This week, as blood is shed yet again between Israel and Hamas, and both sides are willing to kill civilians in pursuit of their domestic political agendas, listen to my conversation with Palestinian EMAD BURNAT and Israeli GUY DAVIDI, co-directors of the Academy Award-nominated documentary, 5 BROKEN CAMERAS. It tells the story of Burnat, a Palestinian farmer, his wife, and four small children in the West Bank village of Bil’in. Tracking the destruction of each of his cameras, we witness a son grow from a newborn to a young boy while families’ ancient olive trees are bulldozed and protests intensify. We spoke in February 2013, just before that year’s Academy Awards.

 

 

 

Aired 09/18/11

ROBIN WRIGHT said of her last book ROBIN WRIGHT, “My goal was to probe deep inside societies of the Middle East for the emerging ideas and players that are changing the political environment in ways that will unfold for decades to come.” Just three years later, ROCK THE CASBAH tells the stunning personal stories behind the rejection of both autocrats and extremists in the Muslim world.

She describes the new phase of the Islamic activism as a counter-jihad. For some, it’s about reforming the faith. For others, it’s overhauling political systems. For all, it is about basic rights-on their own terms and not necessarily based on Western models. Muslims are now confronting extremism and rescuing their faith from a virulent minority, thereby taking charge of history and doing what the West cannot.

ROBIN WRIGHT has reported from more than 140 countries on 6 continents for numerous news organizations, including several years with the LA Times. She has been a fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace, Brookings Institution, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Yale, Duke, Stanford and others, and is the author of five books. Her latest is ROCK THE CASBAH: Rage and Rebellion Across the Islamic World.

http://www.robinwright.net/

 

Aired 07/25/10

VALERIE PLAME, CIA agent outed by Bush White House Her focus: non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. She's featured in the film 
COUNTDOWN TO ZERO, playing in NY and DC opening in LA July 30th.

http://www.globalzero.org/

How big a threat is North Korea? Will Iran go nuclear? Will Israel attack Iran? Are nukes safe in Pakistan? Are they safe in the former Soviet Union? Will Obama move seriously toward disarmament?

The globalization of the 21st century has produced positive and peaceful exchanges between peoples and nations, and it has given birth to global terrorism. Today a nuclear attack caused by accident, miscalculation or madness is a real possibility. The film COUNTDOWN TO ZERO (playing in NY and Washington and opening July 30th in LA) makes clear the nuclear threat and calls on us to commit to their abolition.

COUNTDOWN TO ZERO traces the history of the atomic bomb from its origins to the present, where nine nations possess nuclear weapons capabilities, and others race to join them. The world lives in a delicate balance that could be obliterated by an act of terrorism, failed diplomacy, or a simple accident.

The film, which includes Jimmy Carter, Mikhail Gorbachev, Pervez Musharraf and Tony Blair, was written and directed by Lucy Walker (Devil's Playground, Blindsight), produced by Lawrence Bender (Inglourious Basterds, An Inconvenient Truth) and developed, financed and executive produced by Participant Media, together with World Security Institute.