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T
he rise of a new American security state: Pulitzer-Prize winner DANA PRIEST of the Washington Post reports on a world so vast no one knows how many people it employs, how much money taxpayers spend on it, or whether “counterterrorism” and “homeland security” accomplish anything worthwhile. Dana is co-author of Top Secret America–it’s out now in paperback. (originally broadcast 8/11)
Also: RUSSELL BANKS is one of our best writers – in his novel, Lost Memory of Skin, his protagonist, “The Kid,” is a registered sex offender forbidden to live within 2,500 feet of a school or park – and thus forced to join a homeless camp under a Florida freeway bridge. The book is out now in paperback. (originally broadcast 8/11)
plus: The US effort to “Rebuild Iraq”: how about this: a plant producing frozen chicken — in a country with no electricity for refrigeration? PETER VAN BUREN worked for the State Department during the “surge,” and recounts the way billions of dollars were lost to waste and fraud. His book is “We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People”–it’s out now in paperback. (Watch chicken plant PR video HERE.) (originally broadcast 8/11)
