Aug 4-8 Programs

Dear Friends and Fans,

Monday: Remote Area Medical: Get ready for the wild and wooly world of Stan Brock, who was once seen wrestling an anaconda on ABC’s Wild Kingdom! Now he flies portable medical clinics and teams of volunteer doctors to set up portable medical clinics in third world countries including, and guess which country just joined his list – the United States! Next stop? Tennesee.

Tuesday: Capoeira! Five centuries ago, slaves from West Africa who ended up in Brazil practiced capoeira as a martial art, a game, and a way to keep their native cultures alive. Since then it’s been spreading like a fever through the forests of Brazil, and landing in places as distant as Berkeley, California and Madison, Wisconsin. But as capoeira gets farther and farther from home, is it still recognizable?

Wednesday: After decades of harassment, there are signs that transgender communities in India and Cuba are finally getting accepted. India has a transgendered TV talk show host, and in Cuba, gender reassignment surgeries are being routinely performed. Progress? You decide.

Thursday: Tuna! Richard Ellis, author of The Book of Sharks, introduces us to a fish that can weigh in at 1500 pounds and speed up to 55 miles per hour - an Atlantic northern bluefin can travel from New England to the Mediterranean, then turn around and swim back; one of the biggest, fastest, and most highly evolved marine animals now hovering on the brink of extinction. I once visited a tuna museum in Sardinia and marveled.

Friday: In honor of the start of the Beijing Olympics, we are working on a program about Chinese eating.

I’ll be spending the weekend on the Columbia River in Washington with fellows from Richard Harwood’s Institute for Public Innovation. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Jean