Your Call 093008 Global capitalism and its discontents

What is capitalism? And how is the current crisis changing the way you understand the basic structure of our economy? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about economic crisis in the US and its long-term effect on capitalist economies. The current financial meltdown has sparked a debate on whether capitalism is the ideal methodology for wealth creation. What do you think? Is this the end of global capitalism, as we know it? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests: Robert Brenner is the director of the Center for Social Theory and Comparative History at UCLA, and the author of The Boom and the Bubble.

J. Bradford DeLong, Professor of Economics at UC Berkeley

Click to Listen: Global capitalism and its discontents

Your Call 092908 Barriers to Democracy in America

How open is the American political system? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with Harper's publisher John MacArthur. He is out with a new book entitled You Can't Be President: The Outrageous Barriers to Democracy in America. With Barack Obama and Sarah Palin on the big party tickets, are we closer than ever to a nation where anyone can aspire to be president? How democratic is our presidential politics? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests: John MacArthur, Harper's publisher, and author of You Can't Be President: The Outrageous Barriers to Democracy in America

Click to Listen: Barriers to Democracy in America

Your Call 092608 Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call, it's our Friday Media Roundtable. This week, we'll spend the hour with journalist Ron Suskind, author of The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism. Suskind's explosive charges about the misuse of prewar intelligence and an alleged forgery scheme have received widespread coverage, but has anything changed as a result? Suskind says impeachment should be on the table. Will anyone ever be held accountable? We'll also speak about economic coverage with David Cay Johnston, author of Free Lunch. Where did you see reporting that put the economic crisis in context? It's Your Call with me, Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests: Ron Suskind, journalist and author of The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism.

David Cay Johnston, former investigative journalist for The New York Times and author of Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill).

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

Your Call 092508 Big Oil with author Antonia Juhasz

What's in store for the future of big oil? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with Antonia Juhasz, author of the forthcoming book, The Tyranny of Oil: The World's Most Powerful Industry -- and What We Must Do to Stop It. Juhasz investigates the true state of the U.S. oil industry by uncovering its global power, influence over our elected officials, the truth behind $150-a-barrel oil, and the highest profit in corporate history. Who's really controlling the prices? How much oil is even left? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar.

Guest: Antonia Juhasz is a policy-analyst, author and activist living in San Francisco.

Click to Listen: Big Oil with author Antonia Juhasz

Your Call 092408 A People's History of Sports

How do sports and politics intersect? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with Dave Zirin, author of A People's History of Sports in the United States: 250 Years of Politics, Protest, People, and Play. Sportswriter Zirin examines sports as a reflection of the political conflicts that shape American history. He profiles sports stars who have stoked the fires of war, corporate control, racism, sexism, and homophobia. What are the main differences between mainstream sports history and yours? It's Your Call with Sandip Roy.

Guest: Dave Zirin is the author of three books and a regular contributor to The Nation, SLAM, and the Los Angeles Times.

Click to Listen: A People's History of Sports

Your Call 092308 What's ahead for our economy?

What's ahead for the U.S. economy? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with investigative journalist Danny Schechter, author of Plunder: Investigating Our Economic Calamity and the Sub-prime Scandal. Last week, the Treasury Department called for $700 billion to stabilize volatile financial markets. What's in the plan? Is there any transparency? And who's benefiting? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar.

Guest: Danny Schechter, a television producer, independent filmmaker, blogger, and media critic.

Click to Listen: What's ahead for our economy?

Your Call 092208 'The Body Toxic' by Nena Baker

How do toxins affect the human body? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with Nena Baker, author of The Body Toxic: How the Hazardous Chemistry of Everyday Things Threatens Our Health and Well-Being. Almost everything we encounter, including soap, computers, and clothing, contains a dizzying amount of chemicals. Scientists call it a "chemical body burden." How can we lower our exposures to harmful chemicals? And what's the government's role in protecting the public? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guest: Nina Baker, former investigative reporter for The Arizona Republic and The Oregonian and author of The Body Toxic: How the Hazardous Chemistry of Everyday Things Threatens Our Health and Well-Being.

Click to Listen: 'The Body Toxic' by Nena Baker

Your Call 091908 Media Roundtable with Thomas Frank

On the next Your Call, it's our Friday Media Roundtable. This week, we're spending the hour with Thomas Frank, the columnist who holds down the left end of the Wall Street Journal editorial page. His new book is called The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule. Frank argues that conservatives have taken pains to enshrine the free market as the permanent creed of state. Could a Democratic victory reverse the damage? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar.

Guest: Thomas Frank, author and columnist for the Wall Street Journal's op-ed page.

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable with Thomas Frank

Your Call 091808 Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz

How much is the war in Iraq really costing us? What will be long term consequences of rock bottom lows in the economy? Inflation and unemployment are on the rise while the housing and stock markets are crashing. On Your Call we will speak with Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, about the economy and his latest book The Three Trillion Dollar War. Since 2004, the costs of the war in Iraq have increased by 130 percent. What has made the price tag on the war skyrocket, and how is it affecting our economy day to day? Join us, it's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guest: Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize winning economist and co-author of The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict

Click to Listen: Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz

Your Call 091708 Paul Ehrlich, author of "The Dominant Animal: human evolution and the environment"

Human beings have now established their dominion over the planet - can we stop ourselves from destroying it? On the next Your Call, we'll speak with renowned Stanford scientist Paul Ehrlich about his latest book, The Dominant Animal: Human Evolution and the Environment. How can understanding evolution help us move forward? How did our relationship with nature become so distorted? And what can we do to change the trajectory? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guest:
Renowned Stanford scientist Paul Ehrlich

Click to Listen: Paul Ehrlich, author of "The Dominant Animal: human evolution and the environment"

Your Call 091608 Voter Suppression

Will the enforcement - or violation - of voting rights decide a narrow election in November? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about voter suppression. We'll be joined by Steven Rosenfeld, author of Count My Vote: A Citizen's Guide to Voting, and Dorothy Fadiman, producer of Stealing America: Vote by Vote. What are the most pressing issues in the swing states that we should know about? What can we do to ensure that all eligible voters actually cast their votes? And who's looking out for them? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar.

Guests:
Steven Rosenfeld, author of Count My Vote: A Citizen's Guide to Voting

Dorothy Fadiman, producer of Stealing America: Vote by Vote.

Click to Listen: Voter Suppression

Your Call 091608 Voter Suppression

Will the enforcement - or violation - of voting rights decide a narrow election in November? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about voter suppression. We'll be joined by Steven Rosenfeld, author of Count My Vote: A Citizen's Guide to Voting, and Dorothy Fadiman, producer of Stealing America: Vote by Vote. What are the most pressing issues in the swing states that we should know about? What can we do to ensure that all eligible voters actually cast their votes? And who's looking out for them? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar.

Guests:
Steven Rosenfeld, author of Count My Vote: A Citizen's Guide to Voting

Dorothy Fadiman, producer of Stealing America: Vote by Vote.

Click to Listen: Voter Suppression

Your Call 091508 Iraqi Reality

Is conversation about Iraq over? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with Farnaz Fassihi, the deputy bureau chief for Middle East and Africa for The Wall Street Journal, about her new book, Waiting for an Ordinary Day: The Unraveling of Life in Iraq. What are the realities of Iraq and its future that John McCain ignores and Obama refuses to address? And how should the Iraqi experience figure in the American debate? It's Your Call, weekdays at 11:00, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Farnaz Fassihi, the deputy bureau chief for Middle East and Africa for The Wall Street Journal

Click to Listen: Iraqi Reality

Your Call 091208 Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call, it's our Friday Media Roundtable, the day we discuss how the media covered the week's news. Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and an ally of the United States became Pakistan's newest president. Sarah Palin still dominates the news and blog sphere as the economy continues to suffer. We'll be joined by Anchorage Daily News columnist Michael Carey, Graham Usher, an independent journalist based in Pakistan, and Kevin Hall, McClatchy's national economics reporter. On Friday's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Michael Carey, columnist with Anchorage Daily News

Kevin G. Hall, the former South America correspondent, is now the bureau's national economics reporter.

Graham Usher, a writer and journalist based in Islamabad, is the author of Dispatches From Palestine: The Rise and fall of the Oslo Peace Process

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

Your Call 091108 How is our obession with beauty affecting our daughters?

Why is our culture obsessed with the beauty of young women -- and increasingly sexualizing girls? On the next Your Call, we will have a conversation with Darryl Roberts, director of the documentary film America the Beautiful which examines pressures facing women and long time author and social theorist Jean Kilbourne, on her latest book So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids as well as young women who are working to address these issues locally. How do the girls in your life deal with the pressure to seek beauty at all costs? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Jean Kilbourne, social theorist and author of many books, most recently, So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids

Darryl Roberts, screenwriter and filmmaker of recent documentary America the Beautiful which looks at the fashion, advertising and cosmetics industries

Jennifer Berger, Executive Director of San Francisco's About-Face which works to equip women and girls with tools to understand and resist harmful media that affects their self-esteem and body image.

Click to Listen: How is our obession with beauty affecting our daughters?

Your Call 091008 Polar Bears in danger and why we care

How is global warming affecting the polar bear population? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about struggling polar bears. Scientists predict that two-thirds of the world's 25,000 polar bears will disappear by the middle of the century because summertime sea ice is rapidly melting. This summer, vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin opposed polar bear protections. So who is protecting the polar bears? And what is their significance to our environment? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
John Toppenberg, executive director of the Alaska Wildlife Alliance

Rick Steiner, Professor at the University of Alaska and Marine Conservation

Click to Listen: Polar Bears in danger and why we care

Your Call 090908 Will Your Vote Count?

Do you believe your vote will be counted in November? On the Next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with Dorothy Fadiman about her new film Stealing America: Vote by Vote, and Richard Hayes Phillips about his new book, Witness to a Crime. Nearly 30 percent of voters will use touch-screen machines in November. Last year, an independent review panel found that California's electronic voting systems were vulnerable to attacks. How are you voting in November? And how can we be sure our votes will be counted? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Richard Hayes Phillips, author of Witness to a Crime: A Citizen's Audit of an American Election

Dorothy Fadiman, producer and director of the documentry film Stealing America: Vote by Vote

Click to Listen: Will Your Vote Count?

Your Call 090808 John Zogby on Presidential Polling

What will the pollsters focus on for the next two months? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with John Zogby, president of polling company Zogby International. He is also author of, The Way We'll Be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation of the American Dream. Polling firms are being commissioned by different media outlets and political parties to gauge the latest opinions in the presidential race. Who is being polled? What questions are being asked? And does any of it matter? It's Your Call, weekdays at 11:00 with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
John Zogby, president & CEO of the polling company Zogby International, and author of The Way We'll Be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation of the American Dream

Click to Listen: John Zogby on Presidential Polling

Your Call 090508 Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call, it's our Friday Media Roundtable, the day we discuss how the media covered the week's news. This week all eyes were focused on the Republican National Convention and Sarah Palin. Where was the coverage of protests and mass arrests? What about the corporate donors? We'll be joined by The Nation's John Nichols and LA Times' Iraq reporter, Tina Susman and media critic, Danny Schechter. What did the coverage look like overseas? With all eyes on the convention, what was missing from the front pages? It's Your Call, weekdays at 11:00, with Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests:
John Nichols, Washington correspondent for The Nation
Tina Susman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
Danny Schechter, a television producer, independent filmmaker, blogger, and media critic.

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

Your Call 090408 Sex and Politics

How will questions about sex play out in the presidential election? On the next Your Call, we'll speak with historian Dagmar Herzog, author of Sex in Crisis: The New Sexual Revolution and the Future of American Politics. Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has the nation talking about her teenage daughter's pregnancy. The news has become part of the political debate. What do the responses on the left say about what they get or don't get about how gender and sexuality works politically on the right? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guest:
Dagmar Herzog is professor of History at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and author of several books, including Intimacy and Exclusion and Sex after Fascism. Her most recent book is Sex in Crisis: The New Sexual Revolution and the Future of American Politics.

Click to Listen: Sex and Politics

Your Call 090308 Being Young and Arab in America

What is it like to be an Arab American in the United States? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with professor Moustafa Bayoumi, author of How Does It Feel To Be a Problem? Being Young and Arab in America. After 9/11, some 1200 Arabs and Muslims were picked up randomly, many on immigration charges. Government surveillance, workplace discrimination, and the disappearance of friends or family have complicated the lives of many in the Arab community. So how are they dealing with these challenges? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar.

Guest:
Moustafa Bayoumi, author of How Does It Feel To Be a Problem? Being Young and Arab in America

Click to Listen: Being Young and Arab in America

Your Call 090208 Coming Home: Health Care for Veterans

What do veterans face upon returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about the VA, healthcare, PTSD, and suicides. What's really changed since the Walter Reed scandal broke last year? Both presidential candidates say they will make healthcare for veterans a priority, but do their voting records match their rhetoric? Is the posturing on Capitol Hill having an effect on services delivered to veterans on the ground? And how has the treatment of recent veterans affected their political allegiances? It's Your Call at 11 with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Aaron Glantz, independent journalist who reported from Iraq from 2003 to 2005 and has been reporting the stories of American veterans since his return. He is author of two upcoming books on the Iraq War: "The War Comes Home: Washington's Battle Against America's Veterans" (UC Press) and "Winter Soldier Iraq and Afghanistan: Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations," (Haymarket) which he is co-authoring with Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Joe Wheeler served in Iraq from March of 2003 until November of 2003 as a surgical assistant. He is a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Tia Christopher, Swords to Plowshares

Joseph A. Violante, National Legislative Director, Disabled American Veterans

Click to Listen: Coming Home: Health Care for Veterans