June 21 - A Racist Media Narrative Emerges From the Latest Massacre; The Failure of Diplomacy Between Greece and the European Union; How Cowardice is Used to Promote Wars and Influence Foreign Policy

Full Program

Part 1

We be begin with an analysis of the racist media narrative emerging from coverage of the latest shooting of African Americans, the massacre of nine worshipers in Charleston, South Carolina. Anthea Butler, a Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania joins us to discuss the double standard in the media where white suspects are considered isolated lone wolves, or “one of these wacked-out kids” as Senator Lindsey Graham described the Charleston shooter, while violence by black or Muslim people is automatically tied to all who share their race or religion. We also discuss her article at The Washington Post “Shooters of color are called ‘terrorists’ and ‘thugs’. Why are white shooters called mentally ill?”

Part 2

Then we go to Athens, Greece for an update on the on-going debt crisis that has finally hit the wall as the head of Greece’s national bank cautions that it would be “insane” not to reach an agreement on Monday and German Chancellor Angela Merkel warns there must be a deal between Greece and its creditors before Monday’s make-or-break meeting in Brussels. John Brady Kiesling, a former political counselor at the U.S. embassy in Athens, who was the first of three Foreign Service Officers to resign over the Iraq war, joins us to discuss the failure of diplomacy amid increasingly strident political posturing as Greece runs out of time and Greek banks are likely to run out of Euros.

Part 3

Then finally we look into how the fear of cowardice has been used to promote wars and influence foreign policy where machismo become strength and nuance weakness, leading to the notion that decisiveness is best, even if the decisions are wrong. Chris Walsh, the director of the College of Arts and Sciences Writing Program at Boston University and author of “Cowardice: A Brief History” joins us to discuss his article at Foreign Affairs “The Coward’s Guide to History: Why We Really Fight Wars” and how the fear of being cowardly can itself be cowardly, because if there were less fear of cowardice, wars might be fewer and briefer.