I just did a post about The Laura Flanders Show over at The Common Ills. I'm putting it up here to make sure everyone knows what's on Laura's show AND to get some credit from the jokers who feel I'm too laid back in my blogging duties.
"The Laura Flanders Show: Sat: Collen Rowley, Michael Franti, Kate Taylor; Rep. Cheeks Kilpatrick; Sunday: Lynn Woolsey, Cindy Sheehan, George Galloway"
Kat here. Before anyone starts BMW-ing about when this post went up, C.I. asked me to help out Friday afternoon by doing this post and said as long as it went up before The Laura Flanders Show started, everything was fine. So everything's copasetic.
That's both a sixties term and, I think, a Yiddish word. I'm on the phone with Ruth right now. She did her Ruth's Morning Edition Report. Shirley had agreed to post it this morning around ten a.m. Shirley's time but going through the e-mails (at both common_ills@yahoo.com and the private address for members only) she couldn't find anything from Ruth. Ruth's sending it to my account (kats_korner@hotmail.com) and I'll put it up after I get done with this.
Maybe not right after because the mirror site is way behind on cross postings and I told Ava and Jess I'd try to grab some of that. Already here, I've written more than I often do at my own site (Kat's Korner) so I don't want to hear from any of you jokers about "Where are the posts?" at my site. In fact, I'll probably cross post this at my site.
The Laura Flanders Show airs Saturdays and Sundays. You can listen online or via the radio. It's six hours of strong radio hosted by Laura who is the reason the show's so awesome. I can't imagine a community member not knowing about this show because Lord knows it's noted "up in here" (nod to Cedric) often enough. But I do know that for every member like Maria who makes it a point to listen each Saturday & Sunday, there are others who are unable to. Some members don't have speakers. Some have slower computers (which is why C.I. avoids, at your request, sites that feature pop ups -- in our community there are at least five members that have computers which will freeze up for a bit if the pop ups pop up).
So if you don't get Air America broadcast on a station you can pick up, if you don't have XM satellite radio and if you're unable to listen online, let me just give you some basics on the show so you'll get why members who do listen really love, love, love this show. (Nod to the Beatles and their "All You Need Is Love.")
Saturday and Sunday, the program starts off with an editorial by Laura. She talks about what's happened this week. She pulls from this event and that event, from this Bully Boy mistake and that you-just-can't-believe-it-happened-but-it-did report, to put it all in perspective. These things going on aren't isolated events. In her passionate editorials, she finds the thread that connects them together and connects us to one another. That's my biggest beef with the editorials in the New York Times. It's always this "I am shocked, just shocked, that ____ happened" as though a similar thing didn't happen last week or the one before and the month before and hell the last five years.
Laura's not playing here's piece of the puzzle, she's showing you the full puzzle and how it all fits together. She can make you laugh during that or she can get your blood boiling or both. But, and I think this is the reason she's such a community favorite, she never leaves you feeling helpless. She never leaves you thinking, "Well that happened, let's be mad at least and now let's move on."
"Don't leave politics to the politicians," she'll regularly implore you and she gives you enough facts that you know you can't leave it to them and enough hope that you know you can do something if you get off your lazy butts.
After that opening, she may come back to it after the first commercial break or she might go immediately to calls or guests. And she's got amazing guests. Joan Baez was on two Sundays ago. Susan Sarandon's called in. Matthew Rothschild, another community favorite, has been on the show. Danny Schechter, ditto, has been on the show. The amazing Richie Havens has been on the show. Medea Benjamin, who we all love, has been on the show countless times. Jesse Jackson and his son Jesse Jackson Jr. have been on the show. Eve Ensler is another frequent guest.
Look at just those names, there's a lot more to that list, and notice the mix. Politics, activism and arts. Gender and race. It's all got a place on this show. This isn't Meet the Press where you scratch your head and wonder, "Is the whole country made up of white males?"
Tonight, while we're all on the phone working on The Third Estate Sunday Review, we'll have it on the background sometimes one person's broadcast is a bit behind and we'll have an echo thing going on in the background. When e-mails ask about why Ava and C.I. especially are quiet for huge sections of the roundtable, they'll usually fall back on "We're the ones that get stuck taking down notes that turn into the transcripts." That's usually true, but let's be honest, if The Laura Flanders Show is on during one of those things, they've usually got one ear on the show. We all do. (Which is why Dona will not let "The Third Estate Sunday Review News Review" start until after the show ends. She knows for that feature to work, we need all ears on deck.)
If you miss something on a show or miss a show, you can go to Air America Place and pull up the archives and listen at any time, day or night.
So if you're unable to listen live you might want to consider checking out the show on Air America Place. The Laura Flanders Show airs seven to ten est. Here's what's coming up tonight and tomorrow:
Saturday, September 10
Bring the troops home, but not the war. Americans are saying no to the occupation of Iraq and no to an occupation of the Gulf Coast.
REP. CAROLYN CHEEKS KILPATRICK, D-MI, on her Friday visit with storm survivors in Baton Rouge and Houston.
COLEEN ROWLEY, the FBI whistle-blower who tried to prevent the 9/11 attacks and now a congressional candidate, on how this administration stops career public servants from doing their job.
MICHAEL FRANTI, of Spearhead, from San Francisco’s 7th annual "Power to the Peaceful" concert.
KATE TAYLOR on memories, healing and remembrance.
Sunday, September 11
REP. LYNN WOOLSEY, wants a date to bring U.S. troops home.
British M.P. GEORGE GALLOWAY in his first U.S. appearance since he called out the Senate on Iraq, on the war, truth-telling and fighting power.
CINDY SHEEHAN from the 'Bring Them Home Now' bus tour that’s taking the anti-war movement from Crawford, TX, to Washington, D.C.
NEW - Now you can listen to the Laura Flanders Show via podcast on iTunes!
Go to the Laura Flanders Blog
Look at those guests and think about the mix. And thanks to Martha for forwarding that e-mail that had the information above.
So that's what you got coming to you this weekend. You can watch that movie on broadcast or cable that, if it was worth seeing, you already saw a few times before. Or maybe you're thinking, "Man there just ain't enough centrist and right programming for me!" in which case, tune into NPR. It's easier to sit on the fence and maybe you like getting splinters in your ass.
But if you want to get informed, if you want to get motivated and if you want to get some reality, check out The Laura Flanders Show. (I know, I'm preaching to the converted here and most members are already listening. But we do have members who aren't able to listen online and don't have Air America in their area or satellite radio.)
C.I. usually ends with this so let me put it in:
Remember, you can listen over broadcast radio (if there's an AAR in your area), via XM Satellite Radio (channel 167) or listen online.
C.I. will be back tomorrow morning. You got three entries this morning (don't miss the thing on Iraq). That was a last minute thing, having to go out of town. But for those who've worried since Rebecca announced that C.I. and others would be in D.C. at the end of September, if it comes down to it and there's no time to knock out some entries ahead of time, C.I. will dictate them over the phone. (Cindy e-mailed me asking about Rebecca's post if that meant this site would "go dark" during those days of activism. No, Cindy, it won't. Entries will go up. Though I agree with Rebecca that it's past time C.I. grabbed a few days off.)
I'm going to get some cross posts up because I know the members that prefer the mirror site understand and come over here when there's nothing up, they, especially the European members, really prefer the look of the mirror site and consider it their own. After I do that, I'll post Ruth's latest. And remember it will go up again Monday morning as well.
