Monday, March 16, 2009
Writer Thomas Cahill first met Dominique Green in December 2003 at the request of a local judge. Green was on death row for twelve years for a murder he says he didn’t commit. Cahill pleaded for Green’s life, even recruiting Archbishop Desmond Tutu to help, saying Green had “a level of goodness, peace, and enlightenment that few human beings ever attain.” That fight ended on October 26, 2004 in Huntsville, Texas when the 30-year-old inmate was executed by lethal injection–but Cahill continues to tell this story, to end what he calls “unjust deaths at the hands of the state” in his new book titled A Saint on Death Row: The Story of Dominique Green.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
On this St. Patrick’s Day we dip into our archives. First Bob talks to Irish writer Roddy Doyle about his book Oh, Play That Thing. Then, Bob talks to Irish writer Frank McCourt about his memoir. Teacher Man focuses on McCourt’s three decades spent teaching English in New York City’s public school system. McCourt won the Pulitzer Prize for his first novel, Angela’s Ashes.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Newsweek Chief Political Correspondent Howard Fineman joins Bob to talk about the role of faith in government, the limits of individualism, local versus national authority, and ten other debates that are basic to the makeup of our nation. He writes about them in The Thirteen Arguments: Enduring Debates that Define and Inspire Our Country. It’s just been released in paperback.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Journalist Sarah Thornton’s Seven Days in the Art World is a fly-on-the-wall account of today’s many faceted art world. Thornton writes for The Art Newspaper and artforum.com. Then, writer and literary commentator Elaine Showalter tackled the daunting task of compiling the first comprehensive history of American female writers from 1650 to 2000. A Jury of Her Peers: American Women Writers from Anne Bradstreet to Annie Proulx includes the famous along with the obscure in this remarkable collection.
Friday, March 20, 2009
David Broder of The Washington Post joins Bob to talk live about the latest news from the capital and beyond. Then, Corneille is a young R&B artist who was born in Germany, raised in Rwanda, now holds Canadian citizenship, and sings in English and French. His sound has been compared to Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Sam Cooke. And although he has sold millions of records in both France and Canada, Corneille is relatively unknown in the US. Motown Records plans to change that. The label picked him up, changed his name and is releasing The Birth of Cornelius this month. And if the music doesn’t move people, the back-story will: Corneille’s parents and many members of his extended family were killed in the Rwandan genocide.