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

What's in store for Afghanistan and surrounding regions?

What's in store for the future of Afghanistan and the surrounding regions? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with Elizabeth Gould and Paul Fitzgerald, authors of Crossing Zero: The AfPak War at the Turning Point of American Empire. They say this conflict has become one of the most complex foreign policy problems the US has ever faced. So why has President Obama expanded the military presence in Afghanistan? Join us at 10 or send an email to feedback@yourcallradio.org. What will the expansion mean for the region and US security? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests:
Elizabeth Gould and Paul Fitzgerald, a husband and wife journalism team since 1981, and authors of Crossing Zero: The AfPak War at the Turning Point of American Empire

Click to Listen: What's in store for Afghanistan and surrounding regions?

What do you think of Bradley Manning's detention?

What do you think of the way the US is treating Bradley Manning? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about the 23-year-old US army officer accused of leaking classified information to Wikileaks. Manning faces 22 charges, including "aiding the enemy." His lawyer says he's being held in solitary confinement in a tiny cell at a Navy brig in Quantico, Virginia. Why has his treatment and confinement been so extreme? And what do you think of the charges against Bradley Manning? Join us at 10 or send an email to feedback@yourcallradio.org. It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests:
Ann Wright, former United States Army colonel and retired official of the U.S. State Department, outspoken opposer of the Iraq War

David MacMichael, former CIA analyst and current member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity

Greg Mitchell, journalist with The Nation and author of Bradley Manning: Truth and Consequences

Click to Listen: What do you think of Bradley Manning's detention?

What is the state of America's infrastructure?

On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about our deteriorating infrastructure. The American Society of Civil Engineers recently gave the state of bridges, sewers, roads, and transit a 'D' Grade. They say the US must invest $2.2 trillion over five years to bring the nation's infrastructure to a good condition. What needs to be fixed in your area? Join us at 10 or send an email to feedback@yourcallradio.org. What will it take to make this a national priority? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests:
Abolhassan Astaneh-Asl, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Berkeley.

Gray Brechin, a historical geographer, a visiting scholar in the U.C. Berkeley Department of Geography and founder and project scholar of California's Living New Deal Project.

Click to Listen: What is the state of America's infrastructure?

Are parents ruining youth sports?

Have you been to a youth sports tournament lately? Did you play sports as a kid? Have you ever seen parents screaming from the sidelines? On the next Your Call, we look at the social cost of youth sports. As the business of youth sports has grown, so have the stakes of the game. Are we letting our kids just play? Or have we become so invested that we micromanage play time and care too much about whether our 6, 7 and 8-year-olds are winning? Is it time to re-think our attitude toward children and their sporting events? It's Your Call with me, Holly Kernan, and you.

Guests:
Regan McMahon, author of Revolution in the Bleachers: How Parents Can Take Back Family Life in a World Gone Crazy Over Youth Sports. She's also a frequent contributor to the SF Chronicle and the mother of two kids. She lives in Oakland.

Eric Sippel, President of East Bay United Soccer Club

Click to Listen: Are parents ruining youth sports?

Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call, it's our Friday Media Roundtable. This week we'll discuss coverage of the ongoing humanitarian and radiation disasters in Japan. We'll also talk about coverage of the US and EU decision to begin bombing Libya. Who's reporting on US companies based in Libya? We'll be joined by McClatchy's Kevin Hall, the Middle East Report's Chris Toesing, and veteran journalist Don Kirk joins us from Tokyo. Where did you see the best reporting this week? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests:
Kevin Hall, McClatchy's economics reporter

Chris Toensing, Middle East Report and Information editor

Don Kirk, a veteran correspondent and noted author

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

What's the state of worker safety?

On the next Your Call, we'll mark the 100th anniversary of one of the most tragic labor disasters in American history--the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City. The deaths of 146 garment workers drastically changed labor laws and worker safety standards. It also electrified the labor movement. So how safe are our workplaces today? Join us at 10 or send an email to feedback@yourcallradio.org. How does worker safety in the US compare to regulations in factories overseas? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests:
Charles Kernaghen, director of the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights (formerly known as the National Labor Committee)

Eileen Nevitt, granddaughter of one of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory workers

Dr. Larry Rose, former doctor with Cal OSHA

Click to Listen: What's the state of worker safety?

What do you think about Obama bombing Libya?

What do you think of the Obama administration's decision to begin bombing Libya? On the next Your Call, we'll talk about the unfolding news in Libya. US and European leaders declared a no-fly zone over Libya on Sunday after two days of strikes. How should the US and international community respond? Join us at 10 or send an email to feedback@yourcallradio.org. Does military action in Libya set a precedent of attacking countries where the leadership does not favor the US? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests:
Dr. Ali Abdullatif Ahmida, scholar on modern Libya and professor of political science at the University of New England

Dr. Mansour El-Kikhia, exiled Libyan opposition leader and professor of political science at the University of Texas San Antonio

Click to Listen: Who's profiting from nuclear power?

Who's profiting from nuclear power?

On the next Your Call, we'll talk about the economics of the nuclear power industry. President Obama sees nuclear power as an integral part of a "green" energy plan. And the US government continues to subsidize nuclear power from 13 percent to 98 percent of the value of the power produced, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. We know that anyone can suffer the consequences from nuclear disasters, but who reaps the riches from this industry? Join us at 10 or send an email to feedback@yourcallradio.org. Whose interest does nuclear power really benefit? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests:
Michael Mariotte, executive director of Nuclear Information and Resource Service

Ellen Vancko, Nuclear Energy & Climate Change Project Manager with the Union of Concerned Scientists

Mike Papantonio, host of Ring of Fire Radio

Click to Listen: Who's profiting from nuclear power?