Docs

I’ve been lucky enough to dive into historical topics as a reporter for PRI’s The World.  Below you can find links to my projects on how wars end, the legacy of the Rwandan genocide, the history of the relationship between the United States and Iran, and a radio history of Iraq.  In January 2008 I launched a history podcast called How We Got Here.

How Wars End aired October 6-10, 2008

This looks at the current Iraq war, the American Civil War, World War I, the 1991 Gulf War and the war in Bosnia.  I set out to do a project about how wars end in a more technical sense: literally what factors had to be in play for shooting to end. But what I ended up with was more of a meditation on how we remember endings and what they come to mean over time.

Rwanda: Trying to Move On aired February 13-15, 2007

This project looks at the legacy of the Rwandan genocide 13 years later. The first piece takes you to a memorial site, the second looks at the gacaca justice system set up to process hundreds of thousands of genocide cases, the third features a community service program designed to reintegrate confessed killers back into Rwandan society.

The U.S. and Iran aired November 25-28, 2004

This series was timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the 1979 hostage crisis. It tracks the sad trajectory of U.S. – Iranian relations and grievances starting with the 1953 coup in Iran.

History of Iraq aired February 11-13, 2003

I put this history of Iraq together on the eve of the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. It looks at Iraq’s British legacy, at the life of Saddam Hussein, and at the history of relations between Washington and Baghdad.