Journalism's deepest, most honest contributions inevitably spring from on-the-ground reporting, unencumbered by policy agendas in Washington, London or other foreign capitals. That's what epitomizes the work of my friend and colleague, Iason Athanasiadis, and it's why his detention by Iranian authorities, on June 17 when trying to board a...

NOTE: This Reporter's Notebook accompanies the story on public radio's Marketplace which aired on June 18. For the original radio story, go here.

"Did anybody ever tell you," I asked the child worker sitting on the cement floor, "'You're only 13, you shouldn't have to work like...

This piece is crossposted with Truthdig.com, where it was originally published.

DAVOS, Switzerland -- Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey walked off the stage after an angry exchange with the Israeli president, Shimon Peres, during a panel discussion on Gaza at the World Economic Forum on Thursday, and...

Cross-posted with TomDispatch.com

The deep irony of the Israeli-Palestinian "peace process" first struck me in 1996 as I was driving through the West Bank from Hebron to Jerusalem. I had turned off the potholed main road that passed through Palestinian villages and refugee camps and headed west into Kiryat...

Note: This essay appears as part of the Craft and Folk Art Museum's new exhibition, "Exploring the Other: Contemporary Iran through the lens of Iason Athanasiadis," running from January 25 to March 29, 2009.

What is the ethical responsibility of the journalist in telling the story...

It's strange to think that a central hope of Barack Obama's presidency could be dashed before he puts his hand on Lincoln's bible. But as hundreds of thousands of protesters fill the streets from Beirut to Baghdad, from Paris to Athens to Sidney, it's increasingly clear that the perils of...

When I was a football-crazed kid growing up in Wisconsin, the words of Vince Lombardi would play like a tape loop in my head. "Think of only three things," the disciplinarian coach would tell his players. "God, your family, and the Green Bay Packers."

Despite its narrow focus -- there...

It's a crucial moment for anyone seeking a realistic shot at the presidency: Stand before the leaders of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), and declare your unyielding support for Israel.

Barack Obama is no different. On Wednesday, Obama, well aware that some American Jews fear he is not...

On May 15, 1948, the day after David Ben-Gurion declared the "self-evident right of the Jewish people to be a nation," Egyptian ground forces advanced toward Tel Aviv. Syrian and Iraqi soldiers approached from the north and east, and the troops of King Abdullah's Arab Legion marched west across...

Air Force One is traveling back in time Tuesday, banking low near the southern Mediterranean coast and touching down on contested soil where the past is always present. In the Holy Land, the battles over historical narrative -- above all, the meaning of the founding of Israel in 1948 --...