Making Peace Visible

NEW PODCAST EPISODE | Elevating nonviolent narratives in Hollywood, with Kate Folb Kate Folb, program director of Hollywood, Health & Society, works to bring stories of heroes without guns to the screen. When it comes to entertainment media, movies and and dramatic series can have a powerful influence on our perceptions of the world because of their ability to get up close and personal with human emotion and struggle. And with news outlets becoming increasingly siloed politically, perhaps Hollywood has a better chance of shifting perspectives than journalists do when it comes to peace and conflict. In fact, there's plenty of evidence that it can. Our guest Kate Folb is director of Hollywood, Health & Society (HHS), a project of the USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center. HHS provides expert guidance for screenwriters, producers and actors about issues from HIV, to immigration, to gun violence. They have projects on the threat of nuclear war and the impact of military expenditures on our lives and well-being. In this interview, host Jamil Simon and Kate discuss how HHS gets Hollywood writers to think differently. They also discuss shows and movies featuring compelling stories about heroes who win without guns — stories you could be watching. Listen to the full episode: https://lnkd.in/efqFG8_7

NEW PODCAST EPISODE | Can the UN 'save us from hell'? with Mark Leon Goldberg and Anjali Dayal How important is the UN to peacebuilding, and what is the mainstream media missing? Sharing their insights are hosts of the new podcast, To Save Us from Hell: Mark Goldberg, a veteran global affairs journalist and editor of the news outlets UN Dispatch and Global Dispatches, and Anjali Dayal, a political science professor and author at Fordham University. They join us on Making Peace Visible to explain the significance of the UN today, especially when it comes to deescalating conflicts and laying the groundwork for peace. Listen here: https://lnkd.in/eV-hitkM “To Save Us From Hell” is a new weekly news and analysis podcast about the UN. Goldberg and Dayal’s intense focus on the UN and its work comes at a time when the world’s focus on the institution seems to be diminishing, while violent conflicts are increasing. We also have global crises like climate change, infectious disease, and refugees. The one global institution designated to deal with problems at that scale is the UN. So what’s missing from mainstream news coverage of the UN, and can it save us from hell?

NEW PODCAST EPISODE | Democracy Works: Youth activism gets pragmatic   David Hogg, survivor of the 2018 Parkland, FL school shooting, speaks about his activism with March For Our Lives. Like many in the peacebuilding field, Hogg recognizes that change is often incremental, and that compromise is more effective than political gridlock — and can even save lives. This week, we’re bringing you a recent interview with David Hogg from Democracy Works, a podcast about what it means to live in a democracy, from the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State University. Listen to the full episode: https://lnkd.in/enfcGHMk On February 14, 2018, a former student opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, with an assault rifle he’d purchased legally. Hiding in a janitor’s closet, David Hogg recorded his classmates on his phone.  "I interviewed my classmates so that if we didn't make it out of there, hopefully our voices would carry on,” Hogg told NPR.” And it wouldn't be possible for the NRA and gun lobby to say, 'Oh, you can't talk about this. You're politicizing this.’” Seventeen students and staff died that day. Later that year, David Hogg co-founded March for Our Lives, and helped organize hundreds of thousands of young people to rally for an end to gun violence in the United States. In the years since, they’ve had some wins, including the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022, which enhanced background checks for 18 to 21 year-olds, and provided funding for community violence intervention and mental health services. Hogg’s new project, Leaders We Deserve, helps young progressives run for office.

NEW PODCAST EPISODE | Steve Killelea: How do you measure peace? How do you measure peace in a country? Do you look at the rates of violent crime? Assess the justice system? What about freedom of the press, the health of the economy, or general happiness? Steve Killelea, Founder and Executive Chairman of the Institute for Economics & Peace, shares his insights. Listen to the episode: https://lnkd.in/eSWmv_yT Each year, IEP publishes the Global Peace Index and the Positive Peace Index.   IEP researchers draw on reams of data to determine how the world is doing when it comes to peace. They also study the elements that make for peaceful societies: things like strong social cohesion, satisfaction with living standards, and resilience to crisis.  IEPs work promotes peace as a positive and achievable state of well being. It also serves as a kind of warning system in times like the one we're living in, where violent conflict is on the rise in many parts of the globe. 

NEW PODCAST EPISODE | Teaching Peace Journalism in Lebanon Peace Journalism is the guiding practice behind Media Association for Peace (MAP), an organization that Vanessa Bassil founded in Lebanon. Peace Journalism encourages editors and reporters make choices—of what to report, and how to report it—that create opportunities for society at large to consider and value non-violent responses to conflict. Listen to the episode: https://lnkd.in/eHhkuS8e Growing up in an insulated Christian community in the wake of the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990), Vanessa Bassil never had the opportunity to meet a Lebanese Muslim. As a rookie journalist, instead of working inside of one of her country’s ethnic media silos, she chose independence. She was drawn towards peacebuilding, and would report on camps that brought together groups of Sunni and Shia Muslims and Christians in the mountains. With the founding of MAP in 2013, Vanessa created a space where journalists learn to report on Lebanon’s divisive issues – including an economic crisis, the difficulties of hosting Syrian refugees, and LGBTQ rights – in ways that are nuanced and depolarizing. Listen to the episode: https://lnkd.in/eHhkuS8e Photo courtesy of Vanessa Bassil

LATEST PODCAST EPISODE | Making Peace “Possible” with William Ury One reason that peace efforts don't get much coverage is because peace is less flashy than war. We asked William Ury, who has mediated negotiations around the world, how the media can find the drama in the process. Listen to the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/dG9q278a

NEW PODCAST EPISODE | Making Peace “Possible” with William Ury William Ury is one of the world’s most influential peacebuilders and experts on negotiation. He advised Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos in the lead up to that country's historic 2016 peace agreement with the FARC, and played a key role in de-escalating nuclear tensions between the U.S. and North Korea in 2017. "Getting to Yes," which Ury co-wrote with Roger Fisher back in 1981, is the world’s best selling book on negotiation. Ury co-founded the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, as well as the Abraham Path Initiative, an NGO that builds walking trails connecting communities in the Middle East. His new book is called "Possible: How we Survive - and Thrive - in an Age of Conflict." It’s filled with incredible stories from Bill’s career. In this episode, Bill talks about how lessons from the failures and success of the past – in places like Northern Ireland, Colombia, and the Middle East – can be instructive when dealing with the conflicts of today.  He shares exciting ideas about how journalists can tell stories about peace. What’s more, his insights on managing conflict can be applied anywhere from the UN to the boardroom to your own family. William Ury’s ideas aren’t easy to implement –  in fact they’re incredibly challenging. Ury says conflicts don’t end, but they can be transformed, from fighting with weapons to hashing differences out in a democratic process. And if Northern Ireland, South Africa, and Colombia – places where people said violent conflict would go on forever – could transform their conflicts, then there’s hope for the seemingly “impossible” conflicts of today. LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE: https://lnkd.in/dG9q278a

Next Tuesday, May 7 at 12pm! Join us for an online panel discussion hosted by the The Herbert C. Kelman Seminar on International Conflict Analysis and Resolution at Harvard University: "How Does the Media Make Peace Visible in a World of Nonstop Conflict?" Our very own Jamil Simon, Steven Youngblood and Andrea Muraskin will discuss how investing in the media can elevate the public’s awareness and understanding of how peace gets made. The conversation will also include ways journalists can further improve coverage of negotiations, peace initiatives, and reconciliation efforts. The Kelman Seminar is co-sponsored by the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University and the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. Register via the link below! Free and open to the public. https://lnkd.in/eQpVweRp

Next Tuesday, May 7! Join us for a panel discussion hosted by the The Herbert C. Kelman Seminar on International Conflict Analysis and Resolution at Harvard University: "How Does the Media Make Peace Visible in a World of Nonstop Conflict?" Our very own Jamil Simon, Steven Youngblood and Andrea Muraskin will discuss how investing in the media can elevate the public’s awareness and understanding of how peace gets made. The conversation will also include ways journalists can further improve coverage of negotiations, peace initiatives, and reconciliation efforts. Our thanks to Donna Hicks, author and conflict-resolution researcher, for this special invitation. The Kelman Seminar is co-sponsored by the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University and the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. Register via the link below! Free and open to the public. https://lnkd.in/eQpVweRp

NEW PODCAST EPISODE | Tales of Tibetan resilience and resistance in exile When India-based reporter Amy Yee got a call from her editor to cover a press conference with the Dalai Lama, she stopped what she was doing and booked the next flight. She was headed for Dharamsala, where the Buddhist leader and thousands of Tibetan refugees make their home. It was March 2008, and the Dalai Lama was responding to violence in Tibet, where demonstrations against Chinese rule led to a government crackdown. At least 120 people had died, mostly ethnic Tibetans. On that first visit to Dharamsala, Yee was struck by the throngs of Tibetans protesting peacefully in the streets. She was also surprised when the Dalai Lama approached her after the press conference, asked if she was Chinese, and embraced her in a warm hug. A few months later, Yee quit her job at the Financial Times and moved to this small city in the foothills of the Himalayas as a freelance reporter. She writes that “Dharamsala is more than an ethnic enclave; it’s a unique microcosm of a culture fighting for survival.” Her new book, Far from the Rooftop of the World: Travels among Tibetan Refugees on Four Continents, documents this community in exile: its education system, self-expression, and non-violent resistance. Listen to the full episode: https://lnkd.in/e7tjk4Cu