The United Nations General Assembly is celebrating the 80th anniversary of its founding this month. This hour we look at the status of the organization today, and the challenges it faces.

Plus, historian Thant Myint-U has a new book out about his grandfather, U Thant, who was the UN’s first non-European secretary-general, and a leading ambassador of peace during the Cold War. Myint-U joins us to talk about his grandfather's role in the history of the United Nations and the lessons we can take from his example for the present.

GUESTS:

• Thant Myint-U: Author of Peacemaker: U Thant and the Forgotten Quest for a Just World. He is an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, a Senior Fellow at UN Foundation, and he formerly served on three UN peacekeeping operations

• Eugene Chen: Senior Fellow at the United Nations University Centre for Policy Research. He is a former UN official

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