Bill Moyers Journal (Audio) | PBS

Latest Episodes:

Hope in the Congo Apr 04, 2008

Show notes

Bill Moyers Journal takes viewers on the ground in the Democratic Republic of the Congo-a country almost one-fourth the size of the US-to follow aid workers and local relief efforts that are bringing hope to a forgotten land. "The aid agencies are almost substituting for a social welfare system that hasn't operated in these areas for decades," says Dominic MacSorley, Emergency Director for Concern Worldwide, an international aid organization. The broadcast profiles an innovative program that employs locals to bike food to remote areas. "The spirit of the people...hasn't dampened," says MacSorley. "The future for this country should be much, much brighter than it is."

Race and politics Mar 28, 2008

Show notes

Forty years after race riots in Detroit, Newark, and dozens of other cities stunned the nation, has anything changed? Bill Moyers interviews Newark Mayor Cory Booker for a frontline report on race and politics today. The program takes a look at an update of the Kerner Commission Report, which blamed the violence on the devastating poverty and hopelessness endemic in the inner cities of the 1960s and includes an interview with former Oklahoma Senator Fred Harris, one of the last living members of the Kerner Commission

Casualty of War Mar 21, 2008

Show notes

Bill Moyers interviews former talk show host Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro on the true cost of war and their documentary, Body of War, depicting the moving story of one veteran dealing with the aftermath of war. With extensive excerpts from the film, the filmmakers talk about Iraq war veteran Tomas Young who was shot and paralyzed less than a week into his tour of duty. Three years in the making, Body of War tells the poignant tale of the young man's journey from joining the service after 9/11 to fight in Afghanistan, to living with devastating wounds after being deployed to Iraq instead.

House Committee on Government Oversight, Viewer Mail, Government Secrecy Mar 14, 2008

Show notes

Bill Moyers Journal goes beyond the rhetoric and examines the reality of waste and abuse of power in Washington with a look at the investigations being conducted by Congress's Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. "If no one thinks they're being watched and being held accountable, they think they can get away with anything," says Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-CA), the Committee's chairman. Plus, viewer mail and an essay from Rick Karr on government secrecy.

Christians United for Israel, plus Mickey Edwards and Matt Welch Mar 07, 2008

Show notes

John McCain has won the GOP nomination. Can he win the hearts and minds of the Christian right? Bill Moyers Journal reports on popular conservative evangelist John Hagee and his controversial endorsement of McCain. Hagee, leader of the politically powerful group Christians United for Israel (CUFI), has been criticized for controversial remarks about Catholics and about America's role in the Middle East. Then, Bill Moyers talks about the state and future of conservatism in light of Senator McCain's nomination with former Congressman Mickey Edwards (R-OK), author of REClAIMING CONSERVATISM: HOW A GREAT AMERICAN POlITICAl MOVEMENT GOT lOST - AND HOW IT CAN FIND ITS WAY BACK, and Matt Welch, editor of REASON magazine and author of MCCAIN: THE MYTH OF A MAVERICK.

Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Nell Painter Feb 29, 2008

Show notes

As Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama make their appeals to lower-income voters in Ohio and Texas, expert on media and politics Kathleen Hall Jamieson analyzes the messages on the campaign trail in the lead up to Tuesday's potentially decisive primaries. Also on the program, historian Nell Irvin Painter examines what history reveals about the current state of inequality in America. Painter looks at today's economic disparity as a new "Gilded Age" that threatens democracy.

Expose on the Journal: Mr. Heath Goes to Washington Feb 22, 2008

Show notes

Bill Moyers Journal and the PBS series Expose: America's Investigative Reports offer a hard and fresh look at how earmarks really work. Watch a preview. The broadcast profiles Seattle Times reporters on the trail of how members of Congress have awarded federal dollars for questionable purposes to companies in local Congressional districts-often to companies whose executives, employees or PACs have made campaign contributions to the legislators. Also on the program, Sarah Chayes, author and former journalist who has been helping rebuild Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban regime, with a look at the front lines of America's war there.

Government Debt, Susan Jacoby and Photographer lori Grinker Feb 15, 2008

Show notes

Does America's $9 trillion federal debt mean we are mortgaging our future and jeopardizing individual savings, healthcare, and retirement for generations to come? Bill Moyers gets a reality check from Public Agenda's Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson, co-authors of Where Does the Money Go?: Your Guided Tour to the Federal Budget Crisis. Susan Jacoby, author of THE AGE OF AMERICAN UNREASON, talks about the crisis of ignorance in the U.S. and how a 'flight from reason' is playing out in American politics and society. "We have really, over the past 40 years, gotten shorter and shorter and shorter attention spans," says Jacoby. And photographer lori Grinker takes viewers to Amman, Jordan for a devastating look at the fate of Iraqi refugees displaced by the conflict.

Rev. Samuel Rodriguez and Kathleen Hall Jamieson Feb 08, 2008

Show notes

One of America's most prominent conservative evangelicals, Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, gives his perspective on the role faith is playing in this campaign season and his take on what's happening with the evangelical vote in the primaries. Rodriguez, who has voiced his support for a moral, biblical response to the issue of immigration, is president of the National Hispanic Christian leadership Conference. And, thousands have weighed in on The Moyers Blog to suggest one book the next President should take to the White House. Bill Moyers reviews the submissions for essential presidential reading. Also on the program, one of the nation's leading experts on media and politics Kathleen Hall Jamieson separates the fact from the spin in the Super Tuesday results.

Government Waste Feb 01, 2008

Show notes

In the week of the State of the Union address, Bill Moyers Journal goes beyond the rhetoric and examines the reality of waste and abuse of power in Washington with a look at the investigations being conducted by Congress's Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. "If no one thinks they're being watched and being held accountable, they think they can get away with anything," says Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-CA), the Committee's chairman. Also on the program, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, one of the nation's leading experts and media and campaigns, on the events of the week.