First Woman Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright

Madeleine Albright served as the first female Secretary of State from 1997 to 2001.   She attended the March opening of the Bellevue Arts Museum exhibit of her pins –  accessories she used to sometimes make a political point during her work in  global diplomacy.  She spoke to a forum of Bellevue area high school students at the museum.  The following is a series of segments from the event.

Episode 1 – Madeleine Albright shares how she became U.S. Secretary of State.

Episode 2 – Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright gives insight on what it was like to be a woman of her stature in global diplomacy.

Episode 3 – Albright talks about how her world view was influenced by her experiences.

Episode 4 – Albright speaks on how she used her pins during her service as Secretary of State.

Episode 5 – Madeleine Albright speaks to satire and its place in society.

music: Kevin MacLeod ‘VibeAce’

photo: Diana Walker – courtesy of Bellevue Arts Museum

produced by Ruth Bly and Yuko Kodama

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Speaking Out Against the Occupation of Palestine

In Israel, former soldiers speak out against the military’s policies in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. They’re part of a group of veterans called Breaking the Silence.  They document violations and abuse by the military,  the heavy toll on Palestinians and the lasting impact on Israeli soldiers.

KBCS News & Public Affairs Director, Sonya Green interviewed Breaking the Silence co-founder, Yehuda Shaul.

Access to Veteran Affairs Services

In March of 2013, The Department of Veterans Affairs reported over 600,000 veteran unprocessed claims.  In November of 2013, the Head of the Department of Veteran Affairs, Eric Shinseki claimed they had cut the number of claims by a third.  In the meantime,  the Washington Times reported that despite the improvement in the number of VA claims, 700,000 former servicemen and women remain waiting for medical benefits owed to them because of a backlogged system that takes an average of 300 days to navigate.  We’d like to focus on what veterans in our region and across the country are experiencing as they claim their need for services with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Guests:

• Rick Lawson –  He served in Balad, Iraq in 2004 and 2005.  He also served four years in the Washington Army National Guard from 2002 to 2006 before receiving a medical discharge.  Today, he’s an veterans’ advocate and hopes to work toward a degree in public health.
• Benjamin Krause – He enlisted with the US Air Force in 1996 and served in the Air Mobility Command for operations in the Middle East and later with the Special Operation Command, where he participated in operations in Eastern Europe until 2001.  He’s the founder of disabledveterans.org, an organization that helps veterans navigate the Department of Veterans Affairs to access disability services.  He’s also a newly minted attorney this year in Minnesota