by Jim Swanson
Progressive News Radio
We are always glad when Craig Aaron from FreePress.net can take the time to speak with us on Progressive News Radio.
As Communications Director, Craig always has the latest information on trying to stop major business conglomerates from gobbling up more radio stations, televisions stations and newspapers.
Even though Free Press is a non-partisan group, we asked Craig if they were excited about the election of Barack Obama as President of The United States due to Mr. Obama’s more friendly approach to the internet broadband issues as well as other topics that concern Free Press.
Enjoy the interview and be sure to visit their websites FreePress.net and SaveTheInternet.com.
We were recently honored to be able to visit with former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman.
His being railroaded by Karl Rove and other members of the Bush “Thug Brigade” had him in prison for nine months in solitary confinement without access to the media or even his family.
Governor Siegelman spoke with us more about democracy than about him. His concern for our country is echoed not just in his unjust conviction, but his worry of the overreach of Executive Power within the Bush Administration.
The Governor believes that, at the very least, it is Congress’ obligation to the citizens of this country to investigate the corruption, the illegal firings of U.S. Attorneys, the illegal occupation of Iraq and others, actually, too numerous to mention.
This interview wasn’t scheduled to be a part of “Progressive News Radio’s” weekly three-hour podcast until October 21st. But we at Progressive News Radio felt it was way too important to let our conversation wait.
Governor Siegelman would like you to visit www.contemptforrove.com or www.donsiegelman.org to get more information on how you can get active.
He also requests that you and I write our representatives in Congress and tell them that we MUST have investigations into this administration.
The interview can be listened to on this site with the mp3 player below or you can download it to play on your iPod or computer at a later time.
After the October 8th “town hall” debate, both John McCain’s and Barack Obama’s supporters seemed happy with the ground rules in Nashville for the 2nd presidential debate.
2,800 volunteers were recruited by Free Press to rate moderator Tom Brokaw as well as the other previous debate moderators, Gwen Ifill and Jim Lehrer.
We spoke with Craig Aaron (pictured at left), communications director for FreePress.net about the findings.
Be sure to click the Free Press logo above and visit their website.
Living legend Roc/Jazz Keyboardist, composer and all around great human being, George Duke, recently talked with Progressive News Daily’s Jim Swanson about his latest release on the Heads Up International label “Dukey Treats“. George tells us how the album came together and some of the outstanding musicians that worked with George to put together this great set of “old school” funk, rock and ballads. There’s a little bit of a nod to both Parliament/Funkadelic and Earth, Wind and Fire throughout the CD. All in all, the CD is a great deal of fun.
George also touches on the spiritual side of his music and playing from the heart. He also chatted from his Los Angeles studio about the future of the music industry and the young talent that needs to chance to let their lights shine.
You can check out George’s website HERE and also purchase your own copy of “Dukey Treat’s” below.
Democrat Jeff Morris visited us for a chat about politics during the second hour of the September 10, 2008 edition of Progressive News Radio.
Jeff is running for the Congressional seat in the 2nd District of California (Northern California), that is currently held by long-time incumbent Wally Herger.
Jeff plans to unseat the incumbent lawmaker and talks with us about the needs of Northern California and how he plans to address those needs and make some long needed changes.
You can check out Jeff’s website HERE
Los Angeles area Realtor Robert Eisenberg made an appearance for an interview on our September 10, 2008 edition of Progressive News Radio.
Robert has written a book called “Surviving The Mortgage Meltdown“, which describes and explains the sub-prime mortgage debacle that has plagued homeowners in the United States and has played havoc with the financial market across the globe.
Robert is also kind enough to donate proceeds from his book to help people catch up on their mortgage payments.
Have a listen to the interview and then check out the book HERE
We had a great opportunity to speak with one of America’s true Patriots! One of the very few in the 110th Congress who actually lived up to his oath of office “To protect the United States Constitution“. He is Representative Dennis Kucinich from the 10th District of Ohio.
Mr. Kucinich, who ran for President of The United States this year (and WAS by many accounts, the best candidate), has been relentless in pursuing the impeachment of President George W. Bush.
We at Progressive News Radio were honored to be able to speak with Mr. Kucinich about his vision of a “Department Of Peace” and shares his ideas on it with us.
Mr. Kucinich is up for re-election this November. Please visit his site HERE and help in any way you can.
Enjoy the interview.
Jim
Democratic Representative Robert Wexler, serving the 19th District of Florida, was a recent guest on Progressive News Radio.
He was gracious enough to give us some time to talk politics as well as talk about his new book: “Fire Breathing Liberal: How I Learned To Survive (And Thrive) In The Contact Sport of Congress“. (a link to his book directly to Amazon.com is below)
Mr. Wexler has been an outspoken critic of the Bush Administration, especially the office of Vice-President Dick Cheney. So much so, Congressman Wexler set up a website to get “we the people” involved in calling for hearing into the shenanigans of Mr. Cheney. The site Wexler Wants Hearings, has received well over 250,000 online signatures for a petition to start hearings, which Mr. Wexler presented to the House.
He also spoke with us about a needed “call to arms” for Progressives to make sure we knock on doors, make phone calls and get very involved in taking back America.
Here’s the interview
Craig Aaron is the Communications Director for Free Press. He oversees the Free Press Web site and print materials; writes press releases, op-eds and other articles; and closely collaborates with the outreach and policy teams on numerous issues. Before joining Free Press, he was an investigative reporter for Public Citizen’s Congress Watch, where he helped create and launch the WhiteHouseForSale.org Web site. Craig previously worked as the managing editor of In These Times magazine and is the editor of the book Appeal to Reason: 25 Years In These Times. His reporting, commentary and criticism have appeared in numerous national publications. (from the Free Press website)
Craig is considered to be a good friend of Progressive News Radio and has made the most appearances on the program.
In this interview, Craig discusses the latest concerns of Free Press and talks about the recent National Conference for Media Reform, which took place in Minneapolis, Minnesota in early May.
The California Supreme Court recently ruled that the state can allow same-sex marriages.
Naturally, conservatives are putting this very issue on the November ballot in hopes of overturning the Court’s decision.
We spoke with Mary Tolbert, Executive Director of The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion & Ministry in Berkeley, California about this very issue.
Mary is the George H. Atkinson Professor of Biblical Studies at the Pacific School of Religion and The Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. After playing a pivotal role in the conception and realization of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry at PSR, Dr. Tobert was appointed the center’s first Executive Director and has held that position since the Center’s opening in the Fall of 200.
We think you’ll find the interview both interesting and informative.
Visit the Center’s website HERE
John Cusack is the star - co-writer and co-producer of a very biting satirical military corporatization film called “War, Inc.“
Although it’s currently being shown at just two theaters, one in New York and one in Los Angeles, “War, Inc.” is selling out every night and getting rave reviews.
John was gracious enough to spend some time being interviewed on the telephone from his current film’s location, London, England.
In this interview, you’ll hear about the film and a lot about John’s passionate knowledge of politics.
Enjoy,
Jim
Bill Buzenberg, Executive Director for The Center For Public Integrity joined us in April of this year (2008) to talk about the incredible number of lies and misinformation that was delivered to the public during the run-up to the Iraq War.
The story about the lies can be found on their website. Click their logo below to go directly to the story called “The War Card: Orchestrated Deception on The Path To War”.
(from their website): President George W. Bush and seven of his administration’s top officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, made at least 935 false statements in the two years following September 11, 2001, about the national security threat posed by Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. Nearly five years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, an exhaustive examination of the record shows that the statements were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses.
On at least 532 separate occasions (in speeches, briefings, interviews, testimony, and the like), Bush and these three key officials, along with Secretary of State Colin Powell, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, and White House press secretaries Ari Fleischer and Scott McClellan, stated unequivocally that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (or was trying to produce or obtain them), links to Al Qaeda, or both. This concerted effort was the underpinning of the Bush administration’s case for war.
Craig Aaron is the Information Director for Free Press and has been a returning guest to Progressive News Radio.
Craig is on the battlefield to make sure the press stays free…meaning everyone gets their voice heard. Free Press, in the past has been very active with the recent postal increases for “small” publications such as The Nation Magazine.
Along with Free Press, Craig suggests we also visit Save The Internet, to make sure content is not blocked by the likes of Comcast and Cox Communications.
Be sure to check out all of the organizations involved in this interview by clicking their logo below.
We spoke with Jay Stanley from the ACLU about various topics, but highlighted The Infragard Program (see & listen to Matt Rothschild’s interview below.
Be sure to get active with the ACLU. They’re fighting for our Civil Liberties constantly and always can use your help. Become a member if you can. Click both the ACLU logo and The Infragard logo below to see their websites.
Air America Radio is really the only “progressive” radio network, but they are making some great noise.
Mark Green, unsuccessfully ran for Mayor of New York City in 2001. He has authored many books, including his latest, “Losing Our Democracy”, which is linked below to Amazon.com.
We had the chance to speak with Air America Radio’s President Mark Green, who was gracious to give us some time from his busy schedule to talk politics.
The 2008 Presidential election is going to be the most important in our history. Mark discusses the importance of getting out the vote, as well as some exciting news about Air America Radio’s future.
Be sure to visit Air America Radio’s website by clicking on their logo below.
We spoke with Teresa Stack, President of “The Nation” magazine before the postal rate hike for small publications took effect in July 2007. (I was working with another website at the time) Since the rate increase, The Nation, along with Free Press, have waged a campaign for Congress to overturn the rate hike. Why? Well, for one thing, the legislation, as you’ll find out in the interview was written by the attorneys for Time-Warner. What’s wrong with that picture? Plenty. Click on “The Nation” logo or the Free Press link to get more information.
From time to time, we like to interview someone not involved in politics, usually someone involved in the music or other form of the entertainment industry.
While listening to the Blues channel on XM Radio one day, I heard this incredible medley of the Led Zeppelin songs “Black Dog” and “Whole Lotta Love”. I was blown away by the arrangement, done in a slow bluesy way with Stacy Mitchhart singing playing an outrageous slide guitar during the recording. He’s an incredible artist as well as a great person, who deserves top notch attention!
Click his photo to check out his website.
Matthew Rothschild is the editor of Progressive Magazine. Matt has spoken with us several times, but this interview was exceptionally interesting. An organization known as “Infra-Gard” is an “unholy alliance” between the F.B.I. and the corporate world. They work together to identify threats of terrorism. What’s wrong with that? Listen and find out why this “under the radar” story should make every citizen look over their soldier.
Be sure to visit The Progressive’s website and read some incredible articles. Great writers and stellar reporting! Click on their logo below.
American Indian activist Russell Means spoke with us about the Lakota Indian tribe backing out of all treaties signed between the United States of America and American Indians. Some of these treaties go back well over 200 years. Un-American? No way. Means explains how the United States kept breaking the rules and acquiring more and more land, until the Lakota were forced to act.
The interview is not only compelling, but a great history lesson that everyone should learn. You’ll never find any of this information in any school’s history books.
The Lakota website is HERE
We truly appreciate you visiting both “Progressive News Radio” and “Progressive News Radio Interviews”!
The reason we added THIS site to our growing family of news and political projects for progressives, is for our listeners (like you) to be able to hear an interview featured on Progressive News Radio without the rest of the program.
In other words, you can listen to just the interview as a stand alone feature.
We usually post the stand alone interview about four days after the latest edition of Progressive News Radio has been posted.
This part of our family is still under construction, but we’ll soon have interviews from the likes of Lakota Indian activist Russell Means, Blues artist Stacy Mitchhart and Air America President Mark Green.
Please check back soon. We’ll have some interviews posted no later than May 9, 2008.
Thanks for the visit!
Jim
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