The Public Diplomat

In a recent Washington Post article entitled In the safe spaces on campus, no Jews allowed Anthony Berteaux argued that unlike most others, Jewish students are subjected to a litmus test on their stance on Israel when asking to join on campus social justice causes. The relationship between campus progressive politics and Anti-Israel rhetoric has reached the point of the absurd on such campuses as The University of California in Berkeley where a student waving an Israeli flag was taunted by students, while later completely ignored when waving an ISIS Flag. On the same campus, a one credit course named “Palestine: A Settler Colonial Analysis” will be offered despite a wide outcry over its one sided, antisemitic content. The current podcast features an interview with Professor Miriam Elman, an associate professor of Political Science in Syracuse University’s acclaimed Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. The conversation will cover the impact of the BDS movement on American universities, its professors, students, and the academic community as a whole. Miriam Elman is serves as a research director in its Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration(PARCC). She frequently writes and speaks on BDS, and blogs on the topic for the website Legal Insurrection. Her latest Op-Ed The Pressure on American Academics to Conform to BDS was recently published in Haaretz read more: http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/1.740723 Follow her on Twitter @MiriamElman

In Episode #72, we interview Robert Govers the managing research partner of www.good.country, chairman of the International Place Branding Association and an independent advisor, researcher, speaker and author on the reputation of cities, regions and countries. He has also been an adjunct or visiting scholar at the University of Leuven, Belgium; Rotterdam School of Management, The Netherlands; IULM University Milano, Italy; and several institutes in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He also teaches Place Branding on the UNESCO World Heritage at Work Master programme in Torino, Italy and is co-editor of the quarterly journal, Place Branding and Public Diplomacy.

A popular PBS documentary, A Wing and a Prayer tells the little-known story of World War II aviators who risked their lives and American citizenships in 1948 to prevent what they viewed as an impending second Holocaust. Written, directed and produced by award-winning filmmaker Boaz Dvir (Jessie’s Dad, Discovering Gloria), A Wing and a Prayer features firsthand accounts of daring escapes and heart-pounding action. Dvir, a Penn State University journalism and film faculty member, secured exclusive interviews with operation leader Al Schwimmer, chief pilot Sam Lewis and lead crewmember Eddie Styrak, a Polish Christian, among others. These tell-all interviews provide rich detail about a group of Jews and Christians who helped reshape history, yet have been forgotten by history books. Aiming to change that, Dvir has presented A Wing and a Prayer at prestigious venues around the world, including the Center for Jewish History in New York City, Columbia University’s Global Center in Paris and Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Here’s the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryTIielRFFY Follow Dvir (@boazdvir) on Twitter. To buy the film’s DVD, which includes the longer director’s cut as well as five bonus scenes, please call 1-800-222-9728. To invite Dvir to present A Wing and a Prayer, email him at bcd14 at psu.edu.

A conversation with Katia Schkolnik who is the founder of Rosa Fosfo, Mexico's first NGO focus on girls rights. Rosa Fosfo inspires girls and boys to be happy, healthy and safe, to accept, to define who they want to be and overcome any challenge.

University of Iowa assistant professor Melissa Tully (Twitter @tullyme) and doctoral candidate David Tuwei (Twitter @david_tuwei) discuss their research on Kenyan mobile phone service provider, Safaricom and its role in shaping Kenya’s nation brand. Their study found that Safaricom’s marketing engages with discourses of commercial nationalism, creating a marketable Kenyan identity and culture tied to both national economic development and individual success. In addition, they found that Safaricom tied Kenyan identity, pride, and distinctiveness to commercial success, profit, upward mobility, and economic development. You can watch the Safaricom ads here: http://youtu.be/g5L3JUI5F14

Professor Emily Metzgar of Indiana University joins Professor Guy Golan of Syracuse University to discuss her research on the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program (JET Program) and its many implications towards Japanese public diplomacy. The podcast was recorded during the 2015 conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC)in San Francisco. You can follow Dr. Metzgar on her Twitter account (@emilym123) and read more about her on her website.

Professor Shawn Powers of Georgia State University discusses his new book The Real Cyber War: The Political Economy of Internet Freedom (coauthored by Michael Jablonski). As described on the publisher page, the book offers a “Contemporary discussion surrounding the role of the internet in society is dominated by words like: internet freedom, surveillance, cybersecurity, Edward Snowden and, most prolifically, cyber war. Behind the rhetoric of cyber war is an on-going state-centered battle for control of information resources. Shawn Powers and Michael Jablonski conceptualize this real cyber war as the utilization of digital networks for geopolitical purposes, including covert attacks against another state's electronic systems, but also, and more importantly, the variety of ways the internet is used to further a state’s economic and military agendas.” You can read more about the book on Amazon and follow Dr. Powers on Twitter @shawnpowers and the official book website

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