THE BOB EDWARDS SHOW HIGHLIGHTS – August 23-27, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Bob talks with travel writer Rick Steves. For the past 30 years, Steves has advocated for thoughtful and informed traveling in his PBS series, his radio show, and of course his best selling travel guide books. His new book, Travel As a Political Act, is about why we travel and how being a good traveler creates positive ties with the citizens of other nations. Then, Bob talks to Keith Bellows, editor-in-chief of National Geographic Traveler magazine. Bellows travels around the globe and compiles a list of the 500 greatest trips the world has to offer. The list encompasses every continent and every possible mode of transportation, including the world’s top 10 elevator rides.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Bob talks with James Fallows, National Correspondent for The Atlantic. In his wide-ranging blog at theatlantic.com, he comments on everything from the rise of China to the President’s grammar. Then, Glen Lapp is one of ten humanitarian workers who were killed early this month in Afghanistan. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the medical workers were trying to convert Muslims. Lisa Schirch is professor at Eastern Mennonite University’s graduate Center for Justice and Peacebuilding. She talks about Lapp, an EMU alum, their friendship, and their commitment to the effort in Afghanistan.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
This week in our series No Place Like Home, we’ll head to the bayou to get a firsthand look at the marshes and swamps that are so important to coastal Louisiana’s culture and ecology. Denise Reed is a professor at the University of New Orleans, and she’s been studying the wetlands for decades, monitoring loss and imagining ways to grow new land. Tab Benoit is concerned about wetlands loss, but you won’t find him lecturing about it in a classroom. Benoit is a blues singer from Houma and a founder of the group Voice of the Wetlands. He’ll take Bob on a boat ride through the swamps — both healthy and depleted.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Women won the right to vote in this country 90 years ago this month but not without a hard-fought battle that is little remembered today. After years of thoughtful lobbying didn’t work, suffragists – led by the iron-willed Alice Paul – tried more revolutionary tactics. They demonstrated, rallied, paraded, went on hunger strikes and picketed the White House, some chaining themselves to the fence. Many of the protesting women were arrested, force fed and brutalized. A new book by journalist Mary Walton tells the dramatic story of the final push to get the 19th amendment passed. It’s titled A Women’s Crusade: Alice Paul and the Battle for the Ballot. Then, Miami Herald columnist Carl Hiaasen’s latest novel is a satirical look at the likes of Lindsay Lohan. It’s called Star Island. He and Bob talk celebrity culture and Florida politics.
Friday, August 27, 2010
David Broder of The Washington Post joins Bob to talk politics. Then, when Jesse Saperstein was diagnosed Asperger’s syndrome as a young man, he was glad at last to have a name for his social and behavioral problems. Asperger’s, a mild form of autism, is often characterized by repetitive routines, peculiarities in speech, and a lack of social understanding, which includes trouble understanding empathy. Saperstein’s book Atypical: Life with Asperger’s in 20 1/3 Chapters humanizes the difficult world of autism. And in this week’s installment of our ongoing series This I Believe, Bob talks with curator Dan Gediman about the essay of Swedish economist and diplomat Dag Hammarskjold who was the second Secretary-General of the United Nations, serving from 1953 – 1961. He worked to ease tensions between Israel and Arab nations, and to defuse the Suez crisis. Hammarskjold was killed in a plane crash in Zambia in 1961.