Some investigative reports reveal such extreme levels of greed, immorality and abuse that they can seem inconceivable. Such is the case of the bombshell series by the Center for Investigative Reporting on the egregious exploitation of residential care home workers. Jennifer Gollan, the Emmy Award-winning journalist in this investigation published by Reveal, joins Truthdig Editor in Chief Robert Scheer to discuss her work on this week’s episode of his podcast “Scheer Intelligence.”
As conflicts spread and climate change worsens, the refugee crisis worldwide is breaking astounding records. There are currently 70.8 million forcibly displaced people around the globe, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency. Each and every one of these individuals has a tale to tell about overcoming immense obstacles and dangers as they sought safety and stability away from a home they were forced to leave. One such story is told in the documentary “Midnight Traveler,” a movie filmed by the Afghani director Hassan Fazili and his family on three cell phones over the course of three years. The film documents their displacement from Afghanistan after receiving threats from the Taliban because of a film Fazili made about the terrorist organization, and their unexpected journey toward Europe in search of refuge.
The 2008 housing meltdown that effectively busted the American dream of homeownership has morphed into a new heist based on corporate rental empires with all the same culprits. The answer to the question of who these profiteers are is written out in the title of journalist Aaron Glantz’s book “Homewreckers: How a Gang of Wall Street Kingpins, Hedge Fund Magnates, Crooked Banks, and Vulture Capitalists Suckered Millions Out of Their Homes and Demolished the American Dream.” In the latest installment of Truthdig Editor in Chief Robert Scheer’s podcast, Glantz explains why he wanted to look at the root of the housing crisis that left so many American lives in tatters.
“The Report,” a new film by director Scott Z. Burns, whose work includes “the Bourne Ultimatum” and, more recently, “The Laundromat,” brings to life this dark chapter of recent American history with a star-studded movie featuring Annette Bening, Adam Driver and Jon Hamm.
Where would America be without its muckraking journals and newspapers? A conversation with the “American Prophet” author.
The University of California journalism professor argues that the media has abandoned a basic commitment to the First Amendment.