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Dispatches, December 1, 2008

Mon, Dec 1 Listen

Lose one nuclear weapon, it might be an accident. But lose fifty? An arms specialist explains why so many nukes are missing in action. We'll also hear about a dig in the Mideast certain to revive debate over one of the world's oldest dispatches; the Bible. In hockey, we'll hear how the Russians are challenging the NHL's longstanding lock on the best players in the world. In the Pilippines a battle is about to errupt between legislators and the Church over contraception.

Dispatches November 24, 2008

Mon, Nov 24 Listen

Cocaine loves chaos. Guinea-Bissau is fast becoming the drug cartels' country of choice. In Darfur last year, 12 peacekeepers were slaughtered by a rebel force. The International Criminal Court is now considering indicting the rebel leaders. The accidental shark fishery of Ecuador is a real bad accident for the sharks. And, standup comedy comes to the Middle East, a place where the religious and the royal are very sensitive about their subjects.

Dispatches, November 17, 2008

Mon, Nov 17 Listen

Deported, brain damage and all. We speak with the journalist who uncovered the growing practice of "patient dumping". Barley wine or yak butter tea? There's plenty of both in Tibet, thanks to Beijing. But prosperity has a price, and Tibet's environment is paying it. The button on his jacket says "Rebels for Christ". But the armed followers of Congo's latest warlord didn't get the memo. We revisit a children's anti-slavery club in Togo. And in Ireland, bulldozing the bones of Kings

Dispatches, November 10, 2008. From Cape Town, Ottawa, Kuala Lumpur, Rome a

Mon, Nov 10 Listen

Banks or tanks: the choices facing Obama and what can hurt him, from a venerated Canadian diplomat. For gay women in Malaysia, a new wave of religious intolerance is creating a state of "Taliban Lite." What's breaking up the fabled unity of the African National Congress of South Africa? And, opera without all that singing; an Italian compopser takes a cultural touchstone one step further in an effort to keep up with the times.

Dispatches, November 3, 2008. From Nairobi, Berlin, Czech Republic, London,

Mon, Nov 3 Listen

When thugs murdered her Uncle In Afghanistan, Samya swore she'd become a cop. But there are people out there who think nothing of killing female police officers. The health crisis worse than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. It's crap. Human waste. To get "shika rada" in Kenya, you gotta learn Sheng. The unofficial language of the streets unifies a fractured population. And Germany wants proper cemetaries for its soldiers who fell in Eastern Europe, but old memories make for reluctant hosts.

Dispatches, October 27, 2008 -- Fort Lauderdale, Washington, Tijuana, Berli

Mon, Oct 27 Listen

Gamechange -- stories from the global economic crisis. We hear from sunbelt pensioners and the lady who returns clothes for cash. Americans hate themselves, according to a Washington writer. We ask how a recession might further mess with their minds. An expert in political risk says we're witnessing the retreat of globalization. In Mexico, migrants return home as foreign jobs dry up. And what does gamechange mean for the frugal Chinese and the economic engine of Europe?

Dispatches, October 20, 2008 -- Amareleja (Portugal), Vancouver, Phnom Penh

Mon, Oct 20 Listen

Embracing the snake, and other energy-efficient stories, ensure a bright future for Portugal. The world's nuclear suppliers agree to sell nuclear know-how to India- pragmatic politics or fuel for an Asian arms race? Tea and a grumble from the people of the Nubian desert, where nothing ever changes, though they want it to. One more milestone in Turkey's big dig beneath the Bosphorus, and culture re-born in Cambodia, in the haunting sounds of smot and the beat of Mekong Delta blues.

Dispatches, October 13, 2008 -- Rio de Janeiro, Memphis, Karachi, Kabul

Mon, Oct 13 Listen

Unofficial help out of an unofficial war, or how medical care came to the badlands of Rio de Janeiro, no thanks to the city. The story of child labour and the man with fresh scars on his skull: how the children of Ghenghis Khan struggle for respect in Kabul. The candidate and Martin Luther King - why Barack Obama can't cosy up too closely to the biggest icon of American civil rights. And why Pakistan wants Canadian troops out of Afghanistan.

Dispatches, October 6, 2008 -- Somalia, Nairobi, London, Kabul, Zimbabwe, M

Mon, Oct 6 Listen

The pirates of Somalia turn from a nuisance into a threat to international security. Nurses side-by-side with tuna in a trade agreement - why the Philippines exports the nurses they need at home. Award-winning correspondent Graeme Smith tells us why he's glum about the goals for the war in Afghanistan. What to do with 37 dollars when inflation is 11 million percent in Zimbabwe? And American expats in London, stoked about the U.S. election.

Dispatches, September 29, 2008 -- The Red Sea, Rome, Washington, Port-au-Pr

Mon, Sep 29 Listen

Hot pursuit on the high seas: on patrol with the Canadian navy in the hunt for pirates and gunrunners. The nuclear brinkmanship of north Korea's "dear leader" Kim Jong Il. A new book says he plays it more cunning than crazy. The brain drain from Haiti - we hear allegations that western countries are picking off the best and the brightest, and one author says that suits Canada just fine.

Dispatches, September 22, 2008 -- Sana'a (Yemen), Berlin, Washington, Kabul

Mon, Sep 22 Listen

Yemen's culture of child brides, and the divorce of 10-year-old Nujood Ali. Hitting the atomic highway: vacationing in some of the world's nuclear weapons test sites leads to disarming conclusions. A plague of plastic bags in India inspires an entrepreneur to recycle bags to riches. Mummy goes to war: a sports reporter's memoir of her first contact with conflict, in Georgia. And a look at the incremental nature of survival in Afghanistan -getting ahead, but not very far.

Dispatches, September 15, 2008 -- Ottawa, Kabul, Toronto, Zadar (Croatia),

Mon, Sep 15 Listen

Where is Canada's place in the world in a domestic election where there's no place for foreign affairs? Eight years after the Taliban was driven from power in Afghanistan, some citizens are now longing for those bad old days. Soccer is perhaps the most popular sport in the world, but is it also one of the dirtiest? A new book called "The Fix" looks at corruption. And the story of the sea organ of Croatia, making music from the wind and the waves.

Dispatches, September 8, 2008 -- Jerusalem, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, Havana,

Mon, Sep 8 Listen

Who is Tzipi Livni and why does she want to be prime minister of Israel? The butterfly mind of Patrick Brown: insights from China and how this war correspondent's career nearly self-destructed. Did a hired gun accidentally kill a Canadian soldier? Are private military contractors going the be the problem in Afghanistan they've been in Iraq? A check on the unchecked world of corporate warfare. Faster, higher and wackier. Why Malaysians go for gold in world records.

Disptaches, September 01, 2008, Toronto, Hawston, Cape Town, Washington, Ni

Mon, Sep 1 Listen

The criminal underworld is going global. Author Misha Glenny has the dramatic stories of predators and victims alike. John McCain a “maverick”? A noted libertarian says he’s bad news for individualism in America, and security in the world. Fire meets rain in the Niger Delta. Nigerians are getting sick from the rainfall around Western oil wells. And the destruction wrought by the poaching of South Africa’s abalone. Drugs and easy money are killing the abalone and many who live off it.

Best of Dispatches, August 24, 2008 -- Kabul, Afghanistan, Islamabad, Pakis

Sun, Aug 24 Listen

The new 0pium Eaters of Afghanistan; the world's oldest narcotic is hooking the country's children. A Canadian journalist goes to Sierra Leone to teach young reporters, but gets schooled in the perils of being one. The unsung compassion of Sylvia Nortey. Ghana did away with school fees so teachers like her could help more kids learn. Now if only they had money for pencils. The long and winding road to Pakistan's National Art Gallery, from the architect who refused to veer from the path.

August 17, 2008 - Best of Dispatches -- New Haven, Conn, Capetown, South Af

Sun, Aug 17 Listen

You say torture - I say abuse. You call it escalation, I call it a surge. We parse White House euphemisms with a language lord who decries them as "floating metaphors, with a low yield of fact." In South Africa is it smut and gore or a public service? Tabloids specialize in grim and ghastly. And it's making mainstream journalists uneasy. As Ethiopia shudders under poverty and oppression, Canada's accused of bean-counter development. A feature documentary from the Horn of Africa.

The Best of Dispatches, August 10, 2008 -- Butare, Rwanda, Nairboi, Kenya,

Sun, Aug 10 Listen

All Africa: Genocide justice in Rwanda;countryside courts putthe accused on trial. In Kenya, kids are schooled with the Canadian cash. But with Ottawa tilting towards Latin America, Africa wonders if will lose out. Somalia and Sergeant Cleveland's corpse. The story behind a Pulitzer-winning picture that wounded American foreign policy, and torments the journalist who took it. Kick, kick, sweep. The sound of percussive music and athletic dance known as Capoeria brings lost culture back home.

The Best of Dispatches -- August 3, 2008 -- New Delhi, Chennai, Pune, Toron

Sun, Aug 3 Listen

Inside India: As more women take to the week subcontinent,the car is challenging the culture. Ratcatchers, Software Wizards and the Press-wallah of Chennai; Daniel Lak has stories of economic awakening. A guide to paan. The "English-speaking curse." India strives for fluency despite English teachers who tell students to "Keep it simple, and yet so crispy." And a guide to Paan: Just take betel nut, flower petals, mix with metal flakes and pop'em in your mouth. Mmmm. Dispatches.

The Best of Dispatches -- July 27, 2008 -- Stratford-upon-Avon, Chennai, In

Sun, Jul 27 Listen

Much ado about Shakespeare's birthday. Fanfare and champers and the very essence of England comes out to mark the day in Stratford-upon-Avon. The global trade in human bones. Graverobbers are emptying the cemetaries of India to keep the medical schools full in North America. And from Mexico, screens in the windows and a door that locks; how a modest house changed the life of Aurora Hernandez. And if money makes the world go round, Western Union is the choice of most in t

The Best of Dispatches -- July 20, 2008 - Milan, Rio de Janeiro, London, Ch

Sun, Jul 20 Listen

Biofuel backlash. How close we've come to competing with cars for our food. The story of responsible soy; a unique effort to stop clearcutting Brazillian rainforests. In China, they say, "To get rich, build a road." They did. Right across the country. Journalist Rob Gifford travelled it and shares his memoir about a country in dramatic change. In Cambodia, they're boiling swords into ploughshares. Weapons used by the Khmer Rouge to terrorize those in the silk industry are a key to its revival.

Best of Dispatches, July 13, 2008 -- Caracas, Venezeula, Israel, Rome, Ital

Sun, Jul 13 Listen

Hugo Chavez strikes out at the U.S, saying his country's done being a meat market for American baseball teams. Praise the Lord, pass the petroleum; how a good old boy scammed believers who think Jesus will return if someone discovers oil in Israel. Joggers take in Rome's sights at a trot to get legs like Michaelangelo's David. The ragpicker who rose from the streets of New Delhi's main train station. Twelve platforms. Twelve gangs. One chance.

Dispatches, July 6, 2008

Sun, Jul 6 Listen

Unsafe at any speed. Why cars busted up by Hurricane Katrina in the U.S. are rattling around the roads of Bolivia. Crayons for terrorists? Penal reform comes to Saudi Arabia. But is it really about rehab for Holy Warriors or saving the House of Saud? "Now Kill Us All." The dramatic name of a Italian citizens movement challenging organised crime. And fleecing Iraqis. Refugees are targets of con artists flogging false promises and tickets to nowhere.And the Divine Comedy, now an opera.

Dispatches, June 29, 2008, Nepal, Tequilla, New York, Capetown, Israel.

Sun, Jun 29 Listen

A drive down the "Kidney Highway" of Nepal. We go to Ground Zero in the global black market in human body parts. Business is booming for Mexican tequilla, so why are producers going bust? The story of a new language from a Bedouin village in Israel. The author of a new book says there is an "invisible cure" for AIDS, while South Africa is changing the way it deals with the latest generation of AIDS orphans.

Dispatches, June 23, 2008, Jerusalem, Los Angeles, Tehran, Paris.

Mon, Jun 23 Listen

Neo-Nazis get a foothold in Israel. The hate of the Holocaust finds traction in the home of its survivors. A new book on race says Mexicans will bring about the "Tiger Woodsicisation" of the United States. From Iran, the lyrics of solitary confinement: aphorisms from an academic's long term in notorious Evin Prison. Pakistan's man of hope: what the poetry of the late Faiz Ahmad Faiz means to the country today. And, as newspapers close down, coffee culture is on the rise in Tehran.

Dispatches, June 16, 2008 -- Mumbai, India, Montreal, Iraq, Managua, Nicara

Mon, Jun 16 Listen

Asia's biggest slum is about to disappear. The poor who live there get free housing when its done. What a deal! But what a controversy! The lost lyre of Ur is lost again. But one man is trying to stop the plunder of Iraqi antiquities which he says is funding terrorism. He's the Relic Hunter of Baghdad.The revolution according to Fran Pavley. Slapped down by Washington, her campaign against carbon emissions changed the world once. She's out to do it again. And, the children charity can't save.

Dispatches, June 09, 2008 - Palermo, Sicily, Lima, Medellin, Columbia, Ista

Mon, Jun 9 Listen

Canada courtsColombia. Connie Watson looks at Ottawa's focus on a country known for cocaine cartels and murderous paramilitaries. Turkey's big dig: how the lost ships of Istanbul are holding up rail deveopment under the bospherus. In Zimbabwe, foreign aid and observers are banned as another dubious election approaches. What next for a tormented country? And, In Italy, good seeds are squeezing out bad ones from the bloody earth of Sicily. Why the Mafia is losing land and influence.

Dispatches, June 2, 2008 -- Johannesburg, Maputo, Niger Delta, Washington,

Mon, Jun 2 Listen

The exodus of foreigners from South Africa, and what they're fleeing to in Mozambique. John McCain: maverick or myth? A libertarian says the so-called man of the people is bad news for individualism in the US Fire meets rain in the Niger Delta where Nigerians lose their housing and their health to one of oil's toxic byproducts. Crystal meth, sea snails and the poachers of Hawston Town: how the underground trade in abalone is hurting the stocks and South Africans who dare oppose it.

Dispatches, May 26, 2008, Borneo, Prague, Bratislava, Slovakia, Tehran, Ira

Mon, May 26 Listen

Pygmy elephants versus palm oil. Why snack food threatens the survival of a species in Borneo. Censorship in Iran: writers and readers are coming finding new ways around it. Meanwhile in Slovakia, newspaper readers see blank pages and black borders as publishers struggle against the new press code. Also, the story of a former Yugoslavian prison camp designed to turn out traitors. And, why the fabled breweries of the Czech Republic are being snapped up by foreign investors.

Dispatches, May 19, 2008, Cambodia, Siberia, Oxford, Beirut, and Washington

Mon, May 19 Listen

It's that time of year so Dispatches goes to the lake. Lake Tonle Sap feeds Cambodia. So; why are they putting it at risk? Then there's Lake Baikal in Siberia, the oldest and deepest in the world and an aquarium for some of the most unusual marine life on the planet. Why are they putting it at risk? We'll hear from those who work these lakes and from the award-winning environmentalist trying protect Baikal by challenging the Kremlin. Also, the ethical challenges of harvesting human eggs.

Dispatches, May 12, 2008 -- Kinshasa, Burma, Delhi, Rome, Accra, K'far Yasi

Mon, May 12 Listen

Child soldiers, roast mice, and risk of combat; how rebels are challenging Burma's regime. Palestine's Billy Elliot; a boy's dreams of ballet conflict with his Arab culture. Africa's hidden holocaust; the war in the Congo claims more than 5 million lives and taints all it touches, even the U.N. Seeding cities; why urban gardens may be sub-Saharan Africa's first line of defense against soaring food prices. In Italy, a home-cooking movement tries to right North America's culinary wrongs.

Dispatches (Documentary)