Story of the Congo

June 2, 2003 5:02 PM

History, Present, and Future of the Congo CBC has created a great multimedia site that tells the story of the Congo. Sad, maddening, but offers a ray of hope.
posted by Coop (5 comments total)

Wow. That's a lot of stuff.

Nerd that I am, I checked out the report on the reactor in Kinshasa. Near the end, it sounds to me like the reporter is dramatizing things a bit. "I wonder if it glows in the dark?" he muses about a fishing rod used to lower samples down into the reactor. Has he ever been to a university research reactor before? While the operation in Kinshasa sounds like it has a lot of troubles to face (political instability, erosion), it seems to me that for now, with the help of International Atomic Energy Agency oversight, they run a pretty tight ship.

I'm no nuclear engineer, though, so what do I know?
posted by tss at 6:25 PM on June 2, 2003

Wow. I am continuously amazed by the depth and quality of the work of the CBC. Thanks for this link, Coop
posted by mrmcsurly at 6:25 PM on June 2, 2003

I would love to read a study of the CBC as an organization. There are some sections of it that seem utterly dysfunctional (CBC Sports) yet other pockets manage to create this incredibly creative and innovative programming that has value and out of the mainstream. I am glad when those pockets win out.
posted by Coop at 6:55 PM on June 2, 2003

Great link, Coop, thanks. I particularly enjoyed the music section—all the big names, and a nice riff on the blues going to America, turning into rumba, and returning as soukous.
posted by languagehat at 7:42 PM on June 2, 2003

And yet it is CBC Sports (and large amounts of federal funding) that keep the organization afloat.

Hockey saves Canada, yet again.
posted by mrmcsurly at 7:18 AM on June 3, 2003