Sunday, June 29, 2008

June 30 - July 4 Programs

Dear Hereonearthlings,

Jean is coming back on air on Monday. We have missed her because the office sounds too quiet without her presence and laughter. Here's what we have lined up for her next week:

Monday: Apostle Islands National Lakeshore: An Environmental Success Story. Since 1970 the lands and waters of Lake Superior's Apostle Islands have been protected by the federal government as the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, thanks to Gaylord Nelson, father of Earth Day. But thirty-five years ago, people said this could never happen.

Tuesday: Canada Apologizes to its Native Peoples for its Boarding School Policy, following Australia's example. So what about us?

Wednesday: Jean talks to Valzhyna Mort, a young Belarusian poet who is a rising star in the international poetry world.

Thursday: For an insider perspective on what goes on inside Gitmo, join us for: My Guantanamo Diary. An Afghan translator gets into Guantanamo and manages by stealth to record a number of candid interviews with Afghan detainees.

Friday: How has German "hamburg steak" evolved into hamburgers, an American icon? Jean and her guest trace how the hamburger has gone from a little-known, greasy-spoon treat sold at fairs and carnivals to a mass-produced mammoth that is almost omnipresent across the globe.

Last, some improvement on our website over the past two "quiet" weeks: First, I have created a RSS news feed to allow you to receive latest program update automatically from your news feed reader such as Bloglines. Second, there are so many ways to listen to our program (on-air, online, MP3, podcast, streaming) and to contact us (phone, email, IM, Facebook) that it could become confusing. Now a new "how to listen" and "contact" page should help you sort out your options. If you have other ideas on how to improve our web site, please send them in from our "Comments" web page. I would love to hear about them.

Thanks. Cheers.

Lisa Bu
Web Producer
Here on Earth: Radio Without Borders
Wisconsin Public Radio

Saturday, June 14, 2008

June 16-27 Programs

Dear Friends,

Hail, and Farewell, at least for a couple of weeks while I’ll be on vacation with my family. Since love is lovelier the second time around, we hope you’ll enjoy listening to some of our best Here on Earth programs from the past year. We made our choices based in part on your comments and responses. I’ll be back in the saddle on Monday, June 30, starting with a program about the extraordinary transformation that Lake Superior’s Apostle Islands have undergone since being declared a national wilderness preserve.

WEEK ONE
  • June 16th - (repeat from 4/23/07) – Is Peace A Dirty Word?
  • June 17th - (repeat from 1/29/08) – The Dead Beat: The Art of Obituaries
  • June 18th - (repeat from 4/11/08) – Lila Downs’ Ranchero Music
  • June 19th - (repeat from 6/21/07) – Poetry Circle of the Air: Maxine Kumin (featuring the Excrement Poem)
  • June 20th - (repeat from 5/25/07) – How to Pick a Peach

WEEK TWO
  • June 23rd - (repeat from 3/25/08) – Young America and the Middle East (featuring Jewish-American journalist Gideon Yago and Iranian-American Reza Aslan)
  • June 24th - (repeat from 7/16/07) – The World Without Us
  • June 25th - (repeat from 5/21/08) - Street Cries from Around the World (starring the ever-amazing Annie Zanzillotto)
  • June 26th - (repeat from 8/23/07) – Edith Piaf and the Street Singers of Paris
  • June 27th - (repeat from 3/21/08) – Yerba Mate
See you on the 30th with a whole new line-up!

Jean

Saturday, June 07, 2008

June 9-13 Programs

Dear Friends,

Here’s what’s in the line-up for Here on Earth programs next week:

Monday: My Cousin the Saint: This is a new twist on geneology and the search for roots: Justin Catanoso was a typically lapsed American Catholic when he discovered that his late cousin was about to be canonized by Pope John Paul II. Now, you have to understand what drew me to this topic: I lost a long-standing debate with my husband over the issue of whether the Pope has the right to make saints when my position was completely compromised by, of all people, – the Pope himself! Plus, Justin happened to come from a family in Calabria, my paternal homeland.

Tuesday: In his new book, A Thousand Hills, Stephen Kinzer tells the astonishing story of how Paul Kagame, the president of Rwanda, seized power in his genocide-shattered country and brought about one of the most successful revolutions of the modern era. I hope he doesn’t leave out the role of the women.

Wednesday: Who Owns Antiquities? Should they be returned to the countries where they were found? Museum directors say no, but countries such as Italy, Greece, Turkey, and China are all clamoring for their return, and have passed laws against their future export. We’ll talk with James Cuno, director of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Thursday: One of New York City’s most venerable institutions, The Center for Traditional Music and Dance, just held a festival and put out a CD in honor of its 40th anniversary. Starting with Balkan immigrants in the Bronx, the Center now spans traditions from all over the globe, bringing age-old enemies side by side on the same stage. Talk about diversity!

Friday: What kind of diet reduces miles rather than calories? Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon’s 100-Mile Diet, which has taken off as a new way to think – and eat – locally. We’ll talk with Alisa about the challenge she and James set for themselves: to eat only food produced within 100 miles of their British Columbian apartment for one year. Can eating locally really help save the planet?

Sayonara,

Jean