STATE OF THE UNION: JOBS, HEALTH, AND INNOVATION. In his State of the Union address this week President Obama urges congresspeople from both parties to work together to progress as a nation, in order to compete globally in jobs, innovation, education, and healthcare. This first hour of a special two-hour edition, broadcast live from the Health Action 2011 Conference on Capitol Hill, offers interviews with congresspeople and political leaders about Obama’s goals for the coming year.

THE NEW HEALTH LAW: EXPAND OR REPEAL? The first action by the newly Republican-led House of Representatives was to vote to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In his State of the Union address, President Obama detailed some of the next steps for implementing the new health law. In this second hour of a special edition, broadcast live from the Health Action 2011 Conference on Capitol Hill, healthcare advocates discuss these next steps, and what the new law will mean for consumers.

HEALTH LAW: THE FUNDAMENTALS. The nuts and bolts of the new health law are still not clear to many consumers. Which parts of the law are already in place? What role will states play in implementing the law? What are the rights and benefits? Who is most benefited by the law? This edition is a two-hour broadcast from Capitol Hill during the Health Action 2011 Conference, sponsored by Families USA. President Obama addresses this gathering of health advocates and health care providers and this edition provides a glimpse at the president’s words.

HEALTH LAW: WHAT’S IN PLACE. President Obama gives a speech at the Health Action 2011 conference, next to the Capitol, in which he gives an overview of what parts of the new health law are already in place, and in which he makes clear that he is willing to work with Republican congresspeople to improve the law, but not revoke it, since it is already helping children and adults with pre-existing conditions, small business owners, and youth who are covered by their parents’ policies until they turn 26.

Guests: President Barack Obama, President of the United States, Washington, D.C., www.whitehouse.gov ; Gloria Montaño, Director, Washington D.C. Office, National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO), Washington, D.C., www.naleo.org ; José López Zamorano, Correspondent, Radio Bilingüe, Washington, D.C.

FESTIVAL OF COLOMBIAN ROOTS: DAY ONE. Radio Bilingüe offers special coverage of the celebration of Colombia: The Nature of Culture taking place on the National Mall as part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. In this first hour, a researcher speaks about the festival, coffee farmers share the process of cultivating Colombian coffee and the tradition of drinking a tinto, and a silletero who makes chairs and carries flowers on his back in the city of Medellín tells of this longstanding art.

Guests: Daniel Sheehy, Director of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Washington, D.C.; Alexander de Jesús Nieto Marín, Silletero and flower grower, Medellín, Colombia; José Alexander Salazar, Coffee farmer, Calarcá, Colombia; Jorge Ivan Valencia, Coffee farmer, Dos Quebradas, Pereira, Colombia.

COLOMBIA FESTIVAL: ART AND COOKING. From Washington, D.C., Radio Bilingüe presents a second hour of conversations with artisans at the celebration of Colombia: The Nature of Culture in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. This edition includes conversations with an artist who transforms junk into art, a hat maker, a basket weaver, and a cook from the Mompóx región who is an expert at traditional dishes such as mote de queso, a cheese and vegetable soup, and a fish called viuda de pescado, with coconut rice.

Guests: María Dilia Dávila, Hat maker, Aguadas, Caldas, Colombia; Hernando Ruiz Daza, director, Reciclarte, Bogotá, Colombia, http://www.facebook.com/#!/reciclarte.colombia ; Areli Hernández Vega, basket weaver and member of artisan collective, Ráquira, Colombia; Mery Margoth Gándara de Barrera, Cook and owner of the restaurant El comedor costeño, Mompóx, Colombia.

FESTIVAL OF COLOMBIAN ROOTS: DAY TWO. From the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Línea Abierta brings you Colombia: The Nature of Culture. This edition includes a conversation with a singer from the Cantaoras de Alabaos del Pacífico, who tells about the origins of this style of singing, typical in the Pacific Tropical Rainforest. The songs are used for funeral rituals, and interpreted by women to keep the memory of Black people. And two men dedicated to transportation tell about two forms of transportation considered typical in the coffee-growing región: jeep and mule driving. What do they carry from place to place, and how have they opened development of communication and economy?

Guests: Leonor Murillo, Singer, Cantaoras de Alabaos del Pacífico, San Andrés, Colombia; Jhon Jairo Amortegui Piña, Jeep driver, Calarcá, Colombia; and Leonel de Jesús Loaiza Muñoz, Mule driver, Concordia, Antioquia, Colombia.

CHIRIMÍA AND BANDOLA. This edition presents two concerts taped live in the music hall Al son que me toquen at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Chirimía la Contundencia is an ensemble that interprets traditional music from the northern Pacific coast that is played with wind and brass instruments, and is heard at carnivals and patron saint festivals. Aires del Campo plays string music from the coffee-growing region. The members of the group are all cousins, playing traditional instruments such as the bandola and the tiple.

COLOMBIA FESTIVAL: JOROPO CRIOLLO. From the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Radio Bilingüe presents a concert by Grupo Cabrestero and Aires del Campo, a meeting of string instruments. These groups interpret joropo music, part of the culture of the plains, revolving around cattle ranching. This edition also includes interviews with members of both groups.

Guests: Víctor Cenón Espinel, main singer and bandola player, Grupo Cabrestero, Maní, Colombia; Fernán de Jesús Rojo Meneses, guitar player, Aires del Campo, Girardota, Colombia.

COLOMBIA FESTIVAL: DON ABUNDIO Y SUS TRAVIESOS. Don Abundio y sus Traviesos perform the rythms of tambora guacherna, chandé and berroche from the Mompóx región on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. The groups repertoire includes aires and traditional dances for Carnaval. This edition also includes an interview with the director of the group, Don Abundio himself, whose real name is Samuel Marmol Villa, and who is also a singer, dancer and instrument maker. He tells about the groups origins, musical genres and instruments.

COLOMBIA FESTIVAL: GRUPO CABRESTERO. In this concert taped live at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Grupo Cabrestero performs joropo music, with the sounds of the Southeastern Plains of Colombia, with instruments such as maracas, cuatro, and bandola. Also, musician Félix Chaparro Rivas tells of his dedication to music and how he teaches music in his native Aguazul. He also plays the unique instrument, furruco.

COLOMBIA FESTIVAL: AYOMBÉ. Ayombé performs the best of the vallenato music, with rhythms such as puya, paseo, and merengue, at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Vallenato is accordion music from a valley on the Caribbean coast. This edition also offers a backstage conversation with three of the bandmembers: accordion player Luis Carlos Farfán, drummer Efraín Camilo Díaz, and singer Reynaldo "Papi" Diaz. Also, the festival curator, Olivia Cadaval, talks about the work behind the celebration of ?Colombia: The Nature of Culture and plans for next years festival.

COLOMBIA FESTIVAL: EL PUEBLO CANTA. From the music hall "Al son que me toquen" at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, El Pueblo Canta offers a concert of carranguera music, with bambucos, merengue carraguero, and torbellinos. The group?s songs evoke anecdotes of rural Andean life. This edition also includes a conversation with director and composer Julio Álvaro Suesca Acuña, and his son, Edixon Julián Suesca, child drummer and instrument maker.

COLOMBIA FESTIVAL: MARIMBA AND MORE. This musical moment at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival brings together musicians from Chirimía la Contundencia and marimba player Don Baudilio Guamas Rentería. This musician and marimba maker comes from the Pacific Tropical Rainforest. Don Baudilio also offers a solo played on the marimba he built during the festival.

COLOMBIA FESTIVAL: ART AND COOKING. From Washington, D.C., Radio Bilingüe presents conversations with artisans at the celebration of “Colombia: The Nature of Culture” in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. This edition includes conversations with an artist who transforms junk into art, a hat maker, a basket weaver, and a cook from the Mompóx región who is an expert at traditional dishes such as mote de queso, a cheese and vegetable soup, and a fish called viuda de pescado, with coconut rice.

Guests: María Dilia Dávila, Hat maker, Aguadas, Caldas, Colombia; Hernando Ruiz Daza, director, Reciclarte, Bogotá, Colombia, http://www.facebook.com/#!/reciclarte.colombia; Areli Hernández Vega, basket weaver and member of artisan collective, Ráquira, Colombia; Mery Margoth Gándara de Barrera, Cook and owner of the restaurant “El comedor costeño”, Mompóx, Colombia.

COLOMBIA FESTIVAL: AYOMBE. Ayombe performs the best of vallenato music, with rhythms such as puya, paseo, and merengue, at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Vallenato is accordion music from a valley on the Caribbean coast. This edition also offers a backstage conversation with three of the bandmembers: accordion player Luis Carlos Farfán, drummer Efraín Camilo Díaz, and singer Reynaldo "Papi" Díaz.

HEALTH ACTION 2012: DAY ONE, FIRST HOUR. Health advocates from around the country come together near Capitol Hill to discuss the next steps for
implementing the Affordable Care Act. One of the questions on the table: who will be considered a “navigator” to help put people understand the new health insurance system: community health promoters or insurance brokers?

Linea Abierta broadcasts live an extended edition from Radio Row at the conference site for two days. This first hour includes interviews with public officials, community health care promoters, and health care justice activists.

HEALTH ACTION 2012: DAY ONE, SECOND HOUR. This second hour of a two-hour extended edition of Linea Abierta, live from Radio Row at the Health Action 2012 summit on Capitol Hill, includes details of Secretary of Health Kathleen Sebelius’ speech at the conference, an interview with a top spokesperson for the Democratic Party regarding the Supreme Court case surrounding the Affordable Care Act, and with a security expert about efforts to stop the trafficking of illegal prescription drugs. Listeners call in to share their concerns and hopes about the Affordable Care Act.

Guests: Ricardo Ramírez, Spokesperson, Democratic National Committee, Washington, D.C., www.democrats.org ; Celina Realuyo, Assistant Professor of National Security Affairs, Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, National Defense University, and President, CBR Global Advisors LLC, Washington, D.C., www.cbrglobal.com

HEALTH ACTION 2012: DAY TWO, FIRST HOUR. This year is critical for the movement for health care coverage for all. The constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act will be brought before the Supreme Court, funding for different components of the law will remain under attack in Congress, and state legislatures will vote on funding to implement the health reform law. This first hour of the second day of live reporting from Radio Row at Health Action 2012 on Capitol Hill includes conversations with leading health experts and advocates.

Guests: Marlon Cuellar, Program Manager, Health & Human services, The California Endowment, San Francisco, CA, www.calendow.org ; Alejandra Gepp, Associate Director, Institute for Hispanic Health, National Council of La Raza, Washington, D.C., www.nclr.org ; Diana Varela, Spokesperson, Social Security Administration, Washington, D.C., www.ssa.gov

HEALTH ACTION 2012: DAY TWO, SECOND HOUR. As more and more segments of the Affordable Care Act go into effect, health advocates come together on Capitol Hill to discuss how to protect Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security, as well as how to secure the funds necessary for the reform law. In this fourth hour of a special edition from Radio Row at the Health Action 2012 conference in Washington, D.C., advocates speak about issues facing the health reform law.

Guests: Diana Varela, Spokesperson, Social Security Administration, Washington, D.C., www.ssa.gov; Josephine Mercado, Founder and Executive Director, Hispanic Health Initiatives, Casselberry, FL; Cary Sanders,Director of Policy Analysis and the Having Our Say Coalition, California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, Oakland, CA, www.cpehn.org.

THE HEALTH LAW : A REPEAT. As more and more segments of the Affordable Care Act go into effect, health advocates come together on Capitol Hill to discuss how to protect Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security, as well as how to secure the funds necessary for the reform law. This is a repeat edition of the fourth hour of a special edition of Línea Abierta from Radio Row at the Health Action 2012 conference in Washington, D.C.

Guests: Diana Varela, Spokesperson, Social Security Administration, Washington, D.C., www.ssa.gov ; Josephine Mercado, Founder and Executive Director, Hispanic Health Initiatives, Casselberry, FL; Cary Sanders, Director of Policy Analysis and the Having Our Say Coalition, California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, Oakland, CA, www.cpehn.org

HEALTH ACTION 2013: DAY ONE: HOUR 1. This is the first hour of a special edition broadcast live from the Health Action 2013 Conference on Capitol Hill. This year is crucial for the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. States are pushing forward with plans for health insurance market exchanges, as well as the expansion of Medicaid, the health program for the poor. This edition looks at these and other developments coming this year under the health reform law.

HEALTH ACTION 2013: DAY ONE: HOUR 2. Health advocates are announcing "the biggest push for outreach and enrollment in health insurance in the nation's history". This edition includes a conversation with a top health official about the deadlines coming up for the Affordable Care Act in healthcare markets, subsidies for working families, the new beneficiaries of Medicaid, and those who could end up without coverage because of a mistake when the law was written. Also, interviews with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, about her own experiences with healthcare, and with a promotor of immigrant rights about immigration reform and how it could affect health reform.

HEALTH ACTION 2013: DAY TWO, HOUR 1 (Two Hour Special Edition) One year before the key laws of the Affordable Care Act go into full effect, health advocates, health professionals and lawmakers meet on Capitol Hill to discuss what’s coming in this year under the federal health reform law. A competitive insurance marketplace is set to open doors in the Fall, and tax credits will become available next year to middle-class families who can’t afford health insurance. Analysts provide insights on the foreseeable consequences in case many states refuse to expand Medicaid or join the health insurance market, the rise in health insurance prices and other topics.

HEALTH ACTION 2013: DAY TWO, HOUR 2. With the debate on the “debt ceiling,” the budget deficit, and massive cuts to federal health care programs looming on the horizon, hundreds of advocates of the right to health care convene in Washington in the conference Health Action 2013. In this program, analysts comment on proposals to reduce Social Security and Medicare benefits and the prospects that immigration reform plans receive the highest priority in the U.S. Senate.

Guests: Diana Varela, Spokesperson, Social Security Administration, Washington, D.C., www.ssa.gov ; Senator Tammy Baldwin, Democrat – Wisconsin (audio recording); Maria Cardona, Media commentator, columnist for Latinovations, consultant for the Democratic Party, Washington, DC; Carlos Gutiérrez, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce, leading member of Republicans for Immigration Reform.

HEALTH ACTION: HEALTHCARE FOR ALL. Health advocates are announcing "the biggest push for outreach and enrollment in health insurance in the nation's history". This edition includes a conversation with health care analysts about the deadlines coming up for the Affordable Care Act in healthcare markets, subsidies for working families, the new beneficiaries of Medicaid-plus, and the potential impact of immigration reform on the health of the nation. Also, a fragment of an interview with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, about her own experiences with diabetes and alcoholism in the family.

Guests: Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court Justice, United States Supreme Court, Washington, D.C., www.supremecourt.gov (pretaped interview); Vanessa Cárdenas, Director of Progress 2050, Center for American Progress, Washington, D.C., www.americanprogress.org ; María Gonzalez Albuiexech, Communications and Markets Director, Healthcare for All Massachusetts, Boston, MA