Peace Talks Radio

Despite ongoing turmoil and conflict in our world, there are still people who are working for peace. Listen for the annual compendium of highlights from the Peace Talks Radio series on peacemaking and nonviolent conflict resolution. Listeners will hear about the Dalai Lama's commitment to peace, John Lennon and Yoko Ono's peace work, peace lessons from the annual Rainbow Gatherings and from international water negotiations. Other programs spotlighting a community art project and an international pen pal project for peace will be recalled. Plus comments on peace building through travel with Rick Steves, reduction of nuclear arsenals from Nobel Peace prize Laureate Dr. Bernard Lown and a word from Capt. James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise (really!). It's an uplifting and empowering hour. Paul Ingles hosts with Suzanne Kryder and Carol Boss.

Poems and Pen Pals for Peace

Kim Rosen, author of the book Saved by a Poem, talks about how people struggling with personal conflict can find peace, comfort and perspective in the words of poetry and song. She also sees a role for poetry in international negotiations that address conflict on a broader scale. Also on the program, Sarah Wilkinson tells about the Peace Pal Project which connects school children in different parts of the world through a pen pal initiative and conflict resolution curriculum that,she says, broadens understanding and gives young people tools to address the conflicts that may lay ahead in their lives. Carol Boss is the host.

Can Water Negotiations Point The Way To Peace?

This time we explore the question, will managing the world's overtaxed water supply lead to more conflict or actually be a compelling catalyst to peace? The fact is that, so far, cooperation rather than conflict over water is the norm around the world. That's according to Oregon State University Professor Aaron Wolf, co-author of the book Managing and Transforming Water Conflicts, who's been facilitating solutions to water conflicts for years and sees many lessons in peacemaking emerging from the experience. “Water hits us at a profoundly different level than other resources,” he says. “People are willing to do horrible things to each other. What they seem not willing to do is turn off each other’s water.” Host Carol Boss talks with Aaron Wolf on this edition of Peace Talks Radio Also, a chat with Matt and Christina Berlin who took some Oakland school kids to Kenya for a horizons-expanding experience, then got deeply involved in the effort to help a rural Kenyan community purify it's dangerous water supply. The two talk about their up close experience with water's role in improving the health and dignity of a community and making it less susceptible to conflict.

Rainbow Gathering Peace Lessons

In 1516, Sir Thomas More published the book, “Utopia,” a word he coined for an ideal, imaginary island nation. His book describes a perfect socio-political-legal society that’s free of poverty and suffering. Even though utopia comes from Greek words meaning “no place” and indicates that More considered it an impossible goal, groups throughout history have tried to create idyllic, peaceful communities. On this edition of Peace Talks Radio, we explore an on-going utopian experiment, the Rainbow Gathering-a loosely-knit group of anarchists holding temporary gatherings in remote rural areas since 1972. Host Suzanne Kryder interviews Dr. Michael Niman, author of People of the Rainbow: A Nomadic Utopia, about the group’s efforts to practice nonviolent, nonhierarchical cooperative living with each other and the earth. The program includes interviews and first-hand reports from Suzanne’s participation in the 38th annual Rainbow Gathering in New Mexico, July 2009. The Peace Talks Radio series is produced by the non-profit media organization, Good Radio Shows, Inc. Visit online at www.peacetalksradio.com.

Arts + Parks

This time on Peace Talks Radio, we explore a program that transforms troubled neighborhoods into more peaceful, secure places through art, learning, land transformation and economic development. Host Carol Boss speaks with Lily Yeh, co-founder of two organizations dedicated to re-building communities: The Village of Arts and Humanities, Inc. and, more recently, Barefoot Artists, Inc. In North Philadelphia, Yeh, with a group of neighborhood residents (mostly children), cleared a trash-strewn vacant lot and began to build an art park that incorporated mosaic sculptures, murals, and landscaping with trees and flowers. Over the next few years, Yeh's project was joined by artists, builders, educators and a growing number of community residents caught up in the vision of creating a more peaceful community. Yeh's ideas that helped bring the North Philadelphia neighborhood back to life are now being applied to projects in Rwanda, Kenya, Ecuador and China.

The Peace Work of John Lennon and Yoko Ono

On this special edition of Peace Talks Radio, we recall the several years when musician John Lennon and his wife, performance artist Yoko Ono, were among the most high profile peace advocates on the planet. John was shot dead outside his apartment in New York in 1980 – 11 years after he wrote the song that – since its creation in 1969, has been a fixture at just about any gathering for peace. Give Peace A Chance was released 40 years ago this summer (July 4). We’ll talk with Yoko Ono as well a the producers and directors of two fine films about this part of their lives: David Leaf who co-created the film The US vs. John Lennon, and the co-producers of the film John and Yoko, Give Peace A Song, Paul McGrath and Alan Lysaght. Lennon's voice is heard in clips from both films and in his songs including, Give Peace A Chance, Happy Xmas (War Is Over), Power To The People, Revolution, and Imagine. Hosted by Paul Ingles.

The Dalai Lama in Our Time

2009 marks the 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's exile from Tibet. On this program, Suzanne Kryder talks with Tibetan scholar Dr. Robert Thurman, author of the book Why The Dalai Lama Matters: His Act of Truth as the Solution for China, Tibet and the World. Also featured is Pico Iyer, author of The Open Road: The Global Journey of the 14th Dalai Lama. Listeners will also hear excerpts from the Dalai Lama's 2008 appearance at Seattle's Seeds of Compassion Conference. This program explores how the Dalai Lama's life and story might inspire our own search for personal and global peace. It also examines the Dalai Lama's proposal to settle the long-running conflict with China over Tibet.

Peace Talks Radio, the series on peacemaking and nonviolent conflict resolution, explores the peace message in the hugely popular original 1960's TV series - STAR TREK. A new Star Trek movie was released in May 2009 that revisits the stories of Capt. Kirk, Spock, Bones and the characters from the original series. This episode ot Peace Talks Radio notes how many stories in the original series thoughtfully explored the themes of war and peace, tolerance, friendship and compassion. When originally released in the turbulent late 1960's, Star Trek stories tackled complex issues that mirrored both the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and the Civil Rights Struggle. Host Paul Ingles talks with Dr. Judith Barad, author of The Ethics of Star Trek and David Gerrold, author of The World of Star Trek and the popular episode "The Trouble With Tribbles." Also, Nichelle Nichols, the actress who played Lt. Uhura, the communications officer, in the original series.

The Star Trek Peace Message