Your Call 111308 Fair Trade Holiday Preview

How can you buy gifts without selling your soul? On the next Your Call we'll talk about how you can make your family and friends happy without supporting industries that make their workers miserable or the planet uninhabitable. This weekend is the 7th annual Green Festival from Global Exchange. How can you be generous this holiday season while also buying sustainable, local and sweatshop-free gifts? Can you make people happy without buying anything at all? What does your ethical shopping list look like? It's Your Call with me, Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests: Emily Main in New York
Senior Editor of National Geographic's The Green Guide and thegreenguide.com. She joined National Geographic's The Green Guide's editorial team in 2005.

Meaghan O'Neill in Newport Rhode Island
Editor-in-chief of TreeHugger and PlanetGreen.com. She and her team are putting the finishing touches on TreeHugger's annual holiday guide called, "Give Green to Save Green."

Tex Dworkin in San Francisco
Independent Fair Trade Consultant and Director of Marketing for Global Exchange


Click to Listen: Fair Trade Holiday Preview

Your Call 101708 Friday Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call, it's our Friday media roundtable, the day we connect you with reporters to dissect the news of the week. This week, we'll speak with the editors of publications with viewpoints outside of the economic orthodoxy. How does coverage of the economy in the Socialist Worker newspaper and the libertarian magazine Reason differ from the New York Times? Will the mainstream media continue to cover banking only from the view of the banker? Where's coverage of the working poor? It's Your Call with me, Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests: TBD

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

Your Call 101308 Can Obama fix the economy?

Does Barack Obama have the political will to really fix the economy? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with Robert Kuttner, author of Obama's Challenge: America's Economic Crisis and the Power of a Transformative Presidency. Kuttner argues that if Obama wins, he will radically transform America's direction but only if he rejects tired centrist policies of the past and inspires citizens to forge new progressive paths. Do you agree? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests: Robert Kuttner, author of Obama's Challenge: America's Economic Crisis and the Power of a Transformative Presidency.

Click to Listen: Can Obama fix the economy?

Your Call 101008 Friday Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call, it's our Friday Media Roundtable. The financial crisis is deepening and many states are running out of money. California needs $7 billion in emergency loans to fund day-to-day government operations. Violence has decreased across Iraq in recent months, but four Iraqi journalists were killed over the weekend. We'll be joined by freelance writer Max Wolff, LA Times Baghdad bureau chief Tina Sussman, and The California Progress Report's Frank Russo. Where did you get the context you needed to make sense of the week's news? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests: Tina Sussman, Los Angeles Times Baghdad bureau chief

Max Fraad Wolff, an economist and freelance researcher/writer. His work regularly appears in Asia Times and Huffington Post.

Frank D. Russo, publisher of The California Progress Report

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

Your Call 100808 The View from the Purple States

What did the second McCain-Obama debate look like from the most contested states in this year's election? On the next Your Call we'll speak with voters in Florida, New Mexico, Colorado, Virginia and Pennsylvania. New voters, old voters, single moms, and immigrants, we'll hear how the election is shaping up where the outcome is likely to be decided. What does Election 2008 look like from the purple states? It's Your Call with Sandip Roy and you.

Guests: Bob Schaeffer in Florida
Florida director for the Center for Civic Participation, a national non-profit that organizes non-partisan voter registration drives in swing states. They work for groups like the League of Women Voters, ACORN and the NAACP.

Brian Rothenberg in Columbus
Executive Director of ProgressOhio, Founded In 2006, ProgressOhio is like a local MoveOn.

Joanie Rabinowitz in Pittsburgh
Co-Director of Just Harvest, A Center For Action in Pittsburgh.

Click to Listen: The View from the Purple States

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 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 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 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 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 090108 Labor Resists the Big Squeeze

At a time when wages are down and factories continue to close, who is paying high wages and offering good benefits? On the Next Your Call, on Labor Day, we'll have a conversation with New York Times labor reporter Steven Greenhouse, author of The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker. Times are tough, but a handful of CEOs, including Costco's James Sinegals are taking the high road by providing workers with fair wages, health care and pension plans. What will it take to ensure other businesses to follow suit? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar.

Guest:
Steven Greenhouse, the author of The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker

Click to Listen: Labor Resists the Big Squeeze

Your Call 082608 I.O.U.S.A. and the National Debt Crisis

How bad is the debt crisis? On the next Your Call, we'll examine America's declining financial health. The U.S. budget deficit is over 9 trillion dollars; it's growing by 1.9 billion dollars per day. A new documentary called I.O.U.S.A. warns Americans that this financial crisis could cripple the country. So how bad is this crisis? How did we get here? Have any politicians shown a willingness to confront the reality of the debt crisis? And what can be done to tackle the problem? It's Your Call weekdays at 11, with me, Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Laurence J. Kotlikoff is an economics professor at Boston University and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research

Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR)

Click to Listen: I.O.U.S.A. and the National Debt Crisis

Your Call 081208 Doha round of world trade talks

What happened to the Doha round of world trade talks? On the next Your Call, we'll discuss the WTO talks in Geneva and get an update on the movement opposing free trade and globalization. Last month, negotiations broke down after nine days. So what happened? What role did the U.S. play? Who is benefiting from these trades polices? And nine years after 500,000 people took to the streets of Seattle, how strong is the anti-globalization movement? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests:
Victor Menotti, Program Director with International Forum on Globalization

Deborah James, the Director of International Programs of Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington.

Click to Listen: Doha round of world trade talks

Your Call 072908 Women Leave the Workplace

Why are so many women leaving the workforce? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about how the economy is affecting women. In 2000, 74.9 percent of women worked. Last month, that number fell to 72.7 percent. Women are increasingly impacted by layoffs, outsourcing, stagnant wages and the discouraging prospect of an outright pay cut. How alarming is the situation? And what needs to be done? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests:
Sylvia A. Allegretto, labor economist with Institute for Research on Labor and Employment

Ariane Hegewisch, Scholar-in-Residence at the Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) and an international fellow of the Center for Work Life Law.

Ethel Long-Scott, Executive Director of The Women's Economic Agenda Project.

Click to Listen: Women Leave the Workplace

Your Call 071808 Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call it's our Friday Media Roundtable, the day we discuss how the media covered the week's top stories. This week, the IndyMac Bank collapsed, we got higher inflation numbers, and the Bush administration proposed even more bailouts. Are the media giving you the context you need to understand what's happening? We'll also will talk about coverage of California's fires with Neil Shea of National Geographic. Where did the media shine this week and where did it fall short? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests:
Amy Gluckman, co-editor of Dollars & Sense

Neil Shea, staff writer for National Geographic

Russell Carollo, Sacramento Bee staff writer

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

Your Call 071708 U.S. Economic Woes

Has the U.S. economy reached a tipping point? On the next Your Call, we will have a discussion about the recent housing crisis and the broader economic outlook for the United States. Oil prices are soaring, the dollar has fallen to a new low and the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve are proposing steps to possibly bail out the nation's two largest mortgage lenders. Where is the U.S. economy heading and how are you being impacted? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:

Catherine Austin Fitts Catherine, president of Solari, Inc. and the managing member of Solari Investment Advisory Services.

Robert Pollin, Professor of Economics and founding Co-Director of the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Click to Listen: U.S. Economic Woes

Your Call 062508 Re/De-regulating Air Travel

How should the market for commercial flying be organized? On the next Your Call we'll explore different ideas for organizing commercial aviation as once again the industry is faltering. Since 1978 when some government controls over the market were loosened, more than 200 airlines have gone out of business but does greater instability mean greater competition? What government policies would lead to the most competition, least pollution and best service? It's Your Call with Sandip Roy and you.

Guests:
Professor Paul Dempsey in Montreal
Director of the Institute of Air and Space at McGill University.

Mark Cooper in Maryland
Director of research for the Consumer Federation of America

Click to Listen: Re/De-regulating Air Travel

Your Call 061108 The Uprising

What's the biggest movement you've never heard of in America? On the next Your Call we speak with David Sirota, author of The Uprising: An Unauthorized Tour of the Populist Revolt Scaring Wall Street & Washington. Sirota traveled around the country listening to the people normally spoken for or spoken to: union members in rust belt cities, Minutemen on the California-Mexico border, and suburban homeowners watching their equity turn to smoke. The rise in inequality has got them angry, right and left. Does it amount to a new populist revolt or another silent majority too ready to be comforted by the status quo? It's Your Call with Sandip Roy and you.

Guest:
David Sirota in San Francisco
Author of The Uprising: An Unauthorized Tour of the Populist Revolt Scaring Wall Street & Washington. He is a columnist and former campaign adviser for Ned Lamont, who defeated Sen. Joe Lieberman in the 2006 Democratic primary and former chief spokesman for Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee. He is also the author of Hostile Takeover: How Big Money and Corruption Conquered Our Government--And How We Take It Back and The Enthusiastic Employee: How Companies Profit by Giving Workers What They Want.

Click to Listen: The Uprising

Your Call 060308 Author Russell Banks on America

As the empire crumbles, is there still an American project? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with Russell Banks, author of 16 novels, most recently The Reserve, who has published his first non-fiction collection. In Dreaming Up America, Banks takes a novelists eye to colonial America to find the root of the dreams and obsessions that bind us together today. Do the aspirations in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution still call Americans to action? It's Your Call with me, Ben Temchine and you.

Guest:
Russell Banks, acclaimed American novelist. His latest book is entitled Dreaming Up America.

Click to Listen: Author Russell Banks on America