Your Call 073109 Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call, it's our Friday Media Roundtable. This week, President Obama had a beer with Professor Gates and Officer Crowley, Blue Dog Democrats agreed to sign on to a watered down healthcare bill in the House, progressive Democrats rejected that compromise, and American diplomats bounced between Jerusalem, Damascus, Baghdad, and Cairo. We'll be joined by Ourfuture.org's Bill Scher, the Nation's Barbara Corssette, and the San Francisco Chronicle's Andrew Ross. Where did you see the best reporting this week and where did the media fall short? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Bill Scher, Online editor for Campaign for America's Future, executive editor of LiberalOasis.com, and author of "Wait! Don't Move To Canada!: A Stay-and-Fight Strategy to Win Back America"

Barbara Crossette, UN correspondent for the Nation Magazine, former foreign correspondent for The New York Times and their bureau chief at the United Nations from 1994 to 2001

Andrew Ross, Bottom Line columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

Your Call 073009 Why do some schools thrive?

Why do some schools thrive when similar schools fail? On the next Your Call we talk with a range of educators and policy makers about what we're learning about how to teach. How do successful principals and school systems shift resources, motivate teachers and students and increase parent involvement? Send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org or join us live at 11 a.m. Can passion and best practices make up for low education funding? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Kimi Kean in Oakland
Principal of ACORN Woodland Elementary in Oakland, one of the state's five highest-improving schools. They raised their API, or Academic Performance Index, 120 points in one year and nearly 300 in five. Kean, a former Skyline High School dropout, taught at Acorn Woodland before talking over as principal in 2006.

Robert Manwaring in Washington, DC
Senior policy analyst for Education Sector, a left-leaning but independent national education policy think tank. Before joining EdSector, Mr. Manwaring was the director of policy for the Governor's Committee on Education Excellence, a committee California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed to develop a comprehensive long-term reform strategy for improving K-12 education in the state. Manwaring served as the K-12 education director of the California Legislative Analyst's Office.

Merril Vargo in Santa Rosa
Executive Director of Pivot Learning Partners, a nonprofit organization that works in nearly 50 school districts statewide, nearly all low income or low performing. Pivot trains and coaches teachers and administrators to transform broken school systems.

Click to Listen: Why do some schools thrive?

Your Call 072909 What's the real impact of illegal immigration?

What's the real impact of illegal immigration? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about the net economic and cultural effect of the 12 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. Does the cost of health care, prisons and remittances outweigh the money they make and spend? Send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org or join us live at 11 a.m. As the slowing economy means fewer immigrants coming to the U.S., will that only make the downturn worse? It's Your Call with Sandip Roy and you.

Guests:
Randy Capps in New York
Demographer and senior policy analyst with Migration Policy Institute's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy.

Dan Kowalski in Austin, Texas
Immigration attorney and editor of Bender's Immigration Bulletin, a collection of legal and mainstream news for the immigration professional.

Click to Listen: What's the real impact of illegal immigration?

Your Call 072809 Can satire put the powerful on the spot?

Can satire put the powerful on the spot? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with Andy Bichlbaum, member of the Yes Men and the co-director of the documentary, The Yes Men Fix the World. Disguised as captains of industry, The Yes Men use their authority to humiliate corporate and government leaders. What has their experience of going undercover in the halls of power taught them about the way authority works? Send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org or join us live at 11 a.m. Can 21st century corporations be shamed into change? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guest:
Andy Bichlbaum, member of the Yes Men and the co-director of the documentary, The Yes Men Fix the World

Click to Listen: Can satire put the powerful on the spot?

Your Call 072709 What's the state of the Stimulus in California?

What's the state of the economic stimulus in California? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about California's share of the 787 billion dollar fiscal stimulus package that Congress passed in February. Where's the federal money headed? Send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org or join us live at 11 a.m. Is it likely to provide a basis for long-term growth? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Michael Grabell covers transportation and stimulus spending for ProPublica

Aaron Glantz, journalist, author and New America Media stimulus editor

Click to Listen: What's the state of the Stimulus in California?

Your Call 072409 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 a budget deal was struck in Sacramento, the F-22 was killed and health care reform teetered in DC. We'll be joined by the LA Times' Tracy Wilkinson in Mexico City, Tim Redmond of the San Francisco Bay Guardian and Ricardo Sandoval from the Sacramento Bee. Send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org or join us live at 11 a.m. 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:
Tracy Wilkinson in Mexico City
Mexico Bureau chief for the LA Times, the only English language California newspaper with a Mexico bureau. Since June of last year, Wilkinson has overseen a team of reporters covering the drug war in Mexico from both sides of the border. Their reporting is collected in their series Mexico Under Siege: The drug war at our doorstep.

Ricardo Sandoval in Sacramento
Assistant City Editor for the Sacramento Bee. Ricardo is the former Mexico Bureau Chief for the Bee Papers and the current president of the Northern California branch of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Tim Redmond in San Francisco
Managing editor of the San Francisco Bay Guardian.

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

Your Call 072309 Are we ready for universal health coverage?

Are we ready for universal health coverage? On the next Your Call we discuss the status of the health care reform effort. President Obama's Wednesday evening press conference is his attempt to reinvigorate a wavering Congress. But what happens if everyone gets a health insurance card? Are there enough primary care doctors? Would more healthcare mean better outcomes for patients? We'll speak with Anthony Iton, director of the Alameda County Public Health Department, and take your calls. Send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org or join us live at 11 a.m. How do we get from better healthcare to better health? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Anthony Iton in San Francisco
Director and health officer of the Alameda County Public Health Department. Iton appeared in "Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?," a four-part PBS series about how social factors - economic status, race, neighborhood conditions - can be more powerful predictors of health and life expectancy than biology or even smoking.

Click to Listen: Are we ready for universal health coverage?

Your Call 072209 What is the state of the protest in Iran?

What is the state of the protest in Iran? On the next Your Call we will discuss this Saturday's demonstration in support of the Iranian opposition at San Francisco City Hall - a demonstration that some groups on the left have decided to boycott. Is the battle in Iran now just a fight amongst the elite for power and money, or is there a grassroots demand for justice driving change? Send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org or join us live at 11 a.m. Can the American people play a positive role in Iran despite our government's long history of meddling? It's Your Call with Sandip Roy and you.

Guests:
Shahram Aghamir in San Francisco
Bay Area based activist and producer of Voices of the Middle East and North Africa on KPFA

Kaveh Ehsani in Chicago
Assistant professor of International Studies at Depaul University and a member of the editorial boards of Middle East Report and the Tehran-based Goft-o-gu (Dialogue).

Reese Erlich in Oakland
Reese Erlich is a best-selling book author and Peabody-award winning journalist who writes regularly for the Dallas Morning News, Canadian Broadcasting Corp. Radio and National Public Radio. Erlich is co-author of Target Iraq: What the News Media Didn't Tell You and his latest book Dateline Havana: The Real Story of US Policy and the Future of Cuba was published this year. Reese is just back from a trip to Iran.

Hadi Ghaemi in New York
Spokesperson for United 4 Iran, the organizers of Saturday's rallies. The rally in San Francisco will be from noon to 4 p.m this weekend.

Click to Listen: What is the state of the protest in Iran?

Your Call 072109 How transparent is the Obama administration?

How transparent is the Obama administration? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about President Obama's campaign promise to create the most transparent and accountable government in American history. How's he doing? Send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org or join us live at 11 a.m. What information do you want from the government? And how has the administration responded to controversies over classified documents and secrecy in the name of national security? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Dr. Craig Holman, legislative representative for Public Citizen

Ben Wizner, staff attorney in the ACLU National Security Project

Jennifer Lafleur, director of Computer Assisted Reporting at Propublica

Click to Listen: How transparent is the Obama administration?

Your Call 072009 Is California in a depression?

Is California already dealing with a depression? On the next Your Call, we continue our Monday series Agenda for a New Economy by focusing on how unemployment and foreclosures are affecting the Central Valley. Some members of Congress want the Obama administration to declare the region an economic disaster area. How does the economic crisis look different in the San Joaquin Valley? Send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org or join us live at 11 a.m. How could what's happening there now affect us later? It's Your Call, with me, Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Dr. Jeffrey Michael, director of Business Forecasting Center and associate professor at Eberhardt School of Business at University of the Pacific in Stockton

Sandy Beals, executive director of Food Link in Visalia

Click to Listen: Is California in a depression?

Your Call 071709 Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call, it's our Friday media roundtable -- the day we speak with reporters about coverage of the week's news. This week, the Senate questioned Judge Sotomayor, Al Jazeera was banned from the West Bank, a humanitarian convoy made it into Gaza, and according to reports, former VP Dick Cheney held information about a secret assassination program from Congress. We'll be joined by Kevin Baker from Harper's, Sherine Tadros of Al Jazeera English and Jeremy Scahill, independent journalist and author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army. Send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org or join us live at 11 a.m. Where did you see the best reporting this week and where did the media fall short? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Kevin Baker in New York City
Writes the "In the News" column for American Heritage magazine. His writing has appeared in many national publications and his essay "Barack Hoover Obama: The Best and Brightest Blow it again" appears in this month's Harper's Magazine.

Sherine Tadros in Gaza
Gaza correspondent for Al Jazeera English. During the Israel-Gaza conflict, she was one of the only reporters to stay in Gaza during the Israeli siege last winter.

Jeremy Scahill in New York
Independent reporter and author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army. He is currently a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute. He is a frequent contributor to Democracy Now and The Nation. You can find his reporting and writing at rebelreports.com.

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

Your Call 071609 Can we green the American Dream?

Can we green the American Dream? On the next Your Call we speak with John Wasik, author of The Cul-de-Sac Syndrome: Turning Around the Unsustainable American Dream. Wasik, a personal finance columnist for Bloomberg, sees the sub-prime mortgage crisis as the first of a wave of problems we'll see as the dream suburb of the 1950's dissolves. Too far away, too expensive, too wasteful. What's next? Send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org or join us live at 11 am. Is freedom and independence possible when you never own your own piece of land? It's Your Call with Sandip Roy and you.

Guest:
John Wasik in northside Chicago
Personal finance columnist for Bloomberg News and the author of several books. His last book, The Merchant of Power, was praised by both Studs Terkel and the New York Times.

Click to Listen: Can we green the American Dream?

Your Call 071509 What have women contributed to American labor?

What have women contributed to the American labor movement? On the next Your Call, we'll look at the history of women in the labor movement. Women played an underappreciated role in many parts of this country's working history, including the building of the Bay Area's bridges. Where were women the pioneers in labor organizing? Send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org or join us live at 11 a.m. How significant is women's role in the labor movement today? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Jo Kreiter, choreographer and artistic director of Flyaway Productions

Harvey Schwartz, a labor historian at San Francisco State University

Molly Martin, retired electrician, co-founder, Tradeswomen, Inc.

Click to Listen: What have women contributed to American labor?

Your Call 071409 Who is Sonia Sotomayor?

Who is Sonia Sotomayor? On the next Your Call we'll look at what her judicial record and her life experience tell us about what kind of Supreme Court justice she would be. We'll speak with Susan Liss from the Brennan Center and take your calls. Send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org or join us live at 11 a.m. What should senators ask her that might actually tell us more? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guest: Susan Liss in NYC
Director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. Liss is a former member of the Clinton Justice Department and was the first woman on the Judicial Selection Committee at the Alliance for Justice.

Click to Listen: Who is Sonia Sotomayor?

Your Call 071309 Who are California's newly unemployed?

Who are the tens of thousands of people who have lost their jobs in California? On the next Your Call, we'll put a face on the unemployment numbers. California's unemployment rate in May hit 11.5%, its highest level since 1941. What resources are available to people who can't find jobs? Send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org or join us live at 11 am. Unemployment is expected to get worse. So what are the solutions? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Adrienne Suffin, chair of the Employment Development Department (EDD) Task Force

Lauren Appelbaum, research director for UCLA's Institute for Research on Labor and Employment

Click to Listen: Who are California's newly unemployed?

Your Call 071009 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 the President was in Moscow, Italy and Ghana; hundreds of Uighurs in Western China were dead or in jail after protests and Al Franken was sworn in as senator. We'll be joined by James Fallows of The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal's Farnaz Fassihi in Beirut and McClatchy's Tom Lasseter in Moscow. Send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org or join us live at 11 am. 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:
Tom Lasseter in Moscow
The Moscow Bureau Chief for the McClatchy papers, and formerly the Baghdad Correspondent for Knight Ridder before they were absorbed by McClatchy. Tom was the lead reporter for McClatchy's five-part series detailing the U.S.'s treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay and Afghanistan. Tom recently finished a series that exposed the causes behind the explosion in Afghan heroin production.

James Fallows in DC
National Correspondent for The Atlantic. Fallows has written nine books. National Defense won the National Book Award in 1981. His most recent book, Postcards from Tomorrow Square: Reports from China has just been published and is a record of his time living in and reporting from China.

Farnaz Fassihi in Beirut
Deputy bureau chief of Middle East and Africa for The Wall Street Journal and the author of Waiting for An Ordinary Day, a memoir of her four years covering the Iraq war. Ms. Fassihi was born in the United States and grew up in Tehran, Iran and Portland, Oregon.

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

Your Call 070909 Are bicyclists revolutionizing American cities?

Are bicyclists revolutionizing American cities? On the next Your Call we'll speak with political reporter Jeff Mapes about his new book Pedaling Revolution: How Cyclists Are Changing American Cities and SF Weekly political writer Matt Smith. San Francisco is about to implement their long delayed bicycle master plan building 34 miles of new bike lanes on city streets and removing hundreds of parking spaces. Send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org or join us live at 11 am. What would it take to get you out of your car and onto a bike? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Matt Smith in San Francisco
Columnist and political reporter for the San Francisco Weekly, and an avid bicyclist.

Jeff Mapes in San Francisco
Senior political reporter for The Oregonian. He has covered Congress, state government, and numerous local, state, and national campaigns. He is also author of the blog, Mapes on Politics and the new book Pedaling Revolution: How Cyclists Are Changing American Cities.

Click to Listen: Are bicyclists revolutionizing American cities?

Your Call 070809 What happened in Honduras?

What happened in Honduras? On the next Your Call we try to get past the global political considerations and try to understand on its own terms the military takeover and expulsion of President Manuel Zelaya. Is American influence really as powerful and nefarious as it is sometimes is portrayed? Are there changes happening there that neither progressives nor the Obama Administration fully understand? Send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org or join us live at 11 am. When we view world events through the lens of the superpower, what do we miss?

Guests:
Jose Castro in Nashville, Tennessee
Honduran radio host in Nashville, Tennessee. He hosts Puntes de Interes on 810 AM La Sabrosita.

Grahame Russell in Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Co-Director of Rights Action which funds community-controlled development, environmental, human rights and emergency-relief projects in Guatemala, Honduras, Chiapas and Oaxaca (Mexico) and El Salvador, and does education and activism work with North Americans to address global exploitation, repression, enviro-destruction and racism.

Click to Listen: What happened in Honduras?

Your Call 070709 Will non-profits survive state budget cuts?

How are the non-profits that hold together our social safety net surviving the economic downturn and government budget cuts? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about the impact of the California budget crisis on non-profit organizations. One third of Bay Area non-profits struggle to survive. Who is being impacted the most? Send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org or join us live at 11 am. What can we do to help? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Lorne Needle, vice president of Community Development with United Way of the Bay Area

Steven Toy, past president and chairman emeritus of the Board of Friends of Vision Literacy

Karen Delaney, executive director of the Santa Cruz County Volunteer Center

Click to Listen: Will non-profits survive state budget cuts?

Your Call 070609 How do we declare our independence from consumerism?

In a consumer culture, is making something or fixing it yourself a revolutionary act? For the July 4th weekend Your Call we'll declare our independence from the consumer culture and replay our interview with Dale Daugherty, editor and publisher of Make Magazine and Matthew Crawford, author of Shop Class as Soulcraft. Will making and fixing more of our own stuff, and honoring the people who do it, bring us a healthier economy and happier lives? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Dale Dougherty in San Francisco
Editor and publisher of MAKE magazine, and general manager of the Maker Media division of O'Reilly Media. He was the developer and publisher of Global Network Navigator (GNN), the first commercial Web site which launched in 1993. Dale developed the Hacks series of books for O'Reillly and was a Lecturer in the School of Information Management and Systems (SIMS) at the University of California at Berkeley from 1996 to 2000.

Matthew B. Crawford in Richmond, Virginia
Is a philosopher / mechanic. Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia and a contributing editor of The New Atlantis. He would like to thank Joe Davis and David Franz, both of the Institute, for their contributions to this article.

Click to Listen: How do we declare our independence from consumerism?

Your Call 070309 Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call it's our Friday media roundtable where we look behind the headlines with a panel of journalists from across the media landscape. We'll discuss the Stonewall anniversary, the coup in Honduras and the American withdrawal from Iraq's cities. We'll be joined by Matthew Bajko of the Bay Area Reporter, David Barsamian of Alternative Radio and Alan Maas of the Socialist Worker. Send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org or join us live at 11 a.m. Where did you see the best reporting this week? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Alan Maas in San Francisco
Staff writer for the Socialist Worker, the weekly paper published by the International Socialist Organization. Alan is in town for this weekend's Socialism 2009 conference at The Women's Building on 18th St. in the mission.

Matthew Bajko in San Francisco
Staff writer for the Bay Area Reporter, San Francisco's oldest and largest local newspaper of record serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.

David Barsamian in San Francisco
Host and Director of Alternative Radio, heard on KALW Mondays at 1 p.m.

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

Your Call 070209 What changed in Iraq this week?

What has changed now that American troops have redeployed out of urban centers in Iraq? What still hangs in the balance? On the next Your Call we'll talk about who withdrew and where they went and what it all means. President Maliki declared it National Sovereignty Day, but how much will Iraqi police and military control? Send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org or join us live at 11 a.m. A majority of Americans and Iraqis want the troops out of Iraq. Is this a step in the right direction? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Vijay Prashad in Hartford, Connecticut
George and Martha Kellner Chair in South Asian History and professor of International Studies at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. He is the author of eleven books, most recently The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World.

Nabil Al-Tikriti in Fredericksburg, Virginia
Assistant professor of History of the University of Mary Washington. From 1992-2003, Dr. Al-Tikriti was a context and liaison officer, administrator and logistician for Mdecins Sans Frontires. Al-Tikriti was a member of the team that operated the Catholic Relief Services humanitarian assistance project in Iraq in 1991-1992.

Basma AlKhateeb in Baghdad
Gender and Youth Project manager for the Iraqi AlAmal Association in Baghdad.

Click to Listen: What changed in Iraq this week?

Your Call 070109 What happens when rural and urban collide?

What happens when rural and urban collide? On the next Your Call we'll speak with Novella Carpenter, author of Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer. Carpenter bought a dilapidated house next to a vacant lot in West Oakland and converted the open space into an urban homestead with chickens, goats, rabbits, pigs, two turkeys named Harold and Maude and a vegetable garden, all in a neighborhood without a supermarket. We'll take your emails at feedback@yourcallradio.org and your questions live at 11 a.m. Could a city really feed itself? It's Your Call with Sandip Roy and you.

Guest:
Novella Carpenter in San Francisco
Author of Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer and proprietor of Ghost Town Farm, an urban farm in West Oakland

Click to Listen: What happens when rural and urban collide?