Terrence McNally podcast

"I believe we can do better and I want to find out how."

Interview: JANE MAYER, New Yorker Correspondent and Author

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July 01, 2009 09:14 AM PDT

Aired 06/30/09

JANE MAYER, one of our nation's foremost investigative journalists will join us for at least the last half hour, maybe a bit more. Her best-selling 2008 book, THE DARK SIDE, was chosen by the New New York Times, The Economist, Salon, Slate, and Bloomberg as one of the best books of the year.

In THE DARK SIDE, MAYER reported (to quote a review by Andrew Basevich), "Since embarking upon its global war on terror, the United States has blatantly disregarded the Geneva Conventions. It has imprisoned suspects, including U.S. citizens, without charge, holding them indefinitely and denying them due process. It has created an American gulag in which thousands of detainees, including many innocent of any wrongdoing, have been subjected to ritual abuse and humiliation. It has delivered suspected terrorists into the hands of foreign torturers. Under the guise of 'enhanced interrogation techniques,' it has succeeded, in Mayer's words, in 'making torture the official law of the land in all but name.' Further, it has done all these things as a direct result of policy decisions made at the highest levels of government."

The country learned about all this and rejected Bush's Republican successor, John McCain, in favor of former constitutional law professor, Barack Obama. So has everything changed for the good?

I'd say not nearly enough.

Just in the two months since President Obama released the torture memos, a former FBI interrogator testified to the failures of the CIA's so-called enhanced interrogation techniques, a former aide to Colin Powell said the interrogations were aimed at building the case for the Iraq war, a coalition of advocacy groups has launched a campaign to disbar twelve former Bush administration attorneys.

The Obama response? While continuing to preach "move forward, don't look back" when it comes to investigating or prosecuting possible crimes committed in pursuit of the above listed policies, the Obama administration has withheld photos of detainee abuse, defended the military tribunal system, and floated plans for a system of "preventive detention" for accused Terrorists.

We will talk with JANE MAYER about the past, the present, and the future of actions and crimes committed by the US government to defend us from terror.

Podcast Summary

Features conversations with people who offer pieces of the puzzle of “a world that just might work” -- provocative approaches to business, environment, health, science, politics, media and culture. Guests have included Ken Burns, Deborah Tannen, Andrew Weil, Jeremy Rifkin, Arianna Huffington, Roger Ebert, Bill Joy, Alvin Toffler, Paul Krugman, Bill Maher, and Norman Lear.

About Terrence

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TERRENCE McNALLY, journalist and radio host, is also a consultant, speaker, writer, and coach to public agencies, foundations, non-profits, and responsible corporations. Terrenceâ€™s radio show Free Forum (KPFK 90.7fm, Los Angeles, streaming and podcasting at kpfk.org, in print at AlterNet.org) features conversations with people who offer pieces of the puzzle of â€œa world that just might workâ€ -- provocative approaches to business, environment, health, science, politics, media and culture. Guests have included Ken Burns, Deborah Tannen, Andrew Weil, Jeremy Rifkin, Arianna Huffington, Roger Ebert, Bill Joy, Alvin Toffler, Paul Krugman, Bill Maher, and Norman Lear. McNally speaks on strategic communications and the power of storytelling, as well as on issues of social responsibility and sustainable development. Speaking and training clients include American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, CERES, Friends Of The Earth, Glaxo Smith Kline (Patient Advocates), Greenpeace USA, Intel, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Herman Miller, NASA, NASD Investor Education Foundation, Nemours Foundation, US Climate Action Network, US Department of Agriculture, and Volunteers Of America. His organizational work encourages and focuses communication, creativity, and cooperation; resolves conflicts; clarifies and aligns vision, mission and objectives; and develops plans for effective action. Consulting clients include the Environmental Protection Agency, Union of Concerned Scientists, Natural Resources Defense Council, Redefining Progress, Business for Social Responsibility, Global Green USA, Rhino Records, and Interface Flooring. A graduate of Harvard, where he won its highest academic award, he has also worked as a writer, producer, and director of documentaries ("Buckminster Fuller - World Man, World Game", BBCâ€™s 1992 Earth Summit special "Greenbucksâ€.) He co-wrote and produced Julie Brown's "Goddess In Progress", voted #4 mini-album of 1985 in the Village Voice National Music Critics Poll. Having acted in over a hundred films and television shows, McNally co-wrote and co-produced the musical comedy feature "Earth Girls Are Easy". Called by Time Magazine "the freshest thing to come out of the space program since Tangâ€, it is now being developed as a Broadway musical. Co-author with Hyla Cass MD of Kava: Nature's Answer to Stress, Anxiety, and Insomnia, Terrence is an annual participant at the Conference on World Affairs, a member of the Television Academy of Arts & Sciences, and has served on the boards of Earth Communications Office, Show Coalition, and Education 1st.

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