Monday, May 25, 2009
It’s been more than forty years since many Americans were shipped to and died in the jungles of Vietnam. For this Memorial Day, we pay tribute to our service men and women with an encore presentation of our award-winning show Stories from Third Med: Surviving a Jungle ER. The documentary includes stories of the Navy’s Third Medical Battalion, which served alongside the Third Marine Division. They were based near the DMZ, closest to the enemy in North Vietnam. Four decades later, the doctors and corpsmen recount the horror (and humor) they can never forget, and reflect on the forces that drive men to war in the first place.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Writer Ruth Reichl is editor in chief for Gourmet, former food critic for both the New York and Los Angeles Times, and the author of three bestselling memoirs. Her latest memoir, Not Becoming My Mother and Other Things She Taught Me Along the Way, is a tribute to her mother, Miriam Brudno, whose larger than life personality dominated Reichl’s younger years. Then, neuroscientist Dr. Richard Restak asked his colleagues – who happen to be some of the world’s leading brain scientists and researchers – “what can we do to improve our brain power?” He compiled their answers, along with current neurological research and findings in Think Smart: A Neuroscientist’s Prescription for Improving Your Brain’s Performance.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
The American Cancer Society and the National Institutes of Health recommend women have a mammogram done every year starting at age 40. But there are more than a quarter million women who were diagnosed with breast cancer before they reached that age. Maimah Karmo is one of them. She is the founder of the Tigerlily Foundation, an organization whose mission is to educate young women about the risks of breast cancer. Then, philosopher Denis Dutton says evolution explains why we have become a species obsessed with artistic expression. In his new book, The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure and Human Evolution, Dutton debunks a century of art criticism and scholarship by arguing that human tastes in the arts are not determined by local culture or social constructs but are instead inborn and universal. Dutton is the founder and editor of the website Arts & Letters Daily which was named by the Guardian as the “best Web site in the world.”
Thursday, May 28, 2009
For her newest album, Neko Case trolled craigslist for free pianos and assembled a “piano orchestra.” The music makes a nice backdrop for Case’s spellbinding voice. Middle Cyclone debuted at #3 on the Billboard chart and is still holding steady on the indy charts. Case went on world tour, took a break and now heads back out for round two starting May 28 in Albuquerque.
Friday, May 29, 2009
David Broder of The Washington Post joins Bob to talk about the latest news from the capital and beyond. Next, between 1999 and 2000, the phone number of a conservative U.S. Senator appeared in the phone records of a Washington, DC call-girl service five times. That information was revealed as part of the investigation of Deborah Jeane Palfrey which began in 2006. Last May, the so-called “D.C. Madam” took her own life. Palfrey’s attorney and confidant, Montgomery Blair Sibley, discusses his client’s life and why he thinks the justice system protected the wrong people in Why Just Her – The Judicial Lynching of D.C. Madam, Deborah Jeane Palfrey. Then, this week’s installment of our ongoing series This I Believe, Bob talks with executive director Dan Gediman about the essay from Herbert Lehman. He co-founded the Lehman Brothers investment banking firm in 1908 and served in the Army during World War I, rising to the rank of colonel. Lehman, a Democrat, was Governor of New York from 1933 to 1942, and served as U.S. Senator from 1949 until 1957.