Bob Edwards Weekend
December 5-6, 2009
HOUR ONE
Ever the Englishman, writer, actor, and comedian Stephen Fry traveled across the United States in a black London cab, visiting all 50 states to experience first-hand what makes America unique. Fry picked lobster pots in Maine, observed the primary election season in New Hampshire and participated in some improv on stage at Second City in Chicago. Fry’s book is appropriately titled, Stephen Fry in America: Fifty States and the Man Who Set Out to See Them All. He also talks about the frequent collaborations with his college friend Hugh Laurie, including their roles as Jeeves and Wooster.
In this week’s installment of our ongoing series This I Believe, Bob talks with executive director Dan Gediman about the essay from Oscar and Esther Hirschmann. They lived in New York City, where Oscar was a poet writing under the pen name of Oliver Hale. Their essay was the only statement on the original This I Believe series to be delivered by two people.
HOUR TWO
In Hollowing Out The Middle, authors Patrick Carr and Maria Kefalas examine the exodus from America’s small towns. To do this, the two moved to a small town in Iowa where they conducted over a hundred interviews and ultimately traveled to fifteen Midwestern states. Bob talks with Carr about his new book.
Douglas Gayeton, a multimedia artist and champion of the Slow Food movement, combined his two passions in his new book Slow: Life in a Tuscan Town. With an introduction by Alice Waters, this illustrated memoir and lesson in regional cuisine, focuses on the small villages in Tuscany where the Slow Food Movement (a back-lash against fast food) is simply a way of life.
Rolling Stone contributing editor Anthony DeCurtis talks about Blues and Chaos, a collection of pieces written by legendary music critic Robert Palmer. The articles, which appeared originally in Rolling Stone and the New York Times, were arranged thematically and edited by DeCurtis.