March 3-7 Programs

Dear Friends,

It's March! Matso Marzo is how they say it in Italy -– Crazy March. But freakishishness in the weather is fine with me as long as we get some puddles. Speaking of crazy, you might be tempted to think we've gone off the deep end by starting this week with Toilet Talk, but…

Monday: Green urinals, unisex toilets, toilets shaped like soccer balls, fireflies and a baby grand piano. We even found a $4.8 million dollar toilet covered in gold in Hong Kong. Move over Kohler! The Restroom Revolution is coming from "The Far East."

Tuesday: Olympic Athletes Muscle in on Darfur: Getting ready for this summer's Olympics in Beijing, Olympic athletes have been pressuring China to influence the government of Sudan to halt the genocide in Darfur, and it seems to be working. We'll talk with American speedskater Joey Cheek, the founder of "Team Darfur," and Jerry Fowler, chief of "Save Darfur."

Wednesday: "Taxi to the Dark Side," a film about American torture, just won this year's Oscar for Best Documentary. We'll talk with Alfred McCoy (A Question of Torture) who served as a consultant to the film, and Marnia Lazreg (Torture and the Twilight of Empire), who traces the roots of the Bush administration's use of psychological torture back to the Algerian War.

Thursday: Is sailing around the world high on your Bucket List? Beth Leonard, author of Blue Horizons, which just won the 2007 National Outdoor Book Award, shares insights that have come from a deeply felt and fully-lived life circumnavigating the globe on a sailboat, not just once, but twice. She joins us from Patagonia!

Friday: Tapas, Mezze, Sushi. Is "gnoshing" our way through dinner about to displace the great American entrée? How other dining traditions are influencing the way restaurants plan our meals. Join us for a food fight, when Caryl Owens makes her debut hosting this Foodie Friday on Here on Earth.

With the blessings of the gods, I'll be on vacation by the end of the week.

Have a good one!

Jean