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On September 6th Israel launched secret air strikes against Syria. Or did they? Over three weeks later none of the governments reportedly involved, Israel, the U.S. or Syria, have officially confirmed the action, much less the details. Keith Richburg, foreign editor of The Washington Post, explains how hard it is to report on a secret.
Images of Burmese monks protesting their country’s military dictatorship reverberated around the world this week. But with foreign journalists banned from the country and government censors working overtime, information has come increasingly at a premium. Exiled Burmese editor Sein Win explains how he’s getting, and checking, the story.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the most visible dignitary to address the United Nations this week. Columbia University Professor Edward Luck explains that Ahmadinejad is part of a long list of demagogues who have turned their U.N. address into a theatrical production.
With climate change looming large in the national consciousness, nuclear energy is experiencing a PR makeover. This Monday saw the first proposal for new reactors in America since the Three Mile Island meltdown in 1979. We look into the evolution of nuclear energy's image.
In January, President Bush granted an interview to NPR’s Juan Williams. Last week, the White House rang to offer Williams a second sit-down but NPR declined. Why? NPR’s Ellen Weiss explains.
Manga is Japan’s ubiquitous art form; a kind of comic book equivalent that illustrates everything from tax preparation to hard-core fantasy. But it is its growing success outside Japan that’s highlighted its new utility, what Japanese politicians are calling ‘manga diplomacy.’ Roland Kelts, author of Japanamerica, explains why politicians are recognizing the form as a powerful cultural export.
Hollywood films helped Americans cope with the long and harsh realities of World War Two. That tradition continues today. Hollywood is still telling stories about the Second World War, even as it produces several films about the current war. WNYC’s Sara Fishko reports.
This month marks the 50th anniversary of the last game played by the Dodgers at Ebbets Field. Journalists Michael Shapiro, Neil J. Sullivan and Len Shapiro reflect on the days when Dem Bums left Brooklyn and headed west.
Highlights from Past Shows
This week's arrest of the Khmer Rouge's second-in-command seems like an opportunity for Cambodians to reconcile with the past. But, as Megan Williams reports, a skeptical generation has come of age - too young to remember and unwilling to believe - the horrors of the Communist regime.
Miami Herald reporter Carol Rosenberg observed last week that Guantánamo has become a recurrent pop-cultural trope throughout the world – in memoirs and novels, visual arts and theater, and even song. Rosenberg, who has visited the prison many dozens of times, believes that Gitmo has long since left the island of Cuba and taken on a symbolic life of its own.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
