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Corporations, Corporate Power, Globalization - Audio

Project Censored

Shadows of Liberty — 07 May 2013 — Film producer Jean-Philippe Tremblay discusses his new film Shadows of Liberty, which explores how mainstream media has been captured by corporate interests, which have systematically suppressed investigative journalism. Several clips from the film are played, including pieces about the suppression of investigations into the likely friendly-fire downing of TWA flight 800 and Gary Webb's investigation of CIA involvement in drug trafficking in LA in the 1980s.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   50:00

Making Contact

Corporations Say, Taxes are for Suckers! — 02 Apr 2013 — Though none of us like paying taxes, we do understand the concept that some government services are helpful and therefore must be funded. Many US corporations, on the other hand, see taxes as something to be avoided no matter what, no matter how extraordinary the steps are that needed to do so. This program includes excerpts from the film We're Not Broke, which explores the issue of corporate tax dodging.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   30:00

Democracy Now

How Capitalism Is Turning the Media Against Democracy — 05 Apr 2013 — Bob McChesney explains how concentration of media among a few giant corporations is radically changing the nature of news and information—and not for the better. ~~ Then a clip from the new documentary Shadows of Liberty covers cases of investigative journalists who have been muzzled by corporations and the government. The film shows how a corporate-controlled media can silence the truth about issues ranging from war to labor practices.
Part 1:  Watch  |  Download/Listen   27:54
Part 2:  Watch  |  Download/Listen   9:23

Between The Lines

Nader on the US Minimum Wage — 27 Mar 2013 — A majority of minimum-wage workers in the US work for the top 50 multinational corporations, whose CEOs make about $10 million a year on average. Ralph Nader points out that America's minimum-wage workers are losing ground. He suggests that the least congress and the president can do is move to a $10.50 minimum wage, which would catch up with the actual value of the minimum wage in 1968.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   7:25

Food Sleuth Radio

Our Kids' Challenging Consumerist Environment — 14 Feb 2013 — Josh Golin of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood discusses the relentless marketing pressure corporations bring to bear on people in general and especially kids. If they can get them young and keep them, it's a lifetime of profits. He discusses some of the successes his organization has had in getting companies to stop shady marketing practices for child-related products and offers ideas for parents who want to reduce the propaganda stream coming from marketing and media. Go to page  |  Download/Listen   28:15

Making Contact

BDS and the Effort to End Apartheid in Palestine — 26 Feb 2013— Inspired by the campaign to end South African apartheid, Palestinians are leading an international campaign to put economic and political pressure on Israel by boycotting Israeli products, divesting from Israeli companies, and pushing for international sanctions on Israel. Palestinian activist Omar Barghouti recounts some disturbing details on the Israeli occupation of Palestinian and outlines the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   28:57

Talk of the Nation

Presence Vs. Productivity—How Managers View Telecommuting — 27 Feb 2013 — Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer sparked controversy when she announced an end to that company's telecommuting program. A leaked internal memo emphasized that "physically being together" is important to communication and collaboration within the company. This has raised questions about the benefits of working from home vs. in the office. Experts and callers offer opinions.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   30:19

Democracy Now

Selling the White House? Obama-Linked Group Promises Top Donors Access to President — 27 Feb 2013 — The watchdog group Common Cause is calling on President Obama to shut down the outside group Organizing for Action after it was revealed that the group is promising high-end donors access to the White House. According to The New York Times, donors who contribute $500,000 or more will be appointed to the group's national advisory board, which meets four times a year with the president. Additionally, Organizing for Action's 501(c)(4) tax status means it can accept unlimited donations from corporations and individuals without revealing their identity.
Watch  |  Download/Listen   15:55

The Real World of Money

Andrew Gause on Trade Agreements, Federal Budget Games, Reagan, more — 06 Feb 2013 — Andy Gause's topics include... NAFTA and similar trade agreements are not constitutional, but that does not matter because the power of law does not apply these days. They'll keep kicking the debt ceiling and sequestration date down the road—though he admits there is now about a 10% chance of financial collapse. Ronald Reagan is given credit as a conservative, but on financial matters, he was nothing of the sort, and the inflation his policies spawned are ignored by the political right. The American Plan is morphing into The Chinese Plan—oh my.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   1:01:49

FSRN

Constitutional Amendment to Counter Citizens United Ruling Introduced in Congress — 14 Feb 2013— Activists across the country have been organizing to counter the effects of the 2010 Supreme Court "Citizens United" decision, which opened up unlimited campaign spending by corporations, unions, and other non-people entities. They've been successful in passing local resolutions in dozens of places. Now a constitutional amendment has been formally introduced in Congress that seeks to counter Citizens United. Ben Manski of Move to Amend explains.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   6:36

Food Chain Radio

Goliaths vs. Davids—The Corporate Edge in the Fight for Local Dollars — 12 Jan 2013 — Mega-corporations are coming to dominate many sectors: Five banks now hold 56% of all the money. Walmart now sells 25% of all the food. Amazon.com now sells 33% of everything sold online. Stacey Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self Reliance talks about how corporations leverage governmental favors to outflank small local businesses. What can local economies do to survive against ruthless giants? Can we shop our way back to a strong local economy?
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   42:49

Unwelcome Guests

Consumed—The Human Experience — 12 Jan 2013— This is a radio adaptation of the 2009 film, Consumed—The Human Experience, which applies evolutionary psychology to understand consumerism and why it thrives despite its ills. That is preceded by Tony Hendra's short satirical poem, "Deteriorata," which satirizes people's gnawing sense of insecurity, disconnection, and the feeling that the world is going to pot around them.
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Food Sleuth Radio

Hunger Incorporated—How Big Business Profits From Anti-Hunger Programs — 03 Jan 2013 — Andy Fisher explains how corporations use food donations as a form of greenwashing; how they fatten their bottom lines by paying low wages and then also selling taxpayer-subsidized (food-stamp) products to those same employees; and how corporate junk-food gravitates towards the food-stamp sector.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   28:15

Food Sleuth Radio

Finding Truth in a World of Spin — 06 Dec 2012— Randy Kasten discusses the need for critical thinking in a world of advertising hype, political propaganda, and media spin that seeks to confuse us and keep our attention and wallets focused in directions that best serve the power- and profit-hungry elites. He is author of Just Trust Me: Finding the Truth in a World of Spin.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   28:15

On The Media

Turning Down Loud Commercials—Finally! — 21 Dec 2012 — It ain't world peace, but a lot of people are very happy that the US has finally forced broadcasters to stop already with the overly loud commercials. Congress passed the Commercial Advertising Loudness Mitigation Act in 2010, but the law finally went into effect last week.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   8:21

Keiser Report

Insect-Like Humans and Corporations vs. Yes Men — 01 Dec 2012— Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert challenge Nassim Taleb's black swan mentality; talk about the increasingly insect-like behavior of humans online and in markets; and discuss how GATA has exposed Austria, where the central bank is haplessly looking for its alleged stocks of gold. ~~ Max then talks to Andy Bichlbaum of the Yes Men about the corporate war on anti-corporate activism.
Watch  |  Download/Listen   25:45

Free Speech Radio News

Critics Slam Continued Secrecy and Scheming of Trans-Pacific Partnership Talks — 04 Dec 2012— The proposed Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement now involves eleven countries, including the US, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Vietnam, Canada, and Mexico. Watchdog groups are monitoring the highly secretive negotiations, but so far, the public has only learned about specifics through leaked documents. Lori Wallach of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch elaborates.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   13:12

Democracy now

Michigan GOP Pushes Through Anti-Union, Elite-Backed "Right-to-Work" Law Before Their House Majority Shrinks — 11 Dec 2012 — In a lame-duck-session, the Michigan GOP has pushed through anti-union bills that would make Michigan the 24th so-called "right-to-work" state in the country. Opponents call the effort an organized attack against labor that will suppress wages and weaken collective bargaining rights. Michigan State Representative Brandon Dillon explains.
Watch  |  Download/Listen   12:02

Progressive Commentary Hour

How the Fascists Have Hijacked American Education — 10 Dec 2012 — Gary Null and guests discuss how the money-centric corp-gov axis has slowly bent the availability and content of education to fit its needs—to produce people who are useful cogs in the machine without questioning the nature of the machine or the value of money. Subtopics include corporate privatization of the education industry; student debt and failure of public school funding; the rise of cyber education as college for the masses while elites still attend top-tier schools in person; the demise of critical thinking in education, which threatens democracy and free speech. Guests are Henry Giroux and Danny Weil.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   54:38

Guns & Butter

How Corporations Are Ripping Off America — 21 Nov 2012 — David Cay Johnston reviews some of the many ways corporations and their owners are giving Americans sub-par service at top prices, from phone and internet service to electricity charges to railways. Among the favored tools in their crony capitalism toolbox are confusing marketing tactics, monopolistic practices, and getting favorable laws and regulations passed by federal and state governments.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   59:30

The Real World of Money / One Radio Network

How Cerberus Plans to Steal the Chrysler Employees Pension Fund — 28 Nov 2012 — In 1986, the biggest tax increase ever was initiated so Social Security and Medicare would be solvent in 2010. Politicians have "borrowed" the money every year since, and are now preparing to simply steal the future payout from a significant number of contributors. Other topics on Andrew Gause's discussion list include... how the recent Force Majeure declaration affects paper transactions in commodities and derivatives; why Austria is on the watch list of countries where some gold holdings may be bogus; whether the gold and silver exchange-traded funds are still safe; how the vulture capitalists at Cerberus got Chrysler for free, and how they plan to steal the pension fund.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   1:02:48

NPR

BP Settlement—Appropriate Punishment or Slap on the Wrist? — 15 Nov 2012 — Oil giant BP will plead guilty to criminal misconduct related to the 2010 Gulf Oil spill. The settlement will feature the largest-ever penalty in a criminal case—$4.5 billion. But critics say the deal lets BP off easy, given the magnitude of the spill and the intentional malfeasance.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   4:08

Guns & Butter

How We Can End Corporate Rule — 31 Oct 2012 — David Cobb of the Move to Amend effort provides an excellent overview of when and how corporations got rights, how they have used the initial rights to gain more and more power, and what must be done to ensure that power is returned to the people, as is clearly specified in the US constitution.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   59:50

Terrence McNally Podcast

Ralph Nader the 17 Solutions — 16 Oct 2012— Ralph Nader discusses the ideas in his new book, 17 Solutions—Bold Ideas for Our American Future. Among them are... taxing society's problems instead of taxing citizens' labor; creating a national standard for incorporation of large companies; reclaiming science and technology for the people; getting corporations off government subsidies; transferring some of the overstuffed military budget to other priorities; organizing "the other 1%"—3 million motivated citizens—to more effectively take on the corp-gov machine; enlisting the enlightened super-rich for good works that will help reclaim the nation.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   56:16

Against The Grain

University as Factory — 31 Oct 2012 — What role do colleges and universities play in the global capitalist order? How does escalating student debt fit within broader political-economic trends and tendencies? Max Haiven explains these and related issues in the context of the Edu-Factory concept—what was once the factory is now the university.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   53:04

Unwelcome Guests

The Control of Surplus Production as the Means of Power — 13 Oct 2012 — Us average folks tend to have a simplistic view of the economic system, seeing it mostly as an arrangement between workers and employers. But a "Marxian analysis" of capitalism provides essential insight into how things really work, and how the system is naturally exploitative. Most important is the idea that each of us works to produce (a) necessary output—that which sustains just us—and (b) surplus output—that which sustains others, including managers, investors, and tax collectors. Richard Wolff contrasts this system with other systems from history, including feudalism, slavery, and communism.
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Part 1:  Download/Listen   59:30
Part 2:  Download/Listen   59:30

(GP comment:  Excellent insights. The only thing missing here is the energy component.)

Unwelcome Guests

TPPA—Furthering Corporate Hegemony — 20 Oct 2012 — Former UK Labour Shadow Cabinet minister Brian Gould discusses the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), which is less about lowering tariffs and restrictions on trade and more about granting new corporate rights and overriding national and local government authority, furthering corporate hegemony by reducing national sovereignty.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   59:30

Unwelcome Guests

Chris Hedges:  Wake Up And Smell the Kool-Aid — 06 Oct 2012 — Chris Hedges describes the rise of neoliberalism (globalization, etc.) over the course of the 20th century and reports on the "sacrifice zones" in the US that you won't have heard about on mainstream media. While he sees those on the far right as rather inane and insane, he thinks those who should be on the left promoting populist policies have completely abandoned that role for the much more profitable role of being the lapdog of the banksters and corporate media.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   59:30

ExtraEnvironmentalist

Is System D the Next Natural Economic Order? — 01 Oct 2012 — The "System D" economy is made of sellers and purchasers who operate outside traditional business channels. Think of it as "the black market," but without the stigma. Robert Neuwirth explains how supply meets demand in these informal markets as they go about employing as much as 2/3 of the world's population. Does this System D economy provide the blueprint for an economic system that could exist in developed nations as governments breakdown from debt overhangs and peak complexity?
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   2:25:35

Unwelcome Guests

The Origins of Those Taboo Economic Words — 06 Oct 2012 — Economist Richard Wolff gives a brilliant talk on two taboo topics: class and Marx. He relates the various forms of class differentiation and explains the subtle but important differences between them. He then reviews Marx's analysis of various economic systems, each of which pivots on its treatment of the work that laborers do beyond that which meets the workers' basic needs. How this "excess" is treated—and who controls it—is the basis for how the world works.
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Part 1:  Download/Listen   59:30
Part 2:  Download/Listen   59:30

(GP comment:  I have reviewed many podcasts on Marx, almost all of which have been ponderous and unhelpful—unable to overcome our internal resistance to accepting anything to do with Marx. This one is different. I challenge anyone who feels stuck in the TINA mode (There Is No Alternative) to listen to this.)

Unwelcome Guests

Resisting The Military-Financial Complex — 22 Sep 2012— Noam Chomsky reviews the larger picture of global politics. To understand the truth about the Cold War, he says we need only look at what happened when it came to an end: the US maintained the same policy of global dominance by military means but changed the pretext; and in doing so, effectively admitted that the previous pretexts had been a fiction. Looking at the Middle East, especially Iran and Israel, Chomsky highlights the hypocrisy of the stated US position. He also fingers large corporations for aggressively promoting what they called 'free market' doctrines that benefit the super-rich at the expense of all others.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   59:50

ABC (Australia) / Post Carbon Institute

Michael Shuman:  Local Dollars, Local Sense — 20 Sep 2012 — Is there a way to beat paltry interest rates and chancy Wall Street offerings? Michael Shuman explains how investing locally yields not only a good return on your money but also more money circulating in your community and more tax revenues to support local police, firefighters, teachers, etc..
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   10:51

(GP comment:  Investment—making money by manipulating money—is a parasitic activity. Still, it seems unlikely that we'll get a consensus to kill the parasite, so a kinder, gentler, more local parasite would be highly preferable. )

Occupied Territory

The Trans-Pacific Partnership—The Global Industrialists Get Their Wish List — 27 Sep 2012 — After Mike Feder delivers a philippic about sports, unions, and political hypocrisy in America, Mike's guests discuss the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which is perhaps the most sweeping trade agreement yet attempted, with the elites' goal being to further limit labor rights, environmental regulations, and even national sovereignty.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   57:28

(Interesting sidebar:  American wages were too high, so the elites moved jobs to Mexico. Then Mexican labor was too expensive, so the elites moved jobs from Mexico to China. Now Chinese jobs are threatened by the availability of labor elsewhere in Asia that costs even less. All hail predatory capitalism!)

Making Contact

Making it Our Business—Co-ops on the Rise — 12 Sep 2012 — 2012 has been declared the year of the co-op by the United Nations. And the global economic situation is causing more people to consider how worker-owned businesses might serve their employees and community better. But forming—and sustaining—a co-op isn't easy. In this edition, we go from Chicago, where workers are trying to take over the factory to save their jobs, to the Basque country in Spain, where an entire region has formed a massive co-operative society.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   28:56

Honesty Without Fear

Two Mindblowing Whistleblower Cases — 21 Aug 2012 — In the first half, author Kathleen Sharp discusses the case of Mary Scott, a hospital finance administrator who blew the whistle on Metropolitan Health Corp, which was bilking the federal government out of hundreds of millions of dollars through billing fraud and kickbacks. The corp-gov legal system answered her bravery with an astonishing slap-down. ~~ In the second half hour, FBI whistleblowers Rosemary Dew and Coleen Rowley discuss the Obama Administration's use of the Espionage Act to prosecute national security whistleblowers.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   53:35

Shift Shapers

Keeping Money on Main Street, Not Wall Street — 04 Aug 2012 — Noel Ortega believes that Wall Street gambling and speculation have played themselves out too far this time, leaving the economy in a state of decay. Ortega lays out a plan in which, by taking action on local- and state-level economic projects, we can break the Wall Street stranglehold on the future of our communities.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   38:08

Corbett Report

Meet the Corporatocracy — 06 Aug 2012— Are corporations using the mask of government to harvest wealth, selectively regulate their competition, and subvert representative government? You bet they are, and we have a name for that—corporatocracy. James Corbett does a fine job of defining and reviewing corporatism, from Italy under Mussolini to the United States today.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   1:00:44

Counterspin

US Postal Crisis Really More About Predatory Capitalism — 10 Aug 2012 — The typical corporate media story is that the US Postal Service is a relic of bygone era, losing millions of taxpayer dollars because it is ill-equipped for the 21st century. But is this all really a manufactured crisis, an effort by corp-gov plutocrats to harvest the wealth embodied in USPS? Chuck Zlatkin of the New York Metro Area Postal Union explains.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   10:19

If You Love This Planet

Corporations and Their Effects—A Web of Threats to Human Health — 10 Aug 2012 — Dr. Brian Moench discusses the wide variety of health threats that are silently allowed to continue as corporations have their way with the planet's populace. The ills run the gamut—climate chaos and phony anti-climate science, cell phone radiation and suppressed evidence of health effects, GMOs and corporate opposition to labeling, medical imaging and the ignored threat of cumulative exposure—the system is designed to put a happy face on the zombie world of modern consumerism and its fallout.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   59:00

Shift Shapers

Ted Nace:  Corporate 'Persons' Run Your Country — 21 Jul 2012 — Corporations have preponderant influence over the lives of all of us in the US, not just as consumers, but also as citizens, since corporations dominate American politics and policies. It hasn't always been that way, so how did this arise? Ted Nace, author of Gangs of America: The Rise of Corporate Power and the Disabling of Democracy, probes the roots of corporate power.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   36:39

Free Speech Radio News

Corporate Influence Beyond ALEC — 30 Jul 2012 — Though the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, has become infamous as an influence-peddling corporate front group, the full network of such groups is far broader and more richly funded, as evidenced by the influence of corporate money on the Council of State Governments.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   4:59

Progressive Commentary Hour

Trans-Pacific Partnership—Trade Rules Of, By, and For the Corporations — 09 Jul 2012 — An in-depth look at the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, which is being negotiated by nations behind closed doors. If you thought NAFTA was a problem for jobs, wages, and environmental standards, just wait until the TPP is in place. Lori Wallach or Trade Watch and Arthur Stamoulis of the Citizens Trade Campaign give us the details.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   55:55

Shift Shapers

Paraguay's Genetically Modified Coup — 16 Jul 2012 — Marco Castillo-Florencio discusses the recent impeachment against Paraguay's president, a coup that appears to have been arranged at the behest of agribusiness interests.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   30:52

InfoWars / Mike Adams

Big Pharma's Massive Propaganda/Bribery Network — 17 Jul 2012 — GlaxoSmithKline whistleblower Blair Hamrick discusses the system used in the pharmaceutical industry to promote products by using a network of doctors paid to give speeches before other doctors, disseminating information about both on-label and off-label uses of drugs. So why is there no regulatory enforcement, no arrests, no change in behavior?
Watch  |  Download/Listen   54:44

Democracy Now

Green Party Keynote:  The Next Great Revolution — 16 Jul 2012 — The central message of Gar Alperovitz's keynote speech at the Green Party nomination event is that we must look at the challenge as not merely electing better people, but instead see it as creating a framework that transitions us from a plutocratic corp-gov crony-capitalist system to one that might be described as cooperative capitalism.
Watch  |  Download/Listen   25:16

Press TV / On the Edge with Max Keiser

Nomi Prins on the Banksters' Battle for Worldwide Financial Supremacy — 15 Jun 2012 — It is the size of a bank holding company's deposits that dictates the extent of the risk it takes, risk 'models' not withstanding: the more deposits, the more risk, the more potential loss. And the more access to other people's money, the greater the gambling incentive. The largest banks hold people's deposits hostage in the global game of financial warfare. Related access to capital and bailouts are the enabling weaponry in the fight for worldwide financial supremacy.
Watch  |  Download/Listen   23:21

Democracy Now

Ralph Nader on Politics, Corporations, and the Minimum Wage — 15 Jun 2012 — Given that an increase in the minimum wage to $10/hr would help a minimum of 30 million American workers, it would seem to be a political no-brainer for the 2012 elections. But if the pols don't step up, it will show just how bought-off they are by the corporate world. Nader also discusses the ramping up of attacks on public-sector unions.
Watch  |  Download/Listen   26:51

Democracy Now

Leaked Trade Doc Shows Obama Wants to Help Corporations Avoid Regulations — 14 Jun 2012 — A leaked draft agreement shows that the Obama administration is pushing a secretive trade agreement that could vastly expand corporate power and directly contradict a 2008 Obama campaign promise. A US proposal for the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact between the United States and eight Pacific nations would allow foreign corporations the opportunity to overturn US national and local regulations. Lori Wallach of Global Trade Watch details the back-room dealing.
Watch  |  Download/Listen   15:20

KOPN Food Sleuth

Pink Slimed—How Consumers and Ranchers Are Screwed by the Meat Industry and Their USDA Minions — 24 May 2012 — Colorado cattle rancher Mike Callicrate talks about his former experiences trying to raise cattle for the standard meat-processing chain and explains why industry anti-trust abuses finally forced him to a better place—direct-to-consumer local beef.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   28:15

(GP comment:  The abuses related to how the corp-gov axis runs the industrial food system are spelled out clearly here. Eat local!)

Free Speech Radio News

Watchdogs Lambaste Lack of Transparency (and More) in Pacific Free Trade Deal — 14 May 2012 — The US and eight other countries are inching closer to a sweeping free trade agreement in the Asia Pacific region that covers intellectual property, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and more. But opponents of the Trans-Pacific Partnership are pushing back, saying the deal would boost corporate power at the expense of jobs, human health, the environment, and national sovereignty.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   4:33

One Radio Network

Andrew Gause on the Real Story Behind the JP Morgan Losses
16 May 2012 — JP Morgan's loss of $2B (and counting) is just the beginning of much bigger things to come this year; but is it really about JP Morgan's huge short position in silver? Other topics include... A new, bigger, better financial tsunami; counterfeit bank receipts; a huge money laundering/foreclosure suit coming; gold-dissing media memes; the Euro "crisis" and the coming Euro Bond; confiscation of numismatic coins (or not).
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   1:01:50

Uprising

How the WTO Undermines Public Health, Consumer, and Environmental Protections — 09 Apr 2012 — The World Trade Organization regularly trumps national laws designed to protect consumer safety, worker rights, and clean air and water, essentially serving as a corporate backdoor for deregulation. Any national law or regulation that the WTO identifies as a "technical barrier to trade" is on the chopping block. Lori Wallach of Public Citizen outlines the problem and recounts some of the recent transgressions.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   17:05

On The Media

We Have to Pay to Read Safety Standards? — 13 Apr 2012 — Government-transparency advocate Carl Malamud believes documents that define safety standards should be easily accessible to all citizens—for free. Yet many of these standards—from the design of bicycle helmets to water treatment components to hazmat suits—are copyrighted creations of the industry organizations that have promulgated them. Malamud has a plan to make a point—this system must change.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   7:03

Media Matters

Joseph Turow:  The New Advertising Industry and The Daily You — 18 Mar 2012 — Turow explains that the advertising industry, which was faltering as the first half of the rise of the internet, is back on its feet and conquering new realms of the marketing sphere. The internet is central to the new approach, and targeted advertising—using cookies and other tracking techniques—is allowing them to be in your face in a way that is designed just for you, whether you want it or not.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   1:00:00

NPR

Apple Plant Was Inspected Hours Before Blast — 12 Mar 2012 — In China, an explosion rocked an Apple supplier factory last May, and in December, an explosion occurred at another Apple supplier factory. Workers interviewed after the blast criticized safety at the plant, saying that Apple inspected it just hours before the explosion, and later only checked on their health status and compensation after press attention.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   5:00

Russia Today / The Keiser Report

The "Free Market"—Free Only for Financial Predators — 08 Mar 2012 — Max and Stacy's discussion includes why banks don't have a liquidity issue (they have a solvency issue) and explain how the futures markets of today have been financialized far beyond their utility. ~~ Michael Hudson discusses the Modern Monetary Theory, including why banking and credit today are functionally broken (and how to fix it). He also discusses the dark force known as The Chicago School (of economics).
Watch  |  Download/Listen   25:44

Democracy Now

Supreme Court to Decide Whether US Corporations Can Be Sued for Abuses Overseas — 24 Feb 2012 — The US Supreme Court will consider whether US-based corporations can be sued in US courts for human rights abuses committed overseas. Marco Simons, legal director of EarthRights International, explained that "This case is really about whether a corporation that participates in serious human rights abuses, such as crimes against humanity or genocide or state-sponsored torture, can profit from those abuses and shield those profits from the victims when the victims come to take them to court."
Watch  |  Download/Listen   10:11

Sea Change Radio

Walmart—Green or Greed? — 07 Feb 2012 — Does Walmart deserve its reputation as a poor employer whose ultra-globalized model is bad for workers and the environment? Or is Walmart turning itself around with recent initiatives to improve its environmental impact by cutting back on energy use and reducing packaging? In part 1, environmental writer Stacy Mitchell offers the negative view of Walmart's sustainability efforts, and in part 2, reporter Marc Gunther opines that the world's problems will have to be solved with corporate giants like Walmart as partners, and their efforts to date are a good start.
PART 1:  Go to page  |  Download/Listen   30:00
PART 2:  Go to page  |  Download/Listen   29:45

Russia Today / The Keiser Report

Big Banks Still Shifting Cost of Bad Bets to We the Little People — 14 Feb 2012 — Max and Stacy report that you can now refer to a Rothschild as a "puppet master" without it being libel. We're saved! They also discuss how big banks are still using the system to shift the cost of their bad bets to we the little people, and how the recent mortgage settlement is just more of the same. ~~ James Howard Kunstler explains why we've been snookered on the big-bank mortgage settlement. Other topics of discussion include... a "John Brown moment" of insurrection and revolt; the relationship between peak everything and the curtailment of civil liberties; the hypocrisy of anti-war Dems lying low while their guy (Obama) is in office.
Watch  |  Download/Listen   25:44

Democracy Now

Apple and Foxconn—Welcome To The Machine — 10 Feb 2012 — Underlying the undisputedly wonderful iPhone is an overseas manufacturing process that is far less wonderful, at least for workers. More broadly, this piece examines the operations of Foxconn, the little-known Chinese company that is the largest electronics producer in the world.
Watch  |  Download/Listen   23:54

Democracy Now

Backlash Against "Corporate Personhood" Grows at State and Municipal Level — 05 Jan 2012 — Adding to a growing nationwide backlash against the US Supreme Court's "Citizens United" ruling on non-person campaign contributions, California lawmakers have introduced a resolution that calls on Congress to overturn Citizens United. The New York City Council has just passed a similar resolution, echoing measures passed in Los Angeles, Oakland, Albany and Boulder. A panel of guests discusses the trend.
Watch  |  Download/Listen   18:40

Colbert Report

Bernie Sanders on Corporate Personhood — 03 Jan 2012 — Senator Bernie Sanders mixes it up with Stephen Colbert, calling on Americans to support his proposed "Saving American Democracy" constitutional amendment and help overturn the Supreme Court's "Citizens United" decision, which affirmed the free-speech rights of corporations, i.e. that they can spend unlimited dollars to influence elections.
Watch  |  Download/Listen   6:06

Unwelcome Guests

Chris Hedges:  Nonviolent Citizen Resistance Is All We Have Left — 31 Dec 2011 — In a speech before a college audience, Chris Hedges says that the traditional mechanisms by which political and social reform can happen are broken beyond use, beyond repair. Electoral politics is now a waste of time; action must be more direct. If we don't take down the psychopathic bankster/corporate beast—and soon—all remaining opportunity for self-governance will be lost. It comes down to a simple question for each of us: Am I a rebel or a slave?
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   59:30

One Radio Network

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Andrew Gause:  Fed Helping Banks Get Away with New Crime Rampage — 30 Nov 2011 — Gause explains the $85 billion NY Fed loan to European banks. More broadly, he explains that the Fed has decided to help the banksters get away with their new crime rampage rather than turning state's witness and pleading guilty to being complicit in the banks' previous, lesser crimes. Other topics include: every country is inflating together; trillion is the new billion; the newly announced official figure of $727 trillion in outstanding derivatives is low—try $1.04 quadrillion.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   1:03:52

               

THE CORPORATE PROBLEM

Grinning Planet Introduction

There's a lot of talk about the problem of corporate personhood and corporate political influence. We agree these are problems. But let's not forget that there are people—with names—who continue to promote this fascistic system of governance and pillage. In the end, THEY must be held accountable.

TUC Radio

Corporations and Propaganda—A History — 11 Nov 2011 — This is an excellent, if brief, review from writer Alex Carey of the broad, relentless use of propaganda by corporations to not only influence consumer behavior, but also to shape citizen attitudes and voting patterns, thus greasing the skids for their bought-and-paid-for politicians to be able to easily pass favorable policies.
PART 1:  Go to page  |  Download/Listen   29:00
PART 2:  Go to page  |  Download/Listen   29:00

(GP comment:  This one's from the archives but remains very relevant today.)

Financial Sense NewsHour

K Street Documentary—The Best Government Money Can Buy — 08 Dec 2011 — Francis Megahy and Jim Puplava discuss the "lobbying industry" in Washington DC. Politicians now spend 75% of their time fundraising, while the number of lobbyists in Washington has more than doubled since 2000.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   33:46

(GP comment:  This is worth a listen, though there is nothing really new here—the problem has been going on for decades. It's almost funny that it's talked about here as a revelation.)

               

SO MOVE YOUR MONEY ALREADY!

Grinning Planet Comment

Nov 5 was targeted as "bank transfer day"—a day when masses of people should move their money out of big banks and into locally owned banks and credit unions. But even in October, the move was already gaining steam. ABC News reported that in that month, credit unions gained 650,000 new customers and the major banks lost $4.5 billion in deposits. Woo-hoo!

C'mon, folks—this is one of the few ways that just about everyone can participate in the battle against the banksters. If you have any money in any accounts managed by big banks or their subsidiaries, move it! And every time you use a credit card—whether you pay off you bill each month or not—you feed the big banks. So pay by cash or check (or barter!). And, of course, if you have anything in the stock market beast—ditch that too!

Democracy Now

"Move Your Money" Campaign Grows — 01 Nov 2011 — As participants in the Occupy Wall Street movement continue protesting the record profits made by banks bailed out by taxpayer money, a group of grassroots activists are urging people to move their money out of the banks deemed "too big to fail" into local community banks and credit unions.
Watch  |  Download/Listen   6:54

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Guns and Butter

Catherine Austin Fitts:  Unpacking Mr. Global — 02-09 Nov 2011 — Catherine Austin Fitts discusses the organized criminal activity known as the global financial system. Specific topics include... collateral fraud in the housing market; the black budget and financing of a "breakaway civilization"; debt being used to reengineer national governance; missing trillions from the federal government's books; the theft of the Baby Boomers' retirement funds; blackmail of congress; private defense contractor control of databases.  (Fitts remains one of the most cogent, comprehensive analysts of what's really going on. This is essential listening. --GP)
PART 1:  Go to page  |  Download/Listen   59:30
PART 2:  Go to page  |  Download/Listen   59:44

Coast To Coast / KSFO

Retirement Heist—How Corporations Plunder Pension Plans — 22 Oct 2011 — Ellen E. Schultz discusses some of the many ways corporate elites have been systematically stealing from their workers' pension plans. Where did the money go? Important activities like restructuring, mergers/acquisitions, and, of course, executive bonuses and retirement plans.
C2C show info page  |  Download/Listen   46:57

 (GP comment:  This is an important part of the larger story of how the elites are in the final phase of their push to recapture the portion of wealth that temporarily shifted to the worker class in the 20th century.)

Colbert Report

Whales Aren't People — 26 Oct 2011 — PETA has filed a lawsuit claiming that whale performers are slaves and should be freed from SeaWorld under the Thirteenth Amendment. Funny man Stephen Colbert eplains the obvious: Whales aren't people. But corporations are.
Watch  |  Download/Listen   2:54

NPR

What Is The Basis For Corporate Personhood? — 24 Oct 2011 — As the OWS movement fingers "corporate personhood" as one of the ills it says must be addressed, a legal expert offers background on the evolution of the concept in the US.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   4:22

Electric Politics

David Swanson on a Bi-Partisan Constitutional Convention — 09 Sep 2011 — Right-thinking people know that corporations are not people and, hence, have no right to influence elections. We know, nonetheless, that corporate money runs politics. Finally, we know that the military-industrial complex (and all its corporate tentacles) is out of control, as Eisenhower warned it would become. There is surprisingly solid common ground on the left and the right for amending and clarifying the US Constitution on these critical matters.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   36:16

The Lifeboat Hour

Vermont—Not Necessarily the Free-Thinking Haven You Think It Is — 11 Sep 2011 — Guest host Carolyn Baker interviews Robert Wagner, a candidate for the Vermont state senate, who explains that the feed-the-corporations, squeeze-the-people model thrives in Vermont just like it does in most US states.
Download/Listen   58:22

Coast To Coast / KSFO

Catherine Austin Fitts:  Resource Control Moving from Governments to Corporations — 30 Jun 2011 — Fitts says the elites are (and have been) putting the "slow burn" on Western economies as they shift massive amounts of capital from the US and Europe to the emerging power centers in Asia. Corporations serve as global management tools for the elites, and we're witnessing the shift of control of national resources from governments to multinational corporations, with large sovereign debts serving as cattle prods.
C2C show info page  |  Download/Listen   43:10

Media Matters with Bob McChesney

Ralph Nader:  We're Losing Power — 12 Jun 2011 — Nader explains why we're continuing to lose control of our political and media systems—it's all about corporate influence on politicians. He says the internet is a wonderful tool, but it is not "the answer." People need to get out of their comfort zones and step up to the fight that must come, and come soon.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   59:43

CounterSpin

Hot Coffee:  Jackpot Justice or Corporate Crackdown? — 24 Jun 2011 — We've all heard the about the woman who sued McDonalds for millions after spilling hot coffee in her lap. A new documentary tells the real story about that infamous case and examines the fight by Big Business to close off the court system to wrongful injury and death cases.
Page to download full 30-min show  |  Download/listen to this segment   10:55

Coast To Coast / KSFO

The US is Already a "Total Information Surveillance" State — 09 Jun 2011 — Roger Tolces, a private investigator specializing in electronic counter-measures, spoke about ways the United States is being brought down by elites and multinational corporations. Our constitutional rights have been eroded by the Patriot Act, and any electronic media you use is routed through the NSA, including your credit card statements, IRS records, phone calls, medical records. And by the way, they have a "back door" into your personal computer. Tolces thinks the attempt to dissolve the United States, its constitution, and its military is an agenda of the elite-owned multinational corporations who seek to turn America into a "consumptive colony." He warned of a coming currency collapse, and suggested that the massive surveillance already in place will be used to monitor and arrest people that protest the economic downgrade.
Download/Listen   1:00:00

               

T
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED WITH THE MORTGAGE MESS?

Flashpoints — 19 Apr 2011
The new film The Wall Street Money Machine—which is subtitled "How Hedge Funds and Banks Worsened the Financial Crisis While Making a Hefty Profit for Themselves"—examines the craziness and criminality of the Wall Street banks' mortgage-backed securities schemes. The filmmakers discuss the disturbing details of the mess.

Go to page  |  Download/Listen   31:59

Film's web site:
The Wall Street Money Machine

               

Guns and Butter

Michael Hudson:  The Banksters Global Financial Crime Spree — 16 Mar 2011 — Hudson makes the case that "free-market economics" is simply central planning and control—in the hands of the bankers. Using Latvia's severe decline over the last few years as a template, he gives us an eye-opening look and how the bankers are pushing over the economic dominoes in Europe. And in the US, the march to privatize public assets is just beginning.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   59:53

Democracy Now

Naomi Klein:  Shock Doctrine in Action — 09 Mar 2011 — As the war on the unions heats up, Klein points out that the general populace is not buying the "shared sacrifice" meme being pushed by the political leaders of the slash-and-burn efforts—it's obvious to all that CEOs, shareholders, and banksters are in a pain-free zone. She also adds that the supposedly progressive Obama is quietly pursuing Shock Doctrine policies.
Watch  |  Download/Listen   20:38

Unwelcome Guests

Bernie Sanders:  Here's What's Really Going On — 12 Mar 2011 — These are excerpts from an amazing filibuster speech by Vermont independent senator Bernie Sanders, railing against the big-bank bailouts, big-corp rescues, the upward flow of wealth, and all the other ills of the reemergence of the robber baron era.  (GP comment:  It does not matter what political stripe you are—this is must-listening.... Hey! Idea for a new Congress: Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich, Bernie Sanders, and 532 clones of Bernie Sanders.)
REF PAGE:  Go to page
PART 1:  Download/Listen   59:36
PART 2:  Download/Listen   59:36

Max Keiser

David DeGraw: Standing Against Genocidal Neoliberal Policies — (On the Edge, Press TV) — 13 Mar 2011 — David DeGraw discusses the unfolding global, decentralized rebellion against the enslaving, genocidal, centralized economic policies of the neoliberal economystics. He says that social media have been important tools, but we should be aware of them getting co-opted by the tentacles of TPTB. Keiser and DeGraw also discuss the hacker group Anonymous and other potential approaches to fighting the financial mafia.
Watch 1:  Watch
Watch 2:  Watch
Download/Listen   23:06

Coast To Coast

Craig B. Hulet:  The New Robber Barrons — 10 Mar 2011 — Hulet draws a tread through the corporate/banking interests in the Middle East (which is why we are entangled there), Wisconsin (where TPTB have begun the final claw-back of workers' gains from the last century) and the banking-government axis (with the IG at the Federal Reserve just announcing that $9 trillion is ...uh... "missing"). ~~ In the early segment, there is a discussion of the numerous large earthquakes hitting now, with more possible in the immediate future.
Download/Listen   1:00:00

C2C pages:  this show  |  latest shows

Financial Sense NewsHour

Wall Street Banks and the "Inside Job" — 26 Feb 2011 — A discussion of the new documentary Inside Job, which reviews the collusion, corruption, and thievery that brought on the financial crisis. Investment banker Daniel Alpert, who is featured in the film, joins Jim and John.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   56:57

The Real News Network

Reaganomics Was Pro-Business, Not Pro 'Free-Market' — 05 Feb 2011 — Yves Smith discusses how President Reagan, contrary to his promotion of the free market, broke unions and intervened in markets when big business required it.
Watch  |  Download/Listen   7:54

Community Currency

Humanizing the Economy—Co-operatives in the Age of Capital — 20 Jan 2011 — John Restakis reviews the basic principles of cooperatives and explains their many benefits over the corporate model. In an important sidebar, Restakis notes that credit unions—which are banking cooperatives—have fared well during the big-bank crisis, even increasing their market share.
Sorry, audio no longer available from host site.   58:15

Referenced book:   (on Amazon.com)
Humanizing the Economy:  Co-operatives in the Age of Capital

Democracy Now

The Corporate War on Civil Litigation — 25 Jan 2011 — Using the new film "Hot Coffee" as a springboard, we hear a discussion of "tort reform" and the already in-place, de facto barrier to civil suits—mandatory arbitration, the requirement for which is usually embedded in the fine print of any contract or agreement you sign, where the corporation pays for and controls the features of the arbitration. ~~ A former judge recounts just how far opponents of civil litigation will go to get their way.
Watch 1  |  Watch 2  |  Download/Listen   17:18

Coast To Coast

Russ Baker:  From Eisenhower to Today's Military-Industrial-Congressional-Banking-Oil Complex — 15 Jan 2011 — The tight relationship between the US government, its armed forces, and the industrial corporations that supply armaments, equipment, and services is a dominant feature in today's world. But even 50 years ago, President Eisenhower warned about the growing problem: "We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes." Russ Baker walks us through the history of the military-industrial complex, adds some missing elements to that too-short phrase, and ties in some seemingly unconnected events.
HOUR 1: Download/Listen   1:00:00
HOUR 2: Download/Listen   1:00:00

Russ Baker book:   (on Amazon.com)
Family of Secrets:  The Bush Dynasty, America's Invisible Government, and the Hidden History of the Last Fifty Years

Guns and Butter

Ellen Brown: The Financial Hijacking of America — 09 Jun 2010 — Brown provides a brief history of banking and different ways to "create money." She discusses the Federal Reserve, bubbles and crashes, market manipulation, and recent changes in banking and accounting rules.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   59:53

Ellen's slides:
PowerPoint format
PDF format

Democracy Now

Wall Street Banks:  Bailout vs. Jail-Out — 28 Apr 2010 — Danny Schechter's new film—Plunder: The Crime Of Our Time—examines Wall Street as a criminal operation. This clip features an interview with Schechter and a few clips from his film. The song at the end is called "Economic Meltdown."
Watch  |  Download/Listen   12:17

Bill Moyers Journal

The Interlocking Oligopoly — 16 Apr 2010 — Simon Johnson and James Kwak discuss how Big Finance grew so powerful, detail its role in the advent of "casino capitalism," and explain how the big Wall Street banks are now avoiding true reform by buying off our elected officials in the federal government.
Watch  |  Download/Listen   53:48

Referenced items:
Book: 13 Bankers  (on Amazon)
Article: How the Bubble Barons Protected Their Influence While the Economy Tanked

Agroinnovations

Michael Shuman:  The Small-Mart Revolution — 05 & 12 Apr 2010 — In part 1, Michael Shuman discusses the economic development policies of various levels of government around the United States (which is typically to favor large, non-local business at the expense of small, localized businesses). In part 2, Shuman discusses strategies for buying local, opportunities for local entrepreneurs, the prospects for relocalizing capital markets, and strategies for policy making.
PART 1:  Download/Listen   33:00
PART 2:  Download/Listen   34:29

Michael Shuman book:
The Small-Mart Revolution

Democracy Now

Matt Taibbi:  Looting Main Street — 12 Apr 2010 — Journalist Matt Taibbi details how the nation's biggest banks have been ripping off American cities with predatory deals.
Watch  |  Download/Listen   9:31

One Radio Network

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John Perkins:  An Economic Hit Man Hoodwinked — 06 Apr 2010 — Perkins' topics include: How Latin America is slowly throwing off the yoke of American corporate hegemony ~~ How the techniques used to create the housing bubble were similar to the tricks used globally by the IMF and World Bank to put developing countries in a debt trap.
Download/Listen   52:40

On The Media

SLAPP Back — 02 Apr — A SLAPP suit, or "strategic lawsuit against public participation," is a little known but widespread threat to the First Amendment. SLAPPs are meritless suits brought by companies, individuals, and sometimes the government, not to win, but to silence critics. Congress is now considering federal anti-SLAPP legislation.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   10:14

Living Hero

Vandana Shiva:  Fighting Corporate Patriarchy — 01 Mar 2010 — Shiva discusses the hegemony of corporations in Western countries and in her native India, particularly as it pertains to agriculture. She points out that we have transitioned from a traditional patriarchal society to a "corporate patriarchy"—domination by corporations.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   45:30

Related stuff on Amazon:
Vandana Shiva books

Special

The Money Masters
More and more people are becoming familiar with terms like "central bank", "Federal Reserve," "money creation," and "fractional reserve banking." To better understand how such things affect the economic problems we face today—and that we have faced for three hundred years of tumultuous history—we strongly recommend The Money Masters, which is the authoritative documentary on the subject. It's long but worth it!
Watch  |  Download/Listen   3:35:24

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