Peace Talks Radio

On this special election season edition of Peace Talks Radio, an assessment of the degree of the problem, and some ideas on how to address it, from a number people. We’ll hear from current Democratic congressman Tim Ryan of Ohio, former long-term Republican congresswoman Connie Morella from Maryland – both of whom actually agree on several things they think will help. We’ll also talk with two media analysts - Western Washington University's Michael Karlberg and Hakim Bellamy of the Media Literacy Project, who’ll comment on the media’s role in heightening incivility in political discourse. And we’ll hear from a woman who’s launched an online project she thinks may help things a bit, by taking a kitchen table around the country. Paul Ingles hosts

On this episode of Peace Talks Radio, we revisit the story of a non-profit program called Creativity for Peace which includes a camp experience in the high desert of New Mexico for adolescent girls from all sides in the Middle East conflict. At the annual camp, t he girls speak their minds and hearts about their own suffering due to the hostilities. Despite being taught to see the other as the enemy, they learn to get along and even be friends. More importantly perhaps, they learn important lessons in conflict resolution. On this program, host Carol Boss talks with two former campers, now young women, who have stayed with the Creativity for Peace organization as young leaders both at the camp and actively working for peace in their homelands. Palestinian Jwana Ghaleb and Israeli Jew May Freed were back in New Mexico to help at the summer camp in 2012 when Carol talked with them.

In the spring of 2012 - PEACE TALKS RADIO attended a training exercise put on by the US Institute of Peace in Washington DC. It's called SENSE - which stands for Strategic, Economic Needs and Security exercise. Forty to sixty people participate by taking on roles of business leaders, govt officials, security officers, non-governmental representatives and the like and, in three days, they work in a fictional world Akrona- a struggling state emerging from years of war and still vulnerable to violence. ( as some of the paraticipants have said, not unlike Afghanistan in the early 2000's.) A sophisticated computer program sets up the parameters of resources and circumstances. When one player makes one move in the game, it effects others. Parties have to negotiate to bring economies and quality of life into balance. Suzanne Kryder talked with some of the players to learn how it works and what they hope to learn and apply to their regular lives when they return from the exercise. She also has a conversation with Omar Samad, former Afghani Ambassador to both Canada and France.

Draw the well-known peace symbol almost anywhere in the world, and show it to almost anyone over the age of 4, and you're likely to hear them tell you that the symbol means "peace." Walk through the halls of any elementary or junior high school and you'll see the peace sign all over in kids' fashion, young girls especially - t-shirts, shorts, shoes, backpacks, earings, pendants. People know the symbol means peace but not so many know where the symbol came from. On this edition of Peace Talks Radio, we'll talk with author Ken Kolsbun who co-wrote the book Peace: The Biography of a Symbol. He'll tell us the tale of British graphic designer Gerald Holtem, who came up with the design for a 1958 Ban the Bomb protest march. Since then the sign has been used to mean "peace" in all kinds of causes from stopping war to saving the planet's environment. We also talk with Leigh Golterman who created a peace apparel and accessories company called "Peace Please," which has donated its profits to peace organizations. Paul Ingles hosts.

After serving proudly in the US Armed Forces, what motivates a person to later work passionately for peace? On this edition of Peace Talks Radio, we’ll learn how two war veterans were changed by their military experience and about the peace work they now do. Our guests talked with host Suzanne Kryder about the role of the US military in peace building, their views on defense spending, and what all of us can do to bring an end to war. Paul K. Chappell is a West Point graduate who served in the army for seven years including a deployment to Baghdad in 2006; he retired as a Captain. Paul now serves as the Peace Leadership Director for the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. He is the author of three books including Peaceful Revolution: How We Can Create the Future Needed for Humanity’s Survival. We’ll also speak with Erik K. Gustafson who served in the 1991 Gulf War. Witnessing the consequences of the war fueled Erik’s passion for human rights and peace building. He’ll describe why and how he founded the Education for Peace in Iraq Center (EPIC) in 1998 to improve humanitarian conditions in Iraq and defend the human rights of the Iraqi people.