The following are people of interest who are available for radio show interviews.
If you would like to be interviewed, or if you are a radio station that has a contact you can share with other Pacifica affiliates, please contact Rebekka Reuter at bekka@pacifica.org
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| Holly Harris, U.S. Justice Action Network "Overlooked: Women in the Justice System" I wanted to share this piece from Holly Harris of the U.S. Justice Action Network about the unique problems women face in our justice system today. Co-written by Rep. Mia Love (R-UT) and drawing attention to this issue during Women's History Month, the piece draws attention to how women in prison are often more isolated from their families and support systems and how policies such as community supervisions are better options for these women. Holly heads the largest bipartisan organization working to reform the justice system both in states and federally. During Women's History Month, Holly would be a great addition to your show - she is an expert in justice reform and has passed reforms in 11 states in the past year that will reduce the prison population, improve public safety and save states money. Holly has been quoted in the New York Times, Washington Post, AP, Time and other national outlets. Most recently she authored the Foreign Affairs essay entitled “The Prisoner Dilemma” that explores the political landscape and opportunity for the “law and order” President to tackle justice reform at the federal level. Would you be willing to do a segment about how women are impacted by the justice system and talk to Holly? Contact Lauren Weiner lauren@precisionstrategies.com 202.888.5459 (desk) // 202.257.3977(cell) |
| Dr. Marcee White, Children's National Health System "National Poison Prevention Week March 19–25, 2017" With almost one call every minute to poison control centers and enough kids to fill about four school buses a day arriving to emergency rooms due to accidental medicine poisonings, it is more important than ever for parents to store medicine safely. However, new research reveals that while most parents know what they should do to protect kids from accidental medicine poisoning, that knowledge isn’t always turning into action. A new report released today by Safe Kids Worldwide, “Safe Medicine Storage: A Look at the Disconnect Between Parent Knowledge and Behavior,” explores the gap between what parents know they should do to keep kids safe around medicine and what they actually do. A new nationwide survey of 2,000 parents revealed that while the clear majority of parents agree that it’s important to store all medicine out of sight and up high after every use, less than half of the survey respondents reported doing so. What Families Can Do to Protect Kids • Store medicine up and away and out of sight and reach every time. • Keep medicine in its original child-resistant packaging. • Practice safe storage of medicine as soon as your first child is born. • Put the Poison Help number – 1-800-222-1222 – into your phone and post it visibly at home. • Instead of keeping your medicine handy, use safe reminder tools like cell phone alarms or medication schedules. For more medicine safety tips, visit SafeKids.org For an interview with Marcee White, contact David Sands 424-206-1238 (office) ++ 323-547-9557 (cell) www.straussmedia.com |
| Anton Schwartz, son of Tony Schwartz "The Responsive Chord" “I read The Responsive Chord as a freshman in college and it affected everything I’ve ever made since. Its message is practical and deep.”’ —Ira Glass, Host & Creator, This American Life Legendary media guru, Tony Schwartz, created commercials for more than four hundred corporations, five presidential campaigns, and his most iconic commercial was the “Daisy” ad for LBJ with a girl holding the flower in front of a nuclear explosion, which the 2016 Clinton campaign made its own version of against Drumpf, confirming that Tony’s message is undeniably resonant decades after its creation. Now his son Anton, an accomplished musician who watched his dad tap into mass media’s power, is compelled to carry on his message. With media going haywire, now more than ever was the right time to bring back THE RESPONSIVE CHORD: How Media Manipulate You: What You Buy…Who You Vote for…and How You Think (Mango; January 2017; $16.95 Paperback; ISBN: 9781633536050.) The second edition features a new foreword by John Carey, Professor of Communications and Media Management at Fordham and online access to audio and video of examples discussed in the book. In 2017, when people get most of their information about products, culture, politics, and the world from social media, mobile media, and partisan pundits, Schwartz’s insights speak directly to a new generation. In an interview, Tony Schwartz’s son, Anton Schwartz, can discuss: - how insights from the book are applicable to 21st-century media; - his father’s theory of resonance and how it helped Drumpf get elected; - how Hillary Clinton morphed the iconic Daisy commercial to her own purpose, and how she did not utilize the core practices in the book to her advantage; - how his father became an expert in mass communication at a time when there were only 3 TV networks; - memories of the famous and interesting visitors he met during his childhood; and - why right now is the right time for the long-awaited release of a second edition of the book. Click here for Anton Schwartz’s interview on San Francisco’s KRON-TV’s “KRON 4 News.” Click here for Tony Schwartz’s iconic “Daisy” ad. To book an interview with Anton Schwartz, contact Stephen Francy at (212) 260-7576. |
| ARUN KUNDNANI // arun[at]kundnani.org// @ArunKundnani "Drumpf's Muslim Ban" Kundnani is the author of The Muslims are Coming! Islamophobia, Extremism, and the Domestic War on Terror and a lecturer at New York University. He said today: "The United States has exported violence to the Middle East for decades and yet refuses to offer sanctuary to those forced to flee the consequences of that violence. A greater hypocrisy is hard to imagine." Kundnani recently wrote "Recharging the Batteries of Whiteness: Drumpf's New Racial Identity Politics." IMAM ABDUL MALIK MUJAHID, via Gregg Cockrell // greggcockrell[at]yahoo.com Imam Mujahid is the President of Sound Vision Foundation. He is speaking with Imams all over the country today. He said this morning: "President Donald Drumpf's order banning most refugees unfairly singles out Muslims." Regarding the reported exception for minorities who are in danger of religious persecution, he said: "We are pleased that persecuted minorities are welcomed. However, discriminating against Muslims who are victims of the war-terror cycle is un-American. "I wonder how many Anne Franks will be denied entry into the U.S. because of the exclusion of Muslims. It reminds me of 1939, when the United States turned away hundreds of Jews who came here seeking shelter on the ship the MM St. Louis. That refusal led to the deaths of 254 people by the Nazis, (with) nearly a third of the passengers sent back to Europe. "Everyone entering the U.S. must be equally scrutinized by law enforcement." For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy: Hollie Ainbinder, (615) 893-0495; David Zupan, (541) 484-9167 |
| Joan Bonifaz // David Swanson "The campaign to impeach Donald Drumpf has begun" Support for impeaching President Drumpf gained momentum over the weekend, with more than 100,000 Americans signing a petition since the inauguration calling for the House of Representatives to begin an impeachment process. The petition campaign, led by RootsAction.org and Free Speech for People, says that “Drumpf’s refusal to divest from his business interests has placed him in direct violation of the United States Constitution.” In an article headlined “The Campaign to Impeach President Drumpf Has Begun,” the Washington Post reported: “At the moment the new commander in chief was sworn in, a campaign to build public support for his impeachment went live at "ImpeachDonaldTrumpNow.org", spearheaded by two liberal advocacy groups aiming to lay the groundwork for his eventual ejection from the White House.” The nonpartisan Impeach Donald Drumpf Now campaign is calling on the U.S. Congress to initiate an impeachment investigation into President Drumpf’s violations of the U.S. Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause and Domestic Emoluments Clause, as well as violations of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012 (STOCK Act). Available for interviews: JOHN BONIFAZ, Press@FreeSpeechForPeople.org, @JohnBonifaz Bonifaz is co-founder and president of Free Speech For People. He said today: “Given President Donald Drumpf’s refusal to divest fully from his business interests, he is now in direct violation of the U.S. Constitution. “In the face of this new and unprecedented level of corruption by the President, we must rise to address this extraordinary moment in our history. The President must be held accountable for these impeachable offenses and we, as a people, must confront this new corruption threat to our Constitution and our democracy.” DAVID SWANSON, david@davidswanson.org, @davidcnswanson Swanson is campaign coordinator of RootsAction.org. He said today: "As documented on our new website at ImpeachDonaldTrumpNow.org we now have a president who is violating two clauses in the Constitution, one forbidding any gifts or benefits from foreign governments, the other forbidding the same from the U.S. government or any U.S. state. This is the result of Drumpf refusing to separate himself from major business interests as past presidents have done. Those interests will also inevitably involve Drumpf in violating the STOCK Act which forbids the use of non-public government information to make a private profit. ... “Do we want Mike Pence to be President? We want whoever is the 46th president -- and 47th and 48th -- to be in the position of knowing that they can be held accountable to the Constitution. We believe that change will be more significant than the identity of the person stepping into the office.” Swanson is the director of World Beyond War and the author of War is a Lie. For FAQ about the campaign to impeach Drumpf that RootsAction has posted, click here. To see an eight-page “Impeachment campaign FAQs” document that the Impeach Donald Drumpf Now campaign has posted, click here. For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy: Hollie Ainbinder, (615) 893-0495; David Zupan, (541) 484-9167 |
| AFT President Randi Weingarten // Janet Bass, AFT Media Affairs, 202-879-4554, jbass@aft.org AFT President Randi Weingarten recent published an op-ed, “Donald Drumpf vs. public schools: Betsy DeVos is a radical choice.” Contact Janet Bass at AFT if you’d like to talk with Randi about Drumpf’s pick for education secretary. whom Randi says poses a “grave threat” to public education. |
| Jackson Katz // jackson@mvpstrat.com // @jacksontkatz "Donald Drumpf and Issues of Masculinity" September 30, 2016 Katz is author of the new book Man Enough? Hillary Clinton, Donald Drumpf and the Politics of Presidential Masculinity. He said today: "Drumpf’s former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski" has said a major goal of Drumpf's is "to 'lock in the white guys' who are Drumpf’s core voters. Many commentators overlooked this incredibly revealing statement, choosing instead to focus on how Drumpf’s aggressive and uncompromising tone might have turned off swing voters and others. ... "From the start, Drumpf has positioned himself as the embodiment of tough-guy masculinity, a throwback to the days when men were men and America was great because of it. Cultural ideas about gender have always hovered beneath the surface of American presidential politics. But this time around, the combination of Hillary, a woman, facing Drumpf, the angry face of aggrieved and aggressive white manhood, has made gender -- especially masculinity -- visible in unprecedented ways." Katz highlights how "white men ... [largely] changed their allegiance, broke up the New Deal coalition in the process, and created the gender gap we see to this day. ... "A big factor was the decline of the labor movement. Organized labor was often seen as a source of blue-collar toughness and strength in its advocacy for the white working class. And I think some of the Democratic Party’s diminished strength with white working people can be traced to the decline of the labor movement as a traditional source of masculine strength. As blue collar manufacturing jobs have been shipped overseas, a lot of dislocated, alienated, and screwed-over white working-class guys have gravitated toward the tough-guy rhetoric and symbolism of the Republicans to hold on to their manhood. The Republican Party may offer working-class white men very little in terms of actual policies that benefit them, but at least they offer them a kind of cultural recognition and validation." Katz argues that part of the reason why there has been less attention to the gender aspects of white identity politics In this campaign is because of "an analytic blind spot, rooted in the fact that we’re not used to seeing dominant groups as 'groups' at all. For example, people often assume the word 'race' refers to people of color, rather than whites, who remain the privileged and often unexamined norm against which others are measured. Likewise when the subject of gender and politics comes up, the conversation typically turns to 'women’s issues' and the kind of things that motivate women voters. What’s mostly missing is any kind of sustained look at the male side of the gender gap, the material and symbolic factors that have driven men’s voting patterns over the years." See recent interview. For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy: Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; David Zupan, (541) 484-9167 |
| William K. Black // blackw@umkc.edu // @williamkblack "The Role of Whistleblowers in the Wells Fargo scandal" September 19, 2016 The Los Angeles Times reports that "The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday on aggressive sales tactics employed by Wells Fargo employees that led to a $185-million settlement package with federal and state regulators. Five senators requested a committee investigation into the bank’s pressure-cooker sales practices that pushed thousands of Wells Fargo employees to open as many as 2 million accounts that customers never asked for. Scheduled to testify at the hearing are John Stumpf, chief executive of the San Francisco-based bank, and Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau." Black recently did an interview with The Real News: "Media Grossly Downplaying the Depths of the Wells Fargo Scandal", in which he states: "The hard work was done by the customers, by the employees, and by Los Angeles county, that brought the suit in 2015, building on these whistleblowers. You see almost no credit for that, in the coverage. Instead these federal agencies held absolutely not a single individual accountable, there were no admissions, there were absolutely no admissions in the settlement agreement. So this settlement agreement, principally negotiated by the CFPB, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, is disgustingly weak." In the interview, Black gets into the specifics of how "the workers [were] ... actually the folks who blew the whistle on these frauds, along with Wells Fargo customers." He adds: "In fact, this is a place that has absolutely refused to clean up its house and, by the way, while it was firing over 5,000 of the employees, the people who were being coerced and not only encouraged but demanded and praised by Wells Fargo managers to cheat. The person who was in charge of the entire consumer banking division was allowed to retire. Praised as the model of what a banker should be, by the CEO and given millions of dollars with absolutely no claw-back for the abuses." See from 2013 in the Los Angeles Times: "Wells Fargo's pressure-cooker sales culture comes at a cost" and from 2015 in Mother Jones: "Why Is My Bank Teller Trying to Sell Me a Credit Card I Don't Want?" and in The Wall Street Journal "At Wells Fargo, How Far Did Bank’s Sales Culture Go?". Black is an associate professor of economics and law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. A former bank regulator who led investigations of the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s, he is the author of the book The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One. For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy: Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; David Zupan, (541) 484-9167 |
| William A. Schiemann // Twitter: @wschiemann "Fulfillment vs. Success" September 16, 2016 According to a newly released research, 1 in 5 lower-skilled men, those without a college degree, aged 21-30, have not worked at all during the prior twelve months. The employment rate of this group has fallen 10 percentage points just this century. These younger, lower-skilled men are now less likely to work, less likely to marry, and more likely to live with parents or close relatives. With all of their free time, the research revealed three quarters of their additional leisure time is spent with video games. And more surprising is these young men are happy, reporting higher satisfaction than this age group used to, even when its employment rate was 10 percentage points higher. So can one be poor, young, unemployed, and yet fairly fulfilled in their life? According to Organizational Psychologist, CEO and author of the forthcoming book, Fulfilled! Critical Choices – Work, Home, Life (releasing nationwide October 1), Dr. Bill Schiemann says success does not necessarily equal fulfillment. As an organizational psychologist, Dr. Schiemann has spent twenty-five years as a research and management consultant in employee engagement and fulfillment, working with organizations of all walks of life – startups, not-for-profits, Fortune 500, government and even church groups. As part of his research, he interviewed over 100 successful people - some who were fulfilled and others who were not - to understand why success does not always bring about fulfillment. And there was amazing convergence around several things that fulfilled people, regardless of socioeconomic status, do at work and home. As the CEO of Metrus Group, Inc., Dr. Schiemann has studied hundreds of companies and interviewed and surveyed tens of thousands of people, ranging from C-suite executives to customer service reps, union shop floor employees, and service delivery personnel. He has extensively studied installers, sales reps, clerks, scientists and engineers, HR managers, accountants, systems designers, production employees, retail staff, lawyers and mill workers. In an entertaining, eye-opening and insightful interview, Dr. Schiemann can discuss: •Why success doesn't equal fulfillment •The five secrets fulfilled people use everyday •The three key drivers to fulfillment •The “magic” behind those who are fulfilled – tricks they use that people can apply to their lives •The science of becoming fulfilled— and how this applies to Milennials, Generation X and Baby Boomers • If companies should play a role in fulfillment – is this really their job and what the benefit is to those organizations •The 10 key tools that fulfilled people use all the time •Two things people can do right now to increase their fulfillment • And much more! For more information contact Erin Macdonald-Birnbaum // 856-489-8654 x302 // erin@smithpublicity.com |
| Dave Marinaccio "50th anniversary of Star Trek" September 7, 2016 This month marks the 50th anniversary of Star Trek. Fifty years after William Shatner made his first “captain’s log,” the power of Star Trek is felt across generations. But why? What makes this series so captivating decade after decade? Bestselling author of All I Really Need To Know I Learned From Watching Star Trek, Dave Marinaccio, is immediately available for timely interviews to discuss the power of Star Trek and some of the incredible life lessons that it teaches, including: - Each person or each species, no matter how alien, has the right to live their lives as they wish. (As long as they’re not trying to take over the galaxy or eat you or something.) - Whatever you are doing, answer a distress call. The most important time to help someone is when they need it. - If you can keep your head in a crisis, you’ve got a fighting chance. - The unknown is not to be feared. It is to be examined, understood and accepted. - Close friends become family and family is the true center of the universe. Please let me know if you're interested in an interview with Dave, or if you'd like a copy of his bestselling book. And remember, as Captain Kirk once so wisely said, “sometimes a feeling is all we humans have to go on.” Dave Marinaccio is an international bestselling author and successful marketing business entrepreneur. His bestselling book, All I Really Need To Know I Learned From Watching Star Trek, is drawn from his long career in the advertising business. He is co-founder and SVP, CCO of Laughlin Marinaccio & Owens in Arlington, VA. He is an Edward R. Murrow Award recipient and has given lectures at The Smithsonian, IBM, and Star Trek conventions. He is a regular contributor on marketing issues at News Channel 8 in DC. For more information, call Sophia Moriarty, 856-489-8654, ext. 325 sophia.moriarty@smithpublicity.com |
| Gerald Horne // GHorne[at]uh.edu "Colin Kaepernick and Racism of The Star-Spangled Banner" August 30, 2016 The group RootsAction.org has started a petition: "Tell Colin Kaepernick you support his brave stance for racial justice." The group states that it was signed by 7,500 "the first eight hours after it was launched on Monday afternoon." Gerald Horne commented in a segment for The Real News just last month: "Look at the third stanza of the Star-Spangled Banner, which is sung routinely, as you know, at sporting events, at every major, perhaps even minor, event at this country. The third stanza, the lyrics, devised by Francis Scott Key of Maryland -- who, by the way, was a slaveowner, and by the way, in 1835 helped to incite a pogrom against people of African descent, particularly slaves, in the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore area -- in the third stanza, he denounces the black population of the United States." The third stanza reads: No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave, And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave. Added Horne: "And one of the reasons he denounces them is because the Star-Spangled Banner comes out of the War of 1812, when there was this conflict between Britain, the former colonial power, and the United States of America, which had seceded from the British Empire in 1776. Voila, the July 4holiday. And the African population, by several orders of magnitude, not only fought against the secession in 1776, but they aligned with London. And when the redcoats invaded, particularly the Washington, D.C.-Maryland area in August 1814, and they set Washington, D.C. afire, set the White House afire, sent President James Madison and his garrulous spouse Dolly fleeing into the streets. ... "And the Star-Spangled Banner speaks specifically and particularly to that, reprimanding, reproving, and denouncing black people for not standing alongside the star-spangled banner, but instead aligning, as the black population tended to do, with the real and imagined enemies of the United States of America." See Jon Schwarz at The Intercept: "Colin Kaepernick Is Righter Than You Know: The National Anthem Is a Celebration of Slavery." Also see from Jason Johnson at The Root: "Star-Spangled Bigotry: The Hidden Racist History of the National Anthem." Gerald Horne is Moores Chair of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston. His books include Negro Comrades of the Crown: African Americans and the British Empire Fight the U.S. Before Emancipation. For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy: Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; David Zupan, (541) 484-9167 |
| Felicia Kornbluh // fkornbluh[at]gmail.com // @vtfeminist Gwendolyn Mink // wendymink[at]gmail.com // @wendymink "Welfare as We Know It" August 22, 2016 Mink and Kornbluh are the authors of the forthcoming Ensuring Poverty: The History and Politics of Welfare Reform. They just wrote the piece "Time to End 'Welfare as We Know It'", which states: "Today, August 22, 2016, is the twentieth anniversary of the day President Bill Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, which replaced the income safety net for poor single mothers and their children with temporary, disciplinary, punitive relief. While this so-called reform of welfare did reduce the welfare rolls, it did not stanch the poverty of single mothers or improve the well-being of their children. The failure of 1990s welfare reform to enhance economic security and opportunity is reason to dedicate this anniversary to rethinking and revising our national approach to poverty. "It is time to end this version of 'welfare as we know it' by creating a system of income support that makes the dignity and equality of low income mothers a preeminent policy value, while respecting and supporting the role of caregiving in family well-being. "Future policy should restore income support for low-income caregivers by renovating welfare policy in a way that restores the right of each caregiving parent to figure out her own balance between family work and wage work. We need not catalog here the numerous and familiar ways the key features of 1990s welfare reform -- work requirements, time limits, family sanctions, fertility control pressures, and marriage promotion -- suppress the economic empowerment and wellbeing of low-income single-mother families. "The outsized rate of single mother poverty (nearly 40% in 2014) commands attention and warrants a transformation of welfare policy. Certainly such gendered economic proposals as have been embraced by Democrats -- paid family leave, a higher minimum wage, equal pay, accessible child care -- will aid lower income Americans, especially women. But labor market policies alone will not attenuate the economic precariousness of single mothers whose caregiving work in their own families is neither supported nor valued by the market or in politics. "It would be a shame if the progressive energies unleashed in the 2016 election cycle landed us in the same old masculinist, middle-class rut of tying family wellbeing to the conditions of breadwinning alone. Democrats must pay attention not only to grievously poor wages and the lack of family-friendly employer policies. Care-conscious labor market policies need to be matched by care-conscious family policies that give economic support and credit to the care work performed disproportionately, though not only, by mothers. "One bright spot in the Democratic conversation in 2016 has been both Clinton’s and Sanders’ unabashed support for imputing economic value to family caregiving in the algebra of social security benefits calculations: both candidates want to credit workers who take time out of the labor market to care for a child or sick adult so that they are not punished for, as Clinton puts it, 'taking on the vital role of caregiver.' This powerful acknowledgement of the irreducible importance of family care work should smooth the way to future policies that build upon the principle that poor mothers (and fathers) care, too. "Looking forward, we call upon Democrats to pledge themselves to broaden both the feminism and the economic egalitarianism that were championed this primary season by stipulating an agenda to mitigate and reduce poverty. Centering a poverty agenda on the multiple inequalities endured by the worst-off women -- poor single mothers, disproportionately of color -- would start the process of undoing the damages wrought by the 1996 welfare law. It would also avoid the pitfalls of economic universalism that proceeds as though gender does not matter." Mink is the author of Welfare’s End, The Wages of Motherhood, and many other books and articles. Kornbluh is author of The Battle for Welfare Rights and many articles. Both were members of the Women’s Committee of One Hundred, a feminist mobilization for welfare justice. For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy: Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020 or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167 |
| Arun Kundnani // arun[at]kundnani.org // @ArunKundnani "The Muslims Are Coming" August 17, 2016 Republican presidential nominee Donald Drumpf said in a speech in Ohio on Monday: "In the Cold War, we had an ideological screening test. The time is overdue to develop a new screening test for the threats we face today. I call it extreme vetting. ... That is why one of my first actions as president will be to establish a commission on radical Islam ... to identify and explain to the American public the core convictions and beliefs of radical Islam, to identify the warning signs of radicalization, and to expose the networks in our society that support radicalization." Kundnani is the author of The Muslims are Coming! Islamophobia, Extremism, and the Domestic War on Terror and a lecturer at New York University. He said in an interview with The Real News: "What Drumpf is doing is really making much more explicit and overt with his rhetoric what is actually already by and large there in policy terms. I mean, talking about spotting the warning signs of radicalization -- since 9/11 every law enforcement agency, immigration authorities, and so forth have been given training and so forth. In a very bogus -- I mean, there is very little substance to these methodologies for spotting radicalization. But nevertheless they're out there. They've been implemented for years. ... "After 9/11, we deported hundreds of thousands of people simply because they're Muslim. We already put every mosque in the United States under surveillance simply for being a mosque. That atmosphere is already there." Kundnani recently wrote the piece "Why Hillary's Neoconservative Foreign Policy Will Make The Problem of Islamophobia Worse", which states: "It seems clear that Clinton will continue her war-mongering foreign policy if she is elected. She will almost certainly increase military action in Syria. Around 600 civilians have already been killed by coalition bombing over the last two years, including 163 children. With Clinton in the White House, many more civilians will be killed by the U.S. military in the Middle East, while the root causes of conflict will go unaddressed. Policy will be more aligned with the Netanyahu right-wing in Israel than it has been over the last eight years. Clinton personally intervened to ensure no criticisms of Israel were heard at the Democratic Party convention. "The neoconservative Robert Kagan said of Clinton in 2014: 'I feel comfortable with her on foreign policy. ... If she pursues a policy which we think she will pursue, it’s something that might have been called neocon, but clearly her supporters are not going to call it that; they are going to call it something else.' In other words, she will pursue a neoconservative foreign policy dressed up in the liberal vocabulary of humanitarian intervention. Little wonder that neoconservatives like Kagan have turned to support her instead of Drumpf, and as actively as possible -- Kagan recently hosted a fundraiser for Clinton in Washington DC. ... "If the United States follows [Clinton's] lead, acceptance of Muslims may be dependent on whether they seem as patriotic as the Khans. Those who dissent or criticize the U.S. government or Israel will continue to be treated as suspicious and disloyal. Viewed from this angle, Clinton’s embrace of patriotic Muslims like the Khans seems less about liberal principles and more about creating a PR image to deflect criticisms of U.S. foreign policy. That’s not treating Muslims as fellow citizens; it’s treating them as pawns on a geopolitical chessboard. Such positive images of Muslims may help stop Drumpf but they can also be used to strengthen the structures of anti-Muslim racism in domestic and foreign policy." For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020 David Zupan, (541) 484-9167 |
| Steffie Woolhandler, M.D. // himmelhandler[at]comcast.net "More Cracks in the For-Profit Health Care System Emerge" August 17, 2016 The Dallas Morning News reports: "Aetna is the latest health insurance provider to say it will stop offering plans on the Affordable Care Act’s health exchange marketplace next year. "But even as federal officials maintain that there will be many affordable coverage options for most consumers, some rural Texas counties are more likely to feel the impact of dwindling options. ... "When for-profit insurers compete, there's no way to guarantee everyone will get services, added Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, cofounder of Physicians for a National Health Program. "'It doesn't work financially,' said Woolhandler, whose group has long supported a single-payer system. 'What you need is a situation like "Medicare for all" where there is no cherry-picking,' she said. "In the meantime, competitors can pull out of markets they deem unprofitable, leaving only one company standing. "'That's not an option... it's take it or leave it,' says Woolhandler." "Aetna and other insurance giants will only sell coverage to patients on whom they can make a profit. This is why we need to evict the insurance companies, and enact non-profit, single-payer, Medicare-for-all program." Contact Dr. Woolhandler at the email above (full bio below) or contact Sam Husseini (202) 347-0020 or David Zupan (541) 484-9167 at the Institute for Public Accuracy. Dr. Woolhandler is the co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program, She is a professor at City University of New York at Hunter College who sees patients in the South Bronx. |
| Kelly Cinelli // kelly[at]cwrpartners.com // 774-218-6490 "Concierge service in youth sports" Wednesday, August 17, 2016 Two fathers have created an entirely new concierge type service in youth sports that they believe will be the model for all youth sports moving forward – this unique concept is attracting attention from people all over the United States as Joe Fitzpatrick and Dave Boucher build what many said was impossible. Please let us know if you are interested in speaking to Joe or Dave. Any parent of over scheduled children knows that shuttling kids to their activities can often be a daunting and completely overwhelming task that requires precise calendar coordination and masterful execution. Tommy has lacrosse and soccer, Olivia has dance and hockey, Madison has to get to ice skating then karate. Of course, they are all on opposite sides of town. All the while, you still need to drop of the dry cleaning, figure out something to make for dinner and ensure all the homework gets done just in time to get up and do it all over again tomorrow. How can two parents manage to get all of their children to their myriad of activities on their own? That very theory, the concept of consolidating their schedules, actually seeing and enjoying their children, and bringing the family back together in one place intrigued two fathers and friends. The idea of creating a unique environment, where kids of all athletic abilities can come together not only to play and train, but to relax and reconnect with the entire family all in one place is what led the two entrepreneurs to create their own village. The New England Sports Village in Attleboro, MA is at its core a family destination. A one-stop shop for busy families’ activities and wellness set in a sprawling campus like setting. It’s not just a state of the art hockey rink, but a place to sneak in a workout at the gym while the kids practice, grab a nice dinner at our restaurant, sit and sip your coffee, let the kids play in the family entertainment center, have some dessert at Yogurt Beach on your way out. The New England Sports Village is an undertaking like no other in the youth sports world and the developers are open to speaking about their vision and why they felt this village was needed. Website: http://www.nesportsvillage.com/ |
| Erin MacDonald-Birnbaum // erin[at]smithpublicity.com // 856-489-8654 x302 "I Love You...Actually, I Love Your Microbiome" Friday, February 5, 2016 What determines chemistry between two people? Who has not said, “They have good chemistry together?” We hear it so often that it seems trite. Typically, we direct that remark towards a couple that looks mismatched to our judgment. We ask ourselves, “What do they see in each other?” Our usual answer is that their 'chemistry' is just right. This is often our only way of reconciling the force of attraction between these two. Veteran physician and scientific advisor, Dr. Bill Miller, is available for interview on this topic of, “I Love You..Actually I Love Your Microbiome”. This would be a fun interview for any Valentine’s Day segments you may be planning. Dr. Miller reveals that the attraction between two people goes far deeper than we think...all the way to the microbiome (all the microorganisms that are in us and on us – over 100 trillion cells). He says, “What if the concept of chemical attraction has a direct biological basis? New research is revealing that it does, and many of those reasons had not been previously expected or explored. It is becoming increasingly apparent that our microbiome has a tremendous influence upon us. Our relationship with these obligatory microbial partners is intimate. We cannot survive without them and they cannot exist as they prefer without us. It should not be totally surprising, then, that they can affect our social choices and even our love life.” Topics Dr. Miller can discuss include: • What actually determines “chemistry” between two people • The Microbiome – what it is and how it directly affects our love life • Cooties are cool: How germs can influence our sexual choices • Why we unconsciously select a mate based on protecting our future children against an intrusive and agitating microbial realm • Put down the Axe Body Spray: How experiments have demonstrated that sexual partners are attracted to certain body odors • ...and much more! Contact Ms. MacDonald-Birnbaum to schedule an interview with Dr. Miller. His full bio is below. Dr. Bill Miller has been a physician in academic and private practice for over 30 years and is the author of The Microcosm Within: Evolution and Extinction in the Hologenome. During that period, there have been spectacular advances in biology, medicine, genetics, and microbiology. Combining his unique observations about patterns of disease from medicine with current scientific discoveries in many other fields has lead to revolutionary insights in biology and evolution and encouraged his novel and provocative insights into our co-evolutionary journey with the microbial microcosm within each of us. Dr. Miller is a graduate of Northwestern University in Biology, Northwestern Medical School, and is a member of the medical honor society, Alpha Omega Alpha and has been widely published. He currently serves as a scientific advisor to OmniBiome Therapeutics, a pioneering company in discovering and developing solutions to problems in human fertility and health through management of the human microbiome. Website: www.themicrocosmwithin.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/william-b-miller-jr-m-d/15/304/136 The Microcosm Within can be purchased from amazon.com and through all major booksellers. |
| Erin MacDonald-Birnbaum // erin[at]smithpublicity.com // 856-489-8654 x302 Thursday, January 21, 2016 There are thousands of human rights activists around the world fighting for the basic rights and and freedoms that all humans are entitled to. And while many of them—like Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, and Malala Yousafzai—provide famous faces to this work, there are many more working behind the scenes who we never get a chance to learn about. Meet one of them—John Wagner was an adventure traveler, one who was happy with his life when he went on a study tour of Peru. He was a successful lawyer, starting a pro bono legal clinic at a neighborhood settlement house. He had a nice house, good friends and financial stability. So what possessed him to give up everything—his house, possessions family and friends—to work for human rights with a mission organization, even after receiving a death threat from a known terrorist group, and move to a third world country amidst horrific violence and poverty? A truly remarkable tale of forbidden love, betrayal, spiritual transformation and dramatic physical and legal conflicts, Wagner is sharing his story for the first time through his forthcoming book, Troubled Mission: Fighting for Love, Spirituality, and Human Rights in Violence-Ridden Peru (January 2016). In an entertaining, eye-opening interview, Wagner can discuss: • What drove him to leave a successful career in the U.S. to do human rights work in a third world country rife with terrible violence • Why he still chose to do human rights work in Peru after receiving a death threat accompanied by a live machine-gun bullet • An inside account of what it was truly like to be a missioner • Living, Zelig-like, in Peru, through the reality of the disintegration of the country: horrific disappearances and killings, crippling diseases, severe drought, malnutrition, teacher strikes, a dictatorship and a police state with troops and tanks throughout the city • Some of the amazing stories from his time in Peru – from the nun-candidate who asked him to teach her about sex before she had to take her vows to the ups and downs of falling in love in a foreign country, clashing with the military and working on an landmark human rights case • And much more! Please contact me to schedule an interview with John Wagner. Full bio and links are below. I look forward to hearing from you. More about John Wagner: John Wagner received a B.A. from Western Colorado State University, an A.M. from the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration, and a J.D. with honors from the University of Wisconsin Law School. He was a social worker in Colorado and New England before going to Law School. He then practiced law in Sacramento, CA for three decades and is now retired from law. He is currently a full time writer. Connect with Wagner at http://johnpwagner.com. Troubled Mission will be released in January 2016, and will be available from Amazon, www.barnesandnoble.com, and many online outlets. |
| Janet Shapiro // janet[at]smithpublicity.com // 856-489-8654 x320 Key Tips to Follow NOW with Holiday Spending Tuesday, December 8, 2015 Holiday frenzy shopping is almost at its peak. The credit card bills start coming in around the third week in January. Coincidentally, divorce rates spike around the same time, according to FindLaw.com. Former Wall Street banker turned Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA) and author of I Now Pronounce You Financially Fit: How to Protect Your Money in Marriage and Divorce (release December 2015) Pam Friedman is giving some realistic and practical advice to make sure couples are really thinking through their purchase decisions this season. In a timely, informative and upbeat interview, Friedman will discuss: • 3 key financial discussions you need to have before you spend and it is not necessarily a budget • Warning of several end-of-year shockers that add on top of credit card bills • Emotional spending—it is real and can cause many problems—and how to identify it • Divorce spikes in January and key financial planning before you see an attorney Advance copies of I Now Pronounce You Financially Fit are available upon request. |
| Danbert Nobacon // danbertnobacon[at]yahoo.com What Would Shakespeare Do...About Global Warming? CD SINGLE RELEASE Monday, November 30, 2015 As an earth habitable by humans and many animal species is propelled to the brink of destruction by the forces of predator capitalism, Danbert Nobacon asks, "What would Shakespeare do? Write a play about it, perhaps?" The Liberty Bell Drama Company (Nobacon—formerly of British punk group Chumbawamba—and his High School theatre students in North Central, WA) wrote such a play. "To Be or Not To Be" grew out of a half-snippet of a song from that play, Brain Circus NY 2025, which saw its world premiere at The Merc Playhouse in Twisp, WA in May 2015. "Chemistry" was featured in the play Mirificus High, which was the inaugural play by The Liberty Bell Drama Company, likewise premiering in Twisp in April 2014. Nobacon is available for interview to discuss his music and art, as well as the state of the planet. He has also published essays on a variety of subjects in the New York web magazine The Weeklings. You can view his work here. |
| Marissa Madill, Smith Publicity // marissa[at]smithpublicity.com // 856-952-1561 Holiday Tips for Fido Monday, November 16, 2015 Contact Marissa Madill to schedule a holiday-themed interview with award-winning "Wolf Whisperer" Bryan Bailey, who offers 5 tips for helping your dog survive the holidays. Learn more about Bryan and his work here. |
| Sylvia O’Hagan // sylvia.ohagan@ketchum.com // 914-693-5135 or 914-439-1999 National Heart, Lungs, and Blood Institute May 2015 Contact Sylvia O'Hagan to schedule an interview with a member of the National Heart, Lungs and Blood Institute, based on availability. In the past, for example, Dr. George A. Mensah, director of Center for Translation Research and Implementation Science (CTRIS) has been available for interviews for raising awareness about the importance of blood pressure treatment and control, and ways for people to prevent or manage high blood pressure. |
| Reese Erlich // ReeseErlich2@hotmail.com Russia and Kurds Wednesday, November 4, 2015 Freelance foreign correspondent Reese Erlich is available for interviews concerning his recent work in the Middle East. His piece "How Putin Is Wooing America’s Closest Syrian Allies: Now Obama wants to help the Kurds? Russia’s already there" was recently published by Politico. Erlich's books include Conversations with Terrorists: Middle East Leaders on Politics, Violence, and Empire. |
| Karen Kwiatkowski // ksusiek@shentel.net U.S. Troops and Chalabi Wednesday, November 4, 2015 Retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski worked until the Spring of 2003 in the Pentagon’s Near East and South Asia office. She retired during the week of what she calls the “lie-based and illegal invasion of Iraq.” In a recent interview on RT, Kwiatkowski stated: "I think they are looking for an excuse to up the ante, to send more troops and to have a crisis of some sort. Clearly the president has been lying, and so has Ash Carter, about what their real intentions are. So, in my opinion, I think this is provocative and I think it is calculated to put our troops in danger." Kwiatkowski writes for LewRockwell.com and just wrote a piece titled "An Age of Innocence, In Retrospect" about Ahmed Chalabi. |
| Jake Johnston // johnston@cepr.net Haitian Election Wednesday, November 4, 2015 Jake Johnston, a research associate with the Center for Economic and Policy Research and lead blogger for its "Haiti: Relief and Reconstruction Watch" blog, just returned from Haiti where he witnessed electoral procedures on October 25 and interviewed a number of political party representatives, current and former members of the Haitian government, representatives of the United Nations mission in Haiti, and others. He is the author of the recent articles for VICE News, "LandmarkHaiti Elections Go Ahead Without Violence" and "Recent Murders in Port-au-Prince Are a Bad Omen for Haiti’s Election." |
| Erin MacDonald-Birnbaum // erin@smithpublicity.com // 856-489-8654 x302 How to Answer the Dreaded, “Got a Minute?” Thursday, October 22, 2015 Contact Erin MacDonald-Birnbaum to schedule an interview with Edward G. Brown, President and Founder of the #1 firm in culture change and time management consulting and training, Cohen Brown Management Group. Brown is also the author of The Time Bandit Solution: Recovering Stolen Time You Never Knew You Had. Brown, drawing from decades of on-the-ground, practical and personal experience in time management and workplace efficiency solutions, can discuss in an interview: • The Interruption Culture: why we have been acculturated to interruptions and, as a result, may actually be addicted • Effective ways to answering the “got a minute?” question • Why you shouldn't always say “no” • How to tailor your answer whether it’s coming from your boss, your client or your colleague • Five exercises to combat workplace distractions • Time Surplus: how to leverage your newly recovered time • and much more! |
| Erin MacDonald-Birnbaum // erin@smithpublicity.com // 856-489-8654 x302 "I Answered 911 Calls For 7 Years. Here's What I Wish All Women Knew" Monday, October 19, 2015 Certified Domestic Relationship Coach Tamara Neal was a 911 emergency communication technician for seven years. In that time, she answered thousands of calls for help in response to domestic violence assaults, stabbings, gunshot wounds, and rapes. Over the years, Tamara learned a lot about how women can protect themselves, and is sharing her expert insight with women through her new book, Venomous Relationships: Learn How to Avoid Common Relationship Bloopers. In this timely interview, Neal, who, with candor, honesty and eye-opening insight, can discuss: • The three things she wants every woman to know before jumping into a new relationship • The top five tell-tale traits of a toxic relationship • Why women find it so hard to admit they’re being abused • Why, when the number of women that suffer from recognized abuse is overwhelming, far too many cases go unrecognized • Her experience as a 911 dispatcher • Her personal story of the pain and shame of being in a venomous relationship |
| Jesselyn Radack // jess@exposefacts.org The Drone Papers, Killings, and Whistleblowers Thursday, October 15, 2015 Today, the Intercept published "The Drone Papers" -- a series of articles based on "a cache of secret documents detailing the inner workings of the U.S. military’s assassination program in Afghanistan, Yemen, and Somalia." In the piece "The Assassination Complex," Jeremy Schahill writes: "The White House and Pentagon boast that the targeted killing program is precise and that civilian deaths are minimal. However, documents detailing a special operations campaign in northeastern Afghanistan, Operation Haymaker, show that between January 2012 and February 2013, U.S. special operations airstrikes killed more than 200 people. Of those, only 35 were the intended targets. During one five-month period of the operation, according to the documents, nearly 90 percent of the people killed in airstrikes were not the intended targets. In Yemen and Somalia, where the U.S. has far more limited intelligence capabilities to confirm the people killed are the intended targets, the equivalent ratios may well be much worse." Also today, former drone operator Brandon Bryant testified at a German parliamentary inquiry committee about that country's role in the U.S. drone program. In an interview with a German paper he states that the major U.S. base at "Ramstein is absolutely essential to the U.S. drone program. All information and data go through Ramstein. Everything. For the whole world. Also for the CIA operations. ... "I was frustrated anyway about how our superiors were treating me and my peers. We were supposed to function and never ask questions. Then there was this moment while we were hunting for Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen. I suddenly realized that by doing what I was doing I was going against the American Constitution which I had sworn to protect. That was when I decided I had to get out." Radack is national security and human rights director of the Whistleblower and Source Protection Program (WHISPeR) at ExposeFacts. She has represented Bryant and other whistleblowers. Her pieces on drones include "How many drones kill how many people? Questions Remain about Drone Program." |
| Ray McGovern // rrmcgovern@gmail.com The Drone Papers, Killings, and Whistleblowers Thursday, October 15, 2015 Today, the Intercept published "The Drone Papers" -- a series of articles based on "a cache of secret documents detailing the inner workings of the U.S. military’s assassination program in Afghanistan, Yemen, and Somalia." In the piece "The Assassination Complex," Jeremy Schahill writes: "The White House and Pentagon boast that the targeted killing program is precise and that civilian deaths are minimal. However, documents detailing a special operations campaign in northeastern Afghanistan, Operation Haymaker, show that between January 2012 and February 2013, U.S. special operations airstrikes killed more than 200 people. Of those, only 35 were the intended targets. During one five-month period of the operation, according to the documents, nearly 90 percent of the people killed in airstrikes were not the intended targets. In Yemen and Somalia, where the U.S. has far more limited intelligence capabilities to confirm the people killed are the intended targets, the equivalent ratios may well be much worse." Also today, former drone operator Brandon Bryant testified at a German parliamentary inquiry committee about that country's role in the U.S. drone program. In an interview with a German paper he states that the major U.S. base at "Ramstein is absolutely essential to the U.S. drone program. All information and data go through Ramstein. Everything. For the whole world. Also for the CIA operations. ... "I was frustrated anyway about how our superiors were treating me and my peers. We were supposed to function and never ask questions. Then there was this moment while we were hunting for Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen. I suddenly realized that by doing what I was doing I was going against the American Constitution which I had sworn to protect. That was when I decided I had to get out." McGovern was a CIA analyst for 27 years and now serves on the Steering Group of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity. His pieces include "The Silence of the Drones." |
| Erin MacDonald-Birnbaum // erin@smithpublicity.com // 856-489-8654 x302 Breast Cancer Awareness Tuesday, October 13, 2015 Interview: What History is Teaching Us About Breast Cancer in the 21st Century As we bring continued awareness this month to breast cancer, which currently affects one in eight women, I invite you to consider an interview with Dr. Bill Miller, a physician in academic and private practice for over 30 years and author author of The Microcosm Within: Evolution and Extinction in the Hologenome. While risk factors such as having a family history of breast cancer or particular genetic variants are often the focal point of discussion, the fact remains that the actual cause of breast cancer is still unknown despite nearly two centuries of study. With new links between our microbiome and breast cancer uncovered and a current belief that there might be a link between gut bacteria and the incidence of breast cancer, Dr. Miller reveals, “with all these discoveries, there is good news. We live in an era of unprecedented scientific progress. In that process, we are finding that some old ideas are again new with some findings now certain. Breast cancer, among many other diseases, must now be reconsidered in light of these new realities in the on going search for improved diagnostic alternatives and treatments.” In an eye-opening and informative interview, anyone who has been affected by breast cancer needs to hear, Dr. Miller can discuss: - The three things every woman needs to do – no matter your genetic or family risk of cancer - Why most breast cancers occur in women who don't have any specifically identifiable risk factors - Why the actual cause of breast cancer is still unknown despite nearly two centuries of study - Why there has been renewed interest lately in the medical community on the hypothesis that antibiotic use is related to the incidence of breast cancer - The several potential links between our microbiome and breast cancer - The link between gut bacteria and breast cancer - and much more! |
| Sarah Gilbert // sarah.gilbert@smithpublicity.com // 856-489-8654 x317 The Child Holocaust Survivor and Syrian Refugees Thursday, September 10, 2015 Interview: The Child Holocaust Survivor Sympathetic to The Syrian Refugee Children Lucia Weitzman has so much in common with the children flooding into Europe from Syria. A Jewish child born during the Holocaust, Lucia was placed with a Polish-Catholic family by her parents in a desperate attempt to save her life. The next years of her life begin to shape her incredible journey being raised Catholic, yet known in her hometown as Jewish, in an often hostile environment. On the heels of Pope Francis calling all European Catholics to aid the recent refugee crisis, she ponders her own past and how life could have been different had the Pope been less neutral in the 1940s. On October 28th, 1965, while Lucia was living in the United States as a young mother, the Vatican issued a Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions Nostra Aetate [“In Our Time”], a landmark document that rejects the charge that the Jews of Jesus’ time or those alive today are collectively guilty of Jesus’ death. The 50th Anniversary of the Nostra Aetate is next month. Expressive, thoughtful and energetic, Lucia Weitzman has immediate interview availability to discuss: - Her reaction to the Nostra Aetate Declaration in 1965, only a few years removed from her escape from Poland and transition to Judaism - Her thought on whether a Nostra Aetate Declaration prior to the Holocaust could have prevented it? - Her experiences in church, at school, and in her neighborhood where she grappled with questions, guilt, taunts, and knives as the only remaining Jew (though practicing Catholic) in her post war Polish hometown - From the Catholic Church back to her Jewish heritage: What were her biggest challenges and how did she overcome them? Please do let me know if you would like to schedule Lucia as an interview guest for an upcoming segment. |
| Haymarket Books Premiums and Interviews Tuesday, November 17, 2015 Premiums: Contact Rory Fanning: rory@haymarketbooks.org Discounts to stations: 50% off on all orders, if you order 10 or more, 5 additional copies are free. Interviews: Contact Jim Plank: jim@haymarketbooks.org 773-583-7884 Haymarket authors can be found in the Haymarket catalog and website. If you are interested in interviewing an author, Jim will make arrangements according to the authors' availability. The spring 2016 catalog can be found here. |