Please note that this site is best viewed through the following or later versions of Internet Explorer 8, Firefox 3.0, Safari 1.0, Google Chrome, Opera 6.0 or Netscape 6.0. Please send any comments via our
Contact form.
Please select the "Current Broadcast MP3" item under the "For Stations" button in the Navigation Bar.
Bill McKibben, Schumann Distinguished Scholar at Middlebury College and author of a dozen books about the environment, beginning with "The End of Nature" in 1989, which is regarded as the first book for a general audience on climate change. The group he founded, 350.org, has coordinated 15,000 rallies in 189 countries since 2009. The Boston Globe said in 2010 that he was "probably the country’s most important environmentalist."
Alexis Tsipras, a member of the Hellenic parliament, president of the Synaspismos political party since 2008, head of the SYRIZA parliamentary group since 2009, and leader of the Opposition since June 2012. SYRIZA currently leads in Greek opinion polls. Listen to the audio here.
Between The Lines' Executive Producer Scott Harris hosts a live,
weekly talk show,
Counterpoint, from which some of Between The Lines'
interviews are excerpted. Listen every Monday evening from 8 to 10 p.m.
EDT at www.WPKN.org
(Follows the 5-7 minute White Rose Calendar.)
Counterpoint in its entirety is archived after midnight ET
Monday nights,
and is available for at least a year following broadcast in
WPKN Radio's Archives.
You can also listen to
full unedited interview segments from Counterpoint, which
are generally available some time the day following broadcast.
Subscribe to Counterpoint bulletins via our subscriptions page.
"Rand Paul: Making a Point," by Reginald Johnson, March 8, 2013
"The Bipartisan Gift: Budget Cuts," by Reginald Johnson, March 2, 2013
"Fighting for Gun Control," by Reginald Johnson, Feb. 18, 2013
"Tyranny of the Minority," by Reginald Johnson, Jan. 28, 2013
"Is President Obama About to Betray Those Who Re-elected Him Less than 2 Months Ago?" by Scott Harris, Dec. 21, 2012
"Will the Slaughter of the Innocents in Newtown Lead to Gun Law Reform in U.S.?" by Scott Harris and Anna Manzo, Dec. 16, 2012
"My Friend in Sandy Hook," by Doug Moss, posted by Scott Harris, Dec. 16, 2012
A compilation of activist and news sites with a progressive point of view
Podcasts: direct or via iTunes
Subscribe to Program Summaries, Interview Transcripts or Counterpoint via email or RSS feed
If you have other questions regarding subscriptions, feeds or podcasts/mp3s go to our Audio Help page.
Learn how to support our efforts!
Posted April 11, 2012
Interview with Rashad Robinson, executive director of ColorofChange.org, conducted by Scott Harris
The American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, a group unfamiliar to most Americans, came into public view in early 2011 as a number of states across the U.S. were debating and passing legislation eliminating the collective bargaining rights of public sector labor unions in states such as Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. News reports revealed that ALEC, a right-wing policy group funded by some of the nation’s largest corporations, not only promoted the anti-union bills, but provided conservative legislators in more than a dozen states with model legislative language to get the job done.
ALEC, whose membership is made up of both corporations and legislators, works mostly behind the scenes to advance laws that benefit the agenda of its corporate funders. The group has written legislation to impose discriminatory voter ID laws, harsher criminal penalties on juveniles, privatize education, permissive Stand Your Ground gun laws and severe anti-immigration measures. In all, the American Legislative Exchange Council boasts that nearly 1,000 of its “model” bills are introduced in state legislatures each year, with hundreds enacted.
The nation’s largest African-American online civil rights group ColorofChange.org, has helped lead a campaign to expose ALEC’s agenda and to pressure corporations to end their membership and support for the group. So far they’ve succeeded in pushing Coca Cola, Pepsi, Kraft and Intuit to drop their membership. But members like the billionaire Koch brothers and Wal-mart are standing firm in their support for ALEC. Between The Lines’ Scott Harris spoke with Color of Change executive director, Rashad Robinson, who talks about the reasons behind his group’s anti-ALEC campaign and the continuing pressure on other ALEC member corporations to resign.
Visit Color of Changes' website at www.ColorofChange.org. For more information on the campaign against the American Legislative Exchange Council at www.colorofchange.org/campaign/alec.
Related Links: