Background Briefing has a new home at BackgroundBriefing.org.
Please visit and bookmark the new site. You can search show archives here.
Background Briefing has a new home at BackgroundBriefing.org.
Please visit and bookmark the new site. You can search show archives here.
| LISTEN TO FULL PROGRAM | ||
| We begin with indications that the bombings in Boston were acts of domestic terrorism and speak with Mark Potok, the Director of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project and editor of their Hatewatch blog. We discuss the rampant speculation surrounding the bombings and try to assess possible motives for domestic terrorist groups to engage in an act whose sole purpose seems to be to kill Americans. |
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Then we speak with Dan Kennedy who is a regular panelist on “Beat the Press’, a weekly roundtable program on media issues on WGBH – TV in Boston, to get a sense of how the city is dealing with this shocking tragedy and how its citizens are responding to comforting victims and their families and efforts by law enforcement to investigate who was behind the bombings. Dan Kennedy has an article at CNN “Our ‘greatest day’ turns to horror”. |
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| Then we discuss China's release of a Defense White Paper revealing the structure of its military with China expert June Teufel Dreyer, who was Asia Advisor to the Chief of Naval Operations and is the author of "China's Political System: Modernization and Tradition". We look into the autonomy of China's military and the extent of political control over it. |
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Then finally, we go to Caracas, Venezuela to get an update on the tense and polarized situation following a very close election that has the winner, Maduro, accusing American imperialists of financing and directing acts of violence. Meanwhile the loser, Capriles, is demanding a recount, and has called off the planned rally to protest the results on Wednesday that the government has said it would not allow. Virginia Lopez, who covers Latin America and Venezuela for the U.K. Guardian and Sky TV joins us. She has an article at the U.K. Guardian, "Venezuela's opposition makes noise against Nicolás Maduro's victory." |
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Taking listeners deep into the underlying issues and forces that shape our world.
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