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The People Speak, August 14, 2006

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The People Speak
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Guest, Tenzin Tethon

The People Speak with Guest, Tenzin Tethon

Guest, Tenzin Tethon

Guest Name
Tenzin Tethon
Tenzin Tethon
Guest Occupation
Radio Free Asia Tibetan Service Director
Guest Biography

TENZIN TETHONG is the founder of key Tibet initiatives in the U.S. including the Tibet Fund, Tibet House – New York, and the International Campaign for Tibet. He is currently a distinguished fellow at the Tibetan Studies Initiative,Stanford University (a program he played a key role in establishing), the President of the Dalai Lama Foundation,and Board Chair of the Committee of 100 for Tibet. In addition to serving as an advisor to the local Tibetan Community Center project, he is co-founder of the Missing Peace art exhibit and recently launched “Tibet in Exile-Fifty Years”, an online documentation effort to commemorate the last fifty years in exile of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people. He currently serves as the director of Radio Free Asia’s Tibetan Service, which delivers uncensored, timely news and information to people living in China’s Tibetan regions.

In the early 1990s, Tenzin Tethong was Prime Minister (Kalon Tripa) of the Central Tibetan Administration based in India. In 1995, he left this post and moved to the United States. That year, he became a principal advisor for the film “Seven Years in Tibet.”

In 1996, he was invited as a visiting scholar to teach courses in Tibetan history and contemporary politics in the History Department of Stanford University. Tenzin Tethong played a critical role in securing the first 1,000 visas for Tibetans to immigrate the United States, Fulbright scholarship program support for Tibetan students and the creation of Voice of America’s Tibetan Service.

For Radio Free Asia, Tenzin Tethong has overseen the operations of its Tibetan Service since last year. RFA’s service was the first to report on many of the self-immolations among Tibetans protesting Beijing’s rule. Since the deadly protests began, 131 Tibetans have self-immolated despite heightened security.

RFA, an independent, non-profit news services, reaches its target audiences in nine languages in six countries that restrict and limit the free-flow of uncensored information. These audiences are in China, North Korea, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Through webcast video, television, satellite, social media networks, and digital content on its websites, in addition to trusted short- and medium-wave radio broadcasts, RFA delivers its unique, award-winning, brand of journalism. RFA also functions as an open forum for those living in some of the most closed societies to voice and discuss their opinions freely. RFA is funded annually through a grant from the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors.

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The People Speak has evolved over the years with many great guests who have been interviewed by some very fine hosts.

We are a 55 minute show airing every other Sunday between 5-6pm Pacific/8-9pm Eastern. The show features a guest interview from any number of realms of interest (entertainment, science, philosophy, healing, spirituality, activism, politics, literature, etc.).

The guests share their stories, lives, strategies, books, philosophy, films, music, or whatever it is they use as a vehicle for making a difference for the better.

The radio show name, The People Speak, is based on the idea of allowing our audience - the People - a chance to interact with the guests during the hour, and we take phone or text questions from them during the interview.

Past guests include such notables as Nobel Peace Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the late Howard Zinn, Nobel Laureates Mairead Maguire, Shirin Ebadi, Kathryn Najimy, Oliver Stone, Jesse Ventura, Richard Belzer, Cynthia McKinney, Cindy Sheehan, Scott Horton, Joan Jett, Willie Nelson, George Galloway, Roseanne Barr, Ed Asner, Chevy Chase, as well as various reps from Amnesty International, UN World Food Programme, and many others.

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