One of the changes you’ll be seeing at TheNation.com over the weeks to come is more video and multimedia. We’ve been producing different kinds of videos for several years now, posting them on our VideoNation page and here at TheNation.com. We’ve also been posting segments from GRIT TV with Laura Flanders, a daily news program that frequently features The Nation.
This week there are three great offerings you should take time to watch. The first is actually from three years ago: Former Nation interns Sam Graham-Felsen and Ali Sethi and videographer James Jacoby traveled to Pakistan, where they reported on tensions between islamic extremists and more liberal college students at the National College of Arts and University of Punjab. The situation was so tense that we had to pull the piece for a time because students featured in the video were threatened. This week the New York Times picked up the story, with a front page article by Sabrina Tavernise about a harsh beating at University of Punjab. We’ve reposted our video, "Pakistan: The Intersection" which gives critical perspective on how young people in Pakistan view the nation’s future. Watch the full video here.
Closer to home, our Greg Kaufmann decided that he should see for himself what the Tea Party activists really want. He went to the National Mall for the tea party tax day protests; here is his video report:
And from GRIT TV, Nation contributing writer and environmental correspondent Mark Hertsgaard joined Laura Flanders for an Earth Day conversation about cap & trade. He assesses the prospects for climate change legislation this year and weighs in on the debate about the EPA’s regulation of carbon. It’s a great primer to the big environmental issues on the table right now. Watch the video here. Also this week:
Goldman, Sacked … With charges filed against Goldman Sachs and Barack Obama delivering a major address on financial reform, The Nation offered some depth on the issue. In my Washington Post column this week I took on the fraudulent case against reform being made by Senator Mitch McConnell and the Republican leadership. You can read the whole column here. Our DC Editor Chris Hayes was Wednesday’s guest on MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann, where he tried to explain the Republican’s sudden transformation from the party of no to the party of maybe on financial reform. You can watch that segment here.
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In this week’s edition of The Breakdown podcast, Hayes welcomes blogger, author and economist Simon Johnson to explain what it is that Goldman Sachs really did, and how it impacted the global economic meltdown. Hayes and Johnson lay out the charges here:
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More Clegg-Mania … I also weighed in on "Clegg-mania" for Foreign Policy Magazine this week, arguing that the world needs more Nick Cleggs – not just because he’s a former Nation intern, but because Clegg and the Liberal-Democrats seem to be channeling an affirmative response to the anti-politician wave in Britain, by offering a serious platform and real ideas for change. Its a striking contrast to pols like Senator McConnell, who is exploiting anti-government sentiment for gain, rather than meeting it honestly with real ideas for change.
Move Your Money … A few weeks ago we told you about our new Nation affinity benefits credit card. This week the "Move your Money" project gave us a nice shout-out for aligning ourselves with a small, regional bank recommended by Move Your Money and recognized as one of the best small banks in the country– UMB in Kansas City, MO. The affinity card is an important way to support our investigative reporting and financial stability; after a falling out with one of the "majors," The Nation is proud to have moved our money. I’ll have more on this later this week, but you can find out more about the card here.
More on Afghan Corruption …. In case you missed it, The Nation’s cover this week is by Aram Roston, who broke a major story last November with his investigation, "How the U.S. Funds The Taliban." In this followup, Roston uncovers new details about two of the biggest fuel contracts in the region – one in Afghanistan and one in Kyrgyzstan. Both contracts are drawing the attention of Congress, and Roston spoke with a Kyrgyz official who told him flat out that the pentagon fuel money is "an indirect way for the Pentagon to bribe the ruling families of Kyrgyzstan." It’s an important story – I hope you’ll read it and pass it along.
Finally this week, mark your calendars! I’ll be on ABC’s This Week next Sunday, May 2nd, as part of the weekly news roundtable. As always you can follow me on Twitter (I’m @KatrinaNation) and you can leave questions and feedback below in the comments.
