Tag Archives: iraq

Podcast

Deborah Campbell, A DISAPPEARANCE IN DAMASCUS & Melissa Fleming, A HOPE MORE POWERFUL THAN THE SEA

As this show was being produced, the news came that the Supreme Court has upheld part of Donald Trump’s Muslim Ban — the part blocking new refugees coming from six majority-Muslim nations. The justices reversed rulings by a federal judge in Hawaii and the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The ban will affect some 24,000 refugees seeking asylum, among them those fleeing war-torn Syria.

We focus today on the human cost of war. Journalist Deborah Campbell tells us about her book, A Disappearance in Damascus: Friendship and Survival in the Shadow of War. Then, we re-air our interview earlier this year with Melissa Fleming about her book, A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea: One Refugee’s Incredible Story of Love, Loss, and Survival.

The books tell the stories of two refugees, one who fled Iraq into Syria and then had to flee Syria to the United States — long before Trump’s Muslim ban. The other story is about a Syrian refugee who barely survived the treacherous crossing from Turkey to Europe to resettled in the far more welcoming country of Sweden. Both stories are about the real cost of war — a cost few Americans ever get to see. Continue reading

Podcast

Tyler Boudreau, PACKING INFERNO

Tyler Boudreau
Tyler Boudreau

Writers Voice spends the hour with former Marine Captain Tyler Boudreau. His brutally honest, brilliantly written memoir is PACKING INFERNO: The Unmaking of a Marine.

Boudreau also educates the public on veterans’ issues and is the founder of Collaborative Revolution. He is planning a 2009 cross country bicycle trip by veterans to “to positively re-invest their strength in America.” Continue reading

Podcast

Ron Suskind, THE WAY OF THE WORLD and ELIZABETH WINTHROP, COUNTING ON GRACE

Elizabeth Winthrop
Elizabeth Winthrop
Ron Suskind
Ron Suskind

Francesca talks with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Ron Suskind about [amazon-product text=”The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism” type=”text”]0061430633[/amazon-product]. Also, Elizabeth Winthrop on [amazon-product text=”COUNTING ON GRACE” type=”text”]0553487833[/amazon-product], the story of an 11-year old girl working in the textile mills of Vermont at the turn of the twentieth century. Continue reading

Podcast

THE HAKAWATI and SO WRONG FOR SO LONG

[amazon-product align=”right”]0307386279[/amazon-product]

Rabih Alameddine
Rabih Alameddine

We talk with Lebanese writer Rabih Alameddine about his new novel, [amazon-product text=”THE HAKAWATI” type=”text”]0307386279[/amazon-product]. Framed around the story of a family in modern-day Lebanon, the novel weaves fiction, fable and epic into a wonderful tapestry.

And journalist and editor Greg Mitchell tells us about how the press and the punditocracy failed the public on Iraq. His book is [amazon-product text=”SO WRONG FOR SO LONG: How the Press, the Pundits and the President Failed on Iraq” type=”text”]1402756577[/amazon-product].

The audio for this episode is available upon request for a donation of $4.99 to Writers Voice. Contact writersvoice [at] wmua.org.

Podcast

Dahr Jamail, BEYOND THE GREEN ZONE

Dahr Jamail

Dahr Jamail, BEYOND THE GREEN ZONE: Dispatches From an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq.

Dahr Jamail was perhaps the only American journalist to remain unembedded long after other reporters holed up in the Green Zone. In BEYOND THE GREEN ZONE he exposes the impact of the war and US occupation on the lives of ordinary Iraqi civilians.

Podcast

Jeremy Scahill and Giuliana Sgrena

Jeremy Scahill, independent journalist and frequent contributor to Pacifica’s Democracy Now!, talks about his explosive new book, BLACKWATER: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army. And Italian journalist, Giuliana Sgrena, talks about FRIENDLY FIRE: The Remarkable Story of a Journalist Kidnapped in Iraq, Rescued by an Italian Secret Service Agent, and Shot by U.S. Forces.

Web Extras

Web Extra: John Dickerson on The White House Press

John Dickerson
John Dickerson

John Dickerson talks about why the White House Press correspondents failed to ask the Bush Administration tough questions about the Iraq War. Dickerson covered the White House for Time magazine. He made news himself when he asked Bush whether he thought he’d made any mistakes during his administration.

You can listen to the full interview here.

Podcast

How Did American Incompetence Create a War Without End?

Peter Galbraith
Peter Galbraith

In this 2006 interview, Peter Galbraith says why he thinks the best solution for ethnic conflict in Iraq is to divide the country into three autonomous ethnic regions: for the Kurds, Shia, and Sunni. He was not a fan of the Bush Administration’s nation-building efforts in Iraq. His predictions of civil war in Iraq proved prescient. As of this 2009 update, the situation has quieted, but Galbraith’s prescription for Kurdish autonomy has largely been carried out. Continue reading