Pt 1: Transforming Bejing - For months now, ads like that one have blanketed Chinese television .. . part of the government's effort to make sure that everyone is as well-informed as possible about the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing. But if you want to know about the bomb attack that killed 16 police officers in Xinjiang province on Monday, you'll find that officials are a lot less forthcoming.

Read more here

Pt 2: Inside La Mesa State Penitentiary - For years the road that runs outside La Mesa State Penitentiary in Tijuana, Mexico has been known as "los pollos" or "the chickens." That is until late last year, when it was re-named "Madre Antonia", after a much loved American nun who has been living voluntarily in the prison for the last 30 years.

Read more here

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Satire

It's Wednesday, August 6th.

Police in China detained and roughed up two Japanese reporters covering the deadly bomb attack in Xinjiang province.

Currently, None of the police involved scored highly enough to qualify for Olympic competition.

This is The Current.

Transforming Bejing - Gutnick Talk Tape

For months now, ads like that one have blanketed Chinese television .. . part of the government's effort to make sure that everyone is as well-informed as possible about the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing. But if you want to know about the bomb attack that killed 16 police officers in Xinjiang province on Monday, you'll find that officials are a lot less forthcoming.

In some ways, the arrival of the Olympics has transformed Beijing.

Untold billions have been spent building the world's biggest airport . .. constructing stadiums that look like sculptures ... and laying out highways that stretch into the horizon. But beneath all that, the social and political tensions that have helped define the city are still there ... along with more than 15 million people who call Beijing home.

For the next couple of weeks, the CBC's David Gutnick will be among them. And he's with us this morning to help sort out what's changed and what remains the same.

Listen to Part One: 

 

Inside La Mesa State Penitentiary

For years the road that runs outside La Mesa State Penitentiary in Tijuana, Mexico has been known as "los pollos" or "the chickens." That is until late last year, when it was re-named "Madre Antonia", after a much loved American nun who has been living voluntarily in the prison for the last 30 years.

Last year, The Current's Joan Webber got in touch with the Servants of the Eleventh Hour, an order that Sister Antonia founded for older and divorced women. And they took her to La Mesa to meet Mother Antonia. Here's Joan's documentary, Faith Inside The Walls. It first aired on The Current last November.


Listen to Part Two: