Progressive Commentary Hour

Progressive Commentary Hour

Progressive Commentary Hour

The role and necessity of spirituality in political and social activism Rabbi Michael Lerner is clearly one the nation’s greatest Jewish intellectuals and spiritual political activists. As a teenager, Rabbi Lerner was a student of Abraham Joshua Heschel, a great socially responsible mystical thinker who marched with Martin Luther King. During the 60s, he was a chair of the Berkeley chapter of the Students For a Democratic society and was incarcerated as member of the Seattle Seven.  Michael is the founding editor of Tikkun Magazineand is the founder of the Network of Spiritual Progressives, a spiritual activism organization dedicated to care, gratitude, spiritual insight in all dimensions of human society, and respect for the earth. Professor Robert Thurman holds the Jay Zong Ka-pa Robert Thurman Chair of Indo-Tibetan Studies at Columbia University. He is the President of Tibet House US and is President of the American Institute of Buddhist Studies. The New York Times has hailed him as the “leading American expert on Tibetan Buddhism.”  In 1962, Prof. Thurman was ordained as a Buddhist monk by the Dalai Lama, with whom he has remained a close colleague to this day.  He has written many books on Tibetan culture, art, politics and Buddhism. His most recent is “Why the Dalai Lama Matters: His Act of Truth as a Solution for China, Tibet and the World” – an attempt to find a win-win situation in the Tibet-China crisis. Prof. Dan McKanan is the Ralph Waldo Emerson Unitarian Universalist Association Senior Lecturer at Harvard Divinity School, where he specializes in the American history of religious and spiritual movements for social transformation. He is the author of “Prophetic Encounters: Religion and the American Radical Tradition” from Oxford University Press, that provides an all-encompassing look at religious activism during the past 200 years of American history.

Progressive Commentary Hour

Guests: Celia Farber, Professor Henry Bauer, David Crowe Celia Farber is a journalist who covered the HIV wars extensively since 1987, in various magazines. Some of these writings are collected in her book: "Serious Adverse Events: An Uncensored History of AIDS" published by Melville House Press, (now Random House) in 2006. Activist Michael Callen called Farber "..the best AIDS journalist in the world."  She also has enemies, of course. Her 2006 article for Harper's magazine detailing the totalitarian corruption of HIV/AIDS research was titled "Out of Control: AIDS And The Corruption of Medical Science." The attacks from the AIDS industry were predictable and fierce. Still, she won the 2008 Semmelweis Clean Hands Award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism. Prof. Henry Bauer is professor emeritus of chemistry and science studies and a former dean at Virginia Polytechnic Institute.  After his retirement he served as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Scientific Exploration for seven years. He is author of the book The Origin, Persistence and Failings of HIV/AIDS Theory , which was among the first books to gather together two decades of research on HIV and AIDS and to identify the scientific contradictions. David Crowe is the President of the Reappraising AIDS Society and a member of the Canadian Association of Journalists. He hosts the www.ReThinkingAIDS.com website, which is science and news resource on all international research and commentary challenging the current HIV/AIDS model.  David is also the former president and treasurer for the Green Party in Alberta Canada.

Progressive Commentary Hour

Guests: Celia Farber, Professor Henry Bauer, David Crowe Celia Farber is a journalist who covered the HIV wars extensively since 1987, in various magazines. Some of these writings are collected in her book: "Serious Adverse Events: An Uncensored History of AIDS" published by Melville House Press, (now Random House) in 2006. Activist Michael Callen called Farber "..the best AIDS journalist in the world."  She also has enemies, of course. Her 2006 article for Harper's magazine detailing the totalitarian corruption of HIV/AIDS research was titled "Out of Control: AIDS And The Corruption of Medical Science." The attacks from the AIDS industry were predictable and fierce. Still, she won the 2008 Semmelweis Clean Hands Award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism. Prof. Henry Bauer is professor emeritus of chemistry and science studies and a former dean at Virginia Polytechnic Institute.  After his retirement he served as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Scientific Exploration for seven years. He is author of the book The Origin, Persistence and Failings of HIV/AIDS Theory , which was among the first books to gather together two decades of research on HIV and AIDS and to identify the scientific contradictions. David Crowe is the President of the Reappraising AIDS Society and a member of the Canadian Association of Journalists. He hosts the www.ReThinkingAIDS.com website, which is science and news resource on all international research and commentary challenging the current HIV/AIDS model.  David is also the former president and treasurer for the Green Party in Alberta Canada.

Progressive Commentary Hour

Guests: Celia Farber, Professor Henry Bauer, David Crowe Celia Farber is a journalist who covered the HIV wars extensively since 1987, in various magazines. Some of these writings are collected in her book: "Serious Adverse Events: An Uncensored History of AIDS" published by Melville House Press, (now Random House) in 2006. Activist Michael Callen called Farber "..the best AIDS journalist in the world."  She also has enemies, of course. Her 2006 article for Harper's magazine detailing the totalitarian corruption of HIV/AIDS research was titled "Out of Control: AIDS And The Corruption of Medical Science." The attacks from the AIDS industry were predictable and fierce. Still, she won the 2008 Semmelweis Clean Hands Award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism. Prof. Henry Bauer is professor emeritus of chemistry and science studies and a former dean at Virginia Polytechnic Institute.  After his retirement he served as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Scientific Exploration for seven years. He is author of the book The Origin, Persistence and Failings of HIV/AIDS Theory , which was among the first books to gather together two decades of research on HIV and AIDS and to identify the scientific contradictions. David Crowe is the President of the Reappraising AIDS Society and a member of the Canadian Association of Journalists. He hosts the www.ReThinkingAIDS.com website, which is science and news resource on all international research and commentary challenging the current HIV/AIDS model.  David is also the former president and treasurer for the Green Party in Alberta Canada.

Progressive Commentary Hour

Guests: Dr. Samuel Epstein, Darrell Rogers, and Dr. Len Saputo Dr. Samuel Epstein is a leading international authority on the causes and prevention of cancer. He is professor emeritus of Environmental and Occupational Medicine at the University of Illinois School of Public Health and the Chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition.  Frequently he has been invited to give testimony to Congressional hearings as an expert witness on the cancer risks of pesticides, petrochemicals, cosmetic products, rBGH hormone in milk, sex hormones in meat, and irradiated food. He has also served as a consultant to the US Senate Committee on Public Works. Dr. Epstein is a sharp critic of the close relationship between cancer drug makers and our professional and government health agencies, in particular the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute.  He has written 11 books and authored over 250 peer reviewed papers dealing environmental carcinogens in our everyday products and the reasons for why we are in fact losing the war on cancer. He has also received numerous awards from such organizations as the National Wildlife Federation, the Environmental Justice Award, Bioneers Award, and the Right Livelihood Award (the Alternative Nobel Prize). Among his more recent books is “National Cancer Institute and American Cancer Society:  Criminal Indifference to Cancer Prevention and Conflicts of Interest.” Darrell Rogers is the Communications Director with the Alliance for Natural Health- USA, which has been at the forefront for spearheading amendments to the Senate 510 Food Safety Bill, but ultimately wants it defeated. Matt has a higher degree in Government studies from Catholic University in Washington DC and has worked in public policy and public affairs issues with Senatorial campaigning and on Capitol Hill.  He has also worked as a political affairs specialist for one of the largest political consulting firms in DC.  www.ANH-USA.org Dr. Len Saputo is a board certified physician in internal medicine and the Founder and Medical Director of Health Medicine Foundation in California, a nonprofit education foundation of integral healthcare providers and community leaders dedicated to a holistic vision of wellness.   He has been practicing since 1965 after graduating from Duke University’s medical school. He has co-authored several books on natural wellness health, his most recent being “A Return to Healing: Radical Health Care Reform and the Future of Medicine” which is a detailed critique of the dominant conventional medical establishment and paradigm, how it is a dismal failure, and what an integral approach to healing can provide to make it more humane, healthy and sustainable. Len also hosts the program “Prescriptions for Health” on the Progressive Radio Network.

Progressive Commentary Hour

Guests David Braun, Jennifer Krill, Sharon Wilson, and Craig Michaels We have on the line David Braun who is at this moment up in the Capitol offices in Albany awaiting to testify on behalf of opposition to hydrofracking in New York State.  David is helping to coordinate anti-fracking efforts with our rally at Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Manhattan office this coming Saturday at Noon.  David Braun is the co-founder and president of United for Action, a nonprofit public policy organization dedicated to stopping hydraulic fracturing of gas wells in the Mid Atlantic states and nationally.  He is also the campaign director for the Academy Award nominated documentary Gasland.  David has testified before the New York Senate in opposition to gas drilling in the Marcellus shale beds that are being targeted by the oil and gas industry. WEBSITE :   www.UnitedForAction.org Jennifer Krill has been an activist for environmental advocacy for over thirty years and is the new Executive Director for Earthworks, a 30-year old national organization dedicated to protecting the environment from the blows of mineral, oil and natural gas extraction and development and their impact on social issues and human rights.  Earlier she was the Program Director for the Rainforest Action Network and a program director for its campaigns to protect old growth forests from the oil and energy industries.  Jennifer’s career also includes stints with Greenpeace, Earth Island Institute and the Sea Turtle Restoration Project.   She also serves on the advisory committee of the Business Ethics Network. WEBSITE :   www.EarthworksAction.org Sharon Wilson is considered the leading citizen expert about the Barnett Shale beds. She has become the go-to person in Texas for information on the destructive environmental impacts and risks to human health caused hydrofracking for top EPA officials from D.C., national news networks and national environmental organizations in addition citizens groups and individuals with gas drills operating in their neighborhoods. Prior to her activism opposing hydrofracking, Sharon worked in the energy industry for twelve years.  She has now combined her forces with Earthwork’s Oil and Gas Accountability Project, and is a co-author Texas OGAP report Flowback: How the Texas  Natural Gas Boom Affects Health and Safety which can be found on the Earthworks website Sharon’s Blog:   www.TexasSharon.com WEBSITE :   www.EarthworksAction.org Craig Michaels is an attorney and consultant based in New York City, currently working on the hydraulic fracking issue for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Catskill Mountainkeeper.  He previously served as the Watershed Program Director for Riverkeeper and has been involved in this environmental issue in New York since 2009.  Craig has an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and received his J.D from Pace Law School. WEBSITE :   www.NRDC.org

Progressive Commentary Hour

Progressive Commentary Hour

Progressive Commentary Hour