Your Call 121908 Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call, it's our Friday Media Roundtable. Chrysler has announced the closure of its 30 factories for at least one month and G.M. needs $4 billion this month to stay afloat. We will talk about continuing crisis in the auto industry with McClatchy's Kevin Hall. The shoe episode has put Iraq back in the headlines but what is not getting enough attention? We will be joined by independent journalist Dahr Jamail and ProPublica's T. Christian Miller. 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: Dahr Jamail, independent journalist
T. Christian Miller, investigative reporter for ProPublica
Kevin Hall, economic reporter with McClatchy

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

Your Call 121808 Starving Arts Budgets

As public arts budgets shrink, what should we save? On the next Your Call, we will have a conversation about funding of the Arts during the economic downturn. San Francisco and Oakland are among many cities across the country proposing massive cuts to Arts budgets, and also threaten many cultural and artistic institutions with closure. How are the cuts going to impact the vibrant and diverse arts and cultural scene of the Bay Area? And what should be done to support the Arts? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests: Marco Barricelli, Artistic Director Shakespeare in Santa Cruz

Nancy Gonchar, Deputy Director San Francisco Arts Commission

Thomas DeCaigny, Executive Director of Performing Arts Workshop

Click to Listen: Starving Arts Budgets

Your Call 121708 Getting off the Gadget Treadmill

As the gift giving frenzy gets into relatively full swing, what happens to the discarded cellphones, computers and televisions? On the next Your Call we're talking all about the joys of holiday e-waste, and what we can do to reduce it. Electronic waste is only 2 percent of America's trash in landfills, but 70 percent of overall toxic waste. But most of the 100 million cellphones and 47 million computers thrown out each year are shipped to the poorest countries. Can you really fix the run down computer? Where can you recycle that extra television? Could someone else use your old cellphone? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests: Casey Harrel in Oakland
E-waste expert for Greenpeace International. He has been campaigning for over 10 years in the environmental field on toxic chemical reduction and energy issues, both for Greenpeace and other organizations in the Bay Area and Washington DC.

Jim Pucket in Seattle
Executive Director of the Basel Action Network, an international NGO working to end the global trade in toxic eWaste products.

Emy Tseng
Project Director for the Digital Inclusion Programs for the San Francisco Department of Technology. The digital inclusion program works with Goodwill and ReliaTech to collect used computers from City Agencies and businesses, refurbish them and place them in the community for people in need and distributes used cellphones in women's shelters

James W. Kao
Founder, President & CEO of GreenCitizen, a Bay Area eWaste recycling company.

Click to Listen: Getting off the Gadget Treadmills

Your Call 121608 Eating the Sun

As we attempt to design a sustainable world, what can we learn from plants? On the next Your Call, we welcome Oliver Morton, editor of Nature and author of Eating the Sun: How Plants Power the Planet. Morton argues that photosynthesis is not only the key to humanity's history; it is also vital to confronting and understanding contemporary realities like climate change and the global food shortage. How can understanding the history of science help us change what we're facing today? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guest: Oliver Morton in San Francisco
Author of Eating the Sun: How Plants Power the Planet. He is also the Chief News and Features Editor at Nature, the world's leading interdisciplinary science journal.

Click to Listen: Eating the Sun

Your Call 121508 The Global Footprint

Would simply knowing how much we individually consume be enough to change the way we act? On the next Your Call we welcome Mathis Wackernagel, the executive director of the Global Footprint Network. Based in Oakland, but working around the world, the Global Footprint Network helps governments monitor how much nature we have, how much we use, and who uses what as closely as they monitor the stock market. Could ecological budgets and resource bank accounts make sustainable living more than a dream? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests: Mathis Wackernagel in San Francisco
Executive Director Global Footprint Network and co-creator of the concept of the Ecological Footprint.

Click to Listen: The Global Footprint

Your Call 121208 Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call it's our Friday media roundtable where we bring in reporters from the mainstream, alternative and international press to discuss the week in American media. This week was all about firing: the Illinois governor was charged with soliciting bribes for a certain vacant Senate seat and trying to get reporters he didn't like fired; a factory was taken over by fired workers; the parent-company of the Chicago Tribune filed for bankruptcy and NPR canceled two shows and fired dozens of reporters including some old familiar names. We'll speak with Alden Loury, Editor and Publisher of the Chicago Reporter; Lee Sustar, of the Socialist Worker and Barbara Ciara, President of the National Association Of Black Journalists. Where did you see the best reporting this week and where did it fall short? It's Your Call with Ben Temchine and you.

Guests: Alden Loury
Editor and Publisher of the Chicago Reporter, an investigative newsmagazine that has been covering Chicago's race, poverty and culture for 36 years. The Reporter is a project of the Community Renewal Society.

Lee Sustar in Chicago
Lee Sustar writes for the Socialist Worker and is a frequent contributor to CounterPunch and the International Socialist Review on labor issues.

Barbara Ciara in Norfolk
President of the National Association Of Black Journalists, which represents over 4,100 journalists and media professionals; Ms. Ciara is also managing editor at WTKR NewsChannel 3 in Norfolk, Virginia.

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

Your Call 121108 Beyond Prisons

After 30 years of "lock-em-up-and-throw-away-the-key", does California's fiscal crisis mean prison reform's time has come? On the next Your Call we'll discuss the financial and moral problem posed by prisons. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation consumes about 1 of every $10 in state general fund spending and our prisons are at double capacity. What other models are there for maintaining the peace? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests: Raquel Marisqual in Watsonville
Sr. Consultant for Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative Site Development for the Annie E. Casey Foundation

Elaine Enns
Mediator & educator about restorative justice and conflict transformation. She has worked most recently at the Center for Peacemaking and Conflict Studies at Fresno Pacific University and the Center for Restorative Justice Works in Los Angeles.

Fernando Geraldo in Santa Cruz
Director of the Juvenile division Santa Cruz Probation department. Not the expert in the adult world.

Click to Listen: Beyond Prisons

Your Call 121008 60th Anniversary of the International Declaration of Human Rights

What difference does a treaty make? On the next Your Call we mark the 60th Anniversary of the International Declaration of Human Rights. Are human rights better respected after a country signs on to the Declaration? Does internal change for the better come from within and lead to signing, or do these agreements change the country? And as we leave the dark days of the Bush Administration behind us, what international human rights treaties are waiting for a willing president? It's Your Call with Sandip Roy and you.

Guests: Connie De La Vega in Oakland
Professor at University San Francisco Law School. Worked at the UN for more than three decades representing human rights advocates and written extensively on national and international human rights law. Each year Professor De La Vega takes a student delegation to watch the commission on the status of women and the human rights council in Geneva, Swizerland.
 
Jamil Dakwar in New York
Director of the ACLU's Human Rights Program. He has more than 10 years experience in human rights litigation and advocacy in the U.S. and abroad.

Click to Listen: 60th Anniversary of the International Declaration of Human Rights

Your Call 120908 Crisis in Gaza

What is the International Community doing to help the people of Gaza? On the next Your Call, we'll take a look at the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency has warned that its warehouses in Gaza will be totally empty in two or three days if Israel does not open the crossings to allow the entry of humanitarian supplies. Eighty percent of the population depends on humanitarian aid. What is daily life like for people in Gaza? Who is helping? And who has access to Gaza? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests: Paul LaRudee, the Northern California head of the International Solidarity Movement

Richard Falk, the UN Special Rapporteur for human rights to the Palestinian Occupied territories

Mairead Corrigan-Maguire, Irish Nobel Peace laureate and co-founder of the Community of Peace People

Karen Abu Zayed, the commissioner general of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza

Click to Listen: Crisis in Gaza

Your Call 120808 Global Commons -- Whales & Sharks

How is the environment for whales and shark changing? On the next Your Call, we continue our series on the global commons, with a discussion about the state of whales and sharks. According to the United Nations about ten million sharks are killed each year for their valuable fins. Whales are also facing ever-increasing dangers despite the 20-year ban on commercial whaling. So what's been done to save these sacred and precious creatures? And can we save them? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests: David McGuire, conservation filmmaker, a field associate of the California Academy of Sciences and a shark advocate.

Douglas Long, Chief Curator, Natural Sciences at Oakland Museum of California. formerly chair of the Department of Ornithology and Mammalogy at the California Academy of Sciences, he is currently teaches in the Department of Biology at Saint Mary's College in Moraga.

Stan Minasian, a naturalist with the Oceanic Society.

Click to Listen: Global Commons -- Whales & Sharks

Your Call 120508 Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call it's our Friday Media Roundtable when we host a conversation with journalists from the mainstream, alternative and international press about the way the news was reported. This week we'll be joined by Sreenath Sreenivasan, president of the South Asian Journalists Association to talk about coverage of the attack on Mumbai, both here and around the world. We'll also be joined by Mark Hertsgaard, environmental correspondent for The Nation. Where did you see the best reporting this week? It's your call with me, Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests: Sreenath Sreenivasan in New York
Dean of student affairs & professor, Columbia journalism school. He is also the tech reporter for WNBC-TV in New York and he is the co-founder and former president of SAJA, the South Asian Journalists Association

Mark Hertsgaard in Marin
Environmental correspondent for The Nation and the author of many books, including Earth Odyssey: Around the World In Search of Our Environmental Future.

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

Your Call 120408 Understanding the Collapse

Have global efforts to resuscitate our economy done any good? On the next Your Call, we'll discuss what we know about the ongoing financial, consumer and economic crises. By now, most Americans folks have at least a generally accurate understanding of how we got into the mess. Are the agencies crafting a response getting the details right? How have hard times hit your house? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests: John Schmitt in Washington
Senior economist with the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC. He has also worked with the American Center for International Labor Solidarity, the Global Policy Network and the International Labor Organization.

Chris Carey
Editor of BailoutSleuth.com, an online publication monitoring the government's purchase, and eventual sale, of bad mortgages and other distressed assets, tracking and analyzing deals and providing information about the companies and people involved in them.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb in Greece
Distinguished Professor of Risk Engineering at New York University & visiting professor of marketing at London Business School. He is the former managing director and head trader at Union Bank of Switzerland. His most recent book is The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable.

Click to Listen: Understanding the Collapse

Your Call 120308 Obama's Foreign Policy Team

Will President Obama usher in a new era of American foreign policy? On the next Your Call we welcome Andrew Bacevich, author of The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism. This week President-elect Obama announced his foreign policy team including Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. What do his choices tell us about how he plans to use American military, economic and soft power? It's Your Call with Sandip Roy and you.

Guest: Andrew Bacevich in Boston
Professor of international relations at Boston University and author of The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism

Click to Listen: Obama's Foreign Policy Team

Your Call 120208 A community-based water policy

What should a community-based water policy look like? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about the growing push to privatize water. This week, multinationals, including Coca-Cola and Nestle Water, are meeting in San Francisco for a conference called "Corporate Water Footprinting." Environmentalists are having a gathering of their own to challenge corporate control of water. What needs to happen to ensure water remains a fundamental human right and stays in public hands? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar.

Guests: Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food and Water Watch
Caleen Sisk-Franco, Chief, Winnemem Wintu Tribe
Amit Srivastava, Coordinator, International Campaign Against Coca-Cola

Click to Listen: A community-based water policy

Your Call 120108 Movie Talk

What's the big news at the box office this Holiday Season? On the next Your Call we'll take a break from the economic, environmental, financial and every other kind of meltdown, mess or catastrophe to sit back, grab some popcorn and be entertained. What are you thankful for at the movie theater? Share your pick, old or new, on the next Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guest: Carina Chocano, former film critic with the LA Times

Click to Listen: Movie Talk

Your Call 112708 Louise Erdrich, renowned author

How does a novel mixed with history, magic and mystery get stitched together? On the next Your Call, we will replay our conversation with Louise Erdrich about her latest novel The Plague of Doves, a story built around the native communities in North Dakota where she grew up. Why are novels that replay and recreate our history important to understanding it? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests: Louise Erdrich, author of The Plague of Doves

Pre-recorded

Your Call 112608 Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo

What's behind the continued violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo? On the next Your Call, we'll talk about the longest and deadliest war since WWII. More than five million people have died. Many millions more have been made refugees and there is no end in sight. Why has fighting flared up again? What role do global consumers play in Congo's civil war? What's the U.S. role? What can we do to stop it? It's Your Call, with Sandip Roy and you.

Guests: Adam Hochschild, lecturer, Graduate School of Journalism, University of California, Berkeley and author of King Leopold's Ghost & Bury the Chains

Thomas Turner, Amnesty International USA country specialist on the Democratic Republic of Congo and Adjunct Professor of Political Science at Virginia Commonwealth University

Click to Listen: Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Your Call 112508 Hard Questions about Wildfires

Is California asking the hard questions about wildfires? On the next Your Call we'll discuss how the environmental and economic climates are forcing hard choices on the state. How should fire-fighting be balanced with other state priorities in the budget? If we cut the budget for fighting fires, how should the priority list for those resources change? Is the urban core of the state building enough housing to relieve population pressures in high danger areas? It's Your Call with Ben Temchine and you.

Guests: Bill Stewart in Berkeley
Forestry Specialist at the University of California at Berkeley. Before joining the university two years ago, Bill was the Director of the research unit at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, where he studied resource economics issues.

Andy Stahl in Portland, Oregon
Executive Director of Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, national organization of government employees holding the Forest Service accountable for responsible land stewardship.

Click to Listen: Hard Questions about Wildfires

Your Call 112408 The Road Ahead for the Big Three

Is the crisis in Detroit an opportunity to get the car industry we want? On the next Your Call we'll have a conversation about the struggling US auto industry. The heads of three Detroit automakers flew down in their corporate jets to make a case for federal aid to stave off bankruptcy. Skeptical lawmakers were unmoved. So what is ahead for future of auto industry? Is saving the Big Three an opportunity or just a big problem? It's Your Call, with Sandip Roy and you.

Guests: Michael Brylawski, vice president of Rocky Mountain Institute. He heads its Mobility/Vehicle Efficiency (MOVE) Practice.

Kelly Erin O'Brien, Vice President, and host of "Life in the Fast Lane" on KUSP, Central Coast Public Radio, 88.9 FM

Chelsea Sexton, co-founder of The Lightning Rod Foundation and an advocate for Electric Transportation

Click to Listen: The Road Ahead for the Big Three

Your Call 112408 The Road Ahead for the Big Three

Is the crisis in Detroit an opportunity to get the car industry we want? On the next Your Call we'll have a conversation about the struggling US auto industry. The heads of three Detroit automakers flew down in their corporate jets to make a case for federal aid to stave off bankruptcy. Skeptical lawmakers were unmoved. So what is ahead for future of auto industry? Is saving the Big Three an opportunity or just a big problem? It's Your Call, with Sandip Roy and you.

Guests: Michael Brylawski, vice president of Rocky Mountain Institute. He heads its Mobility/Vehicle Efficiency (MOVE) Practice.

Kelly Erin O'Brien, Vice President, and host of "Life in the Fast Lane" on KUSP, Central Coast Public Radio, 88.9 FM

Chelsea Sexton, co-founder of The Lightning Rod Foundation and an advocate for Electric Transportation

Click to Listen: The Road Ahead for the Big Three