Your Call 110107 What Makes A Woman Powerful?

Who is a powerful woman? On the next Your Call we’ll discuss the many ways women exercise power in the world. Forbes magazine released their list of the 100 most powerful women and it was full of politicians and billionaires. Are there other ways women exercise power that Forbes missed? And does having female prime ministers and secretaries of state change the way the traditional power is exercised? It’s Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guest:
Laurel Thatcher-Ulrich, author of Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History and professor at Harvard University.

Laurel Thatcher-Ulrich will be speaking tonight at 7:30 at Mrs. Dalloway’s Literary & Garden Arts, 2904 College Avenue in Berkeley

Click to Listen: What Makes A Woman Powerful?

Your Call 103107 Election 2007

Next Tuesday is Election Day. Do you know what’s on the ballot? On the next Your Call, the Chronicle’s John Diaz, SPUR’s Egon Terplan, and the Green Party’s Christina O’Lague will join us to discuss their endorsements of measures on the San Francisco ballot. With no real competition for Mayor, District Attorney, or Sheriff, the big fights this election are over MUNI, libraries, free Wi-Fi, and parking. Who’s supporting and funding these measures? What are you voting for? It’s Your Call with Sandip Roy.
 
Guests:
John Diaz, Editorial Page Editor for the SF Chronicle
Egon Terplan, Economic Development and Governance Policy Director of SPUR
Christina O'Lague, Green Party Coordinating Council Member

Click to Listen: Election 2007

Your Call 103007 The Budget

How can we make sense of the $2.8 trillion dollar U.S. budget? On the next Your Call, we’ll have a conversation with Linda Bilmes, a budget expert and public policy professor at the Kennedy School of Government. Federal spending grew by nearly 50 percent between 2001 and 2007 and the federal debt has grown to about 9 trillion dollars. What is the overall war spending in the budget? And what’s being squeezed as a result? It’s Your Call, Rose Aguilar, and you.
 
Guest:
Linda Bilmes, a budget expert and public policy professor at the Kennedy School of Government

Click to Listen: The Budget

Your Call 102907 Is California running out of water?

Is California running out of water? On the next Your Call, we’ll have a conversation about managing California’s water supply. Two-thirds of the planet is covered in water but population growth and climate change could impact our water supply in the coming decades. What is the connection between global warming and our water supply? And what can we learn from states that are experiencing a water crisis? It’s Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.
 
Guest:
Norm Miller is an adjunct professor of geography at UC Berkeley and associate director of Berkeley Water Center. Professor Miller is one of the four professors at UC Berkeley who have contributed to a United Nations international climate change organization that is sharing the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.

Mindy McIntyre is water program manager at The Planning and Conservation League. That’s a nonprofit organization involved in environmental public policy research and education. Mindy works on projects to improve water management and policy in California.

Click to Listen: Is California running out of water?

Your Call 102607 Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call, it's our Friday Media Roundtable. This week, Southern California burned. Did the reporters covering the fires connect the emergency with larger ecological and social trends? Also this week battles raged on the border of Turkey and Iraq and within the halls of power in Istanbul. Did you see or hear reporting that covered more than the blow-by-blow and provided the context to help you understand what's at stake? What was your story of the week? It's Your Call, with me, Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Robert Parry in Healdsburg, California
Founder and editor of Consortium News

David Roberts in Seattle, Wash.
Staff writer for Grist and blogmaster of Gristmill

Evrim Bunn in Washington DC
Reporter with Voice of America Turkish Service

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

Your Call 102507 The Mad Cowboy

What can we learn about the meat and dairy industry from a Montana farmer who also happens to be a vegan? On the next Your Call, we talk with Howard Lyman, the fourth generation rancher who rose to fame after he and Oprah were sued by the cattle industry for libeling beef, a crime in Texas. They won the suit. Lyman is now on a crusade to change food safety policies and end our addiction to meat. What would a world of vegetarians look like? What would happen to livestock if we all became vegan? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Update: Howard Lyman is speaking tonight at the Marin Humane Society at 7:00 p.m.
171 Bel Marin Keys Blvd., Novato, CA

Guest:
Howard Lyman, fourth generation cattle farmer, now vegan activist

Click to Listen: The Mad Cowboy

Your Call 102407 On the Record: Mike Huckabee

Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee is gaining ground among conservative Christians. What do we need to know about his views? On the next Your Call, we continue our On the Record series about presidential candidates’ voting records and campaign contributions. Up next: former Arkansas governor and Baptist Minister Mike Huckabee. At the Values Voters Summit this weekend, he focused on abortion, immigration, and what he calls Islamo-fascism. What does his voting record say about what he would do as president? It’s Your Call with me, Rose Aguilar, and you.
 
Guests:
Max Brantley, the editor of the Arkansas Times, a Little Rock alternative weekly
Michael Scherer is the Washington correspondent for Salon.com

Click to Listen: On the Record with Mike Huckabee

Your Call 102307 Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity

How does pornography affect what it means to be a man? On the next Your Call, we'll have a discussion about the multibillion dollar porn industry with Robert Jensen, author of Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity. Jensen says mainstream porn has come up with more ways than ever to humiliate and degrade women. So why is it so popular? Over 260 porn sites go up daily. Has pornography become normalized? How does it affect you? It's Your Call with me, Rose Aguilar and you.
 
Guest:
Robert Jensen is the author of Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity (South End Press, 2007) and an associate professor in the School of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin.

Click to Listen: Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity

Your Call 102207 An Update on Burma

A month after the uprising in Burma, what's the status on the global call for democracy? On the next Your Call, we'll have a discussion about Burma, one month after the military violently suppressed protests, leaving many people dead and more than 3,000 detained. Human rights activists are calling on Chinese, Indian, and other companies doing business in Burma to condemn the government’s abuses. Meanwhile, Burma is fading from the front pages. How will that affect the struggle for democracy? It's Your Call, with me Rose Aguilar and you.
 
Guests:
T. Kumar, advocacy director for Asia & Pacific for Amnesty International USA.

Dr. Tun Myint, Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota.

Nyunt Than, president of the Burmese American Democratic Alliance (BADA), a Bay Area based grassroots organization working to raise awareness about human rights abuses in Burma.

Click to Listen: An Update on Burma

Your Call 101807 Friday Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call it is our Friday media roundtable. Benazir Bhutto landed in Pakistan after eight years in exile; George W. Bush warned there would be a third world war if Iran goes nuclear. This week, Arnold Schwarzenegger signed 97 bills and vetoed another 58, and the BBC is giving hundreds of pink slips to its employees. What was your story of the week? It’s Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.
 
Guests:
Graham Usher, a journalist and writer now based in Pakistan
John Nichols, writer for The Nation
Frank Russo, publisher of California Progress Report

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

Your Call 101807 The Arab Film Festival

What will be showcased at the upcoming 11th Annual Arab Film Festival? On the next Your Call, we’ll have a conversation with the festival’s filmmakers. From the first Lebanese vampire thriller to documentaries about finding peace through dance and skateboarding, we’ll hear about the Arab world through its films. How do these movies manage to bridge a gap between cultures? What challenges do these filmmakers face in the Arab world? And how are they being received here in the U.S.? It’s Your Call, with Sandip Roy and you.
 
Guests:
Sonia El Feki, artistic director for the Arab Film Festival
Muayad Mousa Alayan, director of Qater Al Nada
Nadia Kamel, director of Salata Baladi
Line Halvorsen, director of USA vs. Al-Arian

Click to Listen: The Arab Film Festival

Your Call 101707 A conversation with Indian activist Vandana Shiva

What are the important issues affecting India’s farmers today? On the next Your Call, we’ll have a conversation with Indian activist and physicist Dr. Vandana Shiva. One in six people on earth live in India and more than half of the country's population of 1.1 billion depend on agriculture for their living. What are the main ecological and political issues affecting India today? Why have Shiva's projects combating GMOs and monocrops been so effective? And what advice does she have for environmentalists here in the U.S.? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Update: Vandana Shiva will be speaking at 3:25 at the First Unitarian Church in downtown Oakland, at 685 14th St. near the 12th St. BART at the Business Ethics Network conference. For tickets and information call Anne at 503-478-0892.

Guest:
Dr. Vandana Shiva is a physicist, ecologist, activist, editor, and author.

Click to Listen: A conversation with Indian activist Vandana Shiva

Your Call 101607 What are the most effective ways to fight breast cancer?

What are the most effective ways to fight breast cancer? On the next Your Call, we’ll have a conversation about the second leading cause of cancer death among women. While U.S. cancer rates are down, this year, 180,000 women will still be diagnosed with breast cancer. New treatments get a lot of press, but what’s really working? Have there been any significant developments over the past decade? And are those pink ribbon campaigns making any difference? It’s Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.
 
Guests:
Barbara Brenner, executive director of Breast Cancer Action
Dr. Marion Kavanaugh-Lynch, director of California Breast Cancer Research Program.

Click to Listen: What are the most effective ways to fight breast cancer?

Your Call 101507 When is it appropriate to use Tasers?

Is the use of Tasers by police appropriate? On the next Your Call, we'll discuss why certain Bay Area cities are arming their police with Tasers, while others are considering banning them. Tasers are currently being used by 11,000 police departments nationwide. Recent incidents involving the use of the electroshock weapon have sparked a heated debate. Are Tasers our safest policing alternative? When is it appropriate to use them? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.
 
Guests:
Raj Jayadev, editor of Silicon Valley De-Bug and writer for New America Media.
Sergeant Natasha Powers of the Palo Alto Police Department, which recently approved the use of Tasers by their officers.

Click to Listen: When is it appropriate to use Tasers?

Your Call 101207 Friday Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call, it’s our Friday Media Roundtable. This week, family members of slain Iraqis filed a lawsuit against Blackwater and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced plans to cut the number of troops in Iraq by about half. Also, an array of Bay Area journalists, media organizations, and university journalism departments formed an investigative team to continue the work of journalist Chauncey Bailey. What was your story of the week? It’s Your Call with Sandip Roy.
 
Guests:
Tina Susman, LA Times staff writer in Iraq
Martin Reynolds, managing editor of Oakland Tribune
Deepa Fernandes, host of the WBAI radio program "Wakeup Call"

Click to Listen: Friday Media Roundtable

Your Call 101107 The Sixth Anniversary of the Invasion of Afghanistan

What are the future prospects for Afghanistan? On the next Your Call, we will have a conversation about the political situation in Afghanistan, six years after the U.S. invasion, which marked the first phase of the Bush administration’s so called War on Terror. Today, five provinces in Afghanistan are back in the Taliban’s control, opium production is increasing, and violence is at an all-time high. How are people fairing in today’s Afghanistan? And what’s the main mission of the United States? It’s Your Call with Rose Aguilar, and you.
 
Guests:
Kate Clark has been covering Afghanistan for BBC for well over a decade.

Nazif Shahrani is a professor of anthropology and of Central Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington. He has been visiting Afghanistan on regular basis. He was in Afghanistan in May of this year.

Click to Listen: The Sixth Anniversary of the Invasion of Afghanistan

Your Call 101007 The Israel Lobby

What explains the U.S. government's support of Israel? On the next Your Call, we welcome Stephen Walt, professor of International Affairs at Harvard University and co-author of the new book, The Israel Lobby. The book explores why there is so little disagreement about Israel among American politicians. Stephen Walt argues that unconditional support for the Jewish state is heavily influenced by the powerful Israeli lobby in the U.S. and in the end, he says it's bad for both countries. What do you think? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.
 
Guests:
Stephen Walt in Cambridge
The Robert and Rene Belfer Professor of International Relations at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and author with John Mearsheimer of the new book The Israel Lobby.

Mitchell Plitnick in San Francisco
Director of Administration and Policy for Jewish Voice for Peace

Click to Listen: The Israel Lobby

Your Call 100907 Food Stamps and the Farm Bill

Why is it so easy to get a subsidy to grow food and so hard to get a subsidy to buy it? On the next Your Call, we’ll have a conversation about the food stamp provision of the 2007 Farm Bill, which is scheduled to be voted on next week. Subsidies for corn farmers are up, while funding for food stamps is down. Over 35 million Americans will go to bed hungry tonight. Will the Farm Bill include improvements to food stamp and nutrition programs? It’s Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.
 
Click to Listen: The Israel Lobby

Your Call 100807 All Hail the Blockbuster

If you see a movie advertised on the side of a bus does that make you unlikely to see it in the theatre? On the next Your Call we welcome Kenneth Turan, film reviewer for NPR and the Los Angeles Times and author of Now in Theaters Everywhere: A Celebration of a Certain Kind of Blockbuster. Turan’s first book was called Never Coming to a Theater Near You and celebrated rarely seen movies. This time he tells you which movies with big budgets are worth your time. What is your favorite blockbuster? It’s Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.
 
Guest:
Kenneth Turan in Los Angeles
Film critic for the Los Angeles Times and NPR's Morning Edition, as well as the director of the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. He has been a staff writer for the Washington Post and TV Guide, and served as the Times' book review editor.

Click to Listen: All Hail the Blockbuster

Your Call 100507 Friday Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call, it's our Friday Media Roundtable. This week the Senate considered a national shield law that would allow reporters to protect their sources. We’ll talk Iran news with independent reporter Reese Erlich, with Carolyn Lochhead of the San Francisco Chronicle on the importance of having national reporters at local papers and about race and international news coverage in the U.S. with Lakshmi Chaudhry of The Nation. What was your story of the week? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.
 
Guests:
Carolyn Lochhead in Washington D.C.
San Francisco Chronicle’s Washington correspondent since 1991
 
Lakshmi Chaudhry in San Francisco
Contributing writer to the magazine The Nation
 
Reese Erlich in San Francisco
Independent reporter and author of The Iran Agenda: The Real Story of U.S. Policy and the Middle East Crisis
 
Click to Listen: Friday Media Roundtable

Your Call 100407 Nobodies

What products do you buy that support modern day slavery? On the next Your Call we welcome John Bowe, author of Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy. Slavery was outlawed in the U.S. 142 years ago, but Bowe discovers cases across the continent where people work without rights, without paychecks and without the freedom to leave. Around the world nearly 27 million people are in conditions tantamount to enslavement. Which products are most likely to have been made by slaves? What can you do to join the new abolitionist movement? It's Your Call with Sandip Roy and you.

Guests:
John Bowe, author of Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy. He is the co-editor of Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs, one of Harvard Business Review’s best books of 2000, and a recipient of the Richard J. Margolis Award, dedicated to journalism that combines social concern and humor.
 
Norma Hotaling, executive director of Sage: Standing Against Global Exploitation

David Batstone, founder of The Not For Sale Campaign
 
Click to Listen: Nobodies

Your Call 100307 On the Record--Bill Richardson

What kind of president would Bill Richardson be? On the next Your Call we continue our On The Record series examining the voting and governing records of every man and woman running for president. This week we look at a former ambassador, cabinet member, congressman and governor. Richardson would be the first Hispanic president and had a reputation as a liberal congressman but was also at the helm of the energy department during the Wen Ho Lee debacle. What did Richardson support, suppress or go out on a limb for? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you. 

Guests:
Steve Terrell in Santa Fe, New México
Political reporter and music columnist for The Santa Fe New Mexican, and producer of Terrell's Sound World and The Santa Fe Opry on KSFR, Santa Fe Public Radio.
 
George Lobsenze in Washington D.C.
Executive editor of The Energy Daily, which covers all aspects of the energy industry including electric utilities, nuclear power, natural gas, oil, coal and alternative fuels.

Click to Listen: On the Record--Bill Richardson

Your Call 100207 The Fate of Iraqi Refugees

What is life like for Iraqi refugees? On the next Your Call, we’ll have a conversation about the fate of displaced Iraqis with two activists who recently returned from the Middle East. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees reports that more than 4.2 million Iraqis have been forced out of their homes. More than half have sought refuge in neighboring countries. How are they coping with their forced exile? And what is the role of the United States as the occupying force? It’s Your Call, with me, Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests:
Raed Jarrar is an Iraqi political analyst who established a grassroots organization that provides humanitarian and political aid to Iraqi internally displaced persons.

Noah Baker Merrill has been living and working among Iraqi refugees in Jordan and Syria and coordinates the Direct Aid Initiative, a project of the Electronic Iraq news and analysis website.

Click to Listen: The Fate of Iraqi Refugees