March 24-28 Programs

Happy Spring Here-on-Earthlings!

I’m happy to be back in the radio saddle after hiking the deserts of Death Valley and performing with No. #2 son Dominick at The Strand in New York City.

Here’s what to look forward to next week:

Monday: Want to know how to live longer? A longevity study pinpoints three isolated communities – in Okinawa, Sardinia, and Linda Loma, California – that seem to have figured it out.

Tuesday: An Iranian and a Jew get together to talk about Middle East politics, religion and society. Reza Aslan, a young Iranian American fiction writer with degrees in Religious Studies, has been traveling with Gideon Yago, his Jewish counterpart. The two are part of this year’s UW Distinguished Lecture Series.

Wednesday: Direct from Kazakhstan: Roksonaki! Kazakhstan’s most experimental folk-rock band. We’ll hear the band play live and talk with director Ruslan Kara, who pioneered arrangements that combine ancient Kazakh instrumentation with contemporary rock and jazz.

Thursday: Sick of all these insufferable exhortations on how to be happy, happy, happy? You’ll find what Eric Wilson has to say about the American obsession with the pursuit of happiness refreshing. He’s the author of Against Happiness: In Praise of Melancholy.

Friday: Tastes Like Cuba: Esteemed playwright Eduardo Machado tells his life story – from his childhood in Cuba during the revolution to his life in America – through the culinary memories of his homeland. Kudos to Carmen Jackson who worked her charms to get Machado on Here on Earth.

Thanks for lending your ears!

Jean