WBEZ's Worldview

Gun violence in Mexico prompted a different kind of response. Wrestling, one of the world's oldest sports, has been dropped from the Olympics. A Belgian director discusses his new film. We share our international weekend picks.

One journalist went to Yemen to see the U.S. drone program for herself. Alaska's Native villages are faced with imminent threats due to climate change. One Winnetka resident gave her life to improve education in Pakistan. Her family continues her mission.

Winnetka resident Sonia Shah was a "bright, enterprising and multilingual young person who traveled and studied around the world,” says her mother, Iram Shah. Sonia started the Kulsoom Foundation to build a school for girls in Pakistan but was killed in an auto accident last year before the school was completed. She was 18. For Global Activism, Sonia's mother Iram Shah and Sherezaad Anwar, a classmate and friend, tell Worldview about their mission to continue Sonia's work.

Worldview digs into Obama’s foreign policy objectives. February 13th is World Radio Day, a chance to examine radio's past, present, and future. A Libyan-American rapper tells us about his home country's music scene.

Worldview spends the hour with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. His new book, 'The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change,' outlines how materialism and our major institutions have failed us and what citizens can do through technology and innovation to set things right.

Pope Benedict XVI dropped a bombshell, announcing that he would resign at the end of this month. A South African playwright tells the lesser-known side of South Africa's anti-Apartheid struggle.

Last month, the Somali pirate leader Mohamed Abdi Hassan, also known as "Afweyne," or "Big Mouth," announced he was quitting the business. While piracy is in decline, filmmaker Thymaya Payne says the problem in Somalia has been suppressed but not solved. He should know: the Somali pirate industry is the subject of his new documentary "Stolen Seas." Payne and film contributor Milos Stehlik join Worldview to discuss.

Protesters took to the streets of Tunisia after the country’s ruling political party, Ennahda, rejected a proposal to dissolve the government. A filmmaker talks about his new documentary on Somalia's pirate culture. 'Worldview' gives you tips for your international weekend.

Chicagoan Jason Savsani believes that sharing a home cooked meal with someone is one of the most intimate things you can do because, aside from learning new tastes, you also learn about new cultures and people. On a trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia, a Cambodian family cooked him a meal. For WBEZ's Global Activism, Savsani tells "Worldview" how eating and sharing tales from their respective homelands inspired him to create Meal Sharing, which aims to help people eat healthier, waste less and break down cultural barriers.

John O. Brennan may become the next C.I.A. director, but his connection to the drone program could be a problem. Malian musicians struggle after fighting with Islamist groups took over the north. One Chicagoan believes food can bring people together.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's battle with a political nemesis heats up. One journalist examines how shale gas is affecting both Poland and Pennsylvania. Guatemala's former dictator is facing genocide charges in his home country.

Layth al-Midani, a Syrian-American college student, talks about his recent trip to Aleppo. 'Worldview' also learns more about Mars One, a Dutch nonprofit planning a trip to the red planet, in a conversation with Captain Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, and Dr. Mark Hammergren of the Adler Planetarium in Chicago.

Egypt’s film industry has been around since the late 1800s, producing films not just for an Egyptian audience but for countries throughout the Arab world. In many ways Egyptian films have reflected the country’s political reality, from the censorship of the 1930s to the films of the post-colonial years. Worldview film contributor Milos Stehlik of Facets Multi-Media and Ahmed Rehab, executive director of CAIR- Chicago, tell us about some of Egypt’s most well-known directors and take us through the history of Egypt’s film industry.

In this episode of Worldview: After three weeks of French air and ground assaults, Islamist fighters no longer control most of Mali’s major towns in the north. In an effort to ease tensions, Mali’s interim president told a French radio show on Thursday that he is open to talks with secular Tuareg separatist groups. Susanna Wing, a political science professor at Haverford, parses the latest developments. Also, Egypt’s film industry has been around since the late 1800’s, producing films not just for an Egyptian audience but for countries throughout the Arab world. In many ways Egyptian films have reflected the country’s political reality, whether you’re looking at the 1930’s and issues of censorship or films produced in the post-colonial years. Film contributor Milos Stehlik and Ahmed Rehab, executive director of CAIR- Chicago, tell us about some of Egypt’s most well-known directors and take us through the history of Egypt’s film industry. And we'll help you plan your international weekend. We’ll find out more about the Hamburg Ballet, making its Chicago debut and we’ll also be joined by Ethiopian-American singer Meklit Hadero.

What would it taste like to eat a cricket? That’s what contributor Kate Sackman wondered recently while watching a mother bird feed its fat, hungry babies. As it happens, Chicago's Brookfield Zoo has an insect chef. She and WBEZ Worldview Host, Jerome McDonnell, spoke with Andre Copeland, interpretive programs manager at Brookfield Zoo and Margaret Thayer, a curator in the Division of Insects in the Field Museum of Natural History's Zoology Department.