The members of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) lay siege to the Tuzhurmatu district in Kirkuk, Iraq on February 13, 2014.

Combining Modern Technology, Political Savvy, and Terror, The Islamic State Grows

The Leonard Lopate Show | Dec 1, 2014

World-renowned terrorism expert Loretta Napoleoni discusses the massive enterprise known as ISIS or The Islamic State, as much a political entity as a terrorist group. ISIS has redrawn national borders across the Middle East and subjugated an area larger than the United Kingdom to its own vicious brand of Sharia law. In The Islamist Phoenix: The Islamic State and the Redrawing of the Middle East, Napoleoni argues that Western media misunderstands ISIS, ignoring their new model for nation building and their keen understanding of Middle Eastern politics. 

The Islamist Phoenix
The Islamist Phoenix
(Courtesy of the publisher)

 

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New York City works 9 to 5, then lights up pink for Dolly

From an East Village honky-tonk to the Empire State Building, New Yorkers paid tribute.
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Dolly Parton's America

At the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, we drop in on a history class called “Dolly Parton’s America.” (We borrowed the name for our series!) Taught by Dr. Lynn Sacco, the class is filled with college students who grew up in rural Appalachia, many of whom are the first in their families to attend college.  Dr Sacco gives the class an assignment: Write an essay that answers the question “What is Dolly Parton’s America?” Lurking just behind that question are thornier ones about Southern shame and identity and hillbillies and football and...well, Dolly.  Is Dolly helping or hurting us? The class splits down the middle.    Editor’s Note:  We made two corrections to this podcast, originally released on December 3.  In referring to the location of the Battle of Blair Mountain, we changed “Southwestern Virginia” to “West Virginia.” And on the origin of the term redneck, we inserted narration that makes clear that the etymology of the term goes back farther than the Battle of Blair Mountain.  
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The Poetry and Politics of Allen Ginsberg

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