Posted by Alexander Jerri
On This Day in Rotten History...
On this day in 1683 – (333 years ago) – on the southern coast of what is now Taiwan, the Chinese admiral Shi Lang arrived with a fleet of 600 warships and 100,000 men to invade the kingdom of Tungning, which ruled the southwestern part of the island, and claim it for the Qing dynasty. The Tungning defense forces fought hard, but they were fatally outnumbered and outgunned by the Chinese, who used Dutch-manufactured cannons to bombard the shore while 60,000 Chinese soldiers disembarked, made their way to the Tungning capital, burned it down, and forced its leaders to surrender. Some 10,000 to 15,000 soldiers and sailors on both sides died in the battle, which marked the permanent demise of the Tungning kingdom.
On this day in 1942 – (74 years ago) – in a large coordinated operation, police in Paris, acting under the direction of Nazi Germany and France’s collaborationist Vichy government, spread out over the city and quickly rounded up and arrested more than 13,000 Jewish people, including more than 4,000 children, and herded them into a bicycle racing arena without adequate food, water, or sanitary facilities. The prisoners were soon loaded onto trains and sent to the concentration camp at Auschwitz. It was just one of many operations in the Nazis’ larger plan to exterminate the Jewish population of Europe in the 1940s.
On this day in 1945 – (71 years ago) – in the deserts of New Mexico, US Army scientists of the Manhattan Project, led by J. Robert Oppenheimer, conducted the world’s first detonation of a nuclear weapon. The atomic bomb test, codenamed “Trinity,” produced an explosion equivalent to 20,000 tons of TNT, which was two to three times more powerful than the scientists had expected. The mushroom cloud rose more than seven miles high, and the shock wave could be heard 100 miles away. In spite of the remote desert location, the bright flash and enormous explosion of the top secret weapon were seen and heard by unsuspecting civilians. The Air Force issued its cover story in a press release, stating that it had been an accidental explosion in a remotely located ammunition magazine. A few weeks later, two more bombs of roughly similar explosive force were detonated over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, together killing an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 people.
Rotten History is written by Renaldo... read more
Posted by Alexander Jerri
This is Hell! is celebrating 20 years of journalistic excellence by getting drunk at a bar after the show. Join us.
Listen live from 9AM - 1PM Central on WNUR 89.3FM / stream at www.thisishell.com / subscribe to the podcast
9:10 - Cultural critic Henry Giroux examines the endstage politics of Donald Trump.
Henry is author of the essay Anti-Politics and the Plague of Disorientation: Welcome to the Age of Trump for Truthout.
10:05 - Economist Dean Baker rethinks the financial sector in post-Brexit Europe.
Dean wrote the article Right-Sizing the Financial Sector in Post-Brexit Europe for Truthout.
10:35 - Peace activist Kathy Kelly connects America's violence abroad to the police war at home.
Kathy wrote the Consortiumnews article Of Lethal Drones and Police Shootings.
11:05 - Black Agenda Report's Glen Ford explores the state of Black resistance after Dallas.
Glen posted the article Rulers Shocked by Dallas Attack: Black Folks Keep on Stepping at Black Agenda Report.
11:35 - Civil rights attorney Flint Taylor surveys the municipal mechanisms of police impunity.
Flint is representing the family of Derek Williams, who died in the backseat of a Milwaukee police squad car in 2011.
12:05 - Historian Nicole Longpré traces six decades of far-right, anti-immigrant British politics.
Nicole wrote the article How the British Far Right Went Mainstream for Dissent.
12:40 - In a Moment of Truth, Jeff Dorchen finds a free lunch, and you'll never guess where!
Jeff will be in studio, hopefully not eating that lunch, for the whole show.
Posted by Alexander Jerri
Listen live from 9AM - 1PM Central on WNUR 89.3FM / stream at www.thisishell.com / subscribe to the podcast
9:10 - Writer Richard Seymour explains how Jeremy Corbyn reclaimed the Labour Party for the left.
Richard is author of Corbyn: The Strange Rebirth of Radical Politics from Verso Books.
10:05 - Writer Sarah Kendzior points out the media's blindspot when covering young people.
Sarah wrote the article The myth of millennial entitlement was created to hide their parents’ mistakes for Quartz.
10:35 - Journalist Marcy Wheeler finds power and secrecy at play in Hillary's email scandal.
Marcy's most recent writing on the Clinton email hearings is Jim Comey, Poker Face, and the Scope of the Clinton Investigation(s) at her blog emptywheel.
11:05 - Writer Mark Danner explains how America lost its identity in the pursuit of endless war.
Mark is author of Spiral: Trapped in the Forever War from Simon & Schuster.
12:05 - Jordan Camp and Christina Heatherton explore the violent new dimension of policing in America.
Jordan and Christina edited the collection Policing the Planet: Why the Policing Crisis Led to Black Lives Matter from Verso Books.
12:45 - In a Moment of Truth, Jeff Dorchen taps the bottomless keg of situational paradox.
Oh hey speaking of kegs, Jeff will be in town for TIH!'s 20th anniversary party - see him IRL.
Posted by Alexander Jerri
On This Day in Rotten History...
On this day in 626 – (1,390 years ago) — in the midst of a complicated palace intrigue, Prince Li Shimin, second son of the Chinese Emperor Gaozu, set up an ambush to kill both his brothers in what became known to historians as the Xuanwu Gate Incident. Li Shimin’s father was a warlord who had spent his younger years subjugating various nomadic and agricultural peoples and bringing them together as founder of the Tang dynasty. By killing his brothers in cold blood, his son not only established himself as sole heir to the dynasty, but also terrified his now elderly father into abdicating and passing the empire over to him. In this way, Li Shimin became Emperor Taizong, regarded today as one of the greatest and most powerful emperors in Chinese history.
On this day in 1822 – (194 years ago) – in Charleston, South Carolina, Denmark Vesey was executed by hanging, along with thirty-five slaves, after being accused and convicted of the crime of organizing a slave rebellion. Vesey, also known as Telemaque, was himself a former slave who had won a city lottery and purchased his own freedom some two decades earlier. As a slave he had secretly learned to read and write, and he was fluent in French and Spanish as well as English. After buying his way out of slavery, he had built a successful carpentry business and co-founded a local African Methodist church, which had grown to become the second largest of that denomination in the United States. But after he was executed, the church was demolished and its minister was chased out of town.
On this day in 1962 – (54 years ago) – in Rogers, Arkansas, the first Wal-Mart store opened for business. Owned and operated by a former employee of J. C. Penney’s named Sam Walton, it was an unassuming five-and- dime that showed no sign of growing into a retail juggernaut that would one day spread across five continents, forcing small-town independents out of business and subjecting employees to its draconian labor practices.
Rotten History is written by Renaldo Migaldi
Posted by Alexander Jerri
America's longformest, politicalist interview show is turning 20 years old this month, and we're celebrating two decades of respectable journalism by getting trashed at a bar.
Join us at Cary's Lounge on Saturday, July 16th, 3PM - whenever Chuck passes out.
Here is the Facebook event.
You don't need to RSVP or anything, just show up.
There will be:
- Beer specials from Lagunitas Brewing!
- Raffles for actually cool, exciting crap!
- Food you don't have to pay for!
- Bands playing music, probably loud!
- Correspondents from around the world!
- Past guests dropping by!
- One wasted radio host!
Posted by Alexander Jerri
Listen live from 9AM - 1PM Central on WNUR 89.3FM / stream at www.thisishell.com / subscribe to the podcast
9:10 - Historian Ibram X. Kendi traces racist thought in America back to the birth of the nation.
Ibram is author of Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America from PublicAffairs.
10:05 - Live from Mexico City, Laura Carlsen reports on a teacher's strike that left nine dead in Oaxaca.
Laura spoke to the Real News Network for their segment Nine Killed in Police Crackdown on Oaxaca Teacher's Strike.
10:35 - Live from São Paulo, Brian Mier surveys land rights rollbacks in post-coup, pre-Olymics Brazil.
Brian has been covering the Brazilian coup a year before it even happened.
11:05 - Historian Andrew Bacevich explores four decades of American intervention, and failure, in the Middle East.
Andrew is author of America’s War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History from Penguin Random House.
12:05 - Historian Judith Stein explains how liberals turned their backs on New Deal politics.
Judith was interview by Connor Kilpatrick for the Jacobin piece Why Did White Workers Leave the Democratic Party?
12:40 - In a Moment of Truth, Jeff Dorchen criticizes smugness, or is smug, or both.
