On Shifting Ground

While the Islamic State no longer has any territory in the Middle East, its ability to recruit soldiers and engage in violence remains. In fact, its newly decentralized nature may make it even more effective in carrying out terrorist attacks. On this week's episode, Ali Soufan, former FBI special agent and author of “The Anatomy of Terror: From the Death of Bin Laden to the Rise of the Islamic State,” and Robin Wright, contributing writer to The New Yorker and fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center, discuss the future of ISIS and the fate of tens of thousands of captured fighters and their families with WorldAffairs Co-Host Ray Suarez.

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Direct download: 08_27_19_ISIS.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 7:00am PDT

Today’s elites are some of the more socially concerned individuals in history. But do their philanthropic missions really make a difference, or do they perpetuate the system of inequality they’ve profited from? Anand Giridharadas, author of the new book “Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World,” talks with Markos Kounalakis, visiting fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution, about how philanthropists are preserving the very structures at the root of societal inequity.

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Direct download: 08_20_19_Anand_Giridharadas.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 7:00am PDT

Recent tragic events in Gilroy, El Paso and Dayton have forced a painful reckoning amongst Americans across the country as kitchen table conversations turn to the issue of gun violence. While mass shootings have also happened in characteristically peaceful societies like Canada, Norway and New Zealand, those governments, unlike in the US, have been swift and decisive in enacting meaningful gun control. The question is: how do we do that here? New York Times columnist Max Fisher and Chelsea Parsons, vice president of gun violence prevention at the Center for American Progress, share their global perspectives on gun violence with Co-host Ray Suarez.

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Direct download: 08_12_19_Gun_Violence.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 7:00am PDT

In the modern age of Facebook, Google, and smart devices, most of us are under 24-hour surveillance. These data points are collected by large tech companies and are in turn sold to and used by governments and businesses alike to influence our behavior. On this week’s episode, Dr. Shoshana Zuboff discusses her new book, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, which explores what can be done to protect democracy and free thought against these new threats. She is in conversation with Jim Fruchterman, founder and CEO of Tech Matters.

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Direct download: 08_05_19_Shoshana_Zuboff.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 7:00am PDT

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