Bill Moyers Journal (Audio) | PBS

Big deals on Wall Street mean big gains for the wealthy in America, but is it at the expense of the middle class and working familes? Bill Moyers talks to bestselling author Barabara Ehrenreich, who has gone undercover as a low-wage worker and as a struggling middle-class job seeker, about the real-world impact of the growing inequality gap. Also on the program, Bill Moyers interviews culture critic Clive James, whose latest book Cultural Amnesia comes after more than 40 years observing and commenting on arts, literature, culture, and politics.

In the wake of As the Bush administration promotes the idea that al Qaeda is the enemy in Iraq, Bill Moyers Journal analyzes the facts on the ground to explore who the U.S. is really fighting. Also on the program, a report on the hidden spending provisions used by Congress known as earmarks-a "pipeline of cash" added to legislation without any debate, public hearing or oversight, which is often used as payback for political contributions. The broadcast profiles a group dedicated to shining light on the practice.

In the wake of The Yes Men - aka Mike Bonanno and Andy Bichlbaum - who discovered that pranks could get press attention to important issues that would otherwise be ignored. Also on the program, renowned poet Martin Espada speaks about his love of language and the human need for poetry as he reflects on how heritage and immigration, and violence and war, have influenced his work.

In the wake of President Bush's commutation of I. lewis 'Scooter' libby's prison sentence, talk of impeachment is gaining steam as a new opinion poll says that nearly half of Americans favor the impeachment of the President and more than half believe Vice President Cheney should be impeached. Bill Moyers gets perspective from Constitutional scholar Bruce Fein, who wrote the first article of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, and The Nation's John Nichols, author of The Genius of Impeachment.

Dedicating his life to the exploration of life on Earth, E.O. Wilson is one of the world's foremost authorities on biology. Bill Moyers Journal profiles the author of 25 Books and recipient of two Pulitzer Prizes, who speaks about what humankind needs to understand about the Earth to heal it and about his latest project The Encyclopedia of life - a digital, online catalog of every single living species on the planet. And, Bill Moyers Journal updates a report on the non-profit group, the Earth Conservation Corps (ECC), composed of young adults from the banks of the Anacostia River - an area of environmental disaster and a home for violence. There in the shadow of the Capitol, the ECC works to reclaim a dying neighborhood by providing leadership tools to disadvantaged youth while cleaning up the environment.

With U.S. mortgages entering foreclosure at a record pace, the crisis has far reaching implications, from the financial markets to the financial health of ordinary Americans. For the latest, Bill Moyers interviews assistant business and financial editor at The New York Times Gretchen Morgenson, who has been covering the story. Also on the program: lori Wallach, Director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, on the secret trade deal negotiated by leaders of the Democratic Party and its implications for labor unions, consumer groups and the environment; life-long GOP insider Victor Gold on the current state of the Republican Party; and Bill Moyers on Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal.

When Harper's Magazine editor Ken Silverstein went undercover to recruit Washington lobbyists to help improve the image of Turkmenistan, a corrupt foreign government with appalling human rights abuses, K-Street firms laid out plans to get the job done. What does it say about the state of influence-peddling in Washington? Bill Moyers gets the inside story from Silverstein. Also on the program, Imam Zaid Shakir has been called a voice of conscience for American Muslims, but his views on Islam in America put him at the center of a heated debate about faith and culture.

On Wall Street, private equity firms are buying up corporations and turning them around for huge profits. What does it mean for America's workers and for the economic gap between average families and the wealthiest Americans? Andrew Stern, the president of Service Employees International Union-the fastest growing union in the nation-weighs in. Also on the program, Bill Moyers interviews writer, activist, and philosopher Grace lee Boggs, who has taken part in some of the seminal civil rights struggles in U.S. history, about her belief that real change for democracy will come from the grassroots. "We're not looking sufficiently at what is happening at the grassroots in the country," she says. "We have not emphasized sufficiently the cultural revolution that we have to make...in order to force the government to do differently."

Beginning to trade on the NYSE last week, Northwest airlines dodged the bankruptcy bullet. But while a $1.4 billion a year cut in labor expenses have ensured lower costs, why are airline executives still executives still flying high on salaries, stock options and benefits while workers and retirees see cuts in pay and compensation? Then, with heated debate looming large over progress reports and withdrawal deadlines for Iraq, what's next for Afghanistan? Journalist Christian Parenti, just back from his fourth visit to the forgotten frontline, speaks to Moyers about the growing influence of warlords in government, the resurgence of the Taliban as well as the drug trade, and life on the ground in Afghanistan. And, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori - spiritual leader to 7,500 congregations and more than 2 million members - talks about science, the environment, and gay rights, issues that threaten her church with division and disunity.

Former Democratic senator Bob Kerrey is making his case for a refocused mission in Iraq. The 9/11 Commission member and Vietnam war veteran tells Bill Moyers why having US military forces in Iraq is necessary in fighting terrorism, but calls for a bipartisan plan to end US policing and occupation in the war torn nation. One of Washington's most influential public advocates, Joan Claybrook of Public Citizen, talks about what is at stake in the ethical reforms under consideration in Congress. Bill Moyers shares his perspective on the Vietnam war in an essay featuring archival audio of conversation between President lyndon Johnson and US National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy.

As America honors heroes who have fought and fallen for their nation, Bill Moyers Journal presents "D-Day Revisited," a special one-hour broadcast which follows a group of World War II veterans back to Europe to speak about their wartime experiences-some of them unlocking memories they had been keeping inside for nearly 50 years. Featuring excerpts from the Bill Moyers' 1990 documentary From D-Day to the Rhine, "D-Day Revisited" includes the latest information about the veterans featured in the film who talked with Bill Moyers about their memories, their values, and their commitment to America.

On Memorial Day weekend, Bill Moyers Journal presents an illuminating interview with Maxine Hong Kingston, acclaimed author of many books including the award-winning The Woman Warrior and her latest book Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace. For the past 15 years, Kingston has been working with veterans - more than 500 soldiers from World War II, from Vietnam, and now, from Iraq - as well as other survivors of war to convert the horrors they experienced into the words and stories that Kingston believes will help them cope and survive.

Bill Moyers Journal looks at the trade deal in the works between the new leadership in Congress and the Bush Administration, which has the Democrats under fire from America's workers. Bill Moyers gets perspective on the deal from Harper's magazine publisher John R. MacArthur, author of The Selling of "Free Trade": NAFTA, Washington, and the Subversion of American Democracy. Also on the program, Princeton's Melissa Harris lacewell on race, politics, and spirituality; and author Bruce Bawer, who left America for Europe to escape fundamentalist bigotry, on what his journey says about America, Europe, and Islamic fundamentalism?

It's a question that can be addressed in many ways. The National Priorities Project keeps a constantly running count of war costs - and compares the totals with what the dollars would buy in other government services. Fiscal conservatives keep an eye on the Department of Treasury's national debt to the penny. Of course there are costs that cannot be quantified in dollars.

The recent controversy over the firing of federal prosecutors found Regent University graduate Monica Goodling-special counsel to Alberto Gonzalez and one of some 150 Regent students who have worked in the Bush administration since 2001-at the center of a political firestorm over her involvement. Bill Moyers Journal takes viewers to commencement at Pat Robertson's university for a closer look at its mission to ensure Biblical principles are reflected in the law of the land. Also on the program: Nick Gillespie, Editor-in-Chief of the libertarian monthly Reason magazine, discusses the war, the media, and the impact of the religious right in Washington today; and historian Marilyn B. Young, co-editor of Iraq and the lessons of Vietnam: Or, How Not to learn from the Past, talks about history's lessons for the war in Iraq.