Meditations and Molotovs

Meditations and Molotovs - 08.15.16

 Today, Vince is joined by artist, public educator and community organizer,Thomas Frank. Thomas is leading the research team that's examining the situation in East Chicago, Indiana, where over 1,500 residents and students are being forced to move from their homes and schools as a result of lead and arsenic poisoning.

We'll talk about the history of industrial crimes and ecological devastation that plague East Chicago and the surrounding region, the residents who are fighting back, and how you can get involved.

Meditations and Molotovs - 08.09.16

 Vince talks about his recent article for CounterPunch, why the U.S. lacks an antiwar movement and what antiwar activists could do in the future to be more effective. After ten years of working with antiwar movements around the globe, Vince has seen the many ways in which those movements limit their own productivity. Interestingly, antiwar movements ranging from Spain to Australia are facing similar difficulties. 

Meditations and Molotovs - 08.01.16

On today's program, Vince discusses the Khan family (recently made famous during their performance at the DNC in Philadelphia), Identity Politics (particularly Muslim-Americans and Veterans) within the context of the War on Terror, Jill Stein and the Green Party that doesn't exist, lead poisoning in East Chicago, uprisings in Naples, Italy, and world's disappearing water aquifers.

Meditations and Molotovs - 07.25.16

Today's program features Vince's reflections on the Fascist madness unleashed during last week's RNC in Cleveland. Vince also previews the Neoliberal madness that will be unleashed in Philadelphia starting today and talks about Debbie Wasserman Schultz (the ultimate apologist for Israeli terrorism), the Democratic Party, why I'm not in Philly, Russia, Wikileaks, Christo-Fascist Mike Pence, and the naivety of Bernie Sanders supporters.

Meditations and Molotovs - 07.18.16

In America, the chickens have come home to roost: killer cops, deranged veterans, Christian Fascists, racial apartheid, Neoliberal dynasties, Pokémon Go, and the rise of Donald Trump. Indeed, there's plenty to talk about on this somber and muggy Monday.

Most importantly, let's remember that the police and the military are sources of violence and instability, not peace and security. This is as true in Iraq and Afghanistan as it is in Baton Rouge and Chicago. 

Meditations and Molotovs - 07.11.16

On today's program, Vince reflects on the difficulties of radio and listener expectations. More importantly, Vince talks about policing, violence, BLM, militarization, robotics technologies, resistance and why events such as those that took place in Dallas, Texas are just the tip of the iceberg. 

Meditations and Molotovs - 06.27.16

Today's program features a discussion on the Brexit vote. Vince talks about what the vote means, and what it doesn't mean. He also explores procedural and legal challenges, the various ideologies and organizations that supported the "leave" vote and their connection to Trump's supporters, and what the Brexit vote means for Left political movements around the globe. Most importantly, Vince suggests that the Left shouldn't tear itself apart over the Brexit results. There is plenty of room for disagreement and solidarity. It would be wise to recognize that both sides have legitimate concerns and suggestions. Political, economic and media elites want to divide progressives. It's up to us to reject this false narrative and provide alternatives to both nation-state capitalism and neoliberal-EU capitalism.

Meditations and Molotovs - 06.20.16

On today's program, Vince speaks with author and activist Liza Featherstone, who recently edited a collection of essays entitled, "False Choices: The Faux Feminism of Hillary Rodham Clinton." They discuss Liza's perspective on the 2016 elections, feminism, political activism and much more.

Liza Featherstone is a contributing writer to The Nation. A free-lance journalist and essayist, she has also written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsday, Columbia Journalism Review, Salon, Slate and many other publications. Featherstone is also the author of Selling Women Short: The Landmark Battle for Workers’ Rights at Wal-Mart (Basic Books, 2004). Last year, she was a Knight-Bagehot Fellow in Business and Economics Journalism at Columbia University.

Meditations and Molotovs - 06.13.16

There is simply no way to understand the massacre in Orlando without asking fundamental questions about our society, its various institutions, cultures and ideologies.

Hence, today's program features a discussion concerning violence, guns, patriarchy, capitalism, civilization, homophobia, religion, militarism, racism, ecological devastation and how all of these things are inherently connected.

In the end, the government isn't taking anyone's guns in the U.S. There will be no "buy back" program. There will be no "confiscation efforts." And there surely won't be a "ban on assault weapons" in the near future. In the meantime, what are decent Americans to do?

Meditations and Molotovs - 06.06.16

Today, Vince speaks to everyone's favorite professor, sociologist and labor activist, Kim Scipes. They discuss Kim's latest book, "Building Global Labor Solidarity in a Time of Accelerating Globalization" (Haymarket).

Building Global Labor Solidarity in a Time of Accelerating Globalization is a call for international solidarity to resist the assaults on labor’s power. This collection of essays by international labor activists and academics examines models of worker solidarity, different forms of labor organizations, and those models’ and organizations’ relationships to social movements and civil society.

Kim Scipes is associate professor of sociology at Purdue University Northwest in Westville, Indiana. He has previously authored two books: KMU: Building Genuine Trade Unionism in the Philippines, 1980–1994 (New Day Books, 1996) and AFL-CIO’s Secret War Against Developing Country Workers: Solidarity or Sabotage? (Lexington Books, 2010).