Peace Talks Radio

Taken Too Soon: The Cost of War

Taken Too Soon: The Cost of War is produced by Paul Ingles, who runs a non-profit media organization called Good Radio Shows, Inc. The program features some of the names and circumstances of the deaths of coalition forces, Iraqi and Afghan civilians, contractors and journalists killed since the fighting began in Afghanistan in October of 2001 and continuing up to the present day. "I don't think there's been a program like this that has acknowledged the loss of life among civilians, contractors and journalists along side of military casualties," says Ingles. "I just felt it was important that people marking Memorial Day in the U.S. take a moment to contemplate a roll call that goes beyond just our own country's loss. All most Americans have heard is that 15, 8, 30 Iraqis died in a certain incident on a given day. These people had names and families just like the men and women of our armed forces. It seems appropriate to me to read some of their names." The hour long program will contain about 135 names meant to represent the various casualty constituencies. A soldier from each state in the U.S. is included. Ingles used Defense Department information for the names of coalition casualties. Civilian, contractor and journalist names were drawn from press reports and websites devoted to tracking those deaths. Ingles put an email call out to members of the Association of Independents in Radio asking for volunteers to help voice the special. Within a few days, he'd heard back from nearly 40 producers who said they'd be willing to voice a couple of minutes of names for the program. "Since the program will consist primarily of a list of names, I thought it would sound better to have a variety of voices involved," adds Ingles. "Also I think it will create a sense of how we all are impacted by this loss of life." Ingles estimates that the hour long program will contain about 135 names meant to represent the various casualty constituencies. "Sadly," says Ingles, "a complete reading of names at this pace, even with conservative estimates of civilian deaths, would require about 400 hours." (Porgram produced in May 2006)

Peace Talks Byron Katie

Peace Talks Radio, the series on peacemaking and nonviolent conflict resolution returns this time to maybe the most challenging conflict terrain of all, our inner selves. How can we calm the turmoil within ourselves about who we are, how we are and how we relate to the rest of the world? On this edition of Peace Talks Radio, a conversation with a woman who offers one approach. Her name is Byron Katie who, in the mid 1980's, says she was in deep personal chaos trying to manage her life as a business woman and mother living in Southern California. More than miserable, she says she was deeply depressed, fearful, suicidal and living in a halfway house, unable to manage on her own. Some 20 years later, the woman everyone calls Katie has written three best-selling books "Loving What Is,""I Need Your Love - Is That True?", and "A Thousand Names for Joy" co-written with her husband Stephen Mitchell. As the book titles suggest, Byron Katie found a way of dealing with her stress that turned her life around. She says, on a specific 1986 morning in that halfway house, she experienced what she called a falling away of self that led to an inner freedom. She insists anyone can achieve it utilizing a method of personal inquiry she's crafted that she calls, The Work. "I realized that when I believed my thoughts, I suffered," says Katie. "But when I didn't believe my thoughts, I didn't suffer. And I've come to see that this is true for every human being." In our program, host Suzanne Kryder interviews Byron Katie about The Work, and we hear both her and her husband Stephen Mitchell recorded before a standing room only crowd in a Santa Fe auditorium.

Peace Talks Prison

INFO: This time on Peace Talks, our host Carol Boss, talks with two former prison inmates who grew up in substance abusing families. Both began using at the age of 11 and progressed from alcohol to marijuana to cocaine to meth. We used first names only. Our first guest is Chris, who is now clean and about to start work as a matre dei in an Albuquerque restaurant. He was released from prison April 2006 after serving a 15 month sentence. Our second guest is Alisha who, like Chris, grew up in a home with drugs and alcohol. She started using at the age of 11. At 21, she was convicted of attempted first degree murder. She served a 5 year prison sentence, and is out now rearranging her life. She works at a Village Inn restaurant in Albuquerque and is back in college studying business communications. She has two young daughters who live with grandparents out of state.

Peace Talks Mairead Maguire

In this Peace Talks Radio Episode, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Mairead Maguire recalls her peace work and talks with host Carol Boss about how the principles of nonviolence can be applied to conflicts around the world and in daily life. Info: Mairead Corrigan Maguire founded the Community of the Peace People in 1976 in war-torn Northern Ireland along with Betty Williams and Ciaran McKeown. Mairead was the aunt of the three Maguire children who were hit by a runaway car after its driver was shot by a soldier. The deaths prompted a series of marches throughout Northern Ireland and further afield, all demanding an end to the violence plaguing her country at the time. Mairead and Betty went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976.

Peace Talks Workplace With Suzanne Kryder

Even if you only work the American average of 40 hours a week, that still means that almost 40% of your waking hours are spent at work. And we all know that workplaces can become workshops in conflict resolution. It's not always easy to get along with your boss, your fellow employees, your customers. Conflicts of all kinds can surface and frankly, a lot of us do our best to steer around them for as long as possible rather than face them head on. Suzanne Kryder, the original host of this program, Peace Talks, has been a leadership coach and trainer for many years and lately she's been focusing her attention on helping people stop putting off those dreaded conversations at work, make peace, and be more productive and happy in the workplace. She talked over the problem and potential solutions recently with Peace Talks host Carol Boss and some callers facing communication challenges at work.

Peace Talks Radio: Ralph Bunche - Profile in Peace.

A conversational profile of Ralph Bunche - a sometimes overlooked African-American who excelled in the world of diplomacy. INFO: In the middle part of the 20th century, if there was a news story about a peacemaking mission around the globe, chances are it contained the name of African-American diplomat Ralph Bunche. A scholar of world affairs and race relations, Bunche was recruited from academia first into the U.S. State Department, then into the fledgling United Nations. He stepped boldly onto the world stage as a peace negotiator and advocate for the liberation of peoples of color from colonial rule. Along the way, he was targeted and cleared of communist allegations, criticized as a pawn of the white establishment, and ultimately heralded as a role model for all in human relations. Today on Peace Talks, a profile in peace featuring Ralph Bunche. We'll highlight just a few chapters from this remarkable life, and try to take away some lessons about peacemaking as we talk with Bunche's UN colleague and biographer Sir Brian Urquhart, William Greaves, a filmmaker who produced a PBS documentary on Bunche, Tonya Covington, a diversity trainer inspired by Bunche, and with Ralph Bunche Jr., son of the late Ralph Bunche.

Seeking Peace on Earth: The 2006 Peace Talks Special

Compelling moments from the 2006 season of Peace Talks Radio episodes. Info: Listeners will hear -nonviolent communication expert Marshall Rosenberg; -Arun Gandhi, Mohandas K. Gandhi's grandson; -1976 Nobel Prize Laureate Mairead Maguire; -plus highlights from programs on peaceful parenting, the Peace Corps, workplace peacemaking, prison inmates finding their own peace and more.

Compelling moments from the 2003 season of Peace Talks Radio episodes. Info: Seeking Peace on Earth: The PEACE TALKS 2003 Special, is a collection of some of the most compelling segments from the monthly series PEACE TALKS, broadcast on public radio KUNM, in Albuquerque, New Mexico in the year 2003. Host Suzanne Kryder talks with people whose life's work is to resolve conflict peacefully in a variety of environments. Listeners will hear: -tips on raising children who are skilled in handling conflict and their emotions, -techniques that mediators use to help kids through those tough middle school years, -ways to develop inner peace in especially troubling times, -how language can transform a potential conflict into a resolution, -ideas for handling conflict in the workplace, -thoughts on improving race relations.