This weekend saw the premiere of a compelling original production by Link TV, Who Speaks for Islam? Hosted by Ray Suarez, the series explores the diversity of Islam in an age when Muslim extremists are laying claim to the religion. The first installment is available online.

Suarez interviews a panel of researchers, scholars, Hollywood producers and actors, that includes Dalia Mogahed, Executive Director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies and co-author of the groundbreaking book Who Speaks for Islam?: What a Billion Muslims Really Think, and author Reza Aslan (No god But God; How to Win a Cosmic War).

Support for such illuminating content is percolating among a variety of media outlets: The New York Times applauds the "density of information" in the program. On the Huffington Post, Dalia Mogahed emphasizes the importance of open dialogue and understanding different views by examining the warm reception of President Obama in Cairo earlier this year: "Obama's success in Cairo provides a valuable lesson in diplomacy: understanding perspectives we may not agree with makes us stronger, not weaker."

San Francisco Chronicle blogger Tim Goodman is enthusiastic towards the second installment of the program, Muslims on Screen, which examines the role of Muslims in American film and television. Goodman writes, "...the discussion on media portrayals and influence is so relevant and timely. Hell, even Jack Bauer seems to be a changed man on the issues." The program features interviews with actors, writers and producers, including Howard Gordon, Executive Producer of 24 and Kamran Pasha, former writer of Showtime's series, Sleeper Cell, about Hollywood's evolving portrayal of Muslims.

Muslims on Screen premieres Sunday, November 1, on Link TV, and also will air in New York City on CUNY TV on Monday, November 2 at 9:00 am, 3:00 pm and 9:00 pm ET, and in Los Angeles on LA36 on Monday, November 2 at 7:00 pm PT.

Watch What a Billion Muslims Really Think online:

All around the world today people are coming together to call for international action against climate change. The focus has been on the number 350, which is the parts-per-million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that scientists, including the UN's top climate scientist Rajendra Pachauri, believe we need to stay below in order to avert disaster. 350.org has organized a series of events around the world calling attention to the target, and they're giving visitors and participants alike some real time gratification through Twitter feeds and Flickr slideshows. We've blogged about Maldivian officials holding a cabinet meeting underwater to raise awareness of rising oceans, and now the Divers Association of the Maldives is hosting an underwater rally with the goal of having 350 divers stay underwater in teams for 24 hours. You can find out what's going on near you at 350.org.

At Link TV we've been exploring how climate change is already having an impact in the US and elsewhere through a series of short videos called Climate Change Hits Home.

Many environmental activists claim to be neck-deep in their work, but few go so far as to submerge themselves completely; officials of The Republic of Maldives recently held a cabinet meeting underwater in an effort to raise awareness about the imminent threats of climate change.

The Republic of Maldives has been cited as a potential victim of rising sea levels, theoretically being completely submerged by 2100, according to CNS News. The Maldives' own Miadhu News talked with President Mohammad Nasheed, who asserted that "the work of drawing to the attention of the world the problems Maldives face due to climate change, should be something every Maldivian should do for the country."

Amy Goodman discussed the event on Democracy Now, including President Nasheed's comments on the eve of UN General Assembly opening session:

Here at Link TV, we are trying to raise awareness about the immediate effects of climate change with our new bite-sized series: Climate Change Hits Home. Learn how the environment has been affected in your neck of the woods and how you can activate yourself. The latest episode highlights the problem of melting polar ice, which will, of course, raise sea levels.

You don't even need to learn how to scuba.

Organic! Green! Fair trade! All natural! We are bombarded in grocery stores and eateries by nebulous terms that assuage our consciences and health concerns, but is it all just marketing magic? Or is our system of industrialized agriculture really making progress?

In this Link TV special, author Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food) takes on the U.S. food system and delves into the dramatic solutions that may wane the American addiction to mechanized agriculture and processed foods. The problem exceeds the bounds of health epidemics such as obesity and diabetes and heart disease; the well-being of Earth itself is at risk, from the massive amounts of natural resources required to produce, distribute, and refrigerate our food.

"When we eat from the modern industrial food system," Pollan says, "we are eating fossil fuel and spewing greenhouse gas." Watch online:

For World Food Day 2009 (which is tomorrow, October 16th!), Link TV is helping to promote a campaign called Stand Up, Take Action, a movement now four years in the running. As part of the framework for the UN Millennium Development Goals adopted by global leaders in the year 2000, worldwide hunger and poverty must be eradicated by the year 2015. A lofty endeavor, you say? Maybe. But millions of global citizens are demanding that this promise be kept, or at the very least, kept a priority. Each year, through events organized by Stand Up, Take Action, attention is called to this ongoing issue, and the movement is growing. Last year, it broke its own Guinness World Record for the largest mobilization around a single cause in recorded history. Click here for events taking place this weekend in your area.

Watch this video and join the countdown to World Food Day!



Link TV has a lot of great food and hunger related programming, that can be found on our ISSUE: Food page, like a new Michael Pollan special called “Deep Agriculture”, and more. Also, learn about the coffee industry and Fair Trade practices that are effecting small farmers in poor countries around the world from Dean Cycon, Founder and CEO of Dean’s Beans.