Rethinking Somali pirates and global affairs: Book talk with journalist Michael Scott Moore

Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Noon 1 p.m.

USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism (ASC), 207


The emergence of Somali piracy in the early 2000s was the first major, visible outbreak of an ancient crime on the world’s oceans in more than two centuries. Its roots lie in illegal fishing: foreign trawlers steal fish up and down the African coast, wherever natives aren’t strong enough to defend their waters. By 2005, organized pirate gangs had moved on to capturing cargo ships, tankers and, eventually, individuals on land who had nothing to do with illegal fishing.

Michael Scott Moore was kidnapped by pirates in 2012 on a reporting trip to Somalia and held hostage for two and a half years. His book about the ordeal, The Desert and the Sea, came out in July. He will discuss widely held beliefs — some which are untrue — surrounding Somali pirates. Beyond illegal fishing, we will learn what Moore gleaned about Islam and U.S. hostage policy. 

About Michael Scott Moore

Moore is a literary journalist and novelist. His works include a comic novel about Los Angeles, Too Much of Nothing, and a travel book about surfing, Sweetness and Blood, which was named a best book of 2010 by The Economist and PopMatters. He has covered the European migration crisis for Businessweek and politics, travel and literature for The Atlantic, Der Spiegel, The New Republic, The New York Times and The L.A. Review of Books. Michael has recently been on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and on Fresh Air with Terry Gross. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, or through his website.

Refreshments will be served.

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