March, 2008

So, what is up with this deal between O’Malley and Constellation? Where are the voices of dissent?

Interested in an intership with CEM?  We're looking for someone to help us transcribe interviews.  Hours will be flexible, and you can work from home.  We're looking for someone who will be consistently available and enthusiastic about the work we're doing.  For more info, write to justinlevy2@gmail.com.

Nina Noble and friends accepting the Emmy for Outstanding Miniseries for HBO's The Corner in 2000.  She is on far left.

I have major sympathy for Nina Noble.  We share a job title (okay, well her title has the fancy 'Executive' in front of it) and people are constantly asking me "What does a producer DO?"  I imagine she gets the same question.  I always like to answer, "I do all the work" and then flash a smile.  If Marc is around, I will usually add jokingly, "...and he gets all the glory." (Fair enough, really, considering he also has to bear the brunt of all the criticism!)

But seriously, Nina Noble had a gigantic job as Executive Producer of The Wire.  From convincing the Port of Baltimore to let them shoot scenes on location to keeping track of the hundreds of characters David Simon and the other writers created, it's a wonder she didn't burn out long ago.  But as she told Marc when she sat down for an interview about the experience of working on The Wire, this is the only job she is suited for.

Click here to stream the interview.  Right click here and select "Save Target As" in order to download this onto your computer.  Want to get this in iTunes?  Instructions are below, just click "Read More". Running time is 40:20.

It’s easy to subscribe to any podcast using iTunes, even ones that aren’t available in the iTunes Store. To subscribe, find and copy the podcast’s feed URL. In the “Advanced” menu, select “Subscribe to Podcast” and paste the feed URL into the dialog box.

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This way, your ITUNES should update whenever we add a new podcast.

External Links

• David Simon: The Wire Exit Interview from Baltimore City Paper
• Bittersweet Work of Wrapping 'Wire' from The New York Times
• What Does a Producer Do?by Marshall Persinger
• Nina Noble from Internet Movie Database

Iraqi Americans in Michigan celebrate execution of Saddam Hussein. Not all Iraqi Americans were so happy. Photo Credit: Associated Press

Imagine you are a person who left your native country because you didn't want to live under its government.  Imagine several decades later, your adopted country chooses to invade your native country and topple the same regime you left under.

What do you do?

Do you celebrate, thrilled that the regime you disliked is now gone?

Or do you mourn as you watch your country, which despite the dictatorship was a vibrant safe place, turn into a place you can barely recognize?

Such is the circumstance of many Iraqi Americans.  Most of the Iraqi's living in the United States disliked Saddam Hussein.  But that doesn't mean they were happy to see U.S. tanks roll into Baghdad to topple his government.

The fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq is upon us.  Over the next couple of weeks, we're bringing you interviews with scholars, veterans, peace activists, and more.  Today, we are bringing you an interview with Dr. Adil Shamoo.  Dr. Shamoo grew up in Iraq, in the Chaldean christian community.  He came to the United States in the 1960's, and he a professor of bioethics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Click here to stream the interview.  Right click here and select "Save Target As" in order to download this interview onto your computer. Want to get this and other podcasts on iTunes?  Click "Read More" below to find out how. Running time is 25:30.  The music heard at the beginning and end of this interview is "Second Baghdad" by the Iraqi musician Rahim Alhaj.

Click Read More to get resources and information on how to get this podcast on iTunes.

It’s easy to subscribe to any podcast using iTunes, even ones that aren’t available in the iTunes Store. To subscribe, find and copy the podcast’s feed URL. In the “Advanced” menu, select “Subscribe to Podcast” and paste the feed URL into the dialog box.

The URL for the CEM podcast is
http://www.switchpod.com/users/cem/feed.xml

This way, your ITUNES should update whenever we add a new podcast.

Most recent articles written by Dr. Adil Shamoo

•  February 22, 2008 The Enduring Trap in Iraq
• December 17, 2007 Winning or Losing in Iraq
• May 31, 2007 The Destruction of Iraqi Healthcare Infrastructure

Other links of interest

• Wikipedia entry about Iraqi American community
• Who are the Chaldean Christians? From BBC.COM
• Voices of Iraqi Americans on War and Peace from KBOO as showcased by the Public Radio Exchange

Photo Credit: Wall Street Journal

Today, I was a guest on Doni Glover’s show on WOLB.   When we finished our conversation on the air, I stumbled into their lunchroom.   Everyone was glued to CNN listening to Obama’s speech on race.  I sat down.   I became glued to the TV, to the words Obama was speaking to us all.  

I don’t know how many of you heard it, but you can watch and read it here.  I have never heard a politician running for office talk about race in that manner.  He tackled it head on.   

We live in a nation where race has always been at the root of our social and political discussion.   Race is at the root of our national persona.   It is complex, very complex.  Our generation, our race, our region, our gender, and our exposure other races define our feelings and sense of race as a nation.   Barak Obama clearly understands the complexity of race in America.   My own sense of him is that growing up as a Black child raised by a socially and politically open white mother, with conservative white grandparents in a white world, with an African father whom he did know, defined his own search for racial identity in America.   He lived in other cultures and saw race not just through the lens of Black and White but through Asian worlds that most non-Asian-Americans ever touch.   This is a life journey that took him, and continues to take him, wrestling with race through all its American complexities. 

America needs to have this conversation with itself.  Maybe Barak Obama is the only one, at the moment, who is able to create this conversation among ourselves.  

I really understood what he was saying about his minister, Reverend Jeremiah Wright.   White America easily dismisses Reverend Wright because they identify his words with the words of Farrakhan.  Most of us in the white world have to be willing to admit that this visceral reaction is what motivates us to become angry at the words of Reverend Wright.

Obama said he could no more turn against Reverend Wright than he could his white grandmother.   He said Reverend Wright came out of a generation that grew up in segregation and in the face of outright racial hatred in America.   He is still a distrustful and angry man.  He also said how much he learned about his faith and life from Rev. Wright.

Obama went on to say how much his white Kansas rural-raised grandmother loved him.   How much she loved this Black child in her life but how he cringed at her racist remarks. 

This is life in America.   This is an America where love and family cross all those lines.  This is an America that must have a conversation with itself.

When Obama turned his conversation to the white working class of America and its frustrations, it was clear that he understands the anger of white working class Americans who feels like Black folks are getting a free ride, while they worked for everything they have.   He understands how that is all wrapped around the economic conditions they face with factories closing, mortgage foreclosures, and crumbling public schools that intensify the anger around race.

He understands the responsibility Black America must take for itself.   He called on Black fathers to come home to their children while understanding the devastation and desperation of life in the Black inner city streets of America.  

He also understands that to get beyond race we need to have more than just a conversation with ourselves as Americans.  We need to rebuild our economy so that it supports stability and equality.   A nation rebuilding its infrastructure, breeding and teaching creative minds, a nation at work with decent paying jobs, a system that provides health care for all its citizens, and public schools where we feel safe and confident sending our children, just might allow us to go beyond race.  A movement fighting for this America has the power to transcend race.

I hope and pray that Big Media in America will do this speech and this conversation justice.   I am not optimistic but will jump for joy if proven wrong.   Let’s see what sound bites they use from this magnificent speech. 

Let’s see if the rabid hosts of hot talk television and radio and the knee-jerk response columnists can keep their powder dry.   Let’s see if they can stop to think for a moment and help us have this conversation.  

I was sitting with a dear friend at lunch (yeah, I can have lunch these days – what a novel idea) who said his liberal Jewish mother and her friends could not vote for Obama if he defended Rev Wright’s words.  

The first thing that came to my mind was, how short our memories are.   His Mom is obviously part of my Dad’s generation.    I remember growing up in a world where we Jews lived in our neighborhoods apart from the rest.  It was because of discrimination against us and by our own choice to live among one another.  Non Jews were not trusted not to be anti-Semitic until we were satisfied they were not.   Goyim jokes (jokes about those who were not Jews) abounded in the community.   I grew up with cousins with numbers on their arms tattooed on by their Nazi torturers in concentration camps.   I knew that at any moment they .. the proverbial they .. could turn on us before sunset.  There is a distrust born of being a discriminated against minority.

You overcome it, you go beyond it, you fight against it, both in society and within your own being.  It is a complex thing.   I, too, understand the anger in Rev. Wright and in other dear friends of mine.   I don’t agree with it.   Race is both deep and superficial.  It means nothing in the reality of existence but it defines our every move in America.  

President Clinton’s conversation on race when he was in the White House was superficial, elitist and detached.   Maybe now we can have a conversation based in the material reality of our everyday lives.  Obama’s words were eloquent but eloquence is not enough.   If he wins, he must build the America he preaches about.  If he loses, he has to build the movement he talks about.  Words of beauty will only take us so far.  

I hope the substance is as powerful as the speech.   We will see.

-marc

Photo by Anne Hefley

It's been over a week since the series finale of The Wire aired.  Sad time for Wire fans these days, but we're continuing The Wire Podcast series to help you get through the end-of-show withdrawal.  Speaking of which, having had a little time to reflect on it now, what did everyone think of the last episode, and Season 5 as a whole?

Click here for an interview with Bob Wisdom, who played Major Howard "Bunny" Colvin on The Wire.  Running time is 15:48.  Click here to open the interview transcript.

What was the real life inspiration for Hamsterdam?  What does he think of the character he portrayed?  What can the experience of The Wire tell us about race and acting in America today?  (Preview quote: "Every actor of color in this country that I ever met wanted to be part of this show.")

If Marc and Bob sound like old friends, it's because they are.  They met at Studio Theatre in Washington DC in 1986 or so, where they acted together in a production of American Buffalo by David Mamet.  Bet you didn't know that!

Don’t forget to check out the rest of the CEM Wire podcast series.

Yes, it has been quiet in here over the past week but that's only because we've been so hard at work!  We've got lots of new content that will be coming your way this week, so make sure to check back everyday for something new.

IRAQ: FIVE YEARS LATER

Can you believe that on Thursday, March 20th, it will have been five years since the United States led the invasion into Iraq?  Sometimes it seems like the conflict has been dragging on so much longer.  Other times it seems like just yesterday that we were watching American troops help Iraqis pull down that statue of Saddam.

Does it seem that we are talking about Iraq a lot less than we used to? Has the mainstream media totally abdicated responsibility for covering this story, choosing instead to talk about super-delegates and shocking caucus results?  Have the candidates refused to discuss it?  Are we just so relieved that the violence is below pre-surge levels that we feel we can ignore it ?  Are we just bored with it-and misinformed about it?  Why is there not major mainstream media coverage of the winter soldier hearings?

Whatever it is, we know our audience still cares about Iraq and what is happening there, so over this week and next we are bringing you a series of podcasts talking about Iraq.  We're going to hear from scholars, journalists, Iraqis and Iraqi Americans, veterans, peace activists and more.  If you have any ideas for points of view you want us to investigate, let us know!

First up, we wanted to take a look at the intersection of the presidential election and Iraq.  Where do  Senators McCain, Clinton, and Obama stand on the war (click on their names to read their campaign platforms on Iraq)?   What is their history in terms of the Iraq war (Go here for Clinton, here for McCain, and here for Obama)?  What can the beliefs of their advisers tell us about their agenda?  McCain has a reputation for being a maverick-does he have a maverick agenda for Iraq?  Does the fact that he is a veteran give his agenda more credibility? Some people say Hillary and Obama agree on most major policies--is that true for their Iraq plans?  To get to the bottom of these questions, we talked with UMBC history professor Brad Simpson.  He is an astute observer and analyst of U.S. foreign policy. Sure, he's got a point of view and he isn't afraid to voice it, but he's got criticism for both sides of the aisle and he dishes it out with a real knowledge of the issues.

Click here to stream Marc's interview with Brad Simpson.  Right-click here and select "Save Target As" to save the mp3 onto your desktop.  Transcript coming soon. Running time is 27 minutes.

Check back everyday this week for more interviews.  We've got more podcasts about The Wire, and we'll be talking with other folks about Iraq.

Let us know what you think...

-Jessica

We stopped by Clarke's Charles Village rowhome one recent morning to tape this interview.  By interview, I mean a laid back conversation around the dining room table, talking about all sorts of things: Baltimore, theater, race, politics, culture, Europe, America, and of course, The Wire and his character, Detective Lester Freamon.  Oh, have you heard there are discussions of a Wire movie?  Clarke brings it up near the end of the interview.  So, sit back, relax, click here, and listen.  Running time is 43:41.

To read the transcript of the interview, click here.

Check this out - yesterday Time magazine published an article written by The Wire's five writers: Ed Burns, Dennis Lehane, George Pelecanos, Richard Price, and David Simon.  It's called "The Wire's War on the Drug War" and they argue for jury nullification on all non-violent drug cases.  Here's a quote:

"If asked to serve on a jury deliberating a violation of state or federal drug laws, we will vote to acquit, regardless of the evidence presented. Save for a prosecution in which acts of violence or intended violence are alleged, we will — to borrow Justice Harry Blackmun's manifesto against the death penalty — no longer tinker with the machinery of the drug war. No longer can we collaborate with a government that uses nonviolent drug offenses to fill prisons with its poorest, most damaged and most desperate citizens."

Read the whole article.  In light of the recent news that 1 in 100 U.S. adults are in prison, giving us the highest rate of incarceration in the world, what do you think?

Don't forget to check out the rest of the CEM Wire podcast series!

And come back tomorrow, the last day before the series finale airs, for a new interview with Andre Royo aka Bubbles aka Bubs!!

Bubbles is my favorite character on The Wire. I remember hearing an interview with David Simon before the fifth season premiered in which he promised that at least one character would experience a happy ending and total redemption by the end of the series. I immediately forget all about how much I cared about Dukie, Randy, and all the other kids on the show and found myself hopin' and prayin' for Bubbles to be the one with the happy ending.

Seems like he is doing pretty good so far this season...we'll find out for sure tomorrow night whether or not Bubbles ends the season clean and sober. Before that, take a listen to Marc's interview with Andre Royo, the actor who has so deftly portrayed Bubbles during the last few years. He'll speak about how intense it was so carry this character over an extended period of time, and why he thinks the character of Bubbles moved so many people. You'll hear Andre's plans for the future and what he hopes The Wire has taught people.

Click here to stream the interview. Right click here and select "Save Target As" in order to download the interview as an mp3. Running time is 25 minutes. You can read the transcript here.

Links below, after you click "Read More"

• Andre Royo's MySpace page
• Andre Royo Internet Movie Database
• Through the Wire A feature on Andre Royo in the Baltimore City Paper from September 2005.
• Andre Royo An interview with New York Magazine from January 2008.
• LAist Interview: The Wire's Andre Royo from January 2008.
• Andre Royo of The Wire Shed's His Skin from New York Resident Magazine, January 2008
• The Wire coverage on BET

I have a lot of friends from out of town who love The Wire.  I always kind of feel sorry for them because I feel like they aren't getting the whole picture.  Only someone really familiar with Baltimore can get all the inside jokes, references, and cameos that pepper the series.  But sometimes the reference is arcane enough that not even Baltimoreans quite get what they are looking at.  For example, how many people know that the soup kitchen Bubbles worked at in season five is a real place?

My co-producer Justin brought that up, and we decided that it would make a great podcast to go down and talk to the people who run that soup kitchen and learn about their experience being featured on The Wire.  Their names are Brendan Walsh and Willa Bickham.  They play themselves on television (well, sort of...listen to the podcast to find out more!) They are wonderful people and they have a lot of great things to say about Baltimore, social justice issues, and of course, The Wire.

Click here to stream the interview.  Right click here and select "Save Target As" to download the entire feature as an MP3. The running time is 17:29.  Read the transcript here.

Click "Read More" for a slideshow of pictures from Viva House as well as other resources.

[slideshow id=1441151880764082155&w=426&h=320]

This is a selection of images taken at Viva House in West Baltimore.  Move your cursor over the pictures for captions.

• Baltimore's Viva House from America, The National Catholic Weekly
• Mildred and Me , from Laura Lippman.com-Laura writes about her experience volunteering at Viva House.
• Diary: Entry 5 from Slate.com-Laura Lippman writes again about Viva House.
• Best Free Food: Viva House from Best of Baltimore 2006 by Baltimore City Paper

Want to get in touch with Viva House?  Write to them at

Viva House Catholic Worker

26 S. Mount Street. Baltimore, MD 21223.

Call: 410-233-0488

We're back again today with another fantastic interview for you.  Last week Marc sat down with Robert Chew, the Baltimore native who has portrayed the east Baltimore drug lord Proposition Joe for the past several years on the hit HBO series The Wire.  Prop Joe, as he came to be known, was an iconic figure that represented a time in Baltimore where the drug trade was less violent and bloody, when word was bond, and "The Game" was something very different than what it is today.

Click here to steam that interview.  Or, right click here and choose "Save Target As."  Running time is 34 minutes.  You can read the transcript here.

Click read more for interviews and resources.

• Robert Chew on the Internet Movie Database
• The Arena Players Youtheatre
• An Interview with Prop Joeon The FADER
• Back to School from Baltimore City Paper-this article goes in-depth regarding the coaching Chew provided to the four young men who starred in season four.
• The TV Club talks about Prop Joe's fate (spoiler alert!) on Slate.com
• Wire Watch from Time Magazine (spoiler alert!)

 Our Wire podcast series continues with a forty minute interview with David Simon!  Sunday is getting closer.  In the meantime, hear what The Wire's creator has to say about the show.  Click here for the complete audio interview (you can also right click and choose "Save Target As" to save the MP3 so you can put it on a cd or portable MP3 player.)  Click here to read the transcript.

Choice quotes:

"The Wire to me is one of the funniest shows about the decline of the American empire that’s ever been written."

"Politically, I am a pessimist at this point.  I don’t believe we can actually even recognize our fundamental problems, much less begin to address them.  And that is what the last season of The Wire was about...I’d love The Wire to be wrong about everything.  This is not a gleeful pessimism, it’s a worried pessimism.  And if The Wire is wrong, nobody will be happier than me."

"Every single drama that is offered up for popular entertainment is on some level a political or cultural form of pornography, and I’m tired of it and it bores the hell out of me."

"I apparently am the angriest man in television, which, I take that as a vague manner of praise, but I think it’s rather faint.  The second angriest man in television, I believe, is by a kidney shaped pool with his cellphone in Bel Air somewhere, and he’s screaming because he doesn’t have enough points on the DVD’s."

Here are just a few of the thousands of interviews with and articles about David Simon.

• Stealing Life: The Crusader behind The Wire in the New Yorker, October 22nd, 2008.
• Interview: Talking With the Creator of One of T.V.'s Best and Smartest Shows in Rolling Stone, September 25th, 2005.
• Under the Wire from Baltimore City Paper, May 28th 2003
• Q&A David Simonin Undercover Black Man (blog), January 22nd, 2007.
• Exclusive Q&A with David Simonfrom The Wire on HBO (fansite), August 16th 2006
• 'The Wire's' David Simon from Fresh Air from WHYY, September 23rd, 2004

Check back tomorrow for the next installment in The CEM Wire podcast series, an interview with Robert Chew, the actor who portrays Prop Joe!  Much more to come as well, including an interview with Andre Royo, pictured above with David Simon.

Want to set up ITUNES to automatically download these for you?  Launch ITUNES.  Go to the toolbar, and click on ADVANCED.  Then, click "Subscribe to podcast feed."  In the box that comes up, paste http://www.switchpod.com/users/cem/feed.xml.  If you have any problems, email me at Jes.Phillips@gmail.com.

Ed Burns on the set of The Wire

As we promised last week, this week we are bringing you a series of interviews with folks from the hit HBO series The Wire.  The series finale of this show is airing on March 9th.  Marc is a huge fan of the program, and we know a lot of you are as well.   So for our first podcast series we decided to concentrate on this television show and talk to writers, producers, actors, security guards and crew to ask them about their experiences in making The Wire.  We wanted to find out what they think the message of the show is.  What does it have to teach us about urban America?  What lessons can we learn from the five seasons? 

We began with a quick conversation with Ed Burns, a writer and co-producer.  He is a former Baltimore City Cop and Baltimore City public school teacher.  Those experiences deeply informed the script of The Wire.  His real life experiences often found their way onto the screen. 

Click here to hear that interview, or right click and choose "Save Target As" which will save it as an MP3 file on your computer. Running time is 15:20. Read the transcript here.

Tomorrow, we'll bring you a conversation with series creator David Simon.  Later in the week, you'll hear from the actors who play Lester Freamon, Prop Joe, Bubbles, and more.  Stay tuned, and let us know what you think.

-Jessica

Click "Read More" for links to articles, interviews and more.

• HBO: The Wire: Interview: Ed Burns
• Ed Burns on Fresh Air in November 2006
• The Ethical Scumbag (blog) interviews Ed Burns
• Edutopia: Edward Burns: Bringing Education Reality to TV
• The Wire Links (blog) Links to articles and info on THE WIRE

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO TODAY

Fifteen years ago today the first Marc Steiner Show aired.    Tuesday
March 3rd, 1993.   It was a show on Norplant.    There was a huge
controversy in 1993 on the use of Norplant as a contraceptive
administered by the city health department to mostly inner
city teenagers.   Some argued that the long-term effects of the drug
were not known, others that the city had to do something to respond
the rates of teen pregnancy in the city.

So, there I was, bathed in fire on the air.    Four guests, all women,
an hour and a half with no breaks.   We started the show with a short
documentary that we produced on the subject.  We did that a lot in the
first year of our show.    I miss that.

Becoming a public radio host was total serendipity.    In 1990 after
three years spent producing, directing and casting radio commercials for
an ad agency I longed to get back to something with some substance.
It was time to leave the world of selling white bread, beer, BMWs and
the lottery. I had learned a lot about producing and mixing sound,
music and voices for radio.

I had this idea for a thirteen part series on the History of Jewish
Music.  I knew it was an idea that could work.    So did David Creagh,
the General Manager of WJHU who gave me office space to work on the
idea.   Well about a year later with some promises in hand and great
board of advisers, the project went belly up when the station ran into
some financial difficulties.    It is still a great idea and I have
the proposal waiting in my files.

A couple of years later, in late 1992, I ran into Denis Kita at my
dentist's office.   Dennis had been Assistant General Manager when I
first met him.   He was now the new GM of WJHU.     We sat there in
the waiting room of Dr. Charlie Stine, who at that time was producing
and hosting a short program every week on the wonderful natural
wonders and histories found in our back yards.   Charlie, besides
being my and Dennis's dentist, had been my Dad's best friend and my
natural history mentor since I was a young lad.

At any rate, Dennis Kita and I were talking in the waiting room when
he said to me "We are thinking about launching a public affairs
program at WJHU.    You know this city so well from the street corners
to the corporate board rooms, I thought you might have some ideas."
Well for some reason the first thing that blurted out of my mouth was
"You should let me be the host!"   Dennis said but you don't know
anything about radio.   I said, " What do you have to know?   You
read, you talk and ask people questions.  I do that at my dining room
table all the time."

Well, poor Dennis, he opened the door.   I would not let go.  I hocked
him for months.   Finally, one day when I was at the station, after
bugging him for months, he said "OK, here is your desk, here is your
phone, no money, no producer, I will take off All Things Considered
every Tuesday night from 7 to 8:30.    That will be your time slot.
See what you can do."   I took it.   And the rest is history.   Well
there is much more to that history, but we'll leave that for another day.

TEXAS OHIO VERMONT AND RHODE ISLAND

Tomorrow is a very critical primary day.  Not for John McCain, he
has the Republican primary all sewn up.  Well, then again it might
be important for him because what happens to Democrats internally, how
they behave towards one another and how they do or do not support one
another could have a profound effect on the November general election.

If they split Texas and Ohio or if Hillary Clinton wins them (lets not
forget Rhode Island and Vermont) then the race for the Democratic
nomination is still on.   It could get quite volatile and nasty.
Texas with its weird primary/caucus blend might well not be decided by
tomorrow night.    Lawsuits could erupt.   The Democrats could commit
fratricide.  You never know, it has happened before.    The Democratic
front runners could easily decide it is not necessary for their party
to win the White House when they can let their egos rule the day
instead.

If Barack Obama wins then the Democrats would hope that Clinton would
not only bow out but also come out supporting Obama in a big way.   If she doesn't, then the wound could fester and hurt the Democrats in their quest
to regain the White House.   If Barack wins, I hope she and Bill
Clinton can bow out gracefully with class, putting their party and
its beliefs ahead of personal animosity and ego.

The New York Times over the weekend had some very interesting stories
about the race.   On Saturday, Jeffrey Rosen wrote an op-ed on civil liberties and the Democratic candidates.   The article was making the point that Barack Obama was able to forge a working coalition in both the Illinois and US Senates between liberal civil
liberties advocates and conservative libertarians on everything from
police harassment actions to the far reaching aspects of the Patriot
Act.   Rosen made the argument that the Clinton administration and
Senator Clinton's record on civil liberties was, by comparison, questionable.

While the article said only about 20% of American voters care deeply
about civil liberties, it does not say how many care about their
liberties, or how many conservatives care about libertarian values.
I did not read how the question was asked in the polls but my sense is
that Americans have a visceral response to the ill defined notion
liberty.   Civil libertarians and libertarians have much common
ground.

ENERGY SUITS WHO?

So, the state government beat Constellation Energy to the punch with a
lawsuit.   The state says Constellation still has to reimburse
citizens for the rate increase.    Constellation thinks that since the
legislature did not approve its merger with Florida Power and Light
then there is no deal to ameliorate the rise in rates.

While the state and the Constellation battle this out in the courts
there is a question that going unanswered by anyone.    Steve Larson
does a great job.   He wants to protect the consumer, but neither he
nor Constellation's representatives ever answered the question I think
is the most critical when I posed it to them on my former show.

Is it true that Constellation Energy sold its energy cheaply out of
state then resold it back to BGE for a huge profit?     What are the
inner workings and relationships of these two companies?    One is
owned by the other yet we as citizens of this state reap no rewards
from this alleged economy of scale.    There is a serious
investigation both in public hearings and state investigations that
must be had here.   Where is it?  Is it going on?

LOCK EM UP AND THROW AWAY THE KEY
It is unbelievable, but then again maybe not, that 1 in 100 adult
Americans are in jail.

This has its roots not just in Reagan and Bush the first but also in
Bill Clinton's eight years.   Clinton's administration maxed out the
time to be served for crack cocaine, but not powder, remember?    Who
snorts it and who smokes it?

That is not even the most important issue.    People like Governor
Martin O'Malley have the power and the opportunity to do something
about this.   We need to radically reform our juvenile and adult
justice systems.    Put money at the front end, create a responsible
system of community corrections for non violent offenders, stiffen
sentences for violent offenders, create a prison system where non
violent offenders and those addicted are separated from violent
offenders into a system that offers job training, drug rehabilitation
and hope

America can become the leader in the new world green economy.    In
the process we can transform our inner cities with work building the
new green economy and our infrastructure.

One in 100 is a frightening commentary on the future of America in the
21st century.

Your thoughts?

-Marc

OK .. I am back. There is so much going on..

First, let’s get to the WYPR stuff right away.

The board and management of the station keep saying that there are reasons they cannot divulge as to why they cancelled my show.

So, I am asking them now …. Freeing them up from any fears they may have …
DIVULGE!!!!

Tell everyone, the listeners, the press, why you did this.
Tell me, you have never told me. I and my friends and people who loved and listened to the show would love to hear your reasoning.

My guess: they don’t have one, other than the reality we have all witnessed over the last month.

Anyway, on to bigger and better things!

It is time to get back in the saddle, so we are going to be bringing you new interviews. Until we get our new website up, you can find them right here on our blog, ready to listen to or to podcast.

How many of you are fans of the WIRE? My guess is a lot of you are.

I love the WIRE. It is a show that speaks not only about life in the inner city neighborhoods of our land but about what they are emblematic of in America. It speaks to who we are becoming in America. The acting is just phenomenal and the writing is the best on television.

Over the course of the next few weeks, we will air interviews with actors, writers, producers, and others from the WIRE. We will start with creative partners Ed Burns and David Simon. This week you will hear actors Clarke Peters, who plays Lester Freamon, Andre Royo, who portrays Bubbles, and Robert Chew, playing the ill-fated kingpin Prop Joe. There will many more this week and in the coming weeks.

We won’t stop there. More interviews with authors, public figures, artists and just interesting folks coming your way. Many of them will be multiplatform stories, with pictures and more. Download the scripts, download the interviews. The Marc Steiner Show is back!

Let us know what is happening in your worlds and what you want to hear.

I will be writing more after the weekend, reflecting on what’s in the news, in our communities, in the arts.

Stay tuned... more exciting stuff coming our way.

Have a great weekend!

marc