The State We're In, 9 June 2012. An Iranian rapper, who came out as a lesbian and then had to make a dramatic exit from the country. A Filipino filmmaker tells the story of a man whose life was destroyed, and later saved, by the media. And we meet a former Afghan governor who uses the power of poetry to bring peace to warring factions.

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Saye Sky

Saye Sky

Rapper Saye Sky was just starting to get a lot of attention for her music in her native Tehran when the authorities began spying on her. They soon knew everything about her, including the fact she’s lesbian.

Fearing for her life, she bribed her way out of the country without even telling her family.

After Saye made it to Turkey, she hoped she’d be able to rap freely about the oppression and dangers she’d faced as a lesbian in Iran. But government agents phoned her, and even made an attempt to kidnap her. She now lives in Canada. View photos.

More: Iran Human Rights Documentation Center - Witness Statement: Saye Sky.

Sky Saye's YouTube Channel.

Paco Larrañaga and 6 others were saved from the death sentence at the Regional Trial Court, but the Supreme Court later raised the penalty to death

Give Up Tomorrow

Host Jonathan Groubert speaks with Marty Syjuco whose film Give Up Tomorrow dissects the sham sentencing to death of a young Filipino man, Paco Larrañaga, for a crime he never committed and the trial by media which preceded it. View photos.

Sign the Free Paco Now petition.

Wazir Gul Anis

RNW

Wazir Gul Anis in Afghanistan is a civic leader who has a deep love for classical Persian poetry.

It’s helped him cope with the Soviet invasion, the Taliban’s takeover, and getting warring clans to reconcile.

A poem even got him through the darkest hours of his own life when his son got kidnapped.