Friday, May 28, 2010
Pick of the Week: It's Pig: King of the Southern Table! Lori talks about this week and shares why she chooses Friday's show as her favorite. Check out the video below.
Monday: Wandering Souls: Join us on Memorial Day for an encore broadcast of our memorable Veterans Day program, “Wandering Souls.” Writer and Vietnam War veteran Wayne Karlin publishes stories about Vietnam from vets on both sides. His recent book, Wandering Souls, tells the story of Homer Steedly, one veteran who returned to Vietnam to meet the family of a man he killed.
Tuesday: Female Nomad and Friends: In 1987, Rita Golden Gelman set out to live her dream. She sold all her possessions and became a nomad. She wrote a book about her ongoing journey and, in 2001, insisted on putting her personal e-mail address in the last chapter—against all advice. She presents some of the stories her readers sent to her in the anthology Female Nomad and Friends and joins us to talk about the golden rules of breaking free.
Wednesday: New York City: Endangered Language Sanctuary: We’ll talk with linguist Daniel Kaufman, co-director of the Endangered Language Alliance, about finding and preserving the many endangered languages represented in New York City. Some languages, he says, have more speakers living in New York City than in the area of the world they came from!
Thursday: Courage and Light: As a photographer for the National Geographic, Jim Brandenburg took hundreds of pictures every day – until he burnt out. In an effort to rediscover his passion for photography, he set out to take just one picture a day for 90 days. He joins us with Parker Palmer to talk about their Courage & Light Project, aimed at helping people to rediscover their passion and creativity at work.
Friday: Cakewalk: Growing up with capricious and perpetually embattled parents, Kate Moses found refuge in the kitchen, where she taught herself to bake and finally found the one realm where she felt she had control. She joins us to talk about her new memoir-with-recipes, Cakewalk.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
May 24 - 28 Programs
Friday, May 21, 2010
Jean’s Pick of the Week: China’s Green People Power: It was heartening in the midst of all the bad news coming out of China to discover that there’s a genuine grassroots environmental movement underway, with courageous leaders such as former journalist Mu Jian leading the charge, accruing lots of successes. Would that it were so here in the U.S.!
P.S.: Jean changed her mind after our Food Friday show and talks about 52 Loaves as her favourite for our Pick of the Week Video!
Monday: It’s an encore presentation of Einstein's God with Minnesota Public Radio’s Krista Tippett. Science and religion are often portrayed as being in conflict, but Tippett’s new book brings together the many scientists she’s interviewed who find spiritual enlightenment on their way to proving scientific truth.
Tuesday: Crying Over Spilt Milk: We'll discuss the fight to protect access to raw or fresh food in this country and beyond.
Wednesday: Pakistan’s Dilemma: With the recent attention to Fajsal Shahzad’s failed terrorist attack in New York City’s Time Square, Pakistan has become the cornerstone of the debate about the war on terrorism. We’ll talk to Hassan Abbas, Quaid-i-Azam Chair Professor at Columbia University and a former government official in Pakistan, and with Tariq Ali, journalist and author of three books about Pakistan’s history and political landscape.
Thursday: Bonobo Handshake: In 2005, Vanessa Woods accepted a marriage proposal from a man she barely knew and agreed to join him on a trip to war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo to study Bonobos, a human relative far less aggressive than our other cousin, the Chimpanzee. In working with Bonobos she learned a few lessons about life and love that all humans can take to heart.
Friday: Pig: King of the Southern Table: If pig is indeed king, then there is trouble at the castle. James Villas, author of 13 cookbooks and winner of two James Beard awards, has stormed the gates and had at him, leaving no sweetbread, shoulder, or chop untasted. We’ll talk with him about his new book: Pig: King of Southern Tables.
I’ll be tromping around the southwest next week, leaving Lori Skelton in the driver’s seat.
Happy Memorial Day a week early!
Jean
Jean’s Pick of the Week: China’s Green People Power: It was heartening in the midst of all the bad news coming out of China to discover that there’s a genuine grassroots environmental movement underway, with courageous leaders such as former journalist Mu Jian leading the charge, accruing lots of successes. Would that it were so here in the U.S.!
P.S.: Jean changed her mind after our Food Friday show and talks about 52 Loaves as her favourite for our Pick of the Week Video!
Monday: It’s an encore presentation of Einstein's God with Minnesota Public Radio’s Krista Tippett. Science and religion are often portrayed as being in conflict, but Tippett’s new book brings together the many scientists she’s interviewed who find spiritual enlightenment on their way to proving scientific truth.
Tuesday: Crying Over Spilt Milk: We'll discuss the fight to protect access to raw or fresh food in this country and beyond.
Wednesday: Pakistan’s Dilemma: With the recent attention to Fajsal Shahzad’s failed terrorist attack in New York City’s Time Square, Pakistan has become the cornerstone of the debate about the war on terrorism. We’ll talk to Hassan Abbas, Quaid-i-Azam Chair Professor at Columbia University and a former government official in Pakistan, and with Tariq Ali, journalist and author of three books about Pakistan’s history and political landscape.
Thursday: Bonobo Handshake: In 2005, Vanessa Woods accepted a marriage proposal from a man she barely knew and agreed to join him on a trip to war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo to study Bonobos, a human relative far less aggressive than our other cousin, the Chimpanzee. In working with Bonobos she learned a few lessons about life and love that all humans can take to heart.
Friday: Pig: King of the Southern Table: If pig is indeed king, then there is trouble at the castle. James Villas, author of 13 cookbooks and winner of two James Beard awards, has stormed the gates and had at him, leaving no sweetbread, shoulder, or chop untasted. We’ll talk with him about his new book: Pig: King of Southern Tables.
I’ll be tromping around the southwest next week, leaving Lori Skelton in the driver’s seat.
Happy Memorial Day a week early!
Jean
Here On Earth in Bayfield!
Many of us trooped over to Wild Rice Restaurant in Bayfield after our live broadcast of Here on Earth last Friday, where I gave a reading and signed copies of my memoir, I Hear Voices. It was a spectacular setting at the end of a perfect spring day, looking out over Lake Superior and the Northwoods in bloom. Since I spotted so many people in the audience holding wine glasses, I decided to read an excerpt from the chapter in the book entitled “Get Thee to a Winery.” It wasn’t until later that I discovered that people in the back rows had a hard time hearing me. Al Chechik, who owns Artesian House, complained that the only words he heard were “purple bikini.” I left him a book with the inscription, “Going beyond purple bikini.”
Friday, May 14, 2010
May 17 - 21 Programs
Friday, May 14, 2010
Jean's Pick of the Week: Why The Prophet Muhammad Matters. See our video below!
Monday: Haiti's Artisans: The Comité Artisanal Haitien has been supporting the artisans behind Haitian handicrafts since 1973. Today, the CAH is hoping to rebuild the workshops that were destroyed by the January earthquake and to offer new artisanal products, placing Haitian art at the center of Haiti's recovery. Gisèle Fleurant, CAH Director since 1980, joins us, as does Cheryl Musch, director of international development for SERRV, one of CAH's partner organizations.
Tuesday: Growing Chinese Environmentalism: China’s hunger for energy to power its runaway industrialization has dammed every major river in the country — almost. The Chinese Government has put a moratorium on damming the Nu, or Angry, River after an uproar from China’s burgeoning environmental movement. We’ll talk about what we can and can’t expect from a growing Chinese environmentalism.
Wednesday: Care of the Soul in Medicine: Few experiences throw a person into crisis as illness does, affecting not only the body but the spirit and soul. Yet the current health care system is not structured around these considerations. We'll talk to Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul in Medicine, about his vision for improving health care.
Thursday: Through African Eyes: For centuries, Westerners have created mostly negative images of the African continent and its inhabitants. But we rarely seem to be aware that during all that time, Africans have been looking back at us, producing their own depictions of Europeans. We'll talk to Nii Quarcoopome, curator of the Detroit Institute of Art's current exhibition, Through African Eyes: The European in African Art, 1500 to Present.
Friday: 52 Loaves: How far would you travel for the perfect load of bread? William Alexander tracked the aroma of freshly baked bread from Morocco and France to yeast factories and the New York State Fair, even going so far as to grow his own wheat, all on a quest for the perfect loaf.
We were live in Bayfield, WI today for our Food Friday show - it was a lot of fun!
Jean
Jean's Pick of the Week: Why The Prophet Muhammad Matters. See our video below!
Monday: Haiti's Artisans: The Comité Artisanal Haitien has been supporting the artisans behind Haitian handicrafts since 1973. Today, the CAH is hoping to rebuild the workshops that were destroyed by the January earthquake and to offer new artisanal products, placing Haitian art at the center of Haiti's recovery. Gisèle Fleurant, CAH Director since 1980, joins us, as does Cheryl Musch, director of international development for SERRV, one of CAH's partner organizations.
Tuesday: Growing Chinese Environmentalism: China’s hunger for energy to power its runaway industrialization has dammed every major river in the country — almost. The Chinese Government has put a moratorium on damming the Nu, or Angry, River after an uproar from China’s burgeoning environmental movement. We’ll talk about what we can and can’t expect from a growing Chinese environmentalism.
Wednesday: Care of the Soul in Medicine: Few experiences throw a person into crisis as illness does, affecting not only the body but the spirit and soul. Yet the current health care system is not structured around these considerations. We'll talk to Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul in Medicine, about his vision for improving health care.
Thursday: Through African Eyes: For centuries, Westerners have created mostly negative images of the African continent and its inhabitants. But we rarely seem to be aware that during all that time, Africans have been looking back at us, producing their own depictions of Europeans. We'll talk to Nii Quarcoopome, curator of the Detroit Institute of Art's current exhibition, Through African Eyes: The European in African Art, 1500 to Present.
Friday: 52 Loaves: How far would you travel for the perfect load of bread? William Alexander tracked the aroma of freshly baked bread from Morocco and France to yeast factories and the New York State Fair, even going so far as to grow his own wheat, all on a quest for the perfect loaf.
We were live in Bayfield, WI today for our Food Friday show - it was a lot of fun!
Jean
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
The Hidden Lives of Vermont's Mexican Immigrants
Being a third-generation immigrant from an Italian-American family, and raised with a strong ethnic identity, I find myself in sympathy with all new immigrants, but especially those Mexicans who risk their lives and shoulder their losses all because they’re desperate for work. And work is what America has always been about. The jobs the migrant workers do, as we have heard over and over again, are the jobs Americans shun – sixteen hour days mucking out the barns on dairy farms, or picking crops under a blazing sun. My grandfather arrived with a pick and a shovel and became one of the immigrant builders of the great city of New York. B. Amore’s grandfather helped excavate the foundations of Harvard University. They were prepared to make great personal sacrifices for the benefit of their children and future generations of new Americans. Why do we deny the same right and privilege to those who follow in their footsteps?
B. Amore in front of one or her pieces
B. Amore in front of one or her piecesFriday, May 07, 2010
May 10 - 14 Programs
Friday, May 7, 2010
Jean’s Pick of the Week: Two Photographers: I loved exploring the fascinating, if not so obvious, connections between two photographers who are pushing the boundaries of portraiture: Alan Luft, the German American whose Berlin Portfolio reveals the otherwise overlooked lives of the city’s newest immigrants, and Paul Baker Prindle, whose series Mementi Mori, honors the lives of gay men by photographing the otherwise banal American landscapes where they were murdered.
Monday: The Hidden Lives of Vermont’s Mexican Immigrants: Italian-American artist B. Amore, whose involvement in immigration issues has been life-long, coaxed her Mexican neighbors to tell their hidden stories in the form of dioramas.
Tuesday: Muck Raking the Meat Industry: If you didn’t catch Michael Moss’s extensive report in the New York Times back in October detailing the systemic problem of E. coli contamination rampant within the beef processing industry, you won’t want to miss today’s show. His report just won a Pulitzer Prize and Michael Moss will join us to discuss the changes it has already brought about.
Wednesday: Why The Prophet Muhammad Matters: We’ve found the perfect guest to round out our Inside Islam series this semester: he is Omid Safi, a professor of Islamic Studies at UNC whose highly readable biography of Muhammad treats him in all his aspects, as a mystic, a political leader, and a cultural revolutionary, and explains why Muslims today look to the Prophet primarily as a hero and a nation builder.
Thursday: While I’m on the road to Bayfield, we’ve chosen to repeat one of our most popular shows: Crime Literature, Scandinavian Style. The film, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, based on the first part of Stieg Larsson's widely successful crime trilogy, is playing in U.S theaters now.
Friday: Bayfield in Bloom: Larry Meillor and I will be broadcasting live from the Bayfield Lakeside Pavilion. I’ll be talking with Bayfield notables: Jerry Phillips, proprietor of The Old Rittenhouse Inn, and Jim Webster, chef at the famed Wild Rice Restaurant, about the way they create exquisite regional cuisine.
I’ll be reading from my memoir, I Hear Voices, and signing books at Wild Rice starting at 5:00pm on Friday. Hope to see you there!
And all you moms - Happy Mother’s Day!
Jean
Jean’s Pick of the Week: Two Photographers: I loved exploring the fascinating, if not so obvious, connections between two photographers who are pushing the boundaries of portraiture: Alan Luft, the German American whose Berlin Portfolio reveals the otherwise overlooked lives of the city’s newest immigrants, and Paul Baker Prindle, whose series Mementi Mori, honors the lives of gay men by photographing the otherwise banal American landscapes where they were murdered.
Monday: The Hidden Lives of Vermont’s Mexican Immigrants: Italian-American artist B. Amore, whose involvement in immigration issues has been life-long, coaxed her Mexican neighbors to tell their hidden stories in the form of dioramas.
Tuesday: Muck Raking the Meat Industry: If you didn’t catch Michael Moss’s extensive report in the New York Times back in October detailing the systemic problem of E. coli contamination rampant within the beef processing industry, you won’t want to miss today’s show. His report just won a Pulitzer Prize and Michael Moss will join us to discuss the changes it has already brought about.
Wednesday: Why The Prophet Muhammad Matters: We’ve found the perfect guest to round out our Inside Islam series this semester: he is Omid Safi, a professor of Islamic Studies at UNC whose highly readable biography of Muhammad treats him in all his aspects, as a mystic, a political leader, and a cultural revolutionary, and explains why Muslims today look to the Prophet primarily as a hero and a nation builder.
Thursday: While I’m on the road to Bayfield, we’ve chosen to repeat one of our most popular shows: Crime Literature, Scandinavian Style. The film, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, based on the first part of Stieg Larsson's widely successful crime trilogy, is playing in U.S theaters now.
Friday: Bayfield in Bloom: Larry Meillor and I will be broadcasting live from the Bayfield Lakeside Pavilion. I’ll be talking with Bayfield notables: Jerry Phillips, proprietor of The Old Rittenhouse Inn, and Jim Webster, chef at the famed Wild Rice Restaurant, about the way they create exquisite regional cuisine.
I’ll be reading from my memoir, I Hear Voices, and signing books at Wild Rice starting at 5:00pm on Friday. Hope to see you there!
And all you moms - Happy Mother’s Day!
Jean
Friday, April 30, 2010
May 3 - 7 Programs
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Jean’s Pick of the Week: We couldn’t have found two more perceptive, well-informed, or articulate guests to talk about the gritty topic of Securing the Bomb than Pulitzer Prize winner David Hoffman (The Dead Hand – check it out. If you’ve lived through the Cold War you’ll want to know what was really going on while we were watching Lassie) and Matthew Bunn (Securing the Bomb). It’s particularly wonderful when great guests know each other and respect each other’s work, as these two obviously did.
Monday: The Secret World of Doing Nothing: Waiting, daydreaming and doing nothing might seem like empty spaces in our busy daily lives, but they are actually full of meaning. We talk to Orvar Löfgren, co-author of The Secret World of Doing Nothing, and find out why taking a close look at doing nothing can be enlightening.
Tuesday: The Shanghai Expo: To many Americans, the World Fair is a spectacle gone the way of the dodo, but to the rest of the world — which knows them as “Expos” — they are still a regular and awe-inspiring event, and Expo 2010-Shanghai, opening this weekend, will be no exception. It’s set to become the largest, best-attended, and highest-tech Expo in world history.
One-Day Pledge Drive on Wednesday: John Nichols on International News: Nobody does it better than our own Here on Earth Correspondent John Nichols. John weighs in on the top international stories of the year to date.
Thursday: We’re working on a program about endangered languages that still survive in the great ethnic melting pot of New York City.
Friday: The Pasta Cure: If food is love and love heals, does that mean that food heals? After Paula Butturini’s husband John was struck by a single sniper bullet that almost killed him, the couple’s life was turned upside down. John plunged into deep depression. But the restorative powers of Italian meals, shared three times daily, brought the couple back to life.
Catch you later!
Jean
Jean’s Pick of the Week: We couldn’t have found two more perceptive, well-informed, or articulate guests to talk about the gritty topic of Securing the Bomb than Pulitzer Prize winner David Hoffman (The Dead Hand – check it out. If you’ve lived through the Cold War you’ll want to know what was really going on while we were watching Lassie) and Matthew Bunn (Securing the Bomb). It’s particularly wonderful when great guests know each other and respect each other’s work, as these two obviously did.
Monday: The Secret World of Doing Nothing: Waiting, daydreaming and doing nothing might seem like empty spaces in our busy daily lives, but they are actually full of meaning. We talk to Orvar Löfgren, co-author of The Secret World of Doing Nothing, and find out why taking a close look at doing nothing can be enlightening.
Tuesday: The Shanghai Expo: To many Americans, the World Fair is a spectacle gone the way of the dodo, but to the rest of the world — which knows them as “Expos” — they are still a regular and awe-inspiring event, and Expo 2010-Shanghai, opening this weekend, will be no exception. It’s set to become the largest, best-attended, and highest-tech Expo in world history.
One-Day Pledge Drive on Wednesday: John Nichols on International News: Nobody does it better than our own Here on Earth Correspondent John Nichols. John weighs in on the top international stories of the year to date.
Thursday: We’re working on a program about endangered languages that still survive in the great ethnic melting pot of New York City.
Friday: The Pasta Cure: If food is love and love heals, does that mean that food heals? After Paula Butturini’s husband John was struck by a single sniper bullet that almost killed him, the couple’s life was turned upside down. John plunged into deep depression. But the restorative powers of Italian meals, shared three times daily, brought the couple back to life.
Catch you later!
Jean
Friday, April 23, 2010
April 26 - 30 Programs
Thursday, Earth Day, April 22, 2010
Jean’s Pick of the Week: Well, how can you not pick Heaven? I was expecting a more secular perspective from a Newsweek editor, but Lisa Miller seemed unapologetic about expressing her Jewish beliefs, even in an area as curious as bodily resurrection. As for my own skepticism about that particular item in the Apostles’ Creed, I’m sorry to have upset a number of you, but, after all, isn’t belief in the spirit of free inquiry part of what public radio stands for?
Monday: The Virgin of Guadalupe in New York: (Oh, God, not another program about religion – actually, this one’s about Mexican immigration ) Almost 500 years ago, the dark-skinned Virgin of Guadalupe is said to have appeared to an indigenous Mexican Indian. In today’s New York City, Mexican immigrants rely on her image to guide them through hardship and help mobilize their fight for their rights.
Tuesday: Being With Animals: Beginning with the cave paintings in France to the Elephant God, Ganesh, to the American Bald Eagle, animals have dominated our psyches thousands of years. But, why? What accounts for their enduring power?
Wednesday: Securing the Bomb: Was President Obama’s Nuclear Security Summit a success? We’ll talk with Harvard scientist and author of the annual report, Securing the Bomb, Matthew Bunn and journalist David E. Hoffman, who just won a Pulitzer for his book on the dangerous legacy of the Cold War about what was accomplished and what remains to be done in securing the world’s nuclear material.
Thursday: And Now: From Inside Islam - The Program You’ve All Been Waiting For: Jihad: We’ll talk about its several meanings, how it developed in the Qur’an, in Islamic law, and inside Al Quaeda with scholars who understand its use in both the West and the East (by both Napoleon and Ronald Reagan!), and how terrorists use it to justify operating outside the law.
Friday: A Cooking Tour of Japan: Are you sushi fan? Or do seaweed and tofu turn you off? Sarah Marx Feldner shares her story of how she fell in love with the cuisine while traveling through Japan.
I’m on my way to the Earth Dinner at the Wisconsin State Historical Society.
Happy Earth Day!
Jean
Jean’s Pick of the Week: Well, how can you not pick Heaven? I was expecting a more secular perspective from a Newsweek editor, but Lisa Miller seemed unapologetic about expressing her Jewish beliefs, even in an area as curious as bodily resurrection. As for my own skepticism about that particular item in the Apostles’ Creed, I’m sorry to have upset a number of you, but, after all, isn’t belief in the spirit of free inquiry part of what public radio stands for?
Monday: The Virgin of Guadalupe in New York: (Oh, God, not another program about religion – actually, this one’s about Mexican immigration ) Almost 500 years ago, the dark-skinned Virgin of Guadalupe is said to have appeared to an indigenous Mexican Indian. In today’s New York City, Mexican immigrants rely on her image to guide them through hardship and help mobilize their fight for their rights.
Tuesday: Being With Animals: Beginning with the cave paintings in France to the Elephant God, Ganesh, to the American Bald Eagle, animals have dominated our psyches thousands of years. But, why? What accounts for their enduring power?
Wednesday: Securing the Bomb: Was President Obama’s Nuclear Security Summit a success? We’ll talk with Harvard scientist and author of the annual report, Securing the Bomb, Matthew Bunn and journalist David E. Hoffman, who just won a Pulitzer for his book on the dangerous legacy of the Cold War about what was accomplished and what remains to be done in securing the world’s nuclear material.
Thursday: And Now: From Inside Islam - The Program You’ve All Been Waiting For: Jihad: We’ll talk about its several meanings, how it developed in the Qur’an, in Islamic law, and inside Al Quaeda with scholars who understand its use in both the West and the East (by both Napoleon and Ronald Reagan!), and how terrorists use it to justify operating outside the law.
Friday: A Cooking Tour of Japan: Are you sushi fan? Or do seaweed and tofu turn you off? Sarah Marx Feldner shares her story of how she fell in love with the cuisine while traveling through Japan.
I’m on my way to the Earth Dinner at the Wisconsin State Historical Society.
Happy Earth Day!
Jean
Friday, April 16, 2010
April 19 - 23 Programs
Thursday, April 15 (!), 2010
Jean’s Pick of the Week: Nick Lantz: A Poet’s Way of Knowing and Not Knowing: Everybody seemed to really dig Nick’s poetry. To tell the truth, I had to wrestle with it at first. It's so different from the way I was taught to write with Donald Hall and the Imagist School back in the seventies! Then, too, his subject matter is so dark. I had to really work to find the light that shines through the cracks. But it’s there. And it’s luminous. We didn’t have time for him to complete his reading of “The Year We Blew Up the Whale – Florence, Oregon,” but he waited long enough after the show to allow us to take his picture for our website and record him reading the rest of the poem. Click here to watch the video.
Monday: To Uphold The World: Over 2000 years ago, Afghanistan was part of a peaceful, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural empire ruled by the Indian emperor Ashoka. Ashoka was the first political figure to think of leadership in global terms. Bruce Rich, author of To Uphold the World, argues that Ashoka’s political legacy can help us find the path towards a peaceful 21st century.
Tuesday: Local Identity in the World Market: The idea of an indigenous entrepreneur seemed like an oxymoron until not too long ago. But in South America, some indigenous communities have recently marketed their indigenous identity to be a part of the world market, with success. What are their options and possible limitations in participating in a global economy?
Wednesday: Heaven! Dante and Milton both attempted to describe Paradise, but now, with Newsweek’s religion editor Lisa Miller’s new book, Heaven: Our Enduring Fascination With The Afterlife, we have a journalist’s diverse perspectives on the way we imagine life after death.
Thursday: Earth Day: The Greenest Building in America: Three Benedictine Sisters have quietly built the greenest building in America on a tranquil prairie setting outside Madison, Wisconsin. The new chapel at Holy Wisdom Monastery was not only awarded a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum rating by the US Green Building Council but received 63 out of a possible 69 points – the highest LEED Platinum rating in the country to date.
Friday: Food and Identity: Why do Jews keep kosher and shun pork? What is the purpose of food taboos? Jordon Rosenblum has some interesting explanations.
I’m on my way to my annual retreat at Cedar Valley Center. We’ll talk again on Monday.
Jean
Jean’s Pick of the Week: Nick Lantz: A Poet’s Way of Knowing and Not Knowing: Everybody seemed to really dig Nick’s poetry. To tell the truth, I had to wrestle with it at first. It's so different from the way I was taught to write with Donald Hall and the Imagist School back in the seventies! Then, too, his subject matter is so dark. I had to really work to find the light that shines through the cracks. But it’s there. And it’s luminous. We didn’t have time for him to complete his reading of “The Year We Blew Up the Whale – Florence, Oregon,” but he waited long enough after the show to allow us to take his picture for our website and record him reading the rest of the poem. Click here to watch the video.
Monday: To Uphold The World: Over 2000 years ago, Afghanistan was part of a peaceful, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural empire ruled by the Indian emperor Ashoka. Ashoka was the first political figure to think of leadership in global terms. Bruce Rich, author of To Uphold the World, argues that Ashoka’s political legacy can help us find the path towards a peaceful 21st century.
Tuesday: Local Identity in the World Market: The idea of an indigenous entrepreneur seemed like an oxymoron until not too long ago. But in South America, some indigenous communities have recently marketed their indigenous identity to be a part of the world market, with success. What are their options and possible limitations in participating in a global economy?
Wednesday: Heaven! Dante and Milton both attempted to describe Paradise, but now, with Newsweek’s religion editor Lisa Miller’s new book, Heaven: Our Enduring Fascination With The Afterlife, we have a journalist’s diverse perspectives on the way we imagine life after death.
Thursday: Earth Day: The Greenest Building in America: Three Benedictine Sisters have quietly built the greenest building in America on a tranquil prairie setting outside Madison, Wisconsin. The new chapel at Holy Wisdom Monastery was not only awarded a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum rating by the US Green Building Council but received 63 out of a possible 69 points – the highest LEED Platinum rating in the country to date.
Friday: Food and Identity: Why do Jews keep kosher and shun pork? What is the purpose of food taboos? Jordon Rosenblum has some interesting explanations.
I’m on my way to my annual retreat at Cedar Valley Center. We’ll talk again on Monday.
Jean
Madison Country Day School - Oxfam Hunger Banquet
Friday, April 16th, 2010
I had a remarkable experience at the Madison Country Day School last January when I was invited to give a little talk at the Oxfam Hunger Banquet the school was hosting. If you haven’t yet experienced an Oxfam Hunger Banquet, I really recommend it. While one group was dining sumptuously by candlelight, I chose to sit on the floor under a tent, Bedouin style, with the group that was offered just a handful of rice served in a banana leaf with a cup of water. In spite of the meager provisions, there was a cozy feeling under that tent, and the rice was cooked to perfection and seemed to me quite delicious even though the whole point of the exercise was to experience solidarity with the millions of poor people on earth who live in extreme poverty. What impressed me most about the event was the quality of the students who presented themselves with real compassion and professionalism and who were also extraordinarily warm and welcoming. I was especially grateful to Sandra Fernandez who helped organize the event and sent me the invitation. What made the evening all the more poignant was the fact that news of the earthquake in Haiti had just broken and the uppermost in my mind was the fact that even before the quake had hit, many Haitian children were subsisting on mud cookies made with water from Port o’ Prince sewers.
I had a remarkable experience at the Madison Country Day School last January when I was invited to give a little talk at the Oxfam Hunger Banquet the school was hosting. If you haven’t yet experienced an Oxfam Hunger Banquet, I really recommend it. While one group was dining sumptuously by candlelight, I chose to sit on the floor under a tent, Bedouin style, with the group that was offered just a handful of rice served in a banana leaf with a cup of water. In spite of the meager provisions, there was a cozy feeling under that tent, and the rice was cooked to perfection and seemed to me quite delicious even though the whole point of the exercise was to experience solidarity with the millions of poor people on earth who live in extreme poverty. What impressed me most about the event was the quality of the students who presented themselves with real compassion and professionalism and who were also extraordinarily warm and welcoming. I was especially grateful to Sandra Fernandez who helped organize the event and sent me the invitation. What made the evening all the more poignant was the fact that news of the earthquake in Haiti had just broken and the uppermost in my mind was the fact that even before the quake had hit, many Haitian children were subsisting on mud cookies made with water from Port o’ Prince sewers.
Friday, April 09, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Jean’s Pick of the Week: Islamic Feminism on Inside Islam: Dialogues and Debates: For sheer exhilaration, inspiration, and a real intellectual work-out, this program about the growing Islamic feminist global movement really stands out in our ongoing Inside Islam series. And we even got a tweet from Malaysia!
Monday: Marrying Out: Where better to test the potentials of interfaith relations than a marriage? Join us with Professor of History and Religious Studies and director of the Lubar Institute for the Study of Abrahamic Religions, Charles Cohen, (he’s Jewish) along with his wife Christine Schindler, (she’s Christian) as they lead a conversation about the challenges and rewards of marrying out.
Tuesday: The Music of Vodou: In the aftermath of the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti, the government has been calling back its vodou priests from the Diaspora to assist in the nation’s healing. Erol Josue is one of them. An accomplished musician whose music reflects his immersion in Haitian religious practices and beliefs, he says music is as central to vodou as the Bible is to Christianity.
Wednesday: Nick and the Candlestick: Nick Lantz’s new collection of Poetry, We Don’t Know We Don’t Know, takes its title and inspiration in part from this and other cryptic Rumsfeldisms from Bush’s former Secretary of Defense, but just to show how eclectic he is, this amazing and puzzling new poet also borrows from Pliny the Elder and has written a scalding long poem about torture, “Will There Be More Than One Questioner?” which you may remember from our program about the Guantanamo cover-up. Come help me get inside this remarkable new poet’s head.
Thursday: The Desert of Forbidden Art: How does art survive in a time of oppression? During the Soviet rule, artists following their own vision were persecuted. But Igor Savitzky, a passionate young art collector, tricked the Soviet rulers into giving him money to salvage 40,000 works of forbidden art and to create a unique collection of Russian Avant Garde paintings in the desert of Uzbekistan. We talk with the filmmakers of the film Desert of Forbidden Art, featured at this month’s Wisconsin Film Festival.
Friday: What We Eat When We Eat Alone: We’re resurrecting this archived program from our collection of Food Friday favorites: What do you eat when no one is watching? Fried spam with grape jelly? Left-over spaghetti sandwiches? A glass of zabaglione? Cookbook author Deborah Madison has been collecting answers to that question and the results may make your jaw drop.
Think daffodils and help me bring back the spring!
Jean
Jean’s Pick of the Week: Islamic Feminism on Inside Islam: Dialogues and Debates: For sheer exhilaration, inspiration, and a real intellectual work-out, this program about the growing Islamic feminist global movement really stands out in our ongoing Inside Islam series. And we even got a tweet from Malaysia!
Monday: Marrying Out: Where better to test the potentials of interfaith relations than a marriage? Join us with Professor of History and Religious Studies and director of the Lubar Institute for the Study of Abrahamic Religions, Charles Cohen, (he’s Jewish) along with his wife Christine Schindler, (she’s Christian) as they lead a conversation about the challenges and rewards of marrying out.
Tuesday: The Music of Vodou: In the aftermath of the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti, the government has been calling back its vodou priests from the Diaspora to assist in the nation’s healing. Erol Josue is one of them. An accomplished musician whose music reflects his immersion in Haitian religious practices and beliefs, he says music is as central to vodou as the Bible is to Christianity.
Wednesday: Nick and the Candlestick: Nick Lantz’s new collection of Poetry, We Don’t Know We Don’t Know, takes its title and inspiration in part from this and other cryptic Rumsfeldisms from Bush’s former Secretary of Defense, but just to show how eclectic he is, this amazing and puzzling new poet also borrows from Pliny the Elder and has written a scalding long poem about torture, “Will There Be More Than One Questioner?” which you may remember from our program about the Guantanamo cover-up. Come help me get inside this remarkable new poet’s head.
Thursday: The Desert of Forbidden Art: How does art survive in a time of oppression? During the Soviet rule, artists following their own vision were persecuted. But Igor Savitzky, a passionate young art collector, tricked the Soviet rulers into giving him money to salvage 40,000 works of forbidden art and to create a unique collection of Russian Avant Garde paintings in the desert of Uzbekistan. We talk with the filmmakers of the film Desert of Forbidden Art, featured at this month’s Wisconsin Film Festival.
Friday: What We Eat When We Eat Alone: We’re resurrecting this archived program from our collection of Food Friday favorites: What do you eat when no one is watching? Fried spam with grape jelly? Left-over spaghetti sandwiches? A glass of zabaglione? Cookbook author Deborah Madison has been collecting answers to that question and the results may make your jaw drop.
Think daffodils and help me bring back the spring!
Jean
Friday, April 02, 2010
April 5 - 9 Programs
Thursday, April Fools’ Day!
Jean’s Pick of the Week: Jamming with Wales: There’s something so delightfully whimsical about the idea of chasing whales around the world, playing your clarinet and hoping that the whales will jam with you. But David Rothenberg is quite serious about his interspecies musicianship, first with birds and now with whales, and he’s broken through some amazing barriers with his experiments in making music with animals. I think of him as a first-class 21st century man.
Monday: The Wall: The story of the West Bank Barrier separating Israel from the Palestinian territories, which will be completed later this year, is a sad tale. And we wouldn’t be telling it if we hadn’t found a Here on Earth angle: French journalist René Backmann has been covering the conflict for 25 years and has written a book about the wall from both sides. He joins us with an Israeli couple whose organization, Yesh Din, helps carry Palestinian grievances through the Israeli justice system.
Tuesday: Mixing the Races: In his first memoir, John Phillip Santos traced his father’s Mexican mestizo family back into an indigenous world that flourished before the Spanish conquest. In his new memoir—or, you could say the other half of his first—he turns his gaze to the conquerors—his mother’s ancestors. How far back do you have to look on your family tree to find someone of another nationality, allegiance, or race?
Wednesday: A Different Way to Fight Extremism: “Do I like the legacy I’m leaving behind?” After asking herself that question, Julia Bolz, who was once practicing law in Seattle, is now devoting her life to fighting extremism by building schools in Afghanistan.
Thursday: Islamic Feminism: A Sister-wide Global Movement: Saudi Arabia’s recent plan to remove women from praying near the Ka'ba was scotched by a huge global outcry coming from Islamic feminists, even from inside Saudi Arabia, claiming gender discrimination that violates the Qur’anic principle of equality. What does Islamic feminism have to offer? Where does it come from and where is it going? Expect some surprising revelations and illuminations to come from this next program in our Inside Islam series.
Friday: Corked: Kathryn Borel was like her father in every way but one: she just didn’t get it when it came to wine. So she decided to take him on a drunken father-daughter road trip through the French countryside, where they finally connected – over wine.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a believing Christian or not, this is one weekend to celebrate all that rises!
Happy Easter!
Jean
Jean’s Pick of the Week: Jamming with Wales: There’s something so delightfully whimsical about the idea of chasing whales around the world, playing your clarinet and hoping that the whales will jam with you. But David Rothenberg is quite serious about his interspecies musicianship, first with birds and now with whales, and he’s broken through some amazing barriers with his experiments in making music with animals. I think of him as a first-class 21st century man.
Monday: The Wall: The story of the West Bank Barrier separating Israel from the Palestinian territories, which will be completed later this year, is a sad tale. And we wouldn’t be telling it if we hadn’t found a Here on Earth angle: French journalist René Backmann has been covering the conflict for 25 years and has written a book about the wall from both sides. He joins us with an Israeli couple whose organization, Yesh Din, helps carry Palestinian grievances through the Israeli justice system.
Tuesday: Mixing the Races: In his first memoir, John Phillip Santos traced his father’s Mexican mestizo family back into an indigenous world that flourished before the Spanish conquest. In his new memoir—or, you could say the other half of his first—he turns his gaze to the conquerors—his mother’s ancestors. How far back do you have to look on your family tree to find someone of another nationality, allegiance, or race?
Wednesday: A Different Way to Fight Extremism: “Do I like the legacy I’m leaving behind?” After asking herself that question, Julia Bolz, who was once practicing law in Seattle, is now devoting her life to fighting extremism by building schools in Afghanistan.
Thursday: Islamic Feminism: A Sister-wide Global Movement: Saudi Arabia’s recent plan to remove women from praying near the Ka'ba was scotched by a huge global outcry coming from Islamic feminists, even from inside Saudi Arabia, claiming gender discrimination that violates the Qur’anic principle of equality. What does Islamic feminism have to offer? Where does it come from and where is it going? Expect some surprising revelations and illuminations to come from this next program in our Inside Islam series.
Friday: Corked: Kathryn Borel was like her father in every way but one: she just didn’t get it when it came to wine. So she decided to take him on a drunken father-daughter road trip through the French countryside, where they finally connected – over wine.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a believing Christian or not, this is one weekend to celebrate all that rises!
Happy Easter!
Jean
Friday, March 26, 2010
March 29 - April 2 Programs
Thursday, Mar. 25, 2010
Jean’s Pick of the Week: The best thing about hosting Here on Earth is the way it opens my mind and challenges my most carefully guarded stereotypes. Last Friday’s food show with Colman Andrew’s did that for me on the subject of Irish Country Cooking (even though they don’t know how to cook brussel sprouts!), and yesterday’s show on Nordic Noir with the completely delightful Nete Schmidt shattered some of my most deeply held beliefs about the morbidly morose Swedes who turn out to be a rather happy bunch after all! But the golden ring this week goes to sound artist Matthew Burtner whose wildly eclectic ecoacoustical music reminded me of just how astonishing it is to be here on earth!
Monday: The Ethical Traveler: On a par with oil, tourism has become one of the world’s biggest industries. But let’s face it, most of us would rather think of ourselves as “travelers” than “tourists.” Jeff Greenwald, founder of The Ethical Traveler, talks about the power of travel, his top destinations for 2010, and what it takes to travel with a conscience.
Tuesday: Jamming with Whales: Remember David Rothenberg, the musician/philosopher who traveled all over the world studying the song patterns of birds to make his music? Well, he’s at it again, this time with whales. His new book and album document his jam sessions with humpback whales around the world.
Wednesday: Leadership Lessons From Nelson Mandela: This is the book we’ve been waiting for: Mandela’s Way, by Richard Stengel, Nelson Mandela’s biographer and long time friend.
Thursday: Jesus the Man: The story of Jesus will be retold many times this week, but not the way filmmaker Paul Verhoeven (Robo Cop, Showgirls) tells it. The only non-theologian member of the Jesus Seminars, Paul Verhoeven, talks about his lifelong pursuit of the historical Jesus of Nazareth and how it has formed and reformed his faith.
Friday: Memories of a Croatian Easter: Stephanie Vuljanic-Lemke left her native Croatia while still a teenager in the aftermath of World War II when Easter meant big bonfires, nettle soup, and piscanica, the traditional Croatian art of embroidered Easter eggs.
I’ll be spending a few days in Montreal this weekend. Thanks to Veronica Rueckert and Lori Skelton for sitting in for me.
Jean
Jean’s Pick of the Week: The best thing about hosting Here on Earth is the way it opens my mind and challenges my most carefully guarded stereotypes. Last Friday’s food show with Colman Andrew’s did that for me on the subject of Irish Country Cooking (even though they don’t know how to cook brussel sprouts!), and yesterday’s show on Nordic Noir with the completely delightful Nete Schmidt shattered some of my most deeply held beliefs about the morbidly morose Swedes who turn out to be a rather happy bunch after all! But the golden ring this week goes to sound artist Matthew Burtner whose wildly eclectic ecoacoustical music reminded me of just how astonishing it is to be here on earth!
Monday: The Ethical Traveler: On a par with oil, tourism has become one of the world’s biggest industries. But let’s face it, most of us would rather think of ourselves as “travelers” than “tourists.” Jeff Greenwald, founder of The Ethical Traveler, talks about the power of travel, his top destinations for 2010, and what it takes to travel with a conscience.
Tuesday: Jamming with Whales: Remember David Rothenberg, the musician/philosopher who traveled all over the world studying the song patterns of birds to make his music? Well, he’s at it again, this time with whales. His new book and album document his jam sessions with humpback whales around the world.
Wednesday: Leadership Lessons From Nelson Mandela: This is the book we’ve been waiting for: Mandela’s Way, by Richard Stengel, Nelson Mandela’s biographer and long time friend.
Thursday: Jesus the Man: The story of Jesus will be retold many times this week, but not the way filmmaker Paul Verhoeven (Robo Cop, Showgirls) tells it. The only non-theologian member of the Jesus Seminars, Paul Verhoeven, talks about his lifelong pursuit of the historical Jesus of Nazareth and how it has formed and reformed his faith.
Friday: Memories of a Croatian Easter: Stephanie Vuljanic-Lemke left her native Croatia while still a teenager in the aftermath of World War II when Easter meant big bonfires, nettle soup, and piscanica, the traditional Croatian art of embroidered Easter eggs.
I’ll be spending a few days in Montreal this weekend. Thanks to Veronica Rueckert and Lori Skelton for sitting in for me.
Jean
Friday, March 19, 2010
March 22 - 26 Programs
Jean’s Pick of the Week: Celebrating International Poetry Day: It’s no secret that I love poetry. I don’t always love it in translation, however, so when the new Ecco Anthology of International Poetry arrived this week, I was completely thrilled to discover a real treasure trove of poets from all over the world translated by other poets. There’s something about the book I can’t quite put my finger on that makes it easy to peruse and quite inviting. Plus, there’s a marvelous introduction by the Russian poet Ilya Kaminsky (co-editor with Susan Harris) that makes the most convincing argument I have yet come across for poetry in translation. It really opened my mind.
Monday: New Interfaith Visions: The last time Jim Wallis appeared on Here on Earth, people at the supermarket were collaring me to tell me how much they enjoyed the program. Since Monday is a furlough day at the UW, we thought you might enjoy listening again to Jim as he talks about the search for common ground between Christians and Muslims and how to move beyond a polite ecumenical dialogue to make peace.
Tuesday: Engineers Without Borders: I bet you don’t think of engineers as people- people. I didn’t. It turns out that a whole generation of young engineers is re-thinking the way they go about helping people in the developing world by using community-based design.
Wednesday: Crime literature, Scandinavian style: The film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, based on the first part of Stieg Larsson’s widely successful crime trilogy, will be released this Friday, March 19th, in the US.Why is it that Scandinavia, with its notoriously low crime rates, has produced such an abundant and successful body of crime literature? Guest: Nete Schmidt, Senior Lecturer of Scandinavian Studies at UW-Madison.
Thursday: Sounds of melting ice and wandering sand: Matthew Burtner, visiting sound artist at UW-Green Bay this week, makes wildly evocative eclectic sound pieces out of the natural environment. This program should be a real treat for the senses.
Friday: A Food Friday Favorite: Lake Winnebago Caviar: "I spoon out some eggs to taste and am struck by how firm they are," Jean Feraca remembers her first taste of caviar. "When I gently bite them they explode with a delightful creaminess. I’m swept away into a daydream of seaside villages and Volga River fishing boats, but then I remember I haven’t left Wisconsin."
Now that it is spring
And raining,
Might we have a slightly different expression, O Owl?
I’ve been thinking about that little poem by Basho, translated by Robert Bly, all day. Now it’s yours.
Jean
Monday: New Interfaith Visions: The last time Jim Wallis appeared on Here on Earth, people at the supermarket were collaring me to tell me how much they enjoyed the program. Since Monday is a furlough day at the UW, we thought you might enjoy listening again to Jim as he talks about the search for common ground between Christians and Muslims and how to move beyond a polite ecumenical dialogue to make peace.
Tuesday: Engineers Without Borders: I bet you don’t think of engineers as people- people. I didn’t. It turns out that a whole generation of young engineers is re-thinking the way they go about helping people in the developing world by using community-based design.
Wednesday: Crime literature, Scandinavian style: The film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, based on the first part of Stieg Larsson’s widely successful crime trilogy, will be released this Friday, March 19th, in the US.Why is it that Scandinavia, with its notoriously low crime rates, has produced such an abundant and successful body of crime literature? Guest: Nete Schmidt, Senior Lecturer of Scandinavian Studies at UW-Madison.
Thursday: Sounds of melting ice and wandering sand: Matthew Burtner, visiting sound artist at UW-Green Bay this week, makes wildly evocative eclectic sound pieces out of the natural environment. This program should be a real treat for the senses.
Friday: A Food Friday Favorite: Lake Winnebago Caviar: "I spoon out some eggs to taste and am struck by how firm they are," Jean Feraca remembers her first taste of caviar. "When I gently bite them they explode with a delightful creaminess. I’m swept away into a daydream of seaside villages and Volga River fishing boats, but then I remember I haven’t left Wisconsin."
Now that it is spring
And raining,
Might we have a slightly different expression, O Owl?
I’ve been thinking about that little poem by Basho, translated by Robert Bly, all day. Now it’s yours.
Jean
Friday, March 12, 2010
March 15-19 Programs
Jean’s Pick of the Week: On Inside Islam: The Art of Qur’anic Recitation: Working with Anna M. Gade and Reem Hilal on this program made me understand how Muslims who memorize the Koran without knowing Arabic can still be getting the message. Perhaps we in the West over-emphasize cognition in our pedagogy. There are other ways of learning, as anyone who studies poetry can tell you. Being a multifaceted text that defies ordinary notions of what a book is supposed to be, the Qur’an lends itself to many different levels of understanding. Donald Hall, who taught me how to write poetry, used to talk about the difference between semantics – i.e. the dictionary meaning of a word – and somatics (soma meaning body) – i.e. meaning that is conveyed primarily through the sounds that words make. When you combine these two ways of understanding, and more as in Qur’anic recitation, it’s like combining body, mind, and soul.
Monday: Bringing Hope to Liberia: In the wake of a prolonged and particularly vicious civil war, Liberia is still a country without roads, banks, toilets, or even a postal system. So, given those circumstances, how did one former Peace Corps volunteer manage to return to the country and build a school there?
Iron Ladies ofLiberia , a film about President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and the Liberia in the aftermath of its civil war, will be shown at Edgewood College in Madison , Wi
Tuesday: The Fight for a Better Burma: Burma is home to the longest-running civil war in the world, which has been taking place between the ethnic group of the Karen and the Burmese state for over 60 years. Mac McClelland spent time with Karen refugees who risk their lives to make their story known. We talk with her about her new book, For Us Surrender Is Out Of Question.
Wednesday: Faith in Schools: The work of American missionaries in places like Eastern Africa is accompanied by promises for a better world but also surrounded by a lot of controversy. We talk with Amy Stambach, Professor of Educational Policy and Anthropology at UW-Madison, about the two-way exchange between missionaries and local people.
Thursday: International Poetry Day: In honor of the spring solstice, we celebrate poetry from around the world with Susan Harris of Words Without Borders.
Friday: Irish Country Cooking: If Irish food makes you think of boiled potatoes and cabbage, Colman Andrews’ new cookbook The Country Cooking of Ireland will change your view. A country rich in bakers, farmers, and cheesemakers, and with sea coasts teeming with fish and fields verdant with produce, Ireland has been a hotbed of farm-to-table dining for centuries. We’ll learn its culinary secrets as we explore its flavorful and earthy fare.
I’m on my way toSt. Croix Falls
Monday: Bringing Hope to Liberia: In the wake of a prolonged and particularly vicious civil war, Liberia is still a country without roads, banks, toilets, or even a postal system. So, given those circumstances, how did one former Peace Corps volunteer manage to return to the country and build a school there?
Iron Ladies of
Tuesday: The Fight for a Better Burma: Burma is home to the longest-running civil war in the world, which has been taking place between the ethnic group of the Karen and the Burmese state for over 60 years. Mac McClelland spent time with Karen refugees who risk their lives to make their story known. We talk with her about her new book, For Us Surrender Is Out Of Question.
Wednesday: Faith in Schools: The work of American missionaries in places like Eastern Africa is accompanied by promises for a better world but also surrounded by a lot of controversy. We talk with Amy Stambach, Professor of Educational Policy and Anthropology at UW-Madison, about the two-way exchange between missionaries and local people.
Thursday: International Poetry Day: In honor of the spring solstice, we celebrate poetry from around the world with Susan Harris of Words Without Borders.
Friday: Irish Country Cooking: If Irish food makes you think of boiled potatoes and cabbage, Colman Andrews’ new cookbook The Country Cooking of Ireland will change your view. A country rich in bakers, farmers, and cheesemakers, and with sea coasts teeming with fish and fields verdant with produce, Ireland has been a hotbed of farm-to-table dining for centuries. We’ll learn its culinary secrets as we explore its flavorful and earthy fare.
I’m on my way to
Friday, March 05, 2010
March 8 - 12 Programs
Jean’s Pick of the Week: Our Food Friday program on hunger in America garnered so many donations from you, our listeners, so much so that I'm thinking about volunteering! How 'bout you?
Monday: International Adoption: How does the witness of adult adoptees give us a broader understanding of what it means to adopt and be adopted across borders?
Tuesday: Today’s global economy is exerting its power on higher education around the world. As technical skills gain in value, broad liberal arts education is losing its popularity. But in two of the world’s economic powerhouses, the United States and China, there are still those who argue for the enduring value of the liberal arts in creating creative, critical thinkers and citizens. We’ll discuss global shifts in higher education and why it matters.
Wednesday: Tea on the Axis of Evil: A film about daily life in Syria featured in next weekend’s Arab Film Festival in the Twin Cities.
Thursday: Inside Islam: Art of Qur’anic Recitation: Among Muslims, Qur’anic recitation is a highly advanced art form intended to move, inspire, engage, and transport all those who listen. What is the purpose of Qur’anic recitation? How does it relate to life in the 21st century? What’s your personal experience of hearing the Qur’an recited?
Friday: We have a lot to learn from how other cultures approach health and medicine. The authors of Ancient Wisdom, Modern Kitchen: Recipes from the East for Health, Healing, and Long Life, offer dishes as tasty as they are therapeutic: Five Color Stir Fry with Scallops and Ginkgo, Soba Noodles with Miso-Sesame Sauce, and Soothing Shrimp with Asparagus and Gogi Berries.
Spring is on the way!
Jean
Monday: International Adoption: How does the witness of adult adoptees give us a broader understanding of what it means to adopt and be adopted across borders?
Tuesday: Today’s global economy is exerting its power on higher education around the world. As technical skills gain in value, broad liberal arts education is losing its popularity. But in two of the world’s economic powerhouses, the United States and China, there are still those who argue for the enduring value of the liberal arts in creating creative, critical thinkers and citizens. We’ll discuss global shifts in higher education and why it matters.
Wednesday: Tea on the Axis of Evil: A film about daily life in Syria featured in next weekend’s Arab Film Festival in the Twin Cities.
Thursday: Inside Islam: Art of Qur’anic Recitation: Among Muslims, Qur’anic recitation is a highly advanced art form intended to move, inspire, engage, and transport all those who listen. What is the purpose of Qur’anic recitation? How does it relate to life in the 21st century? What’s your personal experience of hearing the Qur’an recited?
Friday: We have a lot to learn from how other cultures approach health and medicine. The authors of Ancient Wisdom, Modern Kitchen: Recipes from the East for Health, Healing, and Long Life, offer dishes as tasty as they are therapeutic: Five Color Stir Fry with Scallops and Ginkgo, Soba Noodles with Miso-Sesame Sauce, and Soothing Shrimp with Asparagus and Gogi Berries.
Spring is on the way!
Jean
Friday, February 26, 2010
March 1-5 Programs
Jean’s Pick of the Week: Crazy Like Us: Not only did Ethan Watters critique of our mental health industry and its exports provoke an interesting on-air discussion, it also stimulated our very first simultaneous live Facebook chat –- how cool is that?
Our February membership Drive will be in full swing by Monday, March 1, and since Here on Earth has been granted a selective reprieve from active pitching, we hope that our programming line-up for the week ahead will serve both to satisfy and soothe. (Look for The Return of the Craft Series.) Have mercy on the loyal WPR listener, we heard you say.
Monday: Charles Dickens: This new biography by Michael Slater, Emeritus Professor of Victorian Literature at the University of London, has been named a Best Book of 2009. Although there are not many mysteries about Dickens’ life, you may not really know him until you hit Hard Times.
Tuesday: Solastalgia? Australian philosopher Glenn Albrecht has coined a new term - solastalgia – for the feeling of loss we experience when the environment we live in undergoes drastic change. We’ll talk with him and with ecological artist Aviva Rahmani about what it takes to keep our environment healthy.
Wednesday: Negotiating with the Taliban? What about the War? At a recent conference in London, broad international support was expressed for the reintegration of Taliban fighters into Afghan society and President Karzai has already opened the door to those who would lay down their weapons. Is it time to negotiate with the Taliban? We’ll talk to two experts about the non-military solution in Afghanistan.
Thursday: Craft Series returns: The handmade garments from Alabama Chanin are “grown-to sewn” in the U.S.A, but if you ask Natalie Chanin what her company is all about, she’ll say it’s about something bigger than sustainable fashion. That’s why she holds workshops, collects histories, and why her new book contains a recipe for deviled eggs.
Food Friday: Hunger in Wisconsin: You’ll be surprised to learn about how it’s escalating, and how easy it is to help. We’ll talk with the CEO of Second Harvest and Helen Hazelmare of the Goodman Center.
It’s nearly March. In Italy, the Italians call it Matzo Marzo –- Crazy March. Thanks for helping me get through a rather beautiful winter. It only took me 26 years to appreciate it!
Jean
Our February membership Drive will be in full swing by Monday, March 1, and since Here on Earth has been granted a selective reprieve from active pitching, we hope that our programming line-up for the week ahead will serve both to satisfy and soothe. (Look for The Return of the Craft Series.) Have mercy on the loyal WPR listener, we heard you say.
Monday: Charles Dickens: This new biography by Michael Slater, Emeritus Professor of Victorian Literature at the University of London, has been named a Best Book of 2009. Although there are not many mysteries about Dickens’ life, you may not really know him until you hit Hard Times.
Tuesday: Solastalgia? Australian philosopher Glenn Albrecht has coined a new term - solastalgia – for the feeling of loss we experience when the environment we live in undergoes drastic change. We’ll talk with him and with ecological artist Aviva Rahmani about what it takes to keep our environment healthy.
Wednesday: Negotiating with the Taliban? What about the War? At a recent conference in London, broad international support was expressed for the reintegration of Taliban fighters into Afghan society and President Karzai has already opened the door to those who would lay down their weapons. Is it time to negotiate with the Taliban? We’ll talk to two experts about the non-military solution in Afghanistan.
Thursday: Craft Series returns: The handmade garments from Alabama Chanin are “grown-to sewn” in the U.S.A, but if you ask Natalie Chanin what her company is all about, she’ll say it’s about something bigger than sustainable fashion. That’s why she holds workshops, collects histories, and why her new book contains a recipe for deviled eggs.
Food Friday: Hunger in Wisconsin: You’ll be surprised to learn about how it’s escalating, and how easy it is to help. We’ll talk with the CEO of Second Harvest and Helen Hazelmare of the Goodman Center.
It’s nearly March. In Italy, the Italians call it Matzo Marzo –- Crazy March. Thanks for helping me get through a rather beautiful winter. It only took me 26 years to appreciate it!
Jean
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Feb 22-26 Programs
Jean’s Pick of the Week: Bread of Angels, hands down. I so delighted in Stephanie Saldana’s memoir about the year she spent in Damascus, learning Arabic, exploring her ancient Christian roots and diving into the Qur’an, that I called her up and told her Bread of Angels is a book I’d like to sleep with. On top of all that, it’s the most delicate love story I think I’ve ever come across. It explained so much about the greater jihad, the Muslim Jesus, and Maryam, the Muslim Virgin Mary, that this could easily have been an official part of our Inside Islam series.
Monday: A Road Trip Through China: Peter Hessler, in his new book, Country Driving, views China through the windshield, showing us how the automobile is at the constantly moving boundary of modernization in China, from farm to factory.
Tuesday: The Future of Journalism: Media critics John Nichols and Bob McChesney are at it again. In their latest critique, they’re saying traditional journalism is in trouble and needs to reinvent itself in order to survive.
Wednesday: Crazy Like Us: Ethan Watters is tracking mental illness around the globe, and he’s finding that the world is going crazy—American style. As doctors and pharmaceuticals cross borders, illnesses as defined by Western medicine, like depression and anorexia, are popping up in places they never before occurred while local ways of understanding mental health issues—from melancholy to what we call schizophrenia—are being lost. We’ll talk about cultural differences in understandings of the inner life, and why homogenization might not be a good thing.
Thursday: The Routes of Man: Roads bind our world both metaphorically and literally and transform landscapes and the lives of the people who inhabit them. Ted Conover, author of the book The Routes of Man, explores six of these key byways worldwide. From highway checkpoints in the West Bank to congestion and chaos on Nigerian freeways to a road that will forever change the lives of the inhabitants of the Indian Himalayas, he tells us harrowing stories of the impact that roads have on our world and our lives.
Friday: Lucid Food: How do you integrate food politics into a daily cooking practice that is convenient, affordable, and delicious? Sustainable chef and caterer Louisa Shafia will show us how to make simple, earth-friendly choices in the kitchen, and share recipes from her new cookbook, Lucid Food: Cooking for an Eco-Conscious Life.
Despair not! Spring is in the air! Have a lovely weekend,
Jean
Monday: A Road Trip Through China: Peter Hessler, in his new book, Country Driving, views China through the windshield, showing us how the automobile is at the constantly moving boundary of modernization in China, from farm to factory.
Tuesday: The Future of Journalism: Media critics John Nichols and Bob McChesney are at it again. In their latest critique, they’re saying traditional journalism is in trouble and needs to reinvent itself in order to survive.
Wednesday: Crazy Like Us: Ethan Watters is tracking mental illness around the globe, and he’s finding that the world is going crazy—American style. As doctors and pharmaceuticals cross borders, illnesses as defined by Western medicine, like depression and anorexia, are popping up in places they never before occurred while local ways of understanding mental health issues—from melancholy to what we call schizophrenia—are being lost. We’ll talk about cultural differences in understandings of the inner life, and why homogenization might not be a good thing.
Thursday: The Routes of Man: Roads bind our world both metaphorically and literally and transform landscapes and the lives of the people who inhabit them. Ted Conover, author of the book The Routes of Man, explores six of these key byways worldwide. From highway checkpoints in the West Bank to congestion and chaos on Nigerian freeways to a road that will forever change the lives of the inhabitants of the Indian Himalayas, he tells us harrowing stories of the impact that roads have on our world and our lives.
Friday: Lucid Food: How do you integrate food politics into a daily cooking practice that is convenient, affordable, and delicious? Sustainable chef and caterer Louisa Shafia will show us how to make simple, earth-friendly choices in the kitchen, and share recipes from her new cookbook, Lucid Food: Cooking for an Eco-Conscious Life.
Despair not! Spring is in the air! Have a lovely weekend,
Jean
Sunday, February 14, 2010
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
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
Sunday, February 07, 2010
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
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
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