911

"Bin Laden's ideology is not the ideology of the masses, of the Arabs, of people in central Asia, of Muslims," notes Sonali Kolhatkar of the Afghan Women's Mission. But, she notes, the danger is that now by killing him we have made him a martyr and inflamed anger again among people already feeling marginalized. Sonali joins Laura via Skype from California to discuss the impact of the war and bin Laden's death on Afghanistan, and the standards that should be applied when pursuing people like bin Laden or Libya's Qaddafi.

"If the aim was to show us that state terror was more powerful than individual terrorists, we already knew that," says Tariq Ali of the U.S. special forces action that reportedly killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan. As Americans celebrated outside of the White House and gathered at Ground Zero to remember those lost, Tariq reminds us that bin Laden's death will not make the U.S. safer. He joins Laura via Skype from London to discuss the ramifications of bin Laden's death, on U.S. foreign policy and specifically the relationship with Pakistan, as well as to question the use of the word "justice" to describe a unilateral military action. After the news of Bin Laden's death hit late Sunday night, Laura headed down to Ground Zero to catch up with the New Yorkers who gathered there to remember the collapse of the Twin Towers. A few of them shared their reflections with her, and we share them with you. "Bin Laden's ideology is not the ideology of the masses, of the Arabs, of people in central Asia, of Muslims," notes Sonali Kolhatkar of the Afghan Women's Mission. But, she notes, the danger is that now by killing him we have made him a martyr and inflamed anger again among people already feeling marginalized. Sonali joins Laura via Skype from California to discuss the impact of the war and bin Laden's death on Afghanistan, and the standards that should be applied when pursuing people like bin Laden or Libya's Qaddafi. And finally, Laura reflects on the past ten years and the U.S.--and the world's--desire for closure. Distributed by Tubemogul.

"The real issue is who was actually at Guantanamo, how were they treated, and this revelation gives us another chance to look at that," says Vince Warren of the Center for Constitutional Rights, who joins Laura in studio to discuss the latest disclosures from WikiLeaks--nearly 800 files on the detainees at the infamous Guantanamo Bay detention facility. Though President Obama promised to close the prison when he was elected, it remains open and 172 people remain imprisoned there, Warren notes, and argues that this disclosure could be another opportunity to rethink that policy. Shirin Ebadi was the first Muslim woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, and the first woman to serve as a Chief Justice in her native Iran--a right taken away from her with the 1979 Islamic revolution. Since then, she has fought for human rights, particularly those of women and children, and has campaigned to restore the rights of women in Iran. While visiting New York, Ms. Ebadi took time out to sit down with Laura and discuss the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia, the struggle for civil rights in Iran, and why the revolutions will be incomplete without democracy and rights for women. Michele Bachmann and Nikki Haley joined a Tea Party crowd in Columbia, South Carolina to talk politics--and a Democratic consultant was in the crowd, talking to rally attendees. And finally, Laura points out some differences between US and overseas media coverage of the WikiLeaks Guantanamo documents--and why it matters, even if the complete documents are available online for all to see. Distributed by Tubemogul.

"I think that we're in a society where art still is threatening, but at some point I think that we can look at when art is still being questioned or being sanctioned or being funded, then we need to look at that work that is being deliberated over because it's speaking to something that is happening in culture," says performance artist Karen Finley, whose lawsuit against the National Endowment for the Arts made her into a national icon against her will after her grant was denied on the basis of the subject matter of her art. In her new book, The Reality Shows, and in her performances, Finley takes on different personae to explore traumas, and teaches people to get in touch with their own experiences. Finley joins Laura in studio for a conversation about art, trauma, our culture's perception of women, and much, much more. In the past days and weeks we've seen some very young people protesting in the streets, squares and statehouses around the world. But what becomes of children who live through that reformation or regime change? Our documentary of the week is My Perestroika, and it tells the story of the last days of the USSR through the eyes of a group of former schoolmates who came of age as the world around them changed. The filmmaker is Robin Hessman, and the film is currently playing at festivals around the country. Comedian Lee Camp visited Scotland and was shocked by what he saw: college students protesting? What's that all about? But he's realized something more important as well--maybe the key to ending police brutality of protesters is putting them in new outfits. It seems to work all right for the Scots... Distributed by Tubemogul.