The Katie Halper Show

On this really, really engaging and informative episode historian Grandin takes us on a virtual tour of Central America, a land of beauty, enchantment, and U.S.-supported death squads. Then let Bill Conroy exposes the hypocrisy and opportunism behind mainstream media's contempt for Sean Penn and his interview with El Chapo. Grandin goes over government's rich contributions to the violence of Central America, starting with the 1950s (or else we'd be here all day) when we helped the coup in Guatemala that set off a civil war; the 1980s when we trained the Contras in Nicaragua and the death squads in El Salvador; the 1990s when we imposed "free market" neoliberal policies AND tightened border security to keep out the people we knew would be displaced (because we think of EVERYTHING!); the 21st century when we continued those policies, did jack s&*^ over the coup in Honduras... and we're not even talking about Mexico or Colombia yet! Then Bill Conroy who has worked as an investigative journalist covering the drug wars and law enforcement corruption debunks what the mainstream media and Mexican authorities are saying about Sean Penn and his interview with El Chapo. Conroy frames the freakout as part of a larger fear on the part of gatekeeping journalists and reveals one of the things they are attacking Penn over is something they routinely do, but don't even admit it. Follow us on Soundcloud, like us on Facebook and subscribe on iTunes!

On our first episode of the Live Katie Halper Show i front of an audience we talk to Jay Smooth, founder and host of The Underground Railroad and of the ill Doctrine video series. His videos have garnered millions of views and praise from people like Rachel Maddow who has called his work genius. Find out what Jay Smooth's favorite drink and snack are, what he thinks of gun violence, Empire, gentrification and what his grandfather said about The Beatles in the New York Times.

ep 13: Bill Cosby: Jay Smooth & comedians Rae Sanni &Tarik Daniels. by Katie Halper

On this episode of The Katie Halper show, genius writer, performer and channels multiple characters from latest one woman show Sell/Buy/Date on sex work. You can catch the show at New York Live Arts Jan 6-16. Journalist Patrick Hilsman talks about his addiction to heroin versus his addiction to reporting on the Middle East.

Singer, song-writer activist Dar Williams talks about coming out of the closet, performing with Pete Seeger, Bruce Springsteen's empty bottles, and dealing with depression. Featuring a never released lesbian-seeming-Dar-Williams-mashup. Check out Dar live at the Bellhouse in Brooklyn on December 26th! Subscribe to The Katie Halper Show

We talk to The Huffington Post media editor Gabriel Arana about his experience undergoing ex-gay conversion therapy and the GOP debates. As a special bonus to this week The Katie Halper Show podcast, we get Scott Lemieux's take on which of the proposals from this week's GOP debate were actually war crimes. This was inspired by LOLGOP's tweet saying "Someone should count up how many war crimes Republicans proposed last night."

On this episode we bring back a Trumpdate and contrast his policy's on Jews and Muslims. Then we tell you what the president did to make two separate usually family-friendly Fox News correspondents on two separate shows curse! We talk to Democracy Now's Sam Alcoff, who calls in live from Paris to tells us why politicians will never solve the climate crisis and how he knows the man who ran his car into him wasn't actually Putin dressed as a Frenchman. And then we chat live in studio with Jeremy Newberger about his documentary "The Anthropologist," which is basically a mother daughter relationship road trip movie, except the trips involve flights to places that are facing climate change crises like Peru, Siberia, Kiribati. The movie was so good, it was invited to be screened at COP21. And I talk about my film Commie Camp, which is playing at Anthology Film Archives on Dec 14th.

on the one year anniversary of the non-indictment over the murder of Eric Garner, we speak to his mother Gwen Carr. Though the NYPD's murder of Eric Garner by chokehold was captured on video and his death ruled a homicide by medical examiners, a grand jury decided to not even indict the policeman (or men) responsible. We talk about Garner's life and his death, and how it turned Carr into an activist. Gwen also explains what justice means for her and her thoughts on the recent killing of Laquan McDonald. We also speak to MSNBC reporter Irin Carmon about the Planned Parenthood shooting and her new book on Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Notorious RBG.

On this week's episode we talk to artist and journalist Molly Crabapple about her memoirs Drawing Blood which drops TODAY! DECEMBER 1! Molly has reported and created art from Guantanamo Bay military tribunals, to Occupy Wall Street, to Iraq's Domiz camp for Syrian refugees, to Luzerne County PA courthouses. She talks to the Katie Halper Show about being an Arroz Con Matzoh Ball (a Puerto-Rican Jew), the influence of her artist mother and Marxist Latin American studies professor father, getting food poisoning in Morocco, why talent isn't enough, what the liberal media is getting wrong about Syrian refugees, and why dash cams and "photos will never defeat white supremacy."

On this episode we talk to Johann Hari about his book Chasing the Scream and why everything we thought we know about drugs, addiction and the war on drugs is wrong. Plus, what's Billie Holiday gotta do with it? Find out on this episode! It's really not hyperbole to say that this book will change the way you think about drugs, addiction and the war on drugs. Get the book that Naomi Klein calls, “Superb journalism and thrilling story-telling," Noam Chomsky calls, “Wonderful… I couldn’t put it down,” and Amy Goodman calls “An astounding book." if you donate $125 you get a copy of "Chasing the Scream." http://www.give2wbai.org/product_p/nb0093.htm. An even better deal is paying $25 more and getting "Chasing the Scream" AND "Between The World and Me." http://www.give2wbai.org/product_p/pb0672.htm

On this episode of The Katie Halper Show we are visited by The Chalks, the country music trio comprised of Judeen, Judelle and Belva Chalk, who were born and raised in Boggy Depot, Oklahoma. They give Gabe a citizenship test, and the results are not good. Plus, you'll never guess who's married! If you haven't already, please subscribe to The Katie Halper Show on itunes, rate and review us (it takes 10 seconds) https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-katie-halper-show/id1020563127?mt=2 and support us and WBAI with a donation. You can even get a signed CD from the Chalks, "Three Girls, Three Guitars, and Three Chords" right here! http://www.give2wbai.org/product_p/oc0979.htm or the Katie Halper Comedy Bundle, which is a great deal and includes the Chalks CD AND a comedy DVD from Ted Alexando, Julie Goldman and Justin Williams! http://www.give2wbai.org/product_p/pcd103.htm

Please support The Katie Halper Show so we can stay on air. Donate as little as $5 http://www.give2wbai.org/category_s/1830.htm or if you donate $120, you get a copy of Ta-Nehisi Coates' book Between the World and Me. http://www.give2wbai.org/product_p/nb0096.htm We were soooo excited to have Ta-Nehisi Coates come on the show. During the episode, the Atlantic correspondent, author of "Between the World and Me," and the recipient of the MacCarther Genius Grant discusses the difference between racism in the United States and Europe, why he dislikes being called a genius, what it felt like when Toni Morrison compared him to James Baldwin, what changed his mind on reparations and the one statistic that crystalizes the need for race-based and not merely class-based solutions. Please subscribe to The Katie Halper Show on Itunes and rate us and review us! https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-katie-halper-show/id1020563127?mt=2

On this episode of the Katie Halper Show, we chat with the hilarious standup comedian, actor, author and artist Judah Friedlander about his new book "If the Raindrops United," which ranges from hilarious and lighthearted to hilarious and focuses a lot of gentrification. We also discuss the Democratic debate, Bernie Sanders, Bernie Sanders' accent, and amazing films like Red Dawn.

On the Katie Halper show, episode 13, I share some of the audio from my appearance on Fox Radio. When I brought up the story of the Rosenbergs, a caller called in and said i was "lying anti-christ" and told me to stop my "cackling." Then journalist Al Giordano gets made an honorary Jew, by yours truly in a very holy ceremony, talks to us about the School of Authentic Journalism, why he's leaving Facebook for Tsu.co, and his suspicions about Joe Biden and the White House. Then we talk to journalist Natasha Lennard about why we shouldn't refer to they influx of refugees as a "European crisis" and why the media shows black and brown corpses more than white ones. And Jason Chaffetz (UT-R) thinks he catches Planned Parenthood President in a lie, but is actually caught lying himself about the source of a chart he claimed he had made but really stole from an anti-choice group. And he proves he knows as much about breasts and mammograms as Rush Limbaugh knows about birth control and female pleasure. On October 14th, we'll have Judah Friedlander and on October 28th, we'll have Ta-Nahisi Coates!

Here is a special updated segment from last week's show, which focuses on my interview with Robert Meeropol and the event honoring his mother Ether Rosenberg on what would have been her 100th birthday. Robert he mentioned the proclamation but couldn't divulge all the details, last week. So, here is what happened.