Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the shooting of three Muslim university students in Chapel Hill, North Carolina that appears to be a hate crime although the shooter posted on Facebook that he hated “radical Christians and “radical Muslims” alike. Jonathan Weiler, the Director of Global Studies at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and author of “Authoritarianism and Polarization in American Politics” joins us to discuss the local reaction to this atrocity and the growing outrage trending on Twitter at the hashtag #MuslimLivesMatter, as well as assessing its global impact since anger at U.S. media coverage is spreading in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries at a perceived double standard that a white American killer is likely to be considered mentally ill while a Muslim shooter is automatically labeled a terrorist.  

Part 2

Then we assess the slim chance of a lasting peace agreement coming out of Wednesday’s summit meeting in Minsk between the leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine with John Mearsheimer, Professor of Political Science and the co-director of the Program on International Security Policy at the University of Chicago. We discuss his article at The New York Times “Don’t Arm Ukraine” and the last-ditch efforts of European leaders to get a ceasefire and make a deal with Putin before the U.S. is likely to start arming Ukraine to counter the superior Russian military equipment with which the Russians are arming their separatist proxies.

Part 3

Then finally, with the six months suspension of NBC’s news anchor Brian Williams for exaggerating his wartime experience in Iraq, we speak with a veteran Pulitzer Prize-winning American photojournalist Lynsey Addario, about her very real experiences on the battlefronts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Darfur and the Congo which she documents in her new book, just out, “It’s What I Do: A Photographer’s Life of Love and War”.

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the report from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, based on files from insiders at the Swiss branch of the British bank HSBC revealing the bank provided extensive services to wealthy customers including politicians, royalty, soccer and tennis pros, Hollywood actors, rock stars, dictators, arms dealers and criminal bosses, enabling them to avoid paying taxes and conceal millions in assets. William Black, the former chief prosecutor who investigated the savings and loan disaster and is the author of “The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One,” joins us to discuss the list of 100,000 clients with accounts containing $120 billion and hidden assets of 204.5 billiion. 

Part 2

Then we look into the White House meeting between President Obama and German Chancellor Merkel ahead of her planned meeting on Wednesday with the leaders of France, Russia and Ukraine. A specialist on German security policy,Thomas Berger, Professor of International Relations at Boston University, joins us to discuss the different security cultures in Germany and the U.S., highlighted by contentious exchanges at the recent security conference in Munich between Angela Merkel and Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain.   

Part 3

Then finally we speak with Rebecca Borne, Senior policy Counsel at The Center for Responsible Lending who focuses on regulatory and Policy issues in particular Payday lenders. She joins us to discuss recent moves by the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to reign in the abusive practices of payday lenders, a $46 billion industry that charges up to 400% interest and hooks poor people on loan after loan to pay off earlier loans. We also look into how the prospect of new federal rules is driving payday lenders to lobby state legislators in Kentucky, Washington and New Mexico where they have tapped former Governor Jerry Apodaca as one of their lobbyist.