2011 March | Here & Now

It’s crunch time in Vermont for maple sugar makers. We check in with maple syrup maker Burr Morse, see photos and his family’s “wicked good” recipe for maple sugar pie.

As Libyan rebels retreat from Gadhafi’s forces pressing east, the U.S. has admitted that C.I.A. teams are on the ground in Libya gathering intelligence on the opposition. And Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is on Capitol Hill today answering questions about the U.S. role and objectives in the Libyan campaign.

About 200,000 K-12 students in the U.S. attend school every day from the comfort of their homes, airplanes, or maybe the sporting complexes where they train as athletes. That’s possible because of virtual schools — schools based entirely online.

Japan’s anti-nuclear activists are welcoming the news that Japan’s Prime Minister may reportedly scrap plans to build at least 14 new nuclear power plants. We speak with one activist who doubts the plants would have been built anyway, and describes how some in the movement fault themselves for not preventing the disaster.

From Massive Attack to Charles Mingus and more.

It’s getting more and more difficult for New Hampshire’s independent loggers, or “brush cats,” to make a living. We visit with one to hear how foreign competition and falling prices are changing the dangerous line of work.

A month after Egypt’s revolution, the youth that led the protests are reported to have a very limited role in shaping the country. That’s led one young opposition member to launch a “movement to save the revolution.” We speak with Egyptians from different generations about Egypt’s future.

A group of Muslims and Jews in Massachusetts have been holding monthly meetings since November to discuss a topic that’s not usually brought up between the two groups: Zionism.

Rebels in Libya are getting some protection from the no fly zone. But from Downing Street to Washington, there’s a debate about whether to also support them with training and arms, especially given the looming questions about who makes up the opposition.

From Ken Vandermark to Radiohead and more.

We turn our microphones over to Cuban musicians from Telmary Diaz to Yerba Buena, to preview some of the best Cuban music coming to New York City’s upcoming Si Cuba festival.

A conservative think tank in Michigan has filed a public records request to at least three state universities, asking for access to emails related to the union battle in neighboring Wisconsin.

More than two months after former community college student Jared Loughner allegedly went on a shooting rampage in Tucson, Arizona, state lawmakers there are debating whether to require community colleges and universities to inform mental health agencies whenever a student is suspended or expelled after threatening violence.

In his speech last night, President Obama said that the U.S. had to intervene militarily in Libya to prevent a massacre of civilians. What does that mean for U.S. foreign policy going forward?

Japan’s prime minister, Naoto Kan, today said his country was on “maximum alert” as officials try to bring a nuclear crisis under control. His speech came after plutonium was found in soil samples near the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant.

From Air to Ahmad Jamal and more.

Despite nine days of allied air strikes, Moammar Gadhafi’s forces have beaten back opposition troops in their campaign to capture Gadhafi’s hometown of Sirte, which is the gateway to the western part of the country.

This month marks the 55th anniversary of the director John Ford’s classic western, “The Searchers.” The movie is a favorite of directors like Martin Scorcese and Francis Ford Coppola. But Robert Ebert said it was flawed, and Slate calls it the “worst best movie” ever.

Journalist Jonathan Miller was at a hotel in Tripoli when Libyan Iman Al-Obeidi burst in, claiming that she had been raped by Gadhafi supporters. Miller describes the scene and how he ended up flat on his back on the ground.

In Syria, security forces have opened fire on demonstrators in at least 6 locations. Unrest continues in Jordan with nearly 200 dead after police broke up a pro-reform protest camp in Amman. We look at the cultural and historical factors leading individual governments to respond in different ways.