Underreported from WNYC's The Leonard Lopate Show

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Underreported: The Persecution of Iraqi Gays Apr 23, 2009

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Iraq's LGBT community is facing a wave of violence and persecution. Iraqi Police sources say that in the past month alone, the bodies of six young men have been found in Sadr City, some with placards labeling them "perverts" or "puppies", the derogatory Iraqi term for gays. We’ll speak with Ali Hili, founder of the Iraqi-gays-in-exile group Iraq LGBT from England. We’ll also be joined by US Representative Jared Polis, who recently returned from Iraq and has spearheaded efforts to investigate the treatment of Iraqi gays.

Underreported Update: Newtown Creek Apr 16, 2009

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We take a look at the status of cleanup efforts in the heavily polluted Newtown creek on Brooklyn/Queens border. Alex Matthiessen and Phillip Musegaas are with the Riverkeeper organization.

Underreported: Neodymium and Green Energy Apr 16, 2009

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Neodymium is a rare earth metal and important component in the electric car engines and wind turbines that are being touted as the future of alternative energy. But, neodymium is not without it’s problems. We'll look at what neodymium is and why we may soon face a global shortage of it with New America Foundation Fellow Lisa Margonelli. Lisa is also author of the book Oil on the Brain

Underreported: Jersey City Hexavalent Chromium Apr 09, 2009

Show notes

In the 1982 the State of New Jersey began investigating the presence of the dangerous chemical hexavalent chromium on a 16-acre site in Jersey City. Today, the site remains contaminated. We’ll talk to Nancy S. Marks, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, about why it’s taken so long to clean up the site and why the NRDC filed a new lawsuit in February to enforce the clean-up effort.

Underreported: Energy Hearings Apr 09, 2009

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The Obama Administration is hoping to take the county in a new direction on energy. We’ll get the latest news on the Department of the Interior’s hearings on US energy policy from Wall Street Journal energy reporter Brian Baskin.

Underreported: The Nuclear Scientist Shortage Apr 02, 2009

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Nuclear energy is slated to become a bigger part of America's energy mix, but who will work at the plants once they've been built? Dr. Ivan Oelrich joins us to talk about the shortage of nuclear technicians and operators in the United States today. Dr. Oelrich is Vice President for Strategic Security programs at the Federation of American Scientists. We'll also be joined by Michael Scott Moore, a staff writer at Der Spiegel Online in Berlin.

Underreported: German Car Banks Mar 26, 2009

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In Germany, savers are pulling their money out of traditional banks and depositing the money into German Car Banks. BMW’s Bank has seen deposits jump almost 70% over the past five months and the cash infusion is helping the company cope with the frozen credit markets. Jonathan Rosenthal is European Business and Finance Correspondent for the Economist magazine. He joins us from Berlin.

Underreported: South African Refugee Camp Closure Mar 05, 2009

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Musina, South Africa is just across the border from Zimbabwe and home to a refugee camp there. Earlier this week, the South African government decided to close the camp which provides medical care, housing and food to its thousands of residents. We'll talk to Rachel Cohen, head of mission in South Africa for Doctors without Borders about the South African government’s decision to close the camp.

Underreported: Mexican Remittances in a Bad Economy Feb 26, 2009

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Remittances (money sent home from immigrants) are Mexico's second-largest source of foreign income after oil and they dropped significantly in 2008 for the first time on record. The decline could signal trouble for the Mexican economy, but it also has real impacts on Mexican’s living in the United States.
Sam Quinones is a reporter for the Los Angeles Times and the author of Antonio's Gun and Delfino's Dream: True Tales of Mexican Migration. Dr. Robert Smith is associate professor of immigration studies at Baruch College and at CUNY. He is the author of Mexican New York.

Underreported: Peak Water Feb 19, 2009

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A large portion of China and India’s fresh water supply comes from glaciers found on the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas. According to a new report by the World Economic Forum, those glaciers will be gone by 2100. That means the water sources for 2 billion people will simply dry up. Dr. Peter Gleick is the President and Co-founder of the Pacific Institute, a nonpartisan research institute that works for sustainable management of resources.