David speaks with Ahed Al-Hendi, a Syrian activist and blogger. In 2006, as a student of Damascus University, Al-Hendi started a student group aimed at promoting peace and change in the country. As a result, Al-Hendi was jailed and spent over a month in solitary confinement without access to any legal representation. After his release, Al-Hendi fled Syria eventually landing in the United States with refugee status.

Original Air Date: 02-6-2012

Wayne Pacelle, the President and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, joins David to chat about the challenges facing the nation’s largest animal advocacy group. Since taking the position of President and CEO in 2004, Pacelle has aimed to broaden the scope and influence of the humane society even to the point of befriending and working with former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick. Despite his notable run-in with the law on animal cruelty charges, Pacelle believes Vick truly loves and cares for animals and has worked closely with him to teach the dangers of dog fighting. In addition, Pacelle has recently penned his first book, The Bond: Our Kinship with Animals, Our Right to Defend. This book takes an in-depth look at mankind’s bond with animals and how it evolves and changes through a lifetime.

Original Air Date: 01-23-2012

David speaks with journalist Michael Hastings about his new book The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan. This book serves as a longer explanation of a Rolling Stone article he wrote in 2010 profiling the day-to-day business of General Stanley McChrystal that led to General McChrystal’s dismissal.

Original Air Date: 01-18-2012

Part 1[audio:http://1690wmlb.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/CWDL-Michael_Hastings_The_Operators_Part_1.mp3]

Part 2[audio:http://1690wmlb.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/CWDL-Michael_Hastings_The_Operators_Part_2.mp3]

David speaks with Andrew Skerrit about his latest work Ashamed to Die: Silence, Denial, and the AIDS Epidemic in the South. The book examines the AIDS epidemic in the rural Southern areas of the United States. Although AIDS cases in general are on the decline, AIDS cases in the rural and often poverty-stricken areas of the South are on a sharp incline.

Original Air Date: 01-12-2012

David speaks with CJ Chivers about his latest book,The Gun, which traces the history of the Russian born Kalashnikov rifle. CJ Chivers is an American journalist and author who reports for The New York Times. In the summer of 2007, he was named the newspaper’s Moscow bureau chief, replacing Steven Lee Myers. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 2009 as part of a team of New York Times reporters and photographers awarded for their dispatches from Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Original Air Date: 01-5-2012