Monday, July 30, 2012
Today The Bob Edwards Show presents the premier feature in a series titled “An ‘Occupational Hazard’: Rape in the Military.” One in three of active-duty women serving the U.S. military have reported being the victim of sexual assault while serving, which is double the rate for civilians. Based on estimates from the Department of Defense, 19,000 servicemen and women were sexually assaulted in 2010 and most of those violent acts don’t get reported because in the military, victims are required to report to their chain of command. As such, only eight-percent are brought to justice, either through prosecution or some form of military nonjudicial punishment. Defending themselves in civilian court in 2011, the Pentagon argued that sexual assault is an “occupational hazard” in the military. Throughout today’s program we will hear from servicemen and women about their Military Sexual Trauma, advocates who help treat and raise awareness about the problem, and lawmakers about what is and isn’t being done to change the culture that protects these sexual perpetrators.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Today we continue the series, “An ‘Occupational Hazard’: Rape in the Military.” The culture that seemingly tolerates sexual assault begins early in the military careers of patriotic young men and women. In the latest assessment, there were 65 sexual assaults reported at the military academies, only one went to court martial, and the number of reported sexual assaults doubled at the U.S. Naval Academy. Annie Kendzior was a star student and athlete recruited to the academy in her junior year of high school. Annie and her father Russ Kendzior describe how she was assaulted twice in her first semester, then after reporting those attacks her junior year, the Naval Academy had her dismissed claiming she had a personality disorder. Next, Tina Reed is former Naval Academy reporter for the Capital Gazette and she discusses what she has learned through FOIA requests. Lastly, Shelley Tillman was a sergeant in the Army and she describes the degrading environment she endured as a woman in boot camp. Then, you don’t get more genre-crossing than classically-trained cellists playing hip hop and heavy metal hits, but that’s exactly what The Portland Cello Project (PCP) does. Currently on tour for their new release, Homage, four members of the group join Bob in Sirius XM’s performance studio to talk about and perform some of their inspired arrangements.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
In part three of our special series, “An ‘Occupational Hazard’: Rape in the Military,” Bob talks to survivors of Military Sexual Assault. Ariana Klay was a National Merit Scholar and Division 1 Soccer player before she was recruited to attend the U.S. Naval Academy. As an officer in the Marine Corps, she was deployed to Iraq in 2008. A year after her return, she was gang-raped in her home one block from base in Washington, DC. The Marine Corp convicted a fellow Marine of adultery, but not rape. Ben Klay graduated from Yale University and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government before becoming a Marine officer where he served two deployments. Ariana and her husband Ben discuss her sexual assault, how she was treated by the Marines, and their subsequent recovery. Then, Elle Helmer was also an officer in the Marine Corps when she was sexually attacked by her superior in 2006. Her case is one of eight which has been filed against Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta for a lack of response.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Today, in part four of this week’s series, “An ‘Occupational Hazard’: Rape in the Military,” we hear an extended version of the interview with Brian Lewis who enlisted in the Navy after graduating from high school. Three years later he was raped by a senior petty officer. Lewis will discuss that attack, why he was diagnosed with a Personality Disorder, how his military career ended, and the treatment he has received as a male survivor of Military Sexual Trauma. Then, Rodriguez is an American folk singer discovered in Detroit in the late 1960s. His music received praise from critics, but sales bombed and he dropped off the scene mysteriously. Filmmaker Malik Bendjelloul captures that story, and how the music of Rodriguez became the soundtrack for justice in South Africa throughout their struggle with apartheid. Searching for Sugar Man is now out in limited release..
Friday, August 3, 2012
Doyle McManus, Washington columnist for the Los Angeles Times, joins Bob to discuss the latest political news. Next, we conclude this week’s feature series, “An ‘Occupational Hazard’: Rape in the Military” with Congresswoman Jackie Speier who discusses military sexual violence and her bill to help prevent it, the STOP Act, the Sexual Assault Training Oversight and Prevention Act. Then, on August 5, after traveling 254 days and 354 million miles, NASA’s Mars Science Lab spacecraft – Curiosity — will attempt a touchdown on the surface of Mars. Marc Kaufman is a science writer for the Washington Post and the author of a new e-short coming out from National Geographic, Mars Landing 2012: Inside The Nasa Curiosity Mission. He will explain the high drama of the upcoming landing, what scientists are calling “the six minutes of terror” landing. Kauffman’s short will be followed by a full National Geographic book in 2014. Then finally, in this week’s installment of our ongoing series This I Believe, we hear the essay of Vint Cerf. He works for Google, and Cerf is known as the “Father of the Internet.” So, he travels a lot to attend conferences and give speeches. But he isn’t absorbed with the wonders of the Web. Cerf makes it a point to strike up conversations with as many strangers as he can. He says face-to-face communication teaches him something new every day, and he does his best to treat everyone he meets with respect.