Episodes
Tuesday Jan 26, 2021
Tuesday Jan 26, 2021
For this episode of War News Radio, we’re taking a closer look at two of the Pacific territories, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, whose historical relationships to the United States are defined by conflict and colonialism. This has drastically disrupted the lives of the native Chamorro people who have inhabited Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the rest of the Mariana Islands archipelago for the past 4-5,000 years. There are cultural and historical differences between Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, which led to Guam rejecting reunification with the Northern Mariana Islands in 1960. But both territories still face many of the same challenges today.
The U.S. acquired Guam from the Spanish in 1899 after winning the Spanish-American War. The Northern Mariana Islands has a more complicated colonial history, and was passed more or less from the Spanish Empire to Germany, then Japan, then the United Nations, and was officially established as a commonwealth in political union with the United States in 1986. Although the pasts of the two territories differ, the relationship between the U.S. and both territories has been historically characterized by intense militarization, a trend that continues to this day. But increasing calls for decolonization and self-determination could be changing this dynamic. In order to understand this shift happening in the pacific territories, we talked to residents of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands about colonial history, militarism, political representation, and more.
This episode of War News Radio was written and produced by Lucas Meyer-Lee, Anya Slepyan, Max Winig, and Sophia Becker.
Saturday Jan 23, 2021
Opaque and Unforgiving: America's Inhumane Asylum System
Saturday Jan 23, 2021
Saturday Jan 23, 2021
The asylum process in the United States has been in the national spotlight consistently over the past four years, centering on the Trump administration's grave mistreatment of immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border and its policy of family separation. But what actually is the asylum process, how is it supposed to work, and where has it gone wrong? In this episode, we talk to M, a Cameroonian asylee who has seen both the way the asylum process should work and the many ways in which it does not. While M was granted asylum after fleeing Cameroon, her brother remains detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement with no end in sight. We also talk to Philippe Weisz, Managing Attorney at HIAS Pennsylvania, about the current legal process of granting asylum and the myriad challenges asylum seekers face before and after arriving in the United States.
This episode of War News Radio was written and produced by Zane Irwin and Nick Hirschel-Burns. Thank you to Philippe Weisz of HIAS Pennsylvania and M for speaking with us.
Image: Anti-Deportation Protests in 2017 (Daily Chalkupy via Flickr)
Friday Jan 15, 2021
A Kingdom in Peril: Perspective on the 2020 Protests from Thai Youth
Friday Jan 15, 2021
Friday Jan 15, 2021
Anti-government protests in Thailand rocked the nation in 2020. The protests that began with anger at the dissolution of a political party, have found mass appeal including the unprecedented public demand to reform the Thai monarchy and a call to draft a new constitution. We speak with a Peera, a freelance journalist and Jason, a student studying abroad, who both grew up in Thailand. We get their perspectives of the political landscape on the ground that spurned the demonstrations and what it is like to live under the rule of a monarchy where any public criticism is taboo.
This episode was reported by the War News Radio team, written by Louie Kant, Sophia Peterson, Martin Tomilson and Bryce Bussert, and produced by Jaydeep Sangha.
Image: "Pro-democracy protestors flash three fingered salute" (from Gemunu Amarasinghe via AP)