Monday, October 26, 2009
The 2010 Census is slated to begin in just a few months. And 18 months ago, as required by law, the Census Bureau submitted to Congress the exact wording of each of the ten questions that would be included on the survey. But now Senator David Vitter (R-LA) has introduced an amendment that would require an 11th question: Are you an American citizen? Patricia Murphy writes “The Capitolist” column for Politics Daily and explains the controversy over the proposed 11th question. Then, Steve Roberts has written a book about immigration at a time when it’s a hot topic in Washington. But From Every End of This Earth is not about politics or policy; it’s a collection of thirteen stories from thirteen families about the new lives they made in America.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Paul D. Miller, aka DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid, is a conceptual artist, spoken word artist, writer and musician whose work has appeared in the Whitney Biennial, the Andy Warhol Museum and the Village Voice. His video, “Rebirth of a Nation,” ran at the Lincoln Center Festival and the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. Last year he traveled to Antarctica for a new, large-scale multimedia performance piece. Miller discusses those projects, including his book titled Sound Unbound, and his most recent album, “The Secret Song,” which he describes as “meditation on hip-hop and electronic music’s relationship to philosophy, economics and the science of sound.” Then, Salon.com book critic Laura Miller shares her favorite new books for fall.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Veteran journalist and host of Public Radio International’s The Takeaway John Hockenberry talks with Bob about issues in the news. Then, beginning in 1967, Charles Kuralt headed out with a small crew to document unusual and overlooked stories from America’s back roads. Logging more than a million miles and going through six motor homes, the resulting vignettes became On the Road, a 20-year-series now available on DVD for the first time. Isadore (Izzy) Bleckman was Kuralt’s cameraman for more than 25 years, and he shares his stories from the road.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Any fan of Libby Gelman-Waxner’s monthly column, “If You Ask Me,” in Premiere magazine (1987-2007) could tell you all about Libby’s home life and her hilarious observations on Hollywood and films. But many of those fans never knew that “Libby” was actually a pseudonym for screenwriter, playwright, and novelist Paul Rudnick, one of America’s greatest humorists. Rudnick’s most recent book is a memoir about his work in the theater world, titled, I Shudder, And Other Reactions to Life, Death, and New Jersey. Then, folklorists Nancy Groce and Steve Winick from the American Folklife Center share ghost stories recorded in the United States over the decades and placed in the archive of folk culture at the Library of Congress.
Friday, October 30, 2009
David Broder of The Washington Post joins Bob to talk politics. Next, for three years, director Joe Berlinger gathered the footage for his new documentary Crude. In the classic battle between the haves and the have-nots, Crude examines both sides of the legal case known as the “Amazon Chernobyl.” 30,000 residents of the jungles of Ecuador claimed that the American oil giant Chevron contaminated an area roughly the size of Rhode Island, resulting in high levels of cancer, birth defects, and other health problems. Crude was an official selection at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Then, in this week’s installment of our ongoing series This I Believe, Bob talks with executive director Dan Gediman about the essay from Robbins Milbank. A Princeton graduate and son of a prominent New England family, Milbank worked as a logger in British Columbia for six years. He later moved into advertising, becoming a vice president at McCann-Erickson, and wrote docu-dramas for television.