New World Notes - The "Seven Sisters" and the Oil of the Middle East (First of two parts)

This week on New World Notes: radio program #385, July 21, 2015, from 12:00 to 12:30 p.m. (and on Wednesday from 8:30 to 9:00 p.m.), host Kenneth Dowst looks at petro-politics.

The "Seven Sisters" was Big Oil. It was the cartel of huge private oil corporations that ended up owning almost all the oil in the Middle East. They stole and kept this treasure by hook and by crook, in violation of many laws, with help from corrupt monarchs abroad and muscle from the U.S. government, armed forces, and CIA.

This week and next: we adapt to radio a new video documentary on the very subject.

Part 1 takes us from the founding of the cartel in 1928 (by Standard Oil, Shell, and BP) to the creation of OPEC in 1960.

Of note in Part 1: The story of how BP came to own all of the oil in Iran--and how, in 1953, Iran's parliament tried to regain control of the country's oil--and how the United States government responded by overthrowing Iran's democratic government and installing the Shah as dictator of Iran. (We then gave Iran's oil to US-based oil companies, not back to BP.)

New World Notes previously broadcast this program in May-June, 2013.

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

You can listen to any installment of New World Notes online or else download it (as an mp3 audio file) for later listening. The show is archived at both A-Infos Radio Project and (from #90 onwards) the Internet Archive. Either link should get you a reverse-chronological listing of available installments. Or browse the show's Web site: Each installment has a page; each page has links to the recorded audio; and a handy table of contents will quickly find the installment you want.

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.

Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern): 

• Sundays, 12:30 to 1:00 PM, WIEC-LP, FM 102.7 (Eau Claire, WI). Repeats Mondays at noon.
• Mondays, 10:30 to 11:00 AM, WVEW-LP, FM 107.7 (Brattleboro, VT).
• Tuesdays, Noon to 12:30 PM, WWUH FM 91.3 (West Hartford, CT); also on WAPJ FM 89.9 and 105.1 (Torrington, CT), WJDW FM 89.7 (Somers, CT), and WWEB FM 89.9 (Wallingford, CT). Repeats Wednesdays at 8:30 PM.
• Tuesdays, 8:30 to 9:00 PM, WWUH FM 91.3 (West Hartford, CT). Same time on WJDW FM 89.7 (Somers, CT) and WWEB FM 89.9 (Wallingford, CT).
• Fridays, 10:30 to 11:00 AM, WHUS FM 91.7 (Storrs, CT)
• Saturdays, 8:00 to 8:30 AM, WAZU FM 90.7 (Peoria, IL) & online. Repeats Mondays at 12:30 AM.
• Saturdays, 1:00-1:30 PM, KRFP FM 92.5, Radio Free Moscow (Moscow, ID) 
• Various days & times (multiple times per week), KGIG FM 104.9 (Modesto, CA) & online. Same on KHCF FM 89.9 (Gilroy, CA).

Any time: Listen to or download any installment. Just go to New World Notes and click a link to the audio at the top of the page. (Every installment has a page on the Web site, and every page has links to the audio.)