Underreported from WNYC's The Leonard Lopate Show

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Underreported: The Power of Documentaries Oct 26, 2006

Show notes

Film Forum is hosting a retrospective celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the Soros/Sundance Documentary Fund. We ask Bruni Burres, director of the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, and Gara LaMarche, vice president of the Open Society Institute (who also sits on the board of the Sundance Documentary Fund), if documentaries really can make a difference. They talk about some of the fund’s groundbreaking films that have succeeded in raising awareness for human rights issues. And they’re joined by filmmaker Antoin Kattin, who discusses his new short “There are Women in Russian Villages.” The film focuses on the lives of two women in rural Russia—where poverty and domestic violence are often a part of everyday life.

Underreported: Outsourcing Political Activism? Oct 26, 2006

Show notes

Dana R. Fisher, an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Columbia, tells us about her research into political canvassing in progressive politics. She claims that the left is outsourcing political activism—sending paid workers out to do the work of grassroots outreach. And she argues that it’s destroying the left’s political infrastructure, and holding back the Democratic Party.

Activism, Inc.: How the Outsourcing of Grassroots Campaigns is Strangling Progressive Politics in America is available for purchase at amazon.com

Underreported: Native American Teen Suicide Oct 05, 2006

Show notes

Steve Sanderson is the creator of Darkness Calls, a comic book he hopes will discourage Native American teens from committing suicide. He’s joined by Sean Muir, the Executive Director of the Healthy Aboriginal Net, who reports that suicide is the second cause of death for American Indians and Alaska Natives aged 15 to 24.

Underreported: Are Midterm Elections Highly Predictable? Oct 05, 2006

Show notes

We kick off our coverage of Underreported election issues with Joseph Bafumi, an Assistant Professor of Government at Dartmouth, who says midterm elections are highly predictable. Find out what he thinks we can expect this November.

Do you have an election prediction? Which party do you think will control Congress in November?
Tell us your opinion

Underreported: An Update from Somalia Aug 03, 2006

Show notes

Somalia has been without a functioning central government since 1991. Now, it may be on the brink of civil war. On today's Underreported, David Shinn--who served as Ambassador to Ethiopia from 1996 to 1999 and is now an Adjunct Professor in the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University--brings us up to date on the unfolding situation in Somalia. And Rob Crilly, a stringer for the Christian Science Monitor, joins us by phone from Baidoa, Somalia.

Underreported: Haiti and the Dominican Republic: Uneasy Neighbors on One Small Island Apr 06, 2006

Show notes

On today's Underreported, a look into the history of discrimination against Haitians in the Dominican Republic, and why the two neighbors are so culturally and politically different. Leonard talks to Dr. Edward Paulino, professor of history at CUNY's John Jay College; and Julissa Reynoso, an attorney and activist in New York City. She recently co-authored an article for Clamor magazine called »On Reversals: Blackness And Political Freedom On Hispaniola.

Human Cargo Mar 02, 2006

Show notes

On this week's edition of Underreported: survival stories from the world’s refugees. In Human Cargo, Caroline Moorehead describes the living conditions she encountered while traveling among refugees for two years. Worldwide, 17 million people are living in limbo. We'll find out why, for many, escaping genocide, political persecution, and sexual violence is only half the battle.

Underreported: Violent Crackdown in China Dec 15, 2005

Show notes

Up to 20 protesters were killed last week by Chinese police in a fishing village near Hong Kong. On today's edition of our regular Underreported feature, we'll find out what caused the protests, and what led what could be China's biggest use of force on citizens since the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. Sharon Hom, the executive director of Human Rights in China, calls in from Hong Kong. And journalist Jasper Becker phones in from Beijing. We'll ask if the protest was part of a larger pattern of unrest throughout China. And we'll find out if this crackdown is affecting the WTO negotiations that began in Hong Kong this week.
Music:
“Fallout” by Euphone

“Pole Tricks” by Japancakes

Environmental Injustice Dec 01, 2005

Show notes

On today's Underreported feature, the politics of pollution. Some experts feel that “environmental racism” is keeping industrial waste and toxins in poor and minority communities, and out of affluent neighborhoods. We'll talk to Melissa Checker, the author of Polluted Promises: Environmental Racism and the Search for Justice In A Southern Town, and Majora Carter, the founder/director of Sustainable South Bronx and a 2005 MacArthur Fellow.
Music:
Erin Brockovich Soundtrack, tracks 2, 1, and 3

Underreported: Uzbekistan Sep 15, 2005

Show notes

Four months ago, Uzbekistan authorities opened fire on a peaceful demonstration in Andijann. Hundreds (perhaps even 1,000) people were killed in the worst massacre of demonstrators since Tiananmen Square. In this week’s Underreported feature, we’ll look into what caused the violence, and what’s been done in response.
Music:
“Royksopp’s Night Out” by Royksopp
“Meta, Beta, Tarabeta” by Pangeia Instrumentos

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