HOUR ONE
“Iran Inside Out” at the Chelsea Art Museum in New York presents more than 50 contemporary artists living both inside and out of Iran. The curators, Till Fellrath and Sam Bardaouil, describe the context and intent of the show, and four of the artists – Pooneh Maghazehe, Pouran Jinchi, Samira Abbassy, and Shoja Azari – discuss their art, the challenges they faced implementing this exhibit, and the importance of self-expression in the face of a repressive government..and pending revolution.
In this week’s installment of our ongoing series This I Believe, Bob talks with executive director Dan Gediman about the essay from Louise Dickinson Rich. Her life in northern Maine became the fodder for her best-selling book, We Took to the Woods. Following her husband’s death, Rich moved with her children back to her hometown of Bridgewater, Mass., where she wrote numerous adult and young adult books.
HOUR TWO
After he left the White House, Harry Truman drove his car and his wife Bess from Independence, Missouri to New York City and back again, stopping at motels and diners just like any other tourists. Matthew Algeo retraces the excursion in Harry Truman’s Excellent Adventure: The True Story of a Great American Road Trip. This Sunday would have been the Truman’s 90th wedding anniversary.
The Library of Congress adds 25 recordings deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” to the National Recording Registry each year. Eugene DeAnna, head of the Recorded Sound Section at the Library, joins Bob to discuss this year’s selections which include Marian Anderson’s recital at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939; the sounds of the ivory-billed woodpecker in the Louisiana swamp forest; Etta James’ “At Last”; Winston Churchill’s “Sinews of Peace” speech; and the original cast recording of “West Side Story.”