New World Notes - Conspiracy and Class Power (First of two parts)

This week on New World Notes: radio program #351, November 25, 2014, from 12:00 to 12:30 p.m. (and on Wednesday from 8:30 to 9:00 p.m.), host Kenneth Dowst presents another installment in our series of classic talks by political scientist Michael Parenti. Parenti gave this talk--to an enthusiastic audience--in Berkeley, California, in 1993.

Long before 9/11, Americans had been trained to dismiss any claim of concerted wrongdoing among the elites as a crackpot "conspiracy theory." Parenti argues that conspiracies are real and common--just one tool among many that the wealthy and powerful use to advance their own personal and class interests.

He discusses several examples of claims first dismissed as "conspiracy theories" and now accepted as historical fact--for instance the Gulf of Tonkin fabrication and the FBI infiltration of civil-rights and antiwar organizations.

Parenti's trademark wit, humor, and incisive analysis are much in evidence in this classic--and still extremely relevant--lecture.

With a new introduction by K.D.

Thanks to Maria Gilardin and TUC Radio for making this archival recording available.

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "What, me worry?") of WWUH-FM, a community service of the University of Hartford.

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Series overview: Political and social commentary in a variety of genres. Exploring the gap between what we want--and what they're trying to make us settle for.

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