Traverse City Residents – The Price of Peace Screening is March 5th Near You!!!!

Traverse City, Michigan Residents – The State Theatre is having a screening of The Price of Peace followed by a Q/A discussion with our filmmakers and other experts of the International Affairs Forum of Traverse City. Tickets are free but you must obtain a ticket from the State Theatre box office or online here.   Screening Information: Date: Monday, March 5th. Time: Doors open at 5:15 PM, screening starts at 6:00 PM. Location:  State Theatre 233 E. Front St. Traverse City MI 49684 231-947-3446   About The Price of Peace: Leading up to the onset of World War II, western democracies …

Share
Continue Reading

Work & Happiness: The Human Cost of Welfare Full Video | Now Streaming

Work & Happiness: The Human Cost of Welfare is now streaming on FreeToChoose.TV, YouTube, Vimeo and Roku. The welfare system has the best of intentions – to help those in need. But it often turns out to be a quagmire, difficult to escape. Trying to save money? Penalty. Trying to work and earn money? Penalty. Getting married? You guessed it. Penalty. It’s also a full-time job just to keep up with the appointments and confusing paperwork. Join noted author and Cato Institute Senior Fellow Johan Norberg as he meets real people whose dreams and aspirations are defined and confined by a …

Share
Continue Reading

Lisa Conyers Talks About Work & Happiness

Having both spent many years in the developing world working on poverty issues, Phil Harvey and I found our interests turning to poverty in our own country. Despite the fact that the United States leads the developing world in so many ways, 15% of Americans still live in poverty. How could this be?, we wondered, and we decided to investigate. We turned to the programs in place to help the poor – or vast, trillion-dollar-a-year welfare entitlement system – to find answers. We were informed also by America’s founding documents. Our own Declaration of Independence tells us we are entitled to pursue happiness. …

Share
Continue Reading

Utah Residents – Turmoil & Triumph: The George Shultz Years is Airing Near You….Tomorrow

Have we been here before? Turmoil & Triumph: The George Shultz Years offers an inside look at American government during one of the highest levels of foreign tensions, and tells how a remarkable man served his country during a time reminiscent of America’s recent events. Featuring extensive interviews with George Shultz, who served as Secretary of State under Ronald Reagan, as well as former Secretaries Henry Kissinger, Colin Powell, and Condoleezza Rice; Senators Edward Kennedy, Sam Nunn, and Richard Lugar; Mikhail Gorbachev and others, the three-part series presents a never-before-seen look at the inner workings of the Reagan White House.   …

Share
Continue Reading

Erie Residents – Work & Happiness: The Human Cost of Welfare is Airing Near You

Compassion fueled the creation of America’s welfare system, a safety net that rescues some of the most vulnerable among us. We often hear political leaders and activists tout the system’s good intentions, but what about those living on welfare? Do they think the system is working? Have good intentions delivered good results? The safety net is ideally more of a trampoline, where people hit it and then bounce back onto their feet, and into rich, fulfilling lives. But today, instead of bouncing back, too many Americans have become ensnared in the net. Of course, the system has helped some people, …

Share
Continue Reading

West Virginia Residents – Work & Happiness: The Human Cost of Welfare is Airing Near You…Tomorrow

Compassion fueled the creation of America’s welfare system, a safety net that rescues some of the most vulnerable among us. We often hear political leaders and activists tout the system’s good intentions, but what about those living on welfare? Do they think the system is working? Have good intentions delivered good results?

The safety net is ideally more of a trampoline, where people hit it and then bounce back onto their feet, and into rich, fulfilling lives. But today, instead of bouncing back, too many Americans have become ensnared in the net. Of course, the system has helped some people, but the sad fact is that it typically hurts those it’s supposed to help.

Viewers will experience the welfare system through the eyes of those who are stuck in it. They will learn that the system’s greatest cost is its human cost.

Learn more about Work & Happiness: The Human Cost of Welfare here.

JL_wh_wv_INSTA

Share
Continue Reading

California and Indiana Residents – Turmoil & Triumph: The George Shultz Years Airing Near You

Have we been here before? Turmoil & Triumph: The George Shultz Years offers an inside look at American government during one of the highest levels of foreign tensions, and tells how a remarkable man served his country during a time reminiscent of America’s recent events.   Featuring extensive interviews with George Shultz, who served as Secretary of State under Ronald Reagan, as well as former Secretaries Henry Kissinger, Colin Powell, and Condoleezza Rice; Senators Edward Kennedy, Sam Nunn, and Richard Lugar; Mikhail Gorbachev and others, the three-part series presents a never-before-seen look at the inner workings of the Reagan White …

Share
Continue Reading

Charleston Residents – Turmoil & Triumph: The George Shultz Years Airing Near You…

Turmoil & Triumph: The George Shultz Years is airing on public television stations in your city starting October 11th into November. Please use the chart at the bottom to locate the date, time and station. If your city is not listed, click here to sign up for broadcast alerts.

JL_turmoil_il_FB

This three-hour documentary series on the life of former Secretary of State George Shultz presents viewers with a rare close-up look at this remarkable man who served his country at the highest level during an unforgettable time. Each of the three programs offers a never-before-seen look at the inner workings of the Reagan White House. It captures the intrigue and in-fighting as advisors vie for the ear of the president over historic issues such as Arms for Hostages and the Star Wars space defense initiative.

Through the memories of George Shultz, other cabinet members, journalists and historians, viewers relive the gripping tensions of these times; the fear of war in the Middle East, the shock of the barracks bombing that killed 220 Marines in Lebanon, the fall of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos and the presidency of Corazon Aquino and the delicate manipulations of summitry that helped determine the future of peace on the planet. For the first time these programs reveal Shultz’s dedicated efforts to protect his President and expose those in the White House who plotted the illegal Iran/Contra scheme. Throughout, George Shultz’s relentless determination combined with his use of national strength made him one of the most effective secretaries of state in the nation’s history. The series offers George Shultz’s remarkably vivid portraits of the major players on the national and world stage in the latter years of the twentieth century. But Shultz’s most remarkable and revealing portrait are of Ronald Reagan himself. This three-hour PBS series is full of high drama and living history.

 

City
Station
Ch. ID
Primary
Ch.
Day
Date
Time
Time
Zone
Charleston WEIU 51 51 Wed 10/11/2017 08:00 PM CT
Charleston WEIU 51 51 Thurs 10/12/2017 11:00 PM CT
Charleston WEIU 51 51 Sun 10/15/2017 08:00 PM CT
Charleston WEIU 51 51 Mon 10/16/2017 10:02 PM CT
Charleston WEIU 51 51 Tues 10/17/2017 11:00 PM CT
Charleston WEIU 51 51 Wed 10/18/2017 08:00 PM CT
Charleston WEIU 51 51 Wed 10/18/2017 04:00 AM CT
Charleston WEIU 51 51 Thurs 10/19/2017 11:00 PM CT
Charleston WEIU 51 51 Sun 10/22/2017 08:00 PM CT
Charleston WEIU 51 51 Mon 10/23/2017 10:02 PM CT
Charleston WEIU 51 51 Tues 10/24/2017 11:00 PM CT
Charleston WEIU 51 51 Wed 10/25/2017 08:00 PM CT
Charleston WEIU 51 51 Wed 10/25/2017 04:00 AM CT
Charleston WEIU 51 51 Thurs 10/26/2017 11:00 PM CT
Charleston WEIU 51 51 Sun 10/29/2017 08:00 PM CT
Charleston WEIU 51 51 Mon 10/30/2017 10:02 PM CT
Charleston WEIU 51 51 Tues 10/31/2017 11:00  CT
Charleston WEIU 51 51 Wed 11/01/2017 04:00 AM CT
Share
Continue Reading

The Making of Is America in Retreat?

We took a few moments to sit down with Free To Choose Media’s Executive Editor Johan Norberg, Co-Director/Producer Kip Perry, and Writer/Co-Director Elan Bentov to discuss some of their thoughts about filming Is America in Retreat?

 

What drew you to making this documentary?

Kip & Elan: What is America’s role in the world? That is the central question of the project, and it was very exciting to have the opportunity to hear the answers of people around the world.

Johan: I found Bret Stephens’ book fascinating and in this era, when lots of people are challenging or undermining the liberal international order, I thought it was important to examine America’s role in it.

 

In how many countries did you film for this documentary?

Kip: Seven countries: England, Estonia, Germany, Israel, Sweden, Ukraine, and the Philippines.

JL_ftc_iair_crew_FB

Given the examples in the documentary, do you believe America is in retreat?

Johan: Yes, I think it’s fairly obvious that America is playing a more limited role in many places, and is also reconsidering many of the alliances that made the post-WWII era so stable.

 

In making the documentary, did any of your opinions about Pax Americana change?

Elan: Pax Americana is a reality which is easily taken for granted—particularly in the United States. As much as the documentary made us realize how integral the U.S. is to the world’s economy, culture, and foreign affairs it also made us realize how tenuous American influence is. Russia and China both seem to want to have the next Pax named after themselves—and why shouldn’t they? Bret Stephens points out that Pax Americana is, first and foremost, about American interests.

 

Should the U.S. continue to be the world’s policeman?

Johan: I don’t think the U.S. should have to shoulder all of this burden, but I think that the U.S. should, together with its partners, act in the limited role of the policeman—to stop breaches of international law and make sure that violence does not spiral out of control.

 

What do you think America should do, faced with Russian aggression, China’s expansion and continued trouble in the Middle East?

Johan: America cannot be everywhere, but I think it’s absolutely essential to uphold international alliances and commitments to other countries. The U.S. should not be unpredictable, that’s a way of inviting mischief. Instead, it should be incredibly predictable and say that it will stand by its commitment, so that big powers don’t try to confront and undermine those places.

 

Any interesting behind-the-scenes stories?

Kip: Prior to our shoot in the South China Sea the Philippine government had banned unauthorized travel to any disputed areas. This was bad news because “disputed areas” were exactly why we were going there. Our goal was to hire a local fishing boat to take us out to see the Chinese base at Subi Reef and also attempt to bring us to the Sierra Madre, the dilapidated Filipino Navy vessel which is grounded on Ayungin Shoal and is only accessible by sailing past a Chinese Coast Guard blockade. Boy, our local fixer, had finally found a young captain who was willing. There was a catch: the boat and her crew hailed from a small village in the southern Philippines which was known to be the territory of Abu Sayyaf, a terrorist/pirate group.

Elan: These guys have a reputation for kidnapping westerners to hold for ransom. From time to time they behead their victims when ransom is not paid. In fact, they had just beheaded a Canadian the day we arrived. So we flew from Manila to Puerto Princesa, drove three hours through the rural backroads of Palawan Island, into a tiny fishing village and straight out onto a spindly dock where the boat waited. Boy and the captain rushed us on board with balaclavas covering our faces.

Kip: You can imagine the surprise of the fishermen when they found the balaclavas contained Americans—and one of us was a blonde woman!

Elan: We were at sea for a week and all the boat’s crew were absolute gentlemen and—best of all—not a single person lost their head…

JL_ftc_iair_boat_FB

Was there any footage that was particularly meaningful to you?

Kip & Elan: The eastern Ukrainian city of Krasnohorivka saw quite a bit of conflict between the Ukrainian military and the Russian-backed separatists of the D.N.R. We met with a Ukrainian couple who had only just finished building a new home when it was destroyed by rocket-propelled grenades. The husband, Alex, bore the scars of a severe beating at the hands of the separatists and broke into tears on camera while recounting the violence he witnessed. While he (and his wife) seemed quite strong you could tell the conflict had broken something inside him…and we saw it break again on camera.

 

Was there any particular part of shooting this documentary that made a specific impact on you?

Johan: It was fascinating and worrying to spend time in Ukraine, and meet the soldiers who are, right now, fighting against a Russia that wants to destroy their democracy and dissolve their country, and their chances are dependent on moral and direct help from the West. It really showed me what’s at stake in our world. This is not just theoretical.

 

What is your next documentary?

Kip: Our next project is heavily influenced by the work of Victor Davis Hanson, and it explores deterrence in military strategy and national policy.

 

 

Share
Continue Reading