The Battle for Tora Bora
An Afghan farmer works on his field Friday Dec. 28, 2001, in northeastern Afghanistan, near Tora Bora in background. (AP Photo)
The war in Afghanistan is in its ninth year, we look back at the battle at Tora Bora in 2001. In The New Republic, counterterrorism expert Peter Bergen reconstructs that battle. Bergen describes how Osama bin Laden escaped the U.S. military in part by knowing every trail out of the mountains into Pakistan, and how Donald Rumsfeld’s Pentagon refused to send 800 elite troops to catch him. Peter Bergen is senior fellow at the New America Foundation in Washington D.C. and author of “The Osama Bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of Al Qaeda’s Leader.”
Operation Marriage
Rebekah Sanderlin's dog, Hank.
Rebekah Sanderlin has been an Army wife for nearly seven years. In that time, her husband has been deployed to Afghanistan three times, her father died, and she has given birth to two children. She writes openly and honestly about the stresses of military family life on her blog for the Fayetteville Observer newspaper and joins us to talk about it.
iTV?
Apple Inc. is aggressively courting broadcast and cable networks, hoping to form deals that would offer consumers alternatives to their cable or satellite TV subscriptions. The venture is part of Apple’s current revamping of its popular iTunes software, which already offers television content for a price. We speak to Wall Street Journal reporter Sam Schechner.
Poverty & Food Stamps
Half of American children have depended on food stamps at one point in their lives. A recent study shows that many Americans turn to food stamps for short periods, after losing a job or dealing with a catastrophic illness. But Professor Mark Rank of Washington University tells us that even short term help could put children at long term risk, because food stamps can’t satisfy their basic nutritional needs.
Christmas Jollies
Raised Jewish, Bill Adler started making Christmas music mixtapes after he married into a Christian family. And soon the hobby turned into a passion. Every year since 1984, Adler searches for the most eclectic Christmas music from all genres and decades to produce his “Christmas Jollies” mixtape. Producer Jon Kalish has our story.
- See Bill Adler’s Playlist
- Email Bill Adler at eyejammiearts@yahoo.com
Music from the show
- “The Christmas Song” – Nat King Cole
- “It’s Winter Again” – Hal Kemp and His Orchestra with Skinny Ennis
- “Christmas Comes But Once A Year” – Professor Grampy
- “There Was A Star” – The Staple Singers
- “Dig That Crazy Santa Claus” – Oscar McLollie and His Honey Jumpers
- “I Want To Spend Christmas With You, Part 1″ – Lowell Fusion
- “Howdy Doody Christmas” – Howdy Doody and Bob Smith
- “Christmas Day” – Leadbelly
- “I Want You For Christmas” -Mae Questel (The Betty Boop Girl)
- “Christmas On TV” – Chris Isaak
- “Waiting To See Santa Claus” – Cedryl Ballou
- “Jingle Bells” – The Hoosier Hotshots
- “Christmas In Hollis” – Run D.M.C.
- “The Dreidel Song” – Sister Hazel “Silent Night” – Sahib Shihab Quartet
