death penalty

"Tremé is the musical heart of New Orleans just like New Orleans is the musical heart of America, and I don't just mean the United States," says Steve Earle, who knows a little something about music. ; The longtime singer/songwriter and activist has played a role as a street musician in the new HBO series Tremé, and has a long history both with the show's creator, David Simon, and with the city and the neighborhood in which the show is set.Earle joined us in studio to continue our coverage of the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, to discuss the city and the storm, the aftermath of the BP oil disaster, our ongoing responsibilty to change our oil consumption habits, and why the death penalty and the Iraq war are related.

What's up with all these arguments over feminism these days, anyway?  The Daily Show and Gawker blog Jezebel have an argument over its representation of women; meanwhile, Sarah Palin is a feminist! Except when she's not! And the Atlantic has declared The End of Men. What's it all about? Who better to discuss all this than blogger and author Amanda Marcotte who joins us in studio to talk about The Daily Show's hiring Olivia Munn, Sarah Palin's fundraising skills (or lack thereof), the latest battle over reproductive choice, as well as her new book Get Opinionated: A Progressive's Guide to Finding Your Voice (and Taking a Little Action). In 2011, Arizona is set to host Major League Baseball's All-Star game, but as the stop-on-suspicion anti-immigrant law, SB 1070, goes into effect soon, artists, musicians, and people from all over the country are joining in a boycott of the state. What about baseball? GRITtv's staff checked out a protest this past week in Manhattan, calling on Commissioner Bud Selig to move the All-Star game out of Arizona. You can find out more about the movement--several players have pledged not to play in Arizona--at MoveTheGame.org. Thanks to our interns Isabel Braverman and Rebecca Coffman from Ithaca college for assistance with this piece. REFRAKA, a Creole acronym for Women’s Community Radio Network, was founded in Haiti in 2001 as a way to make women’s voices heard around the country. On January 12, it took on a new meaning as, like many other organizations in Haiti, it suffered from the earthquake. Nevertheless, REFRAKA has continued to not only restructure Haiti’s patriarchal society, but now integrates rural women’s opinions on this historical tragedy as well as the reconstruction process into the media.Pakistani militant extremism and American drones, which are the real terrorists? Is it one, the other, or an ironic joint effort of the two? Between suicide bombings and collateral damage from drones, thousands of militants and civilians alike have been killed by both. The Real News Network reports from Islamabad, Pakistan that many communities oddly support the drone attacks, the majority of the country sees the predator drones as an encroachment on national sovereignty fostering bitter anti-American sentiment. Finally, six current and former New Orleans police officers were charged this week in two shootings of unarmed men in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. A Justice Department investigation into the force was the cause. What about some Justice Department reform in other cities' police departments?

The Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that executing people judged "mentally retarded" qualified as cruel and unusual punishment, and thus unconstitutional. Yet for this ruling to apply, prisoners must be evaluated properly and fairly by professionals, whose medical opinion is unbiased. Multimedia investigative journalist Renee Feltz found several cases in Texas where inmates were kept on death row--and in some cases executed--despite clear evidence that they suffered the kind of mental disability that the Court described. She joins Laura in studio to share some of her video from her investigation, and explain why states are still managing to execute the mentally challenged.

Last week, rebel historian, best-selling author, and lifelong activist Howard Zinn passed away at age 87. His books, teachings, and most recently the film based on his work, touched the lives of activists and progressives around the world, but the greatest legacy he left us was a legacy of acting on your beliefs. We speak with four people whose lives, careers, and activism were shaped by Howard Zinn's work: poet Staceyann Chin, author of "The Other Side of Paradise:" A Memoir, progressive sportswriter Dave Zirin, Nation contributor and author of several books, including "A People's History of Sports in the United States," and teacher, actor and activist Brian Jones.