A special Guardian editorial highlights the importance of the work of Chalmers Johnson (1931-2010):
With 700 declared military bases, and probably 300 secret ones, around the world, Johnson likened his country to the Roman republic as it turned into an empire, which would find itself overstretched, bankrupted and then overrun. The uncomfortable parallel may have some life in it yet.
Paul Mason discusses 'Ireland in Crisis' with Aditya Chakrabortty for the Guardian's "The Business" podcast.
With Jill Treanor, the Guardian's banking expert, Ireland correspondent Henry McDonald, and economics editor Larry Elliott, Mason examines how Ireland's once booming economy has come to a humiliating bailout, the likely consequences for the Eurozone, and how an economic crisis has become a political one.
Visit the Guardian to listen to more from The Business and Mason's Idle Scrawl blog for more about the Irish crisis.
Ron Jacobs weighs in on Žižek's Living in the End Times in Counterpunch this weekend, calling the book "Fascinating ... an adventure":
The rock star philosopher examines the state of things on planet earth early in the twenty-first century. By dividing his analysis into what grief counselors call the five stages of grief, Žižek looks closely at the nature of the problem—capitalism and its culture. He examines the causes by traveling through Western philosophy and holds the entire dilemma up against the critical facilities of Marx and Engels. The journey is fascinating ...
Visit Counterpunch to read the article in full.
A young Tariq Ali, Robin Blackburn and Regis Debray in Gimme Some Truth: The Making of John Lennon's Imagine Album, a documentary film showing the recording sessions and evolution of the album.
Listen to Ece Temelkuran talk about Hrant Dink and how she came to write Deep Mountain on Outlook on the BBC World Service (first item):
Award winning Turkish journalist Ece Temelkuran describes her grief at hearing about the violent murder of her close friend Hrant Dink. Before his death the newspaper editor had been vilified by ultranationalists for talking about the killing of hundreds of thousands of Armenians during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Ece tells Jo Fidgen how much she missed her friend's lovable personality and why she vowed to carry on his work despite the risks.
Visit BBC iPlayer to listen to the programme.