Host Michelle Schroeder Fletcher welcomes journalist

Economic catastrophe usually spawns discontent and sweeps the old order out the door. But when Thomas Frank, the author of the New York Times bestseller What's the Matter with Kansas?, set out to look for expressions of American discontent in 2009, all he could find were loud demands that the economic system bear down harshly on the recession’s victims and that society’s traditional winners receive even grander prizes. In PITY THE BILLIONAIRE Frank tells the amazing story of how the American right, which appeared to be dying after the election of 2008, was instead reinvigorated by the arrival of hard times.

 Join host and Portland area funeral director Elizabeth Fournier as she talks with Sarah Murray, author of Making an Exit: From the Magnificent to the Macabre---How We Dignify the Dead. Writer and journalist Sarah Murray never gave much thought of what might ultimately happen to her remains, but her curiosity of death disposition choices and why we choose these choices began when her father was facing his end of life. She went on a journey to search out different ways of dealing with grief and how they are expressed.

Sarah Murray's Making an Exit: From the Magnificent to the Macabre - How We Dignify the Dead, is exploration of the extraordinary creativity observed in death rituals, and the author's accounts of these journeys are poignant and personal.

Calvin Trillin, who became The Nation’s “deadline poet” in 1990, has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1963. He is the author of Deciding the Next Decider, A Heckuva Job, Obliviously On He Sails, and About Alice. He has also written verse on the events of the day for The New Yorker, The New York Times, and National Public Radio. He says he believes in an inclusive political system that prohibits from public office only those whose names have awkward meter or are difficult to rhyme. He lives in New York.

Arun Gupta with Occupy Wall Street tonight at the Red & Black 7 pm

OccupyWallStreet:  The revolution continues worldwide!

Tuesday December 6th  Day of Action   Occupy Foreclosed Homes! Fight the banks! Reclaim neighborhoods! Click Here to learn more   Shut Down Wall Street on the Water Front

LIVE UPDATES: Building New Structures on K Street

Last night, Occupy K Street-DC erected a wooden structure, a "People's Pavilion," at their main encampment in McPherson Square. According to Occupiers, the structure will be used as a warm place (designed to be heated by a novel sustainable energy source: water bottles that collect and store solar heat) for General Assemblies, teach-ins, and other community building purposes.

They have also said that the structure represents the needs of the 99% who are being left houseless by economic inequality. The People' Pavilion is a symbol of all homes stolen by banks and corporate greed, right on K Street -- in front of the Wall Street lobbyists who buy the politicians on Capitol Hill. Or, as one Occupier said: Read

UPDATES: Portland Holds New Home

Last night, Portland Police used violent force to evict Shemanski Park. Photos and live footage show police in full riot gear aggressively taking down nonviolent protesters. Among other incidents, one 15 year old was smashed in the face with a baton. Undaunted, Occupiers took to the streets, routed lines of riot police, and marched on City Hall. As revelers joined in and the protest continued to grow, the march stopped downtown for a dance party and then returned to Shemanski to defend their new home while celebrating with more dancing and pizza. Proving that our determination cannot be halted, most police had left the scene and Occupy Portland continues to hold public space as of 9am EST (6am PST). Read More...

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