A few weeks ago, I covered an event by the St. Louis Occupy protest, interviewing many of the protesters. One of these protesters (named “Matt”) has (along with “Mark”) created a website called Occupy the Moment, which is “Podcasting in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street.”
I just finished listening to the Episode 3 podcast (more than an hour in length), and was encouraged to hear extensive intelligent, well-informed and self-critical analysis regarding Occupy protests, both in St. Louis and nationwide. The first 40-minutes of Episode 3 concerned the Occupy movement.
Listening to this podcast, I heard that some protesters are charging that at least some St. Louis police officers are obscuring the names on their badges or even displaying false names. The hosts do recognize that the St. Louis Police Department has generally shown admirable restraint regarding the St. Louis protesters.
From the same podcast I also learned that last week the Manhattan police (apparently illegally) seized a Wikileaks donation truck. I’ve heard that J.P. Morgan/Chase donated more than $4 Million to the New York Police Department shortly before the Department evicted protesters from Zucotti Park. I heard the hosts discuss other substantial collaborations between large corporations and law enforcement. The hosts also commented at length on the recent and obviously coordinated simultaneous evictions of protesters nationwide.
Matt and Mark voice many well-considered opinions regarding the motives and methods of the Occupy protests and the oftentimes disappointing response to these protests by law enforcement agencies and the national media. The podcast covers issues raised by particular Occupy protests in many locations across the country. Once they finish discussing the Occupy movement, the hosts moved on to discuss other issues, including hot issues regarding intellectual property.
Based on Podcast 3, I plan to periodically return to Occupy the Moment to hear further insights regarding the Occupy movement, in St. Louis and beyond.
