Athens: City of Crisis and Opportunity
Posted on 09. Jun, 2010 by admin in Economy, Uncategorized
The economic crisis has shaken – and continues to shake – the whole world. But how have people’s day-to-day lives been changed? How are they coping? What new things are they coming up with?
Our new series “Around the Planet” checks in with individuals from Nepal to Costa Rica, from Congo to New York, to see how they’re doing. We’re happy to kick things off with a piece from our man in Athens, Orfeas Peretzis. At a design exhibition in Athens’ old international airport, Peretzis finds hope amid the gloom of the Greek economic crisis.
http://www.vimeo.com/12434763
Dennis Hof Runs a Brothel–Should He Run the Economy?
Posted on 19. Mar, 2010 by admin in Economy, Middle Class Crunch
We’re debuting our new economic program, “Little Green Shoots,” today. When we read the statement by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that he was starting to see “green shoots” in the economy, and we wondered, where? Instead of asking another politician or an economist, we decided to go to the people who would really know: the small business owner.
After all, small business owners are lauded by Congress as the “backbone of America,” and they’re also the ones bearing the brunt of the recession.
First up is Dennis Hof, owner of the Bunny Ranch brothel in Carson City, Nevada.
So an Airplane Walks Into a Bar…
Posted on 01. Mar, 2010 by admin in Energy Security, Environment, Uncategorized
Bio-jetfuel takes to the skies as airplanes explore alternative energy sources like camelina and jatropha. However, all this innovation comes with a steep price tag: food. Someone has to grow all those useful fuel crops, and it’s falling to third world farmers to shoulder the burden while production of edible foodstuffs declines accordingly. With most of the affected population unlikely to enjoy the benefits of green air travel, who will? The answer: Goldman Sachs.
Read the latest on bio-jetfuel in this episode of “A Minute of Your Time.”
Little Green Shoots: Lottery Blues
Posted on 25. Jan, 2010 by admin in Economy, Uncategorized
Who couldn’t use $100 million right now? With the economy in a recession, gambling could be a tempting solution to society’s woes. But according to New York lottery spokesperson Jennifer Givner, lottery ticket sales were actually down at the end of 2009. In this latest episode of Little Green Shoots (click here for previous episode on smoking), we headed to Park Slope, Brooklyn, in order to see whether people were still taking chances on the lottery.
Common Debt
Posted on 03. Nov, 2009 by admin in Economy, Middle Class Crunch
When photojournalist Kelly Shimoda set out to chronicle debt for Film@11, the average US household had it — Harvard University’s Elizabeth Warren was seen as a Cassandra for her study that found families were in financial trouble due to large, fixed expenses like mortgages and health care insurance —but no one wanted to talk about it, at least not on record. Debt was seen as painful and shameful.
http://www.vimeo.com/7690921Well, it’s still painful, but the shame is no longer personal. Over 1 million Americans filed for bankruptcy last year. Many of them filed because of health care costs, and many of those actually had health insurance.
Our latest episode of “Political Graffiti” tackles the sticky question of reform and what to reform. Former Cigna executive Wendell Potter suggests starting with the insurance cartel itself.
Little Green Shoots
Posted on 28. Oct, 2009 by admin in Economy, Middle Class Crunch
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke recently said he saw green shoots of new life cropping up amid the wreckage of the economic crisis. Film@11 reporter Oli Foster went to Wall Street to see whether people there thought a recovery was on the way.
