MONDAY, AUGUST 2.

PROGRAM # 6171    12:00 PM PST

PROTECTION FOR FARMWORKERS. At least fifteen farm workers have died from heat-related causes in California in recent years, and the state is investigating the deaths of several more. As the summer heat rolls into the triple digits, farmworkers push for more protection. Meanwhile, California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation is pushing to approve methyl iodide as a new pesticide for strawberries, despite multiple scientists’ testimony that the pesticide is dangerous to human health.

Guests: Francisco Castillo, Spokesman, Office of the Governor of California, Sacramento, CA; Armando Elenes, Vice President, United Farm Workers, Delano, CA, http://www.ufw.org; Kathryn Gilje, Executive Director, Pesticide Action Network of North America, San Francisco, CA, www.panna.org ; Paula Placencia, Assistant Coordinator for Working Conditions, Líderes Campesinas, Salinas, CA, www.liderescampesinas.org .

TUESDAY, AUGUST 3.

PROGRAM # 6172   12:00 PM PST

SONGS FOR ARIZONA. Arizona’s immigration law SB 1070 pushed people not only to protest in the streets, but to raise their voices in song. Corridos, Chicano soul, rap, and hip-hop are just some of the genres used by singer-songwriters to express themselves against the law. One Texas couple called for entries to a song contest “against racism and bigotry and encouraging progressive action against Arizona’s anti-immigration law” and received more than 150 entries, including from children, nuns, and doctors.

Guests: Dr. Paul Ruíz, Senior advisor and Cofounder, Education Trust, Co-organizer, “Sing for Hope and Justice” Contest, San Antonio, TX; Eugene Rodríguez, Founder, Los Cenzontles, San Pablo, CA, www.loscenzontles.com; Francisco Herrera, Musician, San Francisco, CA, http://franciscoherreramusic.com.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 4.

PROGRAM # 6173   12:00 PM PST

GREAT DEPRESSION. As the economic crisis takes its toll on the nation’s pocketbooks, the stress of unemployment, foreclosures, and less buying power is putting more and more people at risk of depression. This edition brings together counselors and mental health experts, as well as survivors of the economic crisis who say they are finding a way out.

Guests: Angela Londoño-McConnell, Public education coordinator, Georgia Psychological Association; Jose Vega, Former Homeowner, Pittsburgh, CA; Renata Delgado, Assistant Director, Centro Campesino, Florida City, FL, http://www.centrocampesino.org.

  THURSDAY, AUGUST 5.

PROGRAM # 6174    12:00 PM PST

WIKILEAKS: WAR SECRETS REVEALED. The website Wikileaks recently published more than 90,000 classified documents about the war in Afghanistan, detailing hundreds of unreported deaths of civilians killed by Coalition forces, increases in Taliban attacks, and hunts for Taliban leaders for “kill or capture” without trial. The leak is controversial, but it’s underscoring a deeper question: how is the internet revolutionizing what records can be kept secret? This program is part of our series “Conéctate,” on the internet and the digital divide.

Guests: Axel Caballero, Spokesperson, Brave New Foundation, Culver City, www.bravenewfoundation.org;  Eric Rojo, Retired Colonel, Washington, D.C.; Patricio Espinoza, Fellow, Knight Digital Media Center, San Antonio, TX,   www.knightdigitalmediacenter.org

FRIDAY, AUGUST 6.

PROGRAM # 6175    12:00 PM PST

MEXICO EDITION. Mexico’s authorities have refused to investigate the disappearance of more than 4,000 Central Americans, who were lost when they were travelled through Mexican territory toward the United States. According to the priest Luis Ángel Nieto, from the organization Nuestros Lazos de Sangre (Our Blood Ties), the migrants could have been kidnapped by criminal gangs in complicity with Mexican authorities, and their countries of origin are doing little to support an investigation either. Martha Elena Ramírez hosts the program Voz Pública, from Mexico City.

Guest: Father Luis Ángel Nieto, Coordinator, Nuestros Lazos de Sangre, Los Ángeles, CA.

Funds for Línea Abierta are provided in part by The National Endowment for the Arts, The California Endowment, the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.