In the United States, the gap between rich and poor has grown exponentially in recent years. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the number of Americans who do not earn enough to feed themselves and their families. It is likely that some 50 to 60 million Americans, or one in five, are hungry. How is it possible in the land of plenty? And what does the recession reveal about America’s social safety net?
Sasha Abramsky, a senior fellow at Demos and the author of Breadline USA: The Hidden Scandal of American Hunger and How to Fix It, Aubretia Edick, a longtime Wal-Mart employee, Franceska Dillella, a mother of three whose struggle to navigate New York’s homeless shelters with her three children was recently profiled in the Indypendent, Mary Brosnahan, Executive Director of the Coalition for the Homeless on why the subject of hunger and homelessness has received so little attention.
Then, a new film about life under Kim Jong Il explores the legacy of isolation and totalitarianism on the people of North Korea. NC Heikin, director of Kimjongilia: A Film About North Korea and Paul D. Miller, aka DJ Spooky, discuss the role of culture and information in a totally closed society. The name of the film comes from a hybrid red begonia created in honor of Kim Jong Il’s 46th birthday.
Finally, The Uptake with an update on the Sotomayor confirmation hearings.
Thanks to DJ Spooky and the Austin Lounge Lizards for video in tonight’s show.
While I’m a big fan of GRITtv, I’m really disappointed with the coverage of Kimjongilia. Context, so often noted as missing in criticism of mainstream media, is not apparent here, either. It’s not the depiction of Kim Jong Il as a murderous thug that grates, but the unchallenged comment that “if you put out your hand they spit at it, and if you point a gun, they shoot an atomic bomb.” Where is the academic to remind us of the threats made by the U.S.
and Japan, the agreements broken by the Clinton, Bush and Koizumi administrations, the tens of thousands of troops in South Korea and Japan, the yearly war games that practice invading North Korea, the complaints from the previous South Korean administration about how U.S. bellicosity and Japanese intransigence were undermining
real progress made by South Korean diplomats? In this case, there is very little difference between GRITtv’s coverage and Fox’s. That Kim Jong Il is the villain du jour is no excuse. I really am a fan, though. This is the only time I’ve found anything to complain about.
By peaceatleast on July 14th, 2009 at 7:35 am
We don’t disagree.
By winston99 on July 18th, 2009 at 10:44 pm