51% Show # 1050

Albany, NY – Twenty-one thousand new American troops are on their way to Afghanistan this summer. That's in response to the growing threat of the Taliban there. And a top US security advisor recently recommended they be followed by an additional 45-thousand. There also have been calls for the Taliban to come to the negotiating table to consider power sharing. But that prospect worries women's rights advocates. Under the Taliban, women couldn't work, couldn't go to a male doctor, couldn't leave the house without a male escort and had to cover themselves from head to toe. Women have made small but significant strides in recent years, and they are convinced those advances will be the first victim of any power sharing agreement with the fundamentalist religious and political group. Naheed Mustafa spoke with two Afghani women about the issue and has this report from Kabul.

4:31 Taliban and Women PRX

This piece came to us from the World Vision Report. For more on women's rights in Afghanistan, go to the website Afghanistan Online at afghan-web.com and click on the link for Afghan Woman.

Peace activism isn't restricted to the young. Documentary filmmaker Pam Walton has a new film out which profiles an unusual group of activists...the Raging Grannies of San Francisco. They're feisty ladies carrying on a tradition begun in British Columbia - stirring up the pot on important issues and challenging stereotypes about older women. Katherine Girardeau reports.

4:15 Raging Grannies Girardeau

The film is "Raging Grannies: The Action League." It was released in March and is available through pamwaltonproductions.com.

Retirement, thanks to the recession, is something many of us are giving up on. But personal finance expert Manisha Thakor says there are still some good plans out there, if you know what you're doing.

4:04 Thakor

For more, go to ManishaThakor.com.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton famously lost her cool in the Congo when she was asked to please express her husband's views on policy issue. It was a moment that may not have been stellar diplomacy, but most women could understand why it happened. Blogger Roberta Kyle, also known as the Political Packrat, shares her opinion of the storm that followed.

2:44 Blogger commentary

You can find the Political Packrat's blog at politicalpackrat.blogspot.com.

And finally, some final thoughts on the Woodstock Festival. Sabrina Artel took her tag along trailer to the field that was, for one weekend, the center of the counter-culture universe to ask visitors what it all really meant.

5:08 Woodstock Artel

Sabrina Artel is a radio host and does kitchen table interviews while traveling the country in her tag-along trailer doing interviews. You can find out more at sabrinaartel.com.