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"Phil was always a little ahead of the curve," says Ken Bowser, the director of a new documentary on 1960s protest singer Phil Ochs. Ochs wrote and performed folk music in its heyday, weighing in on major political issues of his time and connecting with other singer-activists around the world, from Bob Dylan to Chilean singer Victor Jara. Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune talks to people, from Sean Penn to Christopher Hitchens, who were touched by Ochs's music and who knew the singer, who took his own life in 1976 at age 35. Bowser joins Laura in studio for a conversation about Ochs and the film, the place of art and music in protest and activism, and why Ochs has faded from the public's consciousness. Half a century after Dr. King, the civil rights struggle continues and one group still pushing even to be understood, let alone included in what President Obama would call the circle of our concern are transgender people, people who feel their gender and their physical bodies don't match. The group for Parents Familes and Friends of Lesbians and Gays has produced a film, "Faces and Facets of TransGender Experience," a story less of tragedy than triumph. You can get copies to play in your community or school through PFLAG and they benefit from every sale. And finally, GRITtv contributor John Fugelsang has a few Bible lessons for Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church. Distributed by Tubemogul. Distributed by Tubemogul.

"Phil was always a little ahead of the curve," says Ken Bowser, the director of a new documentary on 1960s protest singer Phil Ochs. Ochs wrote and performed folk music in its heyday, weighing in on major political issues of his time and connecting with other singer-activists around the world, from Bob Dylan to Chilean singer Victor Jara. Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune talks to people, from Sean Penn to Christopher Hitchens, who were touched by Ochs's music and who knew the singer, who took his own life in 1976 at age 35. Bowser joins Laura in studio for a conversation about Ochs and the film, the place of art and music in protest and activism, and why Ochs has faded from the public's consciousness. Half a century after Dr. King, the civil rights struggle continues and one group still pushing even to be understood, let alone included in what President Obama would call the circle of our concern are transgender people, people who feel their gender and their physical bodies don't match. The group for Parents Familes and Friends of Lesbians and Gays has produced a film, "Faces and Facets of TransGender Experience," a story less of tragedy than triumph. You can get copies to play in your community or school through PFLAG and they benefit from every sale. And finally, GRITtv contributor John Fugelsang has a few Bible lessons for Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church. Distributed by Tubemogul.

Reverend Billy, Savitri D and the Church of Life After Shopping Choir are continuing to spread their gospel across the country. Their Earth-a-lujah! Tour is heading to California but first Rev. Billy and Savitri D stop by GRITtv to talk about the recently rescued Chilean miners, as well as their recent work, including protesting mountain-top removal and facing down against bigotry and discrimination by government officials.

Among this week's news: A federal court rules that former prisoners of the C.I.A. cannot sue over their alleged torture in overseas prisons; activists are arrested on the grounds of a new US nuclear weapons production facility; a thick layer of oil stretching for miles was discovered on the Gulf sea floor; and security in Afghanistan is deteriorating.