Culture

Wikler’s ‘The Good Fight’

November 14, 2013 Carmen Russell 0:16:12 0 Comments

Progressive news talk media has been left wanting since the demise of the Air America Radio network, which existed just from 2004-2010.

The network launched the career of Rachel Maddow, proved that Chuck D was far more than a definitive rap artist–he is a consummate intellectual as well–and helped comedian Al Franken rise from the halls of Rockefeller Center to the halls of the US Senate.

Another Air America voice, Ben Wikler, is now back on the air with a new show called “The Good Fight.” He’s taking the opportunity to tell stories that too often are left untold and unshared by most media. We also manage to sing some Julie Andrews during the interview as a show of solidarity!

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‘Illegal, or Just Sleazy?’

November 14, 2013 Carmen Russell 0 Comments

A viral comedy video is illustrating to New York state residents that women often don’t get the same legal protections as men.

The video is set as game show, “Illegal or Just Sleazy?”, which asks New Yorkers if various scenarios break the law. The actress playing the contestant role does a convincing job showing her character’s outrage over learning that she can be fired legally for discussing salary with men who out-earn her, that she can be denied an apartment because of her status as a victim of domestic violence, and that it’s merely “sleazy” if her boss at a company with 4 or fewer employees sexually harasses her.

President of NOW-NYC, Sonia Osorio, joins SPAR to discuss how these topics, despite the video making the case as comedy, are no laughing matter, and that voters across the country need to take on the fight for equality under the law that New Yorkers are demanding.

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Black girls rock

November 5, 2013 Carmen Russell 0 Comments

The BET network aired the annual “Black Girls Rock” awards ceremony.

“The Griot” called the celebration the “antidote” to negative media portrayals of African-American women. Music journalist Shannon Barbour joins me to talk about the ceremony and also about the myth that there hasn’t been a talented black female lyricist, producer and artist who wasn’t manufactured by industry handlers since the days of Missy Elliott and Lauryn Hill ruling even the Pop Charts. There are a number of Black women making art and making history on their own terms.

Shannon also shares some of the artists who are creating and making great music in Atlanta that might be interesting to check out and learn from.

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National Science and Technology News Service

October 15, 2013 Carmen Russell 00:17:57 0 Comments

By Jamila Bey

Making sense of the entire world around us requires that people hold some understanding of science.

Unfortunately, from the water we drink to the medicines and foods we ingest, Americans’ understanding of science concepts and practices show the need for further education. For minority populations, the picture is even more bleak. A new organization, founded by scientists and journalists has been created to help to fix this. The National Science and Technology News Service, or on twitter @TheDarkSci, was founded with the mission to tell better science stories, and to do so with an eye toward ethnic media and audiences. Jamila is a founding member of the NSTNS, as are the panelists for tonight’s show. Dr. Danielle Lee, The Urban Scientist, is a biologist and expert in animal behavior, mammalogy, and ecology Dr. Caleph Wilson, is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania and co-chair of the Biomedical Postdoctoral Council, and Dr. Marshall Shepard, professor of geography in the University and president of the American Meteorological Society. The discussion surrounds how to support science in the US, and how to encourage more students to consider science as their career.

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Follow Dr. Danielle Lee on Twitter @DNLEE5

Follow Dr. Caleph Wilson on Twitter @HeyDrWilson

Follow The National Science and Technology News Service on Twitter @TheDarkSci

Bettye LaVette, a woman like me

August 28, 2013 Carmen Russell 00:06:46 0 Comments

The incomparable and amazing R&B singing legend Bettye LaVette joins the Sex Politics And Religion Hour to talk about all of the topics mentioned in the name of the show!

In her more than 50 year music career, LaVette has come to acclaim and award, and she shares her tales of sex, drink and R&B with me. The woman whom many folks first learned of when she sang at the first inauguration of President Barack Obama says she watched her friends with no money and big dreams go on to wealth and acclaim, but she never doubted that she’d make it there eventually!

“A Woman Like Me,” is the title of Bettye’s autobiography, and also the title of the title of her first album released in 2003, some 40 years after she first recorded in a studio.

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Private Manning identifies as a woman

August 23, 2013 Carmen Russell 0 Comments

How to fairly and kindly talk about transgender people can be a struggle when one doesn’t have the language to do so.

Chelsea Manning, first known to the world as Pfc. Bradley Manning, told the world Thursday that she is indeed Chelsea. The conversation has, understandably turned to the identity of this person, and less about the 35 years she’ll be serving and why. Mara Keislingis the founding Executive Director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, and she is on board to help us properly hold the conversations that have arisen with Manning’s most recent revelation.

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Activists takes off on ride to promote women’s right to choose

July 3, 2013 Carmen Russell 0 Comments

Activist and author Sunsara Taylor is embarking on a Freedom Ride from North Dakota, through Kansas and down to Mississippi to call attention to the need for the protection abortion rights in the U.S.

She’s running an Indiegogo campaign to raise funds for the project run in conjunction with StopPatriarchy.org.

Host Jamila Bey spoke with Taylor to discuss her efforts.

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Atheists unite behind Kickstarter campaign to support victim of Oklahoma tornado

June 7, 2013 Carmen Russell 00:17:38 0 Comments

When CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked atheist mom Rebecca Vitsmun if she thanked the lord that she survived the tornado that ripped through Moore, Okla., foul-mouthed misanthrope Doug Stanhope had an idea: unite the atheist community and support this particular victim.

Through a Kickstarter campaign, Stanhope has raised more than $100,000 to help the Vitsmun family “get out of hell free.”

Host Jamila Bey spoke with Stanhope, who has built a career on knocking on all things sacred, to discuss the campaign and how he is proud of proving that atheists can be remarkably kind, generous and caring.

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Wolf Blitzer’s ‘thank the Lord’ inspires Okla. atheist convention

June 4, 2013 Carmen Russell 0 Comments

Ever since CNN’s Wolf Blitzer said “You have to thank the Lord,” to an atheist when she was interviewed about nearly being killed in the tornado that leveled her home, atheist philanthropists have donated their money and their time to let the whole world know that they exist and they, too, deserve consideration.

Ty Tancredi joins Jamila Bey to talk about the upcoming convention, and other Oklahoma Freethinkers news:

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Opinion: Furor over women breadwinners obscures need for early childhood education

June 4, 2013 Carmen Russell 00:13:56 0 Comments

While the country considers the role of women in the workplace and what that means for single-parent households, women’s earning and retirement, and the future of the labor force itself, early childhood care is too often expensive, too limited in the number of children it serves, and too often, ignored in terms of federal policy.

Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, co-founder, Executive Director and CEO of MomsRising.org and Vice President of First Focus, Ed Walz, join the Sex Politics And Religion Hour to talk about how the littlest Americans can better be served by their government, and the myriad benefits that come in the short and long term when that happens:

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New book tackles anti-LGBT rhetoric from the religious right

May 31, 2013 Carmen Russell 0 Comments

The anti-LGBT rhetoric from the religious right may be less strident in tone, but the implications that these are harmful and evil people are still fervently on display from the Right, says the author of a new book called “How They See Us: Unmasking The Religious Right War on Gay America.”

Host Jamila Bey spoke with Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters blogger and activist Alvin McEwen to discuss his book.

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New documentary explores road to adapting to an international adoption

May 2, 2013 Carmen Russell 0 Comments

Russian adoption in the U.S. is an issue that’s been fraught with controversy and lack of understanding. Filmmaker Sarah McCarthy’s documentary, “The Dark Matter of Love,” shares the story of the Diaz family who adopted five-year-old twin boys and an 11-year-old girl from Russian orphanages.

The children struggle, as does the Diaz’s only biological child, to make sense of their new circumstances, and over two years, McCarthy chronicles the family’s devotion to making a new and loving home.

Host Jamila Bey spoke with McCarthy and Claudio Diaz who believes that more families should be open to expanding their families via international adoption.

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