Director John Pilger Defends Julian Assange On Tom Needham's THE SOUNDS OF FILM

Award-winning director/journalist John Pilger and activist Cindy Sheehan are Tom Needham's special guests this Thursday at 6 pm on WUSB's THE SOUNDS OF FILM. He will be discussing his outrage over Assange's recent arrest in London.

John Pilger previously featured Julian Assange in his documentary THE WAR YOU DON'T SEE. This film challenged the media on the role they played in Iraq, Afghanistan and Israel/Palestine conflicts. For many years, Julian Assange's Wikileaks has released information about these wars that the mainstream media did not cover.

In a recent article,"The Assange Arrest Is a Warning from History," Pilger wrote, "The warning is explicit towards journalists. What happened to the founder and editor of WikiLeaks can happen to you on a newspaper, you in a TV studio, you on radio, you running a podcast."

John Pilger is a BAFTA-winning filmmaker. He was named Britain's Journalist of the Year in 1967 and 1979. Through the years, he has made a series of documentaries critical of imperialism and genocide. Some of his notable movies include THE QUIET MUTINY, YEAR ZERO, STEALING A NATION, THE WAR ON DEMOCRACY, and THE COMING WAR ON CHINA.

THE SOUNDS OF FILM is also going to re-air a recent conversation featuring Cindy Sheehan and Tom Needham. Cindy Sheehan is a well-known activist, author and podcaster. She became nationally recognized when her son was killed during the Iraq War, and she decided to set up a makeshift camp outside of President George W. Bush's ranch to protest the war. She wrote the book PEACE MOM: A MOTHER'S JOURNEY THROUGH HEARTACHE TO ACTIVISM. She got involved in politics and unsuccessfully ran for Congress, Governor and Vice President. She hosts the popular podcast CINDY SHEEHAN's SOAPBOX. Through the years, she has been featured in numerous documentaries including PAYING THE PRICE FOR PEACE, LEFT OUT: BEYOND THE 2-PARTY SYSTEM, ROSEANNE FOR PRESIDENT, and INVISIBLE EMPIRE.

TOM NEEDHAM'S THE SOUNDS OF FILM is the nation's longest running film, music and ideas themed radio show. For the past 30 years, the program has delivered a popular mix of interviews and music to listeners all over Long Island, parts of Connecticut and streaming worldwide live on the internet at wusb.fm. Past people interviewed for the show include Michael Moore, Abby Martin, Dionne Warwick, Billy Joel, Cheech & Chong, Jimmy Webb, Kurtis Blow, Emilio Estevez, Alec Baldwin and writer Anthony DeCurtis.