The Social Media Revolution with Clay Shirky and Guantanamo at Home

Clay Shirky, professor in New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program, is at the forefront of thought and discussion on the future of the Internet and communication technology. From the “Twitter revolution” in Iran and GitHub’s collaborative coding process to the death of newspapers and the rise of the Pirate Party in Europe, Shirky has traced the way new and social media have changed the way the world works. His book Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations and his subsequent work have focused on the way people can organize online for real-world effects without the need for more traditional institutions.

Shirky spoke with GRITtv about the way everyday citizens can use the same technology that brings us videos of a kitten on a treadmill to achieve results that strengthen and spread democracy and engagement around the world.

Fahad Hashmi is an American citizen being held in solitary confinement in Lower Manhattan, facing several years in prison for the crime of providing and conspiring to provide material support and making and conspiring to make a contribution of goods or services to Al Qaeda. The conditions under which he has been held, for two and a half years, are frightening: he is allowed only one visit every other week from one of his parents, and has been punished for shadowboxing alone in his cell.

Jeanne Theoharis, associate professor of political science at Brooklyn College, CUNY and Fahad’s former professor, wrote of the expansion of Guantanamo-like conditions in The Nation several months ago, and she joined us along with actor Kathleen Chalfant and actor, playwright and author Wallace Shawn of Theaters Against War, joins us to talk about Fahad’s case, free speech and why we need to speak up for people like Fahad.

Greenpeace brings us the latest from the global battle against climate change, and The Real News, supplied an analysis of the ongoing conflict in Honduras: will Zelaya return, and what will it change?