Sigalon's Podcast Soup

10:42

The Next Trade Frontier

President Obama is pushing for two big new trade deals – in the Pacific, with Europe. Democrats are resisting. We’ll dig in.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, second right, speaks with his country’s Trade Representative Michael Froman, as New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, second left, speaks with his Trade Minister Tim Groser, left, at the Trans-Pacific Partnership meet in Bali, Indonesia, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2013. Leaders of the dozen countries involved in the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership met in Bali after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to work on plans for a free trade area they hope will eventually encompass the entire region. (AP)

Guests

William Mauldin, international economics and trade correspondent for The Wall Street Journal. (@willmauldin)

Jim Kolbe, senior transatlantic fellow for the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Former 11-term Congressman (R-Arizona). Strategic consultant to the Council on Foreign Relations.

Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic Policy Research. (@markweisbrot)

From Tom’s Reading List

The Guardian: NAFTA: 20 years of regret for Mexico — “Our neglected infrastructure aside, it is easy to see that NAFTA was a bad deal for most Americans. The promised trade surpluses with Mexico turned out to be deficits, some hundreds of thousands of jobs were lost, and there was downward pressure on US wages – which was, after all, the purpose of the agreement. This was not like the European Union’s (pre-Eurozone) economic integration, which allocated hundreds of billions of dollars of development aid to the poorer countries of Europe so as to pull their living standards up toward the average. ”

Washington Post: In Davos, nations vow to extend global trade deal — “WTO Director-General Robert Azevedo said negotiating process must be transparent and inclusive, so every member can have a voice and participate, but that ‘the do-ability test is very important” in working toward an expanded free-trade deal that balances “ambition and realism.’ The Bali deal could boost global trade by $1 trillion over time, and its centerpiece was an agreement on measures to ease barriers to trade by simplifying customs procedures and making them more transparent.”

Wall Street Journal: Lawmakers Unveil ‘Fast Track’ Bill for Trade Agreements — “Under the fast-track procedure, known formally as ‘trade promotion authority,’ Congress agrees to approve trade deals with an up-or-down vote, without amending them or slowing them down with procedural tactics. But the measure is shaping up as a hard sell on Capitol Hill, and even groups that support it say they don’t expect it to advance without a fight. Labor groups and some environmental organizations oppose it, and a number of Democrats are unhappy that the currency language is nonbinding, meaning negotiators will press countries to comply but can fall short of the goal.”

Tags: Business Economy Policy Politics Radio Broadcast World China European Union Germany Trade Promotion Authority Trans Pacific Partnership World Trade Organization

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01:16

Mondo Diablo Episode 379: A Good, Old-Fashioned Christmas

In which I read from Santa Claus, Last of the Wildmen: The Origins and Evolution of Saint Nicholas, Spanning 50,000 years, by Phyllis Siefker

Tags: wildman christmas germany santa

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19:58

Mondo Diablo Episode 378: Grüss Von Krampus

This week we have Krampus from You Tube and American Dad. Also, there's more remixed Christmas tunes for your pleasure, and Krampus laments the fallout from the American popularization of her kind.

Tags: krampus christmas germany santa

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16:00

Nazi Treasure Trove Discovered

The story behind the amazing, newly-revealed trove — Matisse, Chagall, Picasso, Renoir — of Nazi-plundered art.

It’s no secret that the Nazis stole, looted, a mountain of art in World War II. Huge quantities of priceless paintings, cultural artifacts, trucked and trained and hidden all over Europe by Adolf Hitler’s men, looking to remake European culture in the image of the Third Reich. The Allies fought back on this front too, sending in units of their own to find and save the treasures of Europe. But they missed a lot. This week, news out of Munich of a newly-revealed trove. Matisse, Chagall, Renoir, Picasso. Up next On Point: the story behind the amazing newly-revealed trove of Nazi-plundered art.

– Tom Ashbrook

Guests

Thomas Röll, one of two reporters who first the story for the German weekly magazine Focus.

Jonathan Petropoulos, professor of European History and chair of the history department at Claremont McKenna College. Author of “The Faustian Bargain: The Art World in Nazi Germany” and “Art as Politics In the Third Reich.”

Robert Edsel, founder and president of the Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art, co-producer of the documentary, ‘The Rape of Europa.” Author of “The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and The Greatest Treasure Hunt in History,” Rescuing Da Vinci: Hitler and the Nazis Stole Europe’s Great Art, America and Her Allies Recovered It” and “Saving Italy: The Race to Rescue a Nation’s Treasures From the Nazis.” (@RobertEdsel)

David Rowland, partner at the New York City law firm Rowland & Petroff, which specializes in art recovery representation.

From Tom’s Reading List

Wall Street Journal: Cache of Nazi-Seized Art Discovered in Munich Apartment– “The works, by artists including Picasso, Matisse and Chagall, are estimated to be worth about €1 billion ($1.35 billion), according to a preliminary analysis for authorities undertaken by an expert at Berlin’s Free University. German authorities made the discovery more than two years ago but kept the finding a secret, they say, pending the completion of their investigation.”

New York Times: In a Rediscovered Trove of Art, a Triumph Over the Nazis’ Will — “Among the very first goals of the Nazis was to purge German museums and ransack private collections. Perversely, they stockpiled the modern art they hated, some to sell abroad in exchange for hard currency. Hildebrand was one of the dealers whom Joseph Goebbels picked for this task. Some art they paraded in an exhibition of shame. The show ended up a blockbuster, infuriating the Führer. After that, thousands upon thousands of confiscated works disappeared.”

Los Angeles Times: George Clooney’s ‘The Monuments Men’ pushed to 2014 — “George Clooney’s World War II drama ’The Monuments Men’ will not arrive in theaters this year as planned because the film’s visual effects could not be completed in time, the actor and director said. The tale of a ragtag band of art historians, museum curators and academics racing to rescue paintings and sculptures looted by the Nazis — slated to open Dec. 18 — now will be released by Sony Pictures early next year.”

Gallery Of Looted Art Discovered In Munich

Likely List Of Art Included In Stash

Tags: Arts Crime & Justice Life Radio Broadcast World art Europe Germany Museums Nazi Theft

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05:56

Week In The News: Obamacare Blowup, NSA Fury And A Year After Sandy

Obamacare hullaballoos. NSA snooping fury still rising. Superstorm Sandy, one year on. Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

Guests

Siobhan Gorman, intelligence correspondent for The Wall Street Journal. (@Gorman_Siobhan)

Julie Rovner, health policy correspondent for NPR. (@JRovner)

Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst.

From Tom’s Reading List

Wall Street Journal: Europeans Shared Spy Data With U.S. — “The revelations suggest a greater level of European involvement in global surveillance, in conjunction at times with the NSA. The disclosures also put European leaders who loudly protested reports of the NSA’s spying in a difficult spot, showing how their spy agencies aided the Americans. The phone records collected by the Europeans—in war zones and other areas outside their borders—were shared with the NSA as part of efforts to help protect American and allied troops and civilians, U.S. officials said.”

NPR: Congressmen Berate Sebelius For Cancellations, Website Woes — “Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius headed to Capitol Hill Wednesday for a date with lawmakers frustrated by the rocky rollout of the HealthCare.gov website. What she got at the House Energy and Commerce Committee was four hours of venting from Democrats and Republicans alike.”

Philadelphia Inquirer: Sandusky Settlements Cost Nearly $60M – “The university’s board of trustees had approved paying up to $60 million earlier this year, and the tab came to $59.7 million, the university said in a news release. The first multimillion-dollar settlement, with a 25-year-old man who was abused in a campus shower, was announced in mid-August. University officials predicted at that time that 25 more settlements would soon follow as part of a global agreement.”

Tags: Health Policy Politics Radio Broadcast World Affordable Care Act Angela Merkel climate change Edward Snowden Germany Glenn Greenwald Kathleen Sebelius NSA Obamacare Superstorm Sandy

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07:47

Debating The NSA’s Reach

More claims all over on NSA snooping. We look at the scope of American surveillance and what we need, or don’t.

Guests

Adam Entous, national security correspondent for The Wall Street Journal. (@AdamEntous)

Jesselyn Radack, attorney and National Security and Rights Human Rights Director for the Government Accountability Project. Author of “Traitor: The Whistleblower and the ‘American Taliban.’” Former ethics adviser for the U.S. Department of Justice. (@Jesselyn Raddack)

Michael Allen, founder and Managing Director of Beacon Global Strategies, LLC. Former Majority Staff Director of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Author of: “Blinking Red: Crisis and Compromise in American Intelligence After 9/11.” (@BeaconGlobal)

From Tom’s Reading List

Wall Street Journal: Obama Unaware as U.S. Spied on World Leaders — “Officials said the internal review turned up NSA monitoring of some 35 world leaders, in the U.S. government’s first public acknowledgment that it tapped the phones of world leaders. European leaders have joined international outrage over revelations of U.S. surveillance of Ms. Merkel’s phone and of NSA’s monitoring of telephone call data in France.The White House cut off some monitoring programs after learning of them, including the one tracking Ms. Merkel and some other world leaders, a senior U.S. official said. Other programs have been slated for termination but haven’t been phased out completely yet, officials said.”

Reuters: Spain summons U.S. ambassador over spying — “El Mundo reproduced a graphic on Monday which it said was an NSA document showing the agency had spied on 60.5 million phone calls in Spain between December 10, 2012 and January 8 this year. The newspaper said it had reached a deal with Glenn Greenwald, the Brazil-based journalist who has worked with other media on information provided to him by Snowden, to get access to documents affecting Spain.”

National Journal: NSA Surveillance Back in Crosshairs on Hill — “By tightening or codifying current practices and adding transparency and accountability measures, the legislation from Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Vice Chairman Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., is a response to critics who have questioned the NSA’s rationale for secretly collecting phone and Internet records of millions of Americans. The bill they plan to move through the committee protects the NSA’s power to conduct sweeping surveillance approved by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and is unlikely to go anywhere near appeasing reform advocates.”

Tags: Policy Politics Radio Broadcast Tech World Angela Merkel Edward Snowden EU France Germany James Clapper NSA Spain

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05:52

Week In The News: Obamacare Glitches, Drone Strikes And NSA Revelations

Obamacare rollout under scrutiny. NSA snooping angers U.S. allies. Students killing teachers. Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

Guests

David Sanger, chief Washington correspondent for the New York Times. (@SangerNYT)

Kelly O’Donnell, Capitol Hill correspondent for NBC News. (@KellyO)

Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst.

From Tom’s Reading List

New York Times: Pakistani Premier Meets Obama to Mend Ties – “To symbolize a new beginning, the Obama administration will release more than $1.5 billion in aid to Pakistan, which had been held up because of tensions over the commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011, as well as the killing of two civilians by a C.I.A. contractor in Lahore and a wayward American airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers near the Afghan border.”

The Guardian: Angela Merkel’s call to Obama: are you bugging my mobile phone? – “While European leaders have generally been keen to play down the impact of the whistleblowing disclosures in recent months, events in the EU’s two biggest countries this week threatened an upward spiral of lack of trust in transatlantic relations. Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, made plain that Merkel upbraided Obama unusually sharply and also voiced exasperation at the slowness of the Americans to respond to detailed questions on the NSA scandal since the Snowden revelations first appeared in the Guardian in June.”

National Journal: Buck Stops With Obama on Rocky Rollout of Health Care Plan — “To be sure, every major rollout of a new or changed social policy, including Medicare itself, is rough and takes weeks or months to resolve. But this rollout is clearly worse, and, as we learn more about its history over the past six months and more, the failures in vision and execution, in the face of clear and blunt warnings of problems ahead, are striking and troubling.”

Tags: Crime & Justice Economy Health Nation Politics Radio Broadcast World Affordable Care Act Angela Merkel Edward Snowden Germany NSA Obamacare Pakistan