Kat here, working from an e-mail provided by Martha. (Thank you, Martha.) C.I.'s helping out with a local organization and had agreed to volunteer early in the morning but some relief volunteers haven't shown up. (If you sign up to help out, you really need to show up. It's not enough to pat yourself on the back for caring enough to sign up, you need to show up. End of lecture from Kat.) So I get a call asking if I can do the run down for The Laura Flanders Show.
No problem, I love The Laura Flanders Show , I love Laura. I may not tune in to much on the weekends, radio or TV, but I have to have my Saturday and Sunday dose of Flanders. Unless there's a concert I'm going to. If I've got a concert to attend, everything is put on hold. And you know what? I think Laura would agree with that. A concert's a communal experience and it's about getting together and sharing. Just like The Laura Flanders Show.
Liang shares. She and a group of friends get together every weekend, they cook a meal, make some drinks and eat the meal all while listening to Laura. They started that before The Common Ills started. It's what they do on the weekend. They get together and they've got food, they've got conversation, they've got information. Liang's e-mail (which C.I. said to include) reports the only problem is when they have margaritas and it's time for a fresh batch.
Why? No one wants to use the blender until there's a commerical. She says she's not sure when they started this but it was probably a month or two after The Laura Flanders Show started. She wanted to share the show with her friends and she & two of her friends were tired of always having to explain why something was important to friends who only got their news from TV (which misses a whole hell of a lot). Saturdays and Sundays, they started throwing their Laura Flanders house parties. On Saturday's they usually go to "J"'s place, she writes, because it's the largest and Saturday's house party is always the largest since some people have committments (church, etc.) on Sunday evenings. But on Sundays, which they rotate in terms of hosting, they can still count on at least fourteen people regularly now.
Liang: It can get loud and energetic with people agreeing or disagreeing but it's a lot of fun and most of the time we hold discussions until the commercial breaks. Most of the time.
Liang says it's a way to stay informed, share and make sure everyone's on the same page information wise. She says that if you're someone who spends all week explaining what the mainstream media isn't telling us to your friends, you might want to hold a house party during The Laura Flanders Show.
Liang: It'll allow your conversations during the week to start right up with no dropping back to give someone the basics. Everyone's up to speed.
Sounds like a great idea to me. Here's what you can expect this weekend:
This weekend on Air America Radio, 7-10 PM EST
Clerics in Control – from Baghdad to the Beltway.
Are we at a watershed for small as well as big D Democrats?
CHRIS HEDGES, author of Losing Moses on the Freeway: The 10 Commandments in America, has the scoop on the squeeze Christianists are putting on the President.
Wall Street Journal’s FARNAZ FASSIHI reports from the mosque-war over the constitution in Iraq.
We revive our media roundtable of criticism/self criticism by journalists.
And we’ll have The COWBOY JUNKIES live in studio with their new anti-war CD, Early 21st Century Blues.
Don't Forget - You can listen to past broadcasts of the Laura Flanders Show: Download archived shows HERE or Subscribe to the Free PODCAST through the iTunes Music Store
Go to the Laura Flanders Blog
Chris Hedges writes for Mother Jones and other publications now. Most probably know him either from his reporting for the New York Times or from his book explorations on the topic of war and how it effects us (including those who cover it). Farnaz Fassihi isn't a name I'm recognizing (though when I hear Fassihi's voice, I'll probably remember an earlier appearance on The Laura Flanders Show). And The Cowboy Junkies. Never has a group done more with Lou Reed, than the Junkies did with "Sweet Jane." That's not their only solid track. But I wasn't aware they had an anti-war CD out. I'll run to Tower and see if we can do a discussion of it for The Third Estate Sunday Review.
Maria always encourages you to share and Liang does as well. The reason is because knowledge is power. So take some time this weekend to listen to The Laura Flanders Show which you can listen to over broadcast radio (if there's an AAR in your area), via XM Satellite Radio (channel 167) or listen online. It's a program that airs Saturdays and Sundays. (Sundays is not a rebroadcast unless the show is on vacation.)
C.I. and Shirley will grind their teeth if I don't include the e-mail address: common_ills@yahoo.com is the public e-mail address. Members should remember to use the private e-mail address.
the laura flanders show
laura flanders
cowboy junkies
chris hedges
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farnaz fassihi
