When the humanitarian organizations, the public, and the politicians all focus tightly on one tragedy, problems arise. The rush to give — though well-intentioned — remains just that: a rush. And aid agencies often find pockets empty when it comes time for the longer and less glamorous task of rebuilding. When the world spotlight is aimed at one devastated region in the world, people in other afflicted areas can disappear.

Guests:

Peter Walker, Director of the Feinstein International Famine Center at Tufts University, previously worked in Bangkok managing emergency programs of the Red Cross in South East Asia

Mike Delaney, Director of Humanitarian Response at Oxfam America

While many of us live in a world of unprecedented access to technology, the question of how we harness those resources to better the world is a perennial one. We begin the new year with a series called “Innovation That Matters,” a chance to hear from big thinkers who are shaping better, more sustainable solutions to some of the world’s most pressing problems. Today, Robert Freling shares his vision of solar-powered villages, from Benin to Bhutan. Not just for lighting, but for network access to education, medicine and knowledge.

Guests:

Robert Freling , Executive Director of the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF)

Medard Gabel, CEO of Big Picture Consulting and author of “Global, Inc: Lessons from The World’s Largest Companies.”

Guests:

Daniel Franklin, editor for The Economist

Ted Fishman, contributing editor for Harper’s Magazine, writer for The New York Times Magazine and The Washington Post, author of the forthcoming book, “China Inc.”

Alun Anderson, editor-in-chief for New Scientist Magazine

Adrian Smith, designer with Skidmore, owings & Merrill, a Chicago-based architectural firm that designed the new tower in Dubai which will be the tallest in the world.

The year began with natural disaster and human tragedy on a staggering scale. As many as 150,000 people are dead in South Asia.

The international clean-up effort is underway, and aid is beginning to reach some of the needy, but health experts predict the worse for people left without clean water and struggling to find food in contaminated conditions. The disaster has already ruined the lives and livelihoods of millions of families. We look at what the future holds for the countries hit by the tsunamis, and a broader look at what it means in the global picture for 2005.

Guests:

Riyadi Suparno, managing editor of the Jakarta Post;

Daniel Franklin, editor of the Economist’s publication “The World in 2005″ ;

Kishore Mahbubani, former U.N. ambassador and dean of Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore;

When August Wilson’s young daughter Azula asked him why he was a writer, he answered, “To tell the story.” For most of his career, the story Wilson has been telling is that of African Americans in the 20th century.

He set out to write 10 plays — one for each decade — that would trace the journey of African-Americans from slavery in the South to emancipation in the North, through the Industrial Revolution, race riots, and Reaganomics.

Wilson’s new play, “Gem of the Ocean,” is the ninth to be staged, but chronologically, it marks the start of the series. Set in Wilson’s hometown of Pittsburgh in 1904, the play follows characters for whom slavery is still more than a memory, as they struggle to define freedom and citizenship for themselves.

Guests:

August Wilson, playwright.