Noam Chomsky on “Crisis and Hope: Theirs and Ours”

Noam Chomsky, the MIT professor, author and dissident intellectual, just turned eighty years old this past December. He has written over 100 books, but despite being called "the most important intellectual alive" by the New York Times, he is rarely heard in the corporate media. We spend the hour with Noam Chomsky. He spoke recently here in New York at an event sponsored by the Brecht Forum. More than 2,000 people packed into Riverside Church in Harlem to hear his address, titled “Crisis and Hope: Theirs and Ours.” In his talk, Chomsky discussed the global economic crisis, the environment, wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, resistance to American empire and much more. [includes rush transcript]

John Pilger Calls UK National Health Service a Treasure, Blasts US Lawmakers for Being "in Bed with Powerful Interests" and Neglecting "Their Own People's Basic Human Rights"

We play an excerpt of an extended interview with Australian investigative journalist, John Pilger. Speaking about the US healthcare system, Pilger says, "What is it about US legislators that they appear to be so in bed with such powerful interests, such as the insurance companies, that they can't represent their own people's needs, their own people's basic human rights." [includes rush transcript]

Up in Smoke: How the Tobacco Industry Shaped the New Smoking Bill

President Obama signed into law a bill last week that gives the US government broad regulatory power over cigarettes and other tobacco products. Obama said the law would curb the ability of tobacco companies to market their products to children. But several public health professionals have come out strongly against the new legislation. They argue that it was largely shaped by Philip Morris, now called Altria Group, the largest cigarette company in the country. We speak with Dr. Joel Nitzkin, chair of the Tobacco Control Task Force of the American Association of Public Health Physicians. [includes rush transcript]

"Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City"

We speak with NYU professor Greg Grandin about his new book, Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City. The book tells the story of Henry Ford, the richest man in the world in the 1920s, and his attempt to build a rubber plantation and a miniature Midwest factory town deep in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon. [includes rush transcript]

Zelaya Vows to Return to Honduras Despite Threats of Arrest by Coup Leaders

The ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya has vowed to return to Honduras within the next few days in an attempt to reclaim power. Zelaya was forced out of office in a military coup d'etat on Sunday. He will reportedly return to Honduras accompanied by the OAS Secretary General, the presidents of Argentina and Ecuador, and the head of the UN General Assembly. But Roberto Micheletti, who was appointed interim leader by the Honduran congress, has given warning that Zelaya will be arrested should he return, regardless of who is traveling with him. We speak with Latin American historian Greg Grandin. [includes rush transcript]