World Views from KGOU

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World Views: May 4, 2018 May 04, 2018

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Suzette Grillot and Rebecca Cruise discuss news about Spain's Basque separatist group and political protests in Armenia. Then Suzette Grillot talks with Amnesty International's Matt Wells about his work documenting violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

Matt Wells On Ending Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim Crisis May 04, 2018

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Myanmar’s leaders deny human rights abuses against its Rohingya Muslim population. But international organizations like Amnesty International have documented systematic, military-led violence against the country’s religious minority following insurgent attacks in August 2017. “What we've seen over the last seven months is the Myanmar military has really launched an attack on the [Rohingya] population as a whole,” said Matt Wells, a human rights investigator with Amnesty International. Wells’ job involves documenting and corroborating human rights abuses. During recent trips to refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh, he spoke directly with survivors of attacks that range from sexual violence to the burning of entire villages. His organization has corroborated firsthand accounts using technologies like satellite imagery. “We've documented more than 350 villages that have been totally or partially destroyed in the last seven months. And the results of this has been more than 670,000

World Views: April 27, 2018 Apr 27, 2018

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Suzette Grillot and Rebecca Cruise discuss political uprisings in Nicaragua and French president Emmanuel Macron's visit to the United States. Then, Suzette Grillot speaks with linguist Marcia Haag about the extinction of the world's indigenous languages.

Linguist Marcia Haag: What We Lose When We Lose A Language Apr 27, 2018

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Linguists generally agree that almost half of the world’s nearly 7,000 languages will be extinct within the next century as dominant languages take over and indigenous languages die with their last remaining speakers. The United States is no different. Linguist Marcia Haag says many Native American languages are on the verge of extinction. “Small languages, the languages of people without political power, the people without economic power, or just the people who are few in number are always going to be at risk of being taken over by dominant, big economies and big political systems,” Haag said. Throughout her career, Haag has focused specifically on indigenous languages spoken in Oklahoma, like Choctaw and Cherokee. “My work has been about finding the last of the speakers, sitting down with them, learning how the language works, describing it, analyzing it, and then making materials so that other people can learn,” said Haag. But, according to Haag, saving a language is far more

World Views: April 20, 2018 Apr 20, 2018

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Suzette Grillot and Rebecca Cruise discuss new developments in North Korea and Cuba in light of a lack of U.S. diplomats. Then Rebecca Cruise talks with Dr. Peter Hotez about Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Peter Hotez On “The Most Important Diseases You've Never Heard Of” Apr 20, 2018

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Despite the rapid pace of medical advancements like gene therapy, treating many of the world’s most devastating diseases is a matter of economics and political will, not science. That’s according to Dr. Peter Hotez, the dean of Baylor University’s National School of Tropical Medicine. Hotez says this is particularly true for a group of parasitic and bacterial infections collectively known as Neglected Tropical Diseases, or NTD’s. These diseases, says Hotez, have more to do with economics than climate. “They're not even rare diseases. They're very common,” Hotez said. “ But they're hidden. They're hidden among the poor.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than one billion people — approximately one-sixth of the world's population — suffer from at least one NTD. These diseases, which range from Dengue Fever to Leprosy, don’t always lead to death. But their effects can last a lifetime. “They tend to be chronic and debilitating infections,” Hotez said. “So

World Views: April 13, 2018 Apr 13, 2018

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Suzette Grillot and Rebecca Cruise discuss the death of Winnie Mandela and an Indian Supreme court case involving “love jihad.” Then, Suzette Grillot speaks with American University professor Mark Langevin about the polarizing corruption scandal in Brazil ahead of the country’s 2018 presidential election.

Mark Langevin Assesses Corruption In Brazil Ahead Of The 2018 Presidential Election Apr 13, 2018

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Last week former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva began serving a 12 year sentence for corruption and bribery. Prior to his surrender , thousands of Lula’s supporters gathered in São Paulo, insisting the charges are meant to prevent him from running, and likely winning, Brazil’s upcoming presidential election. The scandal has deeply divided the country, but professor Mark Langevin says corruption in Brazil runs deeper than Lula and his left-leaning Worker’s Party. “We have to recognize that it's not just Lula,” Langevin said. “Most of the major political parties, major political figures, including Lula, have had investigations and prosecutions regarding what some of us would define as the Petrobras procurement kickback scheme.” Langevin heads the Brazil Initiative at George Washington University. He explained that the kickback scheme, often referred to as “Lava Jato” or “Car Wash,” is the result of systemic corruption extending into Brazil’s citizenry. “In order to run a

Author Jenny Erpenbeck Explores Europe’s 2015 Migrant Crisis Through Fiction Apr 06, 2018

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Roughly one million migrants and refugees arrived in Europe in 2015, fleeing violence and poverty in the Middle East and North Africa. Germany accepted the great majority of asylum seekers — 890,000 according to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees. In the midst of political backlash that followed, German author Jenny Erpenbeck sought to humanize the crisis in her 2017 novel, “Go, Went, Gone.” In it, she tells the story of a retired German academic who befriends a group of North African migrants in Berlin. Prior to writing the book, Erpenbeck spent time with migrants, including a Nigerian man named Bashir who became the inspiration for one of her main characters. “He was a bit like the president of the group, but of course, he was no president and the group was made of different people from different countries in Africa,” Erpenbeck said. “And he really fought for his people.” Bashir, like many migrants, lost loved ones on the treacherous journey from Africa to Europe across

World Views: April 6, 2018 Apr 06, 2018

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Suzette Grillot and Rebecca Cruise discuss the implementation of a UK law concerning the gender pay gap and how Oklahoma teachers are making international news. Then, Rebecca Cruise will talk with German author Jenny Erpenbeck about how she tries to humanize tense political issues, like the 2015 European refugee crisis, through works of fiction.

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