Your Call 022608 What role do unions play in the election?

What role are labor unions playing in the presidential election? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about the relationship between organized labor and the Democratic Party. Labor unions have faced a decline in membership in recent decades, from 50 percent of Americans in 1950 to about 12 percent today. What do labor endorsements mean for the Democrats? What do they want in return? And how do they plan to keep the candidate accountable? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Donna Gerber, Director of Government Relations for the California Nurses Association

Taylor E. Dark III, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at California State University, Los Angeles

Click to Listen: What role do unions play in the election?

Your Call 022508 The Big Rip-Off

How are America's richest being subsidized by the rest of us? On the next Your Call we welcome back the New York Times' Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter, David Cay Johnston. Johnston's beat is the inscrutable world of the federal tax system and his new book is called Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You With The Bill). How do the wealthiest Americans direct subsidies and rig markets in their favor and what can we do about it? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guest:
David Cay Johnston in Rochester
Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times investigative reporter has spent his 40-year career exposing collusion between government officials and private interests as they enrich the rich and beggar the poor. His new book is just out in stores and is called Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You With The Bill).

Click to Listen: The Big Rip-Off

Your Call 022208 Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call, it's our Friday Media Roundtable. This week President Bush made what is likely to be his final visit to Africa. But who went beyond the rhetoric and photo-ops? We'll speak with the Economist Magazines Africa Correspondent Jonathan Ledgard about what was missing from the front pages. Editor and Publisher's Greg Mitchell will talk about coverage of Iraq and the Texas Observer's Melissa Del Bosque joins us to discuss her latest piece about the border wall. Where did you see solid reporting this week? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar.

Guests:
Jonathan Ledgard in Nairobi
Africa Correspondent for The Economist, based in Nairobi;

Melissa Del Bosque in Austin
Writer for the Texas Observer

Greg Mitchell in New York City
Editor and publisher and author of the forthcoming So Wrong for So Long: How the Press, the Pundits--and the President--Failed on Iraq.

Click to Listen: Friday Media Roundtable

Your Call 022108 Dr. Charles Barber, author of Comfortably Numb

Are too many Americans taking anti-depressants? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with Dr. Charles Barber, author of Comfortably Numb: How Psychiatry is Medicating a Nation. Between 1998 and 2002, the use of antidepressants rose by half. In 2006, over 227 million antidepressant prescriptions were dispensed in the U.S. Americans buy two-thirds of the world’s antidepressants. How do we know when a drug is over-prescribed? Has the promise of a simple cure pathologized normal sadness? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guest:
Dr. Charles Barber, author of Comfortably Numb.

Click to Listen: Charles Barber, author of Comfortably Numb

Your Call 022008 Post-Castro

Now that Castro is no longer leader, can Cuba stop being a symbol and start being a country? On the next Your Call we look at what is possible today that wasn't before Castro's announcement he would neither seek nor accept the Cuban presidency. What is life like at the dawn of the post-Castro era? Who will run the country? Will they continue Castro's efforts to give dignity to the poor without the intolerance of dissent? What opportunities do the left, the U.S. government and the Cubans have that they didn't on Monday? It's Your Call with Sandip Roy and you.

Guests:
Saul Landau in Alameda
Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and professor emeritus of Interdisciplinary and Applied Studies at Cal Poly Pomona

Delvis Fernández-Levy in San Luis Obispo
President and founder of the Cuba American Alliance Education Fund

Click to Listen: Post-Castro

Your Call 021908 Who won the election in Pakistan?

Pakistanis went to the polls Monday morning; no matter how the vote turns out, who were the winners? On the next Your Call we discuss a different election with potentially global import. The Pakistani election was postponed two months after the assassination of opposition leader and close American ally Benazir Bhutto on December 27th. If the opposition wins a substantial portion of the vote, is the military likely to let them take power? While the vote is for parliament and the presidency, what else hangs in the balance of this vote? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Sami Zarifi in Washington DC
Washington advocate for Human Rights Watch

Steve Coll in New York
Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist and author of Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001. Coll is currently president and CEO of the New America Foundation, a think tank in Washington DC.

Massood Haider in New York
UN correspondent with the Dawn, a newspaper based in Pakistan.

Click to Listen: Who won the election in Pakistan?

Your Call 021808 Who owns our water supply?

Who owns our water supply? On the next Your Call, we continue our series on the commons by focusing on water with Maude Barlow, author of Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water. According to the UN, over one billion people live without access to safe drinking water and 2.5-billion lack proper sanitation. What we can we do to ensure everyone has the right to safe water? It's Your Call, with Sandip Roy, and you.

Guest:
Maude Barlow, the national volunteer chair of the Council of Canadians, Canada's largest public advocacy organization.

Click to Listen: Who owns our water supply?

Your Call 021508 Friday Media Roundtable

On the Next Your Call it's our Friday Media Roundtable. This week we'll speak with Anand Naidoo from Al Jazeera English about global coverage of the American primary and American coverage, or lack of coverage, of the attacks and counterattacks in walled in Gaza. We'll also speak to Aamer Madhani of the Chicago Tribune about coverage of Guantanamo and torturer's justice and Becky O'Malley, publisher of the Berkeley Daily Planet about being the life cycle of an online and on-air media firestorm. What was the best reporting you saw this week? It's Your Call with me, Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Anand Naidoo in Washington DC
Anchor and correspondent for Al-Jazeera English

Aamer Madhani
Staff writer in Washington DC where he covers national security and defense issues

Becky O'Malley in San Francisco
Publisher of the Berkeley Daily Planet.

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

Your Call 021408 The FEC is AWOL

Who keeps our elections fair? On the next Your Call we look at the dismal state of the Federal Election Commission. The FEC assesses fines years late in the best of times but right now four of six seats on the FEC board are vacant. Candidates have already spent more than half a billion dollars and the election is still 9 months away. What don't we know about where that money comes from? What is at risk with no one watching and which non-profits are filling the void? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Paul S. Ryan in Washington DC
FEC program director and associate legal counsel with Campaign Legal Center, a non-partisan non-profit organization working on campaign finance, elections and governmental ethics.

Massie Ritsch in Washington DC
Communications director for the The Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan, non-profit research group based in Washington, D.C. that tracks money in politics, and its effect on elections and public policy.

Click to Listen: The FEC is AWOL (Audio not available)

Your Call 021308 Cell Hell

Why are American cell phones so lousy? On the next Your Call we look at the spotty reception, incomprehensible service plans, and crippled phones Americans live with. The rest of the world doesn't live this way, why do we? How did US cell service end up so inferior to what they have in Europe and Japan? What tools do we already have to get a good phone and a good contract and how do we get politicians behind reform that would improve the lives of nearly every American over age 12? It's Your Call with Sandip Roy and you.

Guests:
Bill Nusbaum in San Francisco
Telecommunications attorney for the Utilities Reform Network, based in San Francisco.

Tom Klein
President/Co-Founder of Phonedog.com, an online resource for information about the cell phone world.

Tom Merritt in San Francisco
Editor with CNet, the San Francisco based online journal of technology and culture.

Click to Listen: Cell Hell

Your Call 021208 How should we preserve biodiversity?

What is being done to protect our biodiversity? On the next Your Call, we continue our series on the commons by focusing on our ecosystem. California is one the most biologically diverse areas in the world with 30,000 species of insects, 8,000 plants, 563 birds, and 190 mammals. Globally, as many as 50,000 species disappear every year, mostly from human activity. How will global warming affect efforts to protect biodiversity? And what can we do to protect our natural resources? It's Your Call, with Sandip Roy, and you.

Guests:
Stuart Pimm, Professor of Conservation Ecology at Duke Univ.

Dr. Healy Hamilton, Director of Center for Biodiversity Research and Information at California Academy of Sciences

Peter Brastow, Founding Director of Nature in the City

Click to Listen: How should we preserve biodiversity?

Your Call 021108 Evangelicalism after the Christian Right

What's in store for the political future of the Christian Right? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about the history behind the growing influence of the Christian Right with Sarah Posner, author of God's Profits, and AM talk show host Eric Hogue. In 2004, 78 percent of all evangelicals voted for President Bush, making them the largest single voting bloc in the Republican Party. How did they become so powerful? How have they retained their influence? And with the Republican Party in disarray, what are their future strategies? It's Your Call, with me, Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests:
Sarah Posner, author of God's Profits: Faith, Fraud and the GOP Crusade for Values Voters.

Eric Hogue, radio talk show host of KFIA 710 AM.

Click to Listen: Evangelicalism after the Christian Right

Your Call 020808 Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call it's our Friday media roundtable when we discuss how the media covered the news. This week we'll be talking about the stories you might have missed while all eyes were on Super Tuesday. Juan Cole, editor of Informed Comment will tell us what we missed in Iraq and who is still prominently placing stories on the occupation. We'll also be joined by a reporter in Louisiana talking about New Orleans's role in their coming primary. What was the best reported story you saw this week? It's Your Call with me, Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Betsy Reed in New York
Executive editor of The Nation. She is the editor of Unnatural Disaster: The Nation on Hurricane Katrina, a collection of the magazine's coverage of the storm and its aftermath

Peter Waldman in San Francisco
Senior Writer with Conde Nast Portfolio

Click to Listen: Friday Media Roundtable

Your Call 020708 In Defense of Food

Why is it so hard to figure out what we should eat? On the next Your Call we welcome back Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food. In his celebrated book The Omnivore's Dilemma, Pollan traced what it was we were eating. In his new book, he lays out his theory why a country obsessed with eating healthy is failing so utterly at the task. Could eating for pleasure be the key to a healthy body and a healthy environment? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guest:
Michael Pollan
Author of In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto.

Click to Listen: In Defense of Food

Your Call 020608 Pundit for a Day

What do yesterday's election results mean for California? On the next Your Call you play pundit for a day and give us your take on the election results. On Tuesday's Your Call we asked you to make your best pitch for your candidate, now make your best analysis. Who turned out and what does it tell us about the mood of the state? Which candidates surprised your expectations? What do you make of California's experiment in election relevance? It's Your Call with Sandip Roy and you.

Guests:
Jonathan Wilcox in Los Angeles
Republican analyst and Adjunct Professor at USC's Annenberg School for Communication

Lakshmi Chaudhry in San Francisco
Staff writer for the Nation.

Click to Listen: Pundit for a Day

Your Call 020508 Who are you voting for and why? How did you decide?

Who are you voting for on "Super Tuesday"? On the next Your Call, we want to hear from you. It's been decades since California voters actually have had a say in a closely contested presidential primary. According to pollsters, the symbolic nature of who carries California will ring throughout the nation. Voter turnout is expected to be huge. 5.5 million requested absentee ballots. That's a record! 20 percent are still undecided, so whom are you voting for and how did you decide? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Joe Garofoli, San Francisco Chronicle reporter
Possible guest from Univision (to be confirmed)

Click to Listen: Who are you voting for and why? How did you decide?

Your Call 020408 Prez. Candidates' Positions on Military Spending & Global Trade

How do the presidential candidates differ on military spending, the global economy and trade? On the next Your Call, one day before the California primary, Chalmers Johnson will give us his take on the similarities and difference between the candidates; and Public Citizen Todd Tucker joins us to discuss their views on trade. What changes should we expect, once we get a new president? Do you have pressing questions before you go to the polls? It’s Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Todd Tucker, research director with Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, based in Washington, DC.

Chalmers Johnson, president of the Japan Policy Research Institute.

Click to Listen: Prez. Candidates' Positions on Military Spending & Global Trade

Your Call 020108 Friday Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call it's our Friday Media Roundtable, where we discuss how the news of the week was reported in the mainstream, alternative and international press. This Friday is the last media roundtable before Super Duper Tuesday; We’ll speak with John Hockenberry, host of PRI’s new morning program and co-host of a national broadcast Tuesday night with KALW, WNYC in New York and KPCC in Los Angeles. We’ll also talk with Frank Russo of the California Progress Report about coverage of all of California's voting constituencies and Nick Gillespie, editor of Reason Magazine about the FISA law and the crumbling economy. What was the best reported story you saw all week? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Frank Russo in Berkeley
Founder and publisher of the California Progress Report.

Nick Gillespie in Washington
editor of Reason Magazine and

John Hockenberry in New York City
Multiple Emmy and Peabody award winning journalist, formerly with NPR and now the co-host of PRI’s new Morning Show, which will launch in April(ish). He will also be co-hosting election night coverage on Tuesday from WNYC with KALW and KPCC in Los Angeles.

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

Your Call 013108 Is there a Pacific Rim Community?

Is there a Pacific Rim Community? On the next Your Call we replay a show we recorded Tuesday launching a new series creating connections across the ocean. First up, Australia. For the first time in 11 years, conservatives are out of power in Australia. Tuesday night we spoke with a panel of journalists about the issues, challenges and aspirations that influence Australian politics. New Prime Minister Kevin Rudd repudiates Australias involvement in the Iraq war but promises continued close ties to the US. Are closer ties between the two sides of the Pacific in the cards? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Click to Listen: Is there a Pacific Rim Community?

Your Call 013008 Debate about California community colleges

Should California change the constitution to increase funding for community colleges?  On the next Your Call we continue our coverage of the February 5th ballot by considering Proposition 93.  Prop 93 would lower fees and increase funding for community colleges and change the way the state distributes education funds.  Is this the best way to do that?  How do we balance K through 12 with college education and if we have the balance wrong, is the new proposition the right solution?  It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Edward Murray in SF
English as a Second Language instructor at City College of San Francisco for 28 years. He is the current president of American Federation of Teachers, Local 2121, which represents all faculty at CCSF, including teachers, counselors, health care professionals, and researchers.
 
Egon Terplan in SF
Economic Development and Governance Policy Director for SPUR, the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association, a good government think tank based in the city. 

Click to Listen: Debate about California community colleges