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About

An accomplished speaker on topics ranging from the war in Bosnia, the proposed Pebble Mine, and how copper mining impacts communities, hire Bill Carter to speak to your trade group, university or nonprofit today! In November 2013 Carter won the Arizona/New Mexico book award for “Boom, Bust, Boom” – the latest accomplishment for an award-winning filmmaker (Miss Sarajevo), and journalist with pieces published in Rolling Stone, Spinand Men’s Journal magazines, among others. His humanitarian efforts and work with Bono and U2 played a dramatic role to bring international attention to the Bosnian War, and earned Bill official citizenship recognition to Bosnia’s capitol city of Sarajevo in 2009.   

 

"Copper: the metal that runs the world."

In following the time-honored journalistic tenet that the best stories are the ones you find in your own backyard, Bill Carter begins this account of the all-pervasive presence of copper in our lives and its cost on our health, economy, and our environment with a simple personal discovery: the presence of arsenic from leftover mine tailings in his backyard garden in the former copper mining town of Bisbee, Arizona. This revelation led him on a quest to find out as much as possible about the mineral copper, its wonderful and mysterious properties, its history in human evolution, and its omnipresence in contemporary life, being found in everything from toothpaste to cellphones.  

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TYPICAL SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT

Carter explores several mining areas, past, present, and projected both in the United States and around the world, and details the environmental and health implications involved in open-surface extraction of copper ore. From boardrooms of investors in London to the mountains of Indonesia, Carter connects the dots from his humble backyard garden to the CEOs of the multibillion-dollar global copper industry, confronting a resource that is so vital yet which has the potential to cause horrendous and irrevocable damage to our planet and ourselves. 

 

"The power of art in conflict: U2, Bono & Miss Sarajevo.”

Bill Carter is the award-winning director of the documentary film "Miss Sarajevo" - a film made in collaboration with U2 and filmed from within the besieged city of Sarajevo, one of several cities where Carter hand-delivered aid during the Bosnian War. Bono produced the film, and teamed up with Brian Eno and Pavarotti to record and sing the famous theme song of the same title.  

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TYPICAL SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT

Bill will show his film "Miss Sarajevo" and will speak about his experiences in Bosnia. He'll explain the complex multiculturalism of Bosnia’s capitol city of Sarajevo, and share the amazing transformation that took place during the war as he fell in love with the Bosnian people, and risked his life to deliver aid - eventually calling upon the greatest rock band in the world to help bring worldwide attention to the conflict. His inspirational story is at times chilling, inspiring and laugh-out-loud funny. Most importantly, he demonstrates what tremendous change can occur from sheer will and inspiration - even if you are 26, broke and living in a war zone. His story has been covered on the BBC and in Rolling Stone, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Sun-Times and more.  If he could help end the Bosnian War with $100 in the toe of his boot, what can you do?  

CONTACT

To contact Bill Carter about a potential speaking engagement, click here to be taken to our contact form.

"In Minnesota, people working to protect Minnesota's water from pollution by proposed copper-nickel, or sulfide mines, have found Bill Carter's Boom Bust Boom to be a valuable resource. His presentations informed our members and others across the state about his personal experience and investigation into the copper mining industry. I recommend him as a speaker for any group addressing a proposal to build a copper mine in their community or near an area they cherish."

-Paul Danicic, Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, Minnesota

"Bill Carter was a pleasure to host. He was very attentive to students, and they responded well to both his lecture and to his generous sharing of time and information prior to the engagement. Both they and I now want to go to all the places Bill so vividly described. I'd recommend him as a good addition to any campus speaker's series."

-Serni Solidarios, University of Puget Sound

u2 Conference

Bill Speaking at The U2 Conference.

See more photos by clicking here.

PREVIOUS ENGAGEMENTS INCLUDE:

Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, Seton Hall, NYU, The University of Washington, Portland State, Clark College, Pacific University & more. Areas of focus include the environmental, social, technical and humanist implications of copper mining, and other discussion topics include: Bosnia, Humanitarianism, film, writing, media, multiculturalism, East European studies and more.

selected nonprofit partners:

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