Monday, February 22, 2010: In 1940, Britain stood alone against Nazi Germany and few Americans believed the U.S. should intervene. There were some notable exceptions. In Citizens of London, Lynn Olson details the roles played by three Americans who helped Winston Churchill’s government obtain help from Washington before and after America finally entered the war at the end of 1941. They were U.S. Ambassador John Gilbert Winant, FDR’s envoy Averell Harriman and CBS news correspondent Edward R. Murrow. Then, in novelist Sarah Blake’s book The Postmistress, American radio reporter Frankie Bard is the first woman to broadcast from the Blitz in London during World War II. Her reports from 1940 bring war into the living rooms of millions of Americans, including two women from a small Cape Cod town who soon find their lives caught up in this foreign conflict.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010: How is the war in Iraq different for the women who live through it? In her new book Sisters in War: A Story of Love, Family, and Survival in the New Iraq veteran journalist Christina Asquith gives voice to four women, two Iraqis, one American soldier and one American aid worker. Then, Bob talks with Martin Goldsmith, host of Sirius XM’s Symphony Hall, about Benjamin Britten’s monumental War Requiem.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010: Preservation Hall is located in the heart of New Orleans’ French Quarter and was founded in 1961 by Allan and Sandra Jaffe. The Preservation Hall Jazz Band performed with the pioneers who invented jazz including Buddy Bolden, Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, pianist Sweet Emma Barrett, and others. Over time, Ben Jaffe assumed his late father’s role as director of Preservation Hall. He talks about the band’s history, post-Katrina New Orleans, and their latest CD which features Pete Seeger, Tom Waits, Steve Earle and more. Then, Bob talks sports with Dave Zirin, host of Edge of Sports Radio.
Thursday, February 25, 2010: If the American people collectively will suffer when independent journalism disappears, should Federal money be spent to save it? John Nichols of The Nation magazine and media critic Robert McChesney lay out their multi-billion dollar plan to resuscitate the American press in their new book The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution That Will Begin the World Again. Then, entertainment critic David Kipen tells Bob what’s new in theaters.
Friday, February 26, 2010: David Broder of The Washington Post joins Bob to talk politics. Next, photographer-turned-filmmaker Harvey Wang’s film The Last New Yorker tells the story of two dyed-in-the-wool New Yorkers who, now in their 70s, realize that the city they grew up in has all but disappeared. Bob talks with the two lead actors, Dominic Chianese and Dick Latessa, about this story of love and friendship in the final season of life. Then, in this week’s installment of our ongoing series This I Believe, Bob talks with curator Dan Gediman about the essay of Albert Guerard. He came to America in 1906 and served as an Army intelligence officer in World War I. He later taught French and comparative literature at more than a dozen colleges and universities, including Stanford and UCLA, and he wrote twenty-eight books.