KUCI: Justice or Just Us?

Interview with Psychedelic Furs

Interview with Easy Star All Stars recorded 7/6/2015

Michael Woodward interviews Matisyahu, who will be performing at the Pacific Amphitheater July 13, 2014

The Dread Zone's Jarret Lovell interviews Tony-Ray (vocals, keyboard) of San Diego based reggae group Tribal Seeds. In May 2014 Tribal Seeds released their album "Representing" and will be appearing with Matisyahu and The Lions at the Pacific Amphitheater on Sunday July 13, 2014.

Garrison Hawk - vocalist for the reggae/dancehall outfit "Method of Defiance" spoke on the "Dread Zone" to discuss his new album "Survive."

Over 8 years after the start of the U.S. War in Iraq, President Barak Obama is declaring the war over. Amidst much pomp and circumstance, the president is taking credit for bringing about an end to the conflict - all the while avoiding any mention of the true costs, casualties, and neglecting any commentary on whether or not our mission was in fact "accomplished." Exactly what does it mean to say that the war is over? Is Obama really responsible for ending the war, or are the politics surrounding the withdrawal far more complex? What have been the human costs of the war - not just for our troops, but for the Iraqis? Has a democracy been established? Will military contactors remain behind? Finally, in what condition is the US leaving the Iraq infrastructure, and what reparations might be needed? On this edition of "Justice, or Just Us?," we'll take a close look at the end of the war in Iraq with Ali Issa, national field organizer for the War Resisters League the War Resisters League, examining the past 8 years and looking forward.

Ever hear of the Young Patriots Organization or Rising Up Angry? If not, then you haven't really heard the history of the Civil Rights movement. Indeed, while most historians of the 1960s are content to portray poor and working class whites as - at best - spectators to the Civil Rights movement and - at worst - as reactionaries and racists, fact is that white participation in the movement extended far beyond the small group of white college activists and included some of the nation's most underprivileged whites joining forces with Black radicals for a new social reality. In their new book Hillbilly Nationalists, Urban Race Rebels, and Black Power, longtime activists James Tracy and Amy Sonnie unearth the ignored history of an important coalition: white working class radicals and the Black Power movement. Based on ten years of research and personal interviews with many movement participants, Hillbilly Nationalists couldn't be a more timely read. My guests are Amy Sonnie and James Tracy.

An interview with the Mad Professor (as heard on the Dread Zone.) Featuring DJ Yogi.

With movies such as the hugley popular Jaws franchise, sharks are among Hollywood's favorite viscious killers. Yet the truth is - sharks are not the hunters so much as they are the hunted. In large parts of the ocean, shark populations are down by 90% due to overfishing driven in part by a demand for shark fins. In a cruel practice called "shark finning," sharks are caught alive to have their fins brutally cut off. The rest of the shark is wasted, thrown back into the ocean to bleed to death, suffocate or be eaten alive. And while the popular image of sharks as monsters of the sea makes it easy to overlook their suffering, not only are they not the maneaters they've been made out to be, but sharks play an important role in keeping populations of other fish healthy and in proportion for the ecosystem. On Thursday's "Justice, or Just Us?" my guest is Kevin Sullivan of SharkSavers. We dispell some myths about sharks, shed light on the problem of shark finning, and learn about legislation to help protect sharks from cruelty and abuse.

Commentary on the role of media in bringing the Kelly Thomas beating by Fullerton police to public light.

Amidst endless talk about cutting the fat out of the budget, the federal government Monday announced it will buy $40 million of unwanted chicken products that will be dumped on our nation's school kids and others in federal food programs. Why? Because chicken-meat factories have increased production while actual demand for chicken in flat, causing an imbalance in their spreadsheets. All of this raises several important questions: Is this U.S. now bailing out the meat industry? If so, does this mean that tax dollars are now paying for the cruelty of factory farms? Does the flat demand for chicken-meat suggest a trend away from meat and a heightened awareness of vegetarian/vegan alternatives? My guest is Paul Shapiro, Senior Director for Farm Animal Protection with the Humane Society of the United States.

Something is plaguing Ben Lyle's mind, causing him to have irrational, intrusive and often disturbing thoughts. His fears and anxieties that he may hurt someone - or worse, may already have hurt someone - are taking over his life. His mind is a broken machine, causing him to relive the same terrifying nightmare over and over again. So goes the plot of MACHINE MAN, an in-development movie that focuses on an individual with a disturbed mind. But Ben Lyle is not purely fictional. He is one of the estimated 2-3 million Americans - including the host of Justice, or Just Us? - who must live with intrusive thoughts caused by Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). While much of popular culture pokes fun at OCD by portraying sufferers as mere eccentrics, OCD can be a debilitating, crippling mental illness that costs people their jobs, their friends, marriages, and sometimes, their lives. Writer/director Kellie Madison is out to correct misperceptions about OCD. Her film project MACHINE MAN uses dramatic fiction and suspense to portray the real suffering caused by OCD while telling a story of hope. My guest is Kellie Madison, writer/director of MACHINE MAN.

In 1992, Jamaican dancehall artist Buju Banton recorded the song “Boom Bye-Bye,” an anthem that advocated violence against the LGBT community and that capitalized on the island nation’s widespread homophobia. The formula proved a success in a nation that criminalizes homosexuality, and it turned Banton into a reggae superstar. Since then, penning homophobic lyrics has become all but a required rite of passage for aspiring Jamaican dancehall artists, with top dancehall artists from Capleton...

A funny thing happened on the way to a Salt Lake City courthouse recently. As prospective jurors entered the courtroom to be selected to hear a case of an environmental activist, activists handed them fliers published by the Fully Informed Jury Association. They said that jurors had the right to come to a decision based on the evidence and their conscience. But according to an article published on Truthdig.com, the presiding judge in the case was so outraged by the flier that he brought the jurors into his chamber one at a time and, "said that regardless of what the pamphlet said it was not their job to decide if this is right or wrong, but to listen to what he said was the law and follow that even if they thought it was morally unjust." In other words, "they were not allowed to use [their] conscience." What exactly is the contemporary function of a jury? What constitutes a fully informed jury? Is jury nullification a viable option for sitting jurors? What are the arguments for and against jury nullification? Are those who endorse its practice partisan, or does a belief that jurors can exercise their conscience cross party lines? To answer these questions, my guest is Mike Benoit of the Fully Informed Jury Association.