Airwaves & Liberty

I received the following message from Aaron earlier today. Aaron hosted and co-produced Pacifica’s coverage of the Winter Soldier events in the DC area earlier this year. He has two books coming out in the next few months on the stories and testimony of returning veterans. Congratulations Aaron!

I’m very pleased to announce I’ve received a fellowship from the Carter Center’s Mental Health Program. The Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism will help fund my continued research and reporting, and provide me with continuing education and support on challenges Iraq and Afghanistan veterans face returning to school after serving in a war-zone.

Together, with the fellowship I received from the Hechinger Institute at Columbia University Teachers College, the Carter Center fellowship will free me up to continue in-depth, investigative journalism that highlights the human costs of the war at home and simple steps that can be taken to help ameliorate these problems.

Check out the work Aaron and others have done in this area at the KPFA site WarComesHome.org.

So the night before last, KPFT was the home of another potentially dangerous overnight happening - a man armed with a knife tried to get into the station and busted out a backdoor window to do so. No one was hurt, and the man was arrested. Program Director Ernesto Aguilar describes the incident at his blog. And pasted below is a story on the incident from Houston’s local ABC News affiliate. ~N

HOUSTON (KTRK) — A Houston radio station that’s been the target of crime before has had another bizarre incident.

According to station officials, there was a disturbance on 90.1 FM KPFT premises in the early morning hours today, involving a knife-wielding individual attempting to gain access to the building.

The individual in question arrived on station property and demanded access. After being rebuffed, he became agitated and punched out one of the window panes on the back door. He lost the weapon he was carrying when he punched through the glass.

He was apprehended without resistance and arrested. Police said the man did not express a motive or intent to harm those on property. Programmers, as well as police on site, each reported the man was incoherent.

This incident comes as the one-year anniversary approaches of a still-unsolved drive-by shooting that occurred at KPFT in August 2007.

The Green Party convention broadcast finished up a couple days ago — and it was really good, if I might say so. We received a lot of great feedback. In case you missed it, all three hours are now uploaded and available here for your listening.

Hour 1 is sort of a “Greens 101″, includes guests Ruth Weill and Scott McLarty from the GP, Pat LaMarche (2004 Green VP candidate), Mike Feinstein (Green and former mayor of Santa Monica), and others

Hour 2 includes speeches and sounds from the convention and a discussion of the Green Party in the political landscape. Guests include Kathy Kelly (of Voices for Creative Non-Violence), Malik Rahim (of Common Ground), Jill Stein (Physicians for Social Responsibility), Omar Lopez (immigration community organizer), and more.

Hour 3 focuses on a discussion of the nomination of Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente. We hear from them, as well as Ralph Nader, Jared Ball, and others.

More information about the Green Party is online at gp.org or the GP’s convention last weekend at greenparty2008.org.

Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee will hear from former Undersecretary of Defense Doug Feith and other guests Tuesday morning on the role that Bush Administration lawyers played in creating, developing, and implementing interrogation & torture policies at Guantanamo.

Feith was one of the architects of the Bush Administration’s legal and policy framework for interrogations. He was initially scheduled to testify in June, but cancelled on the morning of the hearing. His appearance is ensured by subpoena.

Pacifica Radio will broadcast the hearing live Tuesday, starting at 9:00 a.m. EDT. KPFA’s Larry Bensky will host this special, with Laura Prives producing. Tune into the live stream here.

Other guests scheduled for tomorrow’s hearing include Philippe Sands, Professor of International Law, University College London; and Deborah Pearlstein, Associate Research Scholar at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs.

Tuesday’s hearing follows up on previous coverage of this topic. Last month, Pacifica aired Judiciary Committee hearings that featured former White House Chief of Staff David Addington, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo, and others.

Renowned anti-nuclear champion and Nobel-nominated Dr. Helen Caldicott has launched a new one-hour, weekly public affairs radio show called “If You Love This Planet.” The first show will air on KPFT in Houston on Monday July 14 at 7:00 PM Central time.

“If You Love This Planet” explores the many dangers of nuclear weapons, nuclear power, climate change and global environmental crises, and explores real solutions to these problems.

We have all heard Dr. Caldicott’s riveting speeches on our airwaves over the past several decades. Many of us have seen her powerfully engage audiences in person. Her radio show is a beacon of truth, a fresh, uncensored and courageous voice in a media landcape that has more-often-than-not ignored the dangers of all things nuclear.

Dr. Caldicott also takes on the global enviromental crises we all want and need to learn more about, “full frontal.” The time has come to cut through the media blackouts and accumulated lies.

She’s passionate, engaging, funny, extraordinary and powerful. And she has a guest list for this show that will make your head spin.

“If You Love This Planet,” (also the title of her book, and her Academy Award-winning documentary film) is recorded weekly in Canberra, the capital of Helen’s native Australia. Her primary host station is Pacifica’s KPFT in Houston, Texas. Her target audience? Every last American, Canadian and European citizen, for starters.

Dr. Helen Caldicott, a pediatrician, was the primary founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility. As one of the most articulate and passionate advoctes of citizen action to remedy the nuclear and environmental crises, Helen has devoted the last 35 years of her life to an international campaign to educate the public about the medical hazards of the nuclear age and the necessary changes in human behavior to stop environmental destruction.

Her latest books include “War In Heaven” and “Nuclear Power is Not the Answer.”

For those in the Los Angeles area, check this out. You can buy tickets here. ~N

KPFK Pacifica Radio 90.7 FM presents: CLASH OF THE POCHOS — Sun., July 27 at 8:00 p.m.

Culture Clash ~ The Pochos
Kicking off KPFK’s 50th Golden Anniversary 1959-2009

A rollicking evening of political satire under the stars with Culture Clash in a benefit performance for KPFK featuring rare and indelible works from Culture Clash’s historical anthology, and KPFK’s Pocho Hour Of Power at the Ford Amphitheatre.

Enjoy performances by exciting Artists who are generously donating their creative time and extraordinary talent to support KPFK

KPFK 1959-2009 ~ 50 Years of Public Radio Powered by the People
Imagine, KPFK Pacifica Radio will reach its 50th year of continuous noncommercial community service in 2009. To kick-off our 50th anniversary year celebrations, KPFK presents Culture Clash, the hilarious and potent satirical trio (www.cultureclash.com), on July 27 in a benefit performance for KPFK at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood, also featuring KPFK’s own Pocho Hour of Power led by Lalo Alcaraz, creator of the daily comic strip “La Cucaracha” and the music of MEZKLAH. KPFK is immensely grateful that the artists are donating their time and talent for the evening as a benefit for KPFK.

The 13th annual Grassroots Radio Conference is happening later this month out in Portland, hosted by the good folks at KBOO. I won’t be able to attend, but GRCs are usually pretty fun - if you have a chance, check it out. The email below is from KBOO’s Ani Haines.
~Nathan

- - - - -

Registration for the GRC will be open on Thursday, July 24th, 2 - 8pm. We will have a reception /social gathering at the Native American Student and Community Center from 5 - 8 pm.

Breakfast & Registration will be ready at 8 AM, Friday, July 25th, with the Opening Plenary beginning at 9:30 am.

The conference ends Sunday, 1:30 pm, following the Closing Plenary on Sunday, July 27th.

Many, many more details forthcoming. I will post a list of workshops to this list tomorrow.

Further updates: The rooms that we blocked out at University Place (at a great price!) are going fast. Please reserve your room now if you want one! I am copying the information from our website to the bottom of this email for everyone’s convenience.

And finally, if you are planning to come to the conference, PLEASE REGISTER SOON!!! I am trying to get a good count for food, etc. If you register AFTER JULY 18th, YOU MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO BE INCLUDED IN THE MEALS! So don’t delay, register today! You’ll be glad you did and so will I.

The GRC 13 food planning crew has just asked me to ask you: If you are coming to the Grassroots Radio Conference, we ask you to bring your own re-usable water bottle and travel mug. We are trying to use very few disposables, in keeping with our commitment to the environment.

Thanks so much! We are very excited to host this conference, along with KPCN, Portland Center for Public Humanities at PSU, and the PSU Departments of English and Communications.

I look forward to seeing you in about 2.5 weeks!
ani

REVOLUTION REWIND: 1968 YEAR IN REVIEW
A three-hour documentary special

“Revolution Rewind” is a 40th Anniversary celebration of a year in which a radical wave crashed across the globe, changing the world and its people politically, socially, and culturally. Wars, marches, elections, assassinations, human rights, civil rights, women’s rights, the explosion of consciousness and creativity… And Pacifica Radio was there to capture it all.

Check back here for a link to the documentary program after July 10th. Or check with your local Pacifica station or affiliate for air time.

CONTENT BY HOUR:
Hour 1: Revolution Rewind: 1968 Year in Review, Part One consists of a broad overview of 1968, with audio selections ranging from Pacifica’s courageous and uncensored coverage of the Vietnam War, Martin Luther King, Jr., members of the Black Panther Party, Cesar Chavez, Robert Kennedy, the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Pete Seeger, Jesse Jackson, Muhammad Ali, Ayn Rand, and many more.

Hour 2: Revolution Rewind: 1968 Year in Review, Part Two showcases the powerful artistic contributions made within this year of turmoil: the sounds of Bob Dylan, Allen Ginsberg, Melina Mercouri, Sun Ra, Phil Ochs, Abbie Hoffman, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, and others.

Hour 3: Revolution Rewind: 1968 Year in Review, Part Three features two very special guests who found themselves on the forefront of change in 1968 — independent journalist Connie Lawn and activist Tom Hayden join us in the studio 40 years after the fact, to share thoughts and analysis on the lasting importance and impression of 1968, the year of sounds that changed the world.

PRODUCTION STAFF:
Executive Producer: Pacifica Radio Archives and Brian DeShazor
Produced and Edited by Mark Torres
Written by Joanne Griffith
Hosts: Brian DeShazor, Joanne Griffith, Sonali Kolhatkar, Mark Maxwell, Margaret Prescod, Aura Bogado, and Mark Torres

Pacifica Radio will air a live three-hour broadcast from the Green Party Convention in Chicago on Sunday, July 13th as the convention comes to a close.

The convention coverage will air live on Pacifica’s five sister stations this Sunday — 12n-3pm EDT / 11am-2pm CDT / 9am-12n PDT. If you listen to a Pacifica affiliate station, check to see if they’ll be carrying the broadcast live or tape-delayed.

In this Presidential election year, huge issues face the United States: wars in the Middle East and saber-rattling with Iran; the danger of environmental collapse; and the economy in recession with no end in sight… Yet on many of the most important issues facing us, only modest differences exist between the two major parties.

However, over the weekend of July 13th, the Green Party will chart a different course at its annual convention in Chicago. Hosted by Davey D from KPFA’s Hard Knock Radio and produced by KPFK’s Christine Blosdale, Pacifica Radio will be on site to bring you live coverage on Sunday, July 13th. We’ll air speeches, stories and sounds from the Green Party convention, as well as terrific live interviews and analysis of the Greens in the current political landscape.

Pacifica’s Green Party coverage is the first in the network’s summer coverage of the national political conventions. The Democratic National Convention takes place in Denver at the end of August, and the Republicans will be in St. Paul at the beginning of September. We’ll have a crew on-site for both.

I’m reposting this from Ernesto Aguilar’s blog. I briefly met Sean on a staff call last week, and I look forward to working with him. Welcome aboard this crazy ship, Sean! ~N

Sean Heitkemper has been announced as the new general manager of KPFK in Los Angeles. Sonali Kolhatkar notes:

At only 36 years of age, Sean has more than 13 years of experience managing public radio stations. He is a native of Southern California, majored in political science at Cal State Long Beach, and worked at KKJZ, formerly KLON, in Long Beach. Sean was hired to run KPFK by Pacifica Executive Director Nicole Sawaya, who picked him from a set of finalists chosen by the Local Station Board.

Sean served in various capacities at KLON/KKJZ, including as a membership manager. Sean hosted a program at KKJZ and was the station manager until the spring of 2007.

Congrats to Sean and KPFK!