Johns Hopkins University
Novelist, journalist and academic; Visiting fellow and Director of Cultural Conversations at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC; author of Reading Lolita in Tehran and Things I Have Been Silent About, she is currently writing a book on the neglect of imagination and thought in the US
Can 'A Separation' Help Close the US-Iran Divide? A Separation is nominated for Best Foreign Language Picture and for Best Screenplay, even though it was written in Farsi. The Iranian film is not about politics or war, but about two families working out problems common to people in all parts of the world. When the film won the Golden Globe as best foreign picture, director Asghar Farhadi offered a simple message. Rather than thanking his crew or family, he acknowledged his fellow Iranians , "I think they are a truly peace-loving people." Can a film do anything to change America’s longstanding animus toward its country of origin?
Iran: A Nation in Turmoil After a weekend of protests across the country, the government of Iran today organized large-scale counter demonstrations including threats of death to future dissenters, threats backed up by Iran's highest officials. While such harsh reaction might signal the beginning of the end for Iran's revolutionary regime, there are new problems for the US and its allies. President Obama's offer to "engage" on the nuclear buildup has apparently been rejected, providing new impetus for international sanctions. But can they be targeted narrowly enough to damage government leaders without injuring the dissenters the West wants to help? Will the challenges from within topple the current regime, at least force greater freedom, or lead to a tyranny more repressive than ever?
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.
