Basir Bita, who worked for several years as an advisor to Afghan Peace Volunteers, was on Joe Public Speaking toward the end of last year, prior to the US pull-out from Afghanistan. Since then, Basir and his wife and children managed to get out of Afghanistan, and are now in Canada. He kindly agreed to speak with me about life in Afghanistan, and now out of Afghanistan.

Toward the end of the interview he mentions an organization that helps people in Afghanistan who still hope to emigrate. Here's the web address:

https://secure.givelively.org/donate/alliance-of-community-trainers/earth-activists-emergency-fund-for-afghan-relief 

Or you can contact Basir here: email address: [email protected]    Whatsapp number: +93 787355929

"[W]hat would it cost for a girl to run wildly and recklessly into womanhood, making instant, temporary homes?" Gina Troisi shows us the cost in her vivid, visual writing style. "The Angle of Flickering Light" should be on your summer reading list, if it isn't already! 

New York Times bestselling author, Domenica Ruta called this memoir, "a story of powerful recovery". 

In "Honoring Father and Mother: An Impossible Possibility?", Martin Rumscheidt discusses his lifetime struggle with the fact that his father, as a high ranking employee of IG Farben during WWII, was complicit with Nazi atrocities. How does one heed the ideal of honoring one's father and mother while knowing that through direct involvement, or through silence, one's parents were complicit with an atrocity? 

Celia is the frontperson for the Grammy-nominated bluegrass band, Della Mae, as well as the rock/country rock band Say Darling. 

You've got to hear her voice. Really. 

Music in this episode:

"Way Down", Celia Woodsmith, from the album, "Cast Iron Shoes"

"Headlight", Della Mae, from the album, "Headlight"

"Good Man", Say Darling, from the album "Before & After"

Ernie's (soon to be enhanced by re-releases and new stuff) author page on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Ernest-Hebert/e/B001H9T8XS%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

Music:

"Pennsylvania", by Say Zuzu

"Mary (Won't You Come Along), by Jon Nolan

The Parents Circle - Families Forum:

https://www.theparentscircle.org/en/stories/rami-elhanan_eng/

American Friends of the Parents Circle; Palestinian and Israeli Bereaved Families for Peace:

https://parentscirclefriends.org/encounter/

Combatants for Peace:

https://cfpeace.org/

Colum McCann's website:

http://colummccann.com/

Narrative 4 Foundation:

http://colummccann.com/narrative-4-main-page/

Amblin Films buys film rights:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/amblin-nabs-israeli-palestinian-friendship-novel-apeirogon-1278792

Documentary filmmaker, Jen Senko, talks about "conservative" media, the attack on the US Capitol by domestic terrorists on January 6, 2021, and what lies ahead, in a country divided thanks to the brainwashing of tabloid media. 

Film website: www.thebrainwashingofmydad.com

Following up on my year-end op-ed, I was wrong about the pocket veto, but at this point, I still believe that Trump and his domestic terrorist brigade still plan to start a civil war, if that's what it takes to fully install him as the country's first full-fledged dictator. As I said in my prior op-ed, I hope I'm wrong, but I see little to indicate that their insane plan, based entirely on lies that Trump, his enablers, and "conservative" media told these terrorists, has changed.

Newsweek article: https://www.newsweek.com/qanon-capitol-threat-trump-election-1559962

Music: "Here Comes the Shutdown", Kevin Healey (soundcloud.com/khealey)

The quote, borrowed from the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., holds as much relevance today as it did more than 50 years ago. For even longer, the Catholic Worker movement has tried to counter-act these triplets in the ways that my guest today describes. Christopher Douçot and his wife, Jackie, co-founded the Hartford Catholic Worker community, and even with a pandemic raging, their work continues. In these times, voices like theirs seem even further in the wilderness than ever, and they need to be heard as much if not more than ever.

End music: "Here Comes the Shutdown", Kevin Healey (khealey.bandcamp.com)