80,000,000 Bombs in Laos: A Conversation with Sera Koulabdara of “Legacies of War”

November 3, 2021Posted inForeign Policy, Peoples' History, Uncategorized

In this episode, Bob had a conversation with Executive Director Sera Koulabdara (@SeraKoulabdara) of “Legacies of War” about the 50+ year crisis of unexploded ordnance (UXOs) in Laos.  Scott was away on assignment.

Listen: https://bit.ly/LegaciesGandR

At the same time as it was attacking Vietnam, the U.S. conducted a “secret war” against Laos through the air, dropping 2 million tons of bombs as part of its “sideshow” to the main war against the Vietnamese Revolution.   Included in that massive campaign were 270,000,000 cluster bombs, smaller bombs–about baseball-sized–or “bomblets” that often did not detonate.  So today, decades after the war ended, about 80,000,000 bombs remain in Laos.

Noam Chomsky’s Life of Dissent with Prof. Clinton Fernandes

December 8, 2020Posted inUncategorized

Today is Noam Chomsky’s 92nd birthday.  In this special episode, Bob goes solo and interviews Prof. Clinton Fernandes of the University of New South Wales, Australia about the influence of radical thinker, author, political commentator and activist Noam Chomsky, in particular with regard to the Indonesian occupation of East Timor and the American air war on Laos.

Listen here:https://bit.ly/NoamChomskyDayGandR

Professor Clinton Fernandes is a former Australian Army officer who  served in the Australian Intelligence Corps. A professor at the  University of New South Wales, Australia, he has published on the  relationship between science, diplomacy and international law,  intelligence operations in foreign policy, the political and regulatory  implications of new technology and Australia’s external relations more  generally. He is the author of several publications including “Island  off the Coast of Asia: Instruments of Statecraft in Australian Foreign  Policy,”  and “What Uncle Sam Wants: U.S. Foreign Policy Objectives in  Australia and Beyond.”