Tell Somebody

In May of 1975, President Gerald Ford's approval ratings bumped up 11 points a few days after he launched what has been called the last battle of the Vietnam War - sending Marines to rescue the crew of a US civilian container ship that had been seized by the Cambodian Khmer Rouge. Ford announced the safe return of the container crew, but didn't mention the 41 Marines and Air Force personnel who were killed in a helicopter crash and an attack on an island to rescue the crew from an island where they had never been, nor was there mention of three Marines left behind in the fog of war.

The August 21, 2012 edition of Tell Somebody went into the archives for an interview recorded in 2002 with former Vietnam fighter pilot turned journalist Ralph Wetterhahn about his book The Last Battle: The Mayaguez Incident and the End of the Vietnam War . Twenty-five years after the fact, Wetterhahn tracked down the story of the three Marines and wove into the story of the management of the operation in Washington.

This page and the podcast are produced and maintained by Tell Somebody. Click on the pod icon above or the .mp3 filename below to listen to the show, or right-click and choose "save target as" to save a copy of the audio file to your computer. You can also subscribe to the podcast, for free, at the iTunes store or your podcast directory.

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On August 11, 2012, activist and former Kansas City nuclear weapons plant supervisor Maurice Copeland and friends held a town hall meeting for Bannister Federal Complex workers at the Bruce Watkins Cultural Heritage Center in Kansas City to help sick and dying workers exposed to toxic materials, and their survivors, file claims for compensation. On the August 14 edition of Tell Somebody, hear audio from the town hall, including a performance by The Recipe of "Radioactive Red Caps," a "Simple Stories" dialogue by Langston Hughes, and an interview with former Kansas City Plant worker Jeannette Watts (pictured here).

This page and the podcast are produced and maintained by Tell Somebody. Click on the pod icon above or the .mp3 filename below to listen to the show, or right-click and choose "save target as" to save a copy of the audio file to your computer. You can also subscribe to the podcast, for free, at the iTunes store or your podcast directory.

If you have any comments or questions about the show or any problems accessing the files, send an email to:

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On Sunday, August 5, 2012, a Hiroshima/Nagasaki remembrance was held in Loose Park in Kansas City, MO. You'll hear excerpts from this event including Gayle June reading his son's interview with Gayle's mother, the late Michiko Okada June, about surviving the atom bomb attack on Nagasaki, Peaceworks KC board president Henry Stoever talking about his upcoming trial for protesting at the new nuclear weapons parts plant in Kansas City, and retired minister Ron Faust talking about his upcoming trial for protesting unmanned drone warfare at Whiteman Air Force Base near Knob Knoster, MO - all accompanied by a multitude of cicadas and a nearby drum circle. The photo on this page is of a piece called Supplicant, one of many displayed at the event by scuplptor Beth Vannatta.

In the last segment of the show - excerpts from the closing plenary at the 2012 Grass Roots Radio Conference in Urbana, IL.

This page and the podcast are produced and maintained by Tell Somebody. Click on the pod icon above or the .mp3 filename below to listen to the show, or right-click and choose "save target as" to save a copy of the audio file to your computer. You can also subscribe to the podcast, for free, at the iTunes store or your podcast directory.

If you have any comments or questions about the show or any problems accessing the files, send an email to:

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The 2012 Grass Roots Radio Conference was held in Urbana, Illinois, July 26-29. The July 31 edition of Tell Somebody tried to provide a small taste of some of what went on at the conference in the Urbana Champaign Independent Media Center. This show includes audio excerpts from the opening plenary session and interviews with some of the participants.

This page and the podcast are produced and maintained by Tell Somebody. Click on the pod icon above or the .mp3 filename below to listen to the show, or right-click and choose "save target as" to save a copy of the audio file to your computer. You can also subscribe to the podcast, for free, at the iTunes store or your podcast directory.

If you have any comments or questions about the show or any problems accessing the files, send an email to:

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On the July 24, 2012 edition of Tell Somebody, investigative journalist Greg Palast returned to the show to talk about the billionaires on one side and the establishment banksters on the other side in the upcoming elections. Where do we in the 99 percent fit in? Palast talks about that and he's got a new book coming out, Billionaires and Ballot Bandits: How to Steal an Election in 9 Easy Steps.

This page and the podcast are produced and maintained by Tell Somebody. Click on the pod icon above or the .mp3 filename below to listen to the show, or right-click and choose "save target as" to save a copy of the audio file to your computer. You can also subscribe to the podcast, for free, at the iTunes store or your podcast directory.

If you have any comments or questions about the show or any problems accessing the files, send an email to:

[email protected]

The June 17, 2012 edition of Tell Somebody featured Leah Bolger, president of Veterans for Peace, a national organization founded in 1985 by military veterans opposed to the Reagan administration's war against the people of Central America. It includes men and women veterans of all eras and duty stations spanning the Spanish Civil War, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Panama, Persian Gulf, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq, other conflicts and periods in between.

Leah Bolger joined the Navy in March 1980, and retired in the summer of 2000 as a Commander. She served all over the world, including tours in Iceland, Bermuda, Japan and Tunisia.joined the Navy in March 1980, and retired in the summer of 2000 as a Commander. She served all over the world, including tours in Iceland, Bermuda, Japan and Tunisia. . This page and the podcast are produced and maintained by Tell Somebody. Click on the pod icon above or the .mp3 filename below to listen to the show, or right-click and choose "save target as" to save a copy of the audio file to your computer. You can also subscribe to the podcast, for free, at the iTunes store or your podcast directory.

If you have any comments or questions about the show or any problems accessing the files, send an email to:

[email protected]

This page and podcast are produced and paid for by Tell Somebody.

On the July 10, 2012 edition of Tell Somebody, Josh Stearns, Journalism and Public Media Campaign Director with Free Press talked about the report he co-authored: Greater Than the Sum: Creating Collaborative and Connected Public Media in America, a vision for a wholistic, collaborative and robust non-profit non-commerical media system in America.

Click on the pod icon above or the .mp3 filename below to listen to the show, or right-click and choose "save target as" to save a copy of the audio file to your computer. You can also subscribe to the podcast, for free, at the iTunes store or your podcast directory.

If you have any comments or questions about the show or any problems accessing the files, send an email to:

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This page and podcast are produced and paid for by Tell Somebody.

Is the Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act cause for celebration? Is Chief Justice John Roberts deserving of praise for a wise decision and an avoidance of the appearance of partisanship? Most reasonable people agree that the ACA is an improvement from the previous status quo, even if it still leaves millions uninsured and keeps putting too much money in the pockets of insurers and other for-profit interests. If this really is the best we can do in current political reality, what does that say about our acceptance of that "reality."

On the July 3, 2012 edition of Tell Somebody, Dr. Margaret Flowers of Physicians for a National Health Program, Healthcare-Now, & It's Our Economy gave her views.

Click on the pod icon above or the .mp3 filename below to listen to the show, or right-click and choose "save target as" to save a copy of the audio file to your computer. You can also subscribe to the podcast, for free, at the iTunes store or your podcast directory.

If you have any comments or questions about the show or any problems accessing the files, send an email to:

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This page and podcast are produced and paid for by Tell Somebody.

The June 26, 2012 edition of Tell Somebody features Sue Wilson, Emmy Award-winning journalist and producer of the documentary film Broadcast Blues. You can see a lot more about Wilson's work at www.suewilsonreports.com and www.mediaactioncenter.net. This was a pledge drive show for KKFI, but we left plenty of time for Sue to talk about media consolidation, FCC complaints, and more.

Click on the pod icon above or the .mp3 filename below to listen to the show, or right-click and choose "save target as" to save a copy of the audio file to your computer. You can also subscribe to the podcast, for free, at the iTunes store or your podcast directory.

If you have any comments or questions about the show or any problems accessing the files, send an email to:

[email protected]

This page and podcast are produced and paid for by Tell Somebody.

A new report entitled “Bombs vs. Budgets” examines the nuclear weapons lobby. According to Study author William Hartung:

“…the nuclear arms lobby and its allies on Capitol Hill are seeking to block reductions in systems we don’t need at prices we can’t afford. This unnecessary spending is being pressed by some of the very same members of Congress who have argued that deficit reduction and greater spending discipline should be our top priorities.” On the June 19, 2012 edition of Tell Somebody this Tuesday at 6pm, William Hartung talks about the report and the role of the Kansas City Plant in the nuclear weapons complex. Also, in the wake of the Kansas City, Missouri city council's resoulution in support of KC Move To Amend's call to overturn Citizens United, Mark Hays, campaign coordinator for Public Citizen’s Democracy Is For People campaign talks about Resolutions Week, a push by Public Citizen and partner organizations to pass local and state resolutions nationwide. Click on the pod icon above or the .mp3 filename below to listen to the show, or right-click and choose "save target as" to save a copy of the audio file to your computer. You can also subscribe to the podcast, for free, at the iTunes store or your podcast directory.

If you have any comments or questions about the show or any problems accessing the files, send an email to:

[email protected]