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2006

January/February/ March/April/May/June /July/August/September/October/ November/December
January View It Now

Forum

 Politics commentator, historian, and author Allan Lichtman wants to occupy the US Senate seat being vacated by Paul Sarbanes. Lichtman is running to the Left of the leading Democratic candidates, Ben Cardin and Kweisi Mfume, arguing that there's too much government intruding in our private lives and too little government meeting our needs. (Host: Mark Cohen)

Feature

 911 and its aftermath: A photo essay accompanied by the Kossoy Sisters singing "I'll Fly Away." (Producer: Mark Cohen)

In Verse

 Poet Thomas Sayers Ellis laments that "All Their Stanzas Look Alike."

21st Century Life

 Email sleuthing Baltimore Sun reporter Tom Pelton offers a close up look at how Governor Robert Ehrlich handed over state environmental policy to Constellation Energy. (Host: Mike Tidwell)

Musical Traditions

 Spoken word artist Chris Chandler and street musician David Roe offer a tribute to the melting pot soul of "Ninth Ward New Orleans." (Producer: Karen Kilroy)

In Verse

 Grace Cavalieri tastes an artichoke in "Carciofi."

WorkLife

Since the GOP in Washington won't do it, Maryland needs to lead the way, argues Progressive Maryland director Tom Hucker, in hiking the minimum wage, still stuck at $5.15 an hour, and otherwise make the state more friendly to working families. (Host: Fred Feinstein)
February View It Now

Forum

 With concerns growing that Hillary and John Kerrey aren't electable, with Jon Edwards out of the Washington media spotlight, and Mark Warner generating yawns from progressive activists, Al Gore is getting a fresh look as a he speaks out forcefully on Iraq, warrantless wiretapping, and global warming. Is his assault on the Bush Administration sincere or is Gore merely positioning himself for a presidential run in 2008? Well, perhaps both, according to the dean of DC's alternative journalists, Sam Smith , editor of the Progressive Review . Smith looks back on Al Gore's career and finds him to be a flawed politician, but nevertheless an attractive option for the Democrats. (Host: Mark Cohen)

Writers' Bloc

 Sam Cooke’s meteoric and controversial rise to stardom as a soul vocalist and his tragic end are detailed in Dream Boogie by Peter Guralnick. Reuben Jackson calls it a “must read.”

In Sickness and In Health

 Hormone therapy was all the rage a few years ago, not only to treat "hot flashes" and other symptoms of menopause, but also heart disease, dementia and other ailments of aging. Then along came a series of studies, culminating in the 2002 Women’s Health Initiative, which discredited most of the claims for hormone therapy and raised serious health questions about their side effects. What is the current thinking hormone therapy? We ask Ob-Gyn Dr. Anthony Scialli of Georgetown University. (Host: Cathy Kristiansen)

In Verse

 JaHipster's "These Hips".

A Second Look

 The centerpiece of the Bush domestic agenda and his claim to be a “compassionate conservative” are built around an educational program called “No Child Left Behind,” which aims to raise the test scores of low performing students. Four years into NCLB, how well is it doing? Education Week associate editor Kathleen Kennedy Manzo offers a report card. (Host: Howard Kohn)

In Verse

 Rei Berroa's "The Index Finger, the Eyes, the Thumb".

Musical Traditions

Singer-songwriter and folk-rocker Billy Coulter. (Host: David Eisner)
March View It Now

Forum

 Gov. Ehrlich's Election Year Budget:
After successive years of spending cuts, and threatening further cuts unless the General Assembly supports the introduction of slot machines into Maryland, Republican Gov. Bob Ehrlich now comes bearing gifts, proposing the largest state spending increases in a generation (and without having slots as a revenue source). The apparent big winners in the 2007 budget: Corrections officers and higher education. But wait: It's an election year and a good time to appear as the friend of state employees and education. So we ask Stephen Elmore, director the Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute, to sum up the overall impact of Ehrlich budgets to date, not just in this year of a budget surplus. (Host: Mark Cohen)

Feature

 The Innocents: DNA Freed Them
We visit Provisions Library north of Dupont Circle in DC to see Taryn Simon's traveling photography and video show, "The Innocents." The exhibition features head shots and stories of 35 people wrongly convicted of homicide, rape and other crimes who were ultimately released from prison based on DNA evidence and the dedication of The Innocents Project legal team at Yeshiva University. A description of the exhibit is narrated by Sita Reddy of Provisions Library. (Producer: Mark Cohen)

In Verse

 Derrick Weston Brown ("Angels With Angles")

Willing Spirit

 WWJD? A Sojourners View
How did Jesus become "pro-rich, pro-war, and only pro-American?", asks Adam Taylor, director of campaigns and organizing for Sojourners, a 34-year old Christian group in Washington, DC. Taylor argues that progressives -- out of discomfort with the language of religion -- have largely ceded to the Right the terrain of values. Sojourners aims to reclaim this ground and forge a coalition of Left and Right to address the issue of poverty in America, a condition so graphically raised by Hurricane Katrina. (Host: Rev. Heather Kirk-Davidoff)

Musical Traditions

Singer-songwriter Zoe Mulford offers "Our Lady of the Highway" and "Life Is Too Short to Fold Underwear." (Host: David Eisner)

Writers' Bloc

 Reuben Jackson reviews Baltimore native John Slaughter's Brother in the Bush: An African American's Search for Self in East Africa.

21st Century Life

 Going Native: The Conscience Gardener
Exotic plant species are often decorative, even beautiful, but they also can do great harm to both indigenous plants and animal habitats. That's what's happening in our region as invasive species migrate from our gardens into parklands and beyond, says Lauren Wheeler of Natural Resources Design, Inc., a landscape firm that designs ecologically focused gardens. (Host: Mike Tidwell)
April View It Now

Forum

 Goosing and Wedging the Vote
With the country almost equally divided between Blue and Red states, and many states themselves similarly divided, carefully chosen ballot initiatives that goose voter turnout for one party or the other can determine an election, says Kristina Wilfore, executive director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center. (Host: Mark Cohen)

Feature

 As Sam Houston Put It...
Populist and humorist Jim Hightower muses on what John Kerry should have said to George Bush in their 2004 debates. (Producer: Mark Cohen)

Writers' Bloc

 Reuben Jackson reviews DC poet Esther Iverem's new book of verse, Living in Babylon.

21st Century Life

 strong>Flood Gates on the Potomac?
University of Maryland ecologist Court Stevenson has been studying the impact of global warming on sea-level rise. He expects that the storm surges from future hurricanes in the Chesapeake Bay watershed could flood not only coastal areas but even Washington, DC. (Host: Mike Tidwell)

Musical Traditions

A blues band with a harp player, a guitar, drums, and a singer. It's all one guy, Curtis Blues. (Host: David Eisner)

In Verse

 Poet Melanie Rivera offers "Migration."

WorkLife

 Immigration and Politics
Gustavo Torres, executive director of Casa of Maryland, discusses the upsurge in protests for immigrant rights and federal immigration reform legislation. (Host: Fred Feinstein)
May View It Now

Forum

 An Extended Conversation with Gov. Parris Glendening
With hotly contested races for governor, US Senate and other offices this year in Maryland, we check in with the prior governor, Parris Glendening , for a discussion about who the strongest candidates are and who would make the best office holders. Glendening sizes up Doug Duncan, Martin O’Malley, Ben Cardin, Kweisi Mfume, Michael Steele and others. Since leaving office, Glendening has been serving as president of the Smart Growth Leadership Institute. So we talk about the Inter-County Connector (building roads aggravates rather than alleviates sprawl), and also global warming (sign Kyoto and more), gay marriage (it's a civil right), immigrant rights (are we going to criminalize 12 million people?), capital punishment (it's a geographic lottery in Maryland), and his legacy. In particular, does Glendening take any responsibility for the loss of the governorship to Republican Bob Ehrlich? (Host: Mark Cohen)

Musical Traditions

 "A Mini-Grateful Dead Experience"
We've got music by Kiva , a “percussive, acoustic, world beat ensemble that celebrates the magic of nature and ancient bardic traditions…” This band gets it followers dancin'. (Host: David Eisner )

In Verse

 A Monologue from "Diary of a Baby Diva": Performance artist Holly Bass returns

Rewind

 What's Up, Silver Doc?
Festival Director Patricia Finneran previews the fourth annual Silver Docs Festival which will bring some one hundred films to the AFI Silver in Silver Spring, MD the week of June 13 – 18. The Festival also features workshops and networking opportunities for documentary filmmakers, and some gala events featuring filmmakers Jim Jarmusch and Martin Scorsese, and even Robbie Robertson, the leader of The Band, the subject of Scorsese’s heralded documentary, “The Last Waltz.” (Host: Mark Cohen )
June View It Now

Forum

 Senator Kweisi Mfume?
The Democratic primary election in Maryland is September 12. Among the many contested races is one for the US Senate seat being vacated by Paul Sarbanes. Rep. Ben Cardin holds a slight lead in the polls and a six-fold edge in fundraising over former Congressman and NAACP chief Kweisi Mfume . (Polls show both Cardin and Mfume beating likely GOP candidate Michael Steele, with Cardin winning more decisively.) But Mfume has several advantages over Cardin in the primary, including greater name recognition and the wildcard prospect that developer and political neophyte Josh Rales will drop millions of his own dollars in his bid for the Sarbanes seat. If Rales -- who is Jewish, as is Cardin -- makes even a small splash, he will take votes from Cardin and that could give Mfume the winning edge.
We invited both Rep. Cardin and former Rep. Mfume to join us on the June show. Mfume accepted, Cardin failed to respond to our invitation. In a revealing interview, Mfume discusses his troubled youth, and a host of contemporary issues, including immigration, gay marriage, a living wage, climate change, and energy independence. (In January we provided a forum for long-shot candidates for US Senate and Allan Lichtman appeared on the show. Josh Rales declined to appear.)  (Host: Mark Cohen)

In Verse

 Poetry by Sunil Freeman (“My Miles Dream”).

Feature

 The NSA, Verizon and You
Revelations that phone companies cooperated with the National Security Agency in compiling a massive database tracking the phone call patterns of millions of Americans has national security expert and Information Trust founder Scott Armstrong wondering what the rules are for this new form of government snooping.

Musical Traditions

 Singer-songwriter Zoe Mulford returns.   (Host: David Eisner)

In Verse

 Poetry by Naomi Ayala (“Saved”).

In Step

 Previewing the Capital Fringe Festival
Coming July 20-30, the first-ever Capital Fringe Festival will feature more than 400 performances involving over 100 artists and ensembles in 18 venues, from the Warehouse Downtown Arts Complex to the Canadian Embassy. According to producer Damian Sinclair , the festival will offer a spectrum of work that falls within, between, and beyond the conventional categories of theatre, music, dance, spoken word and puppetry. (Guest Host: Peter Dimuro)
July View It Now

Forum

 Who Will Fill Joe Curran's Shoes?
Or try to. Joe Curran, won renown as a consumer and gun control advocate, is stepping down after nearly 20 years as Maryland Attorney General.

The AG is the state’s chief attorney, and oversees some 380 lawyers, most of whom counsel state agencies. But the office also plays a key role in enforcing environmental, health, securities and business laws, and handles all the criminal appeals for the state.

Four candidates are vying for the Democratic nomination to replace Curran --two from Baltimore, Stu Simms and Wyndal Gordon -- and two from Montgomery County, Doug Gansler and Tom Perez. With the exception of Gordon, each of the candidates is, or has been, an elected official and claims a following.

Stu Simms, who is African-American, served as State’s Attorney in Baltimore and as a cabinet member in the Glendening Administration. He entered the contest last, having been Doug Duncan’s lieutenant governor running mate until Duncan quit the governor’s race. Simms has considerable support in Baltimore and is expected to do quite well in Prince George’s County as well.

Doug Gansler , who is Jewish, is a former assistant US attorney and has been twice elected Montgomery County State’s Attorney. He holds a commanding edge in fundraising over his rivals. Gansler’s priorities are public safety and cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay.

Tom Perez , whose parents emigrated from the Dominican Republic, was a federal civil right lawyer and serves on the Montgomery County Council. He lacks Gansler’s war chest but Perez has the support of organized labor and a presence in Baltimore where he teaches law. Perez’s top priority is affordable health care.

We invited the top three contenders to appear on the show. Citing a scheduling conflict, Stu Simms declined the invitation, but only after learning that Perez and Gansler were confirmed. Perhaps Simms felt a need to learn more about this new office he’s running for before sharing a stage with his two main rivals.

The Gansler-Perez Coffee House conversation ranged from the sensitivity of serving simultaneously as the lawyer to both the Governor and the General Assembly -- How do you know who your client is when the two branches are at loggerheads? -- to the role of the AG in combating gangs and crime. Whereas Gansler defines the job as being about fighting crime -- not just street criminals but polluters, sexual predators and child pornographers on the Internet, perpetrators of identify theft, etc. -- Perez counters that “putting criminals away” "under-defines" the power of the office. He prefers the term “law enforcement”, which to Perez encompasses predatory lending, the abuse of the disabled in nursing homes, the lead paint epidemic, protection for open space, etc.

The primary is September 12.   (Host: Mark Cohen)

Feature

 Man Against the Political Machine: Raskin vs. Ruben
The already deep Blue political sea that is Takoma Park and East Silver Spring, Maryland, is even bluer these days, awash in the white-on-dark blue campaign signs of District 20 insurgent candidate Jamie Raskin . A constitutional law professor and progressive activist, Raskin hopes to unseat a 19-year member of the Senate, Ida Ruben. And if campaign signs tell the story, Raskin will soon be commuting to Annapolis.

Ida Ruben , age 78, is the President Pro Tem of the Maryland Senate and leader of the Montgomery County Senate delegation in Annapolis. A 32-year veteran in the General Assembly, Ruben has going for her the Democratic Party organization, money, incumbency, and a claim to having brought home big bucks for projects like Silver Spring revitalization.

Jamie Raskin, who is 43, has built a potent volunteer-based campaign operation, and has been endorsed by a number of high-profile progressive office-holders and activists. State’s Attorney Doug Gansler calls Raskin the “single smartest person I know.” (Raskin chaired Gansler’s two campaigns for State’s Attorney.) Raskin promises sweeping changes if elected, including bills to ban corporate campaign contributions and to expand voter registration.

In a special documentary report, we view a debate between the candidates, speak with them at their homes, and attend some of the high-energy Raskin campaign events. (Produced and narrated by Mark Cohen.)

In Verse

 Poetry by Chungmi Kim (“Brother”).

Musical Traditions

 Kiva performs, a “percussive, acoustic, world beat ensemble that celebrates the magic of nature and ancient bardic traditions…”
September View It Now

Forum

 The Price of Power
Unless you were in a coma for the last several decades, you already know that elections involve an obscene amount of campaign contributions. Commercial interests view these “contributions” as high-yield investments that purchase the ear -- and often the soul -- of elected officials. Is there a better way to underwrite democracy? According to Chellie Pingree, president and CEO of Common Cause, you need look no further than to her native state, Maine, which has adopted a system of public financing of elections. And Maine isn’t alone. Pingree would like to see public financing adopted by other states and for federal congressional elections as well. She and Common Cause are also pressing for the abolition of the electoral college, so that the president is directly elected by the popular vote.   (Host: Mark Cohen)

In Verse

 Poets Rei Berrroa ("With Respect to Certain Activities of Doves") and Lisa Pegram ("Larceny").

2nd Look

 Katrina is Coming to a Coast Near You
Don't be lulled into complacency by the thus-far mild hurricane season, Katrina is a harbinger of things to come, argues author Mike Tidwell. And not just for the folks on the Gulf Coast and Florida. In his new book, The Ravaging Tide, Tidwell foresees floodgates on the Potomac River as global warming causes sea level to rise and ever more ferocious storms. It's already happening, he says. But climate catastrophe is not inevitable, if we break the fossil fuel habit quickly enough. But that requires a national policy and there currently is none. (Host: Howard Kohn

In Verse

 Poetry by Reuben Jackson ("Hard Bop") and Sami Miranda ("Las Jibaritias").

WorkLife

Defining Away the Right to a Union
Who is a "supervisor"? That might seem a simple matter -- a supervisor is someone who is in charge -- but don't be surprised if common sense does not prevail at the GOP-controlled National Labor Relations Board. Why? Big money and power are at stake in how this term is defined: The bottom line is that an employee, like a registered nurse, who is deemed a "supervisor" is barred from joining a union. Former Board member Sarah Fox explains that the Board might very well broaden the definition of supervisors to effectively deny the right to organize to 8 million Americans. (Host: Fred Feinstein)

In Verse

 Poetry by Grace Cavalieri ("Temperance") and Derrick Weston Brown ("Missed Train").

Musical Traditions

 Traditional fiddle music with Alan Jabbour, former
head of the Archive of Folk Song at the Library of Congress, director of the folk arts program at the National Endowment for the Arts, and director of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. (Host: David Eisner)
October View It Now

Forum

 The End of the GOP Monopoly?
President Bush’s Iraq war is going miserably, our intelligence agencies are united in the belief that the war has caused an upsurge in terrorism, and the Republican Congress is not only mired in Tom DeLay-Jack Abramoff-type corruption, but now the GOP leadership is implicated in covering up the sordid Mark Foley scandal. Beg my pardon but perhaps it's time to turn a new page. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD 8th Dist.) co-chairs “Red to Blue,” a Democratic effort to win back the House. He says that 40 GOP seats in the House are in play -- maybe more -- and the Democrats need to win but 16 of these for Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to be the new House Speaker. Van Hollen talks about the National Intelligence Estimate, legislation letting President Bush declare what constitutes torture, the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, and the prospects for a Democratic victory in November, in the House and Senate, and in Maryland.   (Host: Mark Cohen)

In Verse

 Poet Holly Bass ("duchamp's wife ").

21st Century Life

 You Thought the Prius Was Way Cool...
It’s hard to imagine a world without gasoline-powered cars but guess what. There’s more than one way to power an engine. And a century ago, we were on the verge of mass producing battery-operated cars. Instead of gas stations, there were electric charging stations. But through skullduggery and outright criminal conduct, argues Pulitzer nominee Edwin Black in his latest investigative book, Internal Combustion: How Corporations and Governments Addicted the World to Oil and Derailed the Alternatives , the petroleum pushers not only came to monopolize the consumer car market, they have so effectively erased our collective memory that we marvel today at hybrids like the Prius as if electric cars were the product of 21st century genius and technology. We can’t change what’s already happened but Black argues there the hydrogen technology is here, right now, to spay the greenhouse gas machine that is the internal combustion engine. (Host: Mike Tidwell)

Feature

 Sights and sounds from "Magical Montgomery."

In Step

Remembering What Isadora Thought
While the technique of modern dance pioneered by Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis has survived, Cynthia Word felt there was something missing. And that something is the philosophy that drives the technique. Through her work at Word/Dance/Theater in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and in her production of “Wild Hearts: Sappho and Isadora,” Cynthia Word aims to recapture a vision of dance that views the body as one of the gateways to higher consciousness. (Guest Host: Peter Dimuro)

November View It Now

Forum

 THE RIGHT TO VOTE FOR EX-OFFENDERS
One hundred and ten thousand residents of Maryland are denied the right to vote because of their past criminal records. In Virginia anyone who was ever convicted of a single felony forever forefeits the right to vote, unless the governor intervenes. Yet elsewhere, like the District of Columbia, voting rights are restored as soon as a convict serves his or her time. It may seem odd but these conflicting state laws control not only who may vote in state elections but who may vote in federal races as well. According to University of Maryland law professor Michael Pinard, denying ex-offenders the right to vote only serves to further isolate and stigmatize them, lessening the chances that they will become upstanding, contributing and non-offending members of our communities. And disenfranchising ex-offenders can determine the outcome of elections. (Host: Mark Cohen)

In Verse

 Poet Thomas Sayers Ellis ("The Return of COLORED ONLY").

Willing Spirit

 GOD WILL IT: A STABLE CLIMATE AND HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT...
If the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof, why aren't evangelical Christians up in arms about man-made climate change? Well, some are, like Dr. J. Matthew Sleeth, author of Serve God, Save the Planet: A Christian Call to Action. Dr. Sleeth, a former emergency room physician, talks about how he was called to change his life. (Host: Rev. Heather Kirk-Davidoff)

In Verse

 Poet Native Son ("Word Play").

21st Century Life

FREAKY FISH IN THE POTOMAC
There are male bass swimming in the Potomac and its tributaries that are bearing eggs. Need we say that that's not how Nature meant it to be? According to Ed Merrifield, director of Potomac Riverkeeper, the endocrine systems of these fish have been disrupted by chemical pollutants that we dump in our waterways. And what happens to us when we drink this water or eat these fish? (Host: Mike Tidwell)

In Verse

 Poet Judith Harris ("Matrushka Dolls").

Musical Traditions

Brazilian pandeiro music with Du Maracatu.

December View It Now

21st Century Life

 SCIENCE FICTION-LIKE FIXES FOR CLIMATE CHANGE
It's called "geo-engineering" and it encompasses a myriad of phantasmagorical schemes to stabilize the climate, like orbiting thousands of gargantuan mirrors in space to reflect away sunlight. Are there great minds really dreaming up these ideas? Is there any reality to them? Are they needed? We ask Dr. Michael McCracken, chief scientist at the Climate Institute. (Host: Mike Tidwell)

In Verse

 Poet Brandon Johnson ("periphery").

Willing Spirit

 CHRISTIAN COMPASSION AND NEW AMERICANS
What differentiates refugees from immigrants, and what role are religious communities playing in the often rancorous debate over how we treat folks who come from abroad with dreams of becoming Americans? Ralston Deffenbaugh of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service offers his views on what Scripture teaches and what that means for immigration and refugee policy. (Host: Rev. Heather Kirk-Davidoff)

In Verse

 Poets Sami Miranda ("Victoria, Texas") and Adriane Harjo ("It's Not Pretty, Maria").

Writers' Bloc

STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED IN DC
Well, thankfully, it's a novel. In A Student of Living Things, Susan Shreve imagines a near-term future in which a young mother confronts snipers, natural disasters and bomb threats, and discovers some discomforting truths about her own family. (Host: Lisa Page)

Musical Traditions

The one-man blues band, Curtis Blues.