Peter Dreier talks with Jack Rice about the current state of labor unions

On August 14, The Nation’s Peter Dreier sat down with Air America’s Jack Rice to discuss the fractured, collapsing state of labor unions in the US which he discussed in his recent Nation article on the messy dissolution of the UNITE HERE union merger.  On Rice’s show, Dreier shared his thoughts on the wide reaching implications of the situation, warning, “If the labor movement is divided amongst itself…over internal politics, that just makes it less likely for a progressive agenda to succeed.”

You can listen to the full interview here:

Mainstream media picking up on Scahill’s Blackwater report

In his August 4 Nation article “Blackwater Founder Implicated in Murder,” Jeremy Scahill broke the explosive news that Blackwater’s Erik Prince “may have murdered or facilitated the murder of individuals who were cooperating with federal authorities investigating the company.”  Scahill, who has extensively covered the corrupt military contractor for The Nation throughout the Iraq war, brought to light reports and affidavits accusing Prince of smuggling illegal weapons, facilitating child prostitution, and “intentionally us[ing] excessive and unjustified deadly force” to kill innocent Iraqi civilians.  The revelations ignited a mainstream media firestorm with FOX News, CNN and ABC calling attention to the story throughout the week.

ABC News cited Scahill’s piece in their August 5 report on the civil suit filed against Prince. On August 8, CNN published a report extensively quoting Scahill’s article.  That same day FOX News released this typically skeptical report, emphasizing the “alleged” nature of Prince’s crimes.

After filing the article on August 4, Scahill sat down with Countdown’s Keith Olbermann to discuss the chilling accusations against Prince.

You can watch the entire interview here:

Melissa Harris-Lacewell talks “Gates-gate” with Ana Marie Cox

On July 25, Nation writer Melissa Harris-Lacewell stopped by Ana Marie Cox’s The Inside Story on Air America to make sense of the recent media uproar over the racial implications of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s recent arrest. Addressing the “great national yearning to be past race,” Harris-Lacewell underscored the importance of considering Gates’s arrest through a combination of factors.  She explained that the “central debate” surrounding “Gates-gate” must determine whether the arresting officer was motivated by Gates’s “disruptive behavior, racial animus and bias or was he just trying to teach any old professor who thought he was better than the ‘working guy policeman’ a lesson.”

You can listen to the entire discussion here:

Richard Kim on the failed cultural satire of “Brüno”

On July 21, The Nation’s Richard Kim sat down with Marty Moss-Coane on WHYY’s “Radio Times” to discuss the radically flawed premise of Sacha Baron Cohen’s new movie “Brüno.” Dissecting the film’s excruciating, anxiety-provoking moments, Kim emphasized several points he laid out in his recent article “Et Tu, Brüno?”. Explaining that Baron Cohen created a “novel cinematic experience” and reached a “discomfort factor” that was often hilarious, Kim argues that the Brüno project neither confronted nor elicited the nation’s latent homophobia. Rather, Kim reasons, the film failed to provoke the kind of homophobic reactions from his (largely polite) “punked” subjects in the way that 2006’s “Borat” was able to casually expose extreme sexism, racism and antisemitism wherever he went.

You can listen to the conversation here:
Richard Kim Discusses Why “Brüno” is Problematic.

Katrina vanden Heuvel talks Sotomayor and the GOP on Air America

On July 16, The Nation’s Editor and Publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel stopped by Air America’s “The Lionel Show” to share her insights on Sonia Sotomayor’s ongoing Senate confirmation hearings.  Check out the interview below to hear vanden Heuvel explain why it’s in the GOP’s (and the country’s!) best interest to “put aside the cynical use of wedge issues and hot-button social issues which have so marginalized the party,” and return to its long-abandoned libertarian roots.

Listen to the full discussion here:

Stephen Cohen on what’s next for U.S.-Russia Relations

During President Obama’s recent visit to Russia, The Nation’s Contributing Editor Stephen F. Cohen, a Professor of Russian and Studies at New York University and author of the new book “Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives,” was invited by numerous media outlets to discuss the future of US-Russia relations.  In a July 6 appearance on Charlie Rose, Cohen cleared up misconceptions about the geopolitical implications of the President’s trip, arguing that despite the “prevailing view of the American media and the American political establishment,” it is not up to the Russians to “make all the positive steps” toward building an alliance.  Here’s some video:

Cohen laid out the political roadblocks to positive US-Russia foreign relations on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, explaining that US-Russia relations have been strained in recent years largely due to the Clinton administration’s post-cold war decisions. Cohen explained, “The interesting thing is that President Obama - who has ended up in this ‘mess,’ as some in Washington have called it – has surrounded himself with Clinton administration former appointees and officials, including Mrs. Clinton.  Whether or not those people can look back on what happened in 1990s and say, ‘that was not wise’ is an open question.”

Here’s some highlights from C-Span:

Stephen Cohen Discusses US-Russia Relations on C-SPAN

Be sure to listen as well to some of Cohen’s recent radio interviews for more perspective on the tragectory of the United States’ political rlationship with Russia.  On July 7, Cohen joined a panel discussion on WBUR’s On Point, and on July 9, Cohen sat down with WNYC’s Leonard Lopate to comment on Russia’s role in the ongoing G8 summit.

Here is audio of Cohen’s radio interviews:

Stephen Cohen Discusses Obama’s Trip to Moscow with On Point’s Tom Ashbrook.

Stephen Cohen and Leonard Lopate Discuss Russia’s Place in World Affairs.

Ari Melber on What’s Really Wrong with Obama’s Gitmo Plan

On Thursday, July 9, The Nation’s  Ari Melber spoke with The Young Turks about President Obama’s radical, potentially unconstitutional plans for Guantanamo detainees.  Calling attention to the issues he laid out in his recent Politico piece, Melber criticizes President Obama’s support of “preventative detention” saying, “Even President Bush, who as president stretched the boundaries of executive power, never went to congress to get the power to hold people indefinitely.”

Listen to the full interview here: Ari Melber on Obama’s Radical Gitmo Policy.

Katrina vanden Heuvel to appear on “This Week”

The Nation’s Editor and Publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel will appear on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos this Sunday at 10 am ET.  Joining vanden Heuvel at the roundtable will be New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, The Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan and “Morning” Joe Scarborough.  Tune in for what’s sure to be a spirited discussion of Governor Mark Sanford, health care reform and Iran.

Liza Featherstone on activism and student loan forgiveness

On June 17, The Nation’s Liza Featherstone sat down with Air America’s Live in Washington host Jack Rice to discuss her latest article, “Out of Reach,” a sobering investigation of the rising cost of higher education in America and the student activist response. Throughout the interview, Featherstone explains how the notion of an affordable college education has become a “utopian pipe dream,” arguing that, “everybody who’s qualified should be able to go to college and study together.” Click on the links below to hear the conversation: 

Liza Featherstone on Live in Washington - Part 1

Liza Feathersone on Live in Washington - Part 2

Ari Melber shows support for Sotomayor on ‘7 Days’

Nation Net Movement correspondent Ari Melber joined  7 Days in America’s Carlos Watson and Arianna Huffington on Saturday, May 30. Melber discussed the accusations of racism toward Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. Despite more Americans having a more positive view view of her than former President Bush’s nominees John Roberts and Samuel Alito, Sotomayor has been vilified by the GOP in a series of rants that even extended to Twitter. About the attacks, Melber says the Republicans are only hurting themselves. “I do think part of it appears more pronounced because there such a vacuum of leadership,” he says, “The conservative echo chamber that was once so feared and so influential has now become a bit of a crazy default location to get the so-called Republican view.”

Listen to the full program  here: