Dec. 18 - The Kansas Sesquicentennial
Community Bridge opens this week with Cheryl Collins, executive director of the Riley County Historical Museum in a discussion of the Kansas Sesquicentennial. Kansas joined the union in 1861 after four attempts at writing constitutions and numerous deaths as "Bleeding Kansas" was daily covered on the front page in east coast newspapers. Collins will discuss how the sesquicentennial will be celebrated in Riley County. In the second half of the hour we hear an interview with journalist and blogger Glenn Greenwald from Progressive Radio.
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Part 2 - Navigating the WikiLeaks Document Dump
Corporate media is doing a bad job of informing the public debate about the third WikiLeaks document dump. Right-wing pundits and members of Congress show their contempt for our democracy by calling for the death of Julian Assange - more the reaction of a dictatorship than of people called to stand strong for the values of democracy.
We hear views and perspectives not getting much air-time on corporate media - first we hear from GRITtv featuring retired US Army Colonel and former State Depatment official, Ann Wright; then we hear a clip from Law and Disorder Radio featuring Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights and Michael Steven Smith; and finally a clip looking at the how the media has handled the document dump from NPR's On the Media, hosts Brook Gladstone and Bob Garfield interview the executive editor of the New York Times, Bill Keller.
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Dec.9 - Human Trafficking in Kansas
Community Bridge celebrates Human Rights Day (Dec. 10th) with a look at human trafficking in Kansas with Kansas Assistant Attorney General Christine Ladner, Vicky Luttrell of the Kansas Human Trafficking Advisory Board, and K-State Prof. Nadia Shapkina. Human trafficking generates approximately $32 billion international each year making it one of the top 3 international crimes. The U.S. State Department reports that nearly 1 million people are trafficked across international borders each year. Roughly 80 percent of those trafficked are females and 50 percent are children. Trafficked people are modern slaves forced to work in sweatshops, prostitution rings, as farm labors, in private homes as domestic workers and other enterprises.
Part 2 - Humanity's Footprint
In our second hour, Walter Dodds, distinguished professor of biology at K-State, joins Christopher in studio to discuss his book, Humanity’s Footprint: Momentum, Impact, and Our Global Environment.
Keeping with the theme of human rights, to close out the hour, Jonathan Mertz, chair of the Flint Hills Human Rights Project discusses Tuesday night's historic vote in favor of ending discrimination in Manhattan based on sexual orientation and gender identity by the passage of the new anti-discrimination ordinance.
Dec. 2 - The Crisis in Mental Health Care
This week's Community Bridge opens with a discussion of the crisis in mental health care that has been caused by the budget cuts to essential social services in the State of Kansas. As a result, mental health clients with limited resources are finding it impossible to obtain the medications they need to live normal lives. Without medications, mental health clients face a downward spiral including the loss of independent living, their social safety net and since the state mental hospitals are cannot accept new patiences, our communities have no choice put to place mental health clients in jail. Robbin Waldner Cole, Executive Director of Pawnee Mental Health Services, Rich Cagan, Executive Director, National Alliance on Mental Illness Kansas, and Mike Hammond, Executive Director of the Association of Community Mental Health Centers of Kansas, join us to discuss how Kansas is treating its citizens with mental health concerns.
Part 2 - Merchants of Doubt
Naomi Oreskes is one of the world's leading historians of science. Her research focuses on consensus and dissent in science. Her 2004 essay The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change was cited in the documentary An Inconvenient Truth and led to op-ed pieces in the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Chronicle. In Merchants of Doubt, Oreskes discusses how science can be misconstrued to create doubt. Her research highlights the disconnect between the state of scientific debate and the way it is presented in the mass media and perceived by the public. Specifically, Oreskes looks at public beliefs -- or disbelief -- about climate change.
Nov. 18 - Andy Worthington on GITMO
Community Bridge opens with British journalist Andy Worthington, author of The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison and co-director with Polly Nash of the documentary film, Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo.
Having spent several years looking at the undercurrents of post-war British social history — in particular the clash between the state and some of its most outspoken critics (protest movements, travellers and alternative communities) — Worthington turned his attention to the “War on Terror” in 2006. Like many decent-minded citizens of the world, he had been deeply concerned, from the moment Guantánamo opened in January 2002, that the US administration’s response to 9/11 was both cruel and misguided, but although Worthington conducted some research in the years that followed, it was not until March 2006, when he read Enemy Combatant by the released British prisoner Moazzam Begg, that he asked himself the fateful question, “Who’s in Guantánamo?” The quest to answer this question consumed over a year of his life, and led to the creation of "The Guantánamo Files."
The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison, published by Pluto Press, and distributed in the US by Macmillan, includes reviews by released Guantánamo prisoner Moazzam Begg, lawyers Clive Stafford Smith, Marc Falkoff and Candace Gorman, authors Michelle Shephard, Stephen Grey and Peter Bergen, film-maker Ken Loach, and film producer Marty Fisher. The book is available from Amazon.
Part 2 - A Living Wage for Manhattan
Our second hour opens with Tom Manney, from No-NBAF in Kansas, who comments about the report issued by National Research Council on the evaluation of risks associated with the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility proposed for Manhattan. Then Geri Simon and Claudean McKellips from the Manhattan Living Wage Coalition join us in studio to discuss the Coalition's efforts to establish a wage floor for companies receiving economic development funds from the City of Manhattan.
Nov. 11 - Kansas Rural Center
Community Bridge opens this week with Dan Nagengast, Executive Director of the Kansas Rural Center, in a discussion of upcoming Sustainable Agriculture Conference, local and regional food systems, and how "production agriculture" has put more farmers out of business that the Dust Bowl, Depression, weather, or the environmental movement ever did.
Part 2 - The Ecstatic Poetry of Paul Goldman
Our second-hour opens with this week’s Media Minutes and a clip from GRITtv featuring Kathy Kelly discussing her recent trip to Afghanistan where she spoke to everyday citizens, including men and women. Kelly notes that the average person on the ground there has little awareness of the September 11 attacks, despite the rationale for the U.S. occupation. Then we are joined by ecstatic poet Paul Goldman for a discussion of his poetry, the meaning of faith and how his spiritual poetry as the soft scalpel to transform and awaken.
Nov. 4 - What Do the Midterm Elections Mean?
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| Joe Aistrup |
Community Bridge opens this week with K-State Professor of Political Science, Joe Aistrup, with a discussion of Tuesday's Mid-term election results and what they mean nationally and for the state of Kansas. At 45 past the hour, we are joined by Stephanie Alderman-Oler from the K-State Fair Trade Advocates to discuss this year's Fair Trade Marketplace that will open with a fashion show on November 16th and closes on Thursday November 18th.
Part 2 - How Poverty Became Big Business
In our second hour we are joined by telephone with author Gary Rivlin for a discussion of his book: Broke, USA: From Pawnshops to Poverty, Inc. - How the Working Poor Became Big Business. Ravlin reports from the economic fringes of modern America. In the two years he spent researching the poverty industry, he ventured to Las Vegas to hang out at the annual check cashers convention, he spent time in Tennessee with the small-town debt collector who founded the $40-billion-a-year payday cash advance industry, he met with a number of mercenary entrepreneurs who are getting tens of millions of dollars rich selling high-priced products to the country's hardworking waitresses, warehouse workers, and mall clerks. In short, it explores how Wall Street made poverty a big business and what it is doing to those who can ill afford to go into debt.
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Oct. 28 - Germs Gone Wild
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Oct. 21 - Update on Manhattan's Proposed Anti-Discrimination Ordinance
Community Bridge opens this week with Christopher Hopkins, Iraq Veteran and K-State student, in a discussion of his efforts to form a local chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War and his experiences at the US Social Forum. Then Debbie Nuss, Dusty Garner, and Joshua McGinn of the Flint Hills Human Rights Project join us for an update on the proposed new anti-discrimination ordinance for the City of Manhattan. At the Human Rights and Services Board on October 14th, the radical religious right let their opposition to equality for all Manhattanites be known loud and clear. Our guest try to make sense of the what was said and bring the focus back to the real issue: LGBT people are discriminated against in Manhattan.
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Part 2 - Cheryl Hudspeth for Congress
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Special Podcast: Undocumented Youth in Search of the American Dream
The panel was moderated by Michael Kaye, law professor at Washburn University, and included: Roberta Farrell, Immigration Attorney; Amanda Morales, Ph.D., Graduate Student Advisor K-State College of Education; Jonathan Willmouth, Immigration Attorney; Rep. Sydney Carlin, state legislator; and Erin Fleming who works extensively with undocumented youth-many of whom are actually pictured in the film. Fleming is part of the KS/MO DREAM Alliance-a local Kansas City group made up of mostly undocumented youth, as well as national projects such as The DREAM Is Coming and United We DREAM. The panel walks through the life of an undocumented youth trying to go to college and explore the roadblocks she encounters.
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Oct. 14 - C-Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy
Sharlet is also the author of "God's Senator" - an in-depth exposé about Sam Brownback and his extremist fundamentalist beliefs that appeared in Rolling Stone in July 2006. Unfortunately Rolling Stone has pulled the article from their archive, however it can be read on Thomas Paine's Corner.
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Oct. 7 - A Conversation with Tom Hawk
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Podcast Special: Non- Violence, Self-Defense, & Justice for Palestine
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Sept. 30 - What You Should Know about the Affordable Care Act
What does the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act do for you? Judith Baker, Regional Director for the Region 7 Office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, outlines some answers in our first hour this week. Baker will cover questions asked at the July 26th public forum sponsored by the Manhattan Alliance for Peace and Justice as well as cover new information about the changes to the U.S. health care system that took place on September 23rd.
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Sept. 30 Pt. 2 - Hispanic Heritage Month and Vote Yes on 2
Our second hour opens with David Villanueva, Mitzie Rojas, Jesus Sanchez from the K-State chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the Hispanic American Leadership Organization to discuss Hispanic American Heritage Month. Then at 6:30 pm, Robbin Waldner Cole, Executive Director of Pawnee Mental Health Services, and Rick Cagen, Executive Director of Kansas National Alliance on Mental Illness, join us for a discussion of the Kansas Voting Disqualification Amendment, also known as Constitutional Amendment Question 2, that will appear on the November 2 ballot. The measure, if enacted by voters, would eliminate mental illness as a voting disqualification. For more information visit: Yes on Amendment 2.
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Sept 23 - An Interview with Tom Holland and Kelly Kultala
Community Bridge opens with the Democratic candidates for Kansas Governor Tom Holland and his running mate Kelly Kultala live in studio. Holland and Kultala discuss the issues facing Kansas, their plans to help build strong schools and an even stronger Kansas economy and why they are the better choice for Kansas on November 2.
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Sept. 23 Pt. 2 - FHHRP's Battle for Equality
For our second hour, Dr. Charles Barden, K-State Extension, opens the show with a discussion of two invasive tree killers invading Kansas. Then Jonathan Mertz and Joshua McGinn from the Flint Hills Human Rights Project discuss their efforts to have sexual orientation and gender identity added to the City of Manhattan's Anti-discrimination Ordinance. We close out with a clip from GRITtv featuring David Kirby, author of Animal Factory: The Looming Threat of Industrial Pig, dairy, and Poultry Farms, who discusses why cheap food is making Americans sick and in some cases killing them.MP3 File
Sept. 16 - What Every Kansan Needs to Know about Kris Kobach
The Republican's nominee for the job of Kansas Secretary of State, Kris Kobach, is a well know nativist extremist who makes a living by drafting anti-immigrant laws and, after they are adopted, trains officers to enforce them. If the laws are challenged, he goes to court to defend them. Quite the racket since the laws are always rule unconstitutional and in the mean time he lines his pockets with tax-payer dollars from the legal fees he racks up. Immigration lawyer Angie Williams and UMKC law student Raymond Rico join us for a frank discussion of Kobach and his anti-immigrant crusade.
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Sept. 16 Pt. 2 - Bill Press on Toxic Talk
For our second hour, talk show host and author Bill Press joins us to discuss his new book Toxic Talk: How the Radical Right Has Poisoned America's Airwaves.
Susan Gardner on Daily Kos has this to say about Toxic Talk: " ...the most value found in Toxic Talk from Press's keen eye and long history in the business, which allow him to describe the fine shades of rhetoric and attitude on the conservative talk spectrum, from Rush Limbaugh to Glenn Beck, from tow-the-party-line guy Sean Hannity to paranoid loon Michael Savage. For those of us who can't handle listening to these guys, the author's serious delineation of defining the personalities and their trademark rhetoric is invaluable as a resource. He also knows the syndication biz inside and out, and his perspective on how the game has changed over the years and how it all fits together now is instructive."
Community Bridge closes out with Penny Senften, Executive Director of the Manhattan Arts Center, in a discussion of the events planned for the fall season.
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Sept. 9 - Community Cultural Harmony Week
Community Bridge opens this week with Scott Jones in a discussion of the activities planned for Community Cultural Harmony Week 2010 that takes place the seek of September 20th. Then Breanna Clary, Ecumenical Campus Ministry, joins us in studio for a discussion of Real Food Lunch. served each Thursday between 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m and provides a healthy lunch to students from K-State.
We close out this week's show first with a clip featuring Phyllis Bennis in a discussion of the "end to the Iraq war" from Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting and then hear Katrina vanden Heuvel on fighting the class war from GRITtv.
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Sept. 9 Pt. 2 - McCain Auditorium's 40th Anniversary
In our second hour this week, host Dusty Garner takes the mic as we open with this week's Media Minutes. Then we welcome Todd Holmberg, executive director of the McCain Auditorium, to discuss its 40th anniversary celebration in a previously taped interview.
We close out with the first of a series of interviews featuring candidates for elected office this November with our own writer/producer Christopher Renner discussing his vision for Riley County and why he is running for county commissioner. For more information visit: http://www.christopherrenner.com.
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Sept. 2 - The Battle for Social Security
Community Bridge celebrates this important milestone this week with Nancy Altman, author of The Battle for Social Security and Chair of the Board of Directors at the Pension Rights Center and Co-director, Social Security Works in a though provoking discussion of the program and dismantling some of the myths spread by opponents of Social Security.
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Sept. 2 Part 2 - Labor Day Special
On second hour opens with Joyce Glasscock, executive director of the Manhattan Boys and Girls Club, discussing discuss new after-school programs they are offering for students at Theodore Roosevelt elementary school.
Then hear an update on the situation with Net Neutrality from On the Media.
Then hear an update on the situation with Net Neutrality from On the Media.
Community Bridge closes out this week's show with a special program from the National Radio Project's "Making Contact" in honor of Labor Day - "Working Beyond Unions," featuring: Dr. Frances Fox Piven, CUNY Graduate Center, sociology and political science professor; Dr. Stanley Aronowitz, CUNY Graduate Center sociology, cultural studies and urban education professor; Bill Fletcher, Jr., labor activist and editorial board member and columnist at BlackCommentator.com; James Gray Pope, Rutgers School of Law-Newark professor and Sidney Reitman Scholar; Saket Soni, Director of the New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice; and Elaine Bernard, Executive Director of the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School.
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Aug. 26 - Movies on the Grass 2010
Community Bridges opens with Donna Schenck-Hamlin who fills us in on this year’s Movies on the Grass schedule. Then, Roy Crenshaw from Big Brothers – Big Sisters of Riley County joins us to talk about volunteering for their organization. Brandon Haddock then tells us about K-State's new LGBTQ Resource Center and we close out with this week's edition of The Breakdown with Chris Hayse.
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Aug. 26 Part 2 - A. Q. Miller Centennial
Our second hour opens with Gloria Freeland and Steve Smethers in a discussion of K-State's A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications Centennial. We close out this week by rebroadcasting a clip from the Tavis Smiley Show featuring author Tim Wise, author of Colorblind and White Like Me, discussing the ideals about a post-racial American and the way to solve racial tensions is by not talking about them.
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Aug. 12 - 538 Ways to Live Liberally
Community Bridge opens this week with the founder of Living Liberally, Justin Krebs, joining by telephone for a discussion of his new book: 538 Ways to Live, Work and Play Like a Liberal.
To find out more about Living Liberally, listen to our show from 18 February 2010 at: http://communitybridge.blogspot.com/2010/02/18-feb-2010-impact-of-budget-cuts-on.html
Following Krebs we are joined by Jane Gibson of the Manhattan Living Wage Coalition who gives us the details about this year's Laborfest scheduled for Sunday September 5th.
Nearly two years after a global financial crisis almost crippled our economy, President Obama two weeks ago signed into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, otherwise known as the financial regulatory reform bill. The bill is supposed to prevent such a crisis and the subsequent bank bailouts from ever happening again, but will it really accomplish that? And more broadly, what does it do to reform the financial system that made Wall Street's abuses possible in the first place? The Nation's Washington DC Editor Christopher Hayes and finance blogger Mike Konczal tackle these questions on this week's edition of The Breakdown. We close out this hour with this week's Media Minutes.
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Aug. 12 Part 2 - Votes for Women!
In our second hour we will broadcast the documentary: Votes for Women! by award-winning producer Sandra Sleight-Brennan.
"Votes For Women" was the slogan on the banners that many American suffragists wore in the 72 year struggle to get the vote. On August 26, 2010, we celebrate Women's Equality Day and the 90th Anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment. The documentary uses song, interviews, re-creations of events, and comments from historians to bring this dramatic history to life.
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Aug. 5 - Defending Women's Rights
As part of our efforts to celebrate Women's Equality Day and the 19th Amendment's 90th anniversary on August 26th, Community Bridge opens with Kari Ann Rinker, President of the Kansas Chapter of the National Organization for Women, along with Amber Versola and Vicki Stangl in a discussion of where women stand in the state of Kansas, what still needs to be done in the fight for women's equality, and the 2010 General election.
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Aug. 5 Part 2 - Exploring the Blues
During our second hour, following this week's Media Minutes, we take a look at the Blues with KSDB's Benjamin Detrixhe. Detrixhe hosts a speciality show on KSDB - Blues Power with Ben - dedicated to the Blues music genre. With Detrixhe spinning tunes, we will look at the historical development of this unique American musical form over the last century.
July 29 - An interview with Cheryl Hudspeth
Cheryl Hudspeth, Democratic Candidate for Kansas' 2nd Congressional District, joins us in studio for a discussion of key issues facing Kansas voters: the economy, bringing the defense budget under control, education, and the environment. Hudspeth shares her opinions and discusses how to respond to the many concerns we face.
July 29 Part 2 - Sec. of State Chris Biggs
Following this week's Media Minutes, Secretary of State Chris Biggs joins us in the KSDB studio to discuss the Secretary's job, key issues in this year's election campaign - from voter fraud to immigration - and his criticism of candidates who want to use the office for their own political agendas. Visit Bigg's campaign webpage.
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July 15 - Public Comments on Sunflower Energy
Community Bridge opens this week with Stephanie Cole, Kansas Sierra Club, and Scott Allegrucci, Great Plains Alliance for Clean Energy, in a discussion of the public hearing process for Sunflower Electric’s proposed 895-MW coal plant in Holcomb. While many may think this is a done deal because the governor and the legislature removed even the potential of regulatory and rate oversight over Sunflower by the Kansas Corporation Commission, and stripped the Kansas Department of Health and Environment of any state authority over air quality, the truth is, neither the governor, nor the legislature, nor a single utility has the ability to unilaterally ignore the existing enforcement agreement between the State of Kansas and the Environmental Protection Agency. Making the up-coming public comment time and public hearings worth paying attention to.
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July 15 Part 2 -The Anatomy of Hate
For our second hour we welcome director Michael Ramsdell in a discussion of his film Anatomy of Hate; Dialogue of Hope, which screened earlier this spring here in Manhattan. The film reveals the shared narratives found in individual and collective ideologies of hate, and how we as a species can overcome them. The DVD is available for check out from the Manhattan Public Library.
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A Discussion with Rep. Tom hawk
This week's Community Bridge opens with Rep. Tom Hawk in a discussion of the 2010 legislative session. At 45 past the hour, Beth Bailey, Assistant Director/Manager of Programs at the K-State Student Union, joins us to provide an overview of the Little Apple Jazz Festival that takes place July 17th in City Park.
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July 8 Part 2 - Immigration Special
Our second hour opens with Tim Karr of Free Press for a brief update on the situation with Net Neutrality. (For a complete overview of this issue, please see our March 5th show.)
Then we close the show this week by rebroadcasting two features looking into the issue of immigration from New America Media. First, America always likes to describe itself as a nation of immigrants, but throughout its history it’s also struggled to keep immigrants out through a patchwork of laws. Now when we talk about our broken immigration system, politicians like to look at the border with Mexico. The flood of immigrants crossing illegally into Arizona and the federal government’s inability to secure the borders was cited by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer when she signed the state’s anti-illegal immigration bill into law. But was that bill so unprecedented in American history? Sandip Roy interviews veteran Sacramento journalist Peter Schrag and San Francisco Chronicle reporter Tyche Hendricks who give us two views of immigration – one up close and personal on the ground, the other the big picture, the historical view. Peter Schraag has written Not Fit For Our Society – Immigration And Nativism In America and Tyche Hendricks has written The Wind Doesn’t Need A Passport – Stories From The US-Mexico Borderlands.
Then Mary Ambrose reports on the US-Mexico boarder with David Danelo, author of The Border - Exploring the US - Mexico Divide, in which Danelo straddles the border in his first hand interviews with both hardened border patrollers and Mexicans searching for the illusive American prosperity. The Economist says: "If you want a feel for the strange, dangerous, and inspiring entity that is both the border and la frontera, this is a pretty good place to start."
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July 1 - KONZ - Flint Hills Community Radio
We open our show with a discussion of the northern Flint Hills new radio station, KONZ - Flint Hills Community Radio with Linda Teener, Debbie Nuss, and Jon Tveite. They discuss how this possiblity came about, what programming will look like, and what you can do to be part of this exciting effort. Then we hear this week's installment of "The Breakdown" with Chris Hayse.
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July 1 Part 2 - SEA Blocked from Clean up Efforts
Opening our second hour, Ellen Welti from Students for Environmental Action, discusses the groups recent efforts at trying to help with the Gulf Coast clean up and the road blocks they ran into created by BP which prevents volunteers from address the worst human-made environmental disaster in our history.
Following Welti's report we continue our coverage of the BP oil spill by rebroadcasting a clip from GRITtv featuring Mike Papantonio.
"I know what a thug corporation looks like," says lawyer and radio host Mike Papantonio, who is busy building a RICO case against BP for the oil devastation in the Gulf. "These people are sociopaths and the GOP are apologizing for them."
Papantonio joins GRITtv host Laura Flanders from Florida to discuss the ongoing case against BP, noting that the company bragged back in 2008 of being able to better track its oil movements only to claim now that it had no idea how much oil was gushing into the water. He also discusses the studies that found brain damage and genetic mutations in people exposed to oil in previous spills--and why drilling in Alaska is going forward anyway.
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June 24 - The Legacy of Agent Orange
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| Susan Schnall |
On June 16th, a joint panel of U.S. and Vietnamese policymakers, citizens and scientists released an action plan, urging the U.S. government and other donors to provide an estimated $30 million annually over 10 years to clean up sites still contaminated by dioxin, a toxic chemical used in the defoliant. However, the Agent Orange legacy is still affecting the American GIs who served in Vietnam, their children and grandchildren as well as the people of the former South Vietnam. Susan Schnall, a former Navy nurse and officer and Board member of the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign joins us to discuss the on-going disaster of Agent Orange.
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June 24, Part 2 - An Interview with Colony Collapse
In our second hour, we first hear this week's edition of "The Breakdown" with The Nation's DC Editor Christopher Hayes who brings in Kert Davies, research director for Greenpeace, to try to answer this week's question: Is BP unique in its ability to create catastrophe or is the entire practice of offshore oil drilling inherently and equally dangerous regardless of which company is running the rig?" Then Taylor Holenbeck, Nathan Dixey, David Thomas and Trent Banks of Colony Collapse join us in studio to discuss their music, new CD, tour, and Colony Collapse Disorder - the pandemic affecting honey bees.
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June 17 - What White People Fear
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| Robert Jensen |
Community Bridge opens with author and professor Robert Jensen. Jensen, a journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin, is author of The Heart of Whiteness: Confronting Race, Racism and White Privilege and his latest, All My Bones Shake: Seeking a Progressive Path to the Prophetic Voice. He is co-producer of the new documentary Abe Osheroff: One Foot in the Grave, the Other Still Dancing. Jensen will discuss "what while people fear" as we look out on US society, the Obama election and the rise of the Tea Party element and what it has to do with racism.
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June 17, Part 2 - On the Varieties of Homophobia
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| Wayne Bensen |
In our second hour, following this week's Media Minutes, Community Bridge welcomes Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out, discussing his recent article "On the Varieties of Homophobia" which appeared in the current edition of the Gay and Lesbian Review. Truth Wins Out is a non-profit organization that defends the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community against anti-gay misinformation, counters the so-called “ex-gay” industry and educates America about the lives of LGBT people. Their goal is to fight for a world where LGBT individuals can live openly, honestly, free of discrimination and be true to themselves.
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June 10 - People's Grocery at 35
Community Bridge opens this week with Scott Brelsford and Ben Champion from the People's Grocery Cooperative to discuss the coop, their new building, local food, and more.
Then Mike and Lisa Irvin join is in studio to discuss Teen Reach Adventure Camp - a program designed for foster children, that will be offered in the Manhattan area in July (girls' 9th-11th, boys' 30th-Aug.1st). Youth face a rough transition as they move from elementary school into high school, but even tougher are these years for adolescents who are in foster care and have experienced abuse, abandonment and neglect. Teen Reach Adventure Camps provide these youth people with a chance to work as a team, trust each other and the counselors and understand their incredible value.
The first hour closes out this week's installation of "The Breakdown" with Chris Hayes. This week's edition looks at "Don't ask; don't tell." President Obama has repeatedly promised to end the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy banning gays, lesbians and bisexuals from openly serving in the military. Last month, the House of Representatives took a concrete step towards fulfilling that promise by amending a major defense appropriations bill to include a DADT repeal. But there is a catch: the policy would only be repealed after a Pentagon study on the issue is released in December. On this week's edition of The Breakdown, DC Editor Christopher Hayes asks University of Pennsylvania Law School professor Tobias Wolff about the impact the Pentagon study will have on the repeal of DADT.
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June 10, Part 2 - The Kansas Free Press
During our second hour, Christopher Renner welcomes back Pam Pohly, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Kansas Free Press for a follow-up to our 2009. Now in its eighth month of activity with over 70 writes, the Kansas Free Press provides Kansans with an alternative to the mainstream media. Pohly believes that writing about the places, people, policies and politics of Kansas in the KPF by the citizen journalists who contribute to the paper will help coax their neighbors into meaningful public conversations about what Kansans value - and how our communities, state and nation respond to those values.
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June 3 - Flint Hills Pride
Community Bridge opens this week with representatives from the Flint Hills Pride Festival planning committee who discuss the scheduled activities for this year's Pride Festival, Saturday June 19th, at Farnum Creek Park at Milford Lake. Then Bettina Boller from the Manhattan Arts Center fills us in on programs available for young people this summer at the Center.
Community Bridge debuts "The Breakdown" with Chris Hayes. In his articles for The Nation and his commentary for MSNBC, Christopher Hayes is one of the best at explanatory journalism. In "The Breakdown" Hayes explains one big idea from the week in the politics, helping listeners make sense of inside the beltway commentary.
In May, the war in Afghanistan hit a sad milestone: the 1000th American casualty. Memorial Day is when we stop to remember the soldiers who have given their lives in battle in the U.S.'s many wars. But there are many veterans from the wars still alive and struggling with the consequences of active duty every day, both physically and mentally. We conclude this portion of the show with a clip from GRITtv featuring Jose Vasquez, executive director of Iraq Veterans Against the War,who talks about the ongoing struggles on behalf of veterans, whether they be discharged and fighting for benefits or still on active duty and fighting repeated deployments.
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June 3, Part 2: NAFTA and Labor in North America
During our second hour this week, Norman Caulfield, professor of history at Ft. Hays University, joins us by telephone to discuss his new book: NAFTA and Labor in North America. Focusing especially on the effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement and the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (the first international labor agreement linked to an international trade agreement), Norman Caulfield notes the waning political influence of trade unions and their disunity and divergence on crucial issues such as labor migration and workers' rights. Comparing the labor movement's fortunes in the 1970s with its current weakened condition, Caulfield notes the parallel decline in the United States' hegemonic influence in an increasingly globalized economy. As a result, organized labor has been transformed from organizations that once pressured management and the state for concessions to organizations that now request that workers concede wages, pensions, and health benefits to remain competitive in the global marketplace.
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May 27: Latino Informational Network of Kansas
This week's show opens with Lalo Muñoz, executive director of the Latino Information Network of Kansas, discussing the services the Network provides, SB 1070 in Arizona, the growing strength of the Latino population in Kansas and other concerns.
Then Jonathan Mertz, chair of the Flint Hills Human Rights Project, joins us in studio to respond to the provocative editorial the Manhattan Mercury ran on May 21st in response to the recent efforts to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
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May 27 - Part 2: 2010 Legislative Wrap-up
For our second hour, we open with this week's Media Minutes. Then Community Bridge welcomes Rep. Sydney Carlin and Sen. Roger Reitz to discuss the winner and losers of the 2010 legislative session and the battle for a state budget that did not do further harm to Kansans.
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May 14 - Manhattan Emergency Shelter
Community Bridge opens this week with Mandy Chapman Semple, Executive Director of the Manhattan Emergency Shelter, who discusses two new programs the Shelter is conducting that brings stability to households and prevents homelessness in our community.
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May 14 Part 2 - Making Music with Kristie Stremel and Jessie Freyermuth
During our second hour we hear from area musicians Kristie Stremel and Jessie Feryermuth. Stremel is a Kansas City-based musician who will be playing at the Flint Hills Pride Festival in June and Feryermuth just finished her master degree here at K-State. Together they talk about their music and provide our listeners with a sample of their musical styles.
Community Bridge thanks the musicians for their permission to include their entire songs in this podcast. Further reproduction of their music in any form is strictly prohibited.
May 6, 2010 - Savoring the Season: Eating from Farmers Markets
Community Bridge opens this week with a discussion on how to savor the season with Mercedes Taylor-Puckett, Kansas Rural Center, Elaine Mohr and David Heidebrink of the Manhattan Farmer's Market as we explore farmer's markets and the food they bring to our community.
The Kansas Rural Center supports a number of projects designed to move agriculture towards local and regional food systems that emphasize community, nearby markets, and the self-generation of local economies through farmer and processor livelihoods, all based on sustainable farming practices.
The Kansas Rural Center supports a number of projects designed to move agriculture towards local and regional food systems that emphasize community, nearby markets, and the self-generation of local economies through farmer and processor livelihoods, all based on sustainable farming practices.
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May 6, 2010 - Manhattan's Homecare and Hospice
For our second hour this week we open with Richard Pitts and Diane Washington discussing the summer activities planned by Wonder Workshop. Then Judine Mecseri joins us in studio for our rescheduled program on Homecare and Hospice.
Homecare and Hospice, Inc. offers a wide range of health, support and volunteer services designed to meet the needs of recovering, disabled, chronically or terminally ill persons and their families/caregivers in their home.
Homecare and Hospice, Inc. offers a wide range of health, support and volunteer services designed to meet the needs of recovering, disabled, chronically or terminally ill persons and their families/caregivers in their home.
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April 29, 2010 - Safeguarding U.S. Democracy: A Quest for a More Diverse Judiciary
We close out the hour by rebroadcasting an interview Tavis Smiley conducted with Diane Ravitch, former US Department of Education official, about her new book: The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education. Ravitch discusses the negative impact of No Child Left Behind on our public school system.
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April 29, Part 2 - Kansas Budget Woes: A 2011 Budget for All Kansans
Community Bridge closes out with Mike Herman, K-State professor and member of Kansas Citizens for Science, who discusses the science cafes KCS is hosting across the state.
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April 22 - Earth Day 2010
Then Andrew McGowan, Zack Pistora and Kevin Tulp from Students for Environmental Action to discuss Earth Day 2010, the efforts of SEA to change K-State policy through their "declaration of the decade" efforts, and areas of concern on the table for K-State and Manhattan.
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Earth Day 2010, Part 2
Beginning our second hour, we hear from High Plains News as they take a look at the effects of our reliance on coal-fired power on our air, water, climate and communities. Originally prepared for the global climate summit in Copenhagen, this program provides insight into an important issue facing Kansas.Finally Jonathan Mertz, chair of the Flint Hills Human Right Project, and Hannah Mattocks, Co-chair of Manhattan Pride, join host Christopher Renner in studio to discuss Saturday's historic LGBT Pride March through Manhattan. The March takes place on 24 April beginning at 2:00 pm at the Riley County Courthouse.
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April 15, 2010 - An Interview with Charles Schollenberger US Senate Candidate
Following this week's Media Minutes, we welcome openly gay musician Tom Goss to the show. Goss will be in concert in Manhattan on April 24. He discusses his music and new projects including The Politics of Love - a broad curriculum that gives individuals the tools they need to teach marriage equality where they are. Perfect for college clubs, church congregations, high-school classrooms and even your home, The Politics of Love combines several components, (audio, video, powerpoint presentation, discussion points, handouts) that makes it possible to lead workshops and discussions with the click of a button.
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8 April 2010 - Another World Is Possible: Another US in Necessary: The US Social Forum
The US Social Forum will provide a space to build relationships, learn from each other's experiences, and share analysis of the problems our communities face. It will help develop leadership, vision, and strategy needed to realize another world.
We close out this week by rebroadcasting two segments from On The Media that discusses the alarming rise of U.S. hate groups and the rhetoric that feeds them featuring Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Then Daniel Levitas, an expert on homegrown terrorist groups, says that there's a double standard regarding which groups get the "terrorist" label.
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1 April 2010 - An Interview with Lisa Engelken
Then we hear from the jazz singer Lisa Engelken about her new CD Caravan. Engelken grew up on the Lone Pine Farm east of Corning in Nemeha County. She graduated from Centralia High school and when on to get her BA and Master degrees from the University of Kansas. Caravan features 10 of Engelken's fresh arrangements that breathe new life into jazz standards by Ellington, Porter, and Carmichael and boldly transforms contemporary tunes such as Billy Idol’s "White Wedding" and Joni Mitchell’s "Trouble Child" into the jazz idiom.
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1 April Part 2 - War in Iraq Year Seven: What is this war costing us?
As of October 2009, the U.S. was spending $7.3 billion a month in Iraq. National Priorities Project estimates that for this fiscal year, $64.5 billion is directed to Iraq and $72.3 billion to Afghanistan. In a time of economic crisis with a crumbling national infrastructure, American families loosing their homes and retirements, how can such spending be sustained? Joining us in studio today to answer this and other questions about the on-going war mentality we find our nation in is Prof. John Exdell and Dr. Stan Cox.MP3 File
25 March 2010 - The "Crisis" of Journalism
The House of Representatives, under Speaker Nancy Pelosi, passed historic health care reform late Sunday night. The bill is far from perfect, and legislators from all sides will be working to shape the bill more to their liking. Progressives regret the lack of a public option, let alone single payer, and the use of women's reproductive choice as a political football in the negotiations.
But what does it all mean? Will the protests die down, or just get worse? What can we do to get REAL change we can believe in, with a country this polarized? Laura Flanders of GRIT TV discusses these questions with Chip Berlet, an expert on right-wing populism and senior analyst with Political Research Associates, and Nina Agrawal, pediatrician and director of community outreach with the National Physicians Alliance.
We close out the first half on this week's show with some music from Lisa Engelken, a native of Corning, KS, from her new CD, "Caravan." Engelken will be our guest next week on Community Bridge.
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25 March Part 2 - An Interview with Cheryl Hudspeth
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Special Podcast: Adequate Yearly Funding Rally Speeches
On March 16, hundreds of parents, teachers and students rallied at the Capitol in Topeka to protest potential future cuts in education funding. Recent education funding levels have substantially improved educational results. Reducing funding to 1992 levels will destroy the progress Kansas schools have made to the detriment of our most innocent Kansans. Protect our future and our most valuable asset…the Kansas child. Speakers in order of appearance are: Noah Slay, Sen. Anthony Hensley, Gov. Mark Parkinson, Alec Weaver, 2009 Kansas Teacher of the year Cindy Coachman, Rep, Ann Mah, Rep. Paul Davis, Sen. Tom Holland, Alec Elkison, KNEA President Dr. Blake West and Christie Slay.MP3 File
11 March 2010 - What You Need to Know About the 2010 Census
Next we hear a short commentary from Frank Schaeffer on the racist undertones to many of the Rights complaints about Obama. Then we welcome Elizabeth Renteria and Kristen Garcia from the Hispanic American Leadership Organization to discuss Cesar Chavez Week to discuss the activities they have planned for Cesar Chavez Day on March 31.
We close with Christina Nolte of Homecare and Hospice discussing the Flint Hills Festival of Wines that takes place March 26 and 27th. The announced interview with Nolte and Judine Mecseri of Homecare and Hospice had to be rescheduled for April 1 due to the KSU basketball gave that started at 6:00 pm.
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4 March 2010 - Net Neutrality with Tim Karr
Network Neutrality, or Net Neutrality for short, is the fundamental principle that preserves the free and open Internet. Net Neutrality means that Internet service providers may not discriminate between different kinds of content and applications online. It guarantees a level playing field for all Web sites and Internet technologies.
Then Christopher Renner interviews noted sociologist Gay Seidman, author of Beyond the Boycott: Labor Rights, Human Rights, and Transnational Activism
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4 March Part 2 - A Conversation with Brian McLaren
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25 February 2010 - Arts and Diversity in Manhattan
Community Bridge opens with Elliott Pujol and Gerry Craig of the K-State Art Department. Pujol is a master metalsmith and is one of six receiving the 2010 Governor's Arts Award from the Kansas Arts Commission.As part of our on-going series for African American History Month, Tiffany Powell, PhD, Coordinator of the Office of Diversity at USD 383, joins us to discuss the challenges she faces in closing achievement gaps, supporting student involvement and making sure our district reflects the diversity of its student body.
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25 February Part 2 - Reality Not Celebrity
George Pyle is the editorial writer at The Buffalo News in New York, but he grew up in Hutchinson and graduated magna cum laude from Wichita State University with a degree in journalism. Pyle was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing in 1998. He is the author of Raising Less Corn, More Hell: Why Our Economy, Ecology and Security Demand the Preservation of the Independent Farm, in 2005.
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18 February 2010 - How Budget Cuts Affect Seniors; Living Liberally
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18 February Part 2 - Repealing the Kansas Death Penalty
For our second hour this week, we discuss the effort to repeal the Kansas Death Penalty (SB 375) with Linda and Roger Johnson of the Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty. Then for American American History Month we rebroadcast an interview Tavis Smiley conducted with Myrlie Evers, wife of slain civil rights activist Medgar Evers, on his show on PBS.MP3 File
11 February 2010 - A Conversation with Howard Dean
Christopher E. Renner, host of Community Bridge, thanks The Nation for giving permission to broadcast this conversation so it can be heard by a broader audience.
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Special Podcast: Town Hall on Sex Education
On November 17, 2009, Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri held a community meeting to discuss sexuality education in the public school system. In particular they discussed Comprehensive Sexuality Education. This approach teaches about abstinence as the best method of avoiding sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and unintended pregnancy. It also teaches about condoms and contraception to reduce the risk of unintended pregnancy and of infection with STDs including HIV.Comprehensive Sexuality Education teaches skills for making responsible decisions about sex, including how to avoid unwanted verbal, physical, and sexual advances. It teaches interpersonal and communication skills and helps young people explore their own values, goals, and options.
Following a general introduction by Jen LaBarbera of Planned Parenthood, a panel of experts and youth give testimony to the importance of comprehensive sexuality education in public schools.
Rev. Kevin Snow, Resident Pastor of Community Christian Church, acts a facilitator of the panel that includes: Sarah Gillooly, organizer for PROMO; Eden McKissick-Hawley, student at Shawnee Mission East High School; Vannella Halsall, community education; George Turner LCSCW/LCSW, mental health professional; Pam Western, nurse practitioner; and, Wendy Crim, parent.
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4 February 2010: Funding Public Education
Community Bridge takes up the issue of Funding Public Education with Terry Forsyth, Kansas NEA; Mark Tallman, Kansas Association of School Boards; Kathy Cook, Kansas Families for Education; and Susan Marshall, vice-chair the USD 383 School Board. Social conservatives are doing everything in their power to bankrupt our schools and damage our state's infrastructure. Our guests will discuss what is happening in the Kansas legislature, what the cuts carried out this year have meant for the quality of education in Kansas, and what you can do to put an end to wrecking our state's infrastructure.MP3 File
4 February Part 2 - National Issues and Concerns
“You can’t be neutral on a moving train,” Howard Zinn famously said. He didn’t believe in staying closeted in the academy, though he was a brilliant historian whose book, A People’s History of the United States: 1492 to Present changed the way many people view history. Recently, a documentary based on his work, The People Speak, brought to life the many Americans whose lives and activism would otherwise have been forgotten.Zinn died on January 27th at age 87. He lived a long, full life and was an inspiration to all of us at. We will listen to a clip from GRITtv when he spoke to Laura Flanders in 2008.
Then we broadcast another clip from GRITtv focusing on President Obama's State of the Union speech. Steve Cobble, a fellow at the Insitute for Policy Studies, joins Laura Flanders to talk about the state of our union and what people can do to fight the corporate power. Also in studio are Mike Lux, founder of Progressive Strategies and author of The Progressive Revolution: How the Best in America Came to Be, and Lisa Dodson, professor at Boston College and author of The Moral Underground: How Ordinary Americans Subvert an Unfair Economy.
Next we hear from Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting's CounterSpin. The Supreme Court ruled 5-to-4 that corporations may not be limited in their spending to influence elections, because they have the same free speech rights as people. Among the many questions raised are not just what this means for elections, but what it means for "free" speech. CounterSpin interviews Charlie Cray of the Center for Corporate Policy on that story.
We conclude with a segment from Riz Khan of Al Jazeera entitled: The Role of Media in the US. Khan interviews Any Goodman of executive producer and host of Democracy Now! and John Maxwell Hamilton, author of Journalism's Roving Eye: A History of Foreign Reporting, about the crisis American journalism is facing and what this means for informing the public debate.
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28 Jan. 2010: Jana's Campaign to End Domestic Violence
Jana's Campaign is a grassroots, community-based advocacy effort developed for the purpose of working in the domestic violence public policy arena. According to a recent United Nations report, one in every three women worldwide will directly experience violence in their lifetime. The overwhelming majority of these women will be physically harmed by their intimate partners. In the United States, domestic violence is recognized as the leading cause of injuries experienced by women. And data from the US Department of Justice says on an average, three women every day are killed by their current or former partners. On July 3, 2008, Jana Lynne Mackey, a University of Kansas law student was one of these fatalities.
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January 28 Part 2 - Is There an Obama Doctrine in Foreign Policy?
The panel discusses foreign policy in the first year of the Obama administration and features: Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of The Nation as moderator, with panelists: Robert Scheer, editor Truthdig.com; Steve Cohen, American scholar of Russian studies and professor of Russian Studies and History at New York University; Gov. Howard Dean, former Governor of Vermont and Chair of the Democratic Party; and William Greider, author of numerous books, including Come Home, America: The Rise and Fall (And Redeeming Promise) Of Our Country, contributor to The Nation, wrote for Rolling Stone magazine during the 1980s and 1990s, and has worked as an on-air correspondent for Frontline on PBS.
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21 January 2010 - Kansans for Quality Communities
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January 21 Part 2 - Extended Program
For our extended programming, we open with a clip from Tavis Smiley interviewing Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman about her new book, the role of the press in a democracy, and if progressives are "finding their legs."Next we hear from Laura Flanders and GRIT TV. January 22nd is the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that finally recognized a woman’s right to her own reproductive choices. With the election of a prochoice Democrat last November, many assumed that we might finally have some breathing room around the issue of abortion. To fill our listeners in on the abortion wars, Flanders spoke to Silvia Henriquez, Executive Director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, Carole Joffe, author of Dispatches from the Abortion Wars, and Lynn Paltrow, Executive Director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women.
We close out the show with a clip of Democracy Now! from January 8th looking at the notorious mercenary corporation- Blackwater featuring journalist Jeremy Scahill and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), who is launching an investigation into why two Blackwater contractors were among the dead in the December 30 suicide bombing at the CIA station at Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost, Afghanistan.
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January 14, 2010 - An Interview with Robert Scheer
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