Tag Archives: radio

Remembering Mitchel Cohen in Spirit and Song

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“This past week, we lost Mitchel Cohen, a passionate radical Marxist activist, thinker, writer, environmentalist, organizer, poet, and Phil Ochs fan, who was seemingly everywhere, connected to everyone on the left, including here on WBAI and Pacifica. It seemed like there was hardly a protest, demonstration, civil disobedience, or conference that he wasn’t a part of in one way or another…”

Click on the small triangle or mp3 link above to hear our remembrance of Mitchel, as broadcast this week on the Arts Express radio program, heard on WBAI FM NYC, WBAI.org and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

The Iranian President’s Letter To The American People

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During these past weeks of the American-Israeli War on Iran, we’ve been deluged by the unhinged words and actions of Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth. It’s been much rarer to hear the direct words of those from the Iranian administration, but In a bold statement, the President of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian, posted a letter on social media directly addressed to the American people. Pezeshkian, who before going into politics was a heart surgeon trained at the Tabriz University of Medical Science and who served as a doctor in the Iran-Iraq War, has a wide historical perspective. I thought you might be interested in hearing the letter that he wrote, so I’ll read it in full now…

Click on the small triangle or mp3 link above to hear the letter as read on the Arts Express program, heard on WBAI FM NYC, WBAI.org, and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

Crucible: John Sayles’s New Historical Novel About Henry Ford, Labor and Cars

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“John Sayles, filmmaker and novelist, known especially for his labor films, including the celebrated Matewan, has a new novel out. In his latest historical fiction, Crucible, Sayles furthers the story of the struggle of American labor, when organized labor in Michigan took on that force of nature–or better, force of capitalism–Henry Ford…”

Click on the small triangle or mp3 link above to hear my interview with John Sayles as broadcast on the Arts Express radio program, as heard on WBAI FM NYC, WBAI.org and Pacifica affiliates across the nation

Teaching in Prisons and More: Andy Teirstein Part 2

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“Hi this is Jack Shalom, Last week we began our conversation with composer, professor, performer, activist Andy Teirstein. I had met Andy through our mutual immigration rights work at the NYC immigration courts for the New Sanctuary Coalition. In the process of getting to know him I learned that he had taught music and theater at a couple of upstate prisons. We left off our conversation as Andy was describing what it was like for both him and the men in prison to learn in that setting. So here’s Andy…”

Click on the small triangle or mp3 link above to hear Part two of my interview with Andy Teirstein on the Arts Express radio program broadcast on WBAI FM NYC, WBAI.org and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

You can find Part One here:

https://jackshalom.net/2026/02/19/of-immigration-court-and-teaching-in-prisons-part-one-andy-teirstein/

Of Immigration Court And Teaching in Prisons, Part One: Andy Teirstein

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“We’re going to do something a little bit different today. My guest is someone who I just only recently met a few Fridays ago at an immigration court accompaniment, under the auspices of the New Sanctuary Coalition here in NYC. We started talking and I found him to be a fascinating guy with a really eclectic, creative, and political background including all kinds of awards and honors. So, I’m happy to be speaking today with actor, musician, composer, professor and political activist, Fellow at the Center for Ballet and the Arts, and also BMI Woody Guthrie Fellow, Andy Teirstein…”

Click on the small triangle or mp3 link above to hear my wide ranging conversation with Andy, as heard on the Arts Express radio program broadcast on WBAI FM, WBAI.org and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

And you can find Part Two here:

Teaching in Prisons and More: Andy Teirstein Part 2

“Something That Was Once Potentially Good”

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How do you write fiction in a world that is perhaps post-fiction? When the horrors of the present world outstrip what our imaginations imagine? Arts Express favorite, Luke O’Neil, author of Welcome to Hell World and A Creature Wanting Form, writes stories that are full of the pain of men and women–but mostly men–who are trying to figure out how to deal with the helplessness and terror that make a mockery out of any John Wayne or Ernest Hemingway definition of manhood.

Now O’Neil has come out with his third collection of short stories called We Had It Coming, published by O/R Books.. We’ve always resonated with his work, but in this new collection especially, O’Neil’s short pieces are to our time what Raymond Carver’s short stories were to his. Stories of the soul and body struggling to make sense of the senseless cages in which capitalism has trapped us.

Click on the small triangle or mp3 link above to hear my reading of “Something That Was Once Potentially Good,” from We Had It Coming, as broadcast on the Arts Express radio program, heard on WBAI FM and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

Venezuela: A European Perspective With Dennis Broe

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“If you’re anything like me you woke up this past Saturday with shock and horror that Nicholas Maduro, the elected president of Venezuela, was kidnapped by US forces on the flimsiest of pretexts. Caracas was bombed and at least 40 people were murdered. And now Maduro is incarcerated in Brooklyn, ostensibly to be tried as a drug criminal, in the same prison where Luigi Mangione is being held . I’m really happy to have with us on Zoom our Paris correspondent and cultural critic, Dennis Broe, to give some of his insights from a European perspective…”

Click on the small triangle or mp3 link above to listen to my conversation with Dennis Broe, as broadcast this week on the Arts Express radio program, heard on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica stations across the nation.

Culture and Barbarism With Dennis Broe

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Part One:

Part Two:

I was happy to have this cross-continental conversation with cultural critic, novelist, and Arts Express Paris Correspondent, Dennis Broe. I think you’ll have fun listening to our wide-ranging conversation with topics from the French street uprisings to media consolidation to AI to Robin Hood to Zohran Mamdani. We broadcast it last week and this week on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the country.

This was conceived originally as a fundraiser for listener-sponsored radio station WBAI, home of Arts Express, but we edited the conversation for the affiliates (and this blog!) to eliminate most of the pitching.

Click on the small triangle or mp3 links to play.

Ensh*ttification

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“Crap, crap crap crap crap. I’m saying crap because that’s the euphemism I’m going to have to use now for the new book by Cory Doctorow whose name will not pass FCC rules, so I’ll just call the book Encrappification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What You Can Do About It, though of course  the real title rhymes with Ensittification. If you’re wondering why everything, especially the internet and Big Tech, which Doctorow primarily focuses on, is in the crapper, this is the book for you…”

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

The Black Cat

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And now a little Halloween cheer with the short story, The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe, adapted for Arts Express Radio.

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

The Last Extinction

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“Among geologists and paleontologists, The Dinosaur Wars have been known as a fearsome conflagration of powerful beings. No, I’m not talking about battles among those long extinct creatures, but among human beings, mostly male, at scientific war in the present day, lined up against a female scientist whose ideas threatened their theories and privilege. And I’m happy to have as our guest today, the woman who has been at the center of this controversy for decades, Dr. Gerta Keller, Professor Emerita at Princeton University, and the author of the new book about her groundbreaking work and discoveries, titled The Last Extinction: The Real Science Behind the Death of the Dinosaurs.“

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

Newport And The Great Folk Dream PT 2

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We’re back this week with more of our conversation with Robert Gordon and Joe Lauro, director and producers of the film Newport and the Great Folk Dream, about the Newport Folk Festival in the years 1963 to 1966. The festival, started by George Wein and Pete Seeger–where all artists got paid the same–led to an incredible diversity in the music showcased there.

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

Newport And The Great Folk Dream

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In the cultural and political explosion that became known as the 60s, music was an incredible unifier, and arguably the most important cultural and political form of expression. But what culminated in Woodstock in 1968 had its precursor in the Newport Folk Festival from the early 60s. Now, a new documentary about the Newport Folk Festival based on archival footage that hasn’t been seen in sixty years has been released called Newport and the Great Folk Dream. I was happy to talk with the director and producers of the film, Robert Gordon and Joe Lauro.

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

And you can find Part 2 here:

Newport And The Great Folk Dream PT 2

Copaganda Part 2

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Last week we began a fascinating discussion with Alec Karakatsanis, author of the recent book called Copaganda. Now, copaganda is the unique form of propaganda that the cops and the rest of what Alec calls the punishment bureaucracy use to convince the public to endlessly fund their corrupt and provenly useless law enforcement institutions. Today we’ll continue our discussion about how copaganda works. Alec tells us that it not only has to do with the sheer number and volume of media scare stories, but also with the careful selection of anecdote.

Click the triangle or mp3 link to hear the continuation of our interview with Alec, broadcast on the Arts Express radio program, heard on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

Copaganda

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In a world where narrative control is essential for the ruling class to maintain dominance, one of the main weapons in the class war is media manipulation. As applied to the world of so-called law enforcement, or what our guest today calls the punishment bureaucracy, you get a particularly insidious and dangerous form of propaganda called copaganda. And Copaganda is the name of the highly readable and eye-opening book written by our guest on the show today, public defender, civil rights lawyer and journalist, Alec Karakatsanis.

Click on the triangle or mp3 link above to hear my interview with Alec Karakatsanis, as broadcast on the Arts Express radio program, heard on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

Part two is here:

Copaganda Part 2

Action Will Be Taken!

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“Probably one of the strangest interludes in my life was the time I spent as an employee in Alfred Wunsiedel’s factory…”

This time, for Labor Day weekend, I’ll be reading a droll story by Heinrich Böll about a pensive worker who finds his true calling in a world that seems to demand action at all costs. It’s called Action Will Be Taken.

Click on the small triangle or mp3 link above to hear our Labor Day Noir, as broadcast on the Arts Express radio program heard on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

Return to Fukushima Pt 2

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Last week we began our conversation with investigative journalist and professor Thomas Bass, author of a new book called Return to Fukushima. We discussed how the explosion of the nuclear reactors at Fukushima Japan in 2011, set off by an earthquake and tsunami, is still an ongoing international danger. We left off last week discussing how on Thomas’s visits to Fukushima he discovered that the radiation levels are still high in Fukushima, particularly for food stuffs that are exported world wide. We left off where I was appalled to learn about the danger from…wait for it…blueberries.

Click on the small traingle or mp3 link above to hear part two of our conversation with Thomas Bass, author of Return to Fukushima as heard on the Arts Express radio program broadcast on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

Return To Fukushima

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This month, the 80th anniversary of the dropping of US atom bombs on Japan makes us think about more recent man-made atomic disasters. Never mind 9/11, on 3/11, 2011, the nuclear reactors at Fukushima, Japan exploded, with not only immediate effect, but long-lasting and far-ranging consequences for all of us, ongoing, still spilling radioactive components into the air and water on a large scale. Investigative Journalist and professor Thomas Bass spoke first-hand with the workers, engineers, politicians and remaining inhabitants of Fukushima to uncover the hidden and often distorted truth. He‘s detailed it all in a stunning book called Return to Fukushima, a great piece of personal reporting. I was happy to have him as my guest this week on the Arts Express radio program.

To hear my conversation with Thomas Bass, as broadcast on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the country, click on the small triangle or mp3 link above.

Union Pt 2

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Last week we aired part one of our interview with Brett Story and Stephen Maing, directors of the recent film documentary Union. Union tells the story of the odds-defying independent Amazon labor union drive led by the extraordinary Chris Smalls in Staten Island. Today in Part two, we’ll explore union strategy, the international scene, and what the possible win of Zohran Mamdani for NYC mayor might mean for labor.

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

UNION

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We’ve recently been assaulted with Jeff Bezos’s 50 million dollar wedding, but now let’s turn back the clock to the spring of 2021. Bezos had sent a rocket into space, but down on the ground Amazon warehouse workers in Staten Island were fed up and ready to fight back. The workers there, led by the indefatigable Chris Smalls, were fighting for the first Amazon union representation ever in the US. Directors Brett Story and Stephen Maing were able to literally get the inside story on the drama and power of that 11 month union drive in a new film documentary called Union, and I was happy to speak with them.

Click on the small triangle or mp3 link above to hear my interview with Brett Story and Stephen Maing, directors of Union, as broadcast on the Arts Express radio show, heard this week on WBAI-FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

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

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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

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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