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The Taliban in Pakistan have told the BBC that attacks by US drone aircraft are having an effect on Taliban activities in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. Marco Werman talks with BBC’s Islamabad Bureau chief Haroon Rashid to learn more. Download MP3Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
As Obama enters the second year of his presidency, he’s dropped some expressions — “war on terror”, “Af-Pak”, even “Middle East”. His administration has invented a few too: “remotedly piloted aircraft” (drones) and “overseas contingency operations” (wars). Also, a special screening of Avatar in Ecuador for indigenous groups. What did these Shuar and Achuar speakers think of Avatar’s invented language, Na’vi? Finally, a new online satirical movie is all the rage in China. It features a Chinese double-entendre phrase aimed at avoiding government censorship. The movie also includes a fantastic “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” rant.Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Anchor Marco Werman speaks with The World’s Jeb Sharp about an important component of President Obama’s counterterrorism strategy: the controversial drone war over Pakistan.Download MP3Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
It’s a nice line-up for the last podcast of 2009. We’ve got an item on the MIT SENSEable City Lab’s Copenhagen Wheel project. Turn your ordinary bike into an e-bike. Cool. Also, we revisit drones, and we hear all about the pluses and minuses of technologies in times of crisis, political and otherwise. PHOTO: Max Tomasinelli
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Insurgents in Iraq have hacked into live video feeds from unmanned American drone aircraft, US media reports say. Shia fighters are said to have used off-the-shelf software programs to capture the footage. The hacking was possible because the remotely flown planes have an unprotected communications link. Alex Gallafent reports. Download MP3
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At least three suspected militants have been killed in a US drone attack in north-western Pakistan, officials say. The area is a major sanctuary for al-Qaeda and Taliban militants. Pakistan has publicly criticized drone attacks, saying they fuel support for the militants. The US military does not routinely confirm drone attacks, but the US armed forces and CIA in Afghanistan are the only forces capable of deploying drones in the region, analysts say. Noah Shachtman of Wired magazine is just back from the region. Download MP3 (Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images) Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
On this week’s podcast, we kick off with an extended version of an interview with Noah Shachtman of Wired.com. Noah’s just back from checking out the drones that are currently flying over Pakistan and Afghanistan, and he’s got a lot of interesting things to talk about. We’ll also take a trip into space to hear about a new NASA telescope, and about Sapporo’s “Space Barley” Beer.
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