Monday, April 27, 2009
Pete Seeger wrote or co-wrote many of our most iconic folk songs. Bob talked with him last year to coincide with the airing of his American Masters episode on PBS. Now, there’s a new set of his music being released. Rainbow Race / Now / Young Vs. Old includes 41 tracks from three of his finest albums, 1968’s Now, 1969’s “Young Vs. Old” and 1971’s “Rainbow Race” along with a previously banned 1970 single, “I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ To Die Rag,” in its first ever official release. Pete Seeger turns 90 on May 3rd.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
History is bound to repeat itself, and the world’s financial history is no different. In False Economy: A Surprising Economic History of the World, Financial Times world trade editor Alan Beattie explains how history can teach us how to pull out of our current economic woes. Then, in the mid-1920s, thousands of Jewish immigrant garment workers moved out of Manhattan ghettos by pooling their resources to build four cooperative apartment complexes in the Bronx. Even though most were first generation and Communists, the strength of that community helped propel them socially and economically. Producer Michal Goldman discusses the families and the challenges they faced, which are featured in her documentary, At Home in Utopia which airs today on PBS as part of the Independent Lens series.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Jonah Lehrer is the editor of Seed magazine and the author of Proust Was a Neuroscientist. His newest book examines how the human brain makes decisions. All decisions are made in the context of the real-world. Lehrer uses examples from professional “deciders” — quarterbacks, poker players, serial killers and pilots —- to help explain what’s happening in the brain when it’s trying to make up its mind. The book is called How We Decide.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
To celebrate Willie Nelson’s 76th birthday, we bring back Bob’s interview with biographer Joe Nick Patoski. He has spent nearly his entire career covering the Red Headed Stranger and getting some really good stories along the way. Patoski’s biography is called Willie Nelson: An Epic Life.
Friday, May 1, 2009
David Broder of The Washington Post joins Bob to talk about the latest news from the capital and beyond. Next, Mike Tyson was boxing’s biggest star in the 1980s. He was dominant in the ring, but the same inner-demons that propelled Tyson’s ferocity eventually led to his downfall. After serving time in prison and falling into bankruptcy, Mike Tyson contritely tells his own story in the new documentary, Tyson. Bob speak with director James Toback about Mike Tyson and his fascinating life journey. Then, today, we begin broadcasting classic audio essays from Edward R. Murrow’s 1950s This I Believe series on The Bob Edwards Show. Each week, Bob will talk with This I Believe executive producer Dan Gediman about a featured essayist and play the essay as originally broadcast more than 50 years ago. In addition to Edward R. Murrow’s personal essay, you’ll hear in weeks to come essays by baseball legend Jackie Robinson; Marty Mann, the first woman in AA; writer and activist Helen Keller; and Walter White, the long-time executive secretary of the NAACP.