Feb 8 - 12 Programs

Jean's Pick of the Week: My heart tells me "Whales," but my head says, "Equity vs. Equality." I have had a soft spot for the movie Moby Dick ever since my brother took me to see it when I was a kid and my parents asked him to babysit for me one night. Philip Hoare apparently has the same soft spot. His account of going nose to nose with a sperm whale was heart-stopping. I loved the show, but I learned more from our two epidemiologists who managed to persuade me that the more equitable the society, the happier and healthier the people therein. Hosting Here on Earth has taught me a great deal about the world.



Monday: Einstein's God: Science and religion are often portrayed as being in conflict. But, according to Krista Tippett who hosts the Peabody award-winning program Speaking of Faith heard on Minnesota Public Radio, scientists often find spiritual enlightenment on their way to proving scientific truth. Tippett has a new book, Einstein’s God, based on her interviews with scientists.

Tuesday: Perfection: We are hardwired to desire perfection, says communication scholar Michael Hyde, but, whether it's war or anorexia, it's a desire that can kill us. From the idea of God to the film As Good As It Gets, Professor Hyde constructs a history of human perfection and explains why this most basic of human virtues both threatens and motivates everything good about the human project.

Wednesday: Mandela's Free! – 20 years later: Twenty years ago, Nelson Mandela was released from prison after having been incarcerated for 27 years. What gave South Africans the strength to keep up the struggle against apartheid during his incarceration? And what can South Africa do to keep Mandela's legacy alive in the future? Our old friend Harold Scheub joins us for this special occasion along with Invictus writer John Carlin.

Thursday: Valentine's Day in Ghana: In the last few years Ghanaians have started to ask some fundamental questions about love and dating. Is it ok to move in with someone before you get married? How do you share a household? Can you expect men to wash their wives' underwear? Scholar Jo Ellen Fair joins us to explain how Valentine's Day is changing everything about love in Ghana.

Friday: The Hmong Cookbook: Anne Bramley included a recipe for Hmong slaw in her Eat Feed Autumn Winter Cookbook. Now we've got a whole cookbook full of Hmong recipes to choose from –- and it's about time. Since the 1970s, more than 130,000 Hmong have settled in the United States, many of them in Wisconsin. Many Hmong have continued their agrarian traditions in the U.S. by growing urban gardens filled with traditional plants. A new cookbook featuring specialty dishes from Hmong cooks in the Chippewa Valley has recently been released. The authors will share their knowledge of Hmong culture and cuisine.

Happy cooking, happy eating, happy listening!

Jean