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Financial Times
US foreign policy correspondent for the Financial Times
PROFILE
Geoff Dyer
Guest
FROM Geoff Dyer
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Exploring ‘White Sands’ with Author Geoff Dyer It’s difficult to categorize the writer Geoff Dyer. He’s written fiction, non-fiction, essays and criticism. He’s written on many different subjects: jazz, art, photography, film and history. He won the National Book Critics Circle award for criticism a few years ago. His latest book is called White Sands: Experiences from the Outside World . It’s a collection of mainly travel essays, and in several of them, he explores America and also Los Angeles. But what he’s really exploring is our mortality, what these places mean to us as a culture and what happens to them when we move on.
To the Point
Hold and Release: Iran and the "Trespassing" US Sailors Just hours before the President spoke to Congress last night ten US sailors were captured in Iranian waters. They've now been released. Today, Secretary of State John Kerry thanked the Iranian government and called the sailors' release a victory for diplomacy, . "All indications tell us our sailors were well taken care of provided with blankets and food and assisted with their return to their fleet earlier today. I think we can imagine how a similar situation might have played out three or four years ago." Geoff Dyer is US foreign policy correspondent for the Financial Times .
To the Point
Syria's Civil War Goes Multi-national What started as an uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has become more complicated than ever. Russia and the US are dropping bombs on the same country, and although both are opposed to ISIS, they are on different sides of the civil war. At the same time, Iraq is inviting Russia to join the US by dropping bombs there. France is part of the American coalition, and Iranian troops have been sent to Syria, joining Hezbollah forces from Lebanon. And President Obama is accused of creating a Middle-East vacuum for President Putin to fill. We try to connect the dots.
To the Point
A Possible Nuclear Deal with Iran Divides Traditional Allies Nuclear talks will resume tomorrow between Iran, the US and five other countries, and the rhetoric is heating up on all sides of the issue. While the US says an agreement is "close," France says Iran's path to a bomb would still be too easy. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the deal is a threat to its very existence, and Arab nations — including Saudi Arabia — are taking Israel's side. In Congress, Republicans, and some Democrats, say it's time to increase economic sanctions, not to relax them, as the proposed agreement would do. Why are the US and traditional partners so divided? Is a deal or the lack of a deal most likely to lead to war?
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To the Point
White House budget proposal slashes and burns President Trump's first budget request is considered dead on arrival in Congress — a familiar development in Capitol Hill. We hear what it reveals about the priorities of the new administration. What's likely to die… and what might survive?
To the Point
Venezuela spirals into economic and political chaos Venezuela, a country whose potential for prosperity is unmatched, finds itself on the verge of civil war. What sustains the repressive government? With time running out, guest host León Krauze looks at what the international community can do to pull the country from the edge of collapse.
To the Point
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?
To the Point
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?