Tag Archives: Arts Express

Lead Belly!

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The great Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Lead Belly, King of the 12-string Guitar, one of the most important musicians in American music, is the subject of a recent film documentary, titled Leadbelly: The Man Who Invented Rock and Roll. Perhaps it would be more telling to subtitle the film, The History of Being an Exploited Black Musician in America. What makes this film special is that the producer of the film, Alvin Singh II, is the great-nephew of Leadbelly, and the film includes not only his remembrances of Leadbelly, but also the wonderful on-screen memories of Tiny Robinson, Lead Belly’s niece.  And to top it off, we get plenty of first-hand accounts of Leadbelly from interviews with a dazzling array of musicians— Odetta, Pete Seeger, Harry Belafonte, BB King, Oscar Brand and more…

Click on the small triangle or mp3 link above to listen to my review (and more Lead Belly music!), as broadcast on the Arts Express radio program, heard on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

A Tribute To Artist Tom Keough

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Tom Keough died about a month ago, far too young. He was a brilliant artist, political activist, and community organizer. Tom was also a dear friend, and someone whose life I think Arts Express listeners might like to know more about. So in tribute to Tom, here’s a little bit more about him.

Click on the small triangle or mp3 link above to hear my tribute to Tom as broadcast on the Arts Express radio program, as heard on WBAI-FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

The Best Folk Singer/Songwriter Of His Generation?

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“Jesse Welles has got a voice like John Prine, plays guitar like Bob Dylan, and can write a song that’s as topical and clever as the songs of Phil Ochs or Tom Paxton or Woody Guthrie. It turns out, despite his handsome shaggy-haired babyface look, he has been making songs for a long time. In an age where so much music is artificially created with plastic lyrics and digitally manipulated instruments, it is refreshing to hear a protest song on a simple acoustic folk guitar that doesn’t just talk about generalities, but actually names names, and has a political point of view…”

Click on the mp3 link or triangle above to hear the rest of my commentary on Welles, as broadcast this week on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the country.

Beat The Reaper With The Firesign Theatre

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If you are of a certain age, growing up as a high school or college kid during the late 60s or early 70s, then odds are that at least one time as you were toking up, the surrealist record LPs of the Firesign Theatre invaded your brain. As the albums brilliantly shifted in and out of tv, film and radio parody, they broke down walls of time, space and authority. Now in a new book about the Firesign Theater, called Firesign, author Jeremy Braddock provides a wonderful non-linear look at the four influential guys who turned the art of radio and recording upside down. I was happy to have as our guest on the show, the author of Firesign, Jeremy Braddock.

Click on the small triangle or mp3 link above to hear the interview as heard on the Arts Express radio program broadcast this week on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation

Part Two here:

Firesign Theatre: Part Two

The Strike: Part 2

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Above, Part 2 of my interview with the directors of The Strike, JoeBill Munoz and Lucas Guilkey.

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The Strike

The Strike

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I’ve watched a lot of film documentaries this year, but none more  powerful than The Strike. It’s the story of how the inmates of Pelican Bay prison in California, incarcerated in solitary confinement sometimes for decades, went on a life-threatening hunger strike in order to regain their rights and dignity. I was happy to speak to the the directors of The Strike, JoeBill Muñoz and Lucas Guilkey for Arts Express.

Click on the small triangle or mp3 link above to listen to the interview as broadcast yesterday on the Arts Express radio program, heard on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

And Part 2 is here…

The Strike: Part 2

The Ultimate Hidden Truth Of The World

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A posthumous collection of essays by anarchist anthropologist David Graeber, who coined the phrase “We are the 99%,” has just come out, and we look into one of its most interesting pieces.

Click on the triangle above or mp3 link to hear my commentary on the book, as heard on the Arts Express radio program this week, broadcast on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

The Mockingbird

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An anti-war story by the great Ambrose Bierce, which I adapted for radio and broadcast yesterday on Arts Express, heard on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

Click on the small triangle or mp3 link above to listen.

My Friend, The Terrorist, Part 2

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Last week we broadcast Part 1 of our conversation with Malcolm Guy, co-director of the new film called My Friend The Terrorist, about Joma, the founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the Filipino New Peoples guerrilla Army, the NPA.

We left off last time with my rather naive comment about a scene in the film I found shocking. So now Part Two of our interview with Malcolm Guy, co-director of My Friend the Terrorist, as broadcast on Arts Express radio, heard on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation. Click on the small triangle or mp3 link above to listen.

Listen to Part 1 here:

My Friend, The Terrorist

My Friend, The Terrorist

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“The song you just heard is from a poem by Jose Maria Sison, also known as Joma. But more than a poet, for the first 25 years of Joma’s adult life, he was known as the Fidel, Mao, and Che of the Philippines. However, for the next 35 years, he lived in exile in the Netherlands with his wife and comrade in arms, Julieta de Lima, thousands of miles from the Filipino battle grounds, giving counsel to the guerrilla army which he had founded. Now, a new film documentary about Joma and Julieta’s lives has been released, co-directed by Malcolm Guy and Demetri Estdelacropolis, called My Friend, The Terrorist: A Tale of Love and Revolution…”

Click on the small triangle above or the mp3 link to hear my interview with Malcolm Guy, co-director of My Friend, The Terrorist, as broadcast last night on Arts Express radio, heard on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

And…Part 2 here:

My Friend, The Terrorist, Part 2

A Real Pain

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“A Real Pain, written, directed, and featuring Jesse Eisenberg is a film that has recently gotten quite a lot of attention, and I’m going to speak later about why I think that film has gotten that attention. But first let me talk about Jesse Eisenberg and the film…”

Click on the small triangle or mp3 link to listen to my review of A Real Pain, as broadcast this week on the Arts Express radio program as heard on WBAI FM and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

Sonny Boy: Al Pacino

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“It’s said that talent is common, and that’s true. But what is much more rare than talent is longevity. How does one take talent and have it develop and last decade upon decade? I’m thinking about this, because I’ve just finished reading the new autobiography by Al Pacino called Sonny Boy, and it was totally engrossing. No one would call It a work of literature, but you can certainly hear Al’s voice loud and clear, as if he were sitting in a bar with you telling intimate stories about his life and work…”

Click on the triangle or mp3 link above to hear my complete review of Al Pacino’s memoir, Sonny Boy, as broadcast yesterday on the Arts Express program, heard on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

Speechless

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“We have just had our elections, and I’m not even going to speak one way or the other about the results. It was an awful choice, if you want to even call it a choice. But I think no matter what point of view you had about the candidates, the one thing that could not be escaped was the absolutely idiotic and moronic level of discourse. To anyone who loves words and rhetoric and language it seemed that the very concept of speech had been broken and bent out of all proportion. Now, by an interesting coincidence, in this year, which happens to be the 65th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, across my desk came a book published by Seven Stories Press called the Fidel Castro Reader. And what it is, is a large 500 plus page book of Fidel Castro’s speeches translated into English, which is a great boon to me, since I’m not a fluent reader of Spanish. I had to laugh when I thought about the prospect of a 500 page book on the speeches of Kamala Harris, or Joe Biden, or God, help us Donald Trump…”

Click on the small triangle or mp3 link above to hear the rest of the segment as broadcast last night on the Arts Express radio program over WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

“Jikininki”

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Our radio drama of a Japanese ghost story for Halloween by Lafcadio Hearn.

Click on the triangle or mp3 link above to hear the story as broadcast on Arts Express yesterday on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

Amy Tan: The Backyard Bird Chronicles

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Sometimes in life you see a person in a different context and it changes everything, like seeing a favorite teacher climb into a sports car. I had the same sort of feeling when I discovered that novelist Amy Tan has just come out with a new non-fiction book called The Backyard Bird Chronicles, a diary of Amy Tan’s backyard birding experiences. I was happy to have her as a guest on the Arts Express radio show.

Click on the small triangle or mp3 link above to hear my interview with Amy Tan as heard on Arts Express, broadcast yesterday on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

CIA: Drugs R Us!

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If you are a conspiracy fan and a music fan, then have I got a film documentary for you. It’s called CIA: Drugs are Us and it’s kind of a greatest hits of some of the most evil and deranged programs that have been set into motion by the CIA over the years...

Click on the small triangle or mp3 link above to hear my entire review as heard on Arts Express broadcast on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

Jack & Rick Ride Yet Even Again

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After nearly a year off, back from hiatus–which is ten miles east of Dallas–The Jack & Rick Worldwide Network and hamburger stand is happy to announce the return of Jack & Rick’s Radio Shack! Thanks to Rick Tuman!

Click the small triangle or mp3 link above to hear the satirical segment, as broadcast on Arts Express on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

Pete Talks Peekskill Riots

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Last month I saw an excellent folk singer at the Summer Hoot in Ashokan, NY named David Bernz, singing there with his son, Jacob. It turns out that David was a good friend of Pete Seeger, and when he would drop by Pete’s house in Beacon NY, David would bring a tape recorder along at Pete’s request. Pete would proceed to tell stories that he thought would be worthwhile for eventual wider distribution.

This year, David has come out with a book of transcripts of Pete’s recordings called Chopping Wood, Thoughts and Stories of a Legendary American Folksinger. It’s filled with lots of great Pete Seeger stories and background information by David. With David’s permission, I read one of those stories on the air about the famous racist Peekskill riot in 1949 against Paul Robeson who was kicking off a series of benefit concerts for racial equality.

Click on the small triangle or mp3 link above to listen to the words of Pete Seeger as broadcast yesterday on Arts Express radio, heard on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

A Revolutionary Artist: Part 2

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This is part 2 of our conversation with artist, revolutionary and Young Lord, Carlito Rovira.

Click on the triangle or mp3 link above to listen to part 2, as broadcast yesterday on Arts Express, heard on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

You can find part 1 here:

A Painter of Revolutionaries

A Painter of Revolutionaries

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Carlito Rovira with his portrait of Puerto Rican revolutionary Lolita Lebrón

What makes a person become an artist? Are they born or are they made? And what is the purpose of art? Our guest yesterday has very definite views about these and other questions, and I was happy to be talking with a man whose portraits are filled with meaning, artist, revolutionary and member of the Young Lords, Carlos “Carlito” Rovira.

Click on the triangle or mp3 link above to hear the interview with Carlito, as broadcast on Arts Express radio yesterday on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

And you can find Part 2 here:

A Revolutionary Artist: Part 2

Three By Caitlin Johnstone

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If you feel like us, that our concerns in this election cycle have been stuffed into the washer and hung up to dry, and that the elections are a senseless distraction, take heart. Mary Murphy and myself have come to the rescue. We perform three short pieces by the great Caitlin Johnstone, and they’re the the last segments you’ll ever need to hear again about the the so-called elections. Halleluljah.

Click on the triangle or mp3 link above to hear the segment as broadcast on Arts Express this week on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica stations across the nation.

The Case For Open Borders

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One of the most volatile issues facing the US electorate this year concerns so-called open borders. Despite whatever rhetoric may be coming from the two major US political parties, their basic positions are the same—they see open borders as a threat to the country. But is any of the fearmongering true? My guest on Arts Express is a journalist and translator who writes for the Arizona Luminaria, John Washington. He has written a compelling new book called The Case for Open Borders.

Click on the grey triangle or mp3 link above to hear my interview with John Washington as broadcast yesterday on the Arts Express radio program on WBAI FM and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

Julian Assange In His Own Words

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It was just announced that Julian Assange has been granted a plea deal that will allow him to plead guilty to one charge and be freed from Belmarsh prison and come home to Australia.

Given the massive terrible propaganda assault against Assange by the US government, a government caught committing war crimes in video footage that Wikileaks had released, and the government’s attempt to smear, silence, and murder Assange, it’s more important than ever to really understand what Assange was doing and the important message he had.

In lieu of this very important news, I am re-posting a piece I put together a little less than two years ago consisting of passages from Assange’s speeches and writings, read by a cast of WBAI and Arts Express friends. Click on the title below to hear the piece.

Julian Assange In His Own Words

Finding The Money Part 2

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Our conversation about how the US economy really works, with Stephanie Kelton and Maren Poitras of the documentary Finding The Money, continues.

Click on the triangle or mp3 link above to hear the interview as broadcast on the Arts Express radio program heard on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica stations across the nation.

Part One can be heard by clicking here

Taking Venice: The US And The Cold War Culture War

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At the height of the Cold War, the U.S. government was determined to showcase US culture to the world as proof of capitalism’s superiority as an economic system. And so in 1964, the US government embarked on a daring plan to make artist Robert Rauschenberg the winner of the Grand Prize at The Venice Art Biennale, the world’s most influential art exhibition. A new film documentary, Taking Venice, gives us an inside look at how the Biennale was manipulated, and more than that, a look at the enigma that was Robert Rauschenberg.

I was happy to interview the director of Taking Venice, and an art critic in her own right, Amei Wallach. Click on the small triangle above or the mp3 link to hear the interview as broadcast on Pacifica affiliate stations across the nation.