Woodrow Wilson Intrenational Center for Scholars
Director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center
PROFILE
Haleh Esfandiari
Guest
FROM Haleh Esfandiari
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
The Politics of the Hijab President Obama was in Saudi Arabia yesterday paying respects to King Abdullah, who died last week. The visit was short, but there was just enough time for the First Lady to find herself at the center of a controversy. Michelle Obama chose not to wear a headscarf to official proceedings. It’s not entirely unusual for foreign officials to skip the hijab in Saudi Arabia, but thousands of tweets from Saudis criticized the first lady for not covering her hair. Why does the headscarf keep getting dragged into political discussions?
Recommended
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
How do Trump supporters feel about the Paris Accord? Globally and around the U.S., there are strong opinions whether or not the Paris Climate Accord is a good idea. The American exit is either a horrifying abdication of American leadership or a forceful and long overdue statement about U.S. sovereignty.
Bookworm
George Saunders: Lincoln in the Bardo (Part I) Lincoln in the Bardo dramatizes a grieving President Lincoln as he visits the grave of his beloved son Willie, who died at age eleven. In the novel, the buried dead believe they're not dead -- "they're sick and refer to their coffins as "sick boxes."
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Why did Jared Kushner want a back channel with Russians? News broke Friday that President Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor, Jared Kushner, tried setting up a back channel between the Trump transition team and the Russian government. What are the consequences for Kushner, President Trump, and the investigation into Russian meddling?
The Business
In 'Speechless,' Scott Silveri combines comedy, family & disability Scott Silveri has written and produced sitcoms for more than 20 years. In all that time, he never encountered a TV family that looked anything like the one he grew up in -- with a mom, a dad...and a brother with cerebral palsy. He changed that with his show Speechless on ABC. Silveri tells us about looking to his own past for stories, and why he was determined to make a family comedy and not just a "disability show."