...while I'm in the mood to be linking to interesting radio shows, I thought that today's episode of The Current was really top-notch. It included an interview with, Stephen Reicher, a Professor of Social Psychology at University of St. Andrews about the psychology of the torture of Iraqi prisoner's by American soldiers, and his belief that this is something that anyone is capable of under the right circumstances (althought "right" might not be the most appropriate adjective). This is a point of view that I also hold, and I just have to think back to middle-school if I ever start to think otherwise. Click here if you want to listen
There was also a great interview with conscientious objector Stephen Funk, who from the sounds of it basically signed up for the Marines because he wasn't sure what to do with himself. I was about his age when the first Gulf War happened, and was against it enough that I went to a couple of Anti-War Rallys, but also had wierd fantasies of enlisting. I just lacked the guts and skilled reserves recruiter says pitch. I guess for me it was a kind Joseph Campbellian attempt to force myself through a rite of passage into adulthood; instead I'm stuck in the Adam Sandlerian child-man phase.
Anyway, It's worth a listen too.
