12/20/2012
Music Heard on Air for December 20, 2012
Tunes spun on The World between our reports for December 20, 2012. Artists featured are: Laima Jansone, David El-Malek, Red Baraat and Analog Players Society
PRI’s The World: 12/20/2012 (Ethiopia, Japan, Canada)
As the White House prepares to convene a new task force charged with drawing up a plan to tackle gun violence, we find out how other nations view the US response to the tragedy in Newtown, CT. Then, Ethiopia’s solution to its doctor shortage is to train more doctors. But is the quantity pushing out quality? Also, we explore the world of Otaku, Japanese collectors of manga and anime.
Newtown: What’s Gone Wrong with Media Coverage?
Tragedies on the scale of the shootings in Newton, Connecticut are covered in very distinct ways by media in societies around the world.
French Journalist Reflects on Response to the Newtown Tragedy
Laure Mandeville talks about her impressions of the response to the Newtown tragedy, both from the American people and the US government.
Ethiopia’s Crowded Medical Schools
In Ethiopia, doctors are in short supply, so the country has devised an ambitious plan to scale up medical education. But this focus on the quantity of doctors may come at the expense of quality.
Sewerman Style: Stop Turkey Fat Going Down the Drain
A London water utility company has made a video with sewer workers doing a gangnam-style dance in the city’s sewers. It’s part of a campaign to educate people about the hazards of flushing turkey fat down the sink.
Military Suicide Among Soldiers Who Haven’t Deployed
The epidemic of suicide in the US military corresponds with the US involvement in parallel wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. But the latest figures confirm a confusing fact: Most soldiers who kill themselves have never deployed to a combat zone, and the vast majority have never been in battle at all.
A Mother Talks About Her Son’s Military Suicide
According to the Defense Department, most military suicides are among people with no history of deployment.
‘Golden Eagle Snatches Kid’: Canadian Student Project Fools the World
Four students in a 3D Animation and Digital Design course at Canada’s National Animation and Design Center were told that if their final video project was able to get 100,000 views on YouTube, they would all earn A+’s. Eighteen million hits later, that A is a safe bet.
The Strange and Startling World of Japanese Otaku
In Japan, obsessive collectors of comic books and anime have a name — Otaku. Their lifelong devotion to their collections can result in some startling life changes in the fictional worlds they inhabit.
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