Friday, September 25, 2007
If you need a lift, by all means see the new documentary Pete Seeger: The Power of Song which is touring the country and is now showing at Westgate in Madison for another week. Short of that, listen to my program with him which aired last Tuesday.
The man is 88 years old and he's still chopping wood! That's the first shot of him that we're treated to in the film: he's there in the woods, chopping wood in front of the log cabin that he built himself many years ago.
But what really impressed me, apart from the fact that his whole life rings true, is that he's so oriented toward the future. He drives an electric car; he hangs out with kids; he's optimistic about the changes we're likely to see in next few decades; he's out there protesting the School of the Americas; he still finds reason to love his country; his only regret is in not having supported his beloved's wife Toshi's artistic development. Most old people look backwards; only a very few, most of them visionaries, look forward. What a guy!
Friday, September 28, 2007
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
I Hear Voices!
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
A few weeks ago a box appeared on my doorstep. I opened it and, much to my surprise, inside were 15 copies of my new book, I Hear Voices: A Memoir of Life, Death, and the Radio, all wrapped in plastic. Mind you, I knew the book was coming out, but the official date that I had been given by UW Press was September 24, so I wasn't quite prepared for the shock.
All the books are still sitting in the box in my front hall, still wrapped in plastic, except for one which went to my son when he was home for a visit last weekend. The books, I am told, are already available on Amazon, which bothers me a little bit. I've been instructed not to talk about it in public until bookstores have had a chance to order copies. The lag time is about three weeks -hence the Sept. 24 launch date. So I find myself in a strange sort of time warp. It's a little like being about to deliver a baby - the waters have broken, but the labor pains haven't started yet.
Meanwhile, I've had a nightmare. I show up at Borders in Madison on the day of the launch - Oct. 4 - and I open up a box, expecting that there will be books inside, but instead, what I find is sandwiches - seven submarine sandwiches, one for each chapter, all neatly wrapped and separated by waxy green florist's paper. Did I say 'launch,' or was that 'lunch'?
Anyway, I hope to see you there. Here are the dates:
Border's West in Madison: Thursday, Oct. 4 at 7:00pm
Overture Center, Madison, noon on Sunday, Oct. 14 (as part of the Wisconsin Book Festival)
Harry Schwartz' Bookstore at Shorewood, Tuesday, Oct. 16, at 7:00pm in Milwaukee.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Meeting Aracelis Girmay
Friday, August 10, 2007
It's been a long time since I've been excited by a book of poetry. The first time I opened Aracelis Girmay's Teeth, I knew I was in the presence of a real poet. Right away I called Sandy Taylor, her publisher at Curbstone, and asked to book her on Here on Earth, but he did one better. He arranged for a reading for her at Rainbow Bookstore in Madison so she could be right here in our studios for our program last Tuesday.
In "Arroz Poetica," the first poem in Teeth, she writes...
You name, I will have noticed
on a list collected bya Iraqi census of the dead,
because your name is the name of my own brother
....
because my students are 12, because I remember
when my sisters were 12. & I will not
have ever seen your eyes, & you wll not
have ever seen my eyes
or the eyes of the ones who dropped the missiles.
or the eyes of the ones who ordered the missiles,
& the missiles haveno eyes.
She is Etritrean on her father's side, Puerto Rican and African-American on her mother's side, and I ask myself, is that what it takes to be able to feel for the Iraqi civilians who are dying every day in this war? Do you have to be a "woman of color" who writes only in red? What can we say about a country whose people are forbidden to mourn even their own dead? Who are not even allowed to see their coffins, let alone their eyes? It's our Refusal to Mourn that may be the greatest hole in the heart of this country the greatest blow to our humanity. Thank God for poets like Aracelis, young as she is (29!) who have the power to unstop our throats and loosen the words and the tears that should be falling from our eyes, even as they fall from their eyes, every day of this Endless War.
It's been a long time since I've been excited by a book of poetry. The first time I opened Aracelis Girmay's Teeth, I knew I was in the presence of a real poet. Right away I called Sandy Taylor, her publisher at Curbstone, and asked to book her on Here on Earth, but he did one better. He arranged for a reading for her at Rainbow Bookstore in Madison so she could be right here in our studios for our program last Tuesday.
In "Arroz Poetica," the first poem in Teeth, she writes...
You name, I will have noticed
on a list collected bya Iraqi census of the dead,
because your name is the name of my own brother
....
because my students are 12, because I remember
when my sisters were 12. & I will not
have ever seen your eyes, & you wll not
have ever seen my eyes
or the eyes of the ones who dropped the missiles.
or the eyes of the ones who ordered the missiles,
& the missiles haveno eyes.
She is Etritrean on her father's side, Puerto Rican and African-American on her mother's side, and I ask myself, is that what it takes to be able to feel for the Iraqi civilians who are dying every day in this war? Do you have to be a "woman of color" who writes only in red? What can we say about a country whose people are forbidden to mourn even their own dead? Who are not even allowed to see their coffins, let alone their eyes? It's our Refusal to Mourn that may be the greatest hole in the heart of this country the greatest blow to our humanity. Thank God for poets like Aracelis, young as she is (29!) who have the power to unstop our throats and loosen the words and the tears that should be falling from our eyes, even as they fall from their eyes, every day of this Endless War.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Talking to the South Pole
Friday, July 27, 2007
It's good to think about ice in the middle of July. Nothing but ice, wind, the startling crunch of boots on snow in -60 degrees, and not one, but three south poles to contemplate, encircled by the flags of many nations - the only spots of color in a landscape of oblivion.
What I love most about being human is the connection I feel in the place where science, art, and religion all come together. Yesterday's program about Project Ice Cube brought me into that place of rare convergence and left me there to contemplate the sublime folly of such projects, both grandiose and preposterous. Will they succeed in capturing neutrinos, those ghostly particles more fictional than fact? Do neutrinos really hold the key to our understanding of dark energy, the Big Bang, and why our universe is expanding so rapidly? Nobody knows.
To do something for its own sake rather than to reach a goal strikes me as the highest form of human endeavor.
After the program was over, the physicists actually admitted that what they most hope to find is nothing at all. That would rule out all the current theories and force them to start all over again. As my husband is so found of saying, "The Messiah must never come."
It's good to think about ice in the middle of July. Nothing but ice, wind, the startling crunch of boots on snow in -60 degrees, and not one, but three south poles to contemplate, encircled by the flags of many nations - the only spots of color in a landscape of oblivion.
What I love most about being human is the connection I feel in the place where science, art, and religion all come together. Yesterday's program about Project Ice Cube brought me into that place of rare convergence and left me there to contemplate the sublime folly of such projects, both grandiose and preposterous. Will they succeed in capturing neutrinos, those ghostly particles more fictional than fact? Do neutrinos really hold the key to our understanding of dark energy, the Big Bang, and why our universe is expanding so rapidly? Nobody knows.
To do something for its own sake rather than to reach a goal strikes me as the highest form of human endeavor.
After the program was over, the physicists actually admitted that what they most hope to find is nothing at all. That would rule out all the current theories and force them to start all over again. As my husband is so found of saying, "The Messiah must never come."
Friday, July 20, 2007
My Atheist Scientist Husband Chats with Francis Collins
Friday, July 27, 2007
Last Tuesday, Francis Collins, the head of the Human Genome Project, was a guest on Here on Earth, talking about his bestselling book, The Language of God. My husband, who listened to the program, had this email exchange with him the day after the program. They each gave their permission to share this exchange with you:
Dear Dr. Collins,
My wife, Jean Feraca, just interviewed you on Wisconsin Public Radio. She is a religious person. I'm a non-believer/scientist. We have endless conversations about science and religion. I could not resist sharing with you two reactions to your comments.
There were two surprises for me in your comments.
First, you describe God in very anthropomorphic terms. After you said "God wants ..." or "God planned ..." I realized that you were describing a god who is a reflection of yourself; i.e. a god who really loves science and nature and thus laid down a world that a scientist would really enjoy exploring. There is so little ambiguity and wonder in this god; it seems to me a surprisingly limited (and excessively self-oriented) concept for such a big idea as a god. I CERTAINLY ADMIT THAT IF GOD IS REAL, THERE IS NO WAY OUR PUNY MINDS CAN ACCURATELY ENVISION WHAT HE IS LIKE. I THINK OF GOD AS AN UNIMAGINABLY AWESOME INTELLIGENCE, AN UNFATHOMABLY PROFOUND MIND, A PURE AND HOLY TRANSCENDENCE. IF I SOUNDED ANTHROPOMORPHIC IN THE INTERVIEW, THAT WAS NOT MY INTENTION. I CERTAINLY DON'T THINK OF GOD AS A GUY WITH A WHITE BEARD UP IN THE SKY. I THINK YOUR WIFE WANTED TO ASK ME THIS SAME QUESTION AT THE END OF THE FIRST SEGMENT (MAYBE AFTER HER DISCUSSIONS WITH YOU?) BUT THE STATION BREAK GOT IN THE WAY.
Second, you mentioned that the "evidence" that you find compelling for the resurrection is that so many people believed it and wrote it down. I'm amazed that you would consider this any kind of evidence for anything at all. Millions of people believe and write down all kinds of things that you would agree are not at all credible. THAT'S CERTAINLY TRUE. BUT THE PRESENCE OF LOTS OF MYTHS DOWN THROUGH HISTORY DOESN'T PROVE THAT THIS ONE IS TOO. EVEN MANY ATHEISTS ADMIT THAT THE EVIDENCE FOR THE RESURRECTION IS SURPRISINGLY GOOD -- HAVE A LOOK AT "THE RESURRECTION OF THE SON OF GOD", BY N.T. WRIGHT, IF YOU WANT TO LOOK AT THAT EVIDENCE. But, following on Jean's question about compartmentalization, I just don't understand how the scientist in you is silent on this point. For you to believe in a resurrection, you have to abandon nearly all the scientifically-supported ideas you have about nature. It seems like your god would one day flip a switch and turn off natural processes, let this one event get through the door, and then flip the switch again. How does the scientist in you allow the other side of your brain to believe that? A FAIR QUESTION. BUT THE REAL QUESTION IS WHETHER OR NOT TO BELIEVE IN GOD. IF ONE MAKES THAT LEAP (AND IT IS INDEED A LEAP, NO QUESTION), AND ACKNOWLEDGES THAT GOD IS THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE AND ALL OF ITS NATURAL LAWS, THEN IT IS ONLY A VERY SHORT STEP TO ACCEPT THE POSSIBILITY THAT GOD MIGHT OCCASIONALLY AT MOMENTS OF GREAT SIGNIFICANCE CHOSEN TO INVADE NATURE AND VIOLATE THOSE LAWS. THAT HAPPENED MOST DRAMATICALLY IN THE PERSON OF CHRIST. AT THE SAME TIME, THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT I THINK MIRACLES ARE REGULAR EVENTS -- I'VE NEVER SEEN ONE AND I DON'T EXPECT TO.
I'M SORRY NOT TO HAVE MORE TIME TO ELABORATE ON THESE VERY IMPORTANT POINTS. BUT A MORE THOROUGH EXEGESIS OF THESE ARGUMENTS CAN BE FOUND IN MY BOOK "THE LANGUAGE OF GOD".
Sincerely,
Alan Attie
Last Tuesday, Francis Collins, the head of the Human Genome Project, was a guest on Here on Earth, talking about his bestselling book, The Language of God. My husband, who listened to the program, had this email exchange with him the day after the program. They each gave their permission to share this exchange with you:
Dear Dr. Collins,
My wife, Jean Feraca, just interviewed you on Wisconsin Public Radio. She is a religious person. I'm a non-believer/scientist. We have endless conversations about science and religion. I could not resist sharing with you two reactions to your comments.
There were two surprises for me in your comments.
First, you describe God in very anthropomorphic terms. After you said "God wants ..." or "God planned ..." I realized that you were describing a god who is a reflection of yourself; i.e. a god who really loves science and nature and thus laid down a world that a scientist would really enjoy exploring. There is so little ambiguity and wonder in this god; it seems to me a surprisingly limited (and excessively self-oriented) concept for such a big idea as a god. I CERTAINLY ADMIT THAT IF GOD IS REAL, THERE IS NO WAY OUR PUNY MINDS CAN ACCURATELY ENVISION WHAT HE IS LIKE. I THINK OF GOD AS AN UNIMAGINABLY AWESOME INTELLIGENCE, AN UNFATHOMABLY PROFOUND MIND, A PURE AND HOLY TRANSCENDENCE. IF I SOUNDED ANTHROPOMORPHIC IN THE INTERVIEW, THAT WAS NOT MY INTENTION. I CERTAINLY DON'T THINK OF GOD AS A GUY WITH A WHITE BEARD UP IN THE SKY. I THINK YOUR WIFE WANTED TO ASK ME THIS SAME QUESTION AT THE END OF THE FIRST SEGMENT (MAYBE AFTER HER DISCUSSIONS WITH YOU?) BUT THE STATION BREAK GOT IN THE WAY.
Second, you mentioned that the "evidence" that you find compelling for the resurrection is that so many people believed it and wrote it down. I'm amazed that you would consider this any kind of evidence for anything at all. Millions of people believe and write down all kinds of things that you would agree are not at all credible. THAT'S CERTAINLY TRUE. BUT THE PRESENCE OF LOTS OF MYTHS DOWN THROUGH HISTORY DOESN'T PROVE THAT THIS ONE IS TOO. EVEN MANY ATHEISTS ADMIT THAT THE EVIDENCE FOR THE RESURRECTION IS SURPRISINGLY GOOD -- HAVE A LOOK AT "THE RESURRECTION OF THE SON OF GOD", BY N.T. WRIGHT, IF YOU WANT TO LOOK AT THAT EVIDENCE. But, following on Jean's question about compartmentalization, I just don't understand how the scientist in you is silent on this point. For you to believe in a resurrection, you have to abandon nearly all the scientifically-supported ideas you have about nature. It seems like your god would one day flip a switch and turn off natural processes, let this one event get through the door, and then flip the switch again. How does the scientist in you allow the other side of your brain to believe that? A FAIR QUESTION. BUT THE REAL QUESTION IS WHETHER OR NOT TO BELIEVE IN GOD. IF ONE MAKES THAT LEAP (AND IT IS INDEED A LEAP, NO QUESTION), AND ACKNOWLEDGES THAT GOD IS THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE AND ALL OF ITS NATURAL LAWS, THEN IT IS ONLY A VERY SHORT STEP TO ACCEPT THE POSSIBILITY THAT GOD MIGHT OCCASIONALLY AT MOMENTS OF GREAT SIGNIFICANCE CHOSEN TO INVADE NATURE AND VIOLATE THOSE LAWS. THAT HAPPENED MOST DRAMATICALLY IN THE PERSON OF CHRIST. AT THE SAME TIME, THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT I THINK MIRACLES ARE REGULAR EVENTS -- I'VE NEVER SEEN ONE AND I DON'T EXPECT TO.
I'M SORRY NOT TO HAVE MORE TIME TO ELABORATE ON THESE VERY IMPORTANT POINTS. BUT A MORE THOROUGH EXEGESIS OF THESE ARGUMENTS CAN BE FOUND IN MY BOOK "THE LANGUAGE OF GOD".
Sincerely,
Alan Attie
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Lisa Bu in China
Lisa Bu, our intrepid and magnificent Here on Earth web producer, was invited by her alma mater, the UW Madison Business School, to guide a group of MBA students on a seven day tour of China last month. She came back with the following report:
"I spent a week in Beijing as translator/guide for a UW-Madison MBA class. The trip is an eye-opening experience for many students and even me, a native Chinese. This is my first real visit of the city since I was five. I know from media that the city has changed tremendously, but seeing it with my own eyes is different. The sheer scale and speed of the development takes my breath away. At the same time it concerns us when we see how serious the pollution is. The sky is almost never blue but gray and fuzzy, even in the mountain area where the Great Wall is. Safe drinking water is another issue. We had to be very careful only to drink bottled water, and buy water from trusted vendors. I joked that bottled water had become my new security blanket -- can't go anywhere without it.
Another unexpected experience I have is how proud I felt being a Chinese when visiting the Temple of Heaven and the Great Wall for the first time. Much larger and taller than seen on TV or photos, they stood in front of me like a magnificent but silent giant. I was in awe, as if having just witnessed the emergence of an ancient hero from a storybook picture to a live figure with flesh and blood. The giant looked so familiar yet so new at the same time. Through my life, I have seen its pictures and read its stories thousands of times. Yet touching its wood and stones and taking in its air and smell, I felt as if I was making acquaintance with this magnificent giant for the very first time. Although it can't speak, it's living and breathing. History has never been so vivid and direct. I could hear its heartbeat. And I knew that's the heartbeat of my ancestors, that's the heartbeat I'm carrying in my body. I felt so proud. "
Lisa and a UW Business School student shopping for clean bottled water in Beijing where the temperature was typically near 100 degrees. Lisa said water became her "security blanket."
After Beijing, Lisa went to visit her family in her hometown of Changsha, a city of 6 million in Hunan Province. Here you can see a remnant of the old city side by side with the ever-present evidence of construction that is so typical of the new China.
"I spent a week in Beijing as translator/guide for a UW-Madison MBA class. The trip is an eye-opening experience for many students and even me, a native Chinese. This is my first real visit of the city since I was five. I know from media that the city has changed tremendously, but seeing it with my own eyes is different. The sheer scale and speed of the development takes my breath away. At the same time it concerns us when we see how serious the pollution is. The sky is almost never blue but gray and fuzzy, even in the mountain area where the Great Wall is. Safe drinking water is another issue. We had to be very careful only to drink bottled water, and buy water from trusted vendors. I joked that bottled water had become my new security blanket -- can't go anywhere without it.
Another unexpected experience I have is how proud I felt being a Chinese when visiting the Temple of Heaven and the Great Wall for the first time. Much larger and taller than seen on TV or photos, they stood in front of me like a magnificent but silent giant. I was in awe, as if having just witnessed the emergence of an ancient hero from a storybook picture to a live figure with flesh and blood. The giant looked so familiar yet so new at the same time. Through my life, I have seen its pictures and read its stories thousands of times. Yet touching its wood and stones and taking in its air and smell, I felt as if I was making acquaintance with this magnificent giant for the very first time. Although it can't speak, it's living and breathing. History has never been so vivid and direct. I could hear its heartbeat. And I knew that's the heartbeat of my ancestors, that's the heartbeat I'm carrying in my body. I felt so proud. "
Lisa and a UW Business School student shopping for clean bottled water in Beijing where the temperature was typically near 100 degrees. Lisa said water became her "security blanket."
After Beijing, Lisa went to visit her family in her hometown of Changsha, a city of 6 million in Hunan Province. Here you can see a remnant of the old city side by side with the ever-present evidence of construction that is so typical of the new China.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Celebrating the Fourth
Friday, July 6, 2007
So we did something pretty gutsy this week, I thought, doing a program on the CIA's "Family Jewels" on the Fourth of July. We worried a lot about it beforehand and went back and forth about whether it was appropriate or not. In the end, we decided to go ahead because, after all, what's more American than the right to dissent, even though it's easy to duck and self-censor in this period in our history when our leaders are trying to label dissent as un-patriotic.
So Patrick Paczerski, our crackshot intern who produced the program, lined up a set of three interesting guests: a Latin American historian who recited a lintany of our transgressions south of the border, veteran newsman Daniel Shorr who reported on the CIA's misdeeds back in the 70's and took a heavy hit as one of the reporters on Nixon's hit list, and a British political philosopher who reminded us that love of country means warts and all. Just as we had anticipated, we got a call from someone who chided us for doing a program critical of America on the Fourth of July. We should have been talking about our war heroes instead, he said. I wanted to say in response that Daniel Shorr is one of my war heroes. But Dan spoke so well for himself. When I asked him how he, as an American who had once been threatened with jail for his investigative journalism, was celebrating the Fourth of July, he said, " ...Just like every other good American!"
Here on Earth began its first broadcast on the Fourth of July weekend four years ago. Happy Birthday, America. Happy Birthday, Here on Earth. May you both live up to your greatest promise. I'm proud to be an American.
So we did something pretty gutsy this week, I thought, doing a program on the CIA's "Family Jewels" on the Fourth of July. We worried a lot about it beforehand and went back and forth about whether it was appropriate or not. In the end, we decided to go ahead because, after all, what's more American than the right to dissent, even though it's easy to duck and self-censor in this period in our history when our leaders are trying to label dissent as un-patriotic.
So Patrick Paczerski, our crackshot intern who produced the program, lined up a set of three interesting guests: a Latin American historian who recited a lintany of our transgressions south of the border, veteran newsman Daniel Shorr who reported on the CIA's misdeeds back in the 70's and took a heavy hit as one of the reporters on Nixon's hit list, and a British political philosopher who reminded us that love of country means warts and all. Just as we had anticipated, we got a call from someone who chided us for doing a program critical of America on the Fourth of July. We should have been talking about our war heroes instead, he said. I wanted to say in response that Daniel Shorr is one of my war heroes. But Dan spoke so well for himself. When I asked him how he, as an American who had once been threatened with jail for his investigative journalism, was celebrating the Fourth of July, he said, " ...Just like every other good American!"
Here on Earth began its first broadcast on the Fourth of July weekend four years ago. Happy Birthday, America. Happy Birthday, Here on Earth. May you both live up to your greatest promise. I'm proud to be an American.
Friday, June 22, 2007
AOL Instant Messaging
Friday, June 22, 2007
You may have noticed that a few weeks ago, in addition to giving out the toll-free call-in number and the email address during the program, we began mentioning that listeners can also chat with us on AOL Instant Messenger. Now, mind you, I've never done such a thing myself, and I confused it with text messaging. This was an idea that was brought to us by one of Here on Earth's bright young student producers, Dan Rosinsky-Larrson, and frankly, I didn't hold out much hope for it.
And then, lo and behold, during yesterday's Poetry Circle of the Air, Barbara contributed a poem sent to us from Michigan by IM (- that's shorthand for Instant Messenger in case, like me, you didn't know that.) And today, during the Raw Milk Wars program, we received another IM from Andy. It's exciting! A whole new way to interact with the program. Joe tells me it's easier, more direct, and takes less time than email, and that appeals to folks who may be listening while they're at work. For the benefit of those of you who are new to this and might like to try it out, I've asked Joe to write up a brief explanation of what it is and how to use it. Look for it in my next posting.
And by the way, Sardinia was spectacular. Postcards and photos to follow.
Ciao
When Phil Corriveau
You may have noticed that a few weeks ago, in addition to giving out the toll-free call-in number and the email address during the program, we began mentioning that listeners can also chat with us on AOL Instant Messenger. Now, mind you, I've never done such a thing myself, and I confused it with text messaging. This was an idea that was brought to us by one of Here on Earth's bright young student producers, Dan Rosinsky-Larrson, and frankly, I didn't hold out much hope for it.
And then, lo and behold, during yesterday's Poetry Circle of the Air, Barbara contributed a poem sent to us from Michigan by IM (- that's shorthand for Instant Messenger in case, like me, you didn't know that.) And today, during the Raw Milk Wars program, we received another IM from Andy. It's exciting! A whole new way to interact with the program. Joe tells me it's easier, more direct, and takes less time than email, and that appeals to folks who may be listening while they're at work. For the benefit of those of you who are new to this and might like to try it out, I've asked Joe to write up a brief explanation of what it is and how to use it. Look for it in my next posting.
And by the way, Sardinia was spectacular. Postcards and photos to follow.
Ciao
When Phil Corriveau
Friday, June 08, 2007
Off to Sardinia!
Friday, June 8, 2007
Just a quick note to let you know I'll be gone for a week - off to Sardinia with my husband to eat sardines and squishy squid ink pasta and hang out with reformed brigands who now operate B&B's. Sardinia has 7000 nuroghe- mysterious towers that are believed to have been built by Neanderthals. It's Bronze Age all over, with villages where all the men dress up in shaggy sheepskins and don wooden masks once a year to impersonate wooly mammoths that are driven out of town in a spring fertility rite. How could you not love a place like that? I'll be back with a report on June 18th, and an interview with Al Gore about his new book, Assault on Reason. Very cool guy.
Keep listening!
Just a quick note to let you know I'll be gone for a week - off to Sardinia with my husband to eat sardines and squishy squid ink pasta and hang out with reformed brigands who now operate B&B's. Sardinia has 7000 nuroghe- mysterious towers that are believed to have been built by Neanderthals. It's Bronze Age all over, with villages where all the men dress up in shaggy sheepskins and don wooden masks once a year to impersonate wooly mammoths that are driven out of town in a spring fertility rite. How could you not love a place like that? I'll be back with a report on June 18th, and an interview with Al Gore about his new book, Assault on Reason. Very cool guy.
Keep listening!
Friday, June 01, 2007
Exploding the Amish Myth
June 1, 2007
Well, guys, I really didn't expect that I would come away from The Branding of the Amish, today's food Friday program with food historian William Woys Weaver never being able to think about the Amish in the same way again. A post for their buggies outside Walmart? Feeding pizza to their wives and horses? Crisco and confectioner's sugar for icing? Where will I buy my chickens now?
Seriously, there must be some purity somewhere. Where?
Have a great weekend, and keep those cards and letters coming!
Jean
Well, guys, I really didn't expect that I would come away from The Branding of the Amish, today's food Friday program with food historian William Woys Weaver never being able to think about the Amish in the same way again. A post for their buggies outside Walmart? Feeding pizza to their wives and horses? Crisco and confectioner's sugar for icing? Where will I buy my chickens now?
Seriously, there must be some purity somewhere. Where?
Have a great weekend, and keep those cards and letters coming!
Jean
Friday, May 25, 2007
Here on Earth Combats Illiteracy in Liberia
Friday, May 25, 2007
It's almost 6:00pm on a holiday weekend and I'm dying to get out of here, but I don't want to leave without sharing the great news of the week with you: Juli Endee called from Liberia late on Wednesday to tell me that the woman from Bopalu who spoke on behalf of her Muslim sisters the day I visited the village with Swanee Hunt's delegation, asking to learn how to read and write, (her photograph appears in an earlier entry) has been found. The literacy program will begin this week! Juli has arranged for teacher training with teachers from the Ministry of Education. But here's the best part: there will be not one women's literacy program, but six!
When Juli got off the plane in Monrovia, she was met with a queen's reception - traditional dancers and singers performing in her honor - she gave a press conference on the spot and announced that Jean Feraca and her radio show Here on Earth: Radio Without Borders was starting a literacy program for the women of Bopalu. Well, word spread, of course, and before you know it, there were six programs in six different venues. The American Embassy is thrilled and has asked me to send six packets of ABC's! And now there's a song about us!
Happy Memorial Day!
It's almost 6:00pm on a holiday weekend and I'm dying to get out of here, but I don't want to leave without sharing the great news of the week with you: Juli Endee called from Liberia late on Wednesday to tell me that the woman from Bopalu who spoke on behalf of her Muslim sisters the day I visited the village with Swanee Hunt's delegation, asking to learn how to read and write, (her photograph appears in an earlier entry) has been found. The literacy program will begin this week! Juli has arranged for teacher training with teachers from the Ministry of Education. But here's the best part: there will be not one women's literacy program, but six!
When Juli got off the plane in Monrovia, she was met with a queen's reception - traditional dancers and singers performing in her honor - she gave a press conference on the spot and announced that Jean Feraca and her radio show Here on Earth: Radio Without Borders was starting a literacy program for the women of Bopalu. Well, word spread, of course, and before you know it, there were six programs in six different venues. The American Embassy is thrilled and has asked me to send six packets of ABC's! And now there's a song about us!
Happy Memorial Day!
Friday, May 18, 2007
After the Open Line
May 25, 2007
As most of you know, I hosted an open line a few weeks ago on May 2. It was the first open line we had done since starting Here on Earth four years ago. Even though many of you were very positive in your comments, the ones I took to heart were critical. I was discouraged at first, and then I started thinking. Why not try to recapture some of the magic of the old program? So, with Carmen Jackson's help, that's what we tried to do this past week - successfully, I think. But I'll let you be the judge.
This was the line-up: Comedy From the Axis of Evil, a program about circuses and elephants, Paul Davies on the new cosmology, a conversation with a Canadian poet who recreated the journey of Huishen, a 5th century Buddhist monk, and a side trip into Cajun country. God, I had fun. How about you?
Keep those cards and letters coming. You're really helping me re-shape the program without losing its core values. Sort of Cajun, come to think of it!
I love having you guys as real partners.
Thanks!
Jean
As most of you know, I hosted an open line a few weeks ago on May 2. It was the first open line we had done since starting Here on Earth four years ago. Even though many of you were very positive in your comments, the ones I took to heart were critical. I was discouraged at first, and then I started thinking. Why not try to recapture some of the magic of the old program? So, with Carmen Jackson's help, that's what we tried to do this past week - successfully, I think. But I'll let you be the judge.
This was the line-up: Comedy From the Axis of Evil, a program about circuses and elephants, Paul Davies on the new cosmology, a conversation with a Canadian poet who recreated the journey of Huishen, a 5th century Buddhist monk, and a side trip into Cajun country. God, I had fun. How about you?
Keep those cards and letters coming. You're really helping me re-shape the program without losing its core values. Sort of Cajun, come to think of it!
I love having you guys as real partners.
Thanks!
Jean
Friday, May 11, 2007
Hell Without Joe
May 11, 2007
Well, it's been a hell of a week. Those of you who are curious about what goes on behind the scenes in radio will enjoy my tale of the Week From Radio Hell. Joe Hardtke, our wiz-kid TD (that's jargon for technical director), got married last week (through no fault of his own) in an outdoor prairie setting with the wind blowing so hard it erased the minister's words and practically lifted the bride, veil and all, right off the ground. Or was that the groom. His obvious joy was contagious, as was his invitation to get all of us up on our feet on the dance floor, jumping up and down with him while we all screamed like three year olds,"I'm so hap-py, I'm so hap-py!"
Alas, that was the end of my happiness. All week long in Joe's absence we have been plagued by all manner of technical evils. The monitor in my studio started flashing like a strobe, I couldn't hear anything in my headphones, the guests were nowhere to be found, the music for the billboard was lost, the CD wasn't burned on time, and today, instead of a nice Italian version of Mama to roll meatballs by, we got heavy metal instead! or some scary thing I had to shout over in order to be heard at all! Joe, for God's sake, .....come home!!!! I promise I won't make obscene gestures at you for at least another week!
Well, it's been a hell of a week. Those of you who are curious about what goes on behind the scenes in radio will enjoy my tale of the Week From Radio Hell. Joe Hardtke, our wiz-kid TD (that's jargon for technical director), got married last week (through no fault of his own) in an outdoor prairie setting with the wind blowing so hard it erased the minister's words and practically lifted the bride, veil and all, right off the ground. Or was that the groom. His obvious joy was contagious, as was his invitation to get all of us up on our feet on the dance floor, jumping up and down with him while we all screamed like three year olds,"I'm so hap-py, I'm so hap-py!"
Alas, that was the end of my happiness. All week long in Joe's absence we have been plagued by all manner of technical evils. The monitor in my studio started flashing like a strobe, I couldn't hear anything in my headphones, the guests were nowhere to be found, the music for the billboard was lost, the CD wasn't burned on time, and today, instead of a nice Italian version of Mama to roll meatballs by, we got heavy metal instead! or some scary thing I had to shout over in order to be heard at all! Joe, for God's sake, .....come home!!!! I promise I won't make obscene gestures at you for at least another week!
Friday, May 04, 2007
Yanamono Clinic - A Great Radio Story
May 4, 2007
Yesterday I had Linnea Smith on the program for the first time in years, a wild woman who when she isn't riding her motorcycle around Wisconsin's backroads, is treating snakebites and malaria and machete cuts at her clinic in the Peruvian rainforest - Yanamono Clinic, designed and built on the banks of the Amazon by Rotarians from Duluth, Minnesota, in response to my first interview with her in 1990.
It's such a great story, and one I never tire of telling. It says so much about the power of radio to connect people across the great divides - be they national, cultural, or racial. I got to spend a week in the Amazon some years ago, checking out the clinic in the company of a group of pharmacologists, many of whom went down there clutching well-worn copies of The Celestine Prophecy. I almost lost my mind that week. As much as I loved the idea of the clinic, I kept wrestling with the question, Was it really a good idea to build a western-style medical clinic in the heart of the Amazon? especially since I met several native healers and shamans while I was in the jungle. I have written at length about all this in the chapter called "A North American in the Amazon" in my forthcoming book. The last words in the chapter are "here on earth." And yes, that is a double plug.
Yesterday I had Linnea Smith on the program for the first time in years, a wild woman who when she isn't riding her motorcycle around Wisconsin's backroads, is treating snakebites and malaria and machete cuts at her clinic in the Peruvian rainforest - Yanamono Clinic, designed and built on the banks of the Amazon by Rotarians from Duluth, Minnesota, in response to my first interview with her in 1990.
It's such a great story, and one I never tire of telling. It says so much about the power of radio to connect people across the great divides - be they national, cultural, or racial. I got to spend a week in the Amazon some years ago, checking out the clinic in the company of a group of pharmacologists, many of whom went down there clutching well-worn copies of The Celestine Prophecy. I almost lost my mind that week. As much as I loved the idea of the clinic, I kept wrestling with the question, Was it really a good idea to build a western-style medical clinic in the heart of the Amazon? especially since I met several native healers and shamans while I was in the jungle. I have written at length about all this in the chapter called "A North American in the Amazon" in my forthcoming book. The last words in the chapter are "here on earth." And yes, that is a double plug.
Monday, April 16, 2007
The Easter Feast
April 16, 2007
When I was hosting "All About Food" in the old days, I often found that my cooking was subtly influenced by the program. I began adapting my heretofore highly orthodox, and some would say downright dogmatic Italian cooking style, experimenting with new ingredients, new spices, even new ways of thinking about food, usually with happy results.
On Good Friday we did a program in celebration of the Easter Feast based on the unusual congruence of Passover and Easter all ocurring in the same week this year, and Greek Orthodox Easter coninciding on the same day with the Roman Catholic observance, something that happens only in a blue moon, a blue Passover moon, that is. One of the things I learned in doing that show was that Passover and Pasqua derive from the same root. Well, duh.
My Greek friend Voula (and she is my dear friend and Mediterranean sould-mate sister), had ended up crying on the phone to each other on Friday morning, both of us yearning for the communal observances that used to characterize Holy Week when Voula was growing up in Thessaloniky, and I was growing up in New York. Doing the program together was a way of - forgive me - getting our Easter rocks off.
But it was also a truly Here -on-Earth inspiration for me. Yes, I made my traditional Italian Easter dinner - a gorgeous platter of antipasto to start with followed by my grandmother's homemade manicotti and roast leg of lamb with green beans and mushrooms. But this year something was different. We had a lit minora on the table, Jews, Catholics, atheists, and Greeks sitting down together, Voula's bowl of dyed red eggs, and her wonderful ricotta and philo pastry made with vanlla from Madagascar for dessert. "Christos Aneste!" "Happy Pesach" "Happy Easter."
None of that would have happened had it not been for my program.
Jean
When I was hosting "All About Food" in the old days, I often found that my cooking was subtly influenced by the program. I began adapting my heretofore highly orthodox, and some would say downright dogmatic Italian cooking style, experimenting with new ingredients, new spices, even new ways of thinking about food, usually with happy results.
On Good Friday we did a program in celebration of the Easter Feast based on the unusual congruence of Passover and Easter all ocurring in the same week this year, and Greek Orthodox Easter coninciding on the same day with the Roman Catholic observance, something that happens only in a blue moon, a blue Passover moon, that is. One of the things I learned in doing that show was that Passover and Pasqua derive from the same root. Well, duh.
My Greek friend Voula (and she is my dear friend and Mediterranean sould-mate sister), had ended up crying on the phone to each other on Friday morning, both of us yearning for the communal observances that used to characterize Holy Week when Voula was growing up in Thessaloniky, and I was growing up in New York. Doing the program together was a way of - forgive me - getting our Easter rocks off.
But it was also a truly Here -on-Earth inspiration for me. Yes, I made my traditional Italian Easter dinner - a gorgeous platter of antipasto to start with followed by my grandmother's homemade manicotti and roast leg of lamb with green beans and mushrooms. But this year something was different. We had a lit minora on the table, Jews, Catholics, atheists, and Greeks sitting down together, Voula's bowl of dyed red eggs, and her wonderful ricotta and philo pastry made with vanlla from Madagascar for dessert. "Christos Aneste!" "Happy Pesach" "Happy Easter."
None of that would have happened had it not been for my program.
Jean
Monday, April 09, 2007
A Shorter Version of the Podcast?
April 9, 2007
At today's Here on Earth editorial meeting, we discussed the idea of sending out a second, shorter version of our podcast which would end by the first break - i.e. at twenty minutes into the program. Apparently, most podcasts are far shorter than one hour, and, according to podcast listening patterns, young people especially are far more likely to listen to something that's hit and run. The good news is that, providing they like it, they will want to listen to the whole thing. Any disclaimers? We'd especially like some feedback from our podcast crew, and by the way, what should we call the thing? Here on Earth: R2D2? Here on Earth to Go? The Here on Earth Podcast Digest? Please help if you're so inclined. We need you!
Thanks,
Jean
At today's Here on Earth editorial meeting, we discussed the idea of sending out a second, shorter version of our podcast which would end by the first break - i.e. at twenty minutes into the program. Apparently, most podcasts are far shorter than one hour, and, according to podcast listening patterns, young people especially are far more likely to listen to something that's hit and run. The good news is that, providing they like it, they will want to listen to the whole thing. Any disclaimers? We'd especially like some feedback from our podcast crew, and by the way, what should we call the thing? Here on Earth: R2D2? Here on Earth to Go? The Here on Earth Podcast Digest? Please help if you're so inclined. We need you!
Thanks,
Jean
Friday, March 23, 2007
The Muslim Women of Bopalu, Liberia
March 23, 2007
When I conceived "Here on Earth: Radio Without Borders," I imagined not just a radio program, but a vehicle for possible global social transformation. "Words tenderize the heart; they lead to deeds," as St. Teresa of Avila said.
At the end of my week in Liberia, our delegation flew by helicopter (there being no roads to speak of) to the little village of Bopaulu, the first Liberian village to boast a woman mayor.
We descended in the belly of a huge white UN helicopter to be greeted by the entire village, with all of the children lined up outside their schoolhouse to meet us. I was embarrassed. Such an honoring! So much expectation!
The Muslim women were waiting patiently for us. After we had arrived and were seated, this woman stood up to speak on behalf of her community. She was strikingly beautiful, with regal bearing, and she spoke eloquently in her native Kpele language. The women wanted a Women's Center, she told us, where they could gather. They wanted to learn how to read and write. Listening, my heart went out to her. Why should I be able to read and write, I asked myself, and not this beautiful woman?
Soon after leaving Bopalu, our delegation returned home. I couldn't stop thinking about the Muslim women of Bopalu and their eloquent spokeswoman, especially after my husband made these prints for me. The opportunity to make a difference in their lives came when Juli Endee, Liberia's Cultural Ambassador, paid me a visit last week. Juli is Kpele; her organization, as it turns out, Crusaders for Peace Village, has an office in Bopalu. Together we worked up a little budget: $300 for a press to make mud bricks, another $300 to pay the men to build it, $300 for 3o chairs, x amount for pads, pencils, a blackboard and books, a modest stipend for two teachers, and before you know it, we had raised enough money to launch The Bopalu Muslim Women's Literacy Project. I am so happy.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
A Visit From an African Queen
March 22, 2007
I met Juli Endee in Monrovia,Liberia, at the Mamba Point Hotel where I was a member of Swanee Hunt's delegation in December. Juli showed up at the leadership training workshop that was conducted by Swanee and her staff, but Juli could have given a workshop on leadership herself. That night, she rounded up the Crusaders for Peace, her band and cultural troupe, and entertained us royally. Besides being Liberia's Cultural Ambassador, Juli is a traditional African queen, so designated by the members of her Kpele tribe, and boy, can she shake it.
When I found out she was planning to be on tour in the US in February, I made sure she knew I wanted her to be a guest on Here on Earth, but she did me one better. She came to Madison and stayed with me as a guest in my home for a whole week. Now I can give a workshop on the care and feeding of queens!
Juli is a magnificent woman. While she was here she gave a master class in Chris Walker's African dance class at the UW that was so well received, the chairman of the department invited her to return with her troup in June to be a part of the World Dance Festival. But that's not all. The primary purpose of her visit to the US is to raise money and support for the Crusaders for Peace Children's Village she is building for women and children (primarily girls) who have survived Liberia's civil war. Juli used her music as a tool in helping to bring about an end to the war. As a matter of fact, as she mentioned on the air, the first soldier to lay down his arms surrendered to her. What she didn't tell us was that he first held a gun to her head.
On the last morning she was here, the two of us launched the Bopalu Muslim Women's Literacy Project which I will explain in my next posting.
Happy Spring, Everyone! Let me know what you thought of our Poetry Circle of the Air today, and how we can get more of you to call in.
Jean
Friday, February 16, 2007
A Caller From Melbourne
Friday, February 16
Gung Hay Fa Choy! That's Happy New Year in Chinese. I just learned that from today's program with famous Chinese chef (Yan Can Cook) Martin Yan. I co-hosted the program with our own Lisa Bu who comes from Hunan Province - Martin is from Guangzhou (formerly Canton) - both in the south. It was a delightful experience and I learned a lot about the place of food in Chinese culture.
Yesterday was a banner day. John Nichols was in studio, commenting on the fracas that went on all week between Australian prime minister John Howard and Barak Obama. Toward the end of the program we actually got a caller from Melbourne, an Aussie named Noel Knoll who told us he's a regular listener. When it's 3:00pm in the Midwest, it's 10:00 tomorrow morning in Australia. What a thrill to think we're actually growing a global public radio community. That was my dream in starting Here on Earth. Thank you, Noel! I hope we'll be hearing more from you.
On another note, next Wednesday I'll be giving a presentation on my trip to Liberia at the Center for African Studies in Ingraham Hall, UW-Madison campus. It'll be a brown bag at noon and I'll be showing slides, some of them my own, some that Swanee Hunt took herself. It's free and open to the public so I'm looking forward to seeing some of you there.
Have a great weekend.
Jean
Gung Hay Fa Choy! That's Happy New Year in Chinese. I just learned that from today's program with famous Chinese chef (Yan Can Cook) Martin Yan. I co-hosted the program with our own Lisa Bu who comes from Hunan Province - Martin is from Guangzhou (formerly Canton) - both in the south. It was a delightful experience and I learned a lot about the place of food in Chinese culture.
Yesterday was a banner day. John Nichols was in studio, commenting on the fracas that went on all week between Australian prime minister John Howard and Barak Obama. Toward the end of the program we actually got a caller from Melbourne, an Aussie named Noel Knoll who told us he's a regular listener. When it's 3:00pm in the Midwest, it's 10:00 tomorrow morning in Australia. What a thrill to think we're actually growing a global public radio community. That was my dream in starting Here on Earth. Thank you, Noel! I hope we'll be hearing more from you.
On another note, next Wednesday I'll be giving a presentation on my trip to Liberia at the Center for African Studies in Ingraham Hall, UW-Madison campus. It'll be a brown bag at noon and I'll be showing slides, some of them my own, some that Swanee Hunt took herself. It's free and open to the public so I'm looking forward to seeing some of you there.
Have a great weekend.
Jean
Thursday, February 08, 2007
My Remedy for the Winter Blues
Thursday, February 8, 2007
I don't usually get this personal on this blog, but I wanted to share my remedy for the winter blues with you. Yesterday I went home with a killer headache which lasted all night and kept me home all morning. About mid-morning, I started to feel better and started thinking about cooking. I rummaged in the freezer and discovered a turkey neck and innards left from last Thanksgiving. Ah hah! I thought - I can make soup. Soup turned into gumbo, but the real remedy was what I did with the turkey liver. When I was a child, my grandmother used to make a chicken liver oer'd'oeurve (she called them hors-de-vores, which drove my mother, the French teacher, crazy) which I loved. It was incredibly simple and incredibly delicious. All she did was sautee a diced onion in butter in a little frying pan to which she added the chicken livers, cut up very small, and allowed them to cook very slowly in the butter and the onion, adding just a bit of salt and pepper. This she served on Ritz crackers as the first course in a special holiday meal. So that's what I did with the turkey liver. And it made me feel better. Try it and think of my grandmother. Her name was Jenny.
Here's to daffodills and all the little yellows that are on their way!
Jean
I don't usually get this personal on this blog, but I wanted to share my remedy for the winter blues with you. Yesterday I went home with a killer headache which lasted all night and kept me home all morning. About mid-morning, I started to feel better and started thinking about cooking. I rummaged in the freezer and discovered a turkey neck and innards left from last Thanksgiving. Ah hah! I thought - I can make soup. Soup turned into gumbo, but the real remedy was what I did with the turkey liver. When I was a child, my grandmother used to make a chicken liver oer'd'oeurve (she called them hors-de-vores, which drove my mother, the French teacher, crazy) which I loved. It was incredibly simple and incredibly delicious. All she did was sautee a diced onion in butter in a little frying pan to which she added the chicken livers, cut up very small, and allowed them to cook very slowly in the butter and the onion, adding just a bit of salt and pepper. This she served on Ritz crackers as the first course in a special holiday meal. So that's what I did with the turkey liver. And it made me feel better. Try it and think of my grandmother. Her name was Jenny.
Here's to daffodills and all the little yellows that are on their way!
Jean
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