Friday, January 25, 2008

Jan 28 - Feb 1 Programs

Dear Here-on-Earthians,

We need each other in this cold weather more than ever, don't we? We've put some extra care into planning this week's programs. Here goes:

Monday: Temple Grandin is considered one of the world's top animal behavior experts. She attributes her understanding of animals in part to her autism, which enables her to "think like an animal." She joins us to talk about her latest book, Animals in Translation.

Tuesday: The Art of the Obit: Two writers of obituaries, one British, one American, team up to tell us what obituaries say about our cultural differences.

Wednesday: Genesis Farm: If the names Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme mean anything to you, you'll relish this opportunity to talk with the founder of Genesis Farm, an Ecological Learning Center located in New Jersey.

Thursday: What happens to our cast-off computers and cell phones? Find out when we talk with Chris Carroll, the author of an article on High-Tech Trash in this month's issue of National Geographic that examines the environmental and health impacts of discarded electronics dumped on places like New Delhi.

Friday: Delizia! Okay, it's not just another excuse for Feraca to talk about Italian food. Think epic history. Think why Mussolini loved risotto, how early pizzas were disgusting , and how pasta really got to Italy. Could an Englishman appointed Commendatore by no less than the president of the Italian Republic not be worth listening to? Join me with John Dickie who doesn't just know about Italian food; he also wrote Cosa Nostra, hailed in Italy as the best book about the Mafia ever written. (Do I sound defensive?)

Tune in, stay warm, and come see me at The Wine Guyz in La Crosse this Saturday, if you can. I'll be reading at noon from Chapter #3, "Get Thee to a Winery," from my memoir, I Hear Voices.

Jean

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Jan 21-25 Programs

Cari Amici!

(Somehow that sounds better than "Dear Friends," which is usually the way fundraising letters begin).

This week on Here on Earth begins fittingly enough with a tribute to that great American, Martin Luther King, Jr., but I think we've found an unusual way in…

Monday: Join us with the co-founders of Atlanta's International Community School, inspired by the vision of MLK, where American students learn together with immigrants and refugees from 40 countries.

Tuesday: The International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers, a group of women working to preserve their collective tribal wisdom and pass it on to the next generation before it's all lost. We'll meet two Council members and talk with a journalist whose work has made them famous.

Wednesday: Now here's a twist: Searching for Nebraska in France? Kent Cowgill wrote a book called Back in Time, an account of his nostalgic journey through the countryside of France in search of the rural life and culture of his own native Nebraska. Guess what? He found it!

Thursday: Satish Kumar, the editor of Resurgence Magazine and a great spiritual thinker, is the subject of a BBC4 special broadcast, Earth Pilgrim. He joins us from England to talk about reverential ecology.

Friday: Live from La Crosse, Wisconsin, Join us for special "Food Friday" edition of Here on Earth when I'll be joined by Tim Hall, Cajun chef and Louisiana transplant who will deliver a real Mardi Gras feast, I guarantee!

Lend us your ears, and may the Packers win!

Jean

Sunday, January 06, 2008

Jan 7-11 Programs

Dear Friends of Here on Earth,

Have you seen Charlie Wilson's War yet? The movie tells the true story of a Texas Congressman who funded a covert war against the Soviets in Afghanistan. We'll be talking about it on Monday's show with the director of the nation's only Afghanistan Studies Institute, and Martin Frost, Charlie Wilson's Congressional peer from Texas.

Tuesday: Northern Ireland: The Latest Tourism Destination! Belfast is in the process of turning its violent history into a tourism attraction. We'll be talking with a columnist for the Boston Globe who's been covering Northern Ireland for 20 years – the sites of bomb blasts and killings are now opportunities for tourist dollars.

Wednesday: Songs of the Holocaust: We're working on a program with recording artist Anne-Sofie von Otter who just released an album of songs from the Terezin concentration camp.

Thursday: As India accelerates its rapid modernization, we take some time to remember that its mythic past is still alive and well in a country where disciples of Lord Shiva still walk barefoot, and dreadlocked holy men speed around on bicycles. Tales from Mythic India told by poet and playwright Kamla Kapur, author of Ganesha Goes to Lunch.

Friday: The program on Japanese food we promised you last week with tips on how to stay slim and healthy in the new year.

I'll be with you on Monday, Veronica will be filling in for me the rest of the week. Don't touch that dial!

All best wishes for the New Year,

Jean