Bill Moyers Journal (audio) | Pbs

BIll MOYERS JOURNAl gives viewers an intimate look at how deployments of National Guard troops to Iraq affect the state Governors' ability to swiftly respond to domestic disaster at home and impact the families left behind. Traveling to New Jersey, the Journal follows families preparing for the deployment of nearly half of New Jersey's National Guard to Iraq. And, contributor Kathleen Hall Jamieson returns with a recap of the key moments and messages of the Republican National Convention.

What did the Democrats accomplish this week and can they deliver real change while still playing old fashioned Beltway politics? In the historic moment of the first African-American nominee for President, Bill Moyers sits down with Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel and University of Pennsylvania professor of political science Adolph Reed, Jr. to discuss the promises from the DNC and expectations of Barack Obama. Also on the program, Bill Moyers speaks with political analysts Merle and Earl Black, who've tracked the American electorate for years. They will discuss how American demographics - particularly votes from the Southern and the swing states, such as Ohio and Pennsylvania - will influence the campaign and the election.

With celebrations set to kick off in Denver for the Democratic National Convention, the JOURNAl travels to Colorado where tough economic times are hitting suburban communities. And, BIll MOYERS JOURNAl talks to bloggers and activists in China. Will they be heard through the Olympic roar? Then, as the Olympics are set to close, Bill Moyers interviews Philip Pan, foreign correspondent and former Beijing bureau chief for THE WASHINGTON POST, on how the emerging economic power of China looks from the ground.

Is an imperial presidency destroying what America stands for? Bill Moyers sits down with history and international relations expert and former US Army Colonel Andrew J. Bacevich who identifies three major problems facing our democracy: the crises of economy, government and militarism, and calls for a redefinition of the American way of life. "Because of this preoccupation with the presidency," says Bacevich, "the president has become what we have instead of genuine politics, instead of genuine democracy." Respected across the political spectrum, Bacevich has contributed to The Nation, The American Conservative, Foreign Affairs, among others, and his latest book is The limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism.

As more companies view low-income Americans as opportunities for profit, the "poverty business" is booming. BIll MOYERS JOURNAl and EXPOSE: AMERICA'S INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS follow a team of BUSINESSWEEK reporters as they track new corporate practices that some say exploit the working poor. With the economy going bust, Bill Moyers gets perspective from economist and co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research Dean Baker and NEW YORK TIMES op-ed columnist Bob Herbert.

In this selection from the MOYERS DITIGAl ARCHIVE, Bill Moyers talks with Thomas Frank, 2004. Check online at http://www.pbs.org/moyers for a 2008 special web-only conversation between Frank and Moyers.

BIll MOYERS JOURNAl travels to ground zero of the mortgage meltdown-Cleveland, Ohio. Correspondent Rick Karr takes viewers to Slavic Village, one of the hardest hit neighborhoods in the nation when it comes to the spate of foreclosures caused by the subprime mortgage crisis. There, more than 1,000 homes stand vacant and decaying in a neighborhood that once thrived with families living the American dream of home ownership. Moyers gets perspective from veteran journalist William Greider on the current financial crisis and what he calls "the great deflation of Wall Street."

Conservatives Mickey Edwards and Ross Douthat discuss why they believe their movement has gone off track during the last eight years and what it means for the Republican Party. Douthat is senior editor at The Atlantic Monthly and co-author of Grand New Party, and Mickey Edwards is a former Republican Congressman and author of Reclaiming Conservatism. Also on the program, Bill Moyers introduces "Deepening the American Dream," a Web-only project at www.pbs.org/moyers that features essays and videos of some of Moyers' notable guests laying out their vision for the future of the American dream.

Injury rates reported at America's poultry plants have dropped dramatically in recent years, and so have workplace safety inspections. Are regulators rewarding companies for inaccurate reporting of injuries? Bill Moyers Journal and Expose: America's Investigative Reports go inside America's poultry industry, which employs almost a quarter million workers nationwide, to show the reality of working conditions and to investigate how official statistics showing a drop in workplace injuries may have been the result of deceptive reporting. Also on the program, Bill Moyers interviews Senator Barbara Boxer about global warming. Plus, a Bill Moyers essay on big oil.

This week, as many Americans celebrate "Juneteenth," a special day of recognition commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, Bill Moyers Journal examines racial inequality in America through the prisms of the legacy of slavery and the current socio-economic landscape. Bill Moyers interviews Douglas Blackmon, the Atlanta bureau chief of the Wall Street Journal, about his latest book Slavery by Another Name, which looks at an "age of neoslavery" that thrived from the aftermath of the Civil War through the dawn of World War II. And Moyers get perspective from historical and cultural sociologist Orlando Patterson and Glenn C. loury, an economist and expert on race and social division.

While many Americans are working harder for less money and paying more for everyday items like gas and food, the rich are getting richer. Bill Moyers Journal analyzes the growing inequality gap on the ground in los Angeles where recently union workers marched to bring attention to how they are getting squeezed out of the shrinking middle class. Bill Moyers also interviews Steve Fraser, historian and author of Wall Street: America's Dream Palace, about the modern parallels and differences to the first Gilded Age, the big disparity between the rich and poor, and the increasing strain on working Americans. And Holly Sklar, co-author of Raise the Floor: Wages and Policies that Work For All of Us, discusses what current economic conditions say about the state of the American dream.

Bill Moyers on the Democratic Party and its new nominee. Plus, there's nothing new in Scott McClellan's book about the propaganda campaign or the role of the press in selling the war, so why is it such big news? Journalists Jonathan landay and John Walcott of McClatchy newspapers and Greg Mitchell of EDITOR AND PUBlISHER analyze the reaction of the administration and the media to McClellan's book. And, the Annenberg School's Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Dr. Ronald Walters, director of the African American leadership Institute and Scholar Practitioner Program at the University of Maryland, contemplate what's next for Obama, Clinton and the rest of the election cycle.

Bill Moyers interviews former talk show host Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro on the true cost of war and their documentary, Body of War, depicting the moving story of one veteran dealing with the aftermath of war. With extensive excerpts from the film, the filmmakers talk about Iraq war veteran Tomas Young who was shot and paralyzed less than a week into his tour of duty. Three years in the making, Body of War tells the poignant tale of the young man's journey from joining the service after 9/11 to fight in Afghanistan, to living with devastating wounds after being deployed to Iraq instead.

A Bill Moyers essay on the recent spate of resignations of executive appointees in Washington. Then, there may be a potentially dangerous chemical leaching into our food from the containers that we use every day. BIll MOYERS JOURNAl and EXPOSE: AMERICA'S INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS examine why, even though studies show that the chemical Bisphenol A can cause cancer and other health problems in lab animals, the manufacturers, their lobbyists, and U.S. regulators say it's safe. Also, Jeffrey Toobin, one of the most recognized legal journalists in the country, discusses what the Supreme Court might look like if John McCain is elected President. And, Bill Moyers on the best way to honor our veterans this Memorial Day.

A Democratic house divided. Bill Moyers interviews Berkeley law professors Christopher Edley, Jr. and Maria Echaveste - he's for Obama and she's for Clinton. They met working in the Clinton administration and now, having been married for nine years, Edley and Echaveste are both advising their respective candidates. Edley serves as dean and professor of law of UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of law, where Echaveste is a lecturer in residence. Also on the program, independent journalist Melody Petersen talks about the dangers of a market-driven pharmaceutical industry, and a Bill Moyers essay.

Bill Moyers Journal profiles the fight the California Nurses Association (CNA) has been waging over universal healthcare. "There shouldn't be a double standard," says Rose Ann DeMoro, executive director of CNA. "We, as the public, pay for Dick Cheney's care...why is the government not providing the same type of care to all Americans?" Also on the program, Bill Moyers interviews British law professor Philippe Sands, author of Torture Team, a new book on the approval of coercive interrogation by high-level American officials.

Five years after the President declared the end of major combat operations in Iraq, Bill Moyers interviews Victor S. Navasky and Christopher Cerf about their latest book Mission Accomplished, described as a "hilarious but depressing compilation of experts who were in error about the war in Iraq." Media and politics expert Kathleen Hall Jamieson analyzes the latest from the presidential campaign. And Bill Moyers reflects on Jeremiah Wright.

Bill Moyers interviews the Reverend Jeremiah Wright in his first broadcast interview with a journalist since he became embroiled in a controversy for his remarks and his relationship with Barack Obama. Wright, who retired in early 2008 as pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, where Senator Obama is a member, has been at the center of controversy for comments he made during sermons, which surfaced in the press in March.

Just back from being under fire in Sadr City this week, award-winning journalist leila Fadel, Baghdad Bureau Chief for McClatchy, gives viewers on-the-ground analysis of the latest events and close-up look at the state of the war. And, Bill Moyers talks with Marth Nussbaum, the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of law and Ethics at University of Chicago, about church and state, and her newest book, lIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE: IN DEFENSE OF AMERICA'S TRADITION OF RElIGIOUS EQUAlITY.

As food prices go sky high and millions go hungry in America, why are tax dollars being spent on farmers who don't farm? Bill Moyers Journal teams up with the PBS series Expose: America's Investigative Reports to follow the trail of Washington Post reporters who uncovered more than $15 billion in "wasteful, unnecessary, or redundant expenditures" that have flowed from Washington to America's farmers. The broadcast also looks at shortages at America's food banks; and Bill Moyers talks with David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, about challenges of combating hunger and the new farm bill being negotiated in Congress.