Media Scan

On International Women's Day, Rappler , publishes the video " In Contested Cybercrime Laws, Activists and Women Are in Dange r" (6':49") about the repression of women's activism around the world.  Authoritarian regimes and dictatorships have passed cybercrime laws that punish feminist activists and other dissidents with imprisonment like Loujain-Al-Hathloul in Saudi Arabia, but also in other parts of Asia, like Myanmar, Thailand, Fiji, or the Philippines, where María Ressa, the CEO of Rappler   and winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize for Peace ,  has been accused of "ciber libel" and has been jailed for writing critical articles against President Rodrigo Duterte's brutal anti-drug policies. At the end of the video, three women activists leave a final message: Momoko Nojo (Japan), Marine Maiorano Delmas (France) and Frida Guerrero (Mexico).  This video with subtitles contains a lot of legal vocabulary, but the subtitles can allow even B2 students t...

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday in the USA which is observed on the third Monday of January (the 18th of the current month in 2021), as Dr. King's birthday was on January 15th. His speech, " I Have a Dream " has inspired several generations of civil rights activists to fight peacefully but unyieldlingly for justice and against any kind of discrimination. American Rhetoric.com ranks " I Have a Dream " as number one in the list of the most influential speeches in the USA, it is powerful, moving, rich in literary and biblical references and very rhythmical -a well-crafted mixture of political speech and Baptist sermon.  You can also watch the whole speech on the YouTube video below.  The speech needs a certain historical introduction, as it contains numerous references to the struggle against segregation laws in the 1950's and 60's, which students will problably miss otherwise. This lesson plan for a two-hour C1 class includes some reading...

On Tuesday November 3rd 2020, Americans will vote for the next President of the USA, but the battle between the two candidates, President Trump and Vice-President Biden is fought particularly fiercely in the "swing" states, where there race is very close. The reason is that the Presidential election is an indirect election: voters choose an Electoral College first, and then, the elected members of that Electoral College vote for the President, so the popular vote does not always decide the President, but the number of "electoral votes" -a minimum of 270-  that each candidate has won in each of the 50 states of the Union -the winner in each state carries all the votes from that constituency. Some states are clearly Republican, so they are called "red states" , basically, the Mid-West and the South, other states usually vote for the Democrats, they are called "blue states" , mainly on the West Coast and in New England, but there are "purple ...

Antonio Banderas, talks to Terry Gross on Fresh Air about his latest movie with Pedro Almodóvar, " Pain & Glory ", which earned him a "Best Actor Award" in the Cannes Film Festival and a nomitation to the Oscars, and about his acting career both in Spain and in Hollywood.  In addition, he explains what the contracultural movement, " La Movida " meant in 1980s Spain, when a whole country regained control of its own future and started enjoying public and private freedoms that had been alien during the dictatorship, and finally, he talks about his Soho Theatre in Malaga. During the interview, Antonio Banderas talks very openly about his experience as a learner of English, who started an acting career in Hollywood, with a very basic level of English and tons of chutzpah, and about the challenge of doing radio interviews in English. This 37 minute long interview can be accessible to B2 students, as long as they have the support of the transcript, but it cou...