AIDS Activist Wan Yanhai's Disappearance: Implications for Civil Society formation

On our November 27, 2006 show, we were scheduled to talk about AIDS activist Wan Yanhai's work in the wake of his disappearance in Beijing. However, he has now been released after a few days of detention. See our press release

To hear audio of the show, click here: . The show includes clips from an interview we did with him back in 1998 on political surveillance.

Center for Constitutional Studies Files Suit vs. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld

On our November 20, 2006 show, we focus on what led up to the lawsuit just filed against Donald Rumsfeld in Germany. We air audio from CCR President Michael Ratner and one-time Abu Ghraib Commander Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinsky as part of proceedings of the Bush Commission into war crimes (see http://www.bushcommission.org). Thanks to Not in Our Name for the use of of this audio.

For more on the lawsuit, see: War Crimes Complaint Against Rumsfeld et al..

See also Karpinsky's testimony.

To hear audio of the show, click here: .

Robert Gates: From CIA to Pentagon? Who is the Nominee to Head the Defense Department?

On the next Subversity show, slated for Monday 13 June, 2006 on KUCI, we chat with national security analyst and author John Prados about former CIA director Robert Gates, who is George Bush's nominee to succeed Donald Rumsfeld as Defense Secretary. We will discuss what has Gates done in the past and how quickly will he withraw U.S. troops from Iraq? Gates, after all, was deputy CIA director when the U.S. sent Donald Rumsfeld to meet with Saddam Hussein and shake his hands, sealing the U.S. effort to arm Iraq. Gates was also implicated, but never charged, in the Iran-Contra scandal.

For more information with links to resources, see our press release.

To hear audio of the show, click here: .

The Religious Right

On our November 6 2006 show, Subversity took a look at the Religious Right with Chip Berlet, senior analyst with Political Research Associates, which has just released a report, Running Against Sodom and Osama: The Christian Right, Values Voters, and the Culture Wars in 2006, that Berlet co-authored.


We also aired a clip from Bob Avakian, who leads the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, warning not to put faith in the Democrats. And we also gave our subversive take on Tuesday's elections, especially one proposition, 83, that is more a reflection of hysteria over sex crimes than anything that would solve anything. We addressed the pros and cons.


To hear audio of the show, click here: .

Lt. Ehren Watada's Refusal to Deploy to Iraq

On our KUCI Subversity show Monday October 30, 2006, we aired a talk given by Bob Watada and Rosa Sakanishi, father and stepmom of Ehren Watada, an army officer (first lieutenant) who has refused deployment to Iraq. They spoke at Chapman University. We also got a chance to chat with them after their talk about being parents of Ehren Watada.

For more information on Ehren Watada's resistance to an illegal war, see: http://www.thankyoult.org/.

To hear the audio of a statement by Ehren Watada, his parents' talk, plus brief interviews with both of them, click here: .

UCI Student Protesters Face More Aggressive Police Tactics

We chatted with Worker Student Alliance activists about the arrest of a Vietnamese student last Wednesday during a protest and what's behind this increased standoff between labor supporters and the cops. This was on our Monday October 23, 2006 show.
Here's the press release: press release.

To hear the audio of the show, click here: .

Civil Liberties Attorney Shayana Kadidal on Challenging State Repression

On our Monday October 16 show, Subversity, a KUCI public affairs program, broadcast a talk given by a civil liberties attorney about the National Security Agency surveillance lawsuit, as well as the legal limboland now confronted by those incarcerated at Guantanamo, in the wake of Congressional action stripping habeas corpus rights from those imprisoned there.

Shayana Kadidal is Staff Attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights based in New York City. For more information, see our press release.

To hear the audio of the show, click here: .

Return to Homeland: Journalist/Writer/Artist Nguyen Qui Duc

On Monday, October 9, 2006, we talk with Nguyen Qui Duc about his decision to return to his homeland, Vietnam, with his mother, and the opportunities and challenges he faces there, after a distinguished journalism and literary career in the West. Nguyen hosted the KQED radio internationally syndicated show, "Pacific Time" that focused on Asian and Asian American affairs from 2000 until recently.

The winner of many awards, he has worked for the BBC among other radio stations and provided commentaries on NPR. He is a founder of an artists' collective, Ink & Blood, has authored plays and produced a documentary, China: Shanghai Nights for Frontline/World on PBS. The documentary was awarded the Edward R. Morrow Award by the Overseas Press Club of America. He has also translated several Vietnamese writers works and has written for mainstream puhblications as well as the literary press. His books include an autobiography, "Where the Ashes Are" (Addison-Wesley) and an edited work, "Vietnam: A Traveler's Literary Companion" (Whereabouts Press).

To hear the audio of the show, click here: .

What's Behind the Latest Sex Scandal

On our 2 October 2006 Subversity show, we reflected on the latest Washington D.C. sex scandal, the one involving resigned Florida Congressman Mark Foley's emails, while taking a look back on the Clinton sex scandal -- when we aired an interview with Martha Loew, the editor of EIDOS, a sexualities journal once in print. Promises of protecting children helped self-righteous neocon Republicans (such as Mark Foley) take over Congress; will their hypocrisy now lead them to lose control of Congress?

We chatted with Bill Andriette, features editor of The Guide, an alternative sexual politics magazine from Boston, about what's behind the moral panic over this scandal. Andriette wrote about Foley prior to this scandal.

To hear the audio of the show, click here: .

Orange Coast Voice Debuts

On our Monday, September 25, 2006 show, kicking off our Fall season, we talked with return guest John Earl, the editor of a new community paper being distributed in Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa, Orange Coast Voice, which has just come out. We asked him about the economics and politics of independent publishing.

To hear the audio of the show, click here: .

From Our Archives: May Day interview with Prof. Gilbert Gonzalez on Mexican Labor Migration and U.S. Imperialism

For Labor Day 2006, we air our May Day interview with UCI historian Gilbert Gonzalez, on the history of Mexican labor in the United States. May Day is when the rest of the world celebrates Labor Day.

To hear the audio of the show, click here: .

From Our Archives: UCI Professors Mike Davis on New Orleans and Gilbert Gonzalez on Mexican immigration

On our August 28, 2006 show, we looked back at the Katrina disaster and also the history of immigration from Mexico that is behind the rise of Mexican American protest activity in the Southland.

To hear the audio of the show, click here: . The original interview with Prof. Gonzalez is excerpted during the show.

Life and Times of Nguoi Viet Publisher Yen Do

On our next show, airing August 21, we talked with CSUF journalism prof. Jeff Brody about the life of Nguoi Viet newspaper publisher Yen Do, who passed away last Thursday. See press release.

To hear the audio of the show, click here: .

Orange County Left and Right Formation

On our August 14 2006 show, we aired clips from earlier shows in 1999 and 2001 about the formation of Students for a Democratic Society at UCI during the first year of UCI, and the formation of the new right in Orange County.

To hear the audio of the show, click here: .

A Progressive Forum: Orange Coast Voice

Our show airing Monday August 7 focused on the absence of a progressive publication covering Orange County, and why that will change in September 2006.

We speak with labor organizer John Earl, who is starting a new publication, Orange Coast Voice, offering a forum to viewpoints and people ignored by mainstream and so-called alternative media in Orange County. The paper will be a community paper, with 15-20,000 copies distributed in Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach.

Earl, a former KUCI program host ("The News Gap") and publisher of Orange County Organizer (http://www.ocorganizer.com/), will discuss his plans for the paper, which will be distributed free around the county.

See press release for more information.

To hear the audio of the show, click here: .

Vietnam and HIV/AIDS

On our July 31 2006 show, we talked with Tenley Mogk, an HIV/AIDS program manager in Hanoi, Vietnam, about the serious AIDS situation there. Some 11,000 deaths from HIV/AIDS have occurred, out of an estimated 110,000 total number of people with HIV/AIDS. See press release.

To hear the audio of the show with Tenley Mogk, click here: .

Facing Loss: Author Brenda Paik Sunoo

On our July 24, 2006 Subversity show, we talked with freelance journalist, photographer and grief counselor Brenda Paik Sunoo, about her new book, Seaweed and Shamans (2006), a memoir of her life since the loss of her 16 year-old son, Tommy, while he was playing basketball at University High School in Irvine, California, in 1994. See press release with links to more information about the book and author.

Sunoo's book contains not only her reflections on dealing with a terrible loss, but also excerpts from her son's diary entries and artwork.

A former editor of the English-edition of Korea Times, Sunoo now lives in Hanoi, Vietnam. She is the founder of Compassion at Work, which gives advice to human resources personnel on workers' grief. To hear the audio of the show with Brenda Sunoo, click here: .

Sex Radical Josephine Ho on NGO's and the State

On our July 3, 2006 show, we aired a talk ("Is Global Governance Bad for Asian Queers?") given by National Central University (Taiwan) Prof. Josephine Ho on anti-sex actions by NGOs and the State in Taiwan. Her talk was given at last summer's first Asian Queer Studies ("Sexualities, Genders and Rights in Asia") conference in July 2005 in Bangkok, where she was a keynote speaker.

To hear the audio of the show with Prof. Ho's talk, click here: .

Chinese Democracy Activist Wang Dan's UCI Lecture

To kick off our new summer season, on our June 19, 2006 show, we aired the lecture given last month (May 25, 2006) at UC Irvine by Chinese democracy activist Wang Dan.

Sponsored by the Center for the Study of Democracy in the School of Social Sciences at UC Irvine, Wang Dan spoke on "Rethinking the Past and Looking to the Future of China."

Wang Dang was a student leader during the June 4, 1989, Tianmen Square student uprising. Wang is now a Ph.D. candidate in history at Harvard University. To hear the audio of the show with Wang Dan's talk and Q&A, click here: .

Prof. Walden Bello on Globalization in Crisis

On our June 12 show, we aired a lecture given by Walden Bello, a visiting professor in the UCI Sociology Department, on Globalization in Crisis. He's a leading anti-globalization advocate. His talk was part of the UCI Difficult Dialogues project.

To hear the audio of the show with Walden Bello's talk, , click here: .

Labor Struggles at UCI

On the second part of our June 5, 2006 show, we talked with three student activists with the UC Irvine Worker-Student Alliance, who are pressuring the University to hire, in-house, lanscaping and grounds workers. We talked with Fernando Chirino, a 5th year English/Sociology double-major. He is active with MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan), the Worker-Student Alliance, and Students for Peace and Justice. He is also the Grass Roots Organizing Commissioner for ASUCI.

We also chatted with Azael Prendez, a 5th year Sociology major. He is also active with MEChA, Students for Peace and Justice, and the Worker-Student Alliance. He and Chirino co-authored a report (http://www.ocorganizer.com/html/uci_report.html) on the hidden costs of outsourcing of some of the UCI labor force.

In addition we talked with Rachel Vo, a 4th year Sociology major. She is also active with Students for Peace and Justice and the Worker-Student Alliance.

See the press release.

To hear the audio of part 2 of the show, labor struggles at UCI, click here: .

RCP's leader Bob Avakian's book, From Ike to Mao Reviewed

On the first part of our June 5, 2006 show, we talked with three people who were impacted by Revolutionary Communist Party chairman Bob Avakian's memoir, From Ike to Mao.

Wilson Riles is president of Oakland Community Action Network and a former regional director of the AFSC (Quakers), a former Oakland City Councilman and political activist.

Lucia Marano is an actor/writer producer now based in Los Angeles. She has played playing Tina Modotti and Frida Kahlo in "Artists and Revolutionaries," "Anger Mis-Management," "Love & Secrecy Unveiled," and has toured the play "Deseo" with Mexican theater ensemble Mexicali a Secas at theater venues in Mexican cities. She also appeared in a site-specific work commissioned by Los Angeles County's MTA, "Return Engagement," which depicted union organizing efforts in the 30's and 40's. She has appeared on TV, notably in Sidney Lumet's "100 Centre Street" for A&E, and in independent films "Roscoe's Chicken & Waffle House," "Journey to The Sun" (Turkey), "Flushed" and "Manhattan By Numbers."

Heriberto Ocasio is a political activist and a medical doctor. He was part of the Puerto Rican liberation struggles of the 60's and 70's and the protests against the war in Vietnam. In 1982, during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, he traveled to Beirut and did volunteer medical work in the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila. He has been the spokesperson for the Committee to Support the Revolution in Peru and in 1992 was part of an international delegation that traveled to Lima to denounce the trial of Peruvian revolutionary leader Abimael Guzman by hooded military judges of the notorious Fujimori regime. He is currently active in the Engage! Committee to Promote and Protect the Voice of Bob Avakian.

See the press release.

To hear the audio of part 1 of the show, the discussion of Bob Avakian's book, click here: .

Audio of Avakian reading from the book, a clip of which on the Free Speech Movement was aired on the show, is available at http://www.bobavakian.net/.

Memorial Day Special: Testimony on Bush War Crimes

For our Memorial Day special aired on May 29, 2006, we air more testimony before the International Commission of Inquiry On Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration, to memorialize the victims, rather than the perpetrators, of U.S. war crimes. We thank the commission organizers for permission to use these segments.

To hear the audio of the show, click here: .

CSU Prof. As'ad AbuKhalil on "The Islam Factor in Western Popular Cultures"

On our May 15 2006 show, we aired the talk given April 19, 2006 at UC Irvine by Cal State Stanislaus Political Scientist As'ad AbuKhalil, "The Islam Factor in Western Popular Cultures: Beyond the Danish Cartoons." This talk was part of the Ford Foundation-funded Difficult Dialogues series.

Co-Sponsors were: The Working Group/Center for Middle East and African Studies, the Department of Political Science, the UCI Difficult Dialogues Project, the Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies, the International Studies Program, the Center for Citizen Peacebuilding, the Program in Women's Studies, and the Middle East Studies Student Initiative.

To hear the audio of the show, click here: .

To hear an interview with AdubKhalil by Subversity's show host Daniel C. Tsang for the UCI's Difficult Dialogues project, click here: .

UCI Prof. Gilbert G. Gonzalez on Mexican Labor Migration and U.S. Capital

On May Day (Monday, 1 May, 2006), when thousands of immigrants, documented and undocumented, and their allies, are expected to boycott classes and their jobs, to show the contribution people from outside U.S. make to the U.S. economy and society, Subversity, a KUCI public affairs program presented a conversation with UCI Prof. Gilbert G. Gonzalez on the historical antecedents of the immigration issue.

Prof. Gonzalez is the author of numerous scholarly tomes including "Guest workers or colonized labor?: Mexican labor migration to the United States (2006)," "Culture of empire : American writers, Mexico, and Mexican immigrants, 1880-1930 (2004)," "A Century of Chicano history: empire, nations, and migration (with Prof. Raul Fernandez, 2003) and "Labor and community: Mexican citrus worker villages in a Southern California county, 1900-1950." He teaches in the Chicano/Latino Studies program at UCI's School of Social Sciences.

See press release for further background information.

To hear the audio of the show, click here: .

To hear the edited version of the audio of the show, without the fund drive references etc.,

click here: .

The Conrad Boys director Justin Lo

On Monday 24 April, 2006, we chatted with Justin Lo, the Hapa (Chinese/Caucasian) director of a new film, The Conrad Boys, set in OC with a gay theme. The film had its world premiere at the Lido Theater in Newport Beach Monday evening at 5 pm as part of the Newport Beach Film Festival. See: Film web site. See press release.To hear the audio of the show, click here: .

Justin Lo directs and stars in The Conrad Boys

Buffalo Boy filmmaker Nghiem-Minh Nguyen-Vo

On Monday, 17 April, 2006, we chatted with filmmaker Nghiem-Minh Nguyen-Vo (above right during filming), director of award-winning The Buffalo Boy (Mua Len Trau), set in 1940s Mekong Delta of Vietnam.

His film is currently showing at Regal Cinema 16, Garden Grove, 9741 Chapman Avenue (at Brookhurst St.) on selected days: April 16, 22, 23, and 29th. Each day has (corrected:) 1 screening: 12:45 PM. Discussion with filmmaker after each showing.

Concurrently in Vietnam, legislators there are considering, ironically, a proposed new cinematography law that would bar overseas Vietnamese and other expatriates like Nguyen-Vo from being involved in making Vietnamese films in Vietnam, despite his film's selection as the official 2005 Oscar submission from Vietnam. The head of Vietnam's cinematography department has been quoted in press reports as saying that "expatriates living away from their native country would not fully understand its ethics, customs, aesthetics, and cultural values." (Thanh Nien, Ho Chi Minh City, 15 March 2006: www.thanhniennews.com/commentaries/?catid=11&newsid=13564.

See press release.

To hear the audio of the show, click here:

Scene from The Buffalo Boy

Immigration Movement at Ground Zero: Costa Mesa

Two days after several thousand immigration rights marchers rallied in Costa Mesa, what are the prospects of immigration reform in Congress, and does it go far enough? On our April 3, 2006 show, the first of Spring Quarter 2006, we chatted with Amin David, who heads Los Amigos in Orange County, and with John Earl, publisher of OCorganizer.com, about Costa Mesa and ground zero in standing up to repressive law enforcement. David, who serves on the Orange County sheriff's advisory commission, breaks with him on this issue.

To hear the audio clip of the show, click here: .

Photo of Costa Mesa, California, Rally, April 1, 2006, © Daniel C. Tsang 2006

See also photo, from Reuters, of activist Coyotyl Tezcalipoca of Colectivo Tonantzin, addressing the crowd after initially being barred from the podium.

Another View on Immigration Debate

On our 10 April 2006 show, we talked with Christopher Punongbayan, trained as a lawyer, who's a Ford Foundation New Voices Fellow at Filipinos For Affirmative Action (FAA) in Oakland, CA., about the latest developments in immigration legal reform. We talk about why he is active on this issue.

See press release on this show: press release.

To hear the audio of the show, click here:

Bush War Crimes Commission Testimony continued

Observing the third anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and the Monday after peace rallies opposed to the war, on our 20 March 2006 show, we aired testimony by former UN weapons inspector Scot Ritter and unimbedded freelance writer Jeremy Scahill before the Bush War Crimes Commission (http://www.bushcommission.org). The commission has released preliminary findings: http://www.bushcommission.org/Findings/preliminaryfindings.pdf. Thanks to Not in Our Name for their help in letting us air the audio of the testimony. More audio is on the Bush Commission web site.

To hear the audio clip of the show, click here: .

Graffiti Artists and Quality of Life

On our March 13, 2006 show, we did a live interview with Ben Morgan, the director of a new independent film, Quality of Life, about graffiti artists on the streets of San Francisco. The realistic dramatization of these budding artists' lives has won invites to festivals in Berlin and Seattle. We chat with Morgan about the politics of art and state repression with increasingly punitive law enforcement on "quality of life" issues. See film wesbite at: qualityoflife-themovie.com.

To hear the audio clip of the show, click here: .

Thanks to the film's producer for letting us post the audio of the trailer from the show online. This film is currently showing across from UCI in a limited run. It may end this week unless viewers show up.

Morgan has also been interviewed in the OC Weekly and in the New University. See also: Art Crimes: The Writing on the Wall for evidence of graffiti's global reach.

Muslim Protests over Cartoons at UCI; Bush Crimes

On Monday, 6 March 2006, we looked back at the protests at UCI over the Danish cartoons on Mohammed, airing some of the protest speeches, while doing another audio feed from the hearings of the International Commission of Inquiry" on Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration, including Harry Belafonte and former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray on CIA and MI5 turning a blind eye to torture there. Thanks to Not in Our Name for letting us air the audio.

To hear the audio clip of the show, click here: .

Juvenile Justice Reform

On Monday, 20 February 2006, we chatted with Mary Ellen Johnson, the executive director of the Pendulum Foundation, about juvenile justice reform and why states lock up children and teens for life. See press release. Ms. Johnson and the Pendulum Foundation are cited in a front-page article on "Teen Crime, Adult Time," in the (19 February 2006) Sunday edition of the Denver Post.

To hear the audio clip of the show, click here: .

We discussed healing and "restorative justice". An earlier Subversity show dealt with restorative justice in hate crimes: The Quakers (AFSC) have argued for restorative justice in hate crimes; their report is here: www.afsc.org/community/hatecr.pdf.

Performance Artist Kristina Wong

On our February 13, 2006 show, we aired an interview with performance artist, filmmaker, comedian etc. Kristina Wong, about growing up in a Chinese American family, Catholic school, homophobia, PlayGirl, and Asian models in porn.

See press release.

To hear the audio clip of the entire, original interview, click here: .

She is profiled on the front page of the same day's New University,: "Subversive Artist Mixes Fun and Humor with Political Activism".

Anti-WTO Protests in Hong Kong

On our show of Monday, 6 February, 2006, we spoke with UCI graduate student Choi Wai-Kit on the anti-WTO protests in Hong Kong of December 2005, analyzing how the various events progressed and what lessons can be learned from the protests and the strategies employed there.

See press release with links to related resources.

To hear the audio clip of the interview, click here: .

Domestic Surveillance and Covert Action

On our January 23, 2006 show, we focused on domestic surveillance and covert action, with guests Louis Wolf of Covert Action Quartery and Brittany Benowitz, an attorney with the Center for National Security Studies.

See press release.

To hear the audio clip of the interview, click here: .

Anti-immigrant Politics in Costa Mesa and Beyond

On Monday, January 16, 2006, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we chat with John Earl, web-meister of Orange County Organizer, about anti-immigration politics in Costa Mesa and beyond. We dedicate the show to Judge William Matthew Byrne, Jr., the judge who threw out the Pentagon Papers case.

See press release.

To hear the audio clip of the interview, click here: .