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Democracy Now! interviews the most important authors of the day. Check out our vast archive.

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  • Libya_showbutton

    As Calls for Intervention in Syria Grow, Vijay Prashad Urges Reevaluation of NATO Attack on Libya

    Libya has just marked the first anniversary of the start of the uprising that toppled Col. Muammar Gaddafi’s four-decade rule. But as Libya celebrates a new era free of the Gaddafi regime, there are growing concerns the country’s lingering divisions will tear it apart. Libya remains deeply splintered by regions and factions. More than 500 militias exist throughout the country, leading to ongoing human rights abuses that resemble those...
    Feb 21, 2012 | Story
  • Randyweston_showbutton

    Black History Special: Jazz Legend Randy Weston on His Life and Celebration of "African Rhythms"

    In a Black History Month special, today we spend the hour with the legendary pianist and composer Randy Weston. For the past six decades, Weston has been a pioneering jazz musician incorporating the vast rhythmic heritage of Africa. His most famous compositions include "Little Niles," "Blue Moses" and "Hi-Fly," and his 1960 album, "Uhuru Afrika," was a landmark recording that celebrated the independence...
    Feb 20, 2012 | Story
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    "All There Is": Love Stories from the StoryCorps Oral History Project with Founder Dave Isay

    On this Valentine’s Day, we turn now to the voices of ordinary Americans talking about love. They are collected in a new book from the award-winning national social history project, StoryCorps. The book, "All There Is: Love Stories from StoryCorps," showcases the most memorable narratives from nearly 40,000 recorded interviews where love is the central theme interweaving two lives together. "I think one of the messages of...
    Feb 14, 2012 | Story
  • Whokilledche_book2_showbutton

    Part 2: "Who Killed Che? How the CIA Got Away with Murder": New Book Ties Johnson Admin to Che Death

    In an extended interview, co-authors Michael Ratner and Michael Steven Smith discuss the life of Cuban revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara and the chilling story behind his murder by the Bolivian military. In their book, "Who Killed Che?" Ratner and Smith draw on previously unpublished U.S. government documents to argue the CIA played a critical role in the killing. [includes rush transcript]
    Feb 07, 2012 | Web Exclusive
  • Syria_showbutton

    A Struggle for Regional Supremacy: Syria Conflict Escalates as World Powers Debate Assad's Future

    Syria is seeing some of the worst violence of the 11-month uprising against Bashar al-Assad amid an ongoing international standoff over how to respond. Assad’s forces have launched what appears to be one of their fiercest assaults on the flashpoint city of Homs to date. Both the United States and Britain have closed their embassies in the Syrian capital of Damascus and withdrawn diplomatic personnel, citing safety fears. As the crisis escalates,...
    Feb 07, 2012 | Story
  • Whokilledche_book2_showbutton

    "Who Killed Che? How the CIA Got Away with Murder": New Book Ties Johnson Admin to Guevara's Death

    Michael Ratner and Michael Steven Smith are the co-authors of a new book about the U.S. role in the killing of Cuban revolutionary, Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Born in Argentina in 1928, Che rose to international prominence as one of the key leaders of the 1959 Cuban Revolution that overthrew U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista. After a period in the new Cuban government leadership, Che aimed to spark revolutionary activity internationally....
    Feb 07, 2012 | Story
  • Gunbook-button

    Glock: As Giffords Exits, a Look at the Gun Used in Tucson Rampage and Other U.S. Mass Shootings

    Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords resigned her seat this week, roughly a year after she was shot through the head during a meeting with constituents outside a Tucson supermarket. The attack left six people dead and 12 others injured. As Giffords steps down, we look at the iconic semi-automatic Glock pistol used in her attack and a number of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history. Gun-control advocates have had little success calling for...
    Jan 26, 2012 | Story
  • Michael_hastings_marines_urinate

    "The Operators": Michael Hastings on the Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan

    We speak with reporter Michael Hastings about the "disastrous past year" in Afghanistan and the mentality a decade of war has bred there. The U.S. has "funneled billions of dollars in weapons and training into a chaotic place like Afghanistan, training these young guys to kill people, and then are shocked when they see the results," Hastings says of the outcry that followed last week’s appearance of a video showing four...
    Jan 18, 2012 | Story
  • Michael_hastings_ndaa

    Expansion of Indefinite Detention under NDAA Compounds Extradition Fears of WikiLeaks' Assange

    Rolling Stone journalist Michael Hastings was with WikiLeaks founder and editor-in-chief Julian Assange when the pretrial military hearing for accused Army whistleblower Private Bradley Manning was taking place in Fort Meade, Maryland, last month. Hastings says the military’s case against Manning, coupled with President Obama’s recent authorization of a measure expanding indefinite detention anywhere in the world in the National Defense...
    Jan 18, 2012 | Story
  • Randall_robinson

    "Memory is the Active Agent of Collective Social Progress": Randall Robinson on His New Novel Makeda

    "Makeda," the new novel by TransAfrica founder Randall Robinson, is set at the dawn of the civil rights era. The book follows a young man coming of age in segregated Richmond, Virginia, who discovers his roots in Africa through his blind grandmother. "Sometimes when we think of slavery, we calculate the economic consequence of it," Robinson says. "But we have not calculated the psychosocial consequence of it, unless we...
    Jan 13, 2012 | Story