Underreported from WNYC's The Leonard Lopate Show

Latest Episodes:

Underreported: The UN Response to Zimbabwe's 2008 Cholera Outbreak Mar 04, 2010

Show notes

In 2008, up to 100,000 Zimbabweans got cholera. On today’s first Underreported, Foreign Policy’s Assistant Managing Editor Elizabeth Dickinson explains why one former United Nations official is now criticizing the organization’s response to the outbreak, and what it says about the UN’s relationship with authoritarian President Robert Mugabe. Read Elizabeth Dickinson’s article here.

Underreported: Farm Foreclosures Feb 25, 2010

Show notes

We’ve heard a lot about the home foreclosure rate over the last two years, but what about farm foreclosures? On this week’s first Underreported, Michael Boehlje, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and the Center for Food and Agricultural Business at Purdue University, explains why we don’t hear that much about them and why economists are predicting that farm foreclosures will rise in 2010.

Underreported: U.S. Announce $1.25 Billion Settlement with Black Farmers Feb 25, 2010

Show notes

Last week, the Obama Administration announced at a $1.25 billion settlement in a case brought by thousands of black farmers who were discriminated against in federal farm loan programs. On today’s second Underreported, segment, Krissah Thompson, Washington Post National Reporter, explains why it took 10 years to reach this settlement. You can read her story here.

Underreported: Iraq's Ongoing Refugee Crisis Feb 18, 2010

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A new report by the International Rescue Committee has found that many Iraqi refugees have yet to return home, even as the war enters its seventh year. Many are scattered inside Iraq, but also in Jordan and Syria. For today’s Underreported segment, we’ll speak with Bob Carey, IRC’s Vice President of migration and resettlement policy about the situation confronting Iraqi refugees.

Underreported: On Thin Iceland Feb 11, 2010

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On today’s second Underreported, segment we’ll take a look at Iceland’s repeated attempts to dig itself out of financial ruin, and efforts by the country to repay the United Kingdom and the Netherlands money those countries lost in a failed Icelandic bank. We’ll talk to Landon Thomas Jr., financial correspondent for the New York Times based in London.

Underreported: How Goldman Sachs Helped the Greek Government Paper Over Its Debt Feb 11, 2010

Show notes

On today’s first Underreported, Stacy-Marie Ishmael of the Financial Times explains how Goldman Sachs used a derivatives deal to help Greece’s government hide how serious their debt was. Plus, an update on the negotiations in Europe to bail out Greece.

We discussed Greece's public debt in December. You can listen to that interview here.

Underreported: The Mexican Drug War Jan 28, 2010

Show notes

Mexico’s war against drugs has accelerated in recent years—with deadly results. For today’s second Underreported segment, we’ll speak with Ken Ellingwood, a correspondent for the Los Angeles Times based in Mexico City and author of the book Hard Line: Life and Death on the U.S.-Mexico Border. You can read the LA Times's complete coverage of the Mexican drug war here.

Underreported: Tropical Diseases and Poor Countries Jan 28, 2010

Show notes

Today, nearly all of the 1.4 billion people who live below the World Bank’s poverty line are infected with hookworms or related parasites. We’ll look at the impact neglected tropical diseases, such as hookworm, has had on the world poorest countries with Dr. Peter J. Hotez. He is President of the Sabin Vaccine Institute and Chair of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, & Tropical Medicine at George Washington University. He recently wrote the article "Gandhi’s Hookworms" in the latest issue of Foreign Policy magazine. More information is available at www.globalnetwork.org.

Underreported: Limbo States Jan 21, 2010

Show notes

Places like Iraqi Kurdistan, Somaliland, and The Republic of Abkhazian may not have a seat at the UN or show up on many maps, but they still act like quasi-countries in the hopes of one day becoming independent. On today’s Underreported segment we’ll look at some of these places with Graeme Wood, a staff editor for The Atlantic. His article "Limbo World" appears in the Jan/Feb issue of Foreign Policy Magazine.

Underreported: UN Cutting Back on Fraud Investigations Jan 14, 2010

Show notes

In 2006, the United Nations established an anticorruption task force. During its brief existence the unit uncovered at least 20 major schemes affecting more than $1 billion in foreign aid and UN contracts. The UN shuttered the unit in 2009 and transferred its responsibilities to another part of the organization. Now the number of new fraud cases has plummeted and existing investigations have languished. On today’s second Underreported segment, we’ll talk with Associated Press writer John Heilprin about the UN’s ability to police itself.