articles tagged "Jan Miyasaki"
Professor of History Alfred McCoy
Wednesday, 7 November 2012 | buzz
On Wednesday November 7, host Jan Miyasaki interviewed Professor Alfred McCoy, Professor of History at UW-Madison. He is the author of ”Torture and Impunity: The US Doctrine… more »
UW-Madison Professor Mary Layoun
Wednesday, 7 November 2012 | buzz
On Wednesday November 7, host Jan Miyasaki spoke with Mary Layoun, Chair and Professor of Comparative Literature at UW-Madison. She spoke about the toxicity of political life and the campaign. Mary explains,“The toxicity is worse than I have ever seen it. And the money involved…is just stunning. That piece is so deeply broken, and I would hope that we can come up with ways to address that toxicity. I don’t think we can wait for anybody to fix it…” Layoun believes that it is important to reclaim democracy at the grassroots level. She comments on the ‘big picture issues’, including campaign finance reform and the use of stealth surveillance systems. She believes that the American public must become more aware of the U.S. Foreign policy and the events occuring in the world. Jan asks Layoun to comment on the distinctiveness between the two crowds present for Romney and Obama last night,“one of the things leaders can do is open a space rhetorically where the rest of us can come in and in fact be integrated… that’s something a leader can enable in multiple ways, party by deliberate inclusion and paying attention to who small groups are supported.” When Jan asks Mary which question she would present to the President, she explains that she would ask, “How are you going to empower ordinary americans in the next four years to be engaged, to address the multiple problems of this society, rhetorically, materially, and politically, to work together?” Listen to the interview here: more »
Selena Pettigrew
Wednesday, 7 November 2012 | buzz
On Wednesday Nov 7, our host Jan Miyasaki interviewed Selena Petigrew, President of the Allied Dunn’s Marsh Neighborhood Association, and founding member and board member of member run and owned cooperative, Allied Wellness Coop. They speak about the voter turnout in the Allied Dunn’s Marsh neighborhood, where there was, roughly, a 70% turnout. Selena explains that the lines were steady throughout the day, and that voter turnout has increased in her neighborhood ever since the recall election. She explains that the issue most at stake this election was their livelihood. When asked what question Selena would present to the President, if given an opportunity, she said she would ask, “why is there such a difference between communities? My community should be able to get just as much as your community gets… He needs to know that we are all the same.” She speaks about the voter registration drive efforts that began during the recall movement, and she stresses the importance of having the people within a community step up to take leadership positions, so as to activate others within the community. “Please, support your associations,” Selena says. Contact Selena at selenapettigrew@gmail.com Listen to the interview here: more »
Molly Stentz – Election Coverage
Wednesday, 7 November 2012 | buzz
On Wednesday November 7, our host Jan Miyasaki spoke with WORT News and Public Affairs Facilitator Molly Stentz about the November 6 elections. WORT had a four hour coverage of the elections on Nov 6 night. Molly reports on some of the highlights from last night, including the local elections. She talks about Tammy Baldwin, “…We have not only our first gay Senator, but also our first female Senator, from Wisconsin. So Tammy Baldwin continues to break records and break through glass ceilings here in Wisconsin, and continues to represent that streak in Wisconsin politics of independent thinkers. People that buck the status quo…” Molly also reports on the other highlights; the State Senate did return to the control of the Republicans, picking up two seats – the seat held by Jessica King for the 18th Senate District as well as the seat formerly held by Jim Holperin. Explains Molly, “That gives the Republicans a comfortable majority in the State Senate, adding to their hefty control of the State Assembly. It means that in addition to the Governor’s Office, all three bodies are controlled by Republicans, meaning its going to be an interesting year for politics in the State Legislature next year. They’re in a stronger position now than even in 2011. What happened last night is that the two seats that the Democrats picked up in the recall were effectively just switched back.” Robin Vos was predicted to have leadership in the Assembly. Paul Ryan, who also ran for re-election for US House District 1, will return to congress. Also victorious was Mark Pocan, who is now the congressman for US House District 2. He spoke with Norm Stockwell from the Monona Terrace, “This district has a long reputation of a strong fighting progressive spirits. Im up for that, and i’m going to make sure that I do my best to represent our district in congress and be ready on day one.” Jan asks about the voter turnout from yesterday. Says Molly, “It was high.. it was a record. The state elections board was projecting three million voters statewide.” Also present were international election observers present in Madison to monitor the elections. They will be holding a press conference later today. Listen to the entire interview here: more »
Cindy Hooper: Conflict, African American Women, and the New Dilemma of Race and Gender Politics
Wednesday, 24 October 2012 | buzz
On Wednesday October 24, Jan Miyasaki spoke with Cindy Hooper, author of Conflict, African American Women, and the New Dilemma of Race and Gender Politics. In her book, Cindy surveys the history of black women in American politics in both women’s suffrage and in the civil rights movement. She looks specifically at the 2008 presidential election, examining how race and gender politics have shaped their political decisions. Cindy cites the lack of adequate research about the African American women subgroup and their influential role in the presidential elections as the reason that prompted her to explore the topic further and write her book, “there was one statistic that kept coming through the wires…that African American women had the highest turnout rate percentage of all racial and gender demographics in the 2008 presidential election. So I began to look for more books and more research about this specific subgroup, and I couldn’t find too much, so at this point… I felt someone had to examine this, and I wanted to be the one to do that.” Cindy explains how this particular voting bloc has been largely overlooked and passed over to focus more on others, “Given the fact that we are President Obama’s most loyal voting base, in a traditionally loyal voting base of the Democratic Party, it is disappointing when we feel we are not in the forefront of the candidates, in terms of their focus and making us a priority in their presidential campaign.” African American women participated in two struggles: the women’s suffrage movement and the civil right’s movement. This dual struggle, which was unique to African American women, created internal struggles in which they were often torn as to which direction to focus their attention upon. In her book, Cindy discusses the issue that many of the women faced regarding the “prioritization of race over gender.” She explains how, during the civil rights movement, the issue of women’s rights had to take a step back, noting how during the 1963 march in Washington, black women were not asked to speak, the focus being instead on the black male leaders of the movement, “we were strong workers in the background of the civil rights movement, and a lot of it was by choice, because we felt that the black men should be in the forefront, and they, in effect, became the leaders who were the most visible within that movement.” The book also talks about women of color in politics …. more »