After our terrifying experience with a manhole explosion and fire at the office last Thursday, the pressing need for infrastructure investment was brought home to us here at GRITtv in a very real way. Years of budget cuts and tax cuts have led to public safety hazards around the country, and the stimulus bill isn't enough to fix all the electrical, structural, and other problems.
We talk to Fabiola Carrion of the Progressive States Network, Amanda Little, Grist contributor and author of Power Trip: From Oil Wells to Solar Cells---Our Ride to the Renewable Future
Jay Smooth notes that the issues about race that matter are bigger than John Mayer's big mouth: they're structural, systemic, and institutional.
In this video from Brave New Films, they take a look at the way Anthem Blue Cross's profits and premiums suspiciously seem to rise in tandem, while people who pay for its health insurance continue to be denied coverage.
Kathleen Hanna came into a music scene in the 90s that was angry, violent, and full of men. She and her bandmates in Bikini Kill, along with the rest of the riot grrrl movement, pushed back against that culture and helped usher in a new "wave" of feminism.
After Bikini Kill, Hanna went on to make feminist dance music with Le Tigre and has kept pushing boundaries ever since. Recently, she donated her zine archive to NYU's Fales Library as part of its new Riot Grrrl collection. She joins Laura in studio to talk feminism, rock'n'roll, and why she's hopeful for the future.
From B'Tselem, we bring you a look inside the tunnels that keep supplies flowing to Gaza through the siege. B'Tselem's program gives video cameras to Gazans to document their own story.
In this video from our friends at the Vancouver Media Co-Op, activists from around the world--including our friend Dave Zirin--explain why they are organizing against the "Olympics industry."
Finally, Laura points out that bankers' bonuses should be examined in light of their business practices.