Regardless of your political ideas and beliefs, one thing seems to be abundantly clear: Americans are poorly regarded by other cultures and countries around the world.

There are many theories for this, but I believe it has a lot to do with our self-preoccupation. Not that I think we're a nation of narcissists, rather I believe that our country is so big and diverse that we just don't have the time or the inclination to look beyond our borders for very long, unless we are forced to.

A good example of this can be seen in testing the average American's knowledge of geographical and political current affairs.

For instance, most Americans have at least a rough idea where Great Britain, France, and Germany are, but far fewer could tell you who the current leaders of those countries are. ( Tony Blair: Prime Minister, François Fillon- Prime Minister, Horst Köhler: President, respectively -- Thank goodness for the Internet!)

Conversely, when I visited Israel and France a while back I was intrigued, and a bit ashamed to find that many adults in those countries know not only our current president, vice president, and secretary of state, but they can often name office holders several terms back; this according to the native friends I made while there.

Being able to rattle off the political leaders of the world won't make you a better global citizen, but knowing a bit about some of the more important world leaders, besides our own, broadens us individually and as a people. Like it or not, we live in a global community, and actions that occur in countries whose names are hard to spell can affect us just as directly as an occurrence in a town 10 miles down the road. It is becoming increasingly important to us to understand what is on the mind of decision makers, no matter what country they represent or political philosophy they subscribe to.

Lucky for us we have iTunes, iPods, and podcasts because now we have no excuse for not keeping up with current world events or watching in-depth interviews with the likes of Britain's Prime Minister, Tony Blair, which happens to be one of this weeks free downloads featured on the iTunes Store.

Brian Williams hosts the NBC News Special, Brian Williams Reports, and in this 44 minute episode he has an exclusive interview with Prime Minister Blair just days after Blair announced that he would leave office after 10 years of service.

I can go either way on interviews, but this one is quite interesting, and Mr. Blair comes across as being somewhat amiable, like someone you wouldn't mind tipping a pint of bitters with.

Other free News Specials include a report on the ethnic cleansing occurring in Darfur, Western Sudan, and a segment on U2's Bono and his effort raise money and awareness of the intense poverty in the Northern African countries of Mali, Ghana, and Nigeria.

If you need still more world news check out the news video podcasts section of the iTunes Store. There you'll find shows from many of the top news agencies like The BBC, CNN, and NBC.

On a somewhat similar note; photojournalists record the images that make our world smaller and the people in remote places closer and more intimate. The photos these men and women take affect us on a personal level and the stories that accompany them are often inadequate, and even unnecessary; such is the power of a really good photo.

Kodak is offering a series of video podcasts called Kodak Close Up, where they feature a photographer and his images.

Kodak Close Up Podcasts

Pep Bonet is an award winning photojournalists who has captured images in Darfur, among many other places, and his work has appeared in major publications around the world, and he is featured in one of Kodak's podcasts. View the podcast and pay special attention to his photos, they are not only intense, but they have an almost surrealism to them  Also, listen to him explain how he got started in photography. He's unassuming yet his photos have impact. I think you'll enjoy the podcast; I know I did.

Be warned that there is some pro-Kodak talk that you'll have to put up with, but the bulk of the podcast is well worth your time.

Now, for something completely different, take a look at Kayne West's new video, "Can't Tell Me Nothing," another free download this week.

Kayne West's "Can't tell Me Nothing" Video

At first I wasn't onboard with this video, it struck me wrong somehow, but now I'm liking it more every time I watch it.

I'm a big fan of minimalism (though you can't tell that by looking at all the junk I have on my desk), and "...Nothing" has a spartan look about it emphasized by the use of black and white. No booty shaking girls or flashy grills here, just one woman mostly obscured by flowing linen and Mr. Wests telling his story on a flat, featureless expanse -- both add a sense of seriousness to the vid.

The minimal color and flash forces you to focus on West's words, which have meaning deeper than how West got his and you didn't.

Good song, good video, both made better cuz it's free.

Can't beat that.

Well, maybe I can: This week Apple added iTunes University to the iTunes Store.

What's iTunes University?

Photo courtesy of Apple

Think of it as a special, big-brain collection of video and audio podcasts published by some of the most prestigious colleges, universities, and institutes of higher learning in the country.

Have a fancy for the fine points of Quantum Physics? Check out course podcasts from UC Berkeley.

Yearn to learn Greek? A course from Concordia Seminary may be just what you're looking for.

Struggling with Social Science? See what Stanford has to offer.

There's a lot of good stuff available so if you are in school or thinking about going back to school, there is likely something you can use in iTunes U.

One final note: As you may know, Apple and EMI penned a deal where Apple can offer music without FairPlay, Apple's Digital Rights Manager(DRM) software: It means that certain EMI offered songs can be downloaded directly from iTunes and played anywhere, just like music you rip from a CD.

As promised, Apple started offering DRM-free tunes this week. Très cool!

Photo courtesy of Apple

Of course, there are provisos (and you knew there would be):

•   DRM-free tunes cost 30 cents more
•   They are offered at a twice the bit rate (audio resolution) than the current DRMed offerings (a good thing)
•   You must update iTunes to get the DRM-free tunes
•   And you must go to a different section in the iTunes Store to access DRM-free tunes (once you set a preference, however, iTunes Plus tunes will be offered, or not offered, whenever they are available).

Check out what's being offered in the iTunes Plus section of the iTunes Store.

Other free offerings at the iTune store: