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

Your Call 112108 Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call it's our Friday media roundtable where we examine the week that was in American media. U.S. stocks have plunged; the unemployment rate is its highest in 16 years. And the auto industry bailout is stalled in Senate. How does the media continue to cover the economic crisis? Seven years after the U.S. invaded Afghanistan the country faces an increasingly uncertain future. How is Obama's presidency going to change U.S. foreign policy? And who has Obama's ears? It's Your Call with Ben Temchine and you.

Guests: Pratap Chatterjee, investigative journalist and executive director of CorpWatch
Linda Feldmann, staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Kevin G. Hall, economics reporter with McClatchy Newspapers

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

Your Call 112008 Leaving Guantanamo

On the next Your Call, we're going to be talking about what to do with the approximately 250 people imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay. Only 23 have been charged with any official crime. President-elect Obama vows to restore America's moral stature in the world, but how easily will that be done in Guantanamo Bay? On the next Your Call with Sandip Roy and you.

Guests:
Jennifer Daskal, Senior Counsel, Terrorism/Counterterrorism, Human Rights Watch. Jennifer was deeply involved in the discussions over US detention policy taking place in Congress during 2007 and is a leading voice in the ongoing efforts to limit the effects of counterterrorism legislation on refugee and asylum seekers.

Nadia Asancheyev, Fellow, Georgetown Center on National Security and the Law, Georgetown University Law School. Nadia has extensive experience working on Guantanamo detainee issues, including work on Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, the case that challenged the policy of military trials at Guantanamo Bay.

Click to Listen: Leaving Guantanamo

Your Call 111808 Suburban Blight

Will the mortgage crisis finally make us rethink suburbia? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with author, social critic, and blogger James Howard Kunstler. He is out with a new book entitled World Made By Hand. The ongoing financial crisis and foreclosures have forced many people to give up their homes in the suburbs. How will the economic meltdown change our lifestyle? And what will the future hold for the suburbs? It's Your Call with guest host Ben Temchine, and you.

Guest: James Howard Kunstler, social critic, blogger, and author of World Made By Hand

Click to Listen: Suburban Blight

Your Call 111708 Iraq Update

How is Obama's victory changing life in Iraq? On the next Your Call we'll broadcast a pre-recorded conversation about the future of the occupation. From the streets to the halls of power, what do Iraqis face each day and what do they believe is possible with the Democrats in charge? Now that Obama is about to take ownership of Bush's war, what forces are constraining what he can do? On the next Your Call with me, Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests: Jabran Mansoor in Amsterdam
Former Administrative Coordinator of the International Institute for the Rule of Law in Iraq, which worked with the government of Iraq, and before that the coalition authority, to establish an independent judiciary. Mr. Mansoor left Iraq in left Iraq since September 2007; and is looking for work in the Netherlands.

Leila Fadel in Baghdad
McClatchy's Baghdad Bureau Chief, where she has been, on and off, since June 2005.

Juan Cole in Ann Arbor, Michigan
Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan and author of InformedComment.com

Nabil Al Tikriti in Fredericksburg, Virginia
Assistant Professor of History at the University of Mary Washington

Click to Listen: Iraq Update

Your Call 111407 Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call it's our Friday Media Roundtable when we look at the week that was in the mainstream, alternative and international press. This week the beneficiaries of the federal bail-out morphed again, President-elect Obama began setting a national policy agenda and the political activists the Yes Men distributed a million copies of fake New York Times announcing the end of the war in Iraq. We'll talk with the editor of BailoutSleuth.com, John Nichols from The Nation and Ken Silverstein from The Atlantic on the next Your Call with me, Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests: Ken Silverstein in Washington
Washington Editor and author of the Washington Babylon column for Harper's Magazine

John Nichols in Madison Wisconsin
Washington correspondent for The Nation magazine

Chris Carey in St. Louis
Editor and president of Sharesleuth.com and bailoutsleuth.com. He specializes in digging through SEC filings, court records and other documents to find information that companies try to bury, and in tracking the activities of known securities-law violators.

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

Your Call 111308 Fair Trade Holiday Preview

How can you buy gifts without selling your soul? On the next Your Call we'll talk about how you can make your family and friends happy without supporting industries that make their workers miserable or the planet uninhabitable. This weekend is the 7th annual Green Festival from Global Exchange. How can you be generous this holiday season while also buying sustainable, local and sweatshop-free gifts? Can you make people happy without buying anything at all? What does your ethical shopping list look like? It's Your Call with me, Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests: Emily Main in New York
Senior Editor of National Geographic's The Green Guide and thegreenguide.com. She joined National Geographic's The Green Guide's editorial team in 2005.

Meaghan O'Neill in Newport Rhode Island
Editor-in-chief of TreeHugger and PlanetGreen.com. She and her team are putting the finishing touches on TreeHugger's annual holiday guide called, "Give Green to Save Green."

Tex Dworkin in San Francisco
Independent Fair Trade Consultant and Director of Marketing for Global Exchange


Click to Listen: Fair Trade Holiday Preview

Your Call 111208 Her Deepness

What can humanity learn by paying attention to the transformation of our oceans? On the next Your Call we welcome Sylvia Earle, one of the most accomplished aquanauts of our time. Earle was recognized by the Library of Congress as a Living Legend, called "her deepness" by the New Yorker and is Explorer in Residence at the National Geographic Society. We'll talk with Earle about her new book, Ocean: An Illustrated Atlas. As climate change transforms our oceans, how can we transform our relationship with the oceans? It's Your Call with Sandip Roy and you.

Guests: Sylvia Earle in Washington DC
Oceanographer recognized by the Library of Congress as a Living Legend. Her new book is Ocean: An Illustrated Atlas.

Click to Listen: Her Deepness

Your Call 111108 Who voted?

Voter turnout was a big story in Election 2008 -- so what do we know about who really turned up at the polls? On the next Your Call, we'll take a look at voting blocks, including young voters, African-Americans and Latinos and find out who played a crucial role in the presidential election. Five southern states set records for voter turnout and we saw second largest youth vote in history. So what kind of lasting impact could these new voters have on the future of politics? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests: Peter Levine, Director of Research and Director of CIRCLE, the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement at Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University

Mark Lopez, Associate Director of the Pew Hispanic Center

Brendan McGarry, Deputy News Editor at Army Times

Click to Listen: Who voted?

Your Call 111008 America's Arab and Islamic Roots

How much have Arab and Islamic traditions influenced American culture? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with Jonathan Curiel, San Francisco Chronicle staff writer and author of Al' America. According to Curiel, from its beginning, America intersected with Arab and Muslim culture, borrowing from it, admonishing it, fearing it and coexisting with it. So how do these common traditions challenge stereotypes about Arabs and Muslims? And can this shared history change hearts and minds? It’s Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guest: Jonathan Curiel, author of Al' America: Travels Through America's Arab and Islamic Roots.

Click to Listen: America's Arab and Islamic Roots

Your Call 110708 Friday Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call it's our Friday media roundtable where we examine the week that was in American media. Barack Obama had a convincing victory at the polls Tuesday night. How is the story of that vote recounted, developed, spun and manipulated through the national media? As the country chews over the realignment, who gets a seat at the table of that conversation and who is being left out? It's Your Call with Sandip Roy and you.

Guests: Mark Danner in Florida
A contributing writer for the New York Review of Books

Betsy Reed in New York
Managing Editor of the Nation.

Click to Listen: Friday Media Roundtable

Your Call 110608 Physics for Future Presidents

Can we make smart decisions about renewable energy, global warming, terrorism or sustainable agriculture without understanding the science that drives them? On the next Your Call we speak with Richard Muller, Berkeley professor of Physics and the Macarthur Genius award winning author of Physics for Future Presidents. Muller teaches 1,000 undergrads a course of the same name, exploring scientific concepts underlying political questions. Now it's our turn. Can we build a better democracy through chemistry and physics and math? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests: Richard Muller in Berkeley
Professor in the Department of Physics at UC Berkeley, and Faculty Senior Scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in the Institute for Nuclear and Particle Astrophysics. Author of Physics for Future Presidents: The Science Behind the Headlines.

Click to Listen: Physics for Future Presidents

Your Call 110508 Now What?

Now what? The votes are cast and the spin has begun about what it all means. What kind of change do you expect for your vote? How can the hopeful energy the Obama campaign has generated continue into the reality of governing? How do the people who've given the energy to the Obama campaign many of whom are well to his left politically stay engaged without becoming disillusioned? After 8 years in the opposition, can the left build an effective movement that supports progressive change? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests: Karen K. Narasaki in DC
Executive Director of Asian American Justice Center

Chris Kromm in North Carolina
Executive director of the Institute for Southern Studies

Sujatha Jahagirdar in Washington DC, normally in LA
Program director for the New Voters Project of the Student Public Interest Research Group.

Maya Rockeymoore in DC
President and CEO, Global Policy Solutions and author of The Political Action Handbook: A How to Guide for the Hip-Hop Generation

Vida Benevides in DC
Executive Director of Asian Pacific Island American Vote

Click to Listen: Now What?

Your Call 110408 Election Day Reports

What is happening at polling stations across the country? On the next Your Call, we'll check in with voters nationwide and we want to hear from you. Voter turnout has already surpassed the expectations. On Election Day, we expect long lines, electronic voting machine malfunctions and ballot shortages in several swing states. So what was your experience like at the polling booth? And how did it feel to finally vote? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests: Suzanne Gravette Acker, Communications and Development Director of Coalition on
Homeless and Housing in Ohio

Bob Hall, Executive Director of Democracy North Carolina.

Tomas Garduno, the statewide organizer for the SouthWest Organizing Project, a
non-partisan, non-profit group in New Mexico

Bob Schaeffer, with Florida's Center for Civic Participation

Joe Szakos, Executive Director of Virginia voting project

Carmen Rhodes, executive director of Front Range Economic Strategy Center
(FRESC) in Colorado

Click to Listen: Election Day Reports

Your Call 110308 Judging Pelosi

How effective has Nancy Pelosi been as Speaker of the House? On the next Your Call, we will have a conversation about Congresswoman Pelosi and her voting record. Her seat is about as safe as they get. So, how should San Francisco voters weigh their decision to endorse or protest the role she has played in Washington? What is her position on issues such as Iraq, the environment and the economy? Has she adequately represented her district as Speaker of the House? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests: David Hawkings, Managing Editor Congressional Quarterly Weekly

Marc Sandalow, political analyst and author of Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi's Life, Times, and Rise to Power.

Click to Listen: Judging Pelosi