Bob Edwards Weekend Highlights – July 25-26, 2009
HOUR ONE
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller met as teenagers in Los Angeles in 1950, forming a songwriting team that churned out hits for early rhythm & blues artists—and later for Elvis Presley, The Drifters, The Coasters, Peggy Lee and many more. Their partnership even extends to a joint autobiography titled, Hound Dog.
In this week’s installment of our ongoing series This I Believe, Bob talks with executive director Dan Gediman about the essay from James A. Michener. He wrote his Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Tales of the South Pacific, during his naval service in World War II after winning a transfer from a desk job in Washington to the Pacific theater. Michener’s literary career spanned 50 years and 40 books.
HOUR TWO
Bob talks with environmental scientist James Lovelock about his latest book The Vanishing Face of Gaia. Lovelock argues that it’s already far too late to stop global warming, and that we should be committing our resources to surviving in the new hotter world to come instead of trying to stop it.
For millions of women, the books they read (and re-read) as young girls helped them become the women they are today. Lizzie Skurnick writes the column “Fine Lines” for Jezebel.com, and blogs about books on her website Old Hag. Her book Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading explores why the books of so many women’s youth continue to inspire, inform, and mold them well into adulthood.