MP3/AUDIO NEWS DOWNLOAD
TWO WEEKS ENDING 21 JUN 2013

RATINGS... for each clip are out of a possible 5.

INDEX FOR 21 JUN 2013   (Or just keep scrolling down!)

Featured Stories

• New Study Documents Health Problems in GMO-Fed Animals
• Domestic Spying from the 1970s to Today
• The Future of the US—Energy Decline and Biophysical Economics
• Why You Should Always Mulch Your Grass Clippings Into the Lawn

All Story Categories

• Financial, Empire & Elites
• Energy, Peak Oil, Sustainability & Resilience
• Biodiversity, Species & Animal Welfare
• Science & Environment
• Food, Gardening & Organics
• Gardening & Agriculture
• Cool & Cosmic
• History & Learning
• Music & Fun

FINANCIAL, EMPIRE & ELITES

Democracy now

Domestic Spying from the 1970s to Today — 13 Jun 2013 — Chris Pyle, a former military instructor, exposed the CIA and Army's monitoring of millions of Americans engaged in lawful political activity in the 1970s. His revelations prompted Senate hearings, including some by Senator Frank Church's Select Committee on Intelligence, ultimately leading to a series of laws aimed at curbing government abuses. He discusses the continuing abuses of the intelligence community, Congress' abdication of oversight responsibility, and the important part corporate contracts and campaign finance now play in the latter issue.
Watch  |  Download/Listen   17:07

Democracy Now

NSA—Unprecedented Power and Secrecy — 14 Jun 2013 — Investigative reporter James Bamford discusses the National Security Agency's secret expansion of government surveillance and cyberwarfare. Bamford profiles the director of the NSA, General Keith Alexander, and connects the dots on PRISM, phone surveillance, and the NSA's massive spy center in Bluffdale, Utah. Says Bamford of Alexander: "Never before has anyone in America's intelligence sphere come close to his degree of power, the number of people under his command, the expanse of his rule, the length of his reign, or the depth of his secrecy."
Watch  |  Download/Listen   18:29

Democracy Now

Glenn Greenwald: As Obama Makes "False" Surveillance Claims, Snowden Risks Life to Spark NSA Debate — 18 Jun 2013 — Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian journalist who broke the NSA surveillance story earlier this month, explains why Obama's statements about the case are "outright false." Of whistleblower Edward Snowden, Greenwald says: "I think what you see here is a person who was very disturbed by this massive surveillance apparatus built in the US that spies not only on American citizens, but the world, with very little checks, very little oversight. He's making clear his intention was to inform citizens even at the expense of his own liberty or even life."
Watch  |  Download/Listen   25:52

Dan Carlin—Common Sense

The Big Long Surveillance Show — 10 Jun 2013— Dan Carlin discusses the broader context of the leaked news that the US government has a broad surveillance agenda against US citizens. This is not a left-right issue, he says; it's and us-them issue. The "them" is the national intelligence community and their lapdog politicians. Guess what—they all lie about what they are doing, routinely and with malice. And the media, rather than examining the threat the intelligence community's activities pose to civil liberties and privacy, instead focus on the declared offenses of whistleblowers.
Audio no longer available from host site.

(GP comment:  This is good, but the question Carlin fails to ask is, if both parties do this stuff, who is pulling their strings?)

ExtraEnvironmentalist

Co-ops—The Cure for Capitalism — 12 Jun 2013— As our current economy crashes, can we transition to an alternative economic system? What will that look like? Can planning for the transition away from capitalism be informed by the lessons of the historical collapse of feudalism and the transition to capitalism? Economic guru Richard Wolff thinks our future economic system will likely be built from alternative arrangements of workplaces, such as worker self-directed enterprises and cooperative businesses. The key improvement is to replace the power of the financier-based boardroom, which does not have the interests of the workers as a primary concern, with the power of the worker-directed enterprise, which does.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   2:01:39

Time Monk Radio Network

How the Big Banks Parasitize the Rest of the Economy — 07 Jun 2013 — Loren Howe discusses the modern financial system as a control mechanism of the elites. Topics include how the banking system parasitizes the productive part of the economy; how people have a hard time saving money as the central banks inflate the value of money out from under them; why the Fed charging the US government interest is a much less important issue that the Fed's power to create money in the first place. He also gives his take on investing in precious metals and rare metals.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   1:00:32

Democracy Now

FBI's Mueller:  Yes, We use Drones for Surveillance in the US — 21 Jun 2013 — The FBI has confirmed that it uses drones on a limited basis to carry out surveillance within the United States and that these activities are proceeding before regulations to address privacy concerns have been completed. Heidi Boghosian, who is executive director of the National Lawyers Guild and author of the forthcoming book, Spying on Democracy: Government Surveillance, Corporate Power and Public Resistance, discusses the latest issues surrounding domestic surveillance.
Watch  |  Download/Listen   15:53

Guns & Butter

Privatizing the Post Office—Pillaging Public Assets for Private Gain — 19 Jun 2013 — Gray Brechin, Ying Lee, and Jim Stauber review the systematic way the US Postal Service has been set up to fail so that its vast (and quite valuable) assets can be stripped and the business value can be transferred to corporations like FedEx and UPS. Topics include the sale of the art deco New Deal post office buildings and unique artwork; the Reagan administration's shift of USPS from a cabinet level department to a semi-independent federal agency; the Bush I administration's executive order, the Infrastructure Privatization Act; the 2006 bi-partisan bill requiring payment of health premiums an unheard-of 75 years in advance with prohibition against postal rate increase; postal banking option as the best way to save the Postal Service.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   1:00:00

Counterspin

Kathleen McClellan on Total Information Awareness + Ralph Nader on 'Told You So' — 14 Jun 2013 — (1) A review of the week's mainstream media ineptitude. ~~ (2) Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden is either a whistleblower or a traitor, depending on whom you listen to. His revelation of the government secretly gathering data on millions of Americans is likewise either further evidence of state encroachment on civil liberties or no big deal. Whistleblower advocate Kathleen McClellan discusses Snowden and the NSA. ~~ (3) Ralph Nader reviews the insanity of a system that not only lets off those who do wrong and make a mess of things, it continues to make them icons and leaders. He discusses the stories he's tried to tell and a media system that silences the voices of dissent.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   29:00

One Radio Network

Robert Mazur:  The Fed, Dirty Banks, and Drug Cartels — 11 Jun 2013 — Veteran federal Agent Robert Mazur spent five years undercover as a money launderer for the international underworld, gaining access to a criminal hierarchy serviced by a circle of dirty bankers and businessmen who quietly shape power across the globe. These corporate-style multi-billion-dollar drug-trafficking empires launder billions of dollars a year, manipulating complex international finance systems and extorting politicians, police, and prosecutors. Mazur tells his tale, which includes information that links the US Federal Reserve to money-laundering operations.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   1:10:00

(GP comment:  Mazur tells an engaging, credible story. Too bad he still believes that the US anti-drug operations are driven from the top by right and true motives rather than profit motives.)

ENERGY, PEAK OIL, SUSTAINABILITY & RESILIENCE

KunstlerCast

The Future of the US—Energy Decline and Biophysical Economics — 20 June 2013— James Howard Kunstler and George Mobus discuss energy topics, including ... why economists don't get energy issues right; the relationship between capital formation, energy availability, and wealth generation; how falling net energy ratios are causing desperation in the energy industry; and why our government lies about our energy situation. In the face of long-term energy decline, Mobus advises community self-sufficiency and voluntarily moving away from dependence on centralized systems.
Download/Listen   36:42

The Lifeboat Hour

Michael Ruppert:  The Whole World, Under Pressure — 16 Jun 2013 — Michael Ruppert reviews some of the current trends that have us not just on an unsustainable path, but heading towards a cliff: fracking threatens the entire US water supply; 4 degrees C is now baked into the global warming cake; a decrease in high-quality energy supplies means carbon emissions and toxic pollution will increase, not decrease. On the geopolitical front, he notes a new phase in the Turkish police's pushback—chemical warfare; the US/UK and Russia/China are increasing their jousting over Syria; the Syria situation is connected to the Turkish situation, and if the former escalates much more, it will mean world war. As encouragement in our need to push back against TPTB, he says that violent acts in self-defense are not "violence."
Download/Listen   52:32

NPR

Denis Hayes on Green Energy — 14 Jun 2013 — Since his days as head of the Solar Energy Research Institute under President Jimmy Carter, Denis Hayes has been pushing to add more renewable energy sources to the country's energy portfolio. Hayes discusses the current US market for renewables like solar and wind, and gives his take on where he sees America's energy future headed.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   18:00

Radio EcoShock

The Woes of Civilization, the Appeal of Going Native, and Stark Reality — 11 Jun 2013 — Ever wondered what it would be like to escape the chaos of our insane civilization, divest oneself of the trappings of modern life, and try to live off the fat of the land? Author Miles Olson shares his experiences and reflections on rewilding, based on a decade of living intimately with the land and building a "feral homestead" on Vancouver Island. Takeaway thought: The collapse of civilization will not solve our problems—the 7 billion crazy humans will still be here, still crazy.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   24:00

Radio EcoShock

Dealing with Our Inner Destructive Force — 11 Jun 2013 — Our environment, species, climate, and economy are flirting with collapse. Is it possible we could be organic, solar-powered humans—and still destroy the ecology of the world? That is to say, is there an inner destructive force we need to examine—and change—in order to evolve, or even to survive?
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   19:00

KunstlerCast

New Urbanism Special — 06 Jun 2013— James Howard Kunstler chats with Andres Duany of the Congress for the New Urbanism about a new book (with a chapter by JHK) that takes on the frauds and fakers at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and their so-called Landscape Urbanism program, which pretends to have sustainability and green credentials but is little more than the greenwashing of unsustainable suburbia. ~~ Also on board is Emily Talen, co-editor of the new book and professor of Geography, Urban Design, and Sustainability at Arizona State University.
Download/Listen   46:29

BIODIVERSITY, SPECIES & ANIMAL WELFARE

NPR

Rule Would List All Chimps As Endangered, Even Lab Animals — 14 Jun 2013 — The US Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed a new rule that would extend endangered species protection to chimpanzees held in captivity. Nearly half of all the chimps in the US live in research facilities, and the new rule would make it more difficult to use these animals in medical experiments.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   3:47

(GP comment:  Interesting that we are still debating such things mostly on the technical, economic, and species-numbers merits, not on the moral merits. )

SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT

Fairewinds Energy Education

San Onofre—Going, Going, Gone — 12 Jun 2013 — The San Onofre nuclear power plant near San Diego will be permanently closed down. So, what happens at San Onofre now? Other topics include Canadian nuclear issues; a rare moment of support for public discussion of nuclear licensing; and who should pay for corporate mistakes with nuclear power plant ventures—ratepayers or stockholders?
Download/Listen   25:25

Against The Grain

Stuart Newman on Inheritable Genetic Engineering of Human DNA — 12 Jun 2013 — Scientists are increasingly pursuing the genetic modification of humans by altering DNA sequences so preferred traits can be passed by parents to offspring. But according to Stuart Newman, "inheritable genetic engineering" is deeply problematic. He argues that new humans spawned from such techniques will always be experimental and therefore inappropriate. Moreover, he thinks the proponents of inheritable genetic engineering misunderstand the nature of living things and the process of human evolution.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   53:00

FOOD, NUTRITION & ORGANICS

One Radio Network

New Study Documents Health Problems in GMO-Fed Animals — 18 Jun 2013— Dr. Judy Carman and investigative farmer Howard Vlieger discuss a new study that shows health problems in animals given feed containing genetically modified (GM) crops. The results report reproductive and digestive problems in pigs fed a diet containing GM soy and corn, confirming what many farmers have seen in their operations. Part of the discussion centers on how direct consumption of GMOs (say, by eating conventional corn chips) or indirect consumption of GMOs (say, be eating meat from GM-fed animal) may affect humans.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   1:06:59

Food Chain Radio

Organic—To Test or Not to Test? — 08 Jun 2013 — Organic food sales are growing fast, soon to surpass $100 billion per year. Occasionally, some organic food purveyors have been found to be cheating on the organic standards, taking advantage of the chaotic rise of organic—and taking advantage of consumers. Some monitoring or organic farms and processors is already done, but should more be done? What are the pros and cons of more stringent testing?
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   42:31

GARDENING & AGRICULTURE

You Bet Your Garden

Why You Should Always Mulch Your Grass Clippings Into the Lawn — 15 Jun 2013 — Mike McGrath's topics include growing mustard plants for greens and seeds; helping plants deal with a saltwater inundation; planting a gogi berry tree; whether or not to add dandelions to a compost pile. In the question of the week, Mike covers the topic of leaving your grass clippings on the lawn. Won't doing so create thatch? Does temperate affect how well the grass clippings decompose in the lawn? Can you "harvest" the nitrogen value of the clippings and add it to your compost pile?
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   52:58

You bet Your Garden

Using Raised Beds to Keep Grass Out of the Garden — 07 Jun 2013 — Mike McGrath's topics include ... using new trees to take back a large patch of lawn; which compostables will work well together; using raised beds to keep grass from creeping in at the edge of the garden; dealing with the highly pestiferous but commercially useful Japanese knotweed.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   52:58

Radio EcoShock

Eating and Living on What We Can Grow Ourselves — 11 Jun 2013 — Barbara Damrosch is the author of numerous gardening books. She is also partner with Eliot Coleman of "four season gardening" fame. Here she talks about integrating gardening efforts with cooking activities as a way to move towards eating and living on what we can grow ourselves.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   15:00

Radio EcoShock

Lisa Kivirist on Gardening, Self-Reliance, and Ecopreneurship — 18 Jun 2013 — So you want to escape city life, go rural, and try your hand at market gardening? Will you be able to pay the bills? Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanko have managed to do just that for the past 17 years.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   23:54

COOL & COSMIC
(AND POSSIBLY CATASTROPHIC!)

1111 with Simran Singh

The New Planetary Reality — 30 May 2013 — Imre Vallyon's book The New Planetary Reality explains the mystery of the coming Avatara, which, unlike past Avataras such as Jesus, Buddha, Lao Tzu and many others, is not a single person sent to a particular place, religion, or culture but a global phenomenon—a Planetary Avatara, a cosmic energy coming from the inner dimensions that has already started to permeate planet Earth. This Avatara has the potential to support all humans in the coming transition—IF we each do our part. William von Holst, editor of The New Planetary Reality, discusses.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   55:54

HISTORY & LEARNING

Unwelcome Guests

The Secret Wars Of The CIA — 08 Jun 2013— These clips offer a radio adaptation of the video, "Secret Wars Of The CIA." Featured is decorated CIA operative and whistleblower, John Stockwell. In this vintage material from the Reagan/Bush I era, Stockwell gives an overview of CIA activities and cites countless examples of dirty tactics all over the world designed not to promote democracy but instead to foster US hegemony. Interesting tidbits include that the CIA admitted to paying academics to pretend they had authored mendacious history textbooks and that although a US house committee concluded John F. Kennedy was killed as a result of a conspiracy—one almost certainly including the CIA—there has been no formal investigation by the US Justice Department into the matter.
Ref page:  Go to page
Part 1:  Download/Listen   1:00:00
Part 2:  Download/Listen   1:00:00

Corbett Report

NSA Whistleblower Russ Tice on Vast Extent of NSA Spying — 21 Jun 2013— NSA whistleblower Russ Tice offers an eye-opening interview on the real extent of NSA spying over the last two decades. Beyond PRISM and beyond metadata, he explains that ALL electronic communications by Americans are being copied and stored by the US government. Tice discusses the political implications, including the almost limitless power for blackmailing that this gives those who control the data. Tice also "names names" on who has been targeted by these wiretaps in the past.
Go to page  |  Download/Listen   1:05:35

MUSIC & FUN

The Vinyl Experience

Under Pressure — A decent set of mostly deep-cut classic rock. Top tracks include... Queen with David Bowie - "Under Pressure" // Jefferson Airplane - "Pretty As You Feel" // Elton John - "Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters" // Queen - "Message Of Love (Calling All Girls)" // David Bowie - "Cat People" // Grateful Dead - "Eyes of the World."
Download/Listen   56:30

AD CLICKS AND AMAZON PURCHASES FROM HERE HELP SUPPORT THIS FREE SITE. THANKS!

Search Amazon.com ....

OLDER:  MP3/Audio News Downloads - two weeks ending 07 JUN 2013
NEWER:  MP3/Audio News Downloads - three weeks ending 12 JUL 2013
Or see  Current News Download

AUDIO BY TOPIC:
  - Financial, Empire, Elites
  - Corporations, Corporate Power, Globalization
  - Media, Communications, Internet
  - History & Learning
  - Energy, Peak Oil, Resilience
  - Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Waste
  - Environment
  - Animal Welfare, Species, Biodiversity
  - Food, Nutrition, Organics, GMOs
  - Health
  - Gardening & Agriculture
  - Music
  - Cool & Cosmic, Transformation, Consciousness

If you like some of the stories on this page of free MP3/audio news, please  tell a friend

Or share via your favorite social media platform: