Collapse of the Eighth Continent: Shangri-La Meets Global Capitalism

Susan Zakin / Truthdig Dec 20, 2013 Madagascar’s graceful society and unique natural wonders developed over thousands of years; it has taken less than a decade to put it all on life support. Dig deeper ( 21 Min. Read )

The French Method: How Africa’s Old Colonial Nemesis Fights Terrorism in the Sahara

Susan Zakin / Truthdig Oct 23, 2013 Few Americans outside the Pentagon have been watching Mali, where a midsummer election marked the end of a painful year of civil war and incendiary Islamic radicalism. Dig deeper ( 8 Min. Read )

The ‘B’ Word: Republicans Fan the Flames of Ageism

Susan Zakin / Truthdig Jul 10, 2013 With millennials up for grabs and Democratic front-runners getting older, boomer bashing is all the rage in politics. Dig deeper ( 9 Min. Read )

Real American Boy: How Our Byzantine Immigration System and Failed Economy May Have Made a Terrorist

Susan Zakin / Truthdig May 21, 2013 It's likely Tamerlan Tsarnaev was just another angry young man in our brave new America, a burgeoning dystopia where mass murder suddenly seems like a weekly occurrence. Dig deeper ( 16 Min. Read )

‘Zero Dark Thirty’: Kathryn Bigelow Shows Us the Things We Carried

Susan Zakin / Truthdig Jan 12, 2013 When "Zero Dark Thirty" opens nationally Friday, many moviegoers will already have made up their minds. Dig deeper ( 9 Min. Read )

Reports of Publishing’s Death Are Exaggerated

Susan Zakin / Truthdig Dec 8, 2012 Some people think the book business in on its last legs. But others think it isn't a business at all. Dig deeper ( 18 Min. Read )

Blue Man Coup, Part 2: War for God, Country and Cocaine

Susan Zakin / Truthdig May 17, 2012 Are the emirs of the Sahara criminals or revolutionaries? A little bit of both, probably. Dig deeper ( 11 Min. Read )

Blue Man Coup: How Gadhafi’s Mercenaries Broke Mali

Susan Zakin / Truthdig May 16, 2012 Everything that rises must converge, and in 2012, an uprising at the ancient crossroads of Timbuktu kicked up a decades-in-the-making sandstorm of global capitalism, US counterterrorism, cocaine smuggling and the long-denied rights of the most romantic nomads on earthAn uprising at the ancient crossroads of Timbuktu has kicked up a decades-in-the-making sandstorm of global capitalism, U counterterrorism, and the long-denied rights of the most romantic nomads on earth. Dig deeper ( 8 Min. Read )

Suleiman’s Travels

Susan Zakin / Truthdig Sep 28, 2011 A flight attendant’s voice had come over the loudspeaker, asking my husband and another guy with a common Muslim name to get off the Delta flight scheduled to depart from JFK It is the 10th anniversary of 9/11A voice had come over the loudspeaker asking my husband to get off the Delta flight scheduled to depart from JFK. Dig deeper ( 9 Min. Read )