Exploring who we are

New Doc Chronicles Kidnapped Journalist’s Escape from Syria

The Takeaway — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 19:16:11 +0000

In late 2012, Theo Padnos, a struggling American journalist, slipped into Syria to report on the country’s civil war hoping to make a name for himself. Shortly thereafter he was kidnapped by Al Qaeda captors who thought he worked for the CIA because he spoke fluent Arabic. For months on end, he was brutally tortured, eventually becoming a confidante of one of Al Qaeda’s top commanders before being released. The new documentary “Theo Who Lived” is the personal account of his physical and emotional journey at the hands of his captors, and his transformation, once freed, to forgiveness, reconciliation, and advocacy for the people in Syria. Pandos joins The Takeaway’s John Hockenberry to reflect on the film and share his story.

Sharply funny and wildly prolific, Phoebe Robinson has a thing or two to say about a thing or two.

Live Wire with Luke Burbank — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 19:15:29 +0000

Comedian Phoebe Robinson discusses the unexpected value of Googling herself and other not-so-guilty pleasures with Live Wire host Luke Burbank. Robinson hosts two podcasts, 2 Dope Queens (with Jessica Williams) and Sooo Many White Guys and she’s got a book out, You Can’t Touch My Hair: And Other Things I Still Have To Explain.

The Cure for Election-Related Stress? Believe Your Political Adversaries Can Change

Science Friday — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 19:14:24 +0000

A survey by the American Psychological Association shows that the 2016 presidential election was a source of significant stress for more than half of all Americans. Research has shown that stress can have long-lasting effects on the brain; it can create changes in gene expression and impair immune function. But psychologist Kelly McGonigal says the biological response of stress is triggered by our outlook—the idea that someone or something “out there” is a threat to us. The solution is to believe our political adversaries can change.

This Land is Your Land

Studio 360 — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 19:13:43 +0000

“This Land is Your Land” is the national anthem we actually know the words to. Americans sing it at school and summer camp; Bruce Springsteen and the late Pete Seeger sang it at President Obama’s first inauguration. Yet Woody Guthrie’s song was once branded anti-American, even Communist. Pete Seeger tells Studio 360 host Kurt Andersen how Guthrie wrote it as a satiric response to “God Bless America,” and soul singer Sharon Jones explains what the song means to her as a descendant of slaves. Leftist, environmentalist, nationalist, or patriotic — “This Land” allows everyone to sing it their way.

Help! I can’t speak my grandfather’s language

The World in Words — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 19:13:05 +0000

Yowei Shaw was born in the United States and speaks virtually no Mandarin. Her grandfather Yeye is from Taiwan and speaks virtually no English. Kid talk was fine when Yowei was a kid. But now she’s grown up, she’s determined to have proper conversations with Yeye— before it’s too late.

Immigration and identity

Whose Century Is It? — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 19:12:24 +0000

Few issues hit more of an emotional chord, or an emotional nerve than those around borders and belonging, immigration and identity. Host Mary Kay Magistad visits the lands of her ancestors — Ireland and Germany — and explores the ways in which they are wrestling with these issues — and have wrestled with them in the past.

“Even now, many Americans are not aware of this chapter in US history.”

Otherhood — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 19:11:49 +0000

Host Rupa Shenoy explores how a secret US war created a new generation of Americans who changed foreign policy. And, Thao Nguyen of Thao & the Get Down Stay Down says stuff about herself that she’s never said before.