Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call, it's our Friday Media Roundtable. This week, we'll discuss coverage of rising oil prices and oil speculation on Wall Street. We'll also talk about the media blackout in Syria as the government's violent crack down continues. We'll be joined by McClatchy's Kevin Hall, Propublica's Jake Bernstein and independent journalist Lamis Andoni joins us from Amman, Jordan. Where did you see the best reporting this week? Join us live at 10 or send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org. It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Kevin Hall, economic reporter with McClatchy

Jake Bernstein, a business and financial reporter for ProPublica.

Lamis Andoni, an independent journalist, analyst and commentator on Middle Eastern and Palestinian affairs.

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

How did we end up in a love affair with plastic?

How did we end up in a love affair with plastic? And is it time to end it? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with Susan Freinkel, author of Plastic: A Toxic Love Story. Freinkel's book explores the history of plastic products, the power of the plastics industry, how plastics became so ubiquitous in our lives, and how they might be harming our health. What do you want to know about plastic? Join us at 10 or send an email to feedback@yourcallradio.org. Is there any way to remove plastic from our lives? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Susan Freinkel, author of Plastic: A Toxic Love Story

Suzan Beraza, producer of Bag It, a documentary

Click to Listen: How did we end up in a love affair with plastic?

What art is inspiring you today?

On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with three artists--a filmmaker, a dancer, and a spoken word poet. With the San Francisco International Film Festival, Bay Area Dance Week, and National Poetry Month all coinciding, it's a great time to reflect on the art, performance, and creativity that inspires us. Have you been creating art lately? Or enjoying art made or performed by others? Join us at 10 or send an email to feedback@yourcallradio.org. How does art affect your life? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Lech Majewski, director of the film The Mill and the Cross

Wayne Hazzard, executive director of Dancers' Group

Queen Nefertiti Shabazz, poet with Youth Speaks

Click to Listen: What art is inspiring you today?

What reforms will improve California's economic future?

On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with Andreas Kluth, West Coast Correspondent for the Economist. In his special report on Californian, he reports California has been declared a "failed state," "dysfunctional," and "ungovernable." The good news is that California's problems, though complex, are now well understood, so reform has become possible. So where should we look for solutions? Join us live at 10 or send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org. It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Andreas Kluth, West Coast Correspondent for the Economist

Click to Listen: What reforms will improve California's economic future?

What should juvenile justice look like?

On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with David Muhammed. He's just taken over as the head of the Alameda County Probation Department. He spent time in jail when he was young, so he has first hand experience with the system. He has ambitious plans to completely transform the system, specifically the treatment of youth. But is it possible to implement reforms from within? Join us at 10 or send an email to feedback@yourcallradio.org. What would you change? It's Your Call with Holly Kernan and you.

Guests:
David Muhammed, chief probation officer of Alameda County

James Bell, founder and executive director of the W. Haywood Burns Institute

Click to Listen: What should juvenile justice look like?

Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call, It's our Friday media roundtable. This week, we'll mark the one-year anniversary of the BP Oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. How are the media keeping the story alive? This week also marks the 25th Anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Who is connecting the ongoing nuclear disaster in Japan to what happened 25 years ago in Ukraine? We'll be joined by independent journalist Dahr Jamail, Left Turn's Jordan Flaherty and photojournalist Michael Forster Rothbart. He spent two years in Chernobyl, chronicling the lives of workers there. Where did you see the best reporting this week? Join us live at 10 or send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org. It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Dahr Jamail, an independent journalist

Jordan Flaherty, a journalist and editor of Left Turn Magazine

Michael Forster Rothbart, a freelance photojournalist

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

What are the biggest environmental threats to children?

On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with Sandra Steingraber, author of Raising Elijah: Protecting Children in an Age of Environmental Crisis. She says "our children face an environment more threatening to their health than any generation in history." She focuses on everyday hazards in our lives and explores the connections between parenting and policy-making. How do we relate environmental crisis to family life? And what are some solutions? Join us at 10 or send an email to feedback@yourcallradio.org. It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Sandra Steingraber, author of Raising Elijah: Protecting Children in an Age of Environmental Crisis

Click to Listen: What are the biggest environmental threats to children?

How do you strike a balance between green technology and the environment?

On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about the tradeoffs of green technology. Google and General Electric have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in solar and wind projects. Environmentalists and native rights activists say the solar plan in the Mojave Desert should be relocated to protect wildlife and sacred sites. Can the drawbacks of big green tech offset the benefits? Join us at 10 or send an email to feedback@yourcallradio.org. It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Michael Haederle, contributing editor for Miller-McCune Magazine, where his recent articles are "Rooftop Solar Power to the People?" and "Are New Solar Power Projects Anti-Environmental?"

Matthew Kahn, professor at the UCLA Institute of the Environment, the Department of Economics, and the Department of Public Policy and author of Green Cities: Urban Growth and the Environment.

Bill Powers, member of the Solar Done Right coalition and principal of Powers Engineering

Click to Listen: How do you strike a balance between green technology and the environment?

What are the best ways to conserve energy?

On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about energy conservation. Utilities and non-profits are trying to install insulation and other energy saving measures to reduce energy consumption. What policies are in place to help us save energy? Join us live at 11 or send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org. What are you doing to conserve energy? And what are some simple things we can do to save energy and lower our carbon footprint? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Aleah Lawrence-Pine, an Energy Upgrade California (EUC) Program Specialist at Ecology Action, a nonprofit environmental organization serving California communities. Aleah is a member of the EUC Regional Program Team covering the Central Coast Region from Santa Cruz County to Ventura County.

Patrick Aranda, Director of Construction and Energy Services for Planet Orange. The company has clients and covers the Bay Area, San Jose and Santa Cruz County on the Central Coast.

Steven Nadel, the Executive Director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). Steve has worked in the energy efficiency field for 30 years.

Click to Listen: What are the best ways to conserve energy?

What is behind the ban on the niqab in France?

On the next Your Call, we’ll discuss France's official ban on the niqab--the part of a burqa that covers a woman's face except for her eyes. Out of five million Muslims in France, less than 2,000 women actually wear it. So why has the ban created such a heated debate? What’s behind this law? Join us at 10 or send an email to feedback@yourcallradio.org. And what are the larger issues at stake for France and other Western liberal societies? It’s Your Call with Hana Baba and you.

Guests:
Zahra Billoo, executive director for the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR)

Hilal Elver, professor of comparative law, international human rights, and environmental law and co-Director of Global Studies at the University of California Santa Barbara.

Marnia Lazreg is professor of sociology at Hunter College in New York. Originally from Algeria, she has lectured extensively at home and around the world on development, gender, and the geopolitics of Islam. She is author of Torture and the Twilight of Empire: From Algiers to Baghdad. In addition to gender and Islam, she researches French colonial history and empire studies; torture and identity; and postmodernist theory. She joins us by phone from New York.

Click to Listen: What is behind the ban on the niqab in France?

Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call, it's our Friday Media Roundtable. This week, we'll discuss coverage of the federal budget and President Obama's plan to reduce the deficit. What did you learn from the media's extensive coverage? We'll also discuss coverage of protests in Afghanistan. We'll be joined by Tax Notes' David Cay Johnston, McClatchy's David Lightman and independent journalist Anna Badkhen, who is just back from Afghanistan. Where did you see the best reporting this week? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Anna Badkhen has covered wars in Afghanistan, Somalia, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Chechnya and Kashmir and she has come back from 5 weeks of reporting in Northern Afghanistan.

David Cay Johnston, a Tax Analysts columnist and professor of tax, property and regulatory law of the ancient world at Syracuse University College of Law and Whitman School of Management.

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

How will the new federal budget plans affect our economy?

On the next Your Call, we'll talk about the federal budget. Who are the winners and losers in the plans put forward by President Obama and House Budget Chair Paul Ryan? How will they impact people who depend on federal programs from Medicare to student loans? And what might they mean for our fragile and increasingly unequal economy? Join us at 10 or send an email to feedback@yourcallradio.org. Are there alternatives the heavy-hitters in Washington don't want us to think about? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar.

Guests:
Annie Lowrey, economics and business reporter for Slate Magazine

Richard Wolff, professor of economics emeritus at University of Massachusetts, Amherst and author of Capitalism Hits the Fan: The Global Economic Meltdown and What to Do About It.

Dr. Robert Drago, research director with the Institute for Women's Policy Research

Click to Listen: How will the new federal budget plans affect our economy?

How will the Walmart case alter class actions and women's rights?

How will the outcome of the Walmart sex discrimination case alter the future of class action lawsuits and women's rights in the workplace? On the next Your Call, we'll talk about the Walmart case in the Supreme Court. Originally filed in 2001, it would represent over a million female Walmart employees on claims of sex discrimination in hiring, promotions, pay raise, and general treatment on the job. If the court rules these women can legally form a "class," how will this case alter the landscape for future class action suits? Join us at 10 or send an email to feedback@yourcallradio.org. How will this case change sex discrimination for women at work? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar.

Guests:
Brad Seligman, a civil rights attorney specializing in class action and founder of the Impact Fund

Noreen Farrell, managing attorney with Equal Rights Advocates

Click to Listen: How will the Walmart case alter class actions and women's rights?

What can we learn from the history of green tech?

What can we learn from the history of renewable energy in the US and how far back does it go? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with Alexis Madrigal, author of Powering the Dream: The History and Promise of Green Technology. He says in order to move toward a green energy system, we need to look to the past. What is the history of green technology? Join us at 10 or send an email to feedback@yourcallradio.org. How can past inventions help us solve today's environmental crisis? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guest:
Alexis Madrigal, a senior editor at The Atlantic. He's the author of Powering the Dream: The History and Promise of Green Technology.

Click to Listen: What can we learn from the history of green tech?

What's the role of political satire in tough times?

On the next Your Call, we'll talk to three political comedians gallows humor in a time of crisis. We are faced today with an economic recession, revolutions around the globe, wars, earthquakes, floods and an increasingly divided political landscape. Can political satire help us process the madness? Are there some things we just can't laugh about? Or are we doomed if we can't laugh? Join us at 10 or send an email to feedback@yourcallradio.org. Where do you go to get your comic relief? It's Your Call with Holly Kernan.

Guests:
Dean Obeidallah, a comedian, former attorney, and co-creator of the New York Arab-American Comedy Festival

Katie Halper, a comic, writer, blogger, satirist, filmmaker, and founder of Living Liberally

Seth Reiss, a senior writer and associate sports editor at The Onion and a performer with the sketch comedy group, Pangea 3000

Click to Listen: What's the role of political satire in tough times?

Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call, it's our Friday Media Roundtable. This week, we'll discuss coverage of the first anniversary of Mine Explosion in West Virginia. We'll also talk about BP's plans to resume offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and Judge Goldstone's Op-Ed in Washington Post. We'll be joined by independent journalists Dahr Jamail and Jeff Biggers and Inter Press Service's Mel Frykberg joins us from Ramallah. Where did you see the best reporting this week? Join us live at 10 or send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org. It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you

Guests:
Mel Frykberg, Inter Press Service global news agency's West Bank and Gaza correspondent

Dahr Jamail, an independent journalist and author

Jeff Biggers, an independent journalist and author

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

What do you want to ask California lawmakers?

On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with state representatives. California is facing a $26 billion budget shortfall and last week Gov. Brown announced an end to budget negotiations with Republicans. So where are they heading? Join us live at 10 or send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org. What do you want to tell your representatives in Sacramento? What should their priorities be? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Senator Loni Hancock represents the 9th Senate District. It includes Alameda, Albany, Berkeley, Castro Valley, Dublin, El Sobrante, Emeryville, Livermore, Oakland, Piedmont, Richmond, and San Pablo. She chairs key policy and budget committees on public safety.

Nancy Skinner represents the Bay Area's 14th Assembly District. It includes Albany, Berkeley, Canyon, East Richmond Heights, El Cerrito, El Sobrante (part), Emeryville, Kensington, Lafayette, Moraga, Oakland (part), Orinda, Pleasant Hill, Richmond, Rollingwood, San Pablo, and Waldon (part).

Jerry Hill Represents the 19th Assembly District. It includes Belmont, Brisbane, Burlingame, Daly City, Foster City, Half Moon Bay, Hillsborough, Millbrae, Pacifica, San Bruno, San Mateo, and South San Francisco and parts of unincorporated San Mateo County.

Click to Listen: What do you want to ask California lawmakers?

What is it like to work on a farm today?

On the next Your Call, we'll mark Cesar Chavez's birthday by talking about the realities facing small farmers and farmworkers in the United States. A new report based on data from the Department of Labor has found that despite decades of struggle, California's farmworkers continue to live in poverty without adequate access to education and health care. Since 1990, socio-economic factors have barely budged. So what can be done to improve the lives of farm workers? Join us at 10 or send an email to feedback@yourcallradio.org. It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar.

Guests:
Al Rojas, farm labor activist

Guilebaldo Nunez, owner of Nunez Farms

Judith Redmond, co-owner of Full Belly Farm and secretary on the board of the Community Alliance with Family Farmers

Gerardo Reyes, farmworker and staff member of the Coalition of Imokalee Workers

Click to Listen: What is it like to work on a farm today?

Who speaks for America's working poor?

On the next Your Call, we'll remember Joe Bageant, a self-described redneck from Virginia who loved storytelling and writing about what he called the permanent white underclass in the Heartland. He passed away on March 26th following a four-month struggle with cancer. We will rebroadcast excerpts of our interview with him about his new book, Rainbow Pie: A Redneck Memoir. The late Howard Zinn said Joe Bageant evokes working class America like no one else. Join us at 10 or send an email to feedback@yourcallradio.org. Who was Joe Bageant and how should he be remembered? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar.

Guests:
Ken Smith, friend and web manager for the late, Joe Bageant, 1946-2011. Joe Bageant was author of Deer Hunting with Jesus and Rainbow Pie: A Redneck's Memoir.

Click to Listen: Who speaks for America's working poor?

What do the words of Dr. King in 1968 say to us today?

On the next Your Call, we mark the 43rd anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's death. When MLK was assassinated on April 4th, 1968, he was staking out new ground confronting poverty and economic injustice. How does King's message on the eve of his death resonate in our time of sharp economic division and popular uprisings? Watch King's final speech at yourcallradio.org, then join us at 10 or send an email to feedback@yourcallradio.org. It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests:
Stacey Zwald, assistant editor of the King Papers, a project through the Stanford-based Martin Luther King Jr. Institute for Research and Education.

Jon Riley, executive director of the Napa/Solano Central Labor Council, retired captain on the Vallejo Fire Department, and former Vice President of Firefighters Local #1186.

Alvin Turner, a retired Memphis sanitation worker who took part in the historic strike of 1968 and witnessed Martin Luther King's final speech from the second row of the Mason Temple in Memphis.

Click to Listen: What do the words of Dr. King in 1968 say to us today?

Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call, it's our Friday Media Roundtable. This week, we'll continue our coverage of the ongoing uprising against the Libyan government. We'll also talk about the lack of media coverage of the photos of American soldiers posing with dead Afghan civilians. We'll be joined by veteran journalist Mark Danner, independent journalist Justine Sharrock, and Nicolas Pelham who is reporting for the NY Review of Books from Benghazi, Libya. Join us at 10 or send an email to feedback@yourcallradio.org. Where did you see the best reporting this week? It's Your Call, with me, Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Nicolas Pelham, a former correspondent for The Economist and the author of The New Muslim Order, about the region's Shia. He is currently reporting from Benghazi, Libya.

Justine Sharrock, a former Mother Jones staffer. Her most recent book is Tortured: How Our Cowardly Leaders Abused Prisoners, American Soldiers, and Everything We're Fighting For.

Mark Danner, a journalist who has written about foreign affairs and American politics for more than two decades. He the author of Stripping Bare the Body -Politics Violence War.

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable