George Harrison will be remembered by most as the “Quiet Beatle.” But his influence on music and culture goes beyond being lead guitarist of the most successful rock n’ roll band in history. He studied the sitar with Ravi Shankar and was among the first to meld Eastern music and elements of spirituality with Western [...]

Sergeant Thomas Kelly is A Marine recruiting officer. He talks about the pitch he’s delivering to young men and women interested in the Corps, and what a life in the Marines has meant to him.
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The criticism of Attorney General John Ashcroft is mounting. Civil libertarians are up in arms over new powers given to the Justice Department to monitor suspected terrorists. Some lawmakers have been frustrated by his strong-armed response to the September 11th attacks, especially the continued detainment of hundreds of foreigners as material witneses or on visa [...]

The burka — the head-to-toe garment required of all women living under the Taliban’s rule — has come to symbolize that regime’s brutal treatment of women. But our guests this hour argue that the cultural pressure on American women to uncover themselves is also taking a serious physical and psychological toll. “The burka and the [...]

As Afghans around the world watch the meeting in Bonn, Obaid Nejati a member of the Hazara tribe living in America says he worries that a Pashtun dominated government might continue to exclude his people from Afghan politics.
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In Bonn, Germany, leaders of the different tribes and factions in Afghanistan are meeting to discuss the future of their war-torn nation. The largest ethnic group, the Pashtuns, is likely to emerge as an important force in whatever government emerges in Afghanistan. According to British journalist Isabel Hilton, the Pashtuns have always considered themselves the [...]

From almost the moment the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center fell, the debate began as to what should be built in their place. For some, anything less than erecting two new massive skyscrapers would amount to a victory for the terrorists. For others, a memorial to the thousands who lost their lives would [...]

Since September 11th many Americans have dived into books, newspapers, and the T.V. news, hoping to understand the complex changes the nation and the world are undergoing. It’s an impulse that Gale Pryor has experienced before when her own life changed in an instant. But there is a time, she says, when one must turn [...]

Over 90% of college students nationwide supported the use of air strikes in Afghanistan when the boming began in October. Over 70% donated blood, money, or volunteer time in response to the September 11th attacks. These are just some of the statistics gathered by researchers from Harvard University, who took the pulse of college campuses [...]

Throughout its history, Hollywood has been criticized for the its stereotypical portrayal of minority groups: the incompetent black, the savage Native American, the sinister Asian. But while the film industry has evolved to more accurately depict most of these groups, Jack Shaheen argues that Arabs remain the “bad guys” of the silver screen. From bedouin [...]

President Bush yesterday warned Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to admit U.N. weapons inspectors or face the consequences. When asked what those consequences might be, Bush responded “He’ll find out.” Weapons inspectors have not been welcomed in Iraq since 1998, but President Bush says it is crucial now to determine if the Middle Eastern nation is [...]

When we last spoke to Robert Fisk asserted that there was no international coalition against terrorism. What did exist was the United States fighting a war against its personal enemies. Fisk has never been one to follow the company line. In his 25 years of covering the Middle East, Robert Fisk has won several major [...]

Charles and Gjaun Johnson live together in Portland, Oregon, but they have sharply different views about bin Laden and the U-S war in Afghanistan. Here is what they both think about The War and the people we are fighting against
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Globalization was the economic buzzword of the 1990’s. But while globalization contributed to unprecedented levels of wealth in the U.S., the hopes that free trade and multinational corporations would lead the Third World out of poverty were not realized. The richest 20% of the world controls 80% of the world’s wealth, and trends are showing [...]

On September 11th, around 4,000 Americans were slain by religious extremists who believed that their mass murder would be pleasing to their God. Such violent acts in the name of religion is nothing new in world history — nor are they unique to Islam. Abortion doctors have been slain; wars fought over the holy land; [...]

Since September 11, books about Islam and Osama bin Laden and dusty academic tomes about past wars have flown off bookstore shelves to the top of the best-seller lists. Among children’s literature, a similar trend is occurring, although on a slightly smaller scale. Books about Islam and war written for children have received new life [...]

Simon Shaheen is the master of the oud. The Oud is a short-necked, half pear-shaped, plucked lute of the Arab world, the direct ancestor of the European lute. Shaheen has toured much of the country, exposing Americans to a brand of music they are not accustomed to hearing. This hour, Simone Shaheen takes us on [...]

Since September 11th, Special Coverage has been airing the personal stories of Americans whose individual lives have been impacted by the terrorist attacks and their aftermath. The teacher on Manhattan’s Lower East Side struggling to explain to her students why their city was attacked. The Time magazine columnist paranoid that every sniffle was indicative of [...]

“What can you do with your days but work and hope?
Let your dreams bind your work to your play?
What can you do with each moment of your life?
But love till you’ve loved it away?” Bob Franke’s “Thanksgiving Eve” has been a popular holiday folk song for nearly 20 years. Since the September 11th attacks, its [...]

“Ending hunger is a greater moral imperative now than ever before, because for the first time humanity has the instruments in hand to defeat this cruel enemy at a reasonable cost,” writes former Presidential candidate George McGovern in his new book, “The Third Freedom: Ending Hunger in Our Time.” Along with former Senator Bob Dole, [...]

Each Tuesday evening, a group of women in Oneonta, Alabama, participate in a great American tradition, the quilting bee. Independent Producer Melanie Peeples joined them last Tuesday, and listened in as their conversation turned to the War on Terrorism.
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The Taliban has approached the United Nations and requested a meeting to negotiate the surrender of their former stronghold Konduz. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has been clear that he opposes any negotiation with Taliban leaders or fighters. Because many Taliban fighters are also members of Al Qaeda, Rumsfeld emphatically said yesterday, “My hope is [...]

Robert Pinsky doesn’t claim that poetry has the immediacy of television can bring on a day like September 11th. The former U.S. Poet Laureate says poetry can’t convey the emotions that Americans felt after the attacks as well as music can. But, according to Pinsky, poetry has an intimacy and physicality that no other art [...]

In 1991, after years of pro-democracy demonstrations, Algeria finally held democratic elections. But when a hard-line Islamist party, the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), looked as if they would win the election by rallying support among conservatives, the army stepped in and banned the FIS. For roughly the next decade, the FIS waged guerilla war, and [...]

The maxims of a successful business in the 1990’s were clear and cold: efficiency, innovation, speed, and scale were the keys to a black bottom line. But along with the rest of society, the world of business changed on September 11th. Security concerns, delays at borders and bridges, and a shaken workforce have forced businesses [...]

When Osama bin Laden sought to stir up anti-American sentiment in the Middle East, he sent a videotape to Al Jazeera. When President Bush sought to explain the United States’ motives for an air campaign in Afghanistan, he sent Colin Powell to be interviewed by Al Jazeera. Leaders ranging from Mullah Mohammad Omar to Tony [...]

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said that Mohammed Atef, one of Al Qaeda’s highest ranking members, was killed by American airstrikes. Rumsfeld added that U.S. Special forces have engaged with Taliban and Al Qaeda forces, but the primary target, Osama bin Laden, still remains at large. Some reports say bin Laden is already in Pakistan. [...]

Tonight at 7:30 EST, Special Coverage will carry NPR’s exclusive interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Robert Siegel of “All Things Considered” will conduct the interview, and listeners are invited to call in with questions for the head of the world’s largest nation.
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Marshall Goldman, economics professor at Wellesley College and Associate Director of Harvard University’s [...]

Sounds from a football game: Last Saturday, before the Crimson Tide of the University of Alabama faced off with the Mississippi State Bulldogs in Birmingham, Alabama, tailgaters were talking about terrorism, charity, and hope. Here are some of there thoughts and expectations for the future.
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Now that the Taliban is on the run, the campaign in Afghanistan is entering a new stage. The only question is, what will this new stage entail? How will we go after Osama bin Laden? How can we help create stability in Afghanistan? Do we take the war on terrorism to other countries? Thomas Ricks [...]

Northern Alliance forces have reportedly captured the eastern city of Jalalabad and have taken the airport in the Taliban stronghold city of Kandahar. Afghans have been loudly celebrating the Taliban’s retreat in the streets. But if the Taliban is completely removed from power, Afghanistan will enter a critical period of transition. With such political and [...]

Dealing with an attack that killed thousands and toppled its two most important buildings would try any city. Add onto that a plane crash, big drops in tourism, and transition of power to a new mayor, and New York City is facing circumstances unprecedented in American history. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has consistently urged New Yorkers [...]

Zari Nabayar is a twenty-five-year-old Afghan-American who has lived in the US since she was 13. While her memories of the country of her childhood are few, her dreams for Afghanistan are many. Here she shares her thoughts about the current Afghanistan and her dreams for the future.
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Northern Alliance troops have moved into Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, after Taliban troops withdrew early Tuesday morning. The Alliance immediately called for the United Nations to send envoys to begin setting up an interim government for Afghanistan. The dramatic retreat of the Taliban has raised hopes that the campaign in Afghanistan may be shorter [...]

Although officials have been adament that there is no initial indication that terrorism was involved in today’s plane crash, a nation already on edge still anxiously awaits a conclusion that mechanical failure is to blame. A plane crash is always big news, but with the ongoing conerns over the terrorist threat, this crash has incited [...]

An American Airlines flight bound for Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic crashed in Rockaway section of the New York City borough of Queens this morning, apparently killing the 255 people aboard. Investigators were quick to say that there is no evidence of terrorism, although the cause of the crash is still being investigated. For [...]

Prior to September 11th, Islam was not a topic that most Americans thought too much about. Now, with the ancient religion at the core of the hatred towards the United States, Americans are rushing to learn more about the Middle Eastern religion. Tonight, in the final installment of our series looking 10 years into the [...]

In last night’s address, President Bush looked back at the past two months and said, “What the terrorists never expected was that America would emerge stronger, with a renewed spirit of pride and patriotism.” In the days following the Sept. 11th attack, signs of patriotism were everywhere. But now, tattered American flags formerly tied to [...]

David Gergen is a former Presidential advisor. He speaks about leadership in a time of crisis and what qualities are needed. He compares president Bush to past presidents and talks about his qualities
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Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta announced sweeping plans to overhaul airline security yesterday. He discussed the possibility of passwords for pilots, a new minimum salary for airline security workers and a “zero tolerance” policy for lapses in airport security. but passengers and Congressman are still concerned. This past weekend, a passenger in Chicago made it through [...]

Cecil Sommers was a British soldier who kept a diary so that his daughter Margaret could fit his personal story into the history of The Great War. Here is WBUR’s Ian Docherty reading the opening of Sommers’ diary from 1917.
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Globalization was the buzzword of the 1990’s. As the World Trade Organization was formed to reduce trade barriers and the internet and cheap flights facilitated international communication and travel, we really were living in a “global village.” In the wake of the September 11th attacks and the ongoing concerns about national security, there are signs [...]

The Kathy and Judy Show is a morning talk radio program on WGB-AM in Chicago that usually focuses on the personal side of life and avoids politics. But since September 11, some things have changed. Here Kathy and Judy talk about how 9/11 has effected there relationship and show.
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Author Jonathan Rosen never lived through the Holocaust. His mother was born in America, so half of his family was never even threatened with the possibility of internment in concentration camps. He says he has always viewed America as a land of endless potential, and he did his best to live his life accordingly. But [...]

Amin Azimi is a poet and psychologist born in Afghanistan but has been living in the US for the last 28 years. He looks past the devastation of his former homeland towards a brighter future. Here he talks about the people of Afghanistan and the hardships they have been living through for years.
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an examination of U.S. energy policy. In the early days of the Bush administration, as electrical grids were facing overloads, energy policy took center stage. Now, with the U.S. at war with an Arab nation, our reliance on foreign oil has put our energy needs back in the spotlight. An OPEC oil embargo could cripple [...]