December 29 - Obama Sanctions Russian Diplomats and Spies; The Blonde Prosperity Gospel Televangelist Who Will Bless Trump's Inauguration; What "Winning" the War in Syria Will Mean

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the sanctions imposed today by President Obama against Russia over its efforts to influence the recent election which U.S. intelligence agencies believe were directed by President Putin to hurt Hillary Clinton and help elect Donald Trump. Nina Khrushcheva, a Professor in the Graduate Program of International Affairs at The New School and author of “The Lost Khrushchev: A Journey Into the Gulag of the Russian Mind”, joins us to discuss the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats in response to harassment of American diplomats in Russia and the closing of Russian “recreational” compounds in Maryland and New York used for signals intelligence. We also discuss the broader question of whether sanctions against Putin work, since earlier sanctions over Crimea have served as an excuse for Putin’s mismanagement and looting of the Russian economy.

Part 2

Then we speak with Diane Winston, who holds the Knight Chair in Media and Religion at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism and is the publisher of Religion Dispatches. She joins us to discuss Donald Trump’s choice of the prosperity gospel televangelist Paula White to offer readings and give the invocation at his upcoming inauguration. She was a target of Senator Grassley’s 2007 congressional investigation into the spending habits of Pastor White on church-owned private jets and luxury homes and we will explore the similarities between political magical thinking that a billionaire president will make average folks wealthier and Paula White’s promise to her followers that if they give her money, it will make them richer.

Part 3

Then finally we look into the latest ceasefire in Syria brokered by Russia and Turkey that already is showing signs of not getting off the ground and speak with James Gelvin, a Professor of History at UCLA and author of “The Arab Uprisings: What Everyone Needs to Know”. He joins us to discuss what “winning” the war in Syria will mean for the Assad family and what the bill will be for Assad’s Russian and Iranian backers in making a devastated country habitable again, assuming the cycle of atrocity and vengeance ends.