Maersk-Alabama Capt. Richard Phillips, right, shakes hands with Lt. Cmdr. David Fowler, executive officer of USS Bainbridge after being rescued by U.S Naval Forces off the coast of Somalia. (AP/ U.S. Navy)

The Future of International Piracy

American hostage Captain Richard Phillips was rescued, and three of the four pirates holding him aboard a life boat in the Indian Ocean were killed by U.S. Navy snipers. But now, the Somali pirate community is threatening to retaliate, and with more than 200 hostages currently being held aboard captured ships off of Somalia, some fear the situation could escalate into a much larger international incident. We speak to journalist John Burnett, once a pirate hostage himself, about what could happen next and what role, if any, the United States should play in combating international piracy.

Obama’s First Hundred Days

Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter joins us for a conversation about the first 100 days of Barack Obama’s presidency. Alter is in Boston for a forum on the subject at the Kennedy Library tonight. We spoke to him earlier about his book about President Franklin Roosevelt, “The Defining Moment: FDR’s Hundred Days And The Triumph Of Hope.”

Bank Stress Tests

After months of gloomy news, there were glimmers of hope in the economy last week. So, this week analysts will be poring over quarterly reports due out from Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup, to see if bailed out banks are turning themselves around. We speak with Eric Dash, Banking Reporter for the New York Times.

Postville, Iowa- One Year Later

Last Spring, helicopters and immigration agents arrested nearly 400 undocumented workers at Agriprocessors, a Kosher meatpacking plant in the small town of Postville, Iowa. Stephen Brackett is the pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Postville, he watched the raid unfold and talks with us about the great changes the town has seen since.

See photos of Postville

Raymond Chandler

The BBC’s Laura Hubber traces the footsteps of the late great crime writer in Los Angeles.

Music from the show

Peter Dixon, “Nagog Woods”
The Doors, “Peace Frog”
Ahmad Jamal, “Patterns
Ahmad Jamal,” Stolen Moments”
The Wee Trio, “About a Girl”
Charlie Haden, “Ou est-tu, mon amour?”
Charlie Haden, “Quartet West”

Freeman Thomas Clark

Dear Robin Young:

One segment of today’s (13 April 2009) devoted a substantial amount of time to last year’s Immigration and Naturalization Service “raid” on a packing plant in Postville Iowa. Virtually no mention was made about why immigrants from Guatemala, Mexico, and other Central American nations have come to the U.S. seeking a way to feed their families.
It is very disappointing when our public radio airwaves do not fully examine how U.S. policies have made it virtually impossible for our neighbors to be able to provide for their families. In Guatemala United Fruit Co. used it’s leverage to place much of Guatemala’s most fertile soils now owned by United Fruit Co. Parallel dynamics have occurred in other nations such as Nicaragua when the U.S. backed contras assured that former Somoza cronies became the landed elite while leaving the majority of Nicaraguans living in poverty.

Perhaps NPR stations might begin to balance their coverage by examining the data from “The Peoples’ History of The United States” by Howard Zinn. There is much information that can be reported to NPR listeners since most commercial radio overlooks the economic disparaties in their “news reporting”. Ideas such as the large percentage of foreign doctors and nurses staffing U.S. inner City hospitals while people in their home countries have minimal access to health professionals.

Perhaps NPR can provide information that would help U.S. people better understand why in many coutries U.S. policies are detrimental to just economic and social systems.

Let’s hope that it doesn’t all fall to NPR to have an informed and responsible population.

Sincerely,

Freeman Clark