Podcast Picks of the Day - NPR: Story of the Day and NPR: World Story of the Day

NPR: Story of the Day
War on Drugs Hasn't Stemmed Flow Into U.S.
Run Time: 13:16

NPR: Story of the day delivers “the one thing NPR editors think you won’t want to miss.” NPR has embarked on a series of podcasts focusing on the U.S. war on drugs, the “Forgotten War” as they refer to it, and what accomplishments have been made since President Nixon declared dangerous drugs as public enemy number one. In 2004, thirty-one thousand people died of drug abuse. The NPR reporters follow federal drug enforcement agents surveying the Caribbean from a E3 turbo prop, talk to the former head of the DEA about drug trafficking, how killing drug cartel heads has made little difference, and how drugs are still relatively cheap now. Many interviews are conducted with drug experts, and many sides of how to win the war are presented.

This podcast can be found on iTunes.


NPR: World Story of the Day
Deep in the Columbian Jungle, Coca Still Thrives
Run Time: 8:36

NPR World Story of the day delivers intriguing stories from around the world. This week they’re focusing on the U.S. war on drugs. This podcast focused on the U.S. led funded involving crop dusters spraying a defoliant on the coca plants. The program is in its seventh year and has cost 5.4 billion. The major industrial sized coca fields have been destroyed, but smaller farms have formed, thus spreading the problem to other regions. Juan Forero reports from a small Columbian town at the epicenter of coca production.

This podcast can be found on iTunes and here.