51 % The Women's Perspective
(2009-11-12)
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ALBANY, NY
(WAMC) -
Journalist and author Masha Hamilton visited Afghanistan twice - once in the late 90s and again in 2004. What she found during her second visit was a much more repressive atmosphere, and growing fears that women's voices were soon going to be silenced for good. Today, the Afghan Women's Writing Project she founded after that trip has connected writers with women in Afghanistan who are willing to risk their own safety to write about their lives. It's not her first humanitarian effort. After hearing about a library in Africa that delivers books to remote villages by camel, she wrote The Camel Bookmobile and organized an effort to expand its reach.
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8:28 Masha Hamilton
Masha Hamilton's new book is 31 Hours, an emotional exploration of a young man's embrace of terrorism and his mother's attempts to reconcile the son she knows with the acts he's willing to commit.
For more on the Afghan Women's Writing Project go to http://awwproject.wordpress.com or mashahamilton.com.
Azar Nafisi's Reading Lolita in Tehran was an international bestseller. Her new book, Things I've Been Silent About , has further reflections on the power of literature and poetry and the price of freedom.
Laura Iiyama spoke with Nafisi in Washington.
6:59 Nafisi Iiyama
In 1961, a massive wall separating the city of Berlin into two halves was built. In 1989, the gates were opened and after initially trying to repair it, authorities let so-called "wall peckers" slowly dismantle that wall. But Germany today has an interesting legacy of that time - marriages between people who grew up on opposite sides of the Berlin wall. Here's a report from DeutschWelle Radio.
4:53 Berlin Wall PRX
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