How Google affects our knowledge, our politics, our privacy, and our public projects and why we should be concerned, with University of Virginia professsor Siva Vaidhyanathan, author of The Googlization of Everything: (And Why We Should Worry);

Then, Religion, politics, the so-called God Gap, and how it’s all changing, with Harvard professor and author of Bowling Alone, Robert Putnam, And University of Notre Dame professor David Campbell. Together, they authored American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us.

AND on the Scholars’ Circle: more crackdowns in Syria, Saudi Arabia’s counter revolution, and the diplomatic and economic relationships that matter among the Arab States and with the West. 

Scholars’ Circle guests: Professor John Esposito, Founding Dir. of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown Univ. and author of more than 35 books including, Islam: The Straight Path. Nader Hashemi, professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at University of Denver,  and  co-editor of, The People Reloaded: The Green Movement and the Struggle for Iran’s Future. Mehran Kamrava is Director of the Center for International & Regional Studies and the editor of, The New Voices of Islam: Rethinking Politics and Modernity.

Political power: what is political power? Who has power? How is it changing? And who will be the new powerful? WPRR Fri, KPFT Sat, KPFK Sun (noon). www.kpfk.org for archives. A roundtable with Joseph Nye, Guilio Gallarotti and Erica Chenowith.

AND

How political systems developed, and how and why they decay:  A discussion with Francis Fukuyama.

THis week on the Insighters, we analyze the latest Supreme Court term in the context of history with Erwin Chemerinsky for the Insighters followed by a discussion about how the new billionaire class is affecting law and society. It may be slightly different from what you think. On WPRR, KPFT, KPVL, KRFP, KPFK Sunday and poscasted & archived at www.kpfk.org after Sunday.

The Scholars’ Circle [ Listen to Recordings ] is a broadcast discussion that features a moderator and three top thinkers/scholars who tackle current events and systemic issues within the broader context of the deeper phenomena that drive and shape those events. For a half-hour, top scholars and practitioners try to make sense of what is occurring with humanity – politically, physically, economically, psychologically, sociologically, legally, communally and more.  Where are we in the great scheme of things? How did we get here and what do these mean for the future of humanity?The Scholars’ Circle goes beyond current events to look at deeper trends and their causes, systemic and structural forces, and to explore possible solutions to the many issues facing humanity. 

How is The Scholars’ Circle different from other broadcast programs? The Scholars’ Circle brings to the airwaves material that the public rarely hears together – knowledge producers and practitioners thinking out loud with each other in areas of their expertise in order to try to shed greater understanding to the big issues and choices before us. It focuses on bridging, rather than dividing, and on larger contexts and questions that underlie current events. The host, Maria Armoudian, is an author, a fellow at the Center for International Studies, a journalist, and a Ph.D. candidate in political science and international relations. She has worked directly in politics for more than fifteen years as a high level staffer in the California Legislature, a Commissioner in the City of Los Angeles and a board member for several nonprofit organizations. Her forthcoming book, Kill the Messenger: The Media’s Role in the Fate of the World (Prometheus Books) is a comprehensive look at how the media affect political outcomes such as genocide, war, peace, human rights, democratization, social change and environmental protection. As a journalist, she has written for a wide variety of publications, including the New York Times Syndicate, the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, The Los Angeles Daily News, Salon.Com, the Progressive, Inc., Alternet, Businessweek, Daily Variety, and many others.

The Scholars’ Circle seeks to connect the public to scholars and expose general audiences to the greater knowledge than they might obtain otherwise. It hopes that a high level of dialogue might deepen the public’s understanding about the issues facing us and hopes to counteract polarization that occurs on other outlets. The program offers voices, information and contexts that together are infrequently offered in most programs. Since the Scholars’ Circle began airing in early January (KPFK & WPRR), it has covered the following topics:

• The state of the media, the future of media and what it means for society
• Political Violence: What foments it? What quells it?
• Transformations in the Middle East and what they mean for the region and the rest of the world.
• Presidential power: Given the system and the constraints on presidents, how much should society expect from their president?

Listen to Recordings

On the Insighters, What were the factors that led to Western dominance of the world and how are they changing the world? We discuss the book Why the West Rules For Now: The Patterns of History and What They Reveal About the Future. Historian Ian Morris joins us.
On the Scholars’ Circle: At the 96th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, we look at what are the conditions for genocide and what are the means to prevent it. Professors Alex Hinton, Richard Dekmejian, and Vahakn Dadrian join us.

I hope you tune in on KPFK 90.7 FM, 98.7 FM in Santa Barbara, 93.7 San Diego. Or on www.kpfk.org or podcast us.