The Lid is On

Survivors of terrorist atrocities in the Lake Chad region of Africa have been telling UN News about how they have been able to overcome the horror of kidnapping and being forced to watch their own close family members being executed.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced and many thousands killed across the region over the past decade or so, as a result of a terrorist insurgency which continues to this day.

Who wants the death of the UN?

This provocative question is the title – translated into English from Qui veut la mort de l’ONU?  in French – of a new book by Romuald Sciora and Anne-Cécile Robert, two French journalists and experts in international affairs.

In it, they argue that the United Nations is often unfairly held responsible for a lot of the ailments of the world: war, famine, health and environmental crises…

We’ve never had it so good – that’s the data-driven message delivered at UN Headquarters this month, by one of the world’s foremost public intellectuals, Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker.

We have been “absolutely shameful stewards” of the environment, according to Academy Award-nominated actor and activist Alec Baldwin, who stopped by our UN News studio with his wife Hilaria after they spoke at the launch of a new UN-backed report that links food and health with a sustainable planet.

While bantering amicably, the couple shared their ardent belief that it is important to eat healthily – for themselves, their budding family and Mother Earth itself.

The story of how a group of around 60 Jews imprisoned by the Nazi regime in the Warsaw Ghetto secretly worked on archiving their rich history in wartime Poland, has powerful resonances today, as journalists continue to be killed simply for telling the truth.

That’s the view of writer-director-producer Roberta Grossman, and executive producer, Nancy Spielberg – sister of legendary Hollywood director Stephen Spielberg – whose new film “Who Will Write Our History” was screened recently at UN Headquarters.

Opioids account for over three-quarters of deaths associated with prescription drug misuse. In late January, David Sheff and Vicky Cornell joined a panel discussion on addiction organised by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Mr. Sheff’s memoir about his son’s addiction has been turned into a major Hollywood movie, and Ms. Cornell was married to Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, whose suicide she has attributed to prescription drugs that altered his mental state.

The UN has played a major role in many lives around the world, from helping elections pass of peacefully to averting famine and deadly conflict, often working behind the scenes.

Award-winning producer James Manos, Jr. was so taken by the sacrifices some staff make in service to the UN and the greater-good, he’s written a pilot for a new television series focused on women staffers and the sacrifices they make to ensure the Organization’s goals are met.

In this special edition of our Lid Is On podcast series, we’re bringing you a roundup of the most listened-to audio of 2018 here at UN News.

Join Natalie Hutchison to find out what resonated the most with our audio partners and listeners around the English-speaking world during another eventful year.

Music credit: Rise and Shine, by Audiobinger.

The livestock industry is responsible for a staggering amount of greenhouse gas emissions, with a single beef burger taking up to 450 gallons of water to produce.