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Karl Rove’s Swedish Connections & the Persecution of Julian Assange; Radio Vet Donna Halper, Who Introduced Us to Rush; Gary Chew on “Made in Dagenham”

Blogger Roger Shuler raises key questions about Rove’s Swedish connections and the “sex crimes” of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange; radio veteran Donna Halper, who introduced America to the rock band Rush, talks about the media and talk radio; Gary Chew reviews the new film Made in Dagenham. Shuler runs the Legal Schnauzer blog and has provided excellent coverage of GOP scandals in the courts in the South, and Karl Rove’s involvement. He raises some interesting questions about Rove’s connection to the Swedish Prime Minister, and Sweden’s decision to prosecute “sex crimes” alleged by two groupies against Assange. Shuler probes the power of Bonnior AB, a media company that supports Sweden’s conservative administration. Note: we checked after the interview, and Popular Mechanics is owned by Hearst, not Bonnior. Shuler has also raised some interesting questions about the recent murder of James Wheeler III, a former Bush era Pentagon official. Our second segment, starting at 37:16 features Donna Halper, a radio veteran and major advocate for progressive talk whom I met at a conference in Madison in 2008. She was the high bidder in The Nation magazine’s fundraising auction, where PBC donated a guest appearance. Halper is credited with discovering the Canadian rock band Rush, and trades stories with PBC about how radio has changed–and how the right wing dominates talk radio and pumps out lots of false information. We also talk about the other Rush, the right wing OxyContin junkie. She is the author of Icons of Talk: The Media Mouths that Changed America and her new book, Boston Radio 1920-2010 will be published in February, 2011. At 1:22:12, film reviewer Gary Chew tells us about the new movie, Made In Dagenham.