinton Foundation

http://www.writersvoice.net/2016/08/ted-rall-trump-ken-silverstein-clinton-foundation/

Ted Rall talks about his new book, Trump. Then, new revelations indicate serious conflicts of interest between Hilary’s State Department and the Clinton Foundation. In light of renewed scrutiny of the foundation, we talk with investigative reporter Ken Silverstein about his 2015 article for Harper’s Magazine, “Shaky Foundations.”

David Bollier on Writer’s Voice With Francesca Rhiannon

http://www.writersvoice.net/2016/08/david-bollier-juliana-barbassa-rio/

For the vast majority of human history, the dominant economic system was the commons. In fact, many anthropologists believe that it was our ability to cooperate in using shared resources that drove our evolution, including the development of language.

So how did such a fundamental mode of human behavior fall into such disuse — and even ill repute? We hear a lot about the “tragedy of the commons” and nothing about its incredible success, even where practiced in our capitalism-dominated world. And just as an aside — what about the tragedy of private enterprise? You don’t have to look very far to see how putting private profits over social needs is bringing us to the brink of planet-wide disaster.

David Bollier is at the forefront of the modern commoning movement. He was part of the first effort to establish an international legal framework for the commons and is the author of several previous books about the movement. We’ve talked with him about some of them previously on this show.

Bollier’s new book, co-edited with Silke Helfrich, is Patterns of Commoning. Collecting contributions from Commoners around the world, it richly demonstrates the vitality of the movement and its expansion into multiple arenas, from seed banking to free and open source software.

The book covers neighborhood commons, both urban and rural (like the Potato Park of Peru, pictured above); arts and culture commons, technology commons, exchange and credit commons and biocultural commons. In its pages, a new, more convivial and sustainable means of organizing our economy comes to life.

Writer's Voice: Wendell Potter, Nation on the Take & Adam Johnson on DNC Wikileaks

http://www.writersvoice.net/2016/07/wendell-potter-adam-johnson/

"We talk with Wendell Potter about the book he co-wrote with Nick Penniman, Nation on the Take: How Big Money Corrupts Our Democracy and What We Can Do About It.

Then, we speak with journalist Adam Johnson about the corporate spin on the Wikileaks DNC revelations. His article for the media watch group FAIR is “With DNC Leaks, Former ‘Conspiracy Theory’ Is Now True — and No Big Deal”."

Writer's Voice: Mary Costello and Katha Pollitt

http://www.writersvoice.net/2016/07/mary-costello-katha-pollitt/

"Mary Costello talks about her wonderful debut novel, Academy Street. Then, in light of the Supreme Court decision June 27 declaring Texas’s restrictive law on abortion clinics unconstitutional, we re-air our 2015 interview with Katha Pollitt about her book, Pro."

Writer's Voice podcast

http://www.writersvoice.net/2016/06/richard-zacks-chasing-the-last-laugh/

Richard Zacks talks about his new book about Mark Twain’s world lecture tour to get himself out of debt. It’s called Chasing the Last Laugh: Mark Twain’s Raucous and Redemptive Round-the-World Comedy Tour.

Then we re-air the 2012 interview Zacks gave Writers Voice in 2012 about his book Island of Vice. It’s about Teddy Roosevelt’s stint as New York City’s crusading anti-vice Police Commissioner.

Writer's Voice: John Muir Laws, The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing

http://www.writersvoice.net/2016/06/john-muir-laws-corinne-smith/

Naturalist and environmental educator John Muir Lawstalks about his book The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling. Then we talk with author Corinne Smith about another great lover of nature, Henry David Thoreau. Her latest book about the great 19th century writer isHenry David Thoreau For Kids, His Life And Ideas, with 21 Activities. 

Are US Elections Being Hacked?

http://www.writersvoice.net/2016/06/jonathan-simon-virginia-martin/

Are American Elections Being Hacked? Jonathan Simon: Code Red & Commissioner Virginia Martin

Voting machines are black boxes: designed, run and read by private corporations with proprietary control. The public pays for them, but has no access to them. And most voting machine companies are highly partisan from the right wing of the political spectrum.

Writer's Voice: Runaway Inequality & The Strip And Flip Selection of 2016

http://www.writersvoice.net/2016/05/les-leopold-robert-fitrakis/

Les Leopold talks about his new book, Runaway Inequality: An Activist’s Guide to Economic Justice. It’s about how wealth and income inequality are strip-mining our economy and destroying communities across America.

Then — with massive voter purges and hackable voting machines, are American elections really clean and fair? We hear a clip from a recent speech from election integrity expert Robert Fitrakis. He’s got a new book out, co-authored with Harvey Wasserman — The Strip And Flip Selection of 2016.

Writer's Voice: What Happens When Your Land Gets Fracked?

"Novelist Jennifer Haigh talks about her powerful new book,Heat and Light. It’s about what happens to a small Pennsylvania community when the frackers come to town.

Then Andrew Nikiforuk tells the true story of Jessica Ernst, a Canadian oil patch consultant turned anti-fracking activist. We talk with him about his book, Slick Water: Fracking and One Insider’s Stand Against the World’s Most Powerful Industry."

Peter Blood and Annie Patterson Rise Again

http://www.writersvoice.net/2016/05/peter-blood-annie-patterson-rise/

Audio Player

00:00

00:00

Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Peter Blood and Annie Patterson, co-creators of Rise Up Singing, talk about the sequel, Rise Again (Hal Leonard Publishing June, 2015). We talk with them about both songbooks, their work with Pete Seeger and their long collaboration as a musical couple.

Then we talk with journalist and anti-fracking activist, Maura Stephens.

Peter Blood and Annie Patterson

The songbook Rise Up Singing came out in 1988 and quickly became a classic. With 1200 songs in many popular genres, it enabled people everywhere to get together and lift up their voices in song.

But it was hard to use if you didn’t know the tune, because all it had were the lyrics and the chord changes. (On the other hand, that meant you had to get together with others who did know the tune, which added to the fun.)

Now, Rise Up Singing creators Peter Blood and Annie Patterson have come out with another all new songbook,Rise Again. And this time, it’s linked to a website and aYoutube channel that will have you remembering old songs and learning new ones in no time.

Rise Again features 1200 new songs, covering genres like Ballads & Old Songs, Blues, British Invasion & Rock, Country, Dignity & Diversity, Earthcare, Freedom — and all the way down to Work.

Annie Patterson and Peter Blood are musicians, song leaders & songbook makers. They lead Singalong Concerts and workshops at festivals, schools and private events.
Peter Blood was active in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Annie Patterson is a singer songwriter and jazz vocalist, as well as a song leader, with several CDs of her own work.

Writer's Voice: Fixing the US broken election system

http://www.writersvoice.net/2016/04/patrick-barrett-greg-palast/

Can we get real democracy in the US? We talk with political scientist Patrick Barrett about his article, “Can We Change the Political System? Strategic Lessons of the Bernie Sanders Campaign”.

Then we re-air our 2008 interview with muckraking reporter Greg Palast about his book Steal Back Your Vote. We talk about how voters were disenfranchised by voter purging and other voter suppression methods in past elections — and what voters can do about it.

- Francesca Rhiannon