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 David Kirp on Higher Education: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The University of California erupted in protest this week after its Board of Regents announced that student fees—the University’s equivalent of tuition—would be raised by 32 percent. Hundreds of students protested the fee hikes, according to the New York Times, some barricading themselves in university buildings, setting up tent cities on campus, and 12 UCLA students have been arrested.

The University of California’s move is simply the latest in a long-standing trend of disinvestment in higher education. For the latest episode of the UtneCast, I spoke with David Kirp, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy and the author of the book Shakespeare, Einstein, and the Bottom Line: The Marketing of Higher Education, to talk about how the compact between universities and state governments has broken down. The current recession is making the situation worse, but there is no guarantee that higher education will improve with the economy. In fact, the United States is in danger of losing out on the “education for all” philosophy that may be the most important economic driver in the world economy.

You can listen to that interview above, or subscribe to the UtneCast on iTunes.

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 Election Night from Grant Park: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

On Nov. 4, news outlets from around the world beamed images from Chicago’s Grant Park to captivated audiences awaiting the U.S. election results. Thousands of excited Chicagoans packed the park to hear Barack Obama deliver his first speech as president-elect. Afterweard, they spilled out into the streets to celebrate.

In this episode of the UtneCast, we recapture some of the voices and sounds from downtown Chicago the night Barack Obama won the presidency.

You can listen to the interview below, or to subscribe to the UtneCast for free through iTunes, click here.

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 Podcast Interview with Irena Salina and Maude Barlow on the Global Water Crisis: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The world is facing a potentially catastrophic water crisis. More than a billion people currently lack access to clean, safe drinking water. Multinational corporations including Nestlé, Vivendi, and Coca Cola are buying up the world’s fresh water supply and selling it back to people at a profit. A movement is growing, however, opposing the tide of privatization, wrestling control away from the corporations, and working to bring water to everyone.

The documentary FLOW: For Love of Water explores this fight over who owns the world’s water. For this episode of the UtneCast, I spoke with Irena Salina, director of the film, and Maude Barlow, one of the world’s most prominent activist against the privatization of water.

You can listen to the interview above, or to subscribe to the UtneCast for free through iTunes, click here.

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 An Interview with Jason Barnett of the UpTake on Media and the RNC : Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Throughout the Republican National Convention, the offices of the UpTake were a central hub for bloggers and independent media. Located just outside the security barrier that protected the Xcel Center in downtown St. Paul, bloggers including Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake, Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com, Matt Stoller of Open Left, and many others used the office to file stories and report on both the official RNC events and the protests.

For the latest episode of the UtneCast, I spoke with Jason Barnett, executive director of the UpTake, about what his organization hopes to add to the coverage of the RNC and how technology is changing the media.

You can listen to the interview above, or to subscribe to the UtneCast for free through iTunes, click here.

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 Interview with Edward Tick: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Every culture a responsibility to care for its warriors. Working with soldiers suffering from PTSD, Edward Tick believes the United States can do better.

In the September-October issue of Utne Reader, Tick wrote warrior societies in different cultures and how those ideas can help returning U.S. soldiers.For the latest episode of the UtneCast, editor in chief David Schimke sat down with Edward Tick to talk about PTSD, warrior cultures, and the burdens carried by soldiers.

You can listen to the interview below, or to subscribe to the UtneCast for free through iTunes, click here.

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 UtneCast 37: Walljasper on Great Neighborhoods / Film: Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In this episode, you’ll hear Leif’s recent interview with Jay Walljasper, formerly editor of Utne Reader. Jay’s passion for creative ideas to make cities more sustainable led him to write The Great Neighborhood Book, together with his colleagues at the Project for Public Spaces. The book is full of stories about people who have revolutionized their own neighborhoods, plus tons of ideas and resources to help you do the same in your neck of the woods.

And this week, Utne Reader assistant editor Bennett Gordon reviews the new film Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?, an entertaining documentary about an idealistic college professor’s quixotic run for Congress.

Episode sponsor: Mother Earth Coffee & Tea

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 UtneCast 32: The New Elders: Eric Utne & Richard Leider / DiCaprio's 11th Hour: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In this episode, UtneCast host Leif Utne looks at the changing role of elders in America, with guests Richard Leider and Eric Utne. Leider is a consultant, speaker, and author of many books, including Claiming Your Place at the Fire: Living the Second Half of Your Life on Purpose. Utne is the founder of Utne Reader and executive director of the Earth Corps for Global Service, a new initiative that aims to become a sort of Peace Corps for the whole earth. In the September/October Utne Reader, editor David Schimke interviews the two of them about mentoring, wisdom, and their generation’s remaining potential. Last week, Leif followed up by phone to give them a chance to elaborate even further, and to get the skinny on an exciting new intergenerational initiative they’re cooking up.

And this week, assistant editor Bennett Gordon reviews Leonardo DiCaprio’s new global warming documentary The 11th Hour (watch the film’s trailer and video extras here on the UtneCast blog).

Leonardo DiCaprio’s much talked-about new global warming doc The 11th Hour premiered in New York and LA last Friday. Over the next several weeks it will roll out across the US and Canada. The video player below gives you a peek at the film’s trailer and some juicy little video extras.

Our friends at the Bioneers conference were intimately involved in the making of the film. And at least two past UtneCast guests were interviewed in the film, Bioneers cofounder Kenny Ausubel and Paul Hawken.

Tune in Wednesday, 8/22, to hear Bennett Gordon’s review of The 11th Hour in this week’s UtneCast.

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 UtneCast 31: Economic Hit Man John Perkins: Secret History of American Empire: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In this episode, host Leif Utne interviews John Perkins, best-selling author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. In his new book The Secret History of the American Empire, Perkins tells the stories of several other “economic hit men,” explains what’s really happening behind the scenes in a number of current global hotspots, and tells people what they can do to change the direction the world is heading.

Also, check out Leif’s profile of Perkins, from the January/February 2005 issue of Utne Reader.

And for this week’s music review, assistant editor Bennett Gordon gives a listen to the spectacular new double album from Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music. To hear a free track from the Old Town School of Folk Music Songbook, Vols. 2 and 3, check out the Utne Media Player, on the left side of our home page.

Episode sponsor: Mother Earth Coffee & Tea

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 UtneCast 30: Media Reform Update: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In this episode, we follow up on Keith Goetzman’s feature on media reform in the July/August issue of Utne Reader.

Host Leif Utne checks in with leading media reformers Josh Silver and Jeff Chester for a report from the front lines of the struggle for media democracy and Internet freedom. They explain what’s happening with federal media ownership rules, why the growth of Google may not be such a good thing, and the campaign to free the iPhone.

And senior editor Keith Goetzman reviews “Come the Storm,” the latest release by Eileen Rose on Wildflower Records. To hear a free track from “Come the Storm” check out the Utne Media Player, on the left side of our home page.

Episode sponsor: Mother Earth Coffee & Tea