Ballot initiatives are not the only battle ground in the struggle for equal rights in the United States. One year after California voters passed a proposition banning gay marriage, a court battle has begun to overturn that ban and prove that gay and lesbian couples have the same right to marry as heterosexual couples do.

My guest is communications consultant, videoblogger, world citizen Jeffrey Taylor who joins me on the program from San Francisco. In this podcast he helps explain what this trial means, what both sides are doing in court, what could happen depending on the outcome, and all other aspects of the trial. We also get into the difference between fighting a battle for equal rights through the ballot box versus doing it in the courts and in the legislature.

Presenting a new program from citizenreporter.org, The Citizen Reporter Weekly News Review, which aims to go over global news stories with the help of guests in different corners of the planet.  This week being our first attempt at it, my guests are Bente Kalsnes in Norway and Atul Chitnis in Bangalore.

We cover:

The Earthquake in Haiti
Google and China
Laws against Homosexuality in Uganda
Ukrainian Elections
Fast Food tax in Romania
Copyright law changes in India
Public data portals online in Scandinavia, UK, US and beyond.

Tim Pritlove has been involved in podcasting since the early days. Like so many early adopters, he has stayed committed to his goal of having is own program which he can bring the way he wants to his audience. But how does he do it? How does he make it as a full time podcaster at a time where many have given up or been forced to give up the idea.
Sitting in his recording studio we discuss how he does what he does, as well as why and how he see's the future for both personal media creators and himself specifically.

To hear Tim's work, you can listen (in German) to Chaos Radio Express or simply type his name into the search box in itunes.

John Aravosis is annoyed. For him and millions of Obama supporters who believed in the campaign that swept the current president into office, there is a great feeling of disgust with what has happened over the past year.  What happened? On issue after issue, causes that were very clearly indentified as goals once Obama got into office, the white house has backed down.  As John breaks it down, they don't even back down, they simply do not fight, despite having said they would.  
I spent several days with John as I manage to do almost once a year for the last few years and he is always one of my most favorite interviews. In this recording we get into why those that most supported Obama are now very upset with his actions. From DOMA, to Health Care, to Foreign Policy, the list of issues that they've done an about-face on continues to grow. And with each of these broken promises, the anger and the speaking out gets louder.

americablog.com
gay.americablog.com

The story is not unique to Newark, all over the United States there are cities that are struggling. But what it unique is how citizens of Newark respond. Led by Newark Mayor Cory Booker, a man who loves his gadgets and social networking, groups of volunteers from all walks of life ride the streets of the city in packs of caravans, looking around to see what is going on, who needs help, and what doesn't look right.  In cooperation with the police and department of public safety, the objective is to stem the violence, reduce crime, and show residents that people do care.  As the mayor himself said to me, it is also a chance for people from different backgrounds, races, religion, geographic locations, you name it - to meet each other and engage in this community activity together.

In this podcast I take you along on a night patrol with pack #2. Along the way you'll hear stories, some serious, some not so serious, but each from a different volunteer with a unique connection to the city of Newark.  You will also hear from Cory himself, as he prepares us all before we hit the streets, and later on when he and I had a chance to talk about this initiative and how it has been received by the city.

During his long career as a public relations professional in the health insurance world, Wendell Potter lived a luxorious life far removed from the realities of uninsured people throughout the country.  Until the day he turned up at a free healthcare fair where thousands of people lined up to recieve the most basic care which they could otherwise not get. It was at this point that Wendell decided he had had enough and after leaving his job, dedicated his life to telling the world what he had done and how the insurance companies function to keep things just as they are.

<em><img class="alignright" title="Lewis Pugh" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2323/2100728791_44bfe1a0a3_m.jpg" alt="" width="240" height="160" />He does what?</em> - People often ask whenever I mention Lewis Gordon Pugh. <em>He swims the arctic</em>, I tell them again.  <em>Why?</em> - is always the next question.

When you sit across from Lewis Gordon Pugh for just a few minutes, you understand why immediately.  You also understand you're in the presence of someone who puts his entire life on the line for a global problem he is passionate about tackling.

Lewis's concern about climate change and the urgent need to do something about it take him beyond the freezing waters of the arctic, as he explains in this interview, he is also concerned for the rapidly melting ice in the Himalayas, water that 1/5 of the world's population lives on.  Thus setting the stage for his next swim, a lake formed from a melting glacier on Mount Everest.

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Lewis' work, visit <a href="http://lewispugh.com">his website</a>. I highly recommend seeing the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sS8OcEwXNs" target="_blank">video of his arctic swim</a>.

You've heard the story before, especially over the past decade: a European university announces sweeping reforms because of the legendary Bologna Treaty and EU requirements.  This discussion often comes with the introductions of new fee's for students, tighter controls on how long a student can study, and the move into a bachelor-masters structure.  While all these changes come into effect, students as well as faculty are told that it has to be this way, with limited if any, consultation.  

Recently it was the University of Fine Arts in Vienna that tried to make this move. But unlike many Universities where students might have disagreed, protested, and eventually gave up the fight - students in Austria have taken matters into their own hands; They have occupied their school. Highy organized, their occupation is now more than 24 days old and has spread beyond the borders of Autria into Germany and other neighboring countries.

My friend and uni student Marty joins me on this podcast from Vienna, to explain how this all started, how the occupation works, what the demands are, and what we can expect in the coming days and weeks.

Emin and Adnan were having dinner in downtown restaurant in Baku over the summer, when suddenly the two video bloggers were attacked, later wound up in jail, and they remain behind bars today awaiting trial for the charge of "hooliganism".  
What happened in that restaurant that night? Who would be targetting video bloggers and grassroots youth acitivists in Azerbaijan? What is the situation for a journalist, blogger or a citizen reporter in that nation?

My guest is Azeri blogger Ali Novruzov, a friend of both Emin and Adnan who was among the first to hear what had happened. He has written and continues to write about their case and joins me in this podcast to discuss this issue.