Feb 15-19 Programs

Jean's Pick of the Week: Valentine’s Day in Ghana: for sheer novelty and the surprise of discovering that when it comes to love and dating, Ghananians and Americans are amazingly alike.



Monday: The Bread of Angels: When I heard about this book, I jumped all over it. In 2004, twenty-seven-year-old Stephanie Saldaña moved from Harvard Divinity School to Damascus, Syria, to study the role of the Prophet Jesus in Islam. At a time when the Iraq war towers over the presence of this young American woman in the Middle East and Syria faces serious political turmoil, she lived among war refugees, Jews, Muslims, and Christians, and gradually worked her way to a deeper understanding of herself, her faith, and the possibility of true love. (P.S. She lived for a time in a monastery thinking she might become a nun, but ran away with a monk instead!)

Tuesday: Avatar vs. Confucius in China: The Chinese government’s efforts to censor the sci-fi film Avatar and replace it with a movie about the life of Confucius seems to have backfired. Scholar of Chinese philosophy and politics, George T. Crane joins us to explain why.

Wednesday: The March issue of Harper’s Magazine, out this week, includes contributing editor Scott Horton’s devastating exposé on the deaths of three Guantánamo detainees. His report challenges the widely accepted official account that the men committed suicide, reveals a secret black site at Guantánamo, and finds evidence for a massive three and a half year cover-up of possible prisoner homicides. Scott Horton joins us as does Pardiss Kebriaei, a lawyer for two of the deceased men.

Thursday: We return to our Inside Islam series with a provocative look at Islam and Science, Past and Present. Did you know that the Islamic empire was once at the forefront of scientific development? So, what caused the decline in modern times, and what have we overlooked?

Friday: Noodle Wars. Tagliatelle, ramen, semolina, and soba -- noodles are central to both Italian and Japanese cuisines. Chefs Francesco Mangano and Justin Carlisle are gearing up for two “Noodle War” dinners at Madison’s Osteria Papavero and Restaurant Muramoto.

Dare I say it? – Happy Valentine’s Day!

Jean