by Helen Womack | 27 Oct 2025 | Music, Politics, Russia, Ukraine
When a Russian pop star told the world, and Putin, that the Ukraine war must end, she had to go into exile. But her message went out. Russian President Vladimir Putin and singer Alla Pugacheva at an awards ceremony in the Kremlin in Moscow, December 2014. (Credit:...
by Tom Heneghan | 1 Oct 2025 | Decoder Replay, Politics, Religion
In parts of Eastern Europe there is little separation between church and state. But what happens when the church becomes an instrument of a different nation? The head of the Moldovan Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Vladimir holds a religious service in Chisinau,...
by Daniel Warner | 11 Aug 2025 | Decoders, History, Politics
When nations sign a treaty they volunteer to abide by certain terms. But what, if anything, happens if they break those agreements? The seats of the U.S. delegation are vacant during the ceremony marking the entry into force of the Ottawa Convention on the prohibition...
by Daniel Warner | 25 Jun 2025 | Decoder Replay, History, Human Rights, Israel-Palestine, Politics, Russia, Ukraine
Israel strikes crowds at food distribution sites. Russia bombs cities in the Ukraine war. Can we not hold nations to account? A Palestinian man carries the body of his child who was killed in an Israeli military strike on Gaza, at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, 19...
by Marcy Burstiner | 3 Jun 2025 | Human Rights, Journalism, United States
In only a handful of countries are journalists supported, protected and generally trusted. We need to change that. A clickable map of press freedom. Courtesy of Reporters Without Borders. After a century of gradual expansion of press rights in the United States, the...