Mike Daisey has traveled to faraway islands and sprawling Chinese factories, and he's used what he learned there to craft two monologues about materialism, the meaning of money, what he calls the religion of finance, and the human cost of our love affair with electronic gadgetry. Also, Stephanie Rearick describes a system of alternative currency called TimeBanking.

The republic of Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula has come under great scrutiny by the Obama administration. Foreign policy analyst Conn Hallinan explains what the interest in Yemen might tell us about US geopolitical intentions in Asia. And Elizabeth Kneebone, co-author of a new report, talks about how American suburbs have become home to the largest population of poor people in the country.

The Japanese occupy Manchuria; the US occupies postwar Japan. What does moviemaking have to do with all this? What role do cultural productions, and high-minded idealism, play in domination and brutality? Ian Buruma explores the intersection of culture and politics in his novel The China Lover. Also featured on the program is archived audio of Rachel Carson, speaking after the publication of Silent Spring.

What's unprecedented about the current economic meltdown? Can national governments effectively address the crisis, or are people's movements a better source of ideas? And why should the situation of workers in China matter to people everywhere? Jeremy Brecher and Tim Costello, co-directors of the Global Labor Strategies project, share their ideas.

Could China be the next world hegemon? Will it collaborate with other nations to break the US grip on the rules of the global economy? John Gulick considers whether China has the resources and endowments to take over as world leader. Also, Ward Wilson argues in an essay that Japan's decision to surrender in 1945 was not compelled by the bombing of Hiroshima.