Encounter Saturdays and Sundays | encounter@voanews.com Podcast

Encounter

February 04, 2012 Henri Barkey of Lehigh University and Gonul Tol of the Middle East Institute discuss Turkey's evolving influence in the region after the Arab Spring.

January 28, 2012 Ahmad Majidyar of the American Enterprise Institute & Moeed Yusuf of the US Institute of Peace talk about the promise and perils of negotiating with the Taliban.

January 21, 2012 Ambassador David Shinn and Dr. J. Peter Pham discuss similarities and differences between two radical Islamist groups: Boko Haram & al-Shabab, with host Carol Castiel.

January 14, 2012 John Fortier of the Bipartisan Policy Center & David Wasserman of the Cook Political Report analyze the state of play in the Republican presidential primaries.

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Watch Videos

This Week's Featured Video:
Host Carol Castiel talks with two Georgetown University professors: Carol Lancaster and Anthony C. Arend about major foreign policy challenges facing the Obama administration in a crucial presidential election year. (Jan. 7, 2012)

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We Want To Hear From You

Please contact us via email, letter, Facebook or Twitter! Follow the links below and tell us what you think of guests, our recent shows and who you would like us to interview in the future.

Email:
Encounter@voanews.com

Postal Mail:

Voice of America - PCUSA
Washington, D.C. 20237 USA

And follow our host Carol Castiel on Twitter:

Carol Castiel is also the host of Press Conference USA and co-produces Issues in the News with Ania Zalewski at the Voice of America.

Broadcast Schedule

Press Conference USA is broadcast on Saturdays and Sundays. You can also listen to us via affiliate stations in your area. Check your local radio station guide for more information.

Saturdays: 0330 0930 1430 1730 and 2330UTC/GMT
Sundays: 0530 1230 UTC/GMT

Meet Our Host

Carol Castiel

As Director of Current Affairs Programming in VOA's English Division, Carol Castiel is responsible for producing Press Conference USA, Encounter, and Issues in the News. Carol moderates and produces Press Conference USA and Encounter. She also oversees the production of Issues in the News, VOA’s roundup of the week’s top stories by distinguished Washington journalists.

Before joining the Voice of America, Carol was a consultant/free-lance journalist specializing in the promotion of trade and investment between the United States and Africa. She was also a contributing editor to the London-based West Africa Magazine. Carol is fluent in Portuguese, French, and Spanish. She holds an M.A. degree in International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh.

About Encounter

Join host Carol Castiel each week as she and two advocates from the world of politics, public policy, or academia discuss and debate a critical issue in the news, bringing depth, perspective, and insight to the world around us.

Guests discuss a range of issues from the Arab Spring, US policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the rise of China, India and Brazil, to the Arab-Israeli conflict, developments in Africa and the future of renewable energy. Issues that affect our lives and global stability are debated in a free-wheeling, unscripted discussion of fact and opinion.