All episodes of Fault Lines

System Failure: The Boeing Crashes | Fault Lines

When a commercial airplane crashed off the coast of Indonesia in October 2018, global aviation authorities were shocked. The aircraft was a 737 MAX, one of the newest models of US manufacturer Boeing. And then when a second MAX dropped out of the sky in Ethiopia in March 2019, investigators said they believed that software on the airplane played a role in both crashes. With 346 people dead and the MAX now grounded, aviation authorities around the globe have asked what went wrong, how the...

Published 10/16/19

The Viral Threat: Measles and Misinformation | Fault Lines

The United States is in the midst of containing the largest number of measles cases in 25 years. Measles, a vaccine-preventable disease, was eliminated from the US in 2000, but the spread of online misinformation about vaccines has led to a public health crisis that has resulted in more than 800 cases in at least 20 states. Vaccine sceptics represent only a tiny minority of the population, but their digital advocacy has evolved into the "anti-vaccine" movement - a well-organised online...

Published 05/22/19

The Search: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women | Fault Lines

Indigenous women in the United States experience some of the highest rates of violence and murder in the country, according to federal data. Tribes and advocates attribute this to a confluence of factors - institutional racism, a lack of resources for tribes, and complicated jurisdictions that undermine tribal sovereignty. All of this has led to what tribal and federal officials have called a crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women in the US. So why are indigenous women going...

Published 05/08/19

Church of Trump | Fault Lines

The US has just gone through its most contentious Supreme Court nomination in decades. America watched as Brett Kavanaugh ascended to the highest court in the country, despite a serious allegation of sexual assault from his high school days. As the Senate reviewed his nomination, protesters took to the streets, and the events once again broke open the country's political and cultural divides. One group had backed Kavanaugh's nomination from the beginning: The religious right in the US,...

Published 10/31/18

Between War and Trump's Ban: An Update | Fault Lines

In March 2018, as the US Supreme Court was preparing to rule on Donald Trump’s travel ban, Fault Lines traveled to Djibouti, to meet some of the Yemeni families finding themselves stuck between a war and the ban. Many had applied for visas to the US, and traveled there in hopes of being cleared to join their families -- only to be told their applications had been rejected. Even Yemenis whose parents or spouses were US citizens -- who should have qualified for waivers under new State...

Published 10/24/18

Donald Trump: All the President's Profits | Fault Lines

As a candidate, Donald Trump railed against corruption on the campaign trail. And he used the perception of many Americans that their political system is rigged against them to win the White House. But as president, Trump has mixed private business and public duties in unprecedented ways. Previous US presidents put their financial assets into a blind trust and sold their businesses before inauguration, to avoid the possibility of conflicts of interest. But Trump refused to divest from the...

Published 10/17/18

Adoption Inc: The Baby Business | Fault Lines

The only place Florence and Jennifer see their children now is in photos. Five years ago, they sent them to stay with their sister Mariam. But when they returned to collect them their children had disappeared. Mariam claimed she had put them in a boarding school after she had been approached by an agent who promised the children a free education. But that promise turned out to be a conduit for international adoption - and by the time the sisters even suspected something was wrong, their...

Published 10/10/18

The Gang Within: A Baltimore Police Scandal | Fault Lines

It's been three years since Baltimore erupted in a series of protests over police violence, exposing deep divisions between the city's police department and the community. The protests captured national attention - prompting a federal investigation - and several high-profile efforts at reform. Now a new scandal is threatening to undermine those efforts, raising questions about the depth of police corruption in Baltimore, and the institutional forces that allow corrupt officers to remain on...

Published 10/03/18

No Shelter: Family Separation at the Border | Fault Lines

In May, the Trump administration announced a “zero tolerance” immigration policy, resulting in the separation of thousands of families who crossed the US border from Mexico -- with no clear plan to reunite them. In hundreds of cases, parents were deported without their children back to the same country, and the same violence, they were fleeing. In Honduras, we tracked down two fathers who were deported without their children, and told us they were denied the right to claim asylum. ...

Published 09/11/18

American Sheriff: When Power Goes Unchecked | Fault Lines

In large parts of the US, sheriffs are the only form of law enforcement and do everything from running the jails to patrolling the streets. Sheriffs and their deputies account for one-quarter of all sworn law enforcement officers in the US. But unlike police or the FBI who have clear oversight and a chain of command holding them accountable, sheriffs are elected in often highly partisan elections. Many sheriffs don't have term limits and once they are elected, there are very few checks on...

Published 05/09/18

Puerto Rico: Shelter After the Storm | Fault Lines

For decades, Puerto Rico's status as a US territory has been a source of political, social, and economic conflict on the island. The 3.5 million American citizens who reside there have no voting representation in Congress. Now Puerto Rico is fighting for its survival in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, which made landfall in September 2017. Maria was the most powerful hurricane to hit Puerto Rico in 90 years. More than 1,000 people died from the storm and its aftermath. It cut a path...

Published 05/02/18

Between War and the Ban: A Yemeni-American Story | Fault Lines

As the war in Yemen worsens, more and more people there are trying to flee for safety and in many cases, desperately trying to reunite with family in the United States. But with US President Donald Trump's controversial travel ban now in effect, the path to family reunification has been halted. The US embassy in Yemen has been closed for over three years, forcing Yemeni-Americans to travel to other countries, primarily Djibouti, to apply for visas for their relatives. Their only path to...

Published 04/25/18

Fire and Fury: Trump's North Korea Crisis - Fault Lines

As Donald Trump prepared to take office, his predecessor Barack Obama warned that North Korea would be the greatest challenge of his presidency. But rather than proceed with caution, President Trump responded to a series of intercontinental ballistic missile and nuclear weapons tests with bellicose rhetoric, warning North Korea's threats would "be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen." By the end of 2017, US fears of a conflict with North Korea that might escalate into a...

Published 04/18/18

Trump's War on Gangs | Fault Lines

US President Donald Trump's administration has declared war on the MS-13 gang. The "war on gangs" is a large-scale effort taking place in major cities across the US, with profound impacts on the communities being targeted. Long Island, New York and surrounding areas have been hit especially hard. In the past year, the US government has arrested hundreds of people in this region as part of the crackdown on MS-13. Many of the arrests have taken place in immigrant neighbourhoods, targeting...

Published 04/11/18

This is Antifa: Behind the mask of the US anti-fascist movement - Fault Lines

Ever since the video of a black-clad anarchist punching white supremacist leader Richard Spencer went viral on the day of Donald Trump's inauguration, the loosely-knit anti-fascist movement known as Antifa has gained new popularity and scrutiny in the United States. Antifa is a fringe movement, a loose collection of organisations and ideas with no party line and no formal leadership, but their fight against the far right has found centre stage in the polarised climate of Trump's...

Published 04/04/18

Fault Lines - Life Of The Party promo