The Ferguson Report. Part 1: Breathing While Black, and Other Offenses

It has been said that African-Americans are often arrested for “driving while black.” In fact, African-Americans seem to be arrested for walking, talking—or just breathing—while black. Here we present excerpts from The Ferguson Report, an astonishing catalog of grinding daily harassments, humiliations—and worse—by a police department intent on keeping a people “in their place” while earning revenue for the city by writing as many tickets as possible.

The Ferguson Report. Department of Justice Investigation into the Ferguson Police Department. US Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division. The New Press, New York, London. 2015

Ten Indications Iran Wants Business Not Bombs

Longtime Middle East correspondent Charles Glass offers his droll, insightful, and entertaining personal take on the much-debated threat presented by Iran. He sees every indication that the country is much more interested in business than in war.

Jeep Hack Raises Questions, Trump’s Financial Follies & Another Earth: July 23, 2015

NOW LIVE ON WhoWhatWhy Newest Remote Car Hacking Raises More Questions About Reporter’s Death By Russ Baker A new test offers still more proof that automobiles can be remotely hacked and cause injury or death. Yet nobody seems to want to ask an obvious question: Was this what happened to investigative journalist Michael Hastings? WHO Noam […]

Why is Pope Friends with This Man?

Will the Pope’s courageous stand on the environment extend to challenging those who hypocritically associate themselves with it?

Classic WhoWhatWhy: Only “Lone Wolves” Commit Terror?

The Chattanooga shootings in which nine Marines were gunned down by a 24-year-old shooter is one of a long string of such unnerving events. Early word from law enforcement suggests the attack, like so many others in recent years, is being blamed on a “lone wolf”—someone with no connection to known terrorist or other organizations. The authorities almost always assure us that such incidents are isolated, carried out by individuals who are either mentally ill or irrationally hostile to “our way of life.” Back in 2012, WhoWhatWhy Editor-in-Chief Russ Baker questioned this analysis. Examining the larger historical role such violence has played, Baker shows how certain incidents—including “false flag” attacks instigated by governments but blamed on dissidents—have radically transformed societies. His article is as relevant today as ever.

Syria Is Burning, The Pope Is Pontificating & Bumblebees Are Dying: July 10, 2015

NOW LIVE ON WhoWhatWhy RadioWhoWhatWhy: Fanning the Flames of Syria By Jeff Schechtman Just how bad is the situation in Syria? Four million Syrians have fled the country in the past four years as its cities smolder and civil war rages on. Strategic dysfunction on the part of the international community, led by the US, continued airstrikes, and […]

FBI’s Amazing Trick to Avoid Accountability

Only the astonishingly unaccountable FBI could get away with consistently not recording its investigative interviews not only of suspects but of witnesses—then having its agents write up reports based on “memory.” A former Deputy District Attorney tells the story of one judge who felt uncomfortable letting the Bureau wing it when he himself was in the hot seat.

Youth Jailed at Age 16 for Years with No Trial, Kills Self—Who’s Responsible?

Sixteen-year-old Kalief Browder spent three years in jail without a trial before the charges were dropped—including more than two years in solitary. His experience left him a broken young man. Before he killed himself, he attempted to expose how authorities employed extraordinary pressure to compel confessions of guilt.

RadioWhoWhatWhy: Finally, a Meaningful Report on Ferguson, MO

WhoWhatWhy podcaster Jeff Schechtman gets the lowdown on the federal investigation into the death of Michael Brown at the hands of a policeman in Ferguson, Missouri. What was that really about? Was there more to it than an isolated event? In short, yes. Find out in this interview with an NAACP official what systemic issues played a role in generating the deep anger in Ferguson—and throughout the country.

Syria Burning, NSA Spying & Vultures Dying: July 1, 2015

NOW LIVE ON WhoWhatWhy Book Excerpt: “Syria Burning” By Charles Glass If you want to know the who, what, why of how things got so bad in the Syria (and, in some ways, the rest of the Middle East)—read this excerpt from Syria Burning by Charles Glass, a book so beautifully written you will hardly […]

Book Excerpt: “Syria Burning”

If you want to know the who, what, why of how things got so bad in the Syria (and, in some ways, the rest of the Middle East)—read this excerpt from Syria Burning by Charles Glass, a book so beautifully written you will hardly know you are reading. It is more like seeing.

Published by OR Books, New York and London, 2015.

Last Secret of the Atom Bomb

The search for a dirty-bomb in New York City has uncovered a history of radioactive contamination… and a lingering mystery from the Manhattan Project.