Arundhati Roy, US Alternative Radio's David Barsamian and Howard Zinn
Alternative Radio is a weekly, unembedded, award winning one-hour public affairs program that is offered free to all public and community radio stations in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the UK and on short wave through Radio for Peace International.
AR provides information, analysis and views that are ignored or distorted in most mainstream media.
Established in 1986, AR is dedicated to the founding principles of public broadcasting, which stated that programming serve as "a forum for controversy and debate", be diverse and "provide a voice for groups that may otherwise be unheard".
AR, in the words of its founder, David Barsamian, has its headquarters "situated to correspond with the Left's position in the mainstream media: down an alley, behind a house, on top of a garage in Boulder, Colorado."
Since 1986 David and his team have sought to capture the spoken word of some of the worlds most radical thinkers. Spanning the full range of political, social and environmental issues, AR seeks to promote informed, intellectually stimulating and entertaining debate on the issues that affect residents of the global village.
AR is currently broadcast on over 125 stations on four continents, reaching an audience of millions.
AR is totally independent and relies solely on the income generated by CD, tape and transcript sales to remain viable.
Since 1997 AR has been broadcast in Australia by various community radio stations affiliated with the CBAA.
September 2007 - A Tribute to Edward Said
03 September Edward Said - Unresolved Geographies, Embattled LandscapesThe standard imperial strategies of "divide and rule" and "partition andquit" have had disastrous consequences in Ireland, Palestine and India.
The ravages of identity politics and skewed nationalist impulses have furthercontributed to turmoil and war. Independence for many post-colonial stateshas meant little more than replacing a foreign system of oppression with alocal one. What are the ways to create new forms of affiliation and communalexistence in order to overcome difference and resolve conflicts?Edward Said, internationally renowned Columbia University professor,practically invented the field of post-colonial studies. His great work,Orientalism has been translated into many languages and is widely used incolleges and universities.
The New York Times called him, "one of the mostinfluential literary and cultural critics in the world." As one of the fewadvocates for Palestinian rights in the US, he was the target ofvilification, death threats and vandalism. The Economist said he "repudiatedterrorism in all its forms and was a passionate, eloquent and persistentadvocate for justice for the dispossessed Palestinians." He was a trenchantcritic not just of Israeli policies, but also of Arafat, the corrupt coteriearound him and the despotic Arab regimes. He felt strongly thatintellectuals had a special responsibility to speak out against injustice,challenge power, confront hegemonic thinking and provide alternatives. Hismemoir Out of Place won the New Yorker Book of the Year Award. Edward Saiddied in New York on September 25, 2003.
10 September Edward Said - Origins of TerrorismThe horrendous terrorist attacks on New York and Washington stunned thecountry and the world. The images from September 11 are etched in ourmemories forever. Now, slowly the collective psyche is healing and questionsare being asked. What would prompt people to inflict such terrible carnageand in the process take their own lives? Do they, as the White House and themedia repeat in tandem, simply 'hate' America? Or were there deeper reasonsconnected to US alliances and policies? It is clear that a more nuancedunderstanding, background and context are needed.
17 September Edward Said - Cultural ImperialismImperial power is constructed on a bedrock not only of force but of cultureas well. Culture provides the underpinning, justification and validation ofempire. Its crudest manifestation is perhaps Kipling's White man's burden. Amore refined version is the French 'mission civilisatrice', civilisingmission. Imperialism is often thought of as a European phenomenon of thepast. In fact it continues today in new shapes and forms. The US carries outits imperial policies behind the facade of democracy and freedom. Cultureand politics produce a system of control that transcends military power toinclude a hegemony of representations and images that dominate theimaginations of both the oppressor and the oppressed.
24 September Edward Said - Out of PlaceA fatal medical diagnosis prompted Edward Said to leave a record of hisyouth in Palestine, Lebanon and Egypt. "The start of chemotherapy had been apoint of no return, he said, "but a memoir would be the opposite-a goingback, an effort to rescue from oblivion a time and place that had all butdisappeared." But Out of Place, his book, set off a controversy. His veryorigins were challenged by Commentary magazine and then picked up by others.Said said, the attack "is to smear Palestinian claims to dispossession andthe right of return."
Where you can listen to Alternative Radio across Australia. The Katoomba Surf Club draws on Alternative Radio, check out On the Katoomba Surf Club BLU89.1FM This Sunday Night
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