Virtually Speaking

Recorded 10/5/2011

MSNBC's Alan Boyle (Cosmic Log) talks with Sean Carroll, theoretical physicist at Caltech. Sean studies the theoretical aspects of cosmology, field theory, and gravitation, learning about fundamental physics by studying the structure and evolution of the universe.

Sean and Alan reality check some of the stranger scientific concepts bubbling up in popular culture, ranging from time travel to extra dimensions and faster-than-light particles. Produced in cooperation with MICA

Teresa Kopec and Karen Tumlty talk with Jay Ackroyd about media coverage of Elizabeth Warren, the MA campaign for US Senate, racial identity, the Romney campaign, voter fraud, Democrat support for Social Secuirty cuts and the realities of health care costs under the PPACA and bio tech lobbying.

A prominent member of the commentariat, Teresa Kopec was active in TIME's Swampland blog during the 2008 elections, and is now a prolific and widely followed twitter commentator on politics, policy and society. Follow @TeresaKopec

Karen Tumulty is national political correspondent for The Washington Post. Follow @KTumulty

Stuart Zechman and Jay Ackroyd discuss Joseph Overton's window theory:  what it is, and what it isn't, who uses it, and who doesn't. Recorded in the morning. Follow @Stuart_Zechman @JayAckroyd

From the VSS Media Panel: Marcy Wheeler & JayAckroyd exchange views, commenting on the corporate media's Sunday morning talk shows and their own observations from the past week.

Alex Lawson is the Exec Director of Social Security Works, a DC organization dedicated to the preservation of the Social Security system. Jay and Alex discuss the basic structure of social securty, and the irrational danger it faces from Beltway elites committed to gutting it.

Recorded 12/21/2011

Filmmaker Tom Levenson - Prof of Science Writing at MIT and front pager at Balloon Juice - welcomes filmmaker and science writer Tim Ferris, best known for his books on cosmology: The Red Limit, Coming of Age in the Milky Way and The Whole Shebang. Tim's films include three feature documentaries on PBS, including, most recently, Seeing in the Dark

They talk about Tim’s most recent book, The Science of Liberty. Published 2010, it is both a historical essay examining what Tim argues is the essential connection between liberalism and scientific thinking (and vice versa). Tom comments here.

Dave Johnson maps the forest with Sara Robinson, social futurist and the editor of AlterNet's Visions page. 

They talk about the early days of blogging, her mission at Alternet, those popular fascism posts & the conservative threat; and talking to the public about progressive ideas.

For background, read this from Sara. Dave invites comments here.

Follow @DCJohnson @SaraRobinson

Stuart Zechman and Jay Ackroyd discuss Paul Krugman, and his mixed views of centists, centrism, the democratic party and the Obama administration

Read http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/15/thing-falls-apart/

Also read http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/05/why-is-paul-krugman-misrepresenting-the-demise-of-a-wall-street-funded-right-wing-entitlement-bashing-front-group.html

Cliff Schecter (Aljazeera English) and David Dayen (FDL News) discuss the huge, and increasing, bet made by JP Morgan Chase under the guise of "hedging" a position, Elizabeth Warren, and other candidates focus on the need to address bankster mailfeasance, and the manufactured deficit and social security crises. The evening closes with analysis of the lurch to the even more extreme right in this year's Republcan primaries.

Gaius Publius is a Contributing Editor to AmericaBlog. He and Jay Ackroyd discuss 'Hugging the Monster"--facing up to the catastrophe that awaits civilization if immediate action isn't taken on climate change, and the similarity of the politics of the Grand Bargain on Social Security. Follow @Gaius_Publius @JayAckroyd.