Leonard Lopate - Back Story
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Backstory: US Drones Strikes and the "Disposition Matrix"
During Monday's Presidential debate, moderator Bob Schieffer asked just one question about U.S. drone-strikes, despite the fact that the controversial drone program is now one of the cornerstones of the country's counter-terrorism policy. Washington Post intelligence reporter Greg Miller tells us about his investigation of a next-generation targeting list called the “disposition matrix.” He's written about it in the Washington Post's special report, the Permanent War.
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Backstory: Privacy in the Digital Age
Verizon Wireless recently came under fire when it was revealed the company has begun selling information about its customers—including users’ geographical locations, app usage, and web browsing activities—to third parties. Last month the ACLU released documents showing a massive increase in electronic surveillance by the government. For this week's Backstory, CNET’s Declan McCullagh gives an update on digital privacy, explaining who is pushing the boundaries of what can be done with our...
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Backstory: The Medical Marijuana Industry
Since the mid 1990s, 16 states and the District of Columbia have passed medical marijuana laws. In some states, like California, a vast growing and dispensary system has sprung up for a drug that the federal government still considers illegal. Journalist Jim Rendon went behind the scenes with many of the people who work in what is both an illicit and quasi-legal industry. His book is called Supercharged: How Outlaws Hippies and Scientists Reinvented Marijuana.
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Backstory: The Future of Wall Street
More than four years after the financial crisis, Wall Street is still struggling to find a new business model. We'll speak with Tom Braithwaite, US Banking Editor at the Financial Times
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Backstory: The State of India
Adam Roberts, a correspondent for The Economist, examines the many economic and political challenges facing India as it rises on the world stage. His special report, "Aim Higher," is in the most recent issue of The Economist.
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Backstory: Voter ID Laws and the 2012 Election
On Tuesday, Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court vacated a ruling earlier this summer that had upheld the state’s Voter ID law. On this week’s Backstory, Richard Hasen, Chancellor’s Professor of Law and Political Science at the University of California Irvine School of Law, talks about how Pennsylvania is just the latest state where Voter ID laws are being challenged or struck down. And we’ll find out what that means for the election in November.
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Backstory: East China Sea Dispute
Dr. Sheila Smith, senior fellow for Japan Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, discusses the dispute between China and Japan over a group of tiny but resource rich islands.
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Backstory: The Early Days of Bain Capital
ProPublica’s Jesse Eisinger looks at the early days of Bain Capital, the private equity firm that Mitt Romney ran in the early 1990s. The firm’s work in turning around Staples is well known, but Bain was also sued several times for buying companies and selling them for a profit, without paying a finder’s fee.
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Backstory: No Terrorism Leads From Controversial NYPD...
For more than a year we’ve known about the New York Police Department’s controversial Demographics Unit, which in conjunction with the CIA has conducted surveillance of Muslim communities in the New York metro area. This week, we learned that in its six years of existence the unit has failed to produce a single lead or generate a terrorism investigation. Associated Press reporters Adam Goldman and Matt Apuzzo, who were part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team that broke the story of the...
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Backstory: What Happened at Standard Chartered
Earlier this week, the British bank Standard Chartered announced that it would pay $340 million in civil penalties to a New York State regulator to end an inquiry into whether the bank had processed $250 billion in transactions with Iran. On today’s Backstory, Thomas Easton, New York Finance and Economics Correspondent for the Economist, explains what happened at Standard Chartered, why other agencies are now investigating what happened, and what this and recent incidents tell us about bank...
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Backstory: For Profit Colleges
Village Voice contributor Chris Parker looks at the multibillion dollar world of for-profit colleges on today’s first Backstory segment. A number of for-profit colleges have been known to charge premium rates for a questionable education. Parker's article "For-Profit Colleges Only a Con Man Could Love" appears in the August 1 issue of the Village Voice.
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Backstory: What Happened at Standard Chartered
Earlier this week, the British bank Standard Chartered announced that it would pay $340 million in civil penalties to a New York State regulator to end an inquiry into whether the bank had processed $250 billion in transactions with Iran. On today’s Backstory, Thomas Easton, New York Finance and Economics Correspondent for the Economist, explains what happened at Standard Chartered, why other agencies are now investigating what happened, and what this and recent incidents tell us about bank...
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Backstory: The Maine Lobster Glut
This year’s lobster catch from Maine to Massachusetts has been near historic highs, causing prices to drop. But you probably wouldn’t know that if you ordered the crustacean in a New York restaurant. Dave Casoni, a lobsterman in Cape Cod, talks about what he’s catching this year. He's joined by Bob Bayer, professor and director of Animal and Veterinary Sciences at the University of Maine’s Lobster Institute.
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Backstory: Drought and Food Supplies Around the World
More than half of counties in the United States have been declared disaster zones due to drought. But the United States isn’t the only country experiencing crop failures or higher food costs as a result. On today’s second Backstory, Earth Policy Institute President Lester Brown talks about water shortages in Pakistan, East Africa, and elsewhere—and how they’re affecting food supplies.
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Backstory: Burma's Transformation
Over the last few years, Burma has been transformed from a repressive dictatorship to a developing democracy. But unlike other revolutions, this has been a top-down change. New Yorker staff writer Evan Osnos talks about how Burmese citizens are responding to the rapid changes and the transition to democracy. His article, “The Burmese Spring,” appears in the August 6 issue of the magazine.
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Backstory: Iraq After the U.S. Departure
Earlier this week Iraq was rocked by a series of coordinated attacks, which killed at least 115 people across the county. The associated press called the attacks the worst the country has seen in two years. Sebastian Walker, a correspondent for Fault Lines, on Al Jazeera English, looks at the situation in Iraq since the United States withdrawal.
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Backstory: Understanding Libor
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told Congress yesterday that he warned UK officials about problems with the LIBOR interbank lending rate as early as four years ago. ProPublica’s Cora Currier joins us to explain the ongoing LIBOR scandal.
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Backstory: Iraq After the U.S. Departure
Earlier this week Iraq was rocked by a series of coordinated attacks, which killed at least 115 people across the county. The associated press called the attacks the worst the country has seen in two years. Sebastian Walker, a correspondent for Fault Lines, on Al Jazeera English, looks at the situation in Iraq since the United States withdrawal.
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Backstory: Understanding Libor
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told Congress yesterday that he warned UK officials about problems with the LIBOR interbank lending rate as early as four years ago. ProPublica’s Cora Currier joins us to explain the ongoing LIBOR scandal.
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Backstory: What Happened at HSBC
This week the Senate held hearings on HSBC’s failure to halt illegal foreign transactions involving Mexican drug traffickers and Middle Eastern banks with suspected ties to terrorists. Tom Easton, the New York finance and economics correspondent for The Economist, talks about why the bank was overwhelmed by compliance demands of so many different countries—and why its competitors may be as well.
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Backstory: What Happened at HSBC
This week the Senate held hearings on HSBC’s failure to halt illegal foreign transactions involving Mexican drug traffickers and Middle Eastern banks with suspected ties to terrorists. Tom Easton, the New York finance and economics correspondent for The Economist, talks about why the bank was overwhelmed by compliance demands of so many different countries—and why its competitors may be as well.
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Backstory Update: Egypt Since Tahrir Square
Ashraf Khalil joined us in January 2011, as protesters filled Tahrir Square. On today’s Backstory, he updates us on how Egypt’s democracy has taken shape, the growing power struggle between the country’s military and its democratically elected officials, and the mixed messages of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit there earlier this week. Ashraf Khalil is the author of Liberation Square: Inside the Egyptian Revolution and the Rebirth of a Nation.
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Backstory: A History of Money in Politics
Mother Jones staff reporter Andy Kroll examines the four-decade fight over campaign fundraising and spending in American politics. His article, "Follow the Dark Money, " is in the July/August issue of Mother Jones.
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Backstory: The Rhetoric on Healthcare Reform
On the heels of today’s Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act, Propublica’s Charlie Ornstein and The Economist’s Charlotte Howardtake a look back at the political talking points which engulfed what came to be known as “Obamacare.”
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"Reportero"
Director Bernardo Ruiz talks about his documentary “Reportero,” which follows veteran reporter Sergio Haro and his colleagues at Zeta, a newspaper based in Tijuana, one of the most deadly places in the world to be a journalist. Since the paper’s founding in 1980, two of the paper’s editors have been murdered and the founder viciously attacked. Despite the attacks, the paper has continued its aggressive investigative reporting. “Reportero” will be shown as part of the Human Rights Watch Film...
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Backstory: Sectarian Violence in Sub-Saharan Africa
There has been an uptick in religious violence in Sub-Saharan Africa recently, including the rise of Islamist groups in Mali and church bombings in Nigeria. Eliza Griswold, a Guggenheim Fellow and author of the book The Tenth Parallel: Dispatches from the Fault Line Between Christianity and Islam, examines what’s happening and why.
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Backstory: The Eurozone Crisis
There’s been talk of Greece returning to the drachma and now the European Union and Germany are said to be exploring the possibility of rescuing Spain. On this week’s first Backstory, Peter Spiegel, Brussels Bureau Chief for the Financial Times, talks about the latest developments in the ongoing economic crisis in the Eurozone.
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Backstory: The Mubarak Trial and Egyptian Elections
The first round of voting in the Egyptian elections happened last week, and the verdict in the trial of former President Hosni Mubarak is expected this Saturday. Sherine Tadros, Cairo-based correspondent for Al Jazeera, discusses the state of Egyptian politics.
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Backstory: Moving Towards Justice for Victims of...
ProPublica’s Sebastian Rotella tells the story of Oscar Alfred Ramrez Castaeda, whose family lived in a remote village that was attacked as part of a government offensive in 1982, when he was still a child. Castaeda thought he had lost his entire family, but he was reunited with his father earlier this week, thanks to technologies and resources that are only now helping prosecutors and victims piece together what happened during the three-decade civil war in Guatemala in the hopes that...
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Backstory: Living Planet Report
The World Wildlife Fund has released its new Living Planet Report. Kate Newman, the Managing Director of Public Sector Initiatives and Field Programs at the WWF, assesses the state of global biodiversity.
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Backstory: Matt Taibbi on JP Morgan Chase
Matt Taibbi,Contributing Editor for Rolling Stone, joins us to talk about the recent $2 billion loss at JP Morgan Chase and the state of Wall Street. Taibbi is the author ofGriftopia: A Story of Bankers, Politicians, and the Most Audacious Power Grab in American History.
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Backstory: Nouri Al-Maliki
Financial Times middle east correspondent Michael Peel joins us to take a look at how Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki has ruled his country and responded to the various crises in the region.
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Backstory: The News Corp. Phone Hacking Scandal
Vanity Fair contributor Sarah Ellison looks at the ongoing fallout from the News Corp. phone hacking scandal and the toll it has taken on Rupert Mudrdoch’s media empire.
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Backstory: French Elections and the Euro
Stanley Pignal, private equity correspondent for the Financial Times, discusses the French presidential election and what the outcome could mean for the Euro.
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Backstory: The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection...
The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, or CISPA, is a controversial surveillance bill currently making it ways way through the House of Representatives. Declan McCullagh, chief political correspondent and senior writer at CNET, explains the bill, and why privacy advocates are so alarmed by it.
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Backstory: The Fight over Texas Textbooks
In 2009, religious conservatives launched a campaign in Texas to change how evolution was described in the state’s science textbooks. Director Scott Thurman talks about his documentary, “The Revisionaries,” which chronicles the fight over what would go into the state’s textbooks and its impact beyond the state’s borders. We’re also joined by two people who were involved in the debate: Ron McElroy, former chair of the Texas State Board of Education, and Kathy Miller, the president of the...
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Backstory: Brazil
Joseph Leahy, Brazil bureau chief for the Financial Times, talks about Brazil's economy, its rising global profile, and President Dilma Rousseff and her recent visit to the United States. We’ll also look at preparations for both the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 summer Olympics.
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Backstory: Preserving the Great Apes
On today’s first Backstory, Ofir Drori talks about his fight to protect apes from extinction, and discusses the endangered worlds in Africa—not just of animals but of people. He’s the author of The Last Great Ape: A Journey Through Africa and a Fight for the Heart of the Continent.
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Backstory: Matt Taibbi on Bank of America
Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi takes a look at the fragile situation at Bank of America. The bank that was deemed too big to fail and received a $45 billion government bailout has, Taibbi argues, defrauded investors and insurers, homeowners and the unemployed.
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Backstory: The EPA's New Rule for Coal-Fired Power Plants
On Tuesday, the Environmental Protection Agency issued the first limits on greenhouse gas emissions from newly constructed power plants. On today’s Backstory, Washington Post environment reporter Juliet Eilperin discusses why many are saying that the rule, which was years in the making, will mean the end of new coal-fired power plants.
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Backstory: Cambodia's Fight Against Drug-Resistant...
In late 2008, researchers found a strain of malaria that was resistant to a drug that held had promise for eliminating malaria in western Cambodia. Matthew Power, a contributing editor to Harper’s Magazine, explains why officials are now trying to contain the region – and why that containment strategy is almost impossible to implement. His article, “Slipping Through the Net” is in the April issue of Harper’s.
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Backstory: High-Frequency Trading
Bloomberg finance reporter Nina Mehta joins us to explain high-frequency trading.
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Backstory: Jeremy Scahill on Yemen
Jeremy Scahill, National Security Reporter for The Nation magazine, talks about the United States’ increasingly unpopular counter-terrorism efforts in Yemen.
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Backstory: NYPD surveillance Tactics
Over the last 6 months, a series of Associated Press reports have revealed some of the tactics used by the New York City Police Department in their counterterrorism operations since 2001, including a human mapping program in some minority neighborhoods and infiltrating mosques and Muslim student groups. Associated Press reporters Adam Goldman and Matt Apuzzo, two members of the investigative team, discuss the series, which won the George Polk Award for Metropolitan Reporting earlier this...
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Backstory Update: Anonymous
Journalist Quinn Norton, contributor to Wired magazine's Threat Level blog, returns to give us an update on what the Internet collective Anonymous has been up to recently.
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Backstory: "Putin's Kiss" and the Nashi youth movement...
On today’s Backstory, we’ll look at the Nashi youth movement in Russia, which was started in 2005 and has close ties to the Kremlin. With thousands of members, the group rallies in favor of the government and harass the political opposition. Director Lise Birk Pedersen talks about her documentary “Putin’s Kiss,” which follows a young Nashi leader as she gradually becomes disenchanted by the movement—and the opposition journalists who risk their safety to criticize the Nashi. She's joined by...
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Backstory: American Manufacturing
More goods are being produced in American factories that in recent decades, but employment in those same facilities is falling. Adam Davidson, co-founder and co-host of Planet Money, a co-production of NPR and This American Life, discusses the decline of American manufacturing jobs and looks at why the jobs crisis will be so difficult to solve. He's the author of "Making It in America," in the January/February issue of The Atlantic.
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Backstory: Super-PACs
ProPublica’s Kim Barker and Al Shaw take a look at the role Super-PACs are playing in the 2012 election.
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Backstory: Diplomacy Surrounding Syria
Last month, the Arab League sent a team of observers to Syria, where the government has been cracking down on protesters. Colum Lynch, who writes the Turtle Bay blog for Foreign Policy and reports on the United Nations for the Washington Post, explains what internal Arab League memos reveal about the mission in Syria. Plus, a look at why Russia opposed the United Nations Security Council measure to condemn the Syrian government during a meeting on Tuesday.
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Backstory: The Global Index of Press Freedom 2011-2012
Delphine Halgand, the Washington, DC, director of Reporters Without Borders, looks at the recent report on international press freedom issued by Reporters Without Borders and examine why the United States dropped 27 places to number 47 this year.
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Backstory: EU and Debt
Earlier this week, Standard Poor’s downgraded the credit of nine European countries. In Greece, the government and private creditors continue to meet to renegotiate the debt there. On today’s first Backstory, Stuart Kirk, the head of the Lex column in The Financial Times, discusses this week’s negotiations, why many in Europe are now bracing for a Greek default, and how Europe is trying to cope with its continuing debt crisis in the new year.
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Backstory: Obama's Ground Game and the Keystone Pipeline
Kate Andersen Brower, reporter for Bloomberg News, takes a look at the size and scope of President Barack Obama’s reelection apparatus and his administration’s recent decision to block the Keystone XL Pipeline.
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Backstory: 10 Years of Guantanmo
The U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, turned 10 years old yesterday. Carol Rosenberg, Miami Herald reporter, looks back at a decade of Gitmo.
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Backstory: Anonymous
Quinn Norton, a contributor to Wired magazine’s Threat Level blog, talks about the online collective Anonymous.
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Backstory: Hungary's New Constitution
Over the last few weeks, thousands of Hungarians have been in the streets, protesting the government’s changes to the country’s constitution. On today’s second Backstory, journalist Adam LeBor joins us from Budapest to discuss why the new constitution has raised concerns within Hungary and around the world, and why the changes could affect the country’s access to economic aid from the IMF and the EU.
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Backstory: Saving the Sturgeon
The Atlantic sturgeon has been around for more than 85 million years, but years of overfishing, habitat loss, and warming ocean temperatures have pushed the species to the brink of extinction. OnEarth contributing editor Bruce Stutz talks about the efforts to save the sturgeon.
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Backstory: Swelling Federal Police Ranks
There are police forces tucked away in federal departments not typically associated with law enforcement, like the Environmental Protection Agency, the Bureau of Land Management, and even the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Wall Street Journal reporter Gary Fields explains why these agencies have police powers and why the number of departmental police officers have swelled over the last few decades.
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Backstory: Bradley Manning Trial
Liza Goitein, co-director of the Liberty National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, joins us to discuss the trial of Bradley Manning as it wraps up.
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Backstory: Russian Politics
Last weekend, thousands gathered in Moscow to protest for new parliamentary elections after accusations of fraud and widespread vote falsification were made. On Monday, billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov announced that he would challenge Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in the presidential election in the spring. And Wednesday, the speaker of Parliament—an ally of Putin’s—resigned. On today’s Backstory, Stephen Sestanovich, George F. Kennan Senior Fellow for Russian and Eurasian Studies at the...
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Backstory: The Stop Online Piracy Act
Declan McCullagh, a senior writer and chief political correspondent for CNET, takes a look at some of the concerns surrounding the Stop Online Piracy Act. The House is set to take action on the bill today.
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Backstory: What OWS Can Learn From Argentina
In the late 1990s, Argentina spiraled into a recession not unlike our own. That economic crisis also spawned the “piquetero movement,” where activists pioneered a system of strategic roadblocks as a form of protest. Nikolas Kozloff, author of Revolution! South America and the Rise of the New Left, discusses what the piqueteros did and didn’t accomplish and what lessons Occupy Wall Street can learn from the movement.
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Backstory: Efforts to Stabilize the Eurozone
On today's second Backstory, we'll look at the latest efforts to stabilize the Eurozone as the debt crisis there continues. Peter Spiegel, Brussels Bureau Chief for the Financial Times, gives us an update on the first day of meetings of European leaders in Brussels, and whether a proposed overhaul of the European treaty is likely to find support there.
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Backstory: Drones and the History of Bombing
Drones are a key component of U.S. military operations all over the world—in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen. But, a number of critics question their efficacy and their expanded use on the battlefield and off. Daniel Swift explores the nature of aerial warfare—both manned and pilotless—in his article "Conjectural Damage: A History of Bombing." It appears in the November issues of Harper’s magazine.
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Backstory: Maoist Rebels in India
Arundhati Roy discusses the Maoist insurgency in India and the fight against corporations looking to exploit the rare minerals buried in tribal lands. In Walking with the Comrades, Roy takes readers to the unseen front lines of this ongoing battle, chronicling her months spent living with the rebel guerillas in the forests. In documenting their local struggles, Roy addresses the larger question of whether global capitalism will tolerate any societies existing outside of its control.
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Backstory: The Debate Over Gun Control in America
Adam Winkler examines America's four-centuries-long political battle over gun control and the right to bear arms. Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America is centered on the landmark 2008 case District of Columbia v. Heller, which invalidated a law banning handguns in the nation's capital, and looks at the Founding Fathers, the Second Amendment, gun rights advocates and gun control lobbyists, and the debate over guns.
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Backstory: William Colby and the CIA
Carl Colby talks about his father, William Colby, who was director of the CIA from 1973 to 1976, a tumultuous time in the agency's history that saw the resignation of Richard Nixon, the implosion of the Vietnam War and the Church Committee Hearings. Carl Colby directed the film "The Man Nobody Knew," about Colby's tenure at the agency and his life before and after. "The Man Nobody Knew" is playing at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas and the Quad Cinema.
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Backstory: Slovakia's Rejection of the Eurozone Debt Plan
On Thursday, Slovakia's parliament approved the latest proposal to address the Eurozone's debt crisis, but it was the second time that the measure came to a vote this week. On Tuesday, the parliament had rejected it. On today’s second Backstory, Peter Spiegel, Brussels Bureau Chief for the Financial Times, discusses some of the reasons behind the rejection and how the Eurozone’s smaller countries feel about the plans to stabilize the economy that have been developed by the larger economies...
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Backstory: Omar Khadr & Guantanamo
In July 2002, 15-year-old Omar Khadr was picked up in Afghanistan by U.S. forces and accused of killing an American soldier with a hand grenade. Although he is a Canadian citizen, Kadhr remains in the U.S. Prison at Guantanamo Bay and is the only Westerner still held there. Filmmakers Luc Ct and Patricio Henriquez talk about about their documentary "You Don’t Like the Truth: 4 Days Inside Guantanamo," which includes excerpts from Khadr’s 2003 videotaped interrogation by Canadian intelligence...
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Backstory: What Solyndra Can Teach Us about Green...
The bankruptcy of California-based solar-panel producer Solyndra made headlines last month when it was revealed that the company had received $527 million in federal loans and that the Energy Department had later agreed to restructure its government-backed loan in an effort to help the ailing firm. On today’s Backstory, Lisa Margonelli, director of the Energy Policy Initiative at the New America Foundation, explains what lessons the Solyndra bankruptcy can teach us about federal investment...
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Backstory: Park51 and Sharif El-Gamal
Sharif El-Gamal, the developer of the Park51 project, talks about the passionate national debate that was sparked last year when the Islamic Community Center and mosque was proposed. Yesterday, Park51 opened its doors. Frontline tells the story of Sharif El-Gamal and the story of the Ground Zero Mosque controversy. “The Man Behind the Mosque” airs Tuesday, September 27, at 9 pm on PBS.
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Backstory: Prosecuting the Guatemalan Genocide
In the early 1980s, an estimated 200,000 Guatemalans were killed in a genocide carried out by the country’s military. Documentary filmmaker Pamela Yates was there in 1982 shooting footage of the struggle for her documentary, “When the Mountains Tremble.” On today’s Backstory, Yates discusses the efforts to prosecute some of Guatemala’s highest ranking generals for the genocide, and how her film footage has been used to help build a case against them. She tells the story in her latest film,...
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Backstory: Canadian Tar Sands & the Keystone XL Pipeline
The world’s largest energy project is underway in Alberta, Canada. Petroleum is being excavated from vast deposits of tar sands and a proposed pipeline would carry it to refineries in the United States. Journalist Andrew Nikiforuk, author of Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent, examines the ecological and economic impacts of the plan to develop the oil sands.
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Backstory: Hollywood & The Pentagon
Hollywood and the Pentagon have a long history of cooperation. On today’s Backstory segment David Sirota, a journalist radio host and author of Back to Our Future: How the 1980s Explain the World We Live in Now, examines how the Department of Defense leans on major studios to change their scripts in ways that promote militarism.
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Backstory: Protests in India
A battle over anti-corruption legislation has led to major protests and hunger strikes in India. Mira Kamdar, senior fellow at the World Policy Institute and associate fellow at the Asia Society, fills us in on what’s going on there for today’s Backstory.
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Backstory: Continuing Unrest in Yemen
As a brutal crackdown on protesters continues in Syria, the unrest in Yemen has slipped from the headlines. On today’s Backstory, Fawaz Gerges, a professor of Middle Eastern Politics and International Relations at the London School of Economics, describes what’s happened in the drought-stricken, poor country over the last few weeks, including the formation of a national council by those opposed to President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
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Backstory: The Gulf Dead Zone
A major oxygen-depleted dead zone has returned to the Gulf of Mexico this year, killing large numbers of marine life and damaging the region’s already fragile economy. Dr. Nancy Rabalais, chief scientist of the Louisiana Marine Consortium, who recently returned from an expedition in the Gulf, and Matt Rota, Director of Science and Water Policy at the Gulf Restoration Network, explain the causes and consequences of dead zones.
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Backstory: Developments in Syria
On Wednesday, the United Nations Security Council issued a statement, condemning the violent government crackdown in Syria. Blake Hounshell, managing editor of Foreign Policy, discusses the situation in Syria, where shelling continues in the city of Hama, and the impact of the Security Council’s statement, and why Lebanon refused to sign on to it.
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Backstory: Human Body Part Trafficking
The global market in human body parts is valued in billions of dollars. Scott Carney, a contributing editor at Wired magazine and author of the book The Red Market, tells us about the organs, bones, and even whole people that are bought and sold every day in a vast hidden economy known as the “red market.”
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Backstory: Handling the European Debt Crisis
On Thursday, the European Council held an emergency meeting to discuss the debt problems that several Eurozone countries—including Italy, Greece, and Portugal—are facing. On today’s Backstory, Iain Begg, Professorial Research Fellow at the European Institute at the London School of Economics, discusses what happened at the meeting and how the continuing economic problems are affecting the entire Eurozone.
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Backstory: The Gay Bar
The gay bar has long been at the center of the social, and even political, lives of gays and lesbians. June Thomas, Slate’s foreign editor, talks about the gay bar’s history; its many incarnations and whether it remains relevant in today’s society. Her six part series for Slate is called The Gay Bar: Its Riotous Past and Uncertain Future.
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Backstory: The Future of the Space Program
Derrick Pitts, chief astronomer at the Franklin Institute, discusses the future of the U.S. space program now that the last shuttle mission is set to launch.
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