As Iraq’s future continues to be debated, one thing that the U.S. is refusing to put on the table is the idea that maybe Iraq, shouldn’t be one country, but three. You just have to travel to the north from Baghdad, to the mountains surrounding Erbil and Kirkuk, to hear people who embrace the idea of a united Kurdish state, separate and apart from Iraq.

The four million Kurds living in the north have a culture and language entirely their own. After years of bombings and chemical attacks by Saddam Hussein, the Kurdish people have not had the time or opportunity to advance their idea of an independent state. The very word “Kurdistan” has been a dream for hundreds of years. But with the future of that land now so uncertain, some are calling for a reconsideration of borders and allegiances.

Guests:

Peter Galbraith, Former U.S. Ambassador to Croatia, and Senior Diplomatic Fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation in Washington DC

Michael Goldfarb, WBUR correspondent for Inside/Out Documentaries, currently in Erbil, Iraq

Ahmed al-Rahim, Arabic Language and Literature professor at Harvard University.

On a hill above the home town of Condoleezza Rice, in Birmingham, Alabama stands a 56 foot statue of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire. It became the adopted mascot of a small and powerful group of people intent on changing the course of U.S. history.

The Vulcans, as they came to be known in the 2000 campaign, include Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, and Paul Wolfowitz. When they came into office, some dismissed them as has-beens, tired relics from Republican administrations going back to President Nixon. But the people some called “retreads” are now recognized as revolutionaries, the ideological warriors whose faith in America’s untrammeled military strength is, quite simply, changing the world.

Guests:

James Mann, author of “Rise of the Vulcans: The History of Bush’s War Cabinet.”

It’s been ten years since California really got tough on crime. The murder of a young girl by a repeat felon sent shocked voters to the polls where they approved the harshest sentencing law in the country: Three strikes and you’re out. The idea is simple. A criminal convicted of his 3rd felony gets 25 years to life.

This law has put away murderers, rapists and child molesters, but it has also locked up petty thieves, drug dealers and check forgers. Critics point to cases like a man sentenced to 50 years for stealing $150 worth of kids videos, another for stealing a slice of pizza, as signs of the law’s unfairness. Supporters say crime in California is down, and three strikes is the reason.

Guests:

Vincent Schiraldi, Justice Policy Institute

Charles Hobson, Criminal Judicial Legal Foundation

Joe Klaas, Citizens Against Violent Crime

Mike Reynolds, co-sponsor of Three Strikes

Pam Martinez, convicted under Three Strikes.

Randy Newman is used to being misunderstood. His biggest hit, “Short People,” was banned by some radio stations as bigoted. “I Love L.A.,” his sardonic swipe at Yuppie culture, became the chosen theme of the greed-is-good crowd. And last year, at a mosque in Baghdad, a local imam quoted “Political Science,” Newman’s stab at America’s arrogance as superpower as, well, evidence of America’s arrogance as superpower.

Irony may not be the stuff of which hit songs are usually made, but Newman makes it work. For the last two decades, he has successfully turned his pen to creating music for film. He even won an Oscar for a sweet little ditty about friendship. But he hasn’t lost his nuance. Randy Newman on life, the human condition, and the mellowing of a musicmaker.

Guests:

Randy Newman, singer, songwriter and composer.

Guests:

PLACEHOLDER

India’s historic five week cricket tour of Pakistan could have implications far beyond the sports pages. The two nuclear powered nations were close to war less than 2 years ago. Now they are hoping to use the groundswell of goodwill generated by cricket matches in the push toward peace.

It has long been a source of frustration that the two countries, so linked by history and geography, have been unable to find common ground. Perhaps the cricket pitch at Rawalpindi will help. But a history of trouble at past matches, and the unprecedented level of security surrounding the Indian team, has most people thinking that its too early to say what the implication might be after the last batter is bowled out. This hour, we round up our own team of cricketers. Leave your bats at the door.

Guests:

Nick Bryant, BBC correspondent based in New Delhi

Bikram Singh, Captain of Boston Gymkhana Sports Club

Vrishab Sikand, Boston Gymkhana Sports Club and bat man formerly on the MIT team

Ali Rana, Commonwealth Cricket Club

Azim Nasir, former cricket player.

This week marks the one year anniversary of the attack on Iraq. One year since the first U.S. bombs were dropped on Baghdad, leading to that moment when Saddam’s statue was trampled by rejoicing Iraqis. The award-winning Washington Post reporter Anthony Shadid was there during those adrenalin-filled first days of the fall of Baghdad, and has been there for the last twelve months, chronicling the bloody and unpredictable process that the U.S. administration refers to as “reconstruction.”

In covering this story, Shadid has gone beyond the capital of Baghdad and the political players who dominate the news, and instead has turned his reporter’s eye to less examined locations places like Basra, Najaf and Nasariya, and to the ordinary people who live in there.

Guests:

Anthony Shadid, award winning reporter for The Washington Post.

43 years ago this month, President John F. Kennedy signed the executive order for a plan that would send ordinary Americans around the world as goodwill ambassadors in countries that needed help. It was called the Peace Corps.

Recent wars in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq have many Americans today wondering how they can do more to help. A group of aid workers, politicians and military officers is trying to come up with an updated solution.

Their suggestion is to devise a plan so citizens can work alongside soldiers in places where expertise and resources are already stretched thin. Advocates of the plan imagine it as a Peace Corps for the 21st century. Washington Post National Security reporter Dana Priest discusses the pros, and the amateurs.

Guests:

Dana Priest, Washington Post National Security reporter;
Sheba Crocker, Center for Strategic and International Studies

Nathaniel Raymond, Humanitarian Response Department, Oxfam.

It’s been nearly six years since Wang Youcai set foot outside a Chinese prison. A student leader during the Tiananmen Square demonstrations and founder of the China Democracy Party, Wang was arrested and his voice all but silenced behind prison walls.

In a surprise step last week, the Chinese government released Wang and sent him into exile in America. Some human rights activists call it a game of hostage politics, a PR campaign by China to gain favor from the U.S.

Others hope it’s a step in the right direction, a sign that China is embracing human rights. Whatever the motive, Wang Youcai’s life has changed, once again, precipitously. He joins us to discuss the future of people’s rights in China, and his first week of freedom.

Guests:

Wang Youcai, Chinese dissident

Merle Goldman, professor and author.

Imagine for a moment that your life’s work was to constantly create something never before seen. Something that always surprises, and, if you’re lucky, delights. That’s been the intention of choreographer and dancer Mark Morris.

For nearly a quarter of a century, Morris has worked on the cutting edge, choreographing both modern dance and ballet that defy convention. In so doing, Morris has managed to capture what for many artists can be an elusive combination: unorthodoxy and longevity.

Mark Morris can also boast the first single-choreographer dance company in the country with its own dance center, complete with an enormous studio, extensive office space, and a water heater big enough to allow all the dancers a hot shower after rehearsal. Creativity built to last.

Guests:

Mark Morris, choreographer and dancer.