Radio Netherlands Worldwide

SSO Login

More login possibilities:

Close
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Twitter
  • Google
  • LinkedIn
Home
Saturday 25 May  

The State We're In - The right to smile

On air: 24 October 2009 9:00 - 30 October 2009 9:00 (Photo: RNW)

More about:

The State We’re In, 24 October 2009. We ask if there’s a right to a big corporate bonus. And is there a right to smile? We meet a woman who can’t. A Palestinian woman recounts the political consequences of smiling at an Israeli checkpoint. And we meet a French priest who is almost single-handedly uncovering the events of the Holocaust in Ukraine.

Listen to this week's show in full:

Tell us your story about the Berlin Wall

Berlin Wall, 1984, Photo: Flickr, Spurlos

The anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall is coming up in early November.

If you've got a story about it, please let us know by clicking on "tell us your story" and then... tell us your story!

Photo: Berlin Wall, 1984 (Flickr, Spurlos)

 

We're always searching for personal stories about human rights and how we treat each other. Do you have a story to share with us? If so click here.

OR - You can visit our Facebook page where you can discuss the program and send in ideas.

Just say no to bonuses
Geraint Anderson was a high-flying ‘city boy’ in London’s financial district. He received a few massive bonuses before his conscience led him out of the business.

The case for bonuses
Greg David is editorial director of the business magazine Crain’s in New York. He explains why bankers often have a right to their yearly bonus.

You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.


This week's theme is the right to smile

Other ways to smile
Henrietta Spalding was born with a rare condition which leaves her unable to make any facial expressions. She talks about how she’s learned to interact with others without smiling.
 
A new smile
Hundreds of thousands of children around the world have cleft lips and palettes. Many are ostracised but a relatively short operation can transform their lives. We go to a hospital in Nairobi where baby Peter is just about to have the operation.
 

You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.


No smiling at the terminal
Rana Qumsiyeh is a Palestinian woman who lines up at a Israeli/West Bank checkpoint every day to get to work. One disturbing experience prompted her to write about it. She reads this piece and talks to Jonathan Groubert about life queuing at the terminal.
 
The Holocaust and the priest

French priest Patrick Desbois tells host Jonathan Groubert how he came to document the nearly-forgotten "Holocaust by Bullets", the mass executions of Jews in Ukraine in World War II.

 

You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.

  • Geraint Anderson<br>&copy; Photo: RNW - http://www.rnw.nl/english
  • Greg David<br>&copy; Photo: RNW - http://www.rnw.nl/english
  • Henrietta Spalding<br>&copy; Photo: RNW - http://www.rnw.nl/english
  • Bernard pre-operation<br>&copy; Photo: RNW - http://www.rnw.nl/english
  • Bernard post-operation<br>&copy; Photo: RNW - http://www.rnw.nl/english
  • Dr Sylvia Noah<br>&copy; Photo: RNW - http://www.rnw.nl/english
  • The Smile Train team<br>&copy; Photo: RNW - http://www.rnw.nl/english
  • Rana Qumsiyeh<br>&copy; Photo: RNW - http://www.rnw.nl/english
  • Members of an Einsatzkommando firing at men standing at the bottom of a trench. Circa 1941-1942.<br>&copy; Photo: USHMM/Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance - http://www.doew.at/

Discussion

Soledad 3 November 2009 - 5:47pm
Where is the story of the Palestinian woman at the checkpoint? Why was it cut off before we could hear it, only the song before played?
user avatar
Sydney Fordham 6 November 2009 - 12:05pm
Hi Soledad, the story you are looking for is the last piece of audio on the page - combined with "The Holocaust and the priest". regards TSWI Webteam
jasmin 29 October 2009 - 3:12pm
Thank you for the kind reply, Sid Fordham. It might not matter to your web team, but it is a great personal loss for me. Many of your stories had touched me deeply and I had posted heartfelt comments to them, my best ever. They are now lost forever and I really cannot recall or rewrite how I felt then.
jasmin 28 October 2009 - 3:01pm
Dear RNW team, we the visitors, posted our reactions to this and similar other old articles. You saved all the old articles but deleted all our reactions. If our thoughts are so carelessly thrown away, I wonder why should we ever take the effort to post them to your articles!!!
user avatar
Sydney Fordham 28 October 2009 - 5:54pm

Dear Jasmin, unfortunately in the process of migrating our website to the new system all readers' reactions were lost. However, we always appreciate the efforts of anyone who has taken the trouble to react, so please don't let this discourage you from doing so in the future. best wishes RNW web team

Post new comment

Please be reminded all comments must be in English, short and to the point - guideline 250 words. Abusive and inappropriate comments will be removed.

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <p> <br>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.

More information about formatting options

RNW on Facebook

RNW Player

Video highlights

Fatou Bensouda, are you neutral?
RNW recently spoke to Fatou Bensouda, the chief prosecutor of the...
Mexican "whore" fights back
Two months ago, police officers in Mexico City arrested a young man for...