Tell Somebody

On the November 15, 2011 edition of Tell Somebody, we hear from cab driver, author and Care of Poor People Inc (www.coppinc.com) founder and director about his November 2011 event for the homeless in Kansas City. After that, we hear remarks made by Ralph Nader and Bill Moyers at the Public Citizen (www.citizen.org) 40th anniversary gala held October 20, 2011, in Washington D.C. Click on the the pod icon above or the .mp3 filename below to listen to the show, or right-click and choose "save target as" to save a copy of the audio file to your computer.  You can also subscribe to the podcast, for free, at the iTunes store or your podcast directory.  If you have any comments or questions about the show or any problems accessing the files, send an email to: mail@tellsomebody.us 

Nearly two years ago, over a month before the decision was handed down in the Citizens United v FEC case, Public Citizen's Legislative Representative Craig Holman was a guest on Tell Somebody and he explained the origins of the case, how the Supreme Court expanded it in an unusual way in June, 2009, and why it was such a vitally important case.  The November 8, 2011, edition of Tell Somebody re-aired that interview. The show starts out with audio from a protest at the site of the new Kansas City nuclear weapons parts plant that was part of a War Tax Resisters National Meeting  protest that was held in Kansas City November 4-6th. Click on the the pod icon above or the .mp3 filename below to listen to the show, or right-click and choose "save target as" to save a copy of the audio file to your computer.  You can also subscribe to the podcast, for free, at the iTunes store or your podcast directory.  If you have any comments or questions about the show or any problems accessing the files, send an email to: ma

The first half of the November 1, 2011, edition of Tell Somebody features voices of the people at Occupy KC on October 29 and October 30, and the second half of the show is a radio documentary called Inside Occupy Wall Street.  Big thanks go to producer Paul Fischer for giving permission to include his work in this podcast.  Paul Fischer is a former News Director of WBAI, former News Director of KPFA and 31 year veteran of CBS News...including 24 years as writer/associate producer on the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather. Fischer writes: "I've returned to my roots in public radio as an independent producer." Click on the the pod icon above or the .mp3 filename below to listen to the show, or right-click and choose "save target as" to save a copy of the audio file to your computer.  You can also subscribe to the podcast, for free, at the iTunes store or your podcast directory.  If you have any comments or questions about the show or any problems accessing the files, send an email to: mail@tellsomebody.us 

The impetus for the Occupation of Wall Street has many sources, many, including NPR, The Nation, The Washington Post and some of the participants themselves credit a July blog post by Adbusters for the idea of Occupy Wall Street.  Adbusters founder Kalle Lasn appeared on the very first edition of Tell Somebody in October, 2005, and we dug into the archives and served it up on the October 25, 2011, edition of the show. Also on this show, Democracy Now!'s Amy Goodman visits the Occupy KC encampment. Click on the the pod icon above or the .mp3 filename below to listen to the show, or right-click and choose "save target as" to save a copy of the audio file to your computer.  You can also subscribe to the podcast, for free, at the iTunes store or your podcast directory.  If you have any comments or questions about the show or any problems accessing the files, send an email to: mail@tellsomebody.us 

On Sunday October 9, 2011, what was billed as the great nuclear debate, nuclear weapons making in Kansas City, was held at the University of Missouri Kansas City. The event was cosponsored by The Community of Reason KC, with the KC Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility and KC Peace Planters.  The Maurice Smith, retired staff engineer at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Kansas City nuclear weapons parts Plant, currently operated by Honeywell, debated Ira Helfand, M.D., Emergency Medicine Physician in Leeds, Mass., Physicians for Social Responsibility Board Member and Vice President of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. Mr. Smith argued in support of continuing the nuclear weapons manufacturing program as part of a policy of deterrance. Dr. Helfand argued against nuclear weapons production and supported steps to reach a nuclear weapons-free world. The debate was moderated by Jabulani Leffal, host of KCUR FM’s Central Standard. Click on the th

The October 11, 2011 edition of Tell Somebody starts out with a couple of voices from Occupied Kansas City and a short segment on the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers before spending most of the hour with Robert McChesney, co-author with John Nichols of The Death and Life of American Journalism - The Media Revolution That Will Begin the World Again on a pledge drive show. Click on the the pod icon above or the .mp3 filename below to listen to the show, or right-click and choose "save target as" to save a copy of the audio file to your computer.  You can also subscribe to the podcast, for free, at the iTunes store or your podcast directory.  If you have any comments or questions about the show or any problems accessing the files, send an email to: mail@tellsomebody.us   

The October 4, 2011 edition of Tell Somebody has audio from the first day of Occupy KC, some news from Occupy Wall Street, a Democracy NOW! press conference on a settlement with the police in Minnesota, and, from the archives, a 2007 interview on The Structural Imbalance of Talk Radio with Derek Turner of Free Press. Click on the the pod icon above or the .mp3 filename below to listen to the show, or right-click and choose "save target as" to save a copy of the audio file to your computer.  You can also subscribe to the podcast, for free, at the iTunes store or your podcast directory.  If you have any comments or questions about the show or any problems accessing the files, send an email to: mail@tellsomebody.us 

On the September 27, 2011, edition of Tell Somebody, David Barsamian, Director of Alternative Radio, tells how he was deported from New Delhi, India, apparently  because of his reporting of human rights abuses in Kashmir. Also on this show, a quick update on the city-owned nuclear weapons parts plant going up in Kansas City, Missouri.  How interesting that a financial services company called Oppenheimer is helping with the financing of a nuclear bomb plant! We round out the show with an excerpt from AMARC's Sylvia Richardson's keynote address at the national Grass Roots Radio Conference in Kansas City in August. Click on the the pod icon above or the .mp3 filename below to listen to the show, or right-click and choose "save target as" to save a copy of the audio file to your computer.  You can also subscribe to the podcast, for free, at the iTunes store or your podcast directory.  If you have any comments or questions about the show or any problems accessing the files, send an email to: mail@tellsomebody.us 

The September 20, 2011, edition of Tell Somebody featured the ceremony officially proclaiming September 19, 2011, as KKFI Community Radio Recognition Day, the denial of clemency for Troy Davis, who was killed by the state of Georgia the day after the broadcast, and some classic Amy Goodman. The day before the broadcast, KKFI celebrated its new transmitter, the result of a $78,000.00 matching grant from the now-defunct Commerce Department PTFP grant recognizing KKFI's "educational and cultural" programming. A 2005 speech by Amy Goodman starts out with the story of a transmitter in Texas that some thought was too dangerous to exist. Click on the the pod icon above or the .mp3 filename below to listen to the show, or right-click and choose "save target as" to save a copy of the audio file to your computer.  You can also subscribe to the podcast, for free, at the iTunes store or your podcast directory.  If you have any comments or questions about the show or any problems accessing the files, send an email to: mai

"...and 9/11 happened in front of their faces, I mean you just look out the window and there are these buildings tumbling down, and the news people took it personally and were reacting to in the sense that they felt that, sort of  revenge, or preventing another attack was really necessary." Peter Arnett speaking about the failure of journalists during the leadup to the invasion of Iraq on a January 2006 edition of Tell Somebody  "...and we have remained at war ever since, visiting upon our enemies the vengeance they were due, and providing for the American people the common defense they demand." Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Admiral Mike Mullen speaking on the 10 year anniversary of 9/11. KKFI and Pacifica coverage of the 10th anniversary of 9/11 demonstrated that is actually is possible to look back at 9/11 without giving deferential and uncritical airtime to the likes of Dick Cheney and Rudy Giulliani, and without swamping thoughtful rememberance and reflection with the plague of phony, jingoistic "patriotism

On the September 6, 2011 editon of Tell Somebody, Sierra Club Water Sentinels director Scott Dye talks about the new cleanup plan for the Bannister Federal Complex that avoids putting it on the Superfund National Priorities List. Click on the the pod icon above or the .mp3 filename below to listen to the show, or right-click and choose "save target as" to save a copy of the audio file to your computer.  You can also subscribe to the podcast, for free, at the iTunes store or your podcast directory.  If you have any comments or questions about the show or any problems accessing the files, send an email to: mail@tellsomebody.us   

On the August 30, 2011 edtion of Tell Somebody, nuclear bombs and Low Power FM radio. In the first two segments of the show, we hear about the Kansas City, Missouri City Council's fight to keep petition intiative which would prohibit production of parts for nuclear weapons in Kansas City off the ballot.  In the final segment, the Prometheus Radio Project's Station Support Team comes to Kansas City to explain what LPFM is and how to get it. Click on the the pod icon above or the .mp3 filename below to listen to the show, or right-click and choose "save target as" to save a copy of the audio file to your computer.  You can also subscribe to the podcast, for free, at the iTunes store or your podcast directory.  If you have any comments or questions about the show or any problems accessing the files, send an email to: mail@tellsomebody.us 

After a segment on how a Kansas City, MO city council committee worked to try to derail an anti-nukes ballot iniative petition, the August 23, 2011 edition of Tell Somebody featured a few samples from the National Grassroots Radio Conference hosted by Friends of Community Media with help from KKFI. By no means a comprehensive sampling, the show includes excerpts from workshops on community radio's role in emergency broadcasting,  community radio coverage of activism against nuclear weapons, a threat to university radio stations, Native American and Persian perspectives on diversifying programming, and how the Citizens United case directly relates to grassroots radio. Click on the the pod icon above or the .mp3 filename below to listen to the show, or right-click and choose "save target as" to save a copy of the audio file to your computer.  You can also subscribe to the podcast, for free, at the iTunes store or your podcast directory.  If you have any comments or questions about the show or any problems acces

On the August 16, 2011 edition of Tell Somebody, two days before the start of the Grass Roots Radio Coalition Conference in Kansas City, we called author and broadcaster  Maria Armoudian in Los Angeles to hear why she was making the trip to KC for the GRC, and to ask about her book, Kill the Messenger - the Media's Role in the Fate of the World. Click on the the pod icon above or the .mp3 filename below to listen to the show, or right-click and choose "save target as" to save a copy of the audio file to your computer.  You can also subscribe to the podcast, for free, at the iTunes store or your podcast directory.  If you have any comments or questions about the show or any problems accessing the files, send an email to: mail@tellsomebody.us 

Kansas City, Missouri politicians who defend city taxpayer support of a new nuclear weapons parts plant owned by a city agency cite the retention of jobs as major justification.  Kansas City Peace Planters commissioned a report by Dr. Teresa D. Nelson and Dr. Lloyd J. Dumas to examine the jobs issue related to production of nuclear weapons parts in comparision to alternative uses of such a facility. Teresa D. Nelson is an independent researcher and consultant with a Ph.D in Public Policy and Political Economy from the University of Texas at Dallas. Lloyd J. Dumas is Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of Texas at Dallas. On the August 9, 2011 edition of Tell Somebody, we hear from co-author Dr. Lloyd Dumas about the report, Maximizing Job Creation: An Analysis of Alternatives for the Transformation of the Kansas City Plant. Click on the the pod icon above or the .mp3 filename below to listen to the show, or right-click and choose "save target as" to save a copy of the audio file to your

Former CIA Analyst and Presidential Briefer Ray McGovern returned to Tell Somebody on the August 2, 2011 edition of the show.  Ray starts out a wide-ranging conversation with his account of joining Christian and Jewish leaders in the Capitol Rotunda urging Congress not to balance the budget on the backs of the poor. Ray notes the lack of coverage of the protest in the Fawning Corporate Media, and says: "in forty-eight years in Washington, I've seen a lot of change, a LOT of change.  But there's one change that dwarfs all the others in significance and importance, and that's this change: we no longer have in any real sense a free media.  That's big. That couldn't be bigger." Click on the the pod icon above or the .mp3 filename below to listen to the show, or right-click and choose "save target as" to save a copy of the audio file to your computer.  You can also subscribe to the podcast, for free, at the iTunes store or your podcast directory.  If you have any comments or questions about the show or any problem

Russ Baker is an award-winning investigative reporter with a track record for making sense of complex and little understood matters. He has written for the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, the Nation, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Village Voice and Esquire. He has also served as a contributing editor to the Columbia Journalism Review. Baker received a 2005 Deadline Club award for his exclusive reporting on George W. Bush’s military record. He is the founder of the nonpartisan, nonprofit investigative news site whowhatwhy.com. On the July 26, 2011 edition of Tell Somebody, we talked to Baker about his book, Family of Secrets - The Bush Dynasty, America's Invisible Government, and the Hidden History of the Last Fifty Years, about whowhatwhy.com, and about the state of journalism today.  If you have any comments or questions about the show or any problems accessing the files, send an email to: mail@tellsomebody.us

"How would this country be different if there was community radio in every one of our towns." Brandy Doyle - Policy Director with the Prometheus Radio Project. The July 20, 2011 edition of Tell Somebody featured a conversation about The Prometheus Radio Project.  With a successful decision in Prometheus v FCC, passage of LPFM legislation and numerous 'barn-raisings' of new community radio stations, when Jim Hightower says "people who say it can't be done should get out of the way of the people who are doing it" he could well be talking about The Prometheus Radio Project. Listen to Brandy Doyle talk about all of that, plus Prometheus upcoming appearance at The Grass Roots Radio Conference in Kansas City. Click on the the pod icon above or the .mp3 filename below to listen to the show, or right-click and choose save target as to save a copy of the audio file to your computer.  You can also subscribe to the podcast, for free, at the iTunes store or your podcast directory.  If you have any comments or questions a

On July 7, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit overturned the Federal Communications Commission’s attempt to weaken its ownership rules and allow big media companies to buy up even more local outlets. On the July 12, 2011 edition of Tell Somebody, we talked to Josh Stearns, Program Director with Free Press, www.freepress.net & www.savethenews.org, about federal court decision in Prometheus v FCC. Josh also talked about the new Free Press campaign to uncover and fight covert media consolidation called Change the Channels, and explains how this campaign has hit a nerve with Newport Television, a Kansas City company that is described as one of the worst covert consolidation offenders. In the second half of the show, we re-air a conversation with Free Press President and CEO Craig Aaron recorded at the National Conference on Media Reform in Boston in April. Click on the the pod icon above or the .mp3 filename below to listen to the show, or right-click and choose save target as to save a copy of

In April, three members of Friends of Community Media (FCM), a Kansas City 501c3 media reform group,  went to Boston, MA to attend the 2011 National Conference on Media Reform. In May, the Kansas City Greens asked us to share our experience of the conference at a forum. FCM Chair Tom Crane, and FCM board members Doug Greer and Tom Klammer gave their impressions of the Boston NCMR at the Aquarius Bookstore in Kansas City on the evening of May 16.  This discussion was aired on the 90.1 FM KKFI forum show at noon on Tuesday June 21, 2011