The image above is from Mehedi.
This episode has been released in two parts. You can listen to both parts of the episode and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes here. You can also listen to both parts on Cyber Ears here or download part 1 on MediaFire here (18MB) and part 2 on Archive.org here (20MB).
This episode is all about Syria – in part one we give you the latest updates as well as a broader historical perspective/background. Katie has been at the United Nations Human Rights Council, listening in on debates about Syria and other issues, so she gives her accounts of this and we play a few speeches made at the UN. We also discuss Barack Obama’s first and second speech on Syria, as well as critiques of these speeches from Chris Hedges, Rania Masri and Noam Chomsky. We talk about whether the Syrian government was responsible for chemical attacks, drawing on the BBC and Human Rights Watch. US hypocrisy is also covered – we mention the US using and supporting the use of chemical weapons many times, Israel’s possession and use of chemical weapons, Obama being praised for seeking congressional approval before invading even though he is required to under the constitution, John Kerry accidentally pursuing a diplomatic solution, and the role of alternative media in generating opposition to a US invasion. We also cover the inspiring Battle for Burswood, the AFL grand final and arming foetuses – or harming penises? (which was close to being the title of this episode!).
In part two we discuss alternative ways to deal with human rights abuses beyond bombing civilians. Drawing on Noam Chomsky’s For Reasons of State, we also talk about the importance of activism and social movements in opposing wars, and we specifically mention the movement in Syria that is rejecting the Assad regime and also US military intervention. We have a return of the segment ‘What’s Grinding Our Gears This Week’ – this time it’s homophobic Google. Other stuff covered in part two is: Rap News 20 taken down due to copyright, Liam Kenny defends The Chaser’s false depiction of his dad having sex with a dog, and Occupy Wall Street’s two year anniversary. We discuss the article ‘Six Good Things Occupy Wall Street Made Possible’ and also refer back to our 13th episode, which was all about the Occupy movement. We encourage people to support B’s Run for Refugees, Myq Kaplan’s comedy and In the Sprawl podcast and we also encourage people to watch a video of activism by Stop the Arms Fair! – we interviewed Kirsten Bayes from Stop the Arms Fair! on episode 35 – BEFORE this organisation was interviewed by many very mainstream sources!
This episode is brought to you by “Mother”. We encourage people to follow Theresa on Twitter and check out her Tropical Vegan website! Thanks a lot to “Mother” for becoming a member of our show – you can become a member and sponsor an episode too!
Book Recommendation (part two):
Hegemony or Survival by Noam Chomsky.
Spoken Word CD Recommendation (part two):
War and Civil Disobedience by Howard Zinn.
Clips (part one):
City of Victoria Park ‘Battle for Burswood’, Pete Seeger ‘We Shall Overcome’, Barack Obama addresses the nation on Syria, Team America: World Police, Scrubs (Season 6, episode 7), UN speeches by Syria, Russia, USA, Cuba and Venezuela, Jamaica Plain ‘I Won’t Run’, Rap News ‘#6: Wikileaks – the Truth is Out There’, Bill Hicks ‘The War’, ABC News ‘Syria Chemical Attack…’, Jamie Kilstein ‘on the Conan Obrien Show’, Jamaica Plain ‘Wish I Knew’, CNNNN ‘Season 2, Episode 9’, Lowkey ‘Obama Nation’.
Clips (part two):
System of a Down ‘Boom!’, Myq Kaplan ‘Book People’, Lowkey ‘Terrorist’, Hugo Chavez promoting Hegemony or Survival at the UN, Barack Obama addresses the nation on Syria, Howard Zinn ‘Military Intervention’ – from the spoken word CD Monkey Wrenching the New World Order, Noam Chomsky ‘Power and Terror’, Team Earthling ‘Episode 96’, Family Guy, Lagwagon from the album ‘Live in a Dive’, Ibrahim Qashoush ‘Syrian Revolutionary Dabke’, Omar Offendum ‘#Syria’.
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