Your Call 021709 Will the stimulus help people in need?

Will the $787 billion economic plan help people in need? On the next Your Call, we’ll have a conversation about the short term and long term affects the 1,100-page package is expected to have on the US economy. You can join the conversation by phone or by sending us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org. Who will benefit from the plan and who will be left out? It’s Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Michael Grabell, an investigative reporter for ProPublica

Alexander J. Field, executive director, Economic History Association; Michel and Mary Orradre Professor of Economics at Santa Clara University

Click to Listen: Will the stimulus help people in need?

Your Call 021609 Is the FDA looking out for us?

What will it take to ensure the Food and Drug Administration adequately regulates our food system? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about the FDA's food regulatory policies. The recent salmonella outbreak tied to the Peanut Corporation has killed eight and sickened more than 500 people across the country. How safe is our food system? What is the FDA doing to protect us? Is the agency on our side, or is it too close to food corporations? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Jaydee Hanson, a policy analyst on cloning with Center for Food Safety

William Hubbard, former Associate Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration

Click to Listen: Is the FDA looking out for us?

Your Call 021309 Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call, it's our Friday media roundtable -- the day we connect you with reporters to discuss coverage of the week's news. This week, President Obama's stimulus package was once again the subject of fierce partisan battles for front pages and air time. On the whole, did the media you perused serve your interests and not the interests of the partisans? After three weeks of debate, do you know what is in the bill and what was left out? We'll be joined by The Nation's John Nichols and David Cay Johnston, Pulitzer prize winning author of Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expensive (and Stick You with the Bill). Where did you see the best reporting this week and where did it fall short? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
David Cay Johnston in Albany
Pulitzer Prize winner, former New York Times tax reporter and author of Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill). Johnston is now a columnist for the trade journal Tax Notes

John Nichols in Madison
Washington correspondent for The Nation magazine.

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

Your Call 021209 Is evolution by natural selection a fact?

Is evolution by natural selection a fact? On the next Your Call, we celebrate the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Origin of Species. Darwin's theory about the mechanism of evolution is one of the most predictive, transformational and accurate theories devised by science, but how certain should we be that this explanation is the final word? Proponents of creationism in schools have attacked Natural Selection for being merely a theory. Should science educators, humanists and proponents of rationalism use the language of certainty to fight back? Can the scientific virtues of open-mindedness and curiosity succeed in America? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Kevin Padian
Professor of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. Padian's area of interest is vertebrate evolution, especially the origins of flight and the evolution of birds from theropod dinosaurs. He served as an expert witness for the plaintiffs in the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District trial, and his testimony was repeatedly cited in the federal court's decision to outlaw teaching creationism in classrooms.

Peter Hess
Faith Project Director at the Oakland-based National Center for Science Education.

Michael Shermer
Publisher of Skeptic magazine and author of Why Darwin Matters

Click to Listen: Is evolution by natural selection a fact?

Your Call 021109 Did the Iranian Revolution Change the World?

How did the Iranian revolution change the world? On the next Your Call we will follow the trail of one of the monumental events of the 20th century and see how we are still living with the repercussions in the 21st. After nearly a decade and a half in exile Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned to Tehran on February 1, 1979. Soon after, Time magazine speculated that the revolution threatened "to upset the world balance of power more than any political event since Hitler's conquest of Europe." How did the Iranian revolution reshuffle the deck in the Middle East and Central Asia? How did it shift the political conversation within the Muslim world, from Morocco to Indonesia? And 30 years on, what do we still need to understand about the Iranian revolution?

Guests:
William O. Beeman in St Paul
Professor and Chair of Anthropology and specialist in Middle East Studies at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul. He also maintains the very informative and interesting blog on Middle Eastern affairs,Culture and International Affairs

Behrooz Moazami in New Orleans
Assistant Professor of history Loyola University New Orleans where he is creating a Middle East / Peace Studies interdisciplinary minor program. He is a native of Tehran and also a Visiting Scholar at the Center for European and Mediterranean Studies @ NYU.

Click to Listen: Did the Iranian Revolution Change the World?

Your Call 021009 What do we need to know about Iraq?

As Iraq moves through a critical phase, what do we need to know? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with Professor Nadje Al-Ali, author of What Kind of Liberation? Women and the Occupation of Iraq, and Dahr Jamail, a Bay Area independent journalist who recently returned to Baghdad. With the recent election described as a success by Washington, what is daily life like in Iraq? How have the lives of women been affected by so many dead and imprisoned Iraqi men? And what's the status of U.S. troop withdrawal? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Nadje Al-Ali, director of the Gender Studies Centre at SOAS, University of London.

Dahr Jamail, an independent journalist

Click to Listen: What do we need to know about Iraq?

Nadje Al-Ali's speaking events:
When: February 10, 2009 [ 4pm ]
Where: UC BERKELEY GENDER AND WOMEN'S STUDIES COLLOQUIUM LECTURE

When: February 11, 2009 [ 7pm ]
Where: LA PEA CULTURAL CENTER WITH MIDDLE EAST CHILDREN'S ALLIANCE

When: February 12, 2009 [11am-12.30pm]
Where: CODEPINK TALK AT FIRST UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH SAN FRANCISCO

When: February 12, 2009 [ 5-6:30pm ]
Where: UC BERKELEY CENTER FOR MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES

When: February 12, 2009 [ 8pm ]
Where: GREEN ARCADE BOOKSTORE

Your Call 020909 Should we nationalize American banking?

Should we nationalize the banks? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with economists about the future of the banking system. More than 300 billion dollars was spent to save Bank of America and hundreds of other banks. Taxpayers are now the biggest shareholders in Bank of America, with about 6 percent of the stock, and in Citigroup, with 7.8 percent. Is the era of laissez-faire capitalism over? And will nationalization of the banking system save the financial system? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington.

Anwar M. Shaikh, Professor at the Department of Economics at the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science of the New School University.

Click to Listen: Should we nationalize American banking?

Your Call 020609 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 while millions of Americans filed their taxes early to get their tax refunds, two of President Obama's cabinet picks were taken down for not paying their taxes. We'll speak with Greg Mitchell, editor in chief of Editor and Publisher magazine and author of the newly released How Obama Won; New York Times labor and workplace reporter Steven Greenhouse, author of The Big Squeeze, now in paperback; and Jonathan Stein, Washington correspondent for Mother Jones magazine. Where did you see the best reporting this week and where did it fall short? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Greg Mitchell
Editor in chief of Editor and Publisher magazine and author of the newly released How Obama Won

Steven Greenhouse in New York
New York Times labor and workplace reporter and author of The Big Squeeze, now in paperback

Jonathan Stein in Washington
Washington correspondent for Mother Jones magazine.

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

Your Call 020509 Is Reaganism Dead?

How does the shadow of Reaganism live on in the political choices of President Obama? On the next Your Call we mark what would have been the 98th birthday of one of Barack Obama's heroes . . . Ronald Reagan. Richard Lister of the BBC spoke for many when he wrote, "The Reagan era is finally, comprehensively, over." Does President Obama truly herald the start of something as new and different as Reagan did? What part of Reaganism is no more and which parts of President Obama's agenda would have suited Ronnie just fine? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:

Robert Smith in San Francisco
Professor of political science at San Francisco State University. Next week he will be presenting a paper called "In the Shadows of Ronald Reagan: Civil Rights Policy Making in the Clinton Administration"

Will Bunch in Philadelphia
Writes the Attytood column for the Philadelphia Daily News and author of the forthcoming book Tear Down This Myth: How the Reagan Legacy Has Distorted Our Politics and Haunts Our Future

William Kleinknecht in Glen Rock, New Jersey
Veteran reporter and crime correspondent for the Newark Star-Ledger. He is the author of The Man Who Sold the World: Ronald Reagan and the Betrayal of Main Street America

Click to Listen: Is Reaganism Dead?

Hear author William Kleinknecht speak at these Bay Area events:
Feb. 12th, 7:30pm
Books, Inc.
301 Castro St.
Mountain View, CA 94041

Feb. 13th, 7:00pm
Revolution Books
2425 Channing Way
Berkeley, CA 94704

Your Call 020409 What's a biopic got that a documentary doesn't?

What's a biopic got that a documentary doesn't? And vice-versa? On the next Your Call we'll discuss the choices artists make when deciding to retell the past on film. Gus Van Sant decided to tell the story of Harvey Milk as a biopic rather than as a documentary -- other than getting to cast Sean Penn in the leading role, what's the advantage? Can they bend the truth more? Does original footage from a particular time and place have an impact that actors and sets never can? Is there a documentary you wish would be made into a biopic -- or one that never should be? It's Your Call with Sandip Roy and you.

Guests:
Robert Cary in Los Angeles
Director of the feature film Save Me, about the intertwined lives of three people struggling with homosexuality.

Dawn Logsdon in San Francisco
Director of the documentary Faubourg Treme: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans, a celebration of the oldest black neighborhood in America.

Bill Banning in San Francisco
Runs the Roxie movie theater in the Mission since 1984

Click to Listen: What's a biopic got that a documentary doesn't?

Your Call 020309 Is the FDA on our side?

Is the Food and Drug Administration on our side? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about the policies of the FDA. It's responsible for overseeing the safety of drugs, medical devices, food, cosmetics and many other health-related products. We will focus on drug safety. In 2006, the Government Accountability Office found that the FDA does not have clear policies for drug safety. So what needs to change? And how do you decide if a drug is safe enough for you? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:

Dr. Peter Lurie, deputy director of the Health Research Group at Public Citizen.

Dr. Nissen, chairman of the Cleveland Clinic's department of cardiovascular medicine.

Dr. Marcia Angell, senior lecturer at Harvard Medical School.

Click to Listen: Is the FDA on our side?

Your Call 020209 What's our plan in Afghanistan?

President Obama is in the beginning stages of shifting military resources from Iraq to Afghanistan. What is his goal? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with Elizabeth Gould and Paul Fitzgerald, authors of Afghanistan's Untold Story. Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently said Afghanistan is "our greatest military challenge." The U.S. plans to send 30,000 additional troops to the region. What has failed to this point? And what is the U.S. trying to accomplish by escalating the seven-year occupation? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests:

Elizabeth Gould & Paul Fitzgerald, journalists and authors of Invisible History: Afghanistan's Untold Story

Click to Listen: What's our plan in Afghanistan?

Your Call 013009 Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call it's our Friday media roundtable where we hold American media accountable for getting us the news we need. This was the first full week of the Obama Administration and the president gave his first White House interview to al Arabiya. How big a break from the Bush era was the interview with the network owned by a Saudi prince? We'll also talk about covering lobbyists in Washington DC with Bara Vaida of the National Journal and the presidential arm-twisting on Capitol Hill with Gail Chaddock of the Christian Science Monitor and Richard Gizbert of Al Jazeera about President Obama's interview on al Arabiya. Where did you see the best reporting this week and where did it fall short? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:

Gail Chaddock in Washington
Covers Congress for the Christian Science Monitor

Bara Vaida in Washington
Covers the lobbying industry for National Journal and writes for their Under the Influence blog

Richard Gizbert in London
Host of Al Jazeera's Listening Post

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

Your Call 012909 What is life like for international aid workers?

What is life like for international aid workers? On the next Your Call we'll look at why anyone would choose to leave the comforts of home to comfort those in dire need. During her confirmation hearing, Secretary of State Clinton said that America would return to a foreign policy driven by defense, diplomacy and development. What was President Bush's legacy on foreign aid and what reforms are likely? In a globalized world riven by inequality and conflict, are aid workers the true heroes? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:

Cassandra Nelson in Gaza
Spokesperson and director of Multimedia Projects for Mercy Corps

John Main in San Francisco
Veteran foreign assistance worker. He organized the distribution of emergency supplies in Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia and Azerbaijian for the ICRC. Work with UPS international logistics. Has been living in the US since 1996.

Steve Radelet in Washington DC
Senior fellow at the Center for Global Development

Click to Listen: What is life like for international aid workers?

Your Call 012809 What needs to be done for veterans coming home?

What needs to be done for the veterans coming home? On the next Your Call we discuss the toll of the Bush wars that continue now that his presidency is over. Stories of the neglect of veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center made headlines three years ago, but underfunding of the VA is too commonplace to warrant front pages. We'll talk with Aaron Glantz, author of The War Comes Home: Washington's Battle against America's Veterans and with researchers at the S.F. VA hospital about the impact of traumatic brain injury and PTSD. What is left to be done for the veterans of a war that should never have happened? It's your call with Sandip Roy and you.

Guests:

Aaron Glantz in San Francisco
Independent unembedded reporter and author of The War Comes Home: Washington's Battle against America's Veterans.

Dr Anthony Chen in San Francisco
Assistant professor of Neurology at UCSF and associate director of the Center for Brain Injury Research and Treatment at the VA Medical Center in San Francisco and Martinez.

Click to Listen: What needs to be done for veterans coming home?

Your Call 012709 After Bush, what's left of HUD and federal housing?

After eight years of George W. Bush, what's left of HUD and federal housing? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about the US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Under the Bush Administration, HUD's budget was drastically scrapped, dozens of economic development projects were purged, and low-income housing programs were cut. So what should be done to fix HUD? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Danilo Pelletiere, research director of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, senior fellow at the School of Public Policy at George Mason University

John Bartlett, executive director of the Metropolitan Tenants Organization

Click to Listen: After Bush, what's left of HUD and federal housing?

Your Call 012609 How have native peoples lived in Northern California?

What was Native American life like in Northern California? On the next Your Call, we will have a conversation about Ohlone people, the original inhabitants of the Bay Area. They lived in the central California coastal areas between Big Sur and the Golden Gate of San Francisco Bay for 3000 years. So who were the Ohlone? What happened to them? What can we learn from their way of life? And how can we apply their environmental practices to our daily life? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Anne-Marie Sayers, tribal chairperson of the Indian Canyon Nation and Director of the Costanoan Indian Research, Inc.

Beverly Ortiz, an anthropologist with Coyote Hills Regional Park in Hayward, California and author of After the First Full Moon in April: A Sourcebook of Herbal Medicine from a California Indian Elder

Click to Listen: How have native peoples lived in Northern California?

Your Call 012309 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 we'll speak with Moises Naim, editor of Foreign Policy about the global coverage of the inauguration. We'll also speak with Jamal Dajani from Mosaic on LinkTV who is just back from two weeks covering the assault on Gaza. What else was going on while we watched the inaguration? Where did you see the best reporting this week and where did it fall short? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Moises Nam in Washington DC
Editor of Foreign Policy, a sister publication of Slate and the Washington Post. Dr. Nam served as Venezuela's minister of trade and industry in the early 1990s;

Jamal Dajani in Berkeley
Senior Director of Middle Eastern Programming at Link TV where he produces the program Mosaic, which translates and rebroadcasts Arabic language news broadcasts. He is also a frequent contributor to the Huffington Post;

George Curry in Suburban Washington
Syndicated columnist. From 2001 until 2007, he served as editor-in-chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, a news service for the nation's Black newspapers. He was the executive editor of Emerge magazine and a reporter for the Chicago Tribune.

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

Your Call 012209 What is Israel's End Game? What is Hamas'?

Now that the cease fire has begun, what is Israel's End Game? What is Hamas'? On the next Your Call we'll speak with Israeli and Palestinian analysts about the goals and state of mind of the two peoples. What did the Israeli people think they were trying accomplish? Were they trying to stop the rockets, intimidate the Palestinians, Iran or even the Obama administration? Did Hamas achieve their goals when they began the strategy of firing qassam rockets into Israel? Can we end the slaughter by understanding the motivations of all sides?

Guests:
Beshara Doumani in Berkeley
Professor in the Department of History at the University of California, Berkeley specializing in Middle Eastern history. He is working on two books: a social history of the Palestinians, and a comparative history of women and the family in Palestine and Lebanon.

Nathan Guttman in Washington DC
Washington bureau chief for the Forward, and the former Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post. The Forward has been reporting in Yiddish and English on the Global Jewish Community for more than a century.

Click to Listen: What is Israel's End Game? What is Hamas'?

Your Call 012109 How can we kill the Bush power grab?

How can we kill the Bush power grab and know that it is truly dead? On the next Your Call we'll mark the first day of the Obama Administration by taking a hard look at the office Bush left him. The Bush administration conducted a very public power grab for the executive branch: signing statements, suspending habeas corpus, torture and warrantless wire-tapping are just a start. As a Senator, Obama introduced a resolution requiring that "any offensive military action taken by the United States against Iran must be explicitly authorized by Congress." Will he stick by his demand for humbler executive? Does not using these powers render them off-limits to future presidents? It's Your Call with Sandip Roy and you.

Guests: Julian Zelizer in Princeton

Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He is the author and editor of many books and is working on four more: A look at the presidency of Jimmy Carter, a history of National Security Politics since World War II, a history of the Reagan Revolution and an edited volume about former President George W. Bush.

Charlie Savage in Washington DC

Charlie Savage is Washington correspondent for the New York Times. He was the recipient of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for his work uncovering the Bush administration's use of Presidential signing statements. He is the author of Takeover: The Return of the Imperial Presidency & the Subversion of American Democracy.

Gene Healy in Washington DC

Vice President at Libertarian think tank the Cato Institute and author of The Cult of the Presidency: America's Dangerous Devotion to Executive Power

Click to Listen: How can we kill the Bush power grab?