Spring 2013 Round-Up
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Photo by Flying Kite Media
This spring, War News Radio brought you along with us everywhere from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Philadelphia, to Baghdad ten years after the 2003 invasion, to the water-starved regions of Syria and Yemen. Along the way, we’ve explained the many stakeholders in the conflict in Mali, checked in with Bahrain’s “forgotten revolution”, and even launched a new satirical commentary segment we call Filibusted.
After some fond goodbyes in May, we’ve closed shop for the summer. We’ll be back in September with our usual mix of in-depth reporting and news analysis – plus a few new features. Until then, here’s a round-up of everything we’ve produced since January to tide you over.
Full Shows:
Moving On, Moving Out
10 Years Since Iraq
Forward Thinking
Changing Landscapes
Segments:
Women in Combat
Filibusted: This Week’s Political Satire
Mapping the War
Yemen: Scarce Water, Security Threat?
Filibusted Presents: Climate Change
Blog posts:
Lebanon’s Movement to Reclaim its Past and its Missing Citizens
War News Radio Explainer: Mali
Swarthmore Stand Hosts White House Call-In
Foreign Policy and Promises in 2013 State of the Union
The Forgotten Revolution
The Best of #dronevalentines
One Billion Rising: Campaign Seeks to End Gender-Based Violence
UN Fails to Pass Arms Trade Treaty
Update: WNR Reporter Receives First Place in Region 1, Mark of Excellence Awards
Fly Away Drones
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Today, for the first time, President Obama acknowledged and rigorously defended drone strikes targeting militants in Yemen and other parts of the world.
At least to my ears, the speech is a clear response to critics who say drone strikes are an unconstitutional use of executive power and a violation of human rights. Earlier this spring, I met some of those critics at a protest on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. Here’s the piece I produced for our April show about whether robotics researchers who receive defense grants from the government should share the blame for drone strikes.
Filibusted Presents: Climate Change
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It’s hard to listen to the news without getting angry. War News Radio’s Caroline Batten and Elliana Bisgaard-Church have stopped trying. WNR proudly presents “Filibusted”, with all the news that makes us tear our hair out. This month’s topic? Climate change.
Yemen: Scarce Water, Security Threat?
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The ten most water-stressed countries in the world – gosh, it sounds like a bad Buzzfeed article – are all in the Middle East or North Africa. Yemen, perhaps best known in the U.S. as the target of covert drone strikes, is in an especially dire position. War News Radio’s Amy DiPierro asks whether water – as much as terror – is a security threat to the world.
This Month on War News Radio: Changing Landscapes
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In this month’s show, we examine three issues that build on the relationship between environmental stresses and conflict. First, we examine the impact of a five-year drought on the Syrian Revolution. Then, we investigate the effects of changes in global climate on farming, particularly in regions prone to conflict. Finally, we ask whether water scarcity in Yemen is a threat to national security. But first, a brief commentary on the current state of environmental issues.
Swarthmore SPJP Simulates West Bank Checkpoint
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This week, Swarthmore’s Students for Peace and Justice in Palestine (SPJP) erected a temporary wall in front of Parrish Hall.
This week, Swarthmore’s Students for Peace and Justice in Palestine (SPJP) erected a temporary wall in front of Parrish Hall, the College’s main administrative building, to simulate a checkpoint along the wall that separates Israel from the West Bank.
SPJP members acting as Israeli Defense Force (IDF) guards have manned the checkpoint at appointed times. Their hope, members said, is to give students a taste of what Palestinians face by interrupting students’ movement, questioning them, and doing random backpack searches.
SPJP member Razi Shaban said that punitive measures at Israeli checkpoints “breed militarism, radicalizing more than they pacify.”
The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories counts approximately 70 checkpoints both within and bordering the West Bank.
