Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Bonnie Faulkner, Mae Brussell

I checked with Ruth to make sure she wasn't planning on covering this in her report this Saturday at The Common Ills. I listen to KPFA over the airwaves. It's always on. I may play music, especially when the news gets me down, but I've got it going in the studio, in the kitchen, you name it.

I enjoy pretty much everything they air. And one of my favorite programs is Guns and Butter. Ruth said she really enjoys Bonnie Faulkner and the show but most of the time feels like it's way over her head. I mentioned last Wednesday's show because I was surprised she hadn't commented on it. Last Wednesday was a peditrician appointment for her grandson so she missed it. She said I could always grab anything from KPFA because there was always so much to cover each week but that if I'd grab this one, she'd go back and listen to last Wednesday's broadcast.

If you've never listened to the program, Bonnie Faulkner is the host. She has one of those great FM radio voices. She's just a natural for the microphone. As a journalist, she's worked with Project Censored and I'm sure others but that's what comes to mind. The show takes a look at issues, such as 9-11, that may make some uncomfortable. I'm glad Faulkner's there to question the official narrative.

I really enjoyed Guns and Butter today. I had to call my mother and remind her of Mae Brussell. That was one of my mother's favorite radio broadcasters. She aired on another radio station (I can't remember it and neither can my mother). But besides being a strong broadcaster and researcher, she also did work that I'd argue Bonnie Faulkner carries on.

Mae Brussell did sometime ago (1988?) and this was a broadcast of an October 13, 1971 program called Dialogue Assassination. The topic was the Tate- La Bianca and the way in which the media portrayed them and whether this was an orchestrated move by the government to stop the youth movement that was going on in the late sixties.

Brussell made some very strong points and, though I don't remember this particular program, I do remember my mother at the kitchen table, with her cup of coffee (usually several) listening to Brussell's radio program.

If you haven't checked out the program, it airs on KPFA at one p.m. on the west coast.