Echolalia is the meaningless repetition of words or phrases associated with forms of dementia and aphasia. In the build-up to the war in Iraq certain phrases were endlessly repeated to the point where these empty rhetorical phrases were confused with concrete facts. I tried to record as many instances of people repeating the phrase “weapons of mass destruction” as I could stand and represent these statements in a way that draws attention to the deadening effect of their repetition, however emphatically they are expressed.

This two-part, three-hour biography, offers an incisive portrait of Henry Kissinger, the enigmatic powerbroker who served in the topmost echelons of American diplomacy. Whether celebrated or reviled, Kissinger’s contradictions reflect those at the heart of America’s foreign policy during the second half of the 20th century, a period in which America became the unchallenged superpower in the world yet often pursued policy at odds with its own highest ideals.By examining his life up to and throughout his tortured relationship with President Richard Nixon, Kissinger endeavors to understand precisely what drove his relentless drive for power. It is a story of deep contradictions — of Kissinger’s obsession with securing American supremacy, staving off nuclear war, and checking the power of our enemies, even while consorting with dictators and tolerating widespread violation of human rights.