China's Leaders Harness Folk Religion For Their Aims

by Louisa Lim
All Things Considered
National Public Radio
July 23, 2010

Driven by political and economic goals, China's communist leaders embrace and support Mazu worship...

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The Fes Festival: Sacred Music From Around The World

All Things Considered
National Public Radio
July 2010

Betto Arcos, host of Global Village on KPFK, shares highlights and presents a photo gallery from the Fes Festival in Morocco, which includes a diverse assortment of devotional music. Among his picks are Ensemble Lalla Rhoum El Bakkali, one of the few all-female Sufi musical groups in the world, and Tunisian musician Dhafer Youssef...

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Town Rebuilds Green After Devastating Tornado

by AL LETSON
All Things Considered
National Public Radio
May 14, 2010

Three years ago, a massive tornado ripped through the town of Greensburg, Kan., leaving ninety percent of the population homeless and 11 people dead. But there is new growth: a super-energy-efficient City Hall made from reclaimed brick and wood; an art center powered by the sun and wind; and a home modeled on a geodesic dome. And the rebuilding brought its 900 residents closer together...

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Priest's Dual Legacy: Transgressions And Money

National Public Radio
April 20, 2010

For years, Father Marcial Maciel evaded numerous accusations of sexual abuse -- even as he built a rich and powerful order of the Catholic Church. Maciel's Legion of Christ now controls assets worth billions of dollars. A new investigative report explores whether Maciel's ability to bring in money influenced his treatment by the Vatican...

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THE RIGHTS OF MOTHER EARTH

Inter Press Service
Leonardo Boff
FEBRUARY 2010

For centuries we have lived under the jurisdiction of nation states and their forms of sovereignty and autonomy. But as problems are growing increasingly global, this political model is proving incapable of offering the solutions needed by humanity and the planet, writes Leonardo Boff, a Brazilian theologian, member of the Earth Charter Initiative, and professor emeritus of ethics at the University of Rio de Janiero...

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Howard Zinn: "Holy Wars"

DemocracyNow!
January 08, 2009

Howard Zinn is an American historian, social critic, and activist. He is best known as author of the best-seller A People’s History of the United States. He spoke at Boston University on November 11, on the subject of American “Holy Wars.”

Thanks to Robbie Leppzer for filming this event.

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When Life Is This Hard, Stubbornness Is A Virtue

by Bob Mondello
National Public Radio
As a stand-up comic noted for raunchy one-liners, Mo'Nique probably never imagined that her name and the phrase "Best Actress" would find themselves in the same sentence, except perhaps as a punch line. But such is the power of a blunt but undeniably effective new movie — a melodrama with the unwieldy title Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire — that no one's laughing at the notion as Oscar season approaches.

Nor is Mo'Nique's blistering performance as a monstrous mother the only surprise in this passionate tale. Director Lee Daniels was once a casting director, and he's gone out of his way to give plenty of unlikely performers the chance to shine: pop star Mariah Carey, deglammed and ferocious as a bulldog of a social worker; rocker Lenny Kravitz, gently amusing as a head-turning maternity-ward nurse; and most remarkably, newcomer Gabourey Sidibe, making her film debut as Claireece "Precious" Jones, a withdrawn, morbidly obese teenager whose very survival seems unlikely as the movie begins...

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