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Disptaches, September 01, 2008, Toronto, Hawston, Cape Town, Washington, Ni

Mon, Sep 1

The criminal underworld is going global. Author Misha Glenny has the dramatic stories of predators and victims alike. John McCain a “maverick”? A noted libertarian says he’s bad news for individualism in America, and security in the world. Fire meets rain in the Niger Delta. Nigerians are getting sick from the rainfall around Western oil wells. And the destruction wrought by the poaching of South Africa’s abalone. Drugs and easy money are killing the abalone and many who live off it.

Best of Dispatches, August 24, 2008 -- Kabul, Afghanistan, Islamabad, Pakis

Sun, Aug 24

The new 0pium Eaters of Afghanistan; the world's oldest narcotic is hooking the country's children. A Canadian journalist goes to Sierra Leone to teach young reporters, but gets schooled in the perils of being one. The unsung compassion of Sylvia Nortey. Ghana did away with school fees so teachers like her could help more kids learn. Now if only they had money for pencils. The long and winding road to Pakistan's National Art Gallery, from the architect who refused to veer from the path.

August 17, 2008 - Best of Dispatches -- New Haven, Conn, Capetown, South Af

Sun, Aug 17

You say torture - I say abuse. You call it escalation, I call it a surge. We parse White House euphemisms with a language lord who decries them as "floating metaphors, with a low yield of fact." In South Africa is it smut and gore or a public service? Tabloids specialize in grim and ghastly. And it's making mainstream journalists uneasy. As Ethiopia shudders under poverty and oppression, Canada's accused of bean-counter development. A feature documentary from the Horn of Africa.

The Best of Dispatches, August 10, 2008 -- Butare, Rwanda, Nairboi, Kenya,

Sun, Aug 10

All Africa: Genocide justice in Rwanda;countryside courts putthe accused on trial. In Kenya, kids are schooled with the Canadian cash. But with Ottawa tilting towards Latin America, Africa wonders if will lose out. Somalia and Sergeant Cleveland's corpse. The story behind a Pulitzer-winning picture that wounded American foreign policy, and torments the journalist who took it. Kick, kick, sweep. The sound of percussive music and athletic dance known as Capoeria brings lost culture back home.

The Best of Dispatches -- August 3, 2008 -- New Delhi, Chennai, Pune, Toron

Sun, Aug 3

Inside India: As more women take to the week subcontinent,the car is challenging the culture. Ratcatchers, Software Wizards and the Press-wallah of Chennai; Daniel Lak has stories of economic awakening. A guide to paan. The "English-speaking curse." India strives for fluency despite English teachers who tell students to "Keep it simple, and yet so crispy." And a guide to Paan: Just take betel nut, flower petals, mix with metal flakes and pop'em in your mouth. Mmmm. Dispatches.

The Best of Dispatches -- July 27, 2008 -- Stratford-upon-Avon, Chennai, In

Sun, Jul 27

Much ado about Shakespeare's birthday. Fanfare and champers and the very essence of England comes out to mark the day in Stratford-upon-Avon. The global trade in human bones. Graverobbers are emptying the cemetaries of India to keep the medical schools full in North America. And from Mexico, screens in the windows and a door that locks; how a modest house changed the life of Aurora Hernandez. And if money makes the world go round, Western Union is the choice of most in t

The Best of Dispatches -- July 20, 2008 - Milan, Rio de Janeiro, London, Ch

Sun, Jul 20

Biofuel backlash. How close we've come to competing with cars for our food. The story of responsible soy; a unique effort to stop clearcutting Brazillian rainforests. In China, they say, "To get rich, build a road." They did. Right across the country. Journalist Rob Gifford travelled it and shares his memoir about a country in dramatic change. In Cambodia, they're boiling swords into ploughshares. Weapons used by the Khmer Rouge to terrorize those in the silk industry are a key to its revival.

Best of Dispatches, July 13, 2008 -- Caracas, Venezeula, Israel, Rome, Ital

Sun, Jul 13

Hugo Chavez strikes out at the U.S, saying his country's done being a meat market for American baseball teams. Praise the Lord, pass the petroleum; how a good old boy scammed believers who think Jesus will return if someone discovers oil in Israel. Joggers take in Rome's sights at a trot to get legs like Michaelangelo's David. The ragpicker who rose from the streets of New Delhi's main train station. Twelve platforms. Twelve gangs. One chance.

Dispatches, July 6, 2008

Sun, Jul 6

Unsafe at any speed. Why cars busted up by Hurricane Katrina in the U.S. are rattling around the roads of Bolivia. Crayons for terrorists? Penal reform comes to Saudi Arabia. But is it really about rehab for Holy Warriors or saving the House of Saud? "Now Kill Us All." The dramatic name of a Italian citizens movement challenging organised crime. And fleecing Iraqis. Refugees are targets of con artists flogging false promises and tickets to nowhere.And the Divine Comedy, now an opera.

Dispatches, June 29, 2008, Nepal, Tequilla, New York, Capetown, Israel.

Sun, Jun 29

A drive down the "Kidney Highway" of Nepal. We go to Ground Zero in the global black market in human body parts. Business is booming for Mexican tequilla, so why are producers going bust? The story of a new language from a Bedouin village in Israel. The author of a new book says there is an "invisible cure" for AIDS, while South Africa is changing the way it deals with the latest generation of AIDS orphans.

Dispatches, June 23, 2008, Jerusalem, Los Angeles, Tehran, Paris.

Mon, Jun 23

Neo-Nazis get a foothold in Israel. The hate of the Holocaust finds traction in the home of its survivors. A new book on race says Mexicans will bring about the "Tiger Woodsicisation" of the United States. From Iran, the lyrics of solitary confinement: aphorisms from an academic's long term in notorious Evin Prison. Pakistan's man of hope: what the poetry of the late Faiz Ahmad Faiz means to the country today. And, as newspapers close down, coffee culture is on the rise in Tehran.

Dispatches, June 16, 2008 -- Mumbai, India, Montreal, Iraq, Managua, Nicara

Mon, Jun 16

Asia's biggest slum is about to disappear. The poor who live there get free housing when its done. What a deal! But what a controversy! The lost lyre of Ur is lost again. But one man is trying to stop the plunder of Iraqi antiquities which he says is funding terrorism. He's the Relic Hunter of Baghdad.The revolution according to Fran Pavley. Slapped down by Washington, her campaign against carbon emissions changed the world once. She's out to do it again. And, the children charity can't save.

Dispatches, June 09, 2008 - Palermo, Sicily, Lima, Medellin, Columbia, Ista

Mon, Jun 9

Canada courtsColombia. Connie Watson looks at Ottawa's focus on a country known for cocaine cartels and murderous paramilitaries. Turkey's big dig: how the lost ships of Istanbul are holding up rail deveopment under the bospherus. In Zimbabwe, foreign aid and observers are banned as another dubious election approaches. What next for a tormented country? And, In Italy, good seeds are squeezing out bad ones from the bloody earth of Sicily. Why the Mafia is losing land and influence.

Dispatches, June 2, 2008 -- Johannesburg, Maputo, Niger Delta, Washington,

Mon, Jun 2

The exodus of foreigners from South Africa, and what they're fleeing to in Mozambique. John McCain: maverick or myth? A libertarian says the so-called man of the people is bad news for individualism in the US Fire meets rain in the Niger Delta where Nigerians lose their housing and their health to one of oil's toxic byproducts. Crystal meth, sea snails and the poachers of Hawston Town: how the underground trade in abalone is hurting the stocks and South Africans who dare oppose it.

Dispatches, May 26, 2008, Borneo, Prague, Bratislava, Slovakia, Tehran, Ira

Mon, May 26

Pygmy elephants versus palm oil. Why snack food threatens the survival of a species in Borneo. Censorship in Iran: writers and readers are coming finding new ways around it. Meanwhile in Slovakia, newspaper readers see blank pages and black borders as publishers struggle against the new press code. Also, the story of a former Yugoslavian prison camp designed to turn out traitors. And, why the fabled breweries of the Czech Republic are being snapped up by foreign investors.

Dispatches, May 19, 2008, Cambodia, Siberia, Oxford, Beirut, and Washington

Mon, May 19

It's that time of year so Dispatches goes to the lake. Lake Tonle Sap feeds Cambodia. So; why are they putting it at risk? Then there's Lake Baikal in Siberia, the oldest and deepest in the world and an aquarium for some of the most unusual marine life on the planet. Why are they putting it at risk? We'll hear from those who work these lakes and from the award-winning environmentalist trying protect Baikal by challenging the Kremlin. Also, the ethical challenges of harvesting human eggs.

Dispatches, May 12, 2008 -- Kinshasa, Burma, Delhi, Rome, Accra, K'far Yasi

Mon, May 12

Child soldiers, roast mice, and risk of combat; how rebels are challenging Burma's regime. Palestine's Billy Elliot; a boy's dreams of ballet conflict with his Arab culture. Africa's hidden holocaust; the war in the Congo claims more than 5 million lives and taints all it touches, even the U.N. Seeding cities; why urban gardens may be sub-Saharan Africa's first line of defense against soaring food prices. In Italy, a home-cooking movement tries to right North America's culinary wrongs.

Disptaches, May 05, 2008 -- Toronto, Naples, Nairobi, Beijing, Saana.

Mon, May 5

Supergeek and phone calls from drowning men; dramatic stories from the the global underworld. How a mob calling itself the "Camorra" is extending its reach from city sanitation in Naples to the run the whole economy. We'll look at the trouble with qat. Yemen's favourite narcotic is costing the country its water supply. Esperanto: it has a home in China of all places. And, Kenya is telling tourists it's safe to come back.

Dispatches April 28, 2008 -- Paris, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Nairobi, India, Vu

Thu, May 1

Much ado about Shakespeare. Fanfare, champers and the essence of England mark the latest anniversary in Stratford-Upon-Avon. France and the fiction of race. Will the government do what it said it would never do again and keep tabs race and religion? Ratcatchers, Software Wizards and the Press-wallah of Chennai; stories of India's awakening from the author of a new book. Vukovar Revisited. Seventeen years after a brutal seige a Croation-Canadian returns to find his people frozen in time.

Dispatches, April 28, 2008, Vukovar, Stratford-upon-Avon, Nairobi, Chennai,

Mon, Apr 28

Much ado about Shakespeare's birthday. England marks the latest anniversary in Stratford-upon Avon. France and the fiction of race. Will the government do what it said it would never do again - keep tabs on Jews, blacks, and all races and religions? Stories of India's awakening from the author of a new book about its breathtaking transformation. Vukovar Revisited. Years after one of the most brutal seiges in the former Yugoslavia, a Croation-Canadian returns to find his people frozen in time.

Dispatches, April 21, 2008 -- Rome, Fosu, Ghana, Siwa, Egypt, London, Nairo

Mon, Apr 21

In Italy, Silvio Berlusconi sweeps back to power with more questionable comments about women. Emma Bonino isn't surprised, or amused. Kenya and Capoeira. Echoes of lost culture come back to Africa with stories of the slave trade. In Egypt: big plans for a fabled oasis on the Great Sand Sea. In Ghana, goodbye school fees doesn't mean hello teachers, hello books. And, the battle for the Mayor's office in London. It's Red Ken versus the Blonde Bicyclist.

Dispatches, April 14, 2008 -- New Haven, Los Yungas (Bolivia), Delhi, Freet

Mon, Apr 14

The "Cocalero" government of Bolivia says it's okay to grow coca, just don't turn it into cocaine. But there's a fine white line between the two. You say "torture", I say "abuse" - we'll parse White House euphemisms for the war in Iraq with a language lord. Also on language, the story of India's English-speaking "curse" - that would be Inglish. The education of Kim Brunhuber, a Canadian journalist who goes to Sierra Leone to teach young peporters, and winds up being schooled himself.

Dispatches, April 7, 2008 -- Butare, Rwanda; Harare, Johannesburg, Los Ange

Mon, Apr 7

Grassroots justice in Rwanda, as the country turns to its community based court system in genocide trials. What next for Zimbabwe? Laura Lynch reports on the mood of the people and author and former resident Geoff Hill considers what happens after Mugabe. Author Gregory Rodriguez offers a provocative take on Mexican Americans and race in his new book. Sweat tours take you on a run through Rome and Chinese poetry circles the globe with the Olympic torch.

Dispatches, March 31, 2008 -- Austin, Paris, Vienna, Boston, Jadugoda (Indi

Mon, Mar 31

Nuclear Renaissance: the quest for alternatives to carbon-based fuel is bringing atomic energy out of its long notoriety. How much cleaner is it? And how much safer since the days of Three Mile Island? Dispatches goes to Texas where the American renaissance may start; to France where nuclear energy never fell out of favour; to Vienna to ask about safeguards against nuclear terrorism; to India and South Africa where promise is tainted with tragedy and to China, nuclear giant-in-waiting.

Dispatches, March 24, 2008 -- Venezuela, India, Sicily, China, Zanzibar

Mon, Mar 24

This week: Venezula's newest fight with the U.S.? Baseball. Inida courts civil disobedience once again; angry farmers prepare to defy a government proposal to throw away their seeds. Zanaibar's women of the surf; how a bold attempt to build an economy out of seaweed is starting to wilt. And we revisit some cultural cuisine: cous-cous in small-town Sicily and something strong in the pan in China.

Dispatches, March 17, 2008 -- Tblisi, New Delhi, Katmandhu, Milan, Shanghai

Mon, Mar 17

Stealing humans: in the Republic of Georgia, some men don't bother romancing a wife - they just kidnap her. Survival of the fastest: how car culture is taking hold in China. In India, more and more women are taking the wheel as the automobile both challenges and changes the culture. The thirst for gas is triggering a biofuel backlash as we compete with cars for the very food we eat. And the unlovely history of lovely Bhutan: refugees claim ethnic cleansing keeps them from returning

Dispatches, March 10, 2008 -- Bogota, Cairo, Amsterdam, Ramla, Nairobi, Chi

Mon, Mar 10

Amsterdam's new look; why the red light district isn't what it used to be in one of the world's most liberal cities. The culture wheel of Cairo -- Egyptian heritage has a new home, under a bridge that links new and old. In a Bogota neighbourhood, the slime of a snail is used in medicine. And while we're on the subject of big cities, and megacities, we're going to hear about hypercities, 20-million strong, and why they're the biggest threat to Africa since HIV/AIDS. This is Dispatches.

"Dispatches, March 03, 2008 -- Delhi, Italy, Taiwan

Mon, Mar 3

"Now Kill Us All." It's the ame of an Italian citizens' movement challenging an organized crime group in Italy so powerful it's said to control your breathing. An olympic-sized standoff. Taiwan wants to join the UN. Let the games begin. Why Italian politics don't work and a traveller's guid to popping paan in India. This is Dispatches.

Dispatches, February 25, 2008 -- Jamaica, Rome, Sudan, Tehran, Pakistan

Mon, Feb 25

The lyrics of solitary confinement. The words of an Iranian academic held in Iran notorious Evin Prison. Pakistan's man of hope. What the poetry of the late Faiz Ahmed Faiz has to say to the turmoil of his country today. And the cafe society of Tehran. But in the first section: The grab for the gum: a new industry emerges in southern Sudan. The true story of The Great Jamaican Cocaine Caper, and, an homage of sorts to the bikini. A mere bathing suit to some. But not so in Rome.

Dispatches, February 18, 2008 -- New Delhi, Ghana, Togo, Belize, Nepal, Ger

Mon, Feb 18

This week, a drive down the "Kidney Highway" of Nepal. Praise the Lord and pass the petroleum: how a charismatic good ol' boy scammed those who believe Jesus will return if someone discovers oil in Israel. We have the story of a child slave and the human traffikers of west Africa. We know about Hollywood and Bollywood but what do you call the burgeoning film industry in a Ghanian refugee camp? And, how a ragpicker rose above the streets of New Delhi's train station. This is Dispatches.

Dispatches (Documentary)