Virtually Speaking

Sundays @ 6pm pacific | 9pm eastern •VIRTUALLY SPEAKING SUNDAYS: OUR MEDIA NOT THEIRS | Two writers from the excellent VSS media panel discuss developments of the week, often highlighting issues neglected or misrepresented on the Sunday morning broadcasts. Informative, thoughtful and passionate,

Stuart and Jay talked through the O speech: who would or would not have been happy about it and why.  No call-ins: recorded Thursday, September 8th, 2011.

Ongoing discussion centering on the nature, ideology and political realities of liberalism and conversely on the nature, ideology and political realities of Democratic centrism. No call-ins: recorded the previous Thursday.

Hr 1 - 8 pm eastern | 5 pm pacific |Virtually Speaking A-Z | Stuart Zechman and Jay Ackroyd| This week in liberalism: an ongoing discussion based on the conflict between movement liberals--liberals committed to the principles of Adam Smith and FDR--and the centrist elites who run the Democratic party.  Jay and Stuart consider the nature, ideology and political realities of liberalism and conversely, the nature, ideology and political realities of Democratic centrism. This week, they'll pick up where they left off... what we can look forward to in the next year of the Obama Administration.   Hr 2 - 9 pm eastern | 6 pm pacific |Virtually Speaking with Jay Ackroyd | Jay compares notes on health care reform with Stuart and Eve Gittelson (aka NYCeve). Listen live and later on BTR.

Alex Lawson, Executive Director of Social Security Works, steps in to discuss the truth and validity of Medicare and Social Security with Susie Madrak. http://strengthensocialsecurity.org/social-security-works-0

It's September 11, 2011. Since we can't avoid it,we might as well embrace it.  This Sunday Cliff and Jay discuss - 9/11 and its great transformations - Cliff's column posted to Aljazeera English about the effect 9/11 has had on America's governance.

Jay talks with Rob Roper about his Maine Republican roots and the party of, then, Senator Bill Cohen and Congresswoman Olympia Snowe, a very different party than the party of Paul LePage. Jay and Rob will use that as a jumping off point to discuss the balance between partisanship and governance. Rob Roper currently hosts 'Common Sense,' a Vermont radio talk show. Involved in local politics since moving to Vermont in 1998, he has served as a Media Relations officer for a U.S. Senate campaign, was Executive Director for the Vermont Chapter of FreedomWorks, Executive Director for Vermonters for Better Education, Chairman of the Vermont Republican Party. Pre-recorded 9/6. No call-ins.

Jeff Sharlet, Mellon Assistant Professor of English at Dartmouth, the college’s first professor of creative nonfiction, and a contributing editor for Harper’s Magazine and Rolling Stone. Jeff' writes about American religious sub-cultures. His most recent book is Sweet Heaven When I Die: Faith, Faithlessness, and the Country in Between (2011) ... 13 essays on how we gain, lose, maintain and blindly accept faith.

Alan Boyle talks with Rand Simberg As MSNBC.com's science editor, Alan runs a virtual curiosity shop of the physical sciences and space exploration, paleontology, archaeology and other ologies that strike his fancy. He is the author of "The Case for Pluto," a contributor to "A Field Guide for Science Writers," and the blogger behind Cosmic Log, the 2008 recipient of the National Academies Communication Award. Rand Simberg describes himself as 'just a recovering aerospace engineer.' The Competitive Enterprise Institute describes him as 'an expert on space technology and policy, particularly with regard to NASA and commercial human spaceflight.' He writes widely about the politics and economics of space exploration. Read him in Popular Mechanics and Transterrestrial Musings - Biting Commentary about Infinity and Beyond! Watch him on YouTube. |

Hr 1 - Recovering journalist Susie Madrak talks with Investigative journalist Russ Baker of WhoWhatWhy.com. Follow him and the team @whowhatwhy. In his newest book, Family of Secrets - The Bush Dynasty, America's Invisible Government, and the Hidden History of the Last Fifty Years - Baker provides the stunning counter-story to George W. Bush’s new book. Hr 2 - Jay Ackroyd talks with Rob Roper about his Maine Republican roots and the party of, then, Senator Bill Cohen and Congresswoman Olympia Snowe, a very different party than the party of Paul LePage. Jay and Rob will use that as a jumping off point to discuss the balance between partisanship and governance. Rob Roper currently hosts 'Common Sense,' a Vermont radio talk show. Involved in local politics since moving to Vermont in 1998, he has served as a Media Relations officer for a U.S. Senate campaign, Executive Director for the Vermont Chapter of FreedomWorks, Executive Director for Vermonters for Better Education, Chairman of the Vermont Republican Party.

Stuart and Jay discuss the role that anti-trust laws play in the preservation of market competition, and therefore capitalism, in liberal American society. In particular, they discuss the Verizon/ATT wireless duopoly, in the context of the recent DoJ action to block the ATT/T Mobile merger. Resources cited:    Susam Crawford: http://scrawford.net/blog/attt-mobile/ Tim Karr at Free Press: http://bit.ly/p3Ijf8    

Fishgrease on Tar Sands, Fracking and British Petroleum spill. An oil and gas expert of many years, Fishgrease writes about the oil and gas industry, particularly the ineffectiveness of British Petroleum's attempts at clean-up and control.   HuffPo Graphic referred to in the tar sands discussion can be found in this article: http://huff.to/oHsRlr CO2 emissions by country: http://bit.ly/p7eyOI Per capita CO2 emissions data: http://bit.ly/qoswPa

Recovering journalist and class warrior Susie Madrak explores the impact of current events on the daily lives of working class people.

Sundays @ 6pm pacific | 9pm eastern •VIRTUALLY SPEAKING SUNDAYS: OUR MEDIA NOT THEIRS |  Susie Madrak and Stuart Zechman talk about the weather, emergency preparedness and response and the value of government; considering developments of the week, highlighting issues neglected or misrepresented on the Sunday morning broadcasts of traditional media.| Each Sunday, two writers from the excellent VSS media panel discuss developments of the week, often highlighting issues neglected or misrepresented on the Sunday morning broadcasts. Always informative, always passionate, frequently with a touch of snark.

Ongoing discussion centering on the nature, ideology and political realities of liberalism and conversely on the nature, ideology and political realities of Democratic centrism. No call-ins: recorded the previous Thursday.