April 26, 2018
More than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Burma’s Rakhine State since last August, hoping to escape a widespread campaign of ethnic cleansing. The atrocities committed by Burmese security forces, including mass killings, sexual violence, and arson are repeatedly denied by military and civilian officials, but human rights watch groups say this is the world's fastest growing humanitarian crises. Many of those people have found themselves in Bangladesh, and are now living among the largest refugee camps in the world.
We're joined today by Tania Rashid, who is a special news correspondent for PBS, who has filed a series of stories on the crisis.
You can find her work here:
How a Rohingya mother escaped her village’s terrors in Myanmar
Before they agree to go home, the Rohingya have some demands
Why this 13-year-old Rohingya refugee faces intense pressure to marry
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April 19, 2018
Daniela Molina is an Indiana University Media School student, and an aspiring investigative journalist who has already interned at WTVJ in Miami, where she was named an Emma Bowen Foundation Fellow, and at WTIU, Bloomington. She's previously served as the interim editor-in-chief of The Reporter, which is the campus paper for Miami Dade College.
And today she's brought us the story of Legend Solar, a solar panel company out west that has left customers feeling like they are part of a Ponzi scheme. it's a big story, there's a lot to it, and you'll want to check it out.
Follow the show on Twitter, @BestStoryShow. And when you're done with this one, check out more episodes. You can also subscribe on Google Play or Stitcher.
April 9, 2018
If you want to remember the moment a bit better, you might need to put the camera down and the phone back in your pocket. That's the suggestion from a recent study, which Vox has picked up on: What smartphone photography is doing to our memories.
Ken Booth, co-founder of one of the web's best photo archives, shorpy.com and an old-school newsman, tells us about this story, and the importance of staying in the moment, rather than in a viewfinder or a touchscreen.
You can see more of Booth's work at vintagraph.com and some of his own photos and book reviews on his personal site. Previously, he's joined us to talk about the craft beer industry's boom and the nature of conspiracy theories.
Follow the show on Twitter, @BestStoryShow. And when you're done with this one, check out more episodes. You can also subscribe on Google Play or Stitcher.
April 4, 2018
On this historic anniversary we're going back in time to discuss a column written 50 years ago, upon the news of the assasination of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was shot in Memphis, but this piece by Mike Royko was published in Chicago the next day. It has become something of a famous column, and, as Indianapolis Star writer Zac Osterman tells us today, it still works, it still resonates, and it is still viable.
At the beginning of the show you'll hear from Robert Kennedy, who was campaigning in Indianapolis on April 4, 1968 and delivered the news that King was killed and offered a short, powerful speech that is often credited with help calm that city.
Incidentally, today, the Kennedy-King Park where RFK spoke those many years ago, has just this week been named a national commemorative site. What's old is never really old, and this is the best story I've heard today.
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April 3, 2018
"The Troubles" in the United Kingdom are a thing of the past. But the Good Friday Agreement, a 1998 signed understanding that impacted the relationships and institutions between Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, is right now in a precarious position because of Brexit. Indiana Daily Student news editor Dominick Jean tells us this land border situation and the many cultural and commercial aspects of the arrangment were largely overlooked when it came time to determine the UK's EU fate. Now, they're trying to address the many issues at play.
We don't solve the problems here, but we do discuss some of the high points brought up in these stories from America Magazine and The New Yorker, which Jean, who just returned from a trip to Ireland, recommends in full.
Check out more of Jean's work right here.
Previously on the program he's told us about a new papal advisory panel, the coming Day Zero in South Africa's historic drought and gerrymandered congressional districts.
Hear more episodes, too. You can also subscribe on Google Play or Stitcher, and be sure to follow us on Twitter, as well, @BestStoryShow.