Octavia Nasr is on the line this week. The longtime CNN personality discusses how she cut her teeth reporting from the dangerous frontlines of Lebanon’s civil war; how women’s movements are shaping post-Arab Spring countries; and how a Tweet led to her being fired from CNN after 20 years of service.
Archives for May 2013
Episode 4: Arsalan Iftikhar, “The Muslim Guy”
You probably know him as “The Muslim Guy.” Arsalan Iftikhar is a civil rights lawyer and popular media commentator who fights daily against widespread bigotry facing Muslim Americans. In our conversation we discuss the how the child of immigrants from Pakistan got into this line of work, how the Bush administration officially sanctioned discrimination against Muslim Americans, and why Barack Obama refuses to set foot in an American Mosque.
Episode 3: Dodge Billingsley
This week’s guest is the filmmaker Dodge Billingsley. We discuss his new documentary about the political and cultural challenges of Korean unification; his time spent embedded with Chechen rebels; and the movies that that shaped his worldview.
Episode 2: Laura Seay, aka @TexasinAfrica
In this week’s episode, I talk with Dr. Laura Seay who you probably know better as @TexasinAfrica. I learn how the daughter of a preacher from a cotton farming community near Lubbock became one of America’s most influential Africanists. We talk about how activism around Africa (think: Kony 2012 and ‘conflict minerals’) often has nefarious consequences on the ground; how the DR Congo can get back on its feet; and, speaking of feet, why she cringes at the sight of TOMS shoes.
