The Bob Edwards Show – September 26-30, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011: Garry Wills has written about Jack Ruby and John Wayne; Saint Augustine, Saint Paul and Jesus; James Madison and Abraham Lincoln. Now he writes about himself. His autobiography is titled Outside Looking In: Adventures of an Observer. It’s now out in paperback.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011: Jeff Tweedy founded the band Wilco in the mid-‘90s. And for the past 15 years, the group has been either recording albums or touring virtually non-stop. Their new album is titled The Whole Love. But before the band began work on this eight record, they tried something new – they took a long vacation. Tweedy says the break allowed him and his band mates to “put the old songs out of mind long enough to write some new ones.” Tweedy joins Bob to talk about those news songs from the Loft, the group’s Chicago recording studio. Then, Bob speaks to sports writer Ron Rapoport about his book The Immortal Bobby: Bobby Jones and the Golden Age of Golf.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011: Jazz vocalist John Boutte is a seventh-generation Creole and a native of New Orleans. He sits down with Bob to discuss growing up in the musical stew of the city’s Seventh Ward, which was home to jazz men Jelly Roll Morton and Lee Dorsey, rappers like Lil Wayne and three mayors of New Orleans. Boutte is also the voice you hear singing the theme song for the HBO series Treme. Then, more Louisiana music with Michael Doucet. He’s one of the founding members of the Cajun band, BeauSoleil. When he was young, Doucet says Cajun music was marginalized. But during his lifetime, the genre has become more accepted. BeuSoleil has played all over the world, earning countless accolades from other musicians and fans.
Thursday, September 29, 2011: Bob Edwards Show regular, Calvin “Bud” Trillin, has been on the program to talk about his last four books (Obliviously On He Sails, A Heckuva Job, Deciding the Next Decider, and About Alice). He still manages to make Bob laugh out loud. Now he’s back to talk about his latest title, a compendium of funny stuff he’s written over the last forty years, Quite Enough of Calvin Trillin. Then, Peter Sokolowski returns to talk about words of the day. He is the Editor-at-Large for Merriam-Webster which recently announced new words added to their dictionary this year.
Friday, September 30, 2011: Doyle McManus, Washington columnist for the Los Angeles Times joins Bob to talk about politics and other news. Next, Michele Norris, co-host of NPR’s All Things Considered, initially planned to write a book about “postracial” America after President Barack Obama’s election in 2008. As Norris began to research America’s racial past, she was surprised to discover that her real story was much closer to home. Her book is titled The Grace of Silence: A Family Memoir. It’s now out in paperback. Then, in this week’s installment of our ongoing series This I Believe, we hear the essay of Allan Barger. He is uncertain about many things — and he thinks more people should admit that their views might not be correct. Barger was an Evangelical pastor with hard-and-fast beliefs. He also happened to be gay. Eventually, Barger let go of his religious certainties and learned to become more humble and more willing to question his own beliefs.