Sunday, November 25, 2007

Nov 26-30 Programs

Hi Here-on-Earthians,

Question of the Week: Have we dropped the ball in Afghanistan? (See Wednesday's program with former NPR foreign correspondent Sarah Chayes).

Happy Thanksgiving to all, and here's what we have to look forward to when we groan our way back to work on Monday:

Monday: How do you measure the distance from an African village to an American city?: We'll talk with Anne Makepeace, the maker of Rain in a Dry Land, a POV documentary about the challenges faced by Somali refugees confronting racism, poverty, and 21st century culture shock.

Tuesday: Beyond Caudillo: We're working on a program about Chile's woman president, Michelle Bachelet, who is taking her country beyond the legacy of Pinochet.

Wednesday: Once again, we catch up with our gal in Afghanistan, the redoubtable Sarah Chayes who has been helping Afghani entrepreneurs to develop a soap and body-oil business while they all dodge the Taliban's bullets. Have we dropped the ball in Afghanistan? Let us know what you think by sending a message to hereonearth@wpr.org and posting it on my blog at www.hereonearth.org.

Thursday: The Seed Bank: It's a project ongoing in Norway to preserve all the seeds on earth in case of catastrophe.

Friday
: Space Food: in the future we may all be eating what the astronauts eat. God forbid.

I hope you can join us, and I mean that in more ways than one. We are in the process of developing a more interactive production process, hoping to solicit your input on issues we tackle in advance of the broadcast so you can play a more active role in helping to shape the program. The first step is in introducing The Question of the Week. See Sarah Chayes' article, “Scents and Sensibility,” in the November issue of Atlantic Monthly for more background on what's going on in Afghanistan.

Enjoy your turkey!

Best,

Jean

5 comments:

Brian Dunbar said...


Friday: Space Food: in the future we may all be eating what the astronauts eat. God forbid.


Hey! I like Tang. Well, I liked it when I was younger, probably because it was the drink the astronauts used.

When we move into space in a big way we can expect that the food is going to improve as well - as it should when you get your food locally and don't have it shipped up from earth.

Sharon Auberle said...

Jean,
there is no doubt you are a "contendah!" Any chance of Here On Earth going on XM??? So we could hear you out here in the Southwest?
Also wanted to say that I LOVE "I Hear Voices!" What a lust for life you have--best memoir I've read, ever..

Here On Earth said...

Hi Brian, Thanks so much for your interesting comment. I wish I had thought to use it on the air. Keep them coming! Next time I will.

And Sharon, if I'm not mistaken, I think we once shared smoked fish at The Clearing. Thanks so much for such a hearty endorsement, but what is XM?

Sharon Auberle said...

yes, that was me, back in 1987 or 88, I believe. Emma Pitcher was there as well--the lady who writes so beautifully about saving the Lake Michigan dunes..
XM Radio--they have something like 200 channels and you can pick them up all over the country via satellite. You'd be great!

Brian Dunbar said...

Fascinating show today. I never wondered about the use of bread in micro-gravity but .. tortilla bread because it does not leave crumbs. How obvious in retrospect! My youngest boy would be overjoyed - he really likes tortilla bread for sandwiches.

Listening to your conversation today I had a further thought - they don't cook aboard ISS because they don't have the time.

With a crew of three and a full slate of experiments, PR and maintenance it's simply more cost effective to ship them food mostly prepared ahead of time. If they took turns cooking that's 1/3 of their manpower devoted to just fixing food for several hours a day.

I am convinced that someday tens of thousands .. then millions .. of people will live off planet. They'll raise food locally, have good restaurants (and poor ones). Back here on Earth we'll have specialty places that serve food 'Lunar style'.

I can't wait.