Bill Moyers's Blog, page 17

Chris Jordan: In Katrina's Wake

In 2005, 10 weeks after Hurricane Katrina, photographer Chris Jordan documented the devastation in a series entitled, "In Katrina's Wake: Portraits of Loss From an Unnatural Disaster," published by Princeton Architectural Press, NY.

Below, Jordan discusses some of these portraits. We invite you to respond by commenting below.

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Michael Winship: Neighborhood Watch on Planet Earth

(Photo by Robin Holland)

Below is an article by JOURNAL senior writer Michael Winship. We welcome your comments below.

''Neighborhood Watch on Planet Earth''

By Michael Winship

For a bit of change, let's talk about a different kind of health care reform – the kind that affects the health of the planet.

The other evening, I was listening to All Things Considered on NPR. Robert Siegel was interviewing Dr. Hal Levison, a planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, abo

Michael Winship: Pay-to-Play Is Washington's Sport of Kings

(Photo by Robin Holland)

Below is an article by JOURNAL senior writer Michael Winship. We welcome your comments below.

''Pay-to-Play Is Washington's Sport of Kings''

By Michael Winship

As we marvel over the depths of hypocrisy and greed currently plumbed in the health care reform debate, it may help to remember that even Honest Abe Lincoln had his share of tainted colleagues, one of the most notorious of whom was his first Secretary of War, Simon Cameron.

According to Doris Kearns Goodwin's TEAM OF

Diagnosing Proposals for Healthcare Reform

(Photos by Robin Holland)

This week on the JOURNAL, Bill Moyers spoke with two leading healthcare journalists, Trudy Lieberman and Marcia Angell, M.D., seeking their perspectives on the current health reform debate in Washington. Lieberman and Angell each addressed whether the "public option" proposed by President Obama would actually serve to insure all Americans and who in the private health industry stands to benefit from the reforms under discussion.

Trudy Lieberman said that Obama's proposed

Fear and Loathing in Political Discourse

This week, the JOURNAL reprised a report from last year examining the provocative and often hostile rhetoric used by some right-wing 'shock jock' talk radio and cable TV hosts to criticize liberals and liberalism.

A year ago, a gunman with an expressed hatred of liberalism stormed a Unitarian Universalist church in Knoxville, Tennessee, killing 2 and wounding 6. Several books by right-wing 'shock jocks' were found in the killer's apartment, which led some to speculate that he may have been influ

Bill Moyers & Michael Winship: Obama's Health Care Struggle – Waterloo or Water Down?

Push finally came to shove in Washington this week as the battle for health care escalated from scattered sniper fire into all-out combat. If it all seems to be getting more and more confusing, join the club. It's hard to see what's happening through all the gun smoke.

The Republicans have more than health care reform in their bombsights – they want a loss for Obama so crushing it will bring the administration to its knees and restore GOP control of Congress after next year's elections. In the wo

How Should America Respond to Global Warming?

(Photo by Robin Holland)

This week on the JOURNAL, environmental advocates Mary Sweeters and Erich Pica joined Bill Moyers to discuss their disappointment with President Obama's environmental policies and pending congressional legislation intended to address global warming. On June 26th, the House narrowly passed the Waxman-Markey climate bill, collecting crucial votes through extensive negotiation and compromise. The Senate is scheduled to debate its own climate bill in the coming weeks.

Many e

Religion and the ''Moral Axis of the Universe''

(Photo by Robin Holland)

In this week's JOURNAL, Bill Moyers spoke with author Robert Wright, who discussed his vision of how various cultures' notions of God have evolved throughout history. Wright suggested that, at their best, religious traditions have aligned their adherents with a transcendent "moral axis of the universe" that encompasses values applicable to all of humanity:

"I believe there's a purpose unfolding that has a moral directio

Bill Moyers & Michael Winship: Oysters for Health Care

This is a story of health care and two Americans; a tale of two citizens, if you will.

This week, Regina Benjamin was nominated by President Obama as our next surgeon general, charged with educating Americans on medical issues and overseeing the United States Public Health Service. She was the first African American woman to head a state medical society, a member of the board of trustees of the American Medical Association and last year was named the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation genius awa

Assessing a "Public Option" for Health Care

(Photos by Robin Holland)

This week on the JOURNAL, Bill Moyers spoke with Wendell Potter, a former health insurance executive who left the industry to become an advocate for health care reform. Potter discussed the industry's history of denying care to members and its extensive efforts to prevent the federal government from creating a "public option" for health insurance to compete with private plans. Potter said:

"The industry has always tri