Peace Talks Radio

Draw the well-known peace symbol almost anywhere in the world, and show it to almost anyone over the age of 4, and you're likely to hear them tell you that the symbol means "peace." Walk through the halls of any elementary or junior high school and you'll see the peace sign all over in kids' fashion, young girls especially - t-shirts, shorts, shoes, backpacks, earings, pendants. People know the symbol means peace but not so many know where the symbol came from. On this edition of Peace Talks Radio, we'll talk with author Ken Kolsbun who co-wrote the book Peace: The Biography of a Symbol. He'll tell us the tale of British graphic designer Gerald Holtem, who came up with the design for a 1958 Ban the Bomb protest march. Since then the sign has been used to mean "peace" in all kinds of causes from stopping war to saving the planet's environment. We also talk with Leigh Golterman who created a peace apparel and accessories company called "Peace Please," which has donated its profits to peace organizations. Paul Ingles hosts.

After serving proudly in the US Armed Forces, what motivates a person to later work passionately for peace? On this edition of Peace Talks Radio, we’ll learn how two war veterans were changed by their military experience and about the peace work they now do. Our guests talked with host Suzanne Kryder about the role of the US military in peace building, their views on defense spending, and what all of us can do to bring an end to war. Paul K. Chappell is a West Point graduate who served in the army for seven years including a deployment to Baghdad in 2006; he retired as a Captain. Paul now serves as the Peace Leadership Director for the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. He is the author of three books including Peaceful Revolution: How We Can Create the Future Needed for Humanity’s Survival. We’ll also speak with Erik K. Gustafson who served in the 1991 Gulf War. Witnessing the consequences of the war fueled Erik’s passion for human rights and peace building. He’ll describe why and how he founded the Education for Peace in Iraq Center (EPIC) in 1998 to improve humanitarian conditions in Iraq and defend the human rights of the Iraqi people.

When American psychologist Abraham Maslow introduced the Hierarchy of Needs in his seminal work A Theory of Human Motivation, he presented a pyramid that listed the most important, fundamental needs of humans toward the bottom. Food, Water,

Breathing, and Sleep were among the needs supporting the base of the pyramid. Only one level up was "Safety" including security of body, health, resources and family. If one's safety is threatened by war, disaster or family violence - a peaceful life is not possible. Anxiety, PTSD and trauma passed down through generations can follow.

There are communities around the world that don't have their basic physiological and safety needs adequately met. Nearly a billion people on the planet are undernourished according to 2010 figures- roughly 14% of the worlds population. And some of these communities in deficit are here in the U.S., in places you normally wouldn't think of as being at risk, neighborhoods in or near large urban centers where access to nutritious affordable food has disappeared and in some cases. What has followed is an over-arching blight - communities with gang problems, mistrust and fear among residents. Some social scientists see a link between food insecurity and a lack of peace in these neighborhoods, so experimental programs have been launched in some places with, so far,

encouraging results. We'll hear about a couple of them on this edition of Peace Talks Radio - one in Albuquerque, New Mexico and one in West Oakland, CA - where Nikki Henderson directs the work of The People's Grocery. She talked with our Carol Boss, as did Jacqueline Thomas. She's been a West Oakland resident for many years who now works for People's Grocery too. Meantime, in Santa Barbara/Martineztown near downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico an NIH grant has funded a program called Fiestas that will bring together women in the community over food and interview them to help understand food access problems. Then a board of the women will brainstorm some solutions. It's a kind of peacemaking in that it brings people together who normally wouldn't come together to identify community problems and propose solutions. While this brainstorming begins, some gardening programs already underway seem to be having a noticeable impact in the neighborhood according to Veronica Apodaca, who lives in Martineztown and visits with Carol Boss. Also we talk to Amy Annexter Scott who is helping to coordinate the Fiestas program.

If the inevitability of death - our own death or the death of our loved ones - or anyone for that matter - was something we could all handle with

more calm, with more inner peace, how might the world change? What manner of thinking or perspective can one who is facing his or her own death adopt to create a more peaceful place to live out their days? What can a relative, friend or caregiver do to promote a more peaceful passage for one who is dying? What manner of thinking or perspective can one who is facing the death of a loved one or friend adopt to nurture a more peaceful place for themselves during the transition and afterwards? We talk with three women - two nurses and a physician - who have worked closely in the hospice community for some suggestions, including Camille Adair who also produced the film "Solace: Wisdom of the Dying." Host Paul Ingles, who lost both his mother and an aunt in a two week stretch in 2011, also shares his own story.

In this program, we explore an online training opportunity called Becoming

a Peace Ambassador. James O’Dea, the facilitator of the Peace Ambassador

training, is the guest. He’s a former official with both Amnesty International and the Institute of Noetic Sciences…and author of books like Creative Stress and Cultivating Peace. We also talk with two graduates of the online program. Paul Ingles hosts.

For that time of year when everyone is wishing for more "Peace on Earth,"

share some hope with the latest in the annual Peace Talks Radio year-end specials. This one highlights programs aired in the series in 2011. Hear compelling conversation excerpts from programs on: The U.S. Institute ofPeace; Nobel Peace Prize winners Martti Ahtisaari and Liu Xiaobo; Heading off domestic and dating violence; Vietnam veterans finding peace by

traveling back to Vietnam; Alternatives to Violence program in prisons; The Global Peace Index and Imagining a Peace Economy; A conference on religious tolerance; Peace messages in classical music.

We spotlight two instances when peace broke out – right on the field of battle. First, the impromptu but widespread unofficial Christmas Truce of 1914 in the early months of fighting in Europe in World War 1. Soldiers from both sides essentially said, war is hell – let’s not do it near Christmas Day. To tell us that story, we have Stanley Weintraub, historian, professor emeritus from PennState University, biographer and author of many books including “Silent Night- The Christmas Truce of 1914.” Also the story of the National Jubilee of Peace – the first major gathering of Civil War veterans from the North and South in 1911 - 50 years after the Battle of Bull Run at Manassas. Steve Pendlebury has our story – from the place where it happened in 1911 – and was re-enacted in the summer of 2011, Manassas, Virginia. Paul Ingles hosts.

Religious liberty and tolerance are complex issues, impacted by a variety of factors including education, politics, and the media. On this edition, conversations with participants in a 2011 conference called, "Liberty and Tolerance in an Age of Religious Conflict." Guests include Dr. Kelly James Clark, a Professor of Philosophy at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, who co-chaired the conference and has written a book exploring the issue. Also Dr. Hedieh Mirahmadi, an attorney, author, and founder and president of the World Organization for Resource Development & Education (WORDE), which works to improve communication between Muslim and non-Muslim communities in order to reduce social conflict and political instability; Dr. Nurit Peled-Elhanan, the Jewish educator who lost her 13-year old daughter to a Palestinian suicide bombing in Jerusalem but who is still working to promote dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians; and Dr. Nick Wolterstorff who is the Noah Porter Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Yale University. He helped found the Society of Christian Philosophers in 1978. Also featured are comments from South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Arun Gandhi, Martin Luther King III and the 14th Dalai Lama, recorded at a special event honoring the Dalai Lama's 76th birthday in 2011. Suzanne Kryder hosts.

Jane Ellen, a composer, performer and music historian tells stories about how classical composers have been influenced by the threat of war and the hope for peace in their works. Music by Beethoven, Vaughan Williams, Britten, Crumb and others is featured. Paul Ingles hosts.

On this edition of Peace Talks Radio, stories about former enemies in war, reconciling between each other to achieve peace within themselves and, they hope, delivering a message about the futility of war. We talk with Dr. Edward Tick first, psychologist and author of book "War and the Soul" and founder of Soldier's Heart, an organization that promotes innovative approaches to healing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) -among them sponsoring trips for US citizens, veterans and non-vets, back to Vietnam where the US was involved in bloody war for over a decade in the 1960's and early 70's. We also hear from 2 American soldiers, Al Plapp and Tommy Laughlin, who made such a trip back to Vietnam. Carol Boss hosts.