Bill Moyers Journal (Audio) | PBS - podcast cover

Bill Moyers Journal (Audio) | PBS

Veteran journalist Bill Moyers returns to PBS with Bill Moyers Journal, a weekly program of interviews and news analysis on a wide range of subjects, including politics, arts and culture, the media, the economy, and issues facing democracy.
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Episodes

Katrina recovery woes

Two years after Katrina, casinos, hotels and condos are coming back strong in the hardest hit areas of Mississippi, but tens of thousands of people are still displaced-in limbo with no solution in sight. Bill Moyers Journal profiles a group known as The Steps Coalition, which is fighting on behalf of families who are still in need of housing, and examines what's happened to the money Congress sent to rebuild. The Steps Coalition argues that Governor Haley Barbour's recovery plan has made it diff...

Nov 16, 200757 min

Historian Thomas Cahill

Bill Moyers interviews best-selling historian Thomas Cahill in a far ranging interview that takes viewers from the Coliseum in Rome to death row in Texas and examines what our attitudes toward cruelty can tell us about who we are as Americans. "However difficult it may be the only way you are going to gain closure is to let go of your hatred" says Cahill, who is best known for his The Hinges of History series of books, which includes the widely read How the Irish Saved Civilization. Cahill says ...

Nov 09, 200757 min

Media Consolidation

Big Media is pushing the FCC to relax ownership rules again to give conglomerates more control over what Americans read, see, and hear. What most Americans don't know is that the FCC plans to fast track the rule changes and cut off public comment in December. Who wins and who loses? Bill Moyers Journal reports on the real-world consequences of media policy through the lens of how it affects minority media ownership in America. Also on the program, Moyers interviews Katherine S. Newman, author of...

Nov 02, 200757 min

Presidential Power

How far can a President go to defend the nation? Bill Moyers Journal examines the unprecedented Presidential power some say is being amassed by our current Administration and kept secret in the name of national security. Moyers gets perspective from Charles Fried, who teaches Constitutional law at Harvard law School and served as solicitor general in the Reagan Administration, and Fritz Schwarz, who served as counsel to the U.S. Senate select committee led by Frank Church of Idaho that uncovered...

Oct 26, 200757 min

Examining Blackwater

Blackwater CEO Erik Prince has been on the PR offensive this week, appearing on television to answer questions about his security firm Blackwater and its involvement in the shooting deaths of Iraqi civilians. Why is the press buying it? Bill Moyers interviews journalist Jeremy Scahill to help separate the spin from the reality. Scahill is an award-winning investigative journalist and the author of the bestselling book, Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army.

Oct 19, 200757 min

Wall Street Woes, Author Anouar Majid and Honoring Doris lessing

Could we see a repeat of the big stock market crash of '29? This week on Bill Moyers Journal, veteran market watcher Robert Kuttner and Wall Street insider William H. Donaldson give their read of the current economic landscape and discuss the risks of the deregulation of the financial industry. Donaldson was the 27th chairman of the SEC and is the former chairman and chief executive of the New York Stock Exchange, and Kuttner is co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect magazine and was ...

Oct 12, 200757 min

Christians for Israel.

As leader of the politically powerful group Christians United for Israel (CUFI), Pastor John Hagee wants to bring millions of Christians together to support Israel. But some say his message is dangerous: "It is time for America to...consider a military preemptive strike against Iran to prevent a nuclear holocaust in Israel and a nuclear attack in America." Bill Moyers Journal reports on CUFI and then gets theological and political context from Rabbi Michael lerner, editor of TIKKUN, a Jewish jou...

Oct 05, 200757 min

Capitalism in crisis.

Is there a crisis in American capitalism? Investment industry giant John Bogle says that as more and more money managers take control over corporations on Wall Street, Main Street is paying the price. Named by Fortune magazine as one of the four "Giants of the 20th Century," Bogle tells Moyers: "The evidence is quite compelling that today corporations are run in a very important way to maximize the returns of its managers at the expense of its stockholders." Also on the program, NPR's Deborah Am...

Sep 28, 200757 min

Rachel Carson's legacy.

Forty-five years after the publication of Rachel Carson's landmark book Silent Spring, which launched the modern environmental movement, her disturbing story of how toxic chemicals were poisoning the earth still resonates. But who was Rachel Carson? And what can the ferocious debate she started and the vicious attacks she endured tell us about environmentalism in the 21st century? Bill Moyers Journal looks at the life and legacy of Rachel Carson through an extraordinary portrayal of her in a one...

Sep 21, 200757 min

Domestic Spying, The Terror Presidency from the Inside, Mountaintop Mining

Bill Moyers interviews executive director of the American Civil liberties Union Anthony D. Romero and former Republican Congressman Mickey Edwards about wiretapping and domestic surveillance. And, Jack Goldsmith, former head the Office of legal Counsel at the Justice Department, gives an insider's view of advising the President on the limits of executive power during the war on terror. Also on the program, as proposed new rules may allow coal companies to expand mountain top removal mining, Bill...

Sep 07, 200757 min

Poet Robert Bly and Activist Grace lee Boggs

The poetry of Robert Bly has touched on spiritual insights and deep truths about American culture. With more than 30 books, including the National Book Award-winning THE lIGHT AROUND THE BODY, Bly also became known for co-founding American Writers Against the Vietnam War in 1966. His 1990 work IRON JOHN: A BOOK ABOUT MEN is an international bestseller which has been translated into many languages. Also on the program activist and philosopher Grace lee Boggs, who has taken part in some of the sem...

Aug 31, 200757 min

Media power grab?

local news is the heartbeat of democracy, so why is it disappearing from many communities around the nation? Media consolidation isn't widely covered by the mainstream press, but potential changes being considered to the rules governing the nation's big media companies could have far reaching effects on democracy. Bill Moyers Journal devotes an hour to this important issue with a report on the disappearance of local news and community radio and in-depth interviews with journalist Rick Karr, medi...

Aug 24, 200757 min

lessons of Katrina, historian Martin E. Marty, and Bill Moyers on Karl Rove

As the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches, Bill Moyers gets two views on what the disaster and its aftermath says about American culture and values with Princeton's Melissa Harris-lacewell and author and environmental journalist Mike Tidwell. Also on the program, one of the country's leading historians, Martin E. Marty, who has spent a lifetime unraveling the mysteries of the world's religions, discusses his latest book on the mystery of childhood and what adults can learn from i...

Aug 17, 200757 min

The Yes Men, Poet Martin Espada, and a Tribute to Sekou Sundiata

The Yes Men - aka Mike Bonanno and Andy Bichlbaum - who discovered that pranks could get press attention to important issues that would otherwise be ignored. Also on the program, renowned poet Martin Espada speaks about his love of language and the human need for poetry as he reflects on how heritage and immigration, and violence and war, have influenced his work.

Jul 20, 200757 min

Tough Talk on Impeachment

In the wake of President Bush's commutation of I. lewis 'Scooter' libby's prison sentence, talk of impeachment is gaining steam as a new opinion poll says that nearly half of Americans favor the impeachment of the President and more than half believe Vice President Cheney should be impeached. Bill Moyers gets perspective from Constitutional scholar Bruce Fein, who wrote the first article of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, and The Nation's John Nichols, author of The Genius of Impeach...

Jul 13, 200757 min

Biologist E.O. Wilson and Washington DC's Earth Conservation Corps

Dedicating his life to the exploration of life on Earth, E.O. Wilson is one of the world's foremost authorities on biology. Bill Moyers Journal profiles the author of 25 Books and recipient of two Pulitzer Prizes, who speaks about what humankind needs to understand about the Earth to heal it and about his latest project The Encyclopedia of life - a digital, online catalog of every single living species on the planet. And, Bill Moyers Journal updates a report on the non-profit group, the Earth Co...

Jul 06, 200757 min

Financial writer Gretchen Morgenson, GOP stalwart Vic Gold, lori Wallach on trade and Bill Moyers on Rupert Murdoch

With U.S. mortgages entering foreclosure at a record pace, the crisis has far reaching implications, from the financial markets to the financial health of ordinary Americans. For the latest, Bill Moyers interviews assistant business and financial editor at The New York Times Gretchen Morgenson, who has been covering the story. Also on the program: lori Wallach, Director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, on the secret trade deal negotiated by leaders of the Democratic Party and its implicat...

Jun 29, 200757 min

HARPER's magazine's Ken Silverstein on foreign lobbying and Imam Zaid Shakir

When Harper's Magazine editor Ken Silverstein went undercover to recruit Washington lobbyists to help improve the image of Turkmenistan, a corrupt foreign government with appalling human rights abuses, K-Street firms laid out plans to get the job done. What does it say about the state of influence-peddling in Washington? Bill Moyers gets the inside story from Silverstein. Also on the program, Imam Zaid Shakir has been called a voice of conscience for American Muslims, but his views on Islam in A...

Jun 22, 200757 min

labor leader Andy Stern, Activist Grace lee Boggs and a Bill Moyers Essay

On Wall Street, private equity firms are buying up corporations and turning them around for huge profits. What does it mean for America's workers and for the economic gap between average families and the wealthiest Americans? Andrew Stern, the president of Service Employees International Union-the fastest growing union in the nation-weighs in. Also on the program, Bill Moyers interviews writer, activist, and philosopher Grace lee Boggs, who has taken part in some of the seminal civil rights stru...

Jun 15, 200757 min

Overpaid Airline Execs? Plus, Christian Parenti and Bishop Jefferts Schori

Beginning to trade on the NYSE last week, Northwest airlines dodged the bankruptcy bullet. But while a $1.4 billion a year cut in labor expenses have ensured lower costs, why are airline executives still executives still flying high on salaries, stock options and benefits while workers and retirees see cuts in pay and compensation? Then, with heated debate looming large over progress reports and withdrawal deadlines for Iraq, what's next for Afghanistan? Journalist Christian Parenti, just back f...

Jun 08, 200757 min

Cleaning House in Congress and Bob Kerrey on Iraq

Former Democratic senator Bob Kerrey is making his case for a refocused mission in Iraq. The 9/11 Commission member and Vietnam war veteran tells Bill Moyers why having US military forces in Iraq is necessary in fighting terrorism, but calls for a bipartisan plan to end US policing and occupation in the war torn nation. One of Washington's most influential public advocates, Joan Claybrook of Public Citizen, talks about what is at stake in the ethical reforms under consideration in Congress. Bill...

Jun 01, 200757 min

D-Day Revisited

As America honors heroes who have fought and fallen for their nation, Bill Moyers Journal presents "D-Day Revisited," a special one-hour broadcast which follows a group of World War II veterans back to Europe to speak about their wartime experiences-some of them unlocking memories they had been keeping inside for nearly 50 years. Featuring excerpts from the Bill Moyers' 1990 documentary From D-Day to the Rhine, "D-Day Revisited" includes the latest information about the veterans featured in the ...

May 28, 200757 min

Maxine Hong Kingston

On Memorial Day weekend, Bill Moyers Journal presents an illuminating interview with Maxine Hong Kingston, acclaimed author of many books including the award-winning The Woman Warrior and her latest book Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace. For the past 15 years, Kingston has been working with veterans - more than 500 soldiers from World War II, from Vietnam, and now, from Iraq - as well as other survivors of war to convert the horrors they experienced into the words and stories that Kingston bel...

May 25, 200757 min

Melissa Harris-lacewell on race in America, Bruce Bawer on fundamentalisms, and Rick MacArthur on the trade deal

Bill Moyers Journal looks at the trade deal in the works between the new leadership in Congress and the Bush Administration, which has the Democrats under fire from America's workers. Bill Moyers gets perspective on the deal from Harper's magazine publisher John R. MacArthur, author of The Selling of "Free Trade": NAFTA, Washington, and the Subversion of American Democracy. Also on the program, Princeton's Melissa Harris lacewell on race, politics, and spirituality; and author Bruce Bawer, who l...

May 18, 200757 min

The Cost of War

It's a question that can be addressed in many ways. The National Priorities Project keeps a constantly running count of war costs - and compares the totals with what the dollars would buy in other government services. Fiscal conservatives keep an eye on the Department of Treasury's national debt to the penny. Of course there are costs that cannot be quantified in dollars.

May 11, 20077 min

Regent University, REASON magazine's Nick Gillespie, historian Marilyn B. Young

The recent controversy over the firing of federal prosecutors found Regent University graduate Monica Goodling-special counsel to Alberto Gonzalez and one of some 150 Regent students who have worked in the Bush administration since 2001-at the center of a political firestorm over her involvement. Bill Moyers Journal takes viewers to commencement at Pat Robertson's university for a closer look at its mission to ensure Biblical principles are reflected in the law of the land. Also on the program: ...

May 11, 200757 min
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