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(photo: US Army)
This week on CounterSpin: Media are celebrating the participation of girls from Afghanistan in a robotics competition in DC, after being denied entry twice by the State Department for reasons never explained, as somehow a feel-good story about America. No one seems to have pondered the irony of the denials, given that Afghan girls doing science is precisely the sort of PR moment the US pretended the 2001 invasion was about, and thus an opening to talk about what visiting decades of unending war on the country has actually done toward that ostensible goal. CounterSpin discussed the war as feminist storyline with author, activist and radio host Sonali Kolhatkar back in 2010. We’ll hear that conversation on this week’s show.
Transcript: Wars Are Not Fought to Liberate Women
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(image: US Space Command)
US lawmakers pushing for a new branch of the military focused on “deploying extraterrestrial power” is a real thing that is happening. A recent article on Quartz explained that while the plans are unlikely, they do send a message that the US is concerned about the orbital military aspirations of geopolitical rivals like China and Russia. Dystopian? Yes. Absurdly dangerous? You bet—but new the idea isn’t. In fact, CounterSpin talked with journalism professor and author Karl Grossman about the weaponization of space in May 2005. We’ll hear that this week as well.
Transcript: Once We Move Into Space With Weaponry, Other Nations Will Follow
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(image: Frontline)
Finally, it’s no surprise that healthcare continues to be front-page news. It is disheartening, though, how little the conversation has changed, in terms of the limits of what’s considered possible. Corporate media have an outsized role in constraining that conversation. Producer and author T.R. Reid discovered just how resistant to expanding the conversation media can be. He told his story to CounterSpin in April 2009.
Transcript: Mandating Everyone to Buy Insurance Was Not the Solution We Found
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All three reports more timely now than whenever they were first aired. Exceptional reporting. Reminiscent of Thoreau: I’m as satisfied reading last year’s newspaper as I am today’s.
U guys need a crowdfunding platform great topics that need more support.