Lopate - Underreported

Around the World in G8 Days (The Leonard Lopate Show: Thursday, 09 July 2009)

listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 05:00 GMT

We’ll get an update on the G8 summit in Italy from John Peet, editor of the Economist, followed by a look at President Obama's trip to Russia. The co-writers of "Shrek the Musical" talk about adapting a hit movie franchise into a Broadway show. Then, the story of Pyotr Smirnov, an uneducated serf in Czarist Russia who founded a vodka distillery and became one of country's wealthiest and most prominent merchants. Plus, this week’s Underreported looks at Pakistan's refugee crisis and Backstory goes over the history of coups in Central America.

Underreported: Pakistan's Humanitarian Crisis (The Leonard Lopate Show: Thursday, 09 July 2009)

listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 05:00 GMT

The Pakistani government's campaign against Taliban insurgents has created over 2 million internally displaced refugees in Pakistan. On today's Underreported we'll speak with Dominic MacSorley, who recently returned from Mardan District in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province. He is Director of Operations of Concern Worldwide USA.

From Russia with Love (The Leonard Lopate Show: Thursday, 09 July 2009)

listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 05:00 GMT

Before President Obama went to Italy, he headed to Russia. We look at what came out of Obama's visit and what the meeting means for both countries with Steven Cohen, contributing editor to the Nation and author of Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives: From Stalinism to the Cold War. Plus, we'll find out the role that Russia is playing the ongoing G8 summit.

Underreported: The Honduran Coup and the Media (The Leonard Lopate Show: Thursday, 02 July 2009)

listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:23 GMT

In the aftermath of last Sunday's coup in Honduras, there has been a massive media crackdown on reporters and organizations that are not seen as favorable to the new government. We’ll get the latest from Miami Herald foreign correspondent Frances Robles who is in the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa.

You can read Frances's article on press censorhip in Honduras here

Underreported: GE Benefits from Bank Bailout (The Leonard Lopate Show: Thursday, 02 July 2009)

listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:37 GMT

On this week’s Underreported, find out how GE, the world’s largest industrial company, has used a loophole to benefit from a government rescue program that's aimed at helping banks. ProPublica senior reporter Jeff Gerth explains how the loophole has helped GE get the money while avoiding many of the program’s restrictions.

Read the Washington Post article co-written by Jeff Gerth here.

Underreported: The Latest on Honduras (The Leonard Lopate Show: Thursday, 02 July 2009)

listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:37 GMT

Honduras is still in turmoil four days after a coup removed President Manuel Zelaya from power. We'll get the latest on the situation from Americas editor for the Economist magazine Mike Reid from London and New York Times Mexico City Bureau Chief Marc Lacey from Honduras.

You can read Marc's latest article for the Times here

Underreported: Political Corruption in Kenya (The Leonard Lopate Show: Thursday, 25 June 2009)

listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 05:00 GMT

On today's Underreported, Michaela Wrong, author of It's Our Turn to Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistleblower, discusses John Githongo, a pillar of the Kenyan establishment turned whistle-blower, becoming simultaneously one of the most hated and admired men in Kenya. She also explores the factors that continue to blight Africa—ethnic favoritism, government corruption, and the smug complacency of Western donor nations—probing the very roots of the continent's predicament.

Underreported: Eco-Barriers in Brazil (The Leonard Lopate Show: Thursday, 18 June 2009)

listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:19 GMT

Walls are going up around the slums of Rio de Janeiro. The Brazilian government is calling them "eco-barriers," designed to prevent Rio’s shantytowns from spilling into the city’s heavily forested hillsides, but opponents of the walls see them as a form of "geographic discrimination" that imprisons the residents. On today’s second Underreported we’ll talk to Antonio Regalado, The Wall Street Journal’s correspondent in Brazil about the walls and the controversy surrounding them.

Underreported: Middle Eastern Reaction to Iranian Turmoil (The Leonard Lopate Show: Thursday, 18 June 2009)

listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:49 GMT

Iraq, like Iran, is one of the few the countries in the world with a Shi'ite Muslim majority. And though the two countries were long rivals, many of today's Iraqi leaders — especially Shi'ites — spent the Saddam Hussein years as guests of the mullahs in Tehran. On today’s first Underreported we’ll look at how the controversy over Iran’s elections is playing in Iraq with Time magazine senior editor Bobby Ghosh and New York Times UN Bureau Chief Neil MacFarquhar.
You can read Bobby Ghosh's article on the subject here.
And you can read Neil MacFarquhar's latest article here.

Neil MacFarquhar was on the Leonard Lopate Show May 13, 2009, to discuss his book The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday. You can listen to that interview here.

Underreported: The Recession's Impact on Human Rights (The Leonard Lopate Show: Thursday, 28 May 2009)

listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Thu, 28 May 2009 13:48 GMT

The economic crisis has radically changed many of the ways in which the world functions, but one of the great recessions most disastrous side effects is an increase in global repression. Widespread economic problems are creating extensive social problems as people and governments cope with limited access to food, jobs, clean water, land, and housing. What’s more, growing unrest about the economy is leading to violence and political repression in many countries. We’ll speak with executive director of Amnesty International Larry Cox about where the suffering is worst and who is the most affected.

Underreported: The Food and Drug (and Tobacco?) Administration (The Leonard Lopate Show: Thursday, 14 May 2009)

listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:52 GMT

For years, the tobacco industry has resisted efforts to make tobacco a substance that’s regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, but a bill making its way through Congress could change that. Washington Post staff writer Lyndsey Layton describes how FDA regulation would change the tobacco industry and whether the bill has a chance of passing.

Underreported: Ungrades to US Nuclear Weapons Facilities (The Leonard Lopate Show: Thursday, 14 May 2009)

listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Thu, 14 May 2009 15:52 GMT

Despite President Obama's recent pledge to seek a world free of nuclear weapons, the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration is proposing a major upgrade to the nation's nuclear weapons complex, including the construction of new facilities that could produce thousands of new warheads over time. Bill Hartung is Director of Arms and Security Initiative at the New America Foundation.

Underreported: Child Soldiers in Burma (The Leonard Lopate Show: Thursday, 07 May 2009)

listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Thu, 07 May 2009 18:19 GMT

It’s been a year since a massive cyclone devastated Burma. Though much of the country is still in ruins the Burmese Armed Forces and associated armed groups have continued a decades long low-level conflict with opposing groups. According to a new report put out by Watchlist the Burmese government is coercing children as young as nine into the armed forces. On our second Underreported we’ll be joined by Julia Freedson, executive director of Watchlist and by Jennifer Haigh from the Karen Human Rights Group.

Underreported: The Melting Polar Ice Cap Resource Bonanza (The Leonard Lopate Show: Thursday, 07 May 2009)

listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Thu, 07 May 2009 14:42 GMT

As the polar ice caps melt, scientists are mapping the floor of the Arctic Ocean – including the natural resources like natural gas and oil. On today's first Underreported, McKenzie Funk describes the Healy Mapping Mission and how countries around the world are trying to lay claim to what’s underneath the ice caps. His article appears in the May issue of the National Geographic Magazine.

Underreported: Worries about Spanish Deflation (The Leonard Lopate Show: Thursday, 30 April 2009)

listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:24 GMT

Economists are always worried inflation, but now some economists are worried about the possibility of price deflation in Spain. On today’s first Underreported, Nelson Schwartz, European economic correspondent for the New York Times, explains what’s driving down prices in Spain and what that tells us about the country’s economy. You can read Nelson Schwartz's story about Spanish deflation here.

Underreported: The Psychology of Disease Panic (The Leonard Lopate Show: Thursday, 30 April 2009)

listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 05:00 GMT

The emergence of Swine Flu has set off a pandemic panic, but why? Dr. Robert Klitzman is Director of the Ethics and Policy at the HIV Center at Columbia University and researches why our culture overreacts to some diseases like Swine Flu but under-reacts to other threats. His latest book is When Doctors Become Patients.

Underreported: War Zone Contractors (The Leonard Lopate Show: Thursday, 23 April 2009)

listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:32 GMT

Civilian contractors like KBR have been used extensively in both Iraq and Afghanistan to support the American war efforts there, and up to 31,000 of them have been injured. Find out why these injured contractors have to fight insurance companies, including AIG, to get the medical care their injuries require. T. Christian Miller, a senior reporter for ProPublica, has co-written a story about the problems in the Los Angeles Times. We’ll also be joined by Tim Newman, who was injured while working in Iraq.

Underreported: The Persecution of Iraqi Gays (The Leonard Lopate Show: Thursday, 23 April 2009)

listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 05:00 GMT

Iraq's LGBT community is facing a wave of violence and persecution. Iraqi Police sources say that in the past month alone, the bodies of six young men have been found in Sadr City, some with placards labeling them "perverts" or "puppies", the derogatory Iraqi term for gays. We’ll speak with Ali Hili, founder of the Iraqi-gays-in-exile group Iraq LGBT from England. We’ll also be joined by US Representative Jared Polis, who recently returned from Iraq and has spearheaded efforts to investigate the treatment of Iraqi gays.

Underreported: Neodymium and Green Energy (The Leonard Lopate Show: Thursday, 16 April 2009)

listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:14 GMT

Neodymium is a rare earth metal and important component in the electric car engines and wind turbines that are being touted as the future of alternative energy. But, neodymium is not without it’s problems. We'll look at what neodymium is and why we may soon face a global shortage of it with New America Foundation Fellow Lisa Margonelli. Lisa is also author of the book Oil on the Brain

Underreported Update: Newtown Creek (The Leonard Lopate Show: Thursday, 16 April 2009)

listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 05:00 GMT

We take a look at the status of cleanup efforts in the heavily polluted Newtown creek on Brooklyn/Queens border. Alex Matthiessen and Phillip Musegaas are with the Riverkeeper organization.

Underreported: Jersey City Hexavalent Chromium (The Leonard Lopate Show: Thursday, 09 April 2009)

listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 05:00 GMT

In the 1982 the State of New Jersey began investigating the presence of the dangerous chemical hexavalent chromium on a 16-acre site in Jersey City. Today, the site remains contaminated. We’ll talk to Nancy S. Marks, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, about why it’s taken so long to clean up the site and why the NRDC filed a new lawsuit in February to enforce the clean-up effort.

Underreported: Energy Hearings (The Leonard Lopate Show: Thursday, 09 April 2009)

listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 05:00 GMT

The Obama Administration is hoping to take the county in a new direction on energy. We’ll get the latest news on the Department of the Interior’s hearings on US energy policy from Wall Street Journal energy reporter Brian Baskin.

Underreported: The Nuclear Scientist Shortage (The Leonard Lopate Show: Thursday, 02 April 2009)

listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:53 GMT

Nuclear energy is slated to become a bigger part of America's energy mix, but who will work at the plants once they've been built? Dr. Ivan Oelrich joins us to talk about the shortage of nuclear technicians and operators in the United States today. Dr. Oelrich is Vice President for Strategic Security programs at the Federation of American Scientists. We'll also be joined by Michael Scott Moore, a staff writer at Der Spiegel Online in Berlin.

Underreported: German Car Banks (The Leonard Lopate Show: Thursday, 26 March 2009)

listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:52 GMT

In Germany, savers are pulling their money out of traditional banks and depositing the money into German Car Banks. BMW’s Bank has seen deposits jump almost 70% over the past five months and the cash infusion is helping the company cope with the frozen credit markets. Jonathan Rosenthal is European Business and Finance Correspondent for the Economist magazine. He joins us from Berlin.

Underreported: South African Refugee Camp Closure (The Leonard Lopate Show: Thursday, 05 March 2009)

listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 05:00 GMT

Musina, South Africa is just across the border from Zimbabwe and home to a refugee camp there. Earlier this week, the South African government decided to close the camp which provides medical care, housing and food to its thousands of residents. We'll talk to Rachel Cohen, head of mission in South Africa for Doctors without Borders about the South African government’s decision to close the camp.